February 2, 2017

January 2017 Wrap-Up

1

Hey there Literature Lovers, and Happy New Year! I hope you all had a great holiday season.

After being in a bit of a reading slump for the past couple of months, I managed to make it through a good number of books in January. I will be doing individual reviews of some of these so keep an eye out for those.

Please feel free to share what you’ve been reading in the comments below, and let me know if you have read any of these!


NOVELS

•Vlogger Nation (my book!!!)

•A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket, Books #1-4

     -The Bad Beginning

                Review: http://laurenecox.com/the-bad-beginning/

      -The Reptile Room

      -The Wide Window

      -The Miserable Mill

•The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

•The Magnolia Story by Chip and Joanna Gaines

GRAPHIC NOVELS

•Black Canary Volume 1: Kicking and Screaming by Brendan Fletcher, Annie Wu and Pia Guerra

•Uncanny X-Men Volumes 2 and 3 by Chris Claremont

•Radioactive Spider-Gwen Volume 1 by Jason Latour, Robbi Rodriguez and Chris Visions

•DC Bombshells Volume 2: Allies by Marguerite Bennett and Marguerite Sauvage


COMICS

•Superman Family 100-Page Spectacular #167

•Archie #16 by Mark Waid, Joe Eisma and Andre Symanowicz

•Jughead #6-8 by Chip Zdarsky, Erica Henderson and Derek Charm

•Frenemy comics #1-5 by Rashida Jones (Kindle)

•Amazing Spider-Man Clone Conspiracy #3-4 by Dan Slott, Jim Cheung and Gabriele Dell’Otto


Thanks for reading!

January 19, 2017

Character Bios | Huntington Markle

0

Hi there, Literature Lovers! Exciting news: MY BOOK WILL RELEASED SOON!!!! To celebrate, I will be releasing Character Bios up until release day, introducing you to some of our stars. Here is the first one! I hope you enjoy!

* * *

MEET HUNTINGTON MARKLE

Huntington Markle was born in Seattle, Washington on October 27. He is currently 23 years old.

Huntington was the most social kid in his class, and was nominated Wittiest and Friendliest by his peers his senior year of high school

He realized he was gay when he got to college, but didn’t know how to tell anyone. He filmed a video about it while alone in his dorm room. Saying it out loud made it seem more real and helped him come to terms with it. He wasn’t originally planning to post that video on the web, but he thought maybe someone would see it and find it helpful. Since then his channel has centered on the misfits who feel no one understands them and their situations. He also plays a part in various philanthropy projects to help make the world a better place.

Huntington has a degree in communication studies from Seattle University.

Huntington has 9 million subscribers and is one of the most popular personalities on WorldView.

December 2, 2016

November Wrap-Up

1

Hi everyone! Here is a quick look at all the books that I read in November. You’ll noticed that most of the things I have listed below are comic books. I’ve been in a bit of a reading slump, and since I have been getting back into comics lately, I’ve just ended up reading those. Hopefully I’ll get out of that slump soon, as there are some books that I really want to get to.

Please feel free to share what you have been reading in the comments down below. Also, do you have any tips for how to get out of a reading slump? Let me know!

Thanks for reading!

Novels

Queen of Hearts  by Colleen Oakes

Scarlett Epstein Hates It Here by Anna Breslaw

Plays/Screenplays

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by J.K. Rowling

Comic Books

Ultimate Comics New Ultimates: Thor Unborn (#1-5)

What If Aunt May Had Died Instead of Uncle Ben?

Captain America: Steve Rogers #1 (2016)

Spidey #12

The Unbeatable Squirrel-Girl #1-8

Wonder Woman Rebirth: #1&2

Harley Quinn Rebirth: #2

Supergirl: Rebirth #1

Supergirl (#1-4) { This was a four-issue run}

DC Secret Origins #1-7 (1973)

Powerpuff Girls (2016) #4

Archie #14 (2016)

Betty and Veronica #2 (2016)

Jughead #3 (2016)

Josie and the Pussycats #1 (2016)

Ozma of Oz (Marvel) #1-8

 

Graphic Novels

I Hate Fairyland Volume One

November 2, 2016

October Wrap-Up

1

Novels

Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by J.K. Rowling

As Old As Time: A Twisted Tale by Liz Braswell

The Geek’s Guide to Unrequited Love by Sarvenaz Tash

How I Live Now by Meg Roswell

 

Comic Books/Graphic Novels

Flashpoint

DC Bombshells Volume One

Spider-Gwen: Most Wanted Volume 0

The Unbeatable Squirrel-Girl #1-8

November 1, 2016

Book Review | Afterlife with Archie

0

Hey there Literature Lovers! Welcome back to the blog! Today I wanted to share with you my review of Afterlife with Archie.

afterlife

I just discovered this series last night and I am already hooked! Our local comic book store was giving away free Halloween issues and I selected Betty R.I.P., which appears to be issue 7 in the series.

Afterlife with Archie gives us a darker look at the usually peppy town of Riverdale. If you have read past Archie comics you know that Riverdale is sort of like Pleasantville. It’s stuck in a 1950s limbo where everyone is sweet and charming, sharing milkshakes and burgers at Pop’s Chocklit Shop or showing their school spirit at whatever high school sporting event is happening. I have always loved these comics and goofy hijinks the gang gets into, but it was refreshing to see this new take on such an iconic town.

Afterlife with Archie kicks off with Jughead’s sheepdog, Hot Dog, being hit by a car. He is close to death when Jughead finds him and brings him to Sabrina Spellman, a.k.a. Sabrina the Teenage Witch, He begs Sabrina to help, but Hot Dog has already died and it is forbidden to use magic to revive someone who has already passed on. However Sabrina does this anyway. Hot Dog comes back to life and is not his usual self, acting untamed and erratic, at one point attacking Jughead, this starting the zombie apocalypse in Riverdale.

I’m normally not a fan of the horror genre, but I have been trying to branch out of my comfort zone. I’m so glad I gave this a shot. After reading the free comic, I immediately went on the Archie Comics app and purchased the other issues (they were all $0.99) and devoured them. I love the deep orange and red colors that dominate the artwork. It’s a striking contrast to the usually bright and colorful Riverdale and adds a feeling of tension.

archieafterlife

I cannot wait to read the next issues, and will possibly check out The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina as well. I would highly recommend this to anyone.

Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars.

Are you a horror fan, or maybe just an Archie fan? Have you read this comic? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

Thanks for reading!

October 11, 2016

Book Review | As Old As Time

0

AOAT1

AOAT2

As Old As Time is the third book in the Twisted Tale trilogy by Liz Braswell. Although this is the third book in the series you don’t have to read the other two to read this one. Each one is its own standalone novel exploring different storylines from classic Disney movies. This particular novel focuses on Beauty and the Beast and poses the question: What if Belle’s mother cursed the Beast?

The book is sectioned off into three parts. The first part follows Belle as she is introduced to us in the original 1991 animated feature. She is living a provincial life, reading and dreaming of far off places, daring sword fights, and magic spells until she takes her father’s place as the Beast’s prisoner. She meets the enchanted objects and explores the forbidden West Wing where she touches the enchanted rose, and things go wrong. We are also given chapters in between these familiar scenes that show Belle’s father Maurice meeting and falling in love with Belle’s mother, who turns out to be an enchantress. There is discourse and violence in the kingdom against those who possess these magical abilities, and many magical beings are killed in the process. This is all because of the cold King and Queen who do nothing but sit in their castle. Eventually the plague comes, killing the King and Queen and leaving their son, who is still a young boy, to take the throne. Belle’s family has moved to a new village (the one we see Belle grow up in), but Belle’s mother wants to make sure that the young Prince is not as cold-hearted as his parents. He fails her test and is cursed. The other two parts of the novel focus on Belle trying to break the curse, spending time in the library with Beast and exploring the grounds to find a way for the Beast and the objects to escape with her, as well as Gaston plotting to lock Maurice in the asylum.

The overall tone of this book is similar to the new live action movie starring Emma Watson and Dan Stevens. It’s a little darker than the cartoon, but it expands on Belle and Beast’s friendship before they fall in love.

Also, I’m not sure how canon this book is to the Disney movie from 1991, but it did offer some answers to plot holes in the movie.

Why does no one in the village remember the royal family or the castle? Because the enchantress wiped the memories from people’s minds.

Where/Who is Chip’s dad? Mr. Potts used to work at the castle as the Stable Master and was the Prince’s favorite servant, but one day he went away and never came back.

Why does no one age except the Beast? Inanimate objects don’t age while people and animals do.

Why is the portrait of the Beast older than when he would have supposedly been cursed at age 11? It has a Dorian-Gray-type spell on it where the portrait ages with the Beast and shows him how he would look as a human if he had never been cursed: handsome but with a cold, unfeeling heart and cruel eyes (a fact that Belle notices and seems to frighten her a bit).

 

This was the best of the two Twisted Tale books that I have read. While it did feel a little slow at some spots in the middle, it felt like the author had finally hit her stride with her writing, and was clearly having a ton of fun with this prompt. I give it 3.5 stars out of 5.

Let me know in the comments below if you’ve read this book, what your thoughts were, and what is your favorite Beauty and the Beast retelling!

Thanks for reading!

September 20, 2016

Book Review | Wink Poppy Midnight

0

WinkPoppyMidnight

Wink Poppy Midnight is a stand-alone novel from April Genevieve Tucholke, best known as the author of Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea. The story’s narration switches between our three main characters: Wink, Poppy, and Midnight, who each fit into your typical high school stereotypes. Poppy is the mean and pretty popular girl; Wink is the weird misfit from an eccentric family; and Midnight is a boy from a broken home who is in the middle of the love triangle. But are they really as simple as those molds?

Wink Poppy Midnight is quite honestly one of the most beautiful books I have ever seen. I was actually hesitant to buy it at first because of this. Pretty covers often mask disappointing stories. I’m afraid this was one of this situations where I should have trusted my first instinct.

As I stated above, Wink Poppy Midnight tells the story of three characters named Wink, Poppy, and Midnight. Midnight is a teenage boy who has been in love with beautiful but manipulative and popular Poppy for as long as he can remember. He starts to realize that he is more in love with the idea of Poppy after spending time with the quirky Wink, who lives across the way from him. The story switches between the characters, giving us more insight to each while posing the question: in this story who is the hero and who is the villain? Are they as simple as the roles life has given them The answer is a resounding yes.

I never felt like any of the characters grew as the story progressed. Midnight maybe, but only because he went from idolizing manic-pixie Poppy to manic-pixie Wink. Wink was just your average quirky girl who likes to sleep in a barn and hang out in the woods with her quirky family. I think the character that could have had the biggest character arc was Poppy. She mentions that she wants to be better, even if it’s only to please a guy (Wink’s older brother a.k.a. the only person has never loved her because she is shallow and mean). But instead of making a big effort of trying to be better, she very quickly keeps falling back on her typical Queen Bee mentality and teasing Wink because she is different.

I was intrigued by this book after reading the first sentence. But as the story progressed I started to care less and less about the characters. The author seemed to focus more on writing pretty phrases that would be shared across Tumblr and Instagram posts than on providing some substance to the story and characters. By the time I finished the book I had already forgotten everything I had read. Sadly, this is a 2-Star read for me.

Have you ever read a beautiful book that ended up leaving you disappointed? Let me know in the comments below.

Thanks for reading!

September 8, 2016

Book Review | Poor Unfortunate Souls

0

Hi everyone! I’m here today with a book review of Poor Unfortunate Souls by Serena Valentino.

10572259_10154021771602938_225975470656486141_o

For a book that is supposed to be about Ursula, she isn’t in it very much.

I really enjoyed the first books in this trilogy (Fairest of Them All and The Beast Within). Both offered some interesting back stories for Snow White‘s Evil Queen and the Beast from Beauty and the Beast respectively. So when I heard that there would be one for Ursula, I automatically added it to my TBR list.

Ursula is, in my opinion, one of the top three best Disney villains, right up there with Jafar and Maleficent in terms of being the most evil and powerful. I was really excited to read her backstory and learn more about her motivations for dethroning King Triton and becoming ruler of the oceans.

Unfortunately this one was a disappointing read for me. The parts that actually touched on The Little Mermaid characters were great (mostly because they were just dialogue from the movie. Seriously, there is one chapter where it’s pretty much just the lyrics of Poor Unfortunate Souls, but you won’t hear any complaints from me there). The rest…not so much.

The main focus of the story is not on Ursula, but is in fact on the Odd Sisters, three witches who made appearances in the first two books. They interact with Ursula a handful of times, but that’s about it. The rest of the time they are arguing with each other and discussing how to find their other sister. The story also focuses on a princess named Tulip and her Nanny, and also this cat that belongs to both the Odd Sisters and Princess Tulip. It all felt very random. So yeah, this story was lacking what should have been its real main character, and instead focused on these other characters who were really hard care about.

The opening of the book does touch on Ursula’s youth and how she actually grew up living in a village with an adoptive father. She is called to the sea and seems aware that she has some type of magical abilities. However, her adoptive father dies and her real brother Triton emerges from the sea to bring her to her true home. However he convinces people that she is dangerous and she is exiled. I personally found this all very interesting and was waiting for it to be expanded on, to see more scenes of Ursula and her brother interacting, of seeing how the subjects of her kingdom felt about her, of her possibly trying to get her revenge in other ways before deciding to wait for the perfect opportunity to strike again (which would be through using Ariel). But no. It was more time spent with the other characters. When you have the license to write the backstory of one of the most well-known animated villains in the Disney universe and she is given the backseat, you know you have a problem.

Another problem here was that there was more telling than showing, and some things felt like they were being repeated over and over again, almost as if the book knew I might start glossing over things and forget what was happening while I tried to get to the next scene that actually contained elements of the Little Mermaid story-line that I know and love.

Also there was a subplot (I guess?) concerning the Dark Fairy (a.k.a. Maleficent), and the Odd Sisters kept saying, “Fire and Water don’t mix, we can’t tell her we are working with Ursula blah blah blah.” Um, no. A boss battle between Maleficent and Ursula would have been way better than having to deal with all the scenes starring Princess Tulip and her Nanny.

I do like this author’s writing in certain scenes, and I really, really enjoyed her previous books, but sadly, I could not get invested in this. I suggest checking out the other two books in this trilogy if you are a Disney fan and have any interest in re-tellings.

Thanks for reading!

September 6, 2016

August Wrap Up

0

Hi everyone! Hope you are doing well! I just wanted to share a quick run down of all the books that I read this past month. Feel free to leave your lists and recommendations in the comics below!

Comic Books

New Romancers #1-6

Spiderman / Deadpool #1-6

Plays

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by Jack Thorne, John Tiffany and JK Rowling

Novels

Happyface by Stephen Emond

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

The Secret of Platform 13 by Eva Ibboton

August 4, 2016

Book Review | Harry Potter and The Cursed Child

0

cursedchild

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is the eight chapter in the Harry Potter series, given to us in the form of a screenplay. This story is NOT written solely by (Queen) J.K. Rowling, but is actually co-written by Jack Thorne, who has written for the television shows Skins and Shameless. I’m assuming most people already have read this or at least know the story, but if not: this play picks up at the end of the original series, with the Trio at King’s Cross dropping their kids off for school. The play follows both Harry’s middle child, Albus Severus, who is nervous about being sorted into Slytherin house and living up to the legend that is his father, and Harry himself as he is navigating adulthood and parenthood in the Wizarding World.

I didn’t hate this story, but I didn’t love it either. I think after 9 years without a new Harry Potter story, we all overhyped this story that has defined our generation to the point where we were setting ourselves up for disappointment – similar to the criticism from the latest Star Wars movie. When you are building on something that is already a huge phenomenon, it is going to be difficult to meet everyone’s expectations.

I liked seeing some of our favorite characters again, but they did not always live up to their personality. Harry was the real wild card. Even 15-year-old Harry Potter, who was dealing with hormones, being discredited by the entire Wizarding community and being sort-of possessed by Voldemort in his dreams, was not this bad. He said things completely out of character, especially toward his child and Professor McGonagall, who was essentially a mother figure toward him throughout his youth.

The play did feel a little like fan fiction at times, which isn’t always a bad thing. Just look at those totally awesome Potter musicals that StarKid released. But some of the plot points that Jack Thorne used did not make complete sense, such as how time travel worked in the Wizarding World. There was also a very stupid “plot twist” that came completely out of left field and can not possibly be canon because it makes no sense in the context of the previous books. I’m sure you will know what that is if you have already read the play. I don’t want to spoil in case anyone still would like to read it.

I feel I should add that this is the rehearsal script, not the final script. I am assuming that before this hits the West End rewrites and edits will have been made. I would like to see this play at some point if it ever comes across the pond to America. Some of the set descriptions sounded very interesting and I’m sure the final product will be a truly magical experience.

Overall, it was great to go back to Hogwarts, but next time I’ll just travel over to YouTube for the musicals.

Rating: 3 out of 5 Stars.

What were your thoughts on Cursed Child? Did you have a favorite character? And have you seen any of the Harry Potter musicals? Let me know in the comments below!

Thanks for reading!