This month I read seven books including one audio book and one graphic novel. I’ve also watched several movies.
Books:
The Anti-Virginity Pact by Katie Wismer is a new self published young adult contemporary. The book follows Mare and her best friend who have signed a pact agreeing that they won’t be virgins by the end of their senior year of high school. This is a hard hitting contemporary that deals with topics such as family and religion. I have a full review up as well.
Witchy by Ariel Slamet Ries is set in a world where length of ones hair determines your power as a witch but having too long of hair will get you killed. Nyneve has hidden her true hair length but when the Witch guard conscription comes around she decides that she will determine her own future. A short graphic novel that is the start of a new fantasy series. Great for young adult fan of graphic novels and comics.
Middlegame by Seanan McGuire is an adult fantasy novel about alchemy, language, math, and family. The story follows Roger and Dodger who were created by Reed to embody the Doctrine of Ethos which would allow someone to control how the world works. Adopted by different families Roger is all languages and works while Dodger is math and logic. When they connect as children talking to each other in their minds they know something is different about them and that it could be dangerous. I have a full review of this book but it is very hard to explain but is absolutely amazing and one of my new favorite books.
Five Nights at Freddy’s Fazbear Frights #2: Fetch by Scott Cawthon is the second collection of three short stories in the FNAF universe. The stories in this collection are Fetch, Lonely Freddy, and Out of Stock. Fetch follows a group of kids that find a animatronic dog inside an old Freddy’s Fazbear pizzeria that starts terrorizing them. Lonely Freddy is a creep story about a older brother who wants everyone to know how fake is younger sister is but things go bad at her birthday party at Freddy’s. The last story Out of Stock follows several kids that get their hand on a Plushtrap toy that seems to have very human eyes and teeth which then attacks them at night. Though I like how creepy these story collections can be I don’t like the fact that kids in the stories get hurt or punished for not knowing any better.
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers is the first book in the Wayfarers series a series of slice of life adult science fiction novels. The story follows the crew of a tunneling ship the Wayfarer as they take on jobs creating tunnels between different planets. The is a character driven story that the plot takes second place to but I loved all the characters and their relationships. I have a full review for this book and I can’t wait to read the next in the series.
You Are A Badass by Jen Sincero is a self-help book about how everyone is a badass in their own way and how to stop messing around and get your life track. The author believes that if you set your mind on changing something you can do it if you are willing to put in the work. I listened to this and its a very short audio book which is what I wanted at the time. It has advice on many different topics but focuses on how mindset is everything. Good for someone looking to this kind of information and to be encouraged to do and change whatever to be a better, happier person.
The Hunger by Alma Katsu is a historical fiction novel with a bit of a supernatural twist. Follows the Donnor party and their attempt to travel to California. I like the ideas and concepts of the book but it jumps between too many characters. Because I this I didn’t really connect to the story or the characters which meant that I didn’t care what happen to them.
Movies:
I watched three movies this month which I haven’t done in a while. The first movie I watched was Rocketman which is the musical about the life of Elton John. I didn’t know really anything about Elton John before watching the movie but I movie kept me interested. I think it would also make an amazing stage musical.
Knives Out is a murder mystery movie following death of crime novelist Harlan Thrombey the night of his 85th birthday. This is a murder mystery in the similar vein as Clue but not as comedic. I loved the ensemble cast and all the weird family drama that changed how I thought each character was involved. If you haven’t seen it yet I would highly recommend it.
The last movie I watched this month was Joker. This movie follows the origins of the DC and Batman villain The Joker. This is a very good movie that shows one mans decent into madness and how a person could become a villain like the Joker. I plan to have a full review out shortly but I would recommend seeing this movie if you haven’t already.
Fullmetal Alchemist: Fullmetal Edition volume one by Hiromu Arakawa is the first volume of the Fullmetal Alchemist manga series. This is a special hardcover edition that the publisher has started to release. The story follows brothers Edward and Alphonse Elric who are attempting to restore their bodies after trying to bring their mother back to life and failing. This series is a reread for me and I still love the story as much as the first time I read it. I’m reading each volume as I collect these editions.
Monstress volume four by Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda is a fantasy graphic novel that continues the story of Miaka and how she is connected to the demon who lives inside her. This volume gives the reader more information on Miaka’s past and where the major conflict is heading. I can’t wait for the rest of the story.
The Deep by Alma Katsu is a historical fiction with supernatural elements focusing on the Sinking of the Titanic. The story follows maid Annie Hebbley who survived the sinking and is working as a nurse on Titanic’s sister ship Britannic during World War I and her connection to soldier Mark Fletcher. I loved the concept of the story but felt that it switched perspectives too often for me to connect to the characters. I received this book from the publisher by winning a Goodreads contest and there is a full review on this blog and Goodreads.
The Race to Save the Romanovs by Helen Rappaport in a historical nonfiction book about the different plan to possibly save the Romanov family and the ideas to get them out of Russia. While good I prefer historical books about the family directly than events that they didn’t have any control or input on so not my favorite book about the Romanovs. It would be a great resource for anyone studying this time period.
Five Nights at Freddy’s Fazbear Frights #1: Into the Pit by Scott Cawthon is the first in the series of Five Nights short story collections. All of the stories take place in the world of Five Nights at Freddy’s and show different elements to the previous books and game. All the stories are very creepy and good for teenagers. They remind me of R L Stine’s and Darren Shan’s series and books. As someone who is into the lore surrounding the games and story I do plan an reading the next books in the series.
Nevernight by Jay Kristoff is the first book in an adult fantasy series following Mia Corvere to train to be an assassin and kill those who destroyed her family when she was a child. I loved this book even though it took me quite a while to finish. The first hundred pages before getting to the Red Church are slow but it pick ups from there. I love Mia and Tric’s relationship and its one of the strongest parts of the book. I also have a full review posted.
Doctor Who: I finished Doctor Who series twelve this month and I liked it much more than series eleven. At times it still didn’t feel like Doctor Who to me and I felt that there could have been more fun stories that didn’t need a message but I liked the dynamics between all the characters and the companions being fleshed out more. However, the Timeless Child story line was dumb and was not something that the series needed. The fact at the end of the series that it had no impact and nothing really changed meant that the writer had no reason to add it in. I do plan on watching the next series but I generally wait to binge watch it.
Kong: Skull Island: I watched Kong: Skull Island because I heard that I wasn’t bad and I want some mindless entertainment one night. Though the plot isn’t all that interesting the acting is good and the visual effects are great. The ending sets up the idea that Kong and the other monsters like Godzilla all exist in the same world and I’m interested in where movies that these ideas.
So I finally sat down and watched The Cloverfield Paradox which I liked the most out of the Cloverfield movies so far. The movie starts out with some info dumping about how Earth is running out of power sources and so the world has sent a team to a space station to work with a massive particle accelerator to attempt to find a new power source. When the experiment works all hell breaks loose on the space station has they ended up breaking the fabric of reality. Though it is a science fiction movie I would classify it more as a body horror such as Alien or the Thing than just straight sci-fi. 
The only book I read this month was The Tea Dragon Society by Katie O’Neill. The Tea Dragon Society is a short graphic novel set in a fantasy world where tea leaves are harvested from dragons. The story follows two young girls, Greta and Minette, who are learning about tea dragons and how to take care of them. It’s a beautifully illustrated story inspired by anime and manga with very unique fantasy concepts. Many of the characters are a combination of different fantasy races and use different fantasy elements. I would like to see the story continue as this first book is so short at only 72 pages there isn’t much time to connect with and learn everything about the characters. 3.5/5 stars.
I finally finished the Star Wars: The Clone Wars TV show which will be getting a continuation on Disney’s new streaming service that is supposed to come out sometime in 2019. The Clone Wars show is set in between the Clone Wars and Revenge of the Sith movie and does fix some of the problem that the prequel movies have. The big thing is it gives much more information about the Clone Wars and fleshed out most of the bigger relationship from the movies. This show made me believe that Obi-Wan did consider Anakin his brother and the relationship between Anakin and Padme is much better and is given time to grow. Anakin is given a padawan in Ahsoka Tano. Ahsoka is an amazing character but also allows the audience to see Anakin as a leader and in different stories and positions from the movies. However, there are some episodes that are just not that good and can be skipped without missing any plot or story elements. I would recommend not watch most to the episodes that feature Jar Jar or primarily focus on the droids. Also the show was not originally released in chronological order so there are two ways to watch it, episode release order or chronological. I would recommend watching the show in chronological order as it gives you a better sense of the state of the Jedi during the Clone Wars but before Revenge of the Sith.
So I saw Captain Marvel and I liked it, I do have a full review 
This month I also finally set down and watched The Cloverfield Paradox which I liked the most out of the Cloverfield movies so far. The movie starts out with some info dumping about how the earth is running out of power sources and so the world has sent a team to a space station to work with a massive particle accelerator to attempt to find a new power source. When the experiment works all hell breaks loose on the space station has they ended up breaking the fabric of reality. Though it is a science fiction movie I would classify it more as a body horror such as Alien or the Thing than just straight sci-fi. I’ve never loved any of the Cloverfield movies and this ones no exception though I do like it better than the others. In Cloverfield I felt like the characters were very annoying and I didn’t care what happen. It doesn’t help that I have never been a fan of found footage movies either. 10 Cloverfield Lane on the other hand was a movie that I like the concept of but found the movie as a whole very boring. So, I didn’t have high expectations for Cloverfield Paradox. Though I don’t think Paradox was needed as part of the Cloverfield series I did like the concept of the movie and I wasn’t bored. If any of the Cloverfield movie got direct squeals I would want it to be Paradox as I feel like it has the most that could be done with it given how the story and ending is set up. I do plan to post a full review so for all of my thoughts check that post.
Captain Marvel is the twenty-first Marvel Cinematic Universe movie set in 1995. The story follows Carol Danvers as she becomes Captain Marvel when Earth is caught in a conflict between two alien worlds. For those who have watched most, if not all of the MCU movies Captain Marvel must be watched before Avengers: Endgame as it set up Captain Marvel for her potential role in the future movies.
Venom is the newest superhero movie of 2018 and the one that has divided reviewers the most. The movie follows reporter Eddie Brock a down on his luck reporter who ends up bonding to an alien Symbiote after breaking into an evil research facility and then saving the world from evil billionaire.
