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Gareth von Kallenbach (962 KP) rated Slender: The Arrival in Video Games
Jul 4, 2019
An Awful Experience All Around
A brief history for those who are not aware (courtesy of Wikipedia):
“The Slender Man (also known as Slenderman) is a fictional supernatural character that originated as a creepypasta internet meme… Stories of Slender Man commonly feature him stalking, abducting or traumatizing people, particularly children. The Slender Man is no confined to a single narrative, but appears in many works of fiction, typically composed online.”
Slender: The Arrival (which we’ll just refer to as The Arrival moving forward) is the official video game adaptation of Slender Man. Blue Isle studios developed the game to bring us improved visuals, great replay value, and a brand new storyline. These should combine into survival horror at its best. But sadly, it does not. The Arrival encourages exploration and the philosophy of scaring the living daylights out of you. It just doesn’t. Now, truth be told this genre is not typically my bread and butter, but I came into this game with hopeful expectations, but soon found myself wanting more than the game could offer.
First, you are thrown into the game without any instruction or opening. Just head down the road, though. It seems easy enough. I did appreciate the way they worked credits into this opening sequence though, as you are shown the developers and the team that worked on the game. Once you get through this, you come upon a house where you will explore the rooms to find notes scattered throughout the house giving you more information on your back story. Sparing spoilers, essentially the story revolves around a shared trauma from your youth. Once you leave the house, you press on, turning on some generators along your path.
You’ll come across the second house after crossing a river, where I encountered some of the strangeness I assume is part of the experience. Glitching visuals, weird creatures that seemed to disappear when you shine your flashlight upon them, that sort of thing. It could have been a bug, or bugs, but doing a little digging online it seems I was not the only one to experience the same. There wasn’t really any action to be had. A little disheartening.
There’s not much challenge with The Arrival. You will, at some point, encounter the Slender Man in the game. I went straight toward him, and nothing really happened. Unfortunately, it’s a bad byproduct of these games. If it doesn’t scare you, even in the slightest, you’re just left with a stagnant experience while you are running from point to point to read lore.
It took me nearly 2 hours to finish the game, though I suspect those without toddler twins may get through it a bit faster. Suffice it to say, I wish I had those 2 hours back. I never really felt the tension that would cause fear or even nervousness. The shaky cam visual of the game certainly didn’t help. Essentially, you are playing through the eyes of the camera you are holding, complete with “recording” indicator and battery level (you can turn this off). As you walk the camera bobs back and forth a little bit, and as you run it does so a little faster. I understand what they were trying to accomplish here, but it was executed so poorly. I found myself constantly trying to correct this with the joycon thinking it was simply drift. It was super distracting.
Slender: The Arrival failed to give a complete game worthy of the price tag, even at its current price tag of $9.99 on the eShop. That’s not to say you won’t enjoy it, especially if you scare VERY easily or are just a fan of the Slender Man himself. It’s just that combine a wonky control system, very little instruction, and no real tension building moments, and you have a dud of game in my book.
1 out of 5
http://sknr.net/2019/06/28/slender-the-arrival-for-nintendo-switch/
“The Slender Man (also known as Slenderman) is a fictional supernatural character that originated as a creepypasta internet meme… Stories of Slender Man commonly feature him stalking, abducting or traumatizing people, particularly children. The Slender Man is no confined to a single narrative, but appears in many works of fiction, typically composed online.”
Slender: The Arrival (which we’ll just refer to as The Arrival moving forward) is the official video game adaptation of Slender Man. Blue Isle studios developed the game to bring us improved visuals, great replay value, and a brand new storyline. These should combine into survival horror at its best. But sadly, it does not. The Arrival encourages exploration and the philosophy of scaring the living daylights out of you. It just doesn’t. Now, truth be told this genre is not typically my bread and butter, but I came into this game with hopeful expectations, but soon found myself wanting more than the game could offer.
First, you are thrown into the game without any instruction or opening. Just head down the road, though. It seems easy enough. I did appreciate the way they worked credits into this opening sequence though, as you are shown the developers and the team that worked on the game. Once you get through this, you come upon a house where you will explore the rooms to find notes scattered throughout the house giving you more information on your back story. Sparing spoilers, essentially the story revolves around a shared trauma from your youth. Once you leave the house, you press on, turning on some generators along your path.
You’ll come across the second house after crossing a river, where I encountered some of the strangeness I assume is part of the experience. Glitching visuals, weird creatures that seemed to disappear when you shine your flashlight upon them, that sort of thing. It could have been a bug, or bugs, but doing a little digging online it seems I was not the only one to experience the same. There wasn’t really any action to be had. A little disheartening.
There’s not much challenge with The Arrival. You will, at some point, encounter the Slender Man in the game. I went straight toward him, and nothing really happened. Unfortunately, it’s a bad byproduct of these games. If it doesn’t scare you, even in the slightest, you’re just left with a stagnant experience while you are running from point to point to read lore.
It took me nearly 2 hours to finish the game, though I suspect those without toddler twins may get through it a bit faster. Suffice it to say, I wish I had those 2 hours back. I never really felt the tension that would cause fear or even nervousness. The shaky cam visual of the game certainly didn’t help. Essentially, you are playing through the eyes of the camera you are holding, complete with “recording” indicator and battery level (you can turn this off). As you walk the camera bobs back and forth a little bit, and as you run it does so a little faster. I understand what they were trying to accomplish here, but it was executed so poorly. I found myself constantly trying to correct this with the joycon thinking it was simply drift. It was super distracting.
Slender: The Arrival failed to give a complete game worthy of the price tag, even at its current price tag of $9.99 on the eShop. That’s not to say you won’t enjoy it, especially if you scare VERY easily or are just a fan of the Slender Man himself. It’s just that combine a wonky control system, very little instruction, and no real tension building moments, and you have a dud of game in my book.
1 out of 5
http://sknr.net/2019/06/28/slender-the-arrival-for-nintendo-switch/
Ivana A. | Diary of Difference (1171 KP) rated An Anonymous Girl in Books
Jan 25, 2019
An Anonymous Girl
Review can also be found on www.diaryofdifference.com
If someone offered you $500 to answer a few personal questions and stay anonymous, would you do it?
The makeup artist, Jessica Farris goes into a client’s house to do her job. Just the usual. And then she hears her teenage client mentioning the survey that gives you huge amounts of money for a few anonymous questions. When the teenager says she won’t be able to attend, and she is too lazy to let them know, Jessica decided to use this chance and go instead.
But what happens when after a few simple questions a woman starts telling her deepest secrets? And the money will increase, but so will the difficulty of the tasks she needs to do.
”It’s easy to judge other people’s choices.”
I was hyped about this book before I even started to read it. I read the synopsis, and it intrigued me from the very first moment. Of all the mysteries and thrillers, I have enjoyed the psychological the most. Something about how a twisted mind works triggers my pleasure senses. It’s creepy, but I wish you all get that feeling for a genre.
Right after the first chapter of the book I was satisfied, and happy. This book was all I needed right then, and it just kept getting better and better.
We get to meet Jessica and see how she thinks, follow her as she answers question after question, revealing secret after a secret. With each question, and each task, and each secret being revealed, the book kept becoming darker and darker, better and better.
It reminded me of the Harry Potter series, with the content getting darker after time. If you remember the first Harry Potter book, it is Children’s fiction, but the significantly darker compared to the first. Same happens with the movies as well.
I loved the questions that were asked on the survey – they are really meant to make you think through and try and give your answers.
Could you tell a lie without feeling guilt?
Have you ever deeply hurt someone you care about?
The relationship between the people in this book is twisted. It’s all about playing games. It’s all about the cat and mouse chase. As much as I loved it, it also annoyed me at times, as I wanted it to stop.
The twists, cliff hangers and unexpected moments were brilliant. Pure skill, I tell you that. I haven’t been so surprised, excited, thrilled at the same time by any book I’ve recently read.
And with such twisted moments, and thrills throughout the book, and chapters ending leaving you breathless, you would expect the most thrilling ending.
I did. I expected it.
And I was very disappointed. It ended… rather bland. Like a Sunday Roast without gravy.
”We all have reasons for our actions. Even if we hide the reason from those who think they know us best. Even if the reasons are so deeply buried we can’t recognise them ourselves.”
I have a hard time judging this book now, as it was all hype and thrill, until it stopped dead. Maybe the authors wanted to ensure that we experiences exactly this feeling – I am not sure. Maybe for such a twisted book, calmness is all it needs to end with. I’ll leave this judgement up to you, as you experience the book and its ending on your own.
At this time, I feel like giving it 4 stars, as the ending was the only things that bothered me. This book is still a gem, and deserves to be read by people that enjoy psychological thrillers.
Thank you to Netgalley and Pan Macmillan for giving me a free copy of this book, in exchange for an honest review
If someone offered you $500 to answer a few personal questions and stay anonymous, would you do it?
The makeup artist, Jessica Farris goes into a client’s house to do her job. Just the usual. And then she hears her teenage client mentioning the survey that gives you huge amounts of money for a few anonymous questions. When the teenager says she won’t be able to attend, and she is too lazy to let them know, Jessica decided to use this chance and go instead.
But what happens when after a few simple questions a woman starts telling her deepest secrets? And the money will increase, but so will the difficulty of the tasks she needs to do.
”It’s easy to judge other people’s choices.”
I was hyped about this book before I even started to read it. I read the synopsis, and it intrigued me from the very first moment. Of all the mysteries and thrillers, I have enjoyed the psychological the most. Something about how a twisted mind works triggers my pleasure senses. It’s creepy, but I wish you all get that feeling for a genre.
Right after the first chapter of the book I was satisfied, and happy. This book was all I needed right then, and it just kept getting better and better.
We get to meet Jessica and see how she thinks, follow her as she answers question after question, revealing secret after a secret. With each question, and each task, and each secret being revealed, the book kept becoming darker and darker, better and better.
It reminded me of the Harry Potter series, with the content getting darker after time. If you remember the first Harry Potter book, it is Children’s fiction, but the significantly darker compared to the first. Same happens with the movies as well.
I loved the questions that were asked on the survey – they are really meant to make you think through and try and give your answers.
Could you tell a lie without feeling guilt?
Have you ever deeply hurt someone you care about?
The relationship between the people in this book is twisted. It’s all about playing games. It’s all about the cat and mouse chase. As much as I loved it, it also annoyed me at times, as I wanted it to stop.
The twists, cliff hangers and unexpected moments were brilliant. Pure skill, I tell you that. I haven’t been so surprised, excited, thrilled at the same time by any book I’ve recently read.
And with such twisted moments, and thrills throughout the book, and chapters ending leaving you breathless, you would expect the most thrilling ending.
I did. I expected it.
And I was very disappointed. It ended… rather bland. Like a Sunday Roast without gravy.
”We all have reasons for our actions. Even if we hide the reason from those who think they know us best. Even if the reasons are so deeply buried we can’t recognise them ourselves.”
I have a hard time judging this book now, as it was all hype and thrill, until it stopped dead. Maybe the authors wanted to ensure that we experiences exactly this feeling – I am not sure. Maybe for such a twisted book, calmness is all it needs to end with. I’ll leave this judgement up to you, as you experience the book and its ending on your own.
At this time, I feel like giving it 4 stars, as the ending was the only things that bothered me. This book is still a gem, and deserves to be read by people that enjoy psychological thrillers.
Thank you to Netgalley and Pan Macmillan for giving me a free copy of this book, in exchange for an honest review
Bob Mann (459 KP) rated Knives Out (2019) in Movies
Dec 4, 2019
If they were to give it a go, this movie should justifiably be Rian's redemption from the harshest of his previous critics. For this is a really entertaining film. I found myself smiling with glee through a sizable proportion of the running time.
Multi-millionaire crime-fiction author Harlan Thrombey (the wonderful Christopher Plummer) is celebrating his 85th birthday with three generations of his family in his "Cludo-like" mansion. But all is not well with the family harmonic and the next morning Harlan is found dead in his room by his nurse Marta (Ana de Armas). Apparently, it's a suicide, but when private detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) arrives on the scene he starts turning over stones "oin seearch ov tha troooth" (sic) and dark secrets begin to emerge.
Key to success of this Agatha Christie-style movie is a dense portmanteau cast and a well-plotted script. Both are here present.
In terms of the cast, this is another candidate for the SAG Ensemble Cast award. For the cast is suitably stellar with Chris "Cap" Evans, Toni Collette, Michael Shannon, Jamie Lee Curtis and Don Johnson vying for the top billing with Craig and Plummer. They bounce off each other joyously, with Collette taking my prize for top acting kudos. She's just deliciously over the top as the scheming hippy chick with the rasping voice and the cutting one-liners.
With a starring role is Cuban bombshell Ana de Armas, here notching down the glamour to play the plainly dressed nurse. But she has a magnetic screen presence and is perfectly cast as the girl at the heart of all the action. She has the doe-eyed innocence that Alfred Hitchcock was always looking for in his leading ladies. Interestingly, she is soon to appear with Craig again as Bond-girl Paloma in "No Time to Die".
Elsewhere in the cast are some interesting cameos: the family's lawyer is none other than Frank "Yoda" Oz; and the ancient security guard is M. Emmet Walsh, who has an amazing filmography going back to the late 60's.
Writer/director is clearly his 'thing'. But Rian Johnson here pulls off a neat trick with the script which is brilliantly twisty and turny and 100% entertaining. Although it's presented as cuts between the 'present time' and versions of the night in question, the whole doughnut is never entirely in view until the final reel. It's a satisfying story, and some of the dialogue is laugh-out-loud funny.
A nice plot point is the inability for young Marta to tell a lie without vomiting. Wouldn't the UK General Elections be Sooooo much more colourful if that was a general trait!!
I've only the one real criticism of the movie, and that's Daniel Craig's appalling Southern drawl. It's really quite distracting. Aside from some witty lines of dialogue ("What is this? CSI KFC?") nothing would have been lost to cast him as an urbane English detective instead. They could have slipped in some Brexit jokes instead! I appreciate Craig wants to distance himself from Bond somewhat. He did the same thing as Joe Bang in "Logan Lucky". But - sorry - it didn't really work for me then and it doesn't work now either.
In summary, this is a really fun movie that a whole family with older children (the rating is 12+) can go and enjoy together. There's limited violence; limited swearing and sexual innuendo; and no sex (save for the Hitler youth in the bathroom!). But there is a whole lot of sleuthing fun to be had. Bravo Mr Johnson, bravo! For that reason it comes with a bob-the-movie-man "Highly recommended" tag.
(For the full graphical review please check out https://bob-the-movie-man.com/2019/12/04/one-manns-movies-film-review-knives-out-2019/).
Multi-millionaire crime-fiction author Harlan Thrombey (the wonderful Christopher Plummer) is celebrating his 85th birthday with three generations of his family in his "Cludo-like" mansion. But all is not well with the family harmonic and the next morning Harlan is found dead in his room by his nurse Marta (Ana de Armas). Apparently, it's a suicide, but when private detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) arrives on the scene he starts turning over stones "oin seearch ov tha troooth" (sic) and dark secrets begin to emerge.
Key to success of this Agatha Christie-style movie is a dense portmanteau cast and a well-plotted script. Both are here present.
In terms of the cast, this is another candidate for the SAG Ensemble Cast award. For the cast is suitably stellar with Chris "Cap" Evans, Toni Collette, Michael Shannon, Jamie Lee Curtis and Don Johnson vying for the top billing with Craig and Plummer. They bounce off each other joyously, with Collette taking my prize for top acting kudos. She's just deliciously over the top as the scheming hippy chick with the rasping voice and the cutting one-liners.
With a starring role is Cuban bombshell Ana de Armas, here notching down the glamour to play the plainly dressed nurse. But she has a magnetic screen presence and is perfectly cast as the girl at the heart of all the action. She has the doe-eyed innocence that Alfred Hitchcock was always looking for in his leading ladies. Interestingly, she is soon to appear with Craig again as Bond-girl Paloma in "No Time to Die".
Elsewhere in the cast are some interesting cameos: the family's lawyer is none other than Frank "Yoda" Oz; and the ancient security guard is M. Emmet Walsh, who has an amazing filmography going back to the late 60's.
Writer/director is clearly his 'thing'. But Rian Johnson here pulls off a neat trick with the script which is brilliantly twisty and turny and 100% entertaining. Although it's presented as cuts between the 'present time' and versions of the night in question, the whole doughnut is never entirely in view until the final reel. It's a satisfying story, and some of the dialogue is laugh-out-loud funny.
A nice plot point is the inability for young Marta to tell a lie without vomiting. Wouldn't the UK General Elections be Sooooo much more colourful if that was a general trait!!
I've only the one real criticism of the movie, and that's Daniel Craig's appalling Southern drawl. It's really quite distracting. Aside from some witty lines of dialogue ("What is this? CSI KFC?") nothing would have been lost to cast him as an urbane English detective instead. They could have slipped in some Brexit jokes instead! I appreciate Craig wants to distance himself from Bond somewhat. He did the same thing as Joe Bang in "Logan Lucky". But - sorry - it didn't really work for me then and it doesn't work now either.
In summary, this is a really fun movie that a whole family with older children (the rating is 12+) can go and enjoy together. There's limited violence; limited swearing and sexual innuendo; and no sex (save for the Hitler youth in the bathroom!). But there is a whole lot of sleuthing fun to be had. Bravo Mr Johnson, bravo! For that reason it comes with a bob-the-movie-man "Highly recommended" tag.
(For the full graphical review please check out https://bob-the-movie-man.com/2019/12/04/one-manns-movies-film-review-knives-out-2019/).
Ivana A. | Diary of Difference (1171 KP) rated The Toll (Arc of a Scythe, #3) in Books
Feb 3, 2020
<a href="https://amzn.to/2Wi7amb">Wishlist</a>; | <a
<a href="https://diaryofdifference.com/">Blog</a>; | <a href="https://www.facebook.com/diaryofdifference/">Facebook</a>; | <a href="https://twitter.com/DiaryDifference">Twitter</a>; | <a href="https://www.instagram.com/diaryofdifference/">Instagram</a>; | <a href="https://www.pinterest.co.uk/diaryofdifference/pins/">Pinterest</a>;
#1 <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2656699288">Scythe</a>; - ★★★★★
#2 <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2998629500">Thunderhead</a>; - ★★★★★
#3 <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3080800725">The Toll</a> - ★★★★★
<img src="https://diaryofdifference.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Book-Review-Banner-20.png"/>;
And here is my review of The Toll. We have reached the end of the series, guys.
It’s been three years since Rowan and Citra disappeared; since Scythe Goddard came into power; since the Thunderhead closed itself off to everyone but Grayson Tolliver.
In this pulse-pounding conclusion to New York Times bestselling author Neal Shusterman’s Arc of a Scythe trilogy, constitutions are tested and old friends are brought back from the dead.
I don’t know how to even start this review, because I have so many emotions still! I am so in love with this series. With this finale. I am also so sad that the journey ends here and I have to part ways, re-visiting these books but never reading new ones.
A wonderful world, where death is no more, and two scythe apprentices, with the willpower to be great - they stuck to me, and they grew on me, and they did capture my heart.
<b><i>Rowan - a hero never understood.</i></b>
Fighting for the good in a bad way. Himself against the world, not afraid to give his life for the people he cares about. I salute you, Scythe Lucifer!
<b><i>Citra - a woman born to be a leader.</i></b>
A powerful force that moves the Earth she walks upon. A compassion and kindness mixed with the force of unfairness. Ready to stand up when no one else does and not afraid to do things differently. I salute you, Scythe Anastasia.
And to all the rest of the characters, and believe me, there are so many that are just as important, I also bow to you. For fighting for what you believe in, for being better humans than most and for helping a person in need. You will never be forgotten.
<b><i>Neal Shusterman, the hero of this book.</i></b>
The creator of wonderful worlds. I bow to you and I thank you for giving me a world worth remembering. For creating the Thunderhead to lead us into the future, and for giving us a glimpse of possibilities and opportunities of the “what might be”. I have endless love for your writing and will continue to be excited and read every new book you write.
I have noticed, when I really love a book and want to shout about it to everyone I know, it is quite hard to do so without spilling any spoilers. How do you write a review of mentioning all the things you loved, without ruining the story for someone else?
<b><i>Let’s try it this way:</i></b>
Guys, have a look at my review of Scythe, the first book in the series. Then read the book. Then read my review of Thunderhead. Read that book as well. And then come here, read this blurb, finish the series and find me either here, or on Instagram and Twitter, so I can tell you all the spoilers! :)
No, honestly, if you love science-fiction with a twist of fantasy and dystopia, this will be a book you will cherish forever.
<a href="https://amzn.to/2Wi7amb">Wishlist</a>; | <a
<a href="https://diaryofdifference.com/">Blog</a>; | <a href="https://www.facebook.com/diaryofdifference/">Facebook</a>; | <a href="https://twitter.com/DiaryDifference">Twitter</a>; | <a href="https://www.instagram.com/diaryofdifference/">Instagram</a>; | <a href="https://www.pinterest.co.uk/diaryofdifference/pins/">Pinterest</a>;
<a href="https://diaryofdifference.com/">Blog</a>; | <a href="https://www.facebook.com/diaryofdifference/">Facebook</a>; | <a href="https://twitter.com/DiaryDifference">Twitter</a>; | <a href="https://www.instagram.com/diaryofdifference/">Instagram</a>; | <a href="https://www.pinterest.co.uk/diaryofdifference/pins/">Pinterest</a>;
#1 <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2656699288">Scythe</a>; - ★★★★★
#2 <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2998629500">Thunderhead</a>; - ★★★★★
#3 <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3080800725">The Toll</a> - ★★★★★
<img src="https://diaryofdifference.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Book-Review-Banner-20.png"/>;
And here is my review of The Toll. We have reached the end of the series, guys.
It’s been three years since Rowan and Citra disappeared; since Scythe Goddard came into power; since the Thunderhead closed itself off to everyone but Grayson Tolliver.
In this pulse-pounding conclusion to New York Times bestselling author Neal Shusterman’s Arc of a Scythe trilogy, constitutions are tested and old friends are brought back from the dead.
I don’t know how to even start this review, because I have so many emotions still! I am so in love with this series. With this finale. I am also so sad that the journey ends here and I have to part ways, re-visiting these books but never reading new ones.
A wonderful world, where death is no more, and two scythe apprentices, with the willpower to be great - they stuck to me, and they grew on me, and they did capture my heart.
<b><i>Rowan - a hero never understood.</i></b>
Fighting for the good in a bad way. Himself against the world, not afraid to give his life for the people he cares about. I salute you, Scythe Lucifer!
<b><i>Citra - a woman born to be a leader.</i></b>
A powerful force that moves the Earth she walks upon. A compassion and kindness mixed with the force of unfairness. Ready to stand up when no one else does and not afraid to do things differently. I salute you, Scythe Anastasia.
And to all the rest of the characters, and believe me, there are so many that are just as important, I also bow to you. For fighting for what you believe in, for being better humans than most and for helping a person in need. You will never be forgotten.
<b><i>Neal Shusterman, the hero of this book.</i></b>
The creator of wonderful worlds. I bow to you and I thank you for giving me a world worth remembering. For creating the Thunderhead to lead us into the future, and for giving us a glimpse of possibilities and opportunities of the “what might be”. I have endless love for your writing and will continue to be excited and read every new book you write.
I have noticed, when I really love a book and want to shout about it to everyone I know, it is quite hard to do so without spilling any spoilers. How do you write a review of mentioning all the things you loved, without ruining the story for someone else?
<b><i>Let’s try it this way:</i></b>
Guys, have a look at my review of Scythe, the first book in the series. Then read the book. Then read my review of Thunderhead. Read that book as well. And then come here, read this blurb, finish the series and find me either here, or on Instagram and Twitter, so I can tell you all the spoilers! :)
No, honestly, if you love science-fiction with a twist of fantasy and dystopia, this will be a book you will cherish forever.
<a href="https://amzn.to/2Wi7amb">Wishlist</a>; | <a
<a href="https://diaryofdifference.com/">Blog</a>; | <a href="https://www.facebook.com/diaryofdifference/">Facebook</a>; | <a href="https://twitter.com/DiaryDifference">Twitter</a>; | <a href="https://www.instagram.com/diaryofdifference/">Instagram</a>; | <a href="https://www.pinterest.co.uk/diaryofdifference/pins/">Pinterest</a>;
A Bibliophagist (113 KP) rated The Toll (Arc of a Scythe, #3) in Books
Feb 5, 2020
Characters (3 more)
Worldbuilding
Plot
Pacing
A fantasic finale
After the amazing cliffhanger of Thunderhead, I rushed to pick up this because I just HAD TO KNOW. This cover is even prettier, they really nailed this series (sans the transformers font) and I hope it inspires more YA books to hire illustrators and not photo manip garbage. I'm an Illustrator though, so I'm biased. This review will have spoilers for Thunderhead, so don't read if you haven't read that!
The Toll picks up immediately after Thunderhead. Goddard has returned the MidMerica, no one knows that he was demoted to apprentice and with the death of Scythe Curie he stands uncontested for replacing Xenocrates. Anastasia and Rowan rest at the bottom of the ocean, and Goddard has made the site a site of remembrance to avoid any evidence being drudged up. The sinking of Endura is also squarely blamed on Rowan, and the world suffers as the Thunderhead punishes everyone, marking them unsavory. Cutting off communication with all but one, our former unsavory, Greyson.
With the rise of Goddard, the Schism amongst the Scythedom widens. He seizes more power, overturns rules and makes new ones and slowly starts taking control of other nations. Dubbing himself the Overblade. The story arches over 3 years post Thunderhead, and we jump around a little bit. During the three years Goddard continues to take a chokehold on the world, Greyson suddenly finds himself a living god amongst the tonists and humanity, as the only one able to speak to the thunderhead, he takes on the role of the Tonist's mythological figure, The Toll. Acting as a go-between, and manipulating those around him to fulfill the Thunderhead's goals.
Meanwhile, Faraday continues his search for the land of nod, making serious headway and discovering something that makes the Thunderhead uncertain. So the Thunderhead starts making plans. Faraday finds himself stranded with his helper, far away from the Scythedom, the Thunderhead and the horrible things that have been happening far away. He knows nothing of the fate of Marie, Goddard, Citra, Rowan, or the world. Finally, in the third year since the sinking of Endura, Rowan and Citra are raised from the depths, squirreled away by the Amazonian Scythes before Goddard knows they aren't dead. Being raised from the dead did wonders for Goddard's cause, so can Anastaisa's return do wonders for the plight of the old guard? But first Anastasia must plan and play her cards right, digging deep in the Thunderheads back brain to piece together mysteries long since written off and uncover the secrets of the Scythedom.
This book was really good, and a very satisfying finale to the series. The already rich worldbuilding is made richer by his choice to cut the world off from the Thunderhead, showing us what happens when people lose their connection to the world. He believably shows the influence one charismatic politician can have, and how easy it is for things to fall into disarray. You can tell he had a gameplan when he wrote these books, because everything comes together just right, not loose ends, everything had a purpose. Characters are tested, grow and develop. New parts of the world are further explored, completing the picture he begun in the other two books. I thoroughly enjoyed his take on the age-old sci-fi trope of "How does the benevolent computer protect humans from themselves". Well written, and elevated, especially in terms of other YA fiction. Shusterman really wrote a fantastic series. Once again, the romance is understated, but the emotions run deep enough at this point to pull at your heartstrings and make you believe in their love, even if it came from somewhat unbelievable beginnings.
This series is well worth the read, and a breath of fresh air in an otherwise stale and formulaic YA world.
The Toll picks up immediately after Thunderhead. Goddard has returned the MidMerica, no one knows that he was demoted to apprentice and with the death of Scythe Curie he stands uncontested for replacing Xenocrates. Anastasia and Rowan rest at the bottom of the ocean, and Goddard has made the site a site of remembrance to avoid any evidence being drudged up. The sinking of Endura is also squarely blamed on Rowan, and the world suffers as the Thunderhead punishes everyone, marking them unsavory. Cutting off communication with all but one, our former unsavory, Greyson.
With the rise of Goddard, the Schism amongst the Scythedom widens. He seizes more power, overturns rules and makes new ones and slowly starts taking control of other nations. Dubbing himself the Overblade. The story arches over 3 years post Thunderhead, and we jump around a little bit. During the three years Goddard continues to take a chokehold on the world, Greyson suddenly finds himself a living god amongst the tonists and humanity, as the only one able to speak to the thunderhead, he takes on the role of the Tonist's mythological figure, The Toll. Acting as a go-between, and manipulating those around him to fulfill the Thunderhead's goals.
Meanwhile, Faraday continues his search for the land of nod, making serious headway and discovering something that makes the Thunderhead uncertain. So the Thunderhead starts making plans. Faraday finds himself stranded with his helper, far away from the Scythedom, the Thunderhead and the horrible things that have been happening far away. He knows nothing of the fate of Marie, Goddard, Citra, Rowan, or the world. Finally, in the third year since the sinking of Endura, Rowan and Citra are raised from the depths, squirreled away by the Amazonian Scythes before Goddard knows they aren't dead. Being raised from the dead did wonders for Goddard's cause, so can Anastaisa's return do wonders for the plight of the old guard? But first Anastasia must plan and play her cards right, digging deep in the Thunderheads back brain to piece together mysteries long since written off and uncover the secrets of the Scythedom.
This book was really good, and a very satisfying finale to the series. The already rich worldbuilding is made richer by his choice to cut the world off from the Thunderhead, showing us what happens when people lose their connection to the world. He believably shows the influence one charismatic politician can have, and how easy it is for things to fall into disarray. You can tell he had a gameplan when he wrote these books, because everything comes together just right, not loose ends, everything had a purpose. Characters are tested, grow and develop. New parts of the world are further explored, completing the picture he begun in the other two books. I thoroughly enjoyed his take on the age-old sci-fi trope of "How does the benevolent computer protect humans from themselves". Well written, and elevated, especially in terms of other YA fiction. Shusterman really wrote a fantastic series. Once again, the romance is understated, but the emotions run deep enough at this point to pull at your heartstrings and make you believe in their love, even if it came from somewhat unbelievable beginnings.
This series is well worth the read, and a breath of fresh air in an otherwise stale and formulaic YA world.
Night Reader Reviews (683 KP) rated Lithium in Books
Jan 9, 2020
Lithium by Asina C is not the typical book style that comes to mind when I think about a fiction book based in Chernobyl. Normally I would expect such a book to be full of zombies or mutants who go around terrorizing a group of tourist that get lost but that is not the case with Lithium. Instead, this book mixes truth with science and a little bit of fantasy and gives readers a different type of story altogether. This book also talks about the Red Forest in Chernobyl and it sparked an interest in me to look up some pictures of the forest. I also did not notice too much that widely away from the actual facts about Chernobyl, though I would by no means consider myself to be well informed on the subject.
Zurin has lived with her mother for all of her twelve years in a small shack in Pripyat. Her mother has always kept Zurin inside her home for fear of radiation sickness and being seen. This is in part because the area in which they live is believed to be uninhabitable because of all the radiation still in everything following the explosion. Zurin has always been obedient to her mothers rules until one day when her mother goes to get supplies and Zurin decides to step outside for the first time but may have been seen by someone.
Then one day, shortly after her birthday Zurin wakes up to find her mother gone and blood on the floor. Zurin then ventures out into the Red Forest in search of her mother but gets extremely lost and succumbs to radiation sickness. Luckily she is found by a young couple who work for a travel company and snuck into a restricted area of Chernobyl to take pictures for their website. The couple takes Zurin to the hospital and adopts her once she gets better. As fate would have it months later Zurin returns to Pripyat in search of her mother yet again and finds herself in an abandoned hospital. It is in this hospital that she learns the truth about her mother and her life up to this point. Her only hope is to team up with a doctor she is not completely trusting of, the young couple, and a man she has never met before.
What I liked best was the idea of people still being able to live in a highly irradiated area such as Pripyat with few side effects was interesting. The book also offered some mystery as to who Zurin and her mother are and why they chose to continue to live in an isolated area such a Pripyat. What I liked least was a little more complicated. I understand the fact that people exposed to nuclear radiation and or uranium may mutate both physically and/or mentally if they survive. What I did not understand was Nikolavs goal by purposefully mutating the patients who survived the explosion but were trapped in the mental ward of the hospital.
This is definitely a young adult book, but for many, after high school, I feel like it would quickly lose its strong appeal. It is a good book but I feel like it would need to be a little more detailed, making the book a bit longer in order for it to have more of an appeal to adults. I ended up rating this book a 2 out of 4. This is because while I enjoy books set around Chernobyl (especially if mutated people or zombies are involved because it offers a plausible explanation for it) this book fell short of my expectations. One of the main issues I had was how the book fails to give solid reasoning and jumps from one topic to another.
https://nightreaderreviews.blogspot.com/
https://www.austinmacauley.com/book/lithium
Zurin has lived with her mother for all of her twelve years in a small shack in Pripyat. Her mother has always kept Zurin inside her home for fear of radiation sickness and being seen. This is in part because the area in which they live is believed to be uninhabitable because of all the radiation still in everything following the explosion. Zurin has always been obedient to her mothers rules until one day when her mother goes to get supplies and Zurin decides to step outside for the first time but may have been seen by someone.
Then one day, shortly after her birthday Zurin wakes up to find her mother gone and blood on the floor. Zurin then ventures out into the Red Forest in search of her mother but gets extremely lost and succumbs to radiation sickness. Luckily she is found by a young couple who work for a travel company and snuck into a restricted area of Chernobyl to take pictures for their website. The couple takes Zurin to the hospital and adopts her once she gets better. As fate would have it months later Zurin returns to Pripyat in search of her mother yet again and finds herself in an abandoned hospital. It is in this hospital that she learns the truth about her mother and her life up to this point. Her only hope is to team up with a doctor she is not completely trusting of, the young couple, and a man she has never met before.
What I liked best was the idea of people still being able to live in a highly irradiated area such as Pripyat with few side effects was interesting. The book also offered some mystery as to who Zurin and her mother are and why they chose to continue to live in an isolated area such a Pripyat. What I liked least was a little more complicated. I understand the fact that people exposed to nuclear radiation and or uranium may mutate both physically and/or mentally if they survive. What I did not understand was Nikolavs goal by purposefully mutating the patients who survived the explosion but were trapped in the mental ward of the hospital.
This is definitely a young adult book, but for many, after high school, I feel like it would quickly lose its strong appeal. It is a good book but I feel like it would need to be a little more detailed, making the book a bit longer in order for it to have more of an appeal to adults. I ended up rating this book a 2 out of 4. This is because while I enjoy books set around Chernobyl (especially if mutated people or zombies are involved because it offers a plausible explanation for it) this book fell short of my expectations. One of the main issues I had was how the book fails to give solid reasoning and jumps from one topic to another.
https://nightreaderreviews.blogspot.com/
https://www.austinmacauley.com/book/lithium
Gareth von Kallenbach (962 KP) rated Seven Psychopaths (2012) in Movies
Aug 7, 2019
Unfamiliar with writer and director Martin McDonagh’s previous gangster film In Burges, I was not exactly sure what I was getting into when watching Seven Psychopaths. I had seen a few trailers and was looking forward to what looked like a quirky new movie that I hoped delivered at least a few solid one-liners but was not expecting much more. Well, I am delighted to say that McDonagh delivers a fantastic self-referential crime caper that is one part Pulp Fiction and one part a meta episode of NBC’s TV show Community.
This self-aware film has a story that is hilarious in its antics and creates a world where these characters come to life. Colin Farrell (In Burges) plays Marty, an alcoholic film writer suffering from a terrible case of writer’s block. He has the title for his next film Seven Psychopaths but little more. However in spite of what the title suggest, Marty does not want his film to be violent. He wants his main psychopath to love more than kill, whch is what appears to be giving Marty the writing block in the first place. Enter Marty’s good friend Bill played by Sam Rockwell (Iron Man 2). In an effort to help Marty find inspiration for the characters in his story, Billy encourages and informs Marty of various psychopathic stories he is aware of. He even goes so far as putting a “psycho story” want ad in the paper, asking psycho’s to come to Marty’s house and tell their story. This causes Marty to spend the length of the film trying to create the characters for his story from the crazy interactions going on around him.
While based on “real life” people, these characters are introduced through individual dramatized stories about them complete with glorified over the top cartoon like violence that hits home as visual comedy. From the Quaker psychopath who stalks his daughter’s killer, to the psychopath who spent his youth killing other psycho killers, to the Vietnamese Psychopath who just seems crazy for most of the movie. These stories give us a glimpse into the psychopathic mind of Marty and friends and help create a visual world where anything seems possible from these characters.
In addition to these characters, Marty has to deal with a “real life” shih-tzu-loving psycho gangster Charlie played by Woody Harrelson (Natural Born Killers), when Billy and friend Hans (Christopher Walken, Poolhall Junkies) “accidently” kidnap Charlie’s dog in their regular dog-napping scheme to collect a found reward from owners. This interaction with Charlie helps Marty, Billy and Hans figure out the story to Seven Psychopaths that borrows from their own in-film “real life” experience.
The ensemble cast all hit their mark in his film. Each shows us enough of their characters to fit their quirky stereotypes but gives us something memorable about each. No more is this shown through Rockwell’s performance of Billy that builds on his lunacy throughout the film until his shining moment, a scene where he is telling Marty how he would finish his story. In addition, Walken delivers his best performance in years with his traditional over the top serious but hysterical Walken Style. Any fan of his should not miss this film.
Seven Psychopaths turned out to be an enjoyable experience and thrill ride from start to finish. The ensemble cast breathes life into the crazy characters that help move along the action. It is a film that is self-aware and does not take its self too seriously. As such, we are delivered an eccentric but entertaining film experience that anyone looking for a change of pace should not miss.
This self-aware film has a story that is hilarious in its antics and creates a world where these characters come to life. Colin Farrell (In Burges) plays Marty, an alcoholic film writer suffering from a terrible case of writer’s block. He has the title for his next film Seven Psychopaths but little more. However in spite of what the title suggest, Marty does not want his film to be violent. He wants his main psychopath to love more than kill, whch is what appears to be giving Marty the writing block in the first place. Enter Marty’s good friend Bill played by Sam Rockwell (Iron Man 2). In an effort to help Marty find inspiration for the characters in his story, Billy encourages and informs Marty of various psychopathic stories he is aware of. He even goes so far as putting a “psycho story” want ad in the paper, asking psycho’s to come to Marty’s house and tell their story. This causes Marty to spend the length of the film trying to create the characters for his story from the crazy interactions going on around him.
While based on “real life” people, these characters are introduced through individual dramatized stories about them complete with glorified over the top cartoon like violence that hits home as visual comedy. From the Quaker psychopath who stalks his daughter’s killer, to the psychopath who spent his youth killing other psycho killers, to the Vietnamese Psychopath who just seems crazy for most of the movie. These stories give us a glimpse into the psychopathic mind of Marty and friends and help create a visual world where anything seems possible from these characters.
In addition to these characters, Marty has to deal with a “real life” shih-tzu-loving psycho gangster Charlie played by Woody Harrelson (Natural Born Killers), when Billy and friend Hans (Christopher Walken, Poolhall Junkies) “accidently” kidnap Charlie’s dog in their regular dog-napping scheme to collect a found reward from owners. This interaction with Charlie helps Marty, Billy and Hans figure out the story to Seven Psychopaths that borrows from their own in-film “real life” experience.
The ensemble cast all hit their mark in his film. Each shows us enough of their characters to fit their quirky stereotypes but gives us something memorable about each. No more is this shown through Rockwell’s performance of Billy that builds on his lunacy throughout the film until his shining moment, a scene where he is telling Marty how he would finish his story. In addition, Walken delivers his best performance in years with his traditional over the top serious but hysterical Walken Style. Any fan of his should not miss this film.
Seven Psychopaths turned out to be an enjoyable experience and thrill ride from start to finish. The ensemble cast breathes life into the crazy characters that help move along the action. It is a film that is self-aware and does not take its self too seriously. As such, we are delivered an eccentric but entertaining film experience that anyone looking for a change of pace should not miss.
Gareth von Kallenbach (962 KP) rated Argo (2012) in Movies
Aug 7, 2019
As a small child, I can remember the Iranian hostage crisis as it dominated the news media for over a year. While I did not understand the political atmosphere behind it, I did understand that a group of our embassy staff were being held prisoner in a foreign land for simply being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Director and star Ben Affleck has brought a new side to the story to light in the form of his new film “Argo”, which is based upon true events which have recently become declassified. The story centers around six workers of the embassy in Tehran, who fled the chaos when a disgruntled mob stormed the embassy walls. At that time it was unheard of for an embassy to be occupied as they host country and internal security were thought to of been more than adequate protection.
However for a country in a state of revolution, much less one that was extremely upset with America’s refusal to return the deposed Shah to face trial, security from the local populace was not available when the unthinkable happened.
After being turned away by the British and New Zealand embassies, the six escapees find refuge in the residence of the Canadian ambassador Ken Taylor (Victor Garber), who refuses to turn them away despite the volatile political situation harboring them would create should they ever be discovered.
On the other side of the world, C.I.A. Director Jack O’Donnell (Bryan Cranston), and his staff are desperately looking for a way to retrieve not only the Americans held hostage but also the six individuals currently being sheltered by the Canadian ambassador.
With few viable options available, save for the longshot of trying to get the refugees to bike through 300 miles of winter and soldier laden roads to the Turkish border, Tony Mendez (Affleck), is brought in to find other options.
One evening, Tony gets the idea to go to Iran posing as a Canadian filmmaker on a location scouting trip for an upcoming film. His plan is to pass the refugees off as part of his crew thanks to newly issued passports from the Canadian government.
In order to add validity to his plan, Tony recruits award-winning makeup artist John Chambers (John Goodman), and producer Lester Siegel (Alan Arkin), to help establish the necessary cover for the operation.
Soon Tony, John, and Lester have obtained a script for science fiction film named “Argo”, and the use the Hollywood trades and publicity machine to establish their back story of their production company and film project.
With time running down, Tony must venture alone to Tehran to meet with and prepare the refugees for extraction as well as firming up their cover with the local Iranian authorities.
What follows is a tense political thriller that is extremely well performed and captivating throughout. What really impressed me about the film was that Affleck expertly paced it and refrain from using such overused stereotypes such as car chases, fight sequences, and love scenes to tell the story.
The cast is exceptionally good all around and the film does a good job capturing the look and the atmosphere of the situation without ever becoming preachy and taking extreme political stances. Instead the focus is on real people caught in an extraordinary situation from which they were unprepared, and the extraordinary measures taken by good people in the United States and Canada who stepped up and did the right thing regardless of the cost to them personally or politically.
“Argo”, was an extremely pleasant surprise in one of the most enjoyable films I have seen this year. While I understand it would not be for everyone, I would not be surprised to see the film get a few Oscar nods come awards season as they would be in my opinion well deserved.
Director and star Ben Affleck has brought a new side to the story to light in the form of his new film “Argo”, which is based upon true events which have recently become declassified. The story centers around six workers of the embassy in Tehran, who fled the chaos when a disgruntled mob stormed the embassy walls. At that time it was unheard of for an embassy to be occupied as they host country and internal security were thought to of been more than adequate protection.
However for a country in a state of revolution, much less one that was extremely upset with America’s refusal to return the deposed Shah to face trial, security from the local populace was not available when the unthinkable happened.
After being turned away by the British and New Zealand embassies, the six escapees find refuge in the residence of the Canadian ambassador Ken Taylor (Victor Garber), who refuses to turn them away despite the volatile political situation harboring them would create should they ever be discovered.
On the other side of the world, C.I.A. Director Jack O’Donnell (Bryan Cranston), and his staff are desperately looking for a way to retrieve not only the Americans held hostage but also the six individuals currently being sheltered by the Canadian ambassador.
With few viable options available, save for the longshot of trying to get the refugees to bike through 300 miles of winter and soldier laden roads to the Turkish border, Tony Mendez (Affleck), is brought in to find other options.
One evening, Tony gets the idea to go to Iran posing as a Canadian filmmaker on a location scouting trip for an upcoming film. His plan is to pass the refugees off as part of his crew thanks to newly issued passports from the Canadian government.
In order to add validity to his plan, Tony recruits award-winning makeup artist John Chambers (John Goodman), and producer Lester Siegel (Alan Arkin), to help establish the necessary cover for the operation.
Soon Tony, John, and Lester have obtained a script for science fiction film named “Argo”, and the use the Hollywood trades and publicity machine to establish their back story of their production company and film project.
With time running down, Tony must venture alone to Tehran to meet with and prepare the refugees for extraction as well as firming up their cover with the local Iranian authorities.
What follows is a tense political thriller that is extremely well performed and captivating throughout. What really impressed me about the film was that Affleck expertly paced it and refrain from using such overused stereotypes such as car chases, fight sequences, and love scenes to tell the story.
The cast is exceptionally good all around and the film does a good job capturing the look and the atmosphere of the situation without ever becoming preachy and taking extreme political stances. Instead the focus is on real people caught in an extraordinary situation from which they were unprepared, and the extraordinary measures taken by good people in the United States and Canada who stepped up and did the right thing regardless of the cost to them personally or politically.
“Argo”, was an extremely pleasant surprise in one of the most enjoyable films I have seen this year. While I understand it would not be for everyone, I would not be surprised to see the film get a few Oscar nods come awards season as they would be in my opinion well deserved.
Melanie Caldicott (6 KP) rated The Lost Apothecary in Books
Apr 29, 2021
Thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for the ARe-copy in exchange for this honest review. You can also read my review on my blog - https:roamingthroughbooks.wordpress.com
The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner is a novel which switches between the storylines of a female apothecary in the 1790s who sells poisons to women to kill men who have wronged them and the present day, in which Caroline happens upon a clue which leads her to investigate the apothecary’s story.
Well, the idea of an apothecary dispensing poison for women to use for murder was enticing to say the least. This book had the potential to weave a thought-provoking, adventurous tale, developing themes about womanhood, oppression and doing evil for good. Sadly, for me it did not quite meet the mark.
The narratives switch between three characters, Caroline, our present-day historian, Nella, the apothecary, and Eliza, a servant girl who becomes friends with Nella over the course of the book.
As I said, I was expecting this novel to grapple with challenging themes, which could have been very emotive and dark. Yet, it turned out to be just a bland bit of light fiction never dwelling on anything for too long, skimming over the surface of most of the characters, their motives and their reactions and lacking depth on any of the parallel-running plotlines.
It is surprising how a book surrounding multiple murders, historical medicine and herbalism and women trapped in marriages with infidels, letches and rapists could be quite so vanilla. It was a pleasant enough read, but lacked the substance I was hoping for.
I found Nella, the apothecary to be a bit of an enigma. We do learn about her back story and gain some insight into her motives for dispensing the poisons. However, for a woman who was resourceful enough to construct the whole clandestine operation we meet her in a weakened state and I grew frustrated with how she seemed to fall into an oblivious kind of dream-like manner becoming swept along by circumstance with no clear influence on the events or people around her.
Eliza, was a naïve girl who met Nella whilst running an errand for her mistress. It is not really clear why the friendship between Nella and Eliza develops, it seems to be more for the convenience of the plot than due to real concrete reasoning. However, an intimacy develops between them which has the potential to bring new colour to the characters. But yet again, Penner seems to skim the surface of going to any depths and I was left feeling robbed of any insight into the emotional and kindred aspects of their friendship.
Finally, Caroline’s story in the present day brought a different perspective to the themes of womanhood running through this book. She parallels the wronged women of the 18th century by escaping to London on a trip she was supposed to take with her husband to celebrate their tenth wedding anniversary, but was instead travelling alone having discovered her husband had been having an affair.
I initially enjoyed Caroline’s historical investigations as they took her to The British Library and researching documents and newspapers there. As an avid genealogist I appreciated the details Penner gives about the sources of Caroline’s research and the challenges of finding the truth from historical documents.
Yet, again her story became somewhat contrived. It seemed unlikely that she would make some of the discoveries she did and her investigation became constructed around coincidence and unrealistic serendipity. Even the parallel storylines surrounding her relationship and those from the apothecary’s timeline seemed somewhat silly and phoney.
For me, the conclusion of the book yet again did not fully reconcile itself and therefore left me unmoved and feeling somewhat apathetic about the ending and the novel as a whole.
The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner is a novel which switches between the storylines of a female apothecary in the 1790s who sells poisons to women to kill men who have wronged them and the present day, in which Caroline happens upon a clue which leads her to investigate the apothecary’s story.
Well, the idea of an apothecary dispensing poison for women to use for murder was enticing to say the least. This book had the potential to weave a thought-provoking, adventurous tale, developing themes about womanhood, oppression and doing evil for good. Sadly, for me it did not quite meet the mark.
The narratives switch between three characters, Caroline, our present-day historian, Nella, the apothecary, and Eliza, a servant girl who becomes friends with Nella over the course of the book.
As I said, I was expecting this novel to grapple with challenging themes, which could have been very emotive and dark. Yet, it turned out to be just a bland bit of light fiction never dwelling on anything for too long, skimming over the surface of most of the characters, their motives and their reactions and lacking depth on any of the parallel-running plotlines.
It is surprising how a book surrounding multiple murders, historical medicine and herbalism and women trapped in marriages with infidels, letches and rapists could be quite so vanilla. It was a pleasant enough read, but lacked the substance I was hoping for.
I found Nella, the apothecary to be a bit of an enigma. We do learn about her back story and gain some insight into her motives for dispensing the poisons. However, for a woman who was resourceful enough to construct the whole clandestine operation we meet her in a weakened state and I grew frustrated with how she seemed to fall into an oblivious kind of dream-like manner becoming swept along by circumstance with no clear influence on the events or people around her.
Eliza, was a naïve girl who met Nella whilst running an errand for her mistress. It is not really clear why the friendship between Nella and Eliza develops, it seems to be more for the convenience of the plot than due to real concrete reasoning. However, an intimacy develops between them which has the potential to bring new colour to the characters. But yet again, Penner seems to skim the surface of going to any depths and I was left feeling robbed of any insight into the emotional and kindred aspects of their friendship.
Finally, Caroline’s story in the present day brought a different perspective to the themes of womanhood running through this book. She parallels the wronged women of the 18th century by escaping to London on a trip she was supposed to take with her husband to celebrate their tenth wedding anniversary, but was instead travelling alone having discovered her husband had been having an affair.
I initially enjoyed Caroline’s historical investigations as they took her to The British Library and researching documents and newspapers there. As an avid genealogist I appreciated the details Penner gives about the sources of Caroline’s research and the challenges of finding the truth from historical documents.
Yet, again her story became somewhat contrived. It seemed unlikely that she would make some of the discoveries she did and her investigation became constructed around coincidence and unrealistic serendipity. Even the parallel storylines surrounding her relationship and those from the apothecary’s timeline seemed somewhat silly and phoney.
For me, the conclusion of the book yet again did not fully reconcile itself and therefore left me unmoved and feeling somewhat apathetic about the ending and the novel as a whole.
Janeeny (200 KP) rated A Deadly Education: Lesson One of the Scholomance in Books
Jun 18, 2021
I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
It’s taken me three days to write this review, as I’ve tried to find something clever and witty to say about it when the simple truth is, I like this book and it’s hard to explain why without giving too much away.
It has all the elements you’d expect and enjoy from a fantasy novel, and even though most people I know who enjoy this genre feel it bridges the gap between YA and adult fiction, I should still probably say that the only thing that gives it away that this is a YA book is the teenage protagonist. Novik has gone with the canny technique of a YA voice and theme with an adult backdrop. (I know it’s school but I don’t think even Harry Potter had THIS many near-death experiences)
The protagonist is a girl called El who goes to a special school called The Scholomance. What makes this school so special is the fact that it’s for magically gifted children, it’s held between realities, there are no teachers, the school itself assesses your progress and provides your work accordingly. However, where there are magical beings there are beasties and there are some right nasty ones in this school. Luckily El is constantly rescued by resident hero Orion, which she is especially aggrieved by, considering that El herself is potentially the most dangerous thing in the school.
Oddly enough, one of my favourite aspects of this book was the one thing that most reviewers found annoying about it, and that’s what they’re calling the ‘info-dumping’. There’s a strong feeling amongst the reviews that there is constantly just too much information being thrown at you. In hindsight, I can see their point, and if you’re a fan of Novik and were expecting her usual standard this may be annoying. However, for me as my first foray into her style, I didn’t mind it. In fact, I think it contributed to her world-building and just made me even keener to read the next book. Maybe now that the base is established the next book won’t have so much of it, but it didn’t detract from the story at all for me. I can’t help it, I like information. Sure if a bunch of schoolroom chairs have just come to life and chased after our main characters I want to know how that turns out as quickly as possible, but I do also like to know why.
There is so much going on here, that not only is Novik giving you an entertaining story but it feels like she’s laying the groundwork for what could be (hopefully) an epic new series. El is at times annoying and frustrating, but refreshingly consistent. Orion is the reluctant hero, despite being provided with a bit of background for him he still feels a little 2 dimensional to me, but I hope he’ll be fleshed out a bit more in the next book. They are supported by a range of diverse characters, speaking of which . . .
I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the controversy around the book regarding some racist claims. I am by no means qualified to comment on this point, but what I would say is that the issue is a sin of omission rather than intention, and has been addressed by the author. If this is an issue that has you reconsidering adding this to your TBR pile, please do read a broad selection of reviews before making up your mind. As it is a fantastic book and could potentially be my favourite new series
It’s taken me three days to write this review, as I’ve tried to find something clever and witty to say about it when the simple truth is, I like this book and it’s hard to explain why without giving too much away.
It has all the elements you’d expect and enjoy from a fantasy novel, and even though most people I know who enjoy this genre feel it bridges the gap between YA and adult fiction, I should still probably say that the only thing that gives it away that this is a YA book is the teenage protagonist. Novik has gone with the canny technique of a YA voice and theme with an adult backdrop. (I know it’s school but I don’t think even Harry Potter had THIS many near-death experiences)
The protagonist is a girl called El who goes to a special school called The Scholomance. What makes this school so special is the fact that it’s for magically gifted children, it’s held between realities, there are no teachers, the school itself assesses your progress and provides your work accordingly. However, where there are magical beings there are beasties and there are some right nasty ones in this school. Luckily El is constantly rescued by resident hero Orion, which she is especially aggrieved by, considering that El herself is potentially the most dangerous thing in the school.
Oddly enough, one of my favourite aspects of this book was the one thing that most reviewers found annoying about it, and that’s what they’re calling the ‘info-dumping’. There’s a strong feeling amongst the reviews that there is constantly just too much information being thrown at you. In hindsight, I can see their point, and if you’re a fan of Novik and were expecting her usual standard this may be annoying. However, for me as my first foray into her style, I didn’t mind it. In fact, I think it contributed to her world-building and just made me even keener to read the next book. Maybe now that the base is established the next book won’t have so much of it, but it didn’t detract from the story at all for me. I can’t help it, I like information. Sure if a bunch of schoolroom chairs have just come to life and chased after our main characters I want to know how that turns out as quickly as possible, but I do also like to know why.
There is so much going on here, that not only is Novik giving you an entertaining story but it feels like she’s laying the groundwork for what could be (hopefully) an epic new series. El is at times annoying and frustrating, but refreshingly consistent. Orion is the reluctant hero, despite being provided with a bit of background for him he still feels a little 2 dimensional to me, but I hope he’ll be fleshed out a bit more in the next book. They are supported by a range of diverse characters, speaking of which . . .
I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the controversy around the book regarding some racist claims. I am by no means qualified to comment on this point, but what I would say is that the issue is a sin of omission rather than intention, and has been addressed by the author. If this is an issue that has you reconsidering adding this to your TBR pile, please do read a broad selection of reviews before making up your mind. As it is a fantastic book and could potentially be my favourite new series