Hey guys how’s it going? Weekly Check-in time! This week was one where I went more on instinct on what to read and watch(plus spending time with my dad) but also I wanted to catch up on some reviews.
Because of this, This week I watched six movies (whoa) and three TV shows. I also read eight volumes of manga and five novels (double whoa). Onto the Media!!
Movie
The Tomorrow War
This gave me Interstellar vibes but in a post apocalyptic sense. There was a lot of discussion with relationships and how they can change over time. I liked how it wasn’t about romance, it was a father daughter relationship. It also had a lot of explanation, but it wasn’t too complex to go over my head. The violence was muted but still pretty gory so keep that in mind when watching this. I think my only issue with this was that there were moments that it felt too long with the action sequences. Because of these points, I have to give this movie a 4-4.5 out of 5 stars or 5 sushi 🍣 🍣 🍣🍣🍣.
In the Heights
This week, my mom has wanted to watch this movie and of course hbomax had it till last Sunday and it’s deceptive in the sense that in the trailer its a retelling of West Side Story (I didn’t really see it) and it has a ton of perspectives between several of the characters. Because of the multiple perspectives, there were moments where it felt waaay too long, and the music although a lot of it was gorgeous, some of the dialogue was sung that it didn’t feel like a lead in to something else and that was a tad annoying. There were also moments that didn’t have closure and that bothered me. I also have heard reviews that there are some moments in the movie that there’s some diversity discussion and that is something that I cannot speak on,but if there is an issue, I can understand it. Overall, it was a cool story, however, it was not my favorite of all time. Because of these points, I have to give this a 3 out of 5 stars or 3 sushi 🍣 🍣🍣.
Jesse Stone Movies
Trigger warnings for rape, assault, domestic violence and serial killing. I will be honest, to me these were just two hour crime shows with Tom Selleck being with several women. It was intriguing, but nothing to write home about, because of these points, I have to give it a 3 out of 5 stars or 3 sushi 🍣 🍣 🍣.
The Alamo
This is one of my dad’s favorite Alamo depiction of all time and I agree with him. I think my only issue with it though is that it shortened some important things and it elongated others (plus the battle of San Jacinto was sloppy) but overall I think I would recommend this to people that want to learn a bit more about the Alamo. Because of these points, I have to give this a 3.5 out of 5 stars or 4 sushi 🍣 🍣 🍣🍣.
Anime Movie
Josee, the Tiger, and the Fish
This week, I had the opportunity to see this in a limited run at the theater. This movie was not what I was expecting in the best way! This is a college age story, a story about reaching for your dreams and never giving up, and how no matter who you are, someone loves you even if you don’t think they do. I highly recommend this especially if you love sea life and the ocean along with anime. Also! I also appreciated that this movie has a realistic ending that didn’t make me feel like I was about to cry my eyes out. I would highly recommend this for anyone and everyone who enjoy deep contemporaries and college themed stories. Because of these points, I have to give this a 5 out of 5 stars or 5 sushi 🍣 🍣 🍣🍣🍣 .
TV Show
The Great Food Truck Race
This week my family and I watched season 5 of this show, and this season, the host upped his game, challenges were more straightforward, and although I am not a fan of who won, I think it was the best season yet. Because of these points, I have to give this show a 4.5 out of 5 stars or 5 sushi 🍣 🍣 🍣🍣🍣.
The Magicians
This show has been one of those that I have been wanting to watch for a long time and my dad and I think its weird but in a good way that we watched four episodes in one day. I think the magic system is very intriguing and interesting but there are moments that the order of events seem kind of disjointed. Because of these points, I have to give this show a 4 out of 5 stars or 4 sushi 🍣 🍣 🍣🍣.
The Crown
This is another show I have been wanting to watch for awhile. However, for me personally I have to be in the right mood for a historical fiction show and comparisons to some of the previous works that I have watched in this time period, the actors do a fantastic job. However, the episodes can be pretty dense and long. Because of these points, I have to give this a 4 out of 5 stars or 4 sushi 🍣 🍣 🍣🍣.
Manga
Series Starters
That’s My Atypical Girl
This is a very dark story with trigger warnings for cutting, talking about suicide, rape, sexual imaging, PTSD, bullying, physical abuse, verbal abuse, a dog being kicked, trauma of a human being stuck in a dog cage, and although not identified as autistic on page there are some telltale signs. This manga is very hard to read with all of the triggers, but I think its important also because it shows a story about two people who have had similar trauma come together to coexist and one takes care of the other. This is again a difficult read, but I am curious to see where it goes next. Because of these points, I have to give this a 4 out of 5 stars or 4 sushi 🍣 🍣 🍣🍣.
Yakuza Lover
I was not sure what was going to happen going into this manga except for theres going to be a mafia person with their lover. This has a lot of sexy moments but at the same time there are a lot of sweet moments as well. I like the kind of stories where there is a tough guy but at the same time, they are like putty in the leading lady hands. I also love the little bonus chapter bits because it increased the guys personality and background info. I think my only issue with this story, is that I am not sure where its going to go, where’s the plot going to be except for smut. That is my only issue but overall, I truly enjoyed this story. Because of these points, I have to give this manga a 3.5 out of 5 stars or 4 sushi 🍣 🍣 🍣🍣.
Series Continuations
My Boss’s Kitten Vol 3 and 4
This series is truly like candy for me its got the right amount of plot, the right amount of smut and I can just inhale them in a sitting which is why I have two of them for this week as well. Thankfully this time the formatting has somewhat improved but I would still change it nonetheless. Because of these points, I have to give this manga series a 4 out of 5 stars or 4 sushi 🍣 🍣 🍣🍣.
Cutie and the Beast
This volume was one that I enjoyed the characters still and I appreciated the background information of Kuga and the leading lady’s family particularly her dad. The only issue I had with it, was that the transition between the background information and the present day felt very abrupt and confusing. Because of that, I have to give this a 4 out of 5 stars or 4 sushi 🍣 🍣 🍣🍣.
LDK Vol 2,3, and 4
This manga was a surprising but still a lot of fun read. Unfortunately, it left a really bad cliffhanger that its making me want to read the next one asap!! But overall I love both characters and weirdly enough I loved the side characters too (even though they were a tad annoying trigger warning for someone joking to kill themselves 🙄 which we could have done without! Also weird teacher stuff and strange making out) Because of these points, I have to give this manga volume a 4 out of 5 stars or 4 sushi 🍣 🍣 🍣🍣.
Novel
All the Feels
First, let me list out the trigger warnings of domestic violence, discussion of violence in an Psych ER, verbal abuse, and negative self-talk. This novel has a lot to unpack, but it only enhances the story in my personal opinion. Based on the previous book’s depiction of this couple, it’s essentially sunshine and rainbows up to a certain point, this goes a lot deeper in the best way even deeper than you’d think it would so be prepared. There’s less fanfiction in it which was also appreciated for me personally, but there was also not as much need as it was in the previous. This one, I loved the progression of everything with the third-act conflict being something realistic and necessary to move the story forward, without feeling like it was rehashing the previous. There also although I cannot speak for the representation myself, amazing ADHD depth and understanding especially when it came to the character that possessed it. This has a lot of different elements involved, but the pieces fit together nicely in a fantastic story that I could feel all the feels involved. If I had to pick something that I wasn’t sure about the story with would be how there weren’t as many cohesive transitions from one perspective to the next. In those moments they just felt choppy otherwise though, I loved this book very much. Because of these points, I have to give this a 4.5 out of 5 stars or 5 sushi 🍣 🍣 🍣🍣🍣. This comes out on October 26th if you’re interested in checking it out!
Rosaline Parker Takes the Cake
When it came to this book, after reading quite a bit of cooking/baking books this year, I enjoyed the baking competition aspect the best out of those books. If you love the Great British Bake-off you’ll love this. It also showed a bit of what happened to the contestants afterwards, which is something I appreciate.
I think though, where people are having trouble with in this story, are a lot of bisexuality stereotypes, the stereotypes when it comes to the single parents, and class stereotypes. With these, I felt like there was too much sometimes and if it was dialed back, I would love the story even more.
There is a trigger warning for attempted rape, and I understand why it was put in there, however, I felt that there could have been another way. When it comes to the romance aspect other than that, I was rooting for the endgame person early on and I was very annoyed with the other guy from day 1 especially since endgame guy communicates very openly even in the bedroom(which I want more of in books please and thank you). I also was annoyed with how the anxiety aspect but upon reflection, there was a possibility that there was more to it than meets the eye.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book, there are some aspects in this story that I wanted to be expanded upon and other aspects I wanted dialed back. Because of these points, I have to give this book a 3.5-4 out of 5 stars or 4 sushi 🍣 🍣 🍣🍣. This book is already out so check it out.
Lycanthropy and Other Chronic Illnesses
This book is one that is considered a horror-comedy story and with the cover drama/racial representation debacle that also happened with this book, I can see the issues and would definitely exercise caution to the people directly affected. I cannot speak on the issues specifically, however there were moments that seemed like(in my personal opinion) the author was trying too hard to bring the poc characters to light and in doing so white washing them.
As far as the chronic illness representation and the Lycanthropy discussion along with friendships, I could truly relate to all of the emotions and appreciated the support that the characters brought. There are trigger warnings of gore, dark humor, suicidal ideation, and of course the general elements of turning into a werewolf. However, there were moments that the author tried too hard as far as their writing to make jokes and items land that didn’t make sense to me personally.
Overall, I think this story can be helpful to a certain extent, but I think it could be harmful as well. Because of these points, I have to give this book a 3.5 out of 5 stars or 3 sushi 🍣 🍣🍣. This is already out so check it out if you are interested.
Rory the Sleeper
This was a fantastic finale!! I loved how the characters interacted and I loved how the plot moved forward (especially since it was a lot better than the previous book in my personal opinion). But! The ending felt very abrupt and I wanted more from the title characters perspective because they just felt too much of a background as opposed to the previous book where they felt more 50/50, this time they weren’t. It would have been better for me personally if there was a wedding epilogue or something to understand what happened as an aftermath to the events of the series. Because of these points, I have to give this book a 4 out of 5 stars or 4 sushi 🍣 🍣 🍣🍣.
This is for Tonight
Trigger warnings for bullying and grief. If you are a social influencer but also someone who loves music festivals this book is for you. It has all of the different elements that you would expect from a young adult novel with the added social media influence. I loved most of the characters and I loved the discussion with social influence and how it can make a person money quick if they play the system correctly and how a lot of people do not want to work that way (I personally don’t want to work that way). Plus I loved the atmosphere description of the festival also. I think my only issue with this book was that with a couple of the diversity aspects that were presented could have gone more in-depth or more researched to make it seem more real rather than just added just to be there. I think also I would have loved a solid ending other than the romance (like where did she end up going to college etc.) Overall, it was a fantastic book a lot of fun but I would have liked more depth. Because of these points, I have to give this a 4 out of 5 stars or 4 sushi 🍣🍣🍣🍣. This is already out so check it out.
The Week Ahead
This past week, I really liked having a big balance between all of the media. However, closer to when my summer ends and when I get back to work, I will probably slow down so I hope no one minds. What about you? What did you read or watch this week? Let’s talk about it!
Sushirainbow 