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Heated Rivalry (2025)

The Canadian show of two hockey players who have an on-and-off affair through the years caught the world by surprise. It’s been a while since I’ve last seen such a huge amount of hype as this series had, and I’m so glad that something that deals with LGBT+ themes as a center for its story can get this amount of attention now.

Saying that, and while I enjoyed the show, it didn’t blow my mind as it apparently did to so many other people. Even though I’m not a huge fan of sports, I think that for a series that deals with professional hockey players we didn’t get to see too much of the sport during the episodes. I’ve seen through the internet that maybe with a bigger budget (as they’ll have for season 2) they might have more scenes on the ice, and I’m somewhat keen to watch that part of the story also develop. But even then, I can admit that that’s a me problem, not exactly one of the show. The series is, ultimately, a tale of love between the characters, they just happen to play hockey. So, while centric to their lives, showing the matches is not exactly central to the development of the story (i.e.: It doesn't always matter for us to see who wins or how the match goes, but it does matter that Ilya and Shane see each other whenever they are training in the same city).

The actors were a revelation. It’s refreshing to see studios taking a chance on new actors, and to see them deliver such great performances. While both the leads make amazing work, Ilya (Connor Storrie) surprised me more, especially when I read that he had learned Russian for this role in a short period of time.

Wind and Truth (The Stormlight Archive #5) | Brandon Sanderson

The fifth book in the Stormlight Archive closes the first arc of this 10 installment story. This is the longest entry so far in the series, and also the one that took me the longest to finish. While I usually read these 1000+ page books in around 1 month each, I couldn’t keep the same pace with WaT, pausing it for a year while many other events and books happened in life.

One of the main problems for me was that this book felt very different. I have, in the time since I’ve finished the book, seen some interviews that Brandon Sanderson has given and apparently he did change some things on purpose for WaT, thinking on the overall feel of the series as a whole, instead of just this volume as a continuation of the previous ones.

My main complaint is that during the first quarter of the book it reads as if the author is trying to add things to prove that he is on the right side of current political problems of our own world. You mean to say that, in a world in which the knowledge and the ability to read and write is solely for women, in which men and women eat different types of food between each gender, in that society that’s so completely different from ours, you have to make a show of “being gay is okay?”. I feel like it was overexplaining something that could just pass with “yeah, being gay is normal in this society”. And don’t get me wrong, I’m all for queer representation in these books, and I’m saying this as a gay man. I just believe that what Brandon did in previous books felt more authentic to the characters (just stating as a fact when someone is gay) than this very long explanation.

And that kind of problem arose a couple more times, in which I felt that Sanderson was speaking to a present day audience, instead of just letting the characters be in the story.

I get the feel that even 5 books in we still can’t get the full picture of the world and all the things that are at play. While for the first book (and maybe the second), I could overlook that fact in the hope of getting answers as the series progressed, each new installment just adds new lore and characters in a way that doesn’t feel as if it has been planned enough, and instead is just a way to expand the world and get the plot bigger and bigger, without reaching the full end of any plotline. There’s just too much stuff, and characters, that even in thousands of pages any detail can and does get lost. More is not always best.

A CONSPIRACY OF TRUTHS BY ALEXANDRA ROWLAND | REVIEW

I've read many books that I have enjoyed this year, but among those A Conspiracy of Truths stands head and shoulders above them.

The book starts with Chant, our protagonist, on trial, accused of being a blackwitch (which he's not). Thanks to his advocate, Consanza, he's able to get free from one of the other charges imposed on top of the blackwitch accusation during the very same trial by way of giving a public apology. His luck runs out when he mentions a former friend from his youth and the name is recognized as that of a criminal by one of the judges. He is now charged as being a spy. From that point on he is incarcerated and must rely solely on his wits to get out alive of both the claims and the country.

Rowland writes with an amazing prose characters that feel real in their motivations and reactions. Interspersed along the book are different tales that further expand the worldbuilding and that honestly just leave me wishing that this was at least a 5 book series (currently there is only this book and a spin off about one of the characters that appear in this one).

I can't completely put into words how this book made me feel. I enjoyed it so much. So few books make me literally laugh out loud, yet this one did so countless times. Chant has such a real voice in ways that I've rarely encountered in characters. It has an amazing found family, and so much representation of female power figures and LGBTQ+ characters.

Watching this story unravel was such a joy that I'll be recommending to everyone for a long time.

5 out of 5 stars.

THE LAST SUN (THE TAROT SEQUENCE #1) | REVIEW

I've been in my worst reading slump in years these past months and I have only just finished this book that I started back in March (it is now July).

The first book of The Tarot Sequence introduces us to the Atlanteans, a race of people with magical abilities accessed through sigils (objects, very often wearable such as rings or glasses, in which spells can be stored). Different houses or courts are divided by the various tarot cards, more specifically the major Arcana, so you have, for example, Lord Tower, Lord Hermit, and our protagonist, Lord Sun.

Rune is what's left of the Sun Throne after it was attacked and everyone killed. His companion, bodyguard, and closest friend, Brand, has remained with him and made sure they've survived the years following the fall of the late Lord Sun. They have often worked as detectives/investigators to Lord Tower in order to survive, which has given them some protection and stability.

While the worldbuilding was definitely interesting, I think that it was a little bit patchy, with powers and creatures thrown out of the blue, without really explaining a bigger picture of how they all fit together and with which you could contextualize how big of a threat our characters were facing. It felt as if they were facing the Biggest Threat Ever ®, only to survive because it really wasn't that big, then facing another Even Bigger Threat, to survive again because the plot deemed it necessary. This ultimately left me feeling without a foothold on the story; I didn't know what to expect next not because of a clever plot twist so much as the fact that anything without explanation could happen at any moment.

Another problem I had is the fact that just about everyone wanted to fuck Rune so hard. Apparently a prophecy said how he'll be the (and I quote) "most beautiful man of his generation" and boy, did the author never let us forget it. Still, having 8 out of 10 people Rune interacts with flirt with him is unnecessary and frankly too much for my suspension of disbelief.

While the book leaves enough interesting crumbs of past mysteries and future plot points to be resolved in future installments, I'm still undecided on whether I'll continue the series.

2 stars

MAURICE (1987)

Back in January I watched this film for the first time, having it seen somewhere on the internet in a list about movies with queer characters and happy endings, which is quite a feat for a movie in the 80s. As far as I know and have seen, most queer themed movies always ended in a tragic death and before that trope there was the one where villains were queer coded.

Back to Maurice. This movie went straight into my list of comfort movies. I loved it visually, and it came right where I wanted to watch something “Dark Academia“, which is also another category in which I’ve seen this movie being categorized into. In fact, when they were at their university was my favorite part.

Even though the happy ending might not be the one that you expect (I really shipped Clive and Maurice) you can’t help but understand the character’s decisions and subsequent events that they caused.

Maurice was a completely enjoyable movie that left me with a small “mourning” period, with my mind in the movie’s universe. I really wish there were more movies like this.

Even though this is not exactly a review, I give this movie 5 out of 5 stars.

PIRANESI | REVIEW

Piranesi lives in the House. The House has three Levels.

The Lower Halls are the Domain of the Tides; the power of the ocean runs through them, providing him with food and sea vegetation to survive.

The Upper Halls are the Domains of the Clouds; they give Fresh Water, which trickles and falls down Walls and Staircases, to be gathered by Piranesi for consumption.

Between these Levels are the Middle Halls, the Domain of birds and of men.

The House is an endless maze of Halls and Vestibules, filled with statues from top to bottom in all imaginable sizes. No one lives in the House but Piranesi and the Other, which meet two times a week to discuss their progress on the search of the Great and Secret Knowledge. That is, until Piranesi unexpectedly sees another person within the Halls of the House.

Well, first of all, I really liked this book. The setting was super interesting and I just wanted for Piranesi to go off into uncharted depths of the House to see how much it evolved. Alas, he does not go in an adventure to unknown Halls, but nevertheless what we do see of the House was astounding, which is almost a character upon itself.

Behind the House and how Piranesi came to be there, however, lies another story which develops masterfuly through the pages. I was speechless with the explanation of the House, and the characters that once trodded upon its Walls.

It's really hard to say much more without spoiling the book. Better to jump right in without knowing much.

Susanna Clarke has built a world in Piranesi which I'll be thinking about for many years to come.

The Unexpected Journey: Finding Strength, Hope, and Yourself on the Caregiving Path | Emma Heming Willis

Who really knows what the future has in store for them? In this book, Emma Heming Willis shares her journey as Bruce Willis’s wife. From the beginning of their relationship, through their marriage, and to Bruce’s current diagnosis.

For those who don’t know, Bruce Willis, actor of films such as Die Hard, The Sixth Sense, and many other blockbusters, has frontotemporal dementia (FTD). The book shares the moment in which Emma and Bruce got the diagnosis, and how they left the doctor’s office with barely any information on what to do after that moment.

What many people don’t know about living with someone with dementia is that it can often be a very isolating experience. You don’t know how this is affecting your loved one, how fast it will evolve and, more often than not, what you should be doing to stop/diminish/slow down its evolution. You try to juggle all the normal tasks of your life, plus the ever-growing needs of your person, and you end up feeling like you're falling behind in life, missing experiences with your friends, family, and even on your personal development.

What took Emma (and really, every caregiver), a lot of time to process, is that you can’t go through this alone. You have to eventually open yourself to the people closest to you, and accept (and sometimes even ask!) their help. Being a caregiver is a grueling experience. It’s a never ending job. That’s why it’s extremely important to also take care of yourself. You really can’t do it all alone, and the people closest to you will want to help you.

For Emma, who has access to a lot of resources thanks to Bruce’s legacy, that meant she could hire specialists around the clock for her husband. While the vast majority of caregivers will not be able to do that, I think that Emma really explains her situation with a lot of tact, being very conscious of the privilege in which they live, and never flaunting it or saying that any part of the process was easy.

Emma writes with astonishing honesty. You sympathize with her struggles, you smile reading about her relationship blossoming, and you cry reading how it all changed, but she gathered her strength and courage to keep going through.

This book hit close to home. My mom has dementia, and I could really bond with many of the experiences Emma describes in the book on a deep, personal level. It is quite a beautiful thing to read something similar to your experience and to know that other people have gone through it and are thriving.

House of Day, House of Night | Olga Tokarczuk | Translated by Antonia Lloyd-Jones

For me this is a book that turns the famous tenet “don’t judge a book by its cover” on its head. Even though I didn’t end up reading the version that first caught my eye, the beige cover with the black bird and purple font caught my eye and made me read the synopsis.

House of Day, House of Night narrates the story of people in a small village in a very interesting way. Through short glimpses, we follow different villagers. This is not a linear book, and it’s apt-described as a “constellation novel”, and just like one of them it is composed of many different parts that makes a stunning view once you put all the elements together. It pulls you through and keeps you enthralled with its beautiful use of language.

Even though every chapter was enjoyable, my favorite parts were when we learned about Saint Kummernis and the monk who wrote her story. I didn’t expect for this book to go so far back in time and it actually ended up being one of the most interesting sections, with many chapters dedicated to it.