Book Review - Wolfsong by T.J. Klune

Title: Wolfsong (Green Creek # 1)
Author: T.J. Klune
Genre: Fantasy/ LGBTQ/ Romance
Published: 2016
 
Description: Ox was twelve when his daddy taught him a very valuable lesson. He said that Ox wasn’t worth anything and people would never understand him. Then he left.
 
Ox was sixteen when he met the boy on the road. The little boy who talked and talked and talks. Ox found out later the little noy hadn’t spken in almost two years before that day, and that he belonged to a family who had moved into the house at the end of the lane.
Ox was seventeen when he found out the little boy’s secret and it painted the world around him in colors of red and orange and violet, of Alpha and Beta and Omega.
 
Ox was twenty-three when murder came to town and tore a hole in his head and heart. The boy chased after the monster with revenge in his bloodred eyes, leaving Ox behind to pick up the pieces.
 
It’s been three years since that fateful day, and the boy is back. Except now he’s a man, and Ox can no longer ignore the song that howls between them.
 
Review: I’m not much of a fantasy reader, but when I picked up T.J. Klune’s “The House in the Cerulean Sea” two years ago, I fell in love with his writing and it ended up being my favorite book I read that year. I loved his characters, the found family trope, everything really. Because it’s set in a realistic world, but has fantasy elements, it was a lighter type of fantasy book.
 
“Wolfsong” is the first book in the Green Creek series. Also a fantasy book set in our world, this time with people who can turn into wolves. It’s an LGBTQ book, “The House in the Cerulean Sea” also had this theme, but in “Wolfsong” is much more present. And because the romance is so overpowering, I didn’t quite like it that much. Aside from the romance, it’s a really good book, I very much enjoyed it. With romance in fantasy books, I often feel like it gets cringy. Which I felt here too.
 
I often feels like a YA novel, but it is clearly an adult novel. Because there are some really graphic love scenes in “Wolfsong”. And I’m not a very big fan of that. I prefer fade-to-black love scenes more, I really don’t need all the details.
 
One thing T.J. Klune did, was create great characters. I really loved reading about Ox and his new found family, the Bennetts. And his love for Joe was beautiful, but as stated before, the romance is a bit cringy at times. It sometimes felt a bit like the “Twilight” books, but with more wolves instead and likeable characters. I’m not really doing “Wolfsong” any justice here, because it is much better. But the romance gave me “Twilight” vibes.
 
The Green Creek series has three more books. And even though I did not love this book as much as I hoped I would, I’m still interested in the rest of the series eventually.
 
Rating: 3/ 5

Movie Review - Good Grief

Director: Dan levy
Genre: Drama/ Comedy
Runtime: 100 minutes
Year: 2024
Starring: Dan Levy, Ruth Negga, Himish Patel, Luke Evans, Celia Imrie, David Bradley, Kaitlyn Dever, Arnaud Valois
 
Description: When his husband (Luke Evans) unexpectedly dies, Marc’s (Dan Levy) world shatters, sending him and his two best friends (Himesh Patel, Ruth Negga) on a soul-searching trip to Paris that reveals some hard truths they each needed to face.

Review: A cozy Christmas party with friends turns into a tragedy when Marc’s husband Oliver is killed in a car accident. Slowly trying to come to terms with the loss of Oliver, he is supported in this by his two best friends, Sophie and Thomas. But after a year, Marc discovers that Oliver had met someone else and was secretly renting an apartment in paris. Looking for answers, he takes Sophie and Thomas to Paris.

Marc’s grieving process is the focus, but you don’t spen an hour and a half watching a sad character. He is also angry with Oliver, and because the widower himself has told some lies, the friendship with Sophie and Thomas comes under pressure. Because friendship is such an important part of “Good Grief”, it never becomes a depressing film and story remains very hopeful.

Dan Levy, Ruth Negga and Himesh Patel have a fine chemistry and as a result it seems as if they have known each other for years. The mutual banter between the friends also keeps the film lighthearted and in the sharp dialogue you can see that Levy, who also wrote and directed the film, is a comedian. But he understands that “Good Grief” is a serious drama and never lets the humor dominate. There is a good balance.

I expected this movie to have more enthusiastic reviews, I really loved this movie. I loved Dan Levy. And I hope he will star in more movies that he wrote and directed himself.

Rating: 4/ 5

Book Review - Murder by the Seaside by Various Authors

Title: Murder By the Seaside (Vintage Summer Murders)
Author: Arthur Conan Doyle, Cyril Hare, John Dickson Carr, G.K. Chesterton, Anthony Berkeley, Michael Innes, R. Austin Freeman, G.D.H. & M. Cole, Edmund Crispin
Genre: Mystery/ Short Stories/ Crime
Published: 2022
 
Description: It’s the heights of summer. As the heat shimmers on the pavements and holidaymakers depart for the coast, tempers begin to rise and old grudges surface. From an impossible murder on a remote Cornish beach to a coastal honeymoon gone horribly wrong, it’s not just a holiday that’s on people’s minds… it’s murder. In ten classic stories, you’ll find mayhem and mysteries aplenty.
 
Review: “Murder by the Seaside” is a short story collection, filled with ten murder mysteries set during the summer, written by classic authors. These stories were not specifically written for this collection, because this was released in 2022.
 
While the seaside is the red thread through this collection, it’s not that present in all the stories. I don’t read classic novels often, so of all the authors that had stories in this collection, Arthur Conan Doyle was the only author I had read from before. The rest were all new to me.
 
There were a few stories I particularly liked. “Weight and See” by Cyril Hare is a story about a woman that was found dead in her house, with a blow to the head and no forced entry. I enjoyed the simplicity of this story, with the detective going over all the evidence he has in the house. “The Furies” by Michael Innes follows the death of Miss Pinhorn, a wealthy woman that wasn’t very loved by people. I felt a lot like a “Knives Out” type of story. “Error at Daybreak” by John Dickson Carr follows Bill, who is visiting his friend at his beach house and he sees him collapse. And he believes he was murdered. This story had a fun twist. But my favorite story was “Razor Edge” by Anthony Berkeley, where a woman reports her husband missing after he went swimming and didn’t return. They find a body, which is identified as his and they questions is: was his drowning accidental or was it murder? We follow the autopsy closely and it felt like an episode of “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation”. These stories really stood out. The Sherlock Holmes story, “The Boscomb Valley Mystery” by Arthur Conan Doyle, was also enjoyable. The rest of the stories were pretty forgettable, rating them from 2 to 3 stars.
 
I expected this book to be as good as it was, with some really good stories, some average ones and some I didn’t really care about. It’s easy to read, even though it’s more classic writing and slower paced, but because the stories are so short, you really fly through.
 
Rating: 3/ 5

80s Movie Review - Witness

Director: Peter Weir
Genre: Drama/ Romance/ Thriller
Runtime: 112 minutes
Year: 1985
Starring: Harrison Ford, Kelly McGillis, Earl W. Wallace, Lukas Haas, Josef Sommer, Danny Glover, Brent Jennings, Alexander Godunov, Jan Rubes, Viggo Mortenson, Patti LuPone

I WATCHED THIS MOVIE FOR MY 2024 MOVIE CHALLENGE
WEEK 4: A FILM FROM THE 1980S
 
Description: While protecting an Amish Boy (Lukas Haas) - who is the sole witness to a brutal murder - and his mother (Kelly McGillis), a detective is forced to seek refuge within their community when his own life is threatened.

Review: We meet Rachel, who has just lost her husband. Together with her son Samuel, she lives in an Amish community. She is going to visit her sister and while waiting for their train in Philadelphia, young Samuel witnesses a murder. Detective John Book comes in and has to find out what Samuel saw. When he realizes, a cop was involved and even the man at the top can’t be trusted, John has to go in hiding. While protecting Rachel and Samuel, he takes refuge in their community.

I believe “Witness” is an underappreciated and overlooked movie. It’s a highly suspenseful thriller where the contrast between the city and the quiet and sober life of the Amish runs like a thread. The drama gets a bit woeful at times, but Harrison Ford’s brilliant, non-verbal, acting fills the gaps flawlessly.

I really enjoyed this movie, I never hear anyone talk about it.

Rating: 3,5/ 5

Book Review - It by Stephen King

Title: It
Author: Stephen King
Genre: Horror
Published: 1986
 
Description: Welcome to Derry, Maine. It’s a small city, a pace as hauntingly familiar as your hometown. Only in Derry the haunting is real…
 
They were seven teenagers when they first stumbled upon the horror. Now they are grown-up men and women who have gone out into the big world to gain success and happiness. But none of them can withstand the force that has drawn them back to Derry to face the nightmare without an end, and the evil without a name.
 
Review: Of all the books I read by Stephen King, I can surely tell that “It” has left the biggest impression on me. It’s one of the scariest books I have ever read.
 
Seven teenagers, living in Derry, Maine, all face their biggest fears and it still haunts them as adults, when all but one has left Derry. When, after 27 years, that thing they feared the most is back, they all return to Derry to face it once again.
 
The book has two timelines that run together, they intertwine; When they were teenagers and that of them as adults. And there is no other author that can flesh out a character as well as Stephen King. Seven characters actually. Seven characters you get to know so well, you come to love, you understand, you sympathize with. Each character gets King’s personal attention, he put so much effort into all of them.
 
Most of Stephen King’s books are slow paced, because he takes his time to describe everything and everyone in extreme detail. And to be honest, King’s books are the only ones I can really appreciate it from, because slower paced books or slow burns are not my favorite. But because King’s storytelling qualities are of such a high level, it doesn’t bother me.  
 
“It” is first and foremost a horror novel, but it is also a coming-of-age story. Childhood fears, friendships, losing innocence, learning about the cruel world, growing into adulthood. These are themes that the book revolves around. And that are also recurring themes in King’s other books.
 
There is this one particular scene in the book, very disturbing given the age of the seven kids, that even Stephen King knew would never make it to the screen. And it didn’t, not in the mini-series nor in the two-parter directed by Andy Muschietti. Which is understandable. This scene seems an extraordinarily strange scene. But given the theme of the book, it entirely fits. With this, Beverly forges together the blood bond they agree on as children. I’m not going to spoil this scene, but if you know, you know.
 
“It” is a very long book, but also a perfect one. I never really could say what my favorite Stephen King was, of the ones that I’d read. But “It” is that book now.
 
Rating: 5/ 5

10s Movie Review - Fantastic Fungi

Director: Louie Schwartzberg
Genre: Documentary
Runtime: 81 minutes
Year: 2019
Starring: Brie Larson (Narrator)

Description: “Fantastic Fungi” is a descriptive time-lapse journey about the magical, mysterious and medicinal world of fungi and their power to heal, sustain and contribute to the regeneration of life on Earth that began 3.5 billion years ago.

I WATCHED THIS MOVIE FOR MY 2024 MOVIE CHALLENGE.
WEEK 3: A DOCUMENTARY ON A TOPIC YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT
 
Review: Who would have thought that a documentary about fungi would be the highlight of my week?
Every once in a while you stumble upon a hidden gem on Netflix. “Fantastic Fungi” has changed my view on nature forever.

You have animals and plants. The organism in between is the mushroom. Or rather, fungi. A mushroom is just a small part of the fungus, similar to an apple on an apple tree. There are countless species, many of which have yet to be discovered. We also still only know half the applications for both medicine and solving environmental problems. The documentary is a journey of discover into this underexposed part of nature.

Did you know that the largest living organism on Earth is fungus? And that trees communicate with each other through fungal threads, which have an even more complex structure underground than our brains? Also, in “Fantastic Fungi”, scientists agree that the evolution of our brain has been accelerated by nature’s magical mushrooms, and that many religions originated because of the. There are mushrooms that clean up oil spills. Not to mention the antibiotic penicillin. And this is just the top of the underground network of fungal threads connected to all living things on earth.

The documentary combines time-lapse cinematography, CGI, nature footage and interviews focusing on the biology, environmental roles and various uses of fungi. “Fantastic Fungi” features scientist such as Paul Stamets (mycologist) and authors Michael Pollan, Eugenia Bone and A drew Weil. They make the viewer aware of the beauty, intelligence and solutions mushrooms can offer in medicinal, therapeutic and even environmental issues.

I was utterly amazed while watching this documentary and never thought fungi were this important.

Rating: 4,5 / 5

TV Show Review - Fool Me Once

Season: Mini Series
Genre: Crime/ Drama/ Mystery
Number of episodes: 8
Year: 2024
Starring: Michelle Keegan, Adeel Ahtak, Richard Armitage, Emmett J. Scanlan, Marcus Garvey, Joanna Lumley

Description: Widowed mum Maya (Michelle Keegan) is disturbed by an image of her late husband captured on her toddler’s nanny cam.

Review: In six years, Netflix has unleashed seven mini-series based on a Harlan Coben bestseller on the world, and with “Fool Me Once”, there’s now an eight series. By now we know what to expect, and the format is working.

The series is based on the novel “The Imagination”, that was released in 2016. Michelle Keegan plays Maya, a veteran of the war in Iraq who has just buried her husband Joe. A few weeks later, she sees Joe on a newly installed nanny cam.

“Fool Me Once” lacks tension and is overall pretty predictable. It has some surprises here and there and the series is still enjoyable enough to finish all 8 episodes. But I think I will forget most of this series in a few days. 

If you like Harlan Coben books and enjoy the previous seven series, you will probably have fun with “Fool Me Once”.