April was a busy month since I was doing the A-Z challenge so I didn't really do much else aside from work. You could say I was a bit lazy even when it seems I was doing a lot. Is it better to fill all your hours and stay busy or is it better to do little and stay lazy? But I kind of just do what my mood wants to do. Here are the books and shows I consumed in April.
Books I read in April 2022
What's it about: family, home, belonging, bears, friendship, a house with chicken legs
This was good but I didn't quite like the way it was formatted - the main story mixed with stories. Even though the stories does have to do with Yanka (the main character) and the main plot, there could have been a better way to integrate them. Some of the stories seems confusing as they aren't linear and sometimes I'm not sure if the characters in it are the characters in the main story or just another story.
I was a bit surprised the sudden appearance of the house with chicken legs and two new characters, almost as if, this turned into a different book. If you have read The house with chicken legs, you might think of this as a sort of companion to that book even though there are no similar characters aside from the house.
Summary: This was a good read but maybe it was a bit slow at first and kind of turned into a whole different story toward the ending but in the end, it return to the main theme.
What's it about: time travel, witchcraft, faith, lasagne
This was charming. I think it's my second favorite out of the four books in this series. As the books are only connected by characters and the world, you can read them as standalones. I thoroughly enjoyed this book but as with most children's book, it's pretty easy to see how it would end. It's definitely for young readers perhaps even below middle grade.
Summary: Usually time travel books are not my thing but this was really good and I'm not annoyed by the time travel.
What's it about: magic, home, family, flying creatures that kind of smells bad and annoys you aka harpies, creatures that makes mists and maybe sings sweet songs
This is considered a sequel to The Secret of Platform 13 and is written by a different author but I think it's a pretty good sequel even thought it almost seems like the same story but with new characters. But I sort of think this was more fun although the main characters, Odge and Ben, from the previous book, aren't as interesting here or perhaps, they seem almost secondary compare to Lina, the other main character.
Summary: This was a fun, quick read and very similiar to The Secret of Platform 13.
What's it about: home, family, oddly-looking species, lots of travel
This series reminds of me Star Wars (the original movies, not the sequels or prequels). Things like robots, human relics and even creatures that looks like Jabba the Hutt and a lone hero that searches for adventure and maybe family are quite similar to Star Wars which it isn't a bad thing because I actually like Star Wars.
The illustrations are wonderful but the writing seems a little clunky. There were a lot of instants of, Eva saw this, Eva felt this, Someone made a gesture that means this but the gesture is not described, just many instant of telling instead of showing. I was taught this was a bad way to write but perhaps I'm wrong? Judging by the writing, this would be for middle-grade but the amount of violence and certain mature themes are geared toward young adults so I'm not sure who the audience is.
I think perhaps this series might have been better as graphic novels. The illustrations are mainly the reason I wanted to read this series. I got the paperbacks and the illustrations looks great although each beginning chapter with a large illustration has a white box with text covering the image which annoys me. With the kindle version, the illustrations are presented by itself without text. What's the point of having these great illustrations just to be covered up?
The main character Eva Nine is okay but I'm not sure I like her as the main character. She does dumb things sometimes but as she is still a child, we have to accept that's how she grows and learns. Rovender, Eva's friend, is okay but honestly, the character I really like is Muther, the robot that takes care of Eva but she's not in book 2 or 3. There were tons of characters and different types of species throughout the three books but somehow I don't remember most of them. Even the human characters aren't all that special. I found Hailey, the teenage pilot, a bit annoying but that's about it.
Also, the cover with the printed circle (aka non-removable sticker) that holds a review from this or that person is annoying. Why are they ruining the art for the sake of selling?
As for the ending of the series, it was okay. I thought four epilogues with time leaps was a bit too much. The second epilogue (100 years later) is enough for me.
Summary: I did enjoyed this series but I enjoyed the illustrations more than the writing.
Shows I finished watching in April 2022
What's it about: cops, truth, crime, family, retribution
I really like the beginning but the overall plot of the shooting incident keeps interrupting everything so that I just wish it would just get to the truth already but they keep dragging it out until the end.
The ambiguous ending is such a cop-out. I hate these endings because the point of such an ending is in case they do a second season or maybe the writers just want to annoy the viewer. (Spoiler: Whether the main character is really dead or not, can't they just make it definite? If I was to guess from the ending scenes, he is dead but they made it seems like he might not be which is so very, very annoying. Spoiler ends)
Summary: I really like the lead character but the overall plot of the shooting incident seems a bit too much. I would have liked that they solve more cases.
What's it about: insects, murders, chocolate, brotherhood, family
This was pretty good but I didn't really like most of the main characters except Tan Jingtian, the so-called insect detective (but his nickname seems to be Worms, at least according to the English translation) and the cop Li Xiao Xiao, he's a lot of fun.
The insect detective's mother's death is mostly the main plot of the show. We keep seeing the same image of his mother falling down, lots and lots of times and sometimes at different angles. And yet, in the end, (Spoiler: he didn't get to know the truth even though I think it's a closure he needed but for some stupid reason, the writers thought keeping the truth from him is a kindness. If I were him, I would like to know the truth no matter how much it hurts because frankly, one of these days, he'll find out anyway because no secrets are ever left unburied even if they do kill everyone involved. Actually, they did killed everyone involved. And that woman doctor that bribed the other doctor to be her boyfriend, well, I wasn't surprised by her murder. Spoiler ends). I'm just annoyed by this dumb ending.
Summary: This was good but again, I guess I don't like shows where there is a larger plot that pretty much took over the entire show. I also find most of the cases a bit bland aside from the first case.
How was your April? Is your May going well?
Well done Lissa!
ReplyDeleteChristine: Thanks. And thank you for coming by. Have a lovely day.
DeleteYour 'lazy' month sounds incredibly busy to me.
ReplyDeleteElephant's Child: I count watching tv shows as being lazy because it requires very little work involved.
DeleteThank you for coming by. Have a lovely day.
I think sometimes we beat ourselves up and think we have to be doing something all the time. Or at least I do. But I'm learning to relax more I think?
ReplyDeleteWondla looks interesting and I'm not surprised that maybe the art was better than the writing, kinda? Since DiTerlizzi is known for his art. I especially like his faerie and steampunk type illustrations...
Greg: I'm also learning to enjoy not doing a lot or maybe that's my excuse for being lazy.
DeleteI have actually not seen any of DiTerlizzi's work but the ones in Wondla looks great.
Thank you for coming by. Have a lovely day.
He did a lot of work for Dungeons and Dragons Second Edition back in the day and I think that's where he started getting noticed.
Delete"What's it about: time travel, witchcraft, faith, lasagne"
ReplyDeleteThat sounds like a fun mix 😂. I actually like how you sort of write a mini review before the review by listing the main things the book/shows is about.
I agree about ambiguous endings...they're only used to lure the viewers into watching the next season...though maybe some can be annoyed and decide not to continue with the series out of spite LOL. The worst thing is that some series don't even get renewed eventually, so we never get to know how they would end.
"even if they do kill everyone involved. Actually, they did killed everyone involved."
Oh, my 😂.
Roberta R.: I do like my single word mini reviews - I think it's more fun to write those than my rambling reviews.
DeleteIn fact there are several shows that ends with ambiguous endings that annoyed me but I guess that's how it is. But it's not all about doing for a second season, I suppose another reason might be that the writers couldn't decide either.
That Insect detective show ends so tragically. I guess it's easier to keep the truth at bay if everyone's dead.
Thank you for coming by. Have a lovely day.