The Daily Geekette

“Twice Upon a Time” is Peter Capaldi’s Excellent Send Off

Since the modern series of Doctor Who started in 2005, there has been a Christmas Special every year. The first special, “The Christmas Invasion” was the introduction of David Tennant as the Tenth Doctor.  This year’s “Twice Upon a Time” is Peter Capaldi’s last story as the Twelfth Doctor, as well as the final episode for show-runner Steven Moffat. When Doctor Who returns sometime next fall,…

Star Trek: Discovery – Midseason Reaction

Trekkies rejoice: there’s new Star Trek for the first time in twelve years! Star Trek: Discovery is the seventh iteration of the Star Trek franchise. The show is set in the prime universe, ten years before The Original Series. However, it’s not airing on TV! Instead, Discovery is streaming behind a paywall at CBS All Access. Viewers have an option to pay seven dollars a month for limited…

Doctor Who’s Breaking the TARDIS Mold: Series 11 Companions Cast

On Sunday the BBC announced via its Social Media channels that the Thirteenth Doctor has her companions for Series 11. For the first time in the since the series revival, three companions were announced simultaneously. Yasmin (Mandip Gill), Graham (Bradley Walsh), The Doctor (Jodie Whittaker) and Ryan (Tosin Cole). There are still very few details known about Series 11, other than a new…

From Here to Eternity by Caitlin Doughty: Review and Signing Experience

On October 12, I had the pleasure of finally meeting my favorite mortician, Caitlin Doughty. It was a signing for her second published work, From Here to Eternity: Travelling the World to Find the Good Death hosted by distinguished D.C. bookstore Politics and Prose. The same humor and charisma that makes Doughty’s “Ask a Mortician” YouTube series so successful lends itself well to writing and…

Book Review: The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

Powerful and timely, The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas well deserves its long-held spot at the top of the New York Times Young Adult Bestseller list. If you read only one book this year, it ought to be this one. Thomas masterfully combines social justice and talented story-telling in this novel about teenage Starr Carter who witnesses her best friend being shot to death by the police. Not only does…

Book Review: Dear Ijeawele, or a Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions

If you are a feminist and haven’t been reading Adichie, it’s time to head to the library. Between her writings, TED Talks, and being featured in a Beyoncé song, Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is steadily becoming a household name in the international feminist scene. After reading her novel Americanah for book club, I decided to check out some of her works that deal more directly with…

Book Review: Labyrinth Lost–a Story of Latina Magic

Sometimes, as a teenager, you wish your family would just disappear. But what happens when you have the magic to actually make that happen? Sixteen-year-old Alejandra Mortiz finds out in Zoraida Córdova’s Labyrinth Lost, Book #1 of the Brooklyn Brujas series. Alex dreads the Deathday ceremony that will awaken her powers, but when she tries to banish her magic, she banishes her family instead.…

Never Too Late – Picking up Harry Potter as an Adult

When I started dating my current boyfriend, he decided it was time to finally pick up Harry Potter, if only for the sake of our relationship. Otherwise, how could he hope to communicate with a girlfriend who speaks in 50 percent Harry Potter quotes? Ever wondered what your impression of the books would be if you picked them up in your mid-twenties, two decades after they came out? Wondering if…

Integrity, loyalty, empathy, compassion. These are some of the moral components of lessons learned throughout Harry Potter. The novels have taught their readers lessons in being good people, in standing up for what they believe in, for fighting for what is right and raising your voice to do so. That is why when J.K. Rowling did not raise her own voice in light of the casting within the Fantastic…

The Curious Case of Percival Graves

I started this post with the simple intention of speculating about Percival Graves. I wouldn’t care too much normally, but when you’ve got Colin Farrell playing a character, I will become invested. At this point, spoilers for Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them should be obvious. I mean, who wouldn’t. (Photo: Warner Bros.) (more…)

Hello Daily Geekette Readers! Today we wish Harry Potter, and his creator J. K. Rowling, a very happy birthday! As we do every year, The Daily Geekette will celebrate by taking a look at the world that Rowling has created and trying to see it through new lenses. Image source: nytimes.com The Harry Potter canon expanded this year to include the film Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, as well…

Interactive Fiction: Asylum for Wayward Victorian Girls Ebook Review

Treasure hunting. Code breaking. Doodles and audio clips. If your reading experience doesn’t include these elements, then I guess you haven’t picked up Emilie Autumn’s new ebook edition of The Asylum for Wayward Victorian Girls. While the detective skills may seem more fitting for a mystery novel, TAFWVG is actually part-autobiography, part-historical fantasy about being institutionalized for…

The Future is Female, and so is The Doctor

I’ve been out of the DW loop for a while now. Things get in the way of watching episodes–lack of cable television, not enough time, and to be honest, not enough investment in the show anymore. A lot of my friends seem to be in the same boat: big fans at one point, but no longer as literate in Who Lore as they once were. Maybe some of it lies with Moffat. Maybe it’s just a show wearing out, like…

Book Review: Cuckoo’s Calling by Robert Galbraith A.K.A. J.K. Rowling

I’m a little late to the game but finally got around to reading The Cuckoo’s Calling, the first installment of J.K. Rowling’s detective mystery series published under her pseudonym, Robert Galbraith. The novel follows detective Cormoran Strike and his temp secretary Robin Ellacott as they investigate the suspicious suicide of supermodel Lula Landry. One of the major themes of the book is…

Top 5 Superheroines That Need More Screentime

The Amazons of Wonder Woman Judging by the internet, I’m not alone in saying that Wonder Woman has restored my faith in DC. As a fan of their animated features, especially the earlier version of the film made in 2009, I was pleasantly surprised by Gal Gadot’s portrayal of the Princess of the Amazons. But with the film doing as well as it is, I couldn’t help but mull over how many other…

Book Review: Philip Pullman’s The Ruby in the Smoke

The Ruby in the Smoke, Book One of Philip Pullman’s Sally Lockhart series, never gained the same fame as The Golden Compass and the rest of Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy, perhaps for good reason. It’s a cute story but doesn’t have quite the magical draw of epic world-building that bolsters his other works. From a feminist perspective, I appreciated the feisty female protagonist who…

Diversity Among Shadowhunters: Cassandra Clare’s Lady Midnight

If you’re looking for a good YA series with bisexual, Hispanic, or autistic representation, it might be time to hop on the Dark Artifices train, as the second book was just released last Tuesday, May 23. From the author who brought us our first Jewish vampire and an immensely powerful gay warlock comes a new spin-off series from her original The Mortal Instruments world. Today I will review Lady…