Sign up
Search
Advanced search settings

Search only in certain items:

Search results
All (4049)
Content
People
Apps
Books
Orbs
Movies
Music
Podcasts
Shows
Tabletop Games
Tech
TV
Video Games
YouTube Channels
Videos
40x40

Sophia (Bookwyrming Thoughts) (530 KP) rated The Shadowglass (The Bone Witch, #3) in Books

Jan 23, 2020  
TS
The Shadowglass (The Bone Witch, #3)
Rin Chupeco | 2019
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
<b><i>I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.</i></b>
<h2><strong>My body, heart and soul were not ready for the final book.</strong></h2>
I procrastinated reading <em>The Shadow Glass</em> because this is the end. The End. THE END.
<img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-2925" src="https://bookwyrmingthoughts.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/317/2017/06/internal-screaming-sherlock.gif"; alt="internal screaming sherlock" width="320" height="147" />
It's a week after finishing the last book in <em>The Bone Witch</em> trilogy and mere hours before this review is going live and I'm sitting here going: OH. MY. GOD. What are words even? Can I come back when my tears are refreshed and ready to cry internally again (because I can't actually cry when reading for some reason)? <em>Will my review even give justice???</em>

<h2><strong>I adore the characters SO MUCH.</strong></h2>
Back when I first read <em><a href="https://bookwyrmingthoughts.com/some-of-those-arcs-from-last-year/">The Bone Witch</a>,</em> I had so much difficulty getting through the first book because it's filled with descriptions and world-building, which made the book go by slowly. However, I loved the concept and the characters, so I sucked it up and continued. But when I read <a href="http://theartsstl.com/rin-chupeco-the-heart-forger-sourcebooks-fire/"><em>The Heart Forger</em></a> last year, I got <em>completely </em><em>invested</em> in the characters Chupeco created and fell in love with all of them.

Tea, Kalen, Fox, Inessa, Likh, Khalad - these are only a few of the characters that make up the trilogy. I adore the entire cast Chupeco introduces to us from the first book and brought over through the rest of the trilogy as well. I love their dynamics with each other, the relationships they've developed and their interactions. In particular, I truly appreciated how everyone accepted Likh's transition as she discovered more about herself and who she truly is. I also enjoyed reading their sassy and snarky remarks as Tea continues on her journey to get a shadow glass in order to save the one she loves, even if it will potentially kill her.

<h2><strong>Everything comes together in <em>The Shadow Glass</em>.</strong></h2>
I had so many questions after reading <em>The Heart Forger</em>! (Mainly, will my precious beans survive???) I am so happy Chupeco answers all of those questions in <em>The Shadow Glass</em>. Much like the second book's format, the story is told in two timelines eventually coming together at the end. One timeline is in the Bard's perspective when Tea is older while the other is Tea telling her past. This format can get confusing and overwhelming with so much going on, but it is easily rectified by the end.

<strong>Side Note:</strong> I read <em>The Shadow Glass</em> at midnight and half of my brain is asleep, so um, that probably explains me being confused and overwhelmed. Sleepy Sophia does not equate to understanding Sophia.

<h2><strong>What a beautiful ending.</strong></h2>
I am still a bit speechless, but <em>The Shadow Glass</em> is simply beautiful and marvelous. (I even wrote a coherent review!) I'm grateful for getting to know each of the characters and reading their journey, although I'll miss them greatly. I encourage everyone to give <em>The Bone Witch</em> trilogy a try - the slow beginning and all the information are well worth it.

<a href="http://bookwyrmingthoughts.com/the-shadow-glass-by-rin-chupeco/"; target="_blank">This review was originally posted on Bookwyrming Thoughts</a>
  
40x40

Kirk Bage (1775 KP) rated Downsizing (2017) in Movies

Mar 3, 2020  
Downsizing (2017)
Downsizing (2017)
2017 | Comedy, Drama, Sci-Fi
7
6.0 (47 Ratings)
Movie Rating Watch
Sweeping up a few older films that I wanted to see but missed at the cinema in the last few years. My current IMDb watch list sits at 488, and, unlike this movie, never seems to shrink! There is a lot to keep up with. Bad reviews have kept me away from Alexander Payne’s Downsizing until now. I have to say, without the burden of expectation, it is a lot better than I thought it would be.

In particular, Sideways and The Descendents from the same Director are two of my absolute favourite light comedy satires of the last 20 years, so I am always interested to see what he is up to. He often has an eye for subtlety and relationships that can break the heart with truth. There is some of that on display here too, it has to be said, however, you do wonder if the sci-fi / CGI element of Downsizing got a little bit in the way?

It isn’t quite the film it could have been, and at times does feel messy and rushed. It also doesn’t follow through entirely with its premise, and perhaps that is what disappointed a lot of the audience. The idea of the small leaving the world of the large behind in search of an environmental solution to the world’s problems is compelling as a joke and allegorical devise… But it just isn’t explored to its full potential, and the visual effects that allow us to see this are years behind what they should have been.

Saying that, the personal journey’s of the main characters are relevent, funny, relatable and often unexpected. Matt Damon is totally fine and well cast; Christoph Waltz adds a counter-point humour and point of view that balances the political ethics of the subject very well; and both Kristen Wiig and Udi Keir offer support of deft pathos in minor roles.

The film truly belongs to Hong Chau, however. Without her multi-layered and show-stealing turn as a Vietnamese refugee, who “downsized” to escape tyranny, losing a limb in the process, the film would be much less than it ends up being. For its many faults, her performance lifts it to something worth watching, as long as you can forgive the argument that her character is a too broadly drawn race stereo-type. Honestly, I can’t see the problem, because I think what she does with it makes the movie – but I am aware of the problems with it…

As a political message and environmental allegory, the film as a whole raises some interesting debate, sometimes because of its (ahem) shortcomings. It is neither intelligent enough, nor funny enough to be a “good” film. But it is an entertaining film. If only to see the sequence of legal and medical procedure that leads to the new world of being small!

What would we be prepared to do to find an answer to a dying world, economic failure and personal unhappiness? Would we risk everything to find ourselves and a solution? Or would we carry on regardless? Feeling lost in a world of fear and looming disaster is a subject worth exploring, and I feel Downsizing asks enough questions well enough to be at least seen and argued with. If that is the only purpose it serves then… OK by me.

The bottom line is, I didn’t hate it. To see it at a rating of 5.7 on IMDb is strange and actually very interesting. It is not a bad film. It just doesn’t completely succeed. I think that score says much more about how vitriolic and opinionated people are becoming about environmental issues. Which is good. A missed opportunity perhaps, and therefore it earns a place in the bin marked “admirable failures”. See it for yourself if you haven’t – it has cult status written all over it, in very small writing.