#tidemod

The Adventure Zone: Here There Be Gerblins Written By: Clint, Griffin, Justin and Travis McElroy Illustrated by: Carey Pietsch Comic book First Second Publisher, 2018 Based on the podcast The Adventure Zone: Balance

Rating: 4.5/5 Waves

This review does NOT contain major spoilers for The Adventure Zone: Here There Be Gerblins.

Summary: A D&D based adventure comic starring three unlikely friends: Magnus, a human fighter with a heart of gold, Taako, an elf wizard who can charm the pants off a bugbear, and Merle, a dwarf cleric with just enough blood to go around. When a routine delivery to Haverdale goes sideways our heroes must face gerblins, mages, animated robots and the titillating mysteries that unravel in the lost mine of Haverdale.

Review: I’d like to start this review with a disclaimer: I have listened to and thoroughly enjoyed the entirety of the podcast that this comic book is based off of, The Adventure Zone: Balance. Therefore, my review of this comic is going to be a bit biased. I know how this story ends and I’ve already bought into the shenanigans, genius and tomfoolery that are the McElroys playing D&D. Nevertheless, I attempted to approach this re-read from the perspective of someone who didn’t already know and love The Adventure Zone.

The very first thing that stands out about The Adventure Zone: Here There Be Gerblins comic is, of course, the art. Carey Pietsch does such a fantastic job of conveying action and emotion that I never lost track of the characters or their movement, even in the most hectic fight scenes. The art style is colorful, detailed and dynamic in a way that is incredibly engaging to look at. Even on my third read through I found new and wonderful details that added to the experience. Comic book art is critical to the enjoyment of comics and I am so glad they hit it out of the park with this one.

Character design is also an important component of why I enjoyed the story so much. As a fan of the podcast I knew what Taako, Magnus and Merle looked like in my head and, while Pietsch puts her own spin on the characters, everyone was perfectly recognizable. Her designs felt faithful to the spirit of the characters and the range of emotions portrayed in her art allowed me to almost hear the characters’ voices in my head.

The plot and the dialogue of The Adventure Zone: Here There Be Gerblins is taken from the podcast The Adventure Zone: Balance and they did a good job of keeping both the flow of dialogue and the jokes from the original. There were many scenes in this comic that made me grin so hard my cheeks hurt and some lines like “He vas one day from spider retirement!” had me trying to explain Bryan and Magic Brian to my mother through my laughter (not an easy task). The comic also had an excellent blend of humor and seriousness. The humor rarely distracted from the meat of the story and kept what could have been some extremely depressing plot points relatively light.

The best thing about this comic, in my opinion, is its length. The first arc of The Adventure Zone: Balance podcast is more than 10 hours of audio content. The Adventure Zone: Here There Be Gerblins covers the same story, but it can be read comfortably in an afternoon. The comic is also broken up into convenient chapters for people who don’t have time to get through it all at once. I also loved that there is now an alternative to listening to this story via podcast. This may come as a surprise, but I am not a big fan of podcasts and listening to the 80+ hour entirety of The Adventure Zone: Balance was a strenuous labor of love. So for people who don’t have the time, or the mental focus to go through that, this comic is a fantastic way to engage with a potentially inaccessible story.  

One thing all readers should be ready for with The Adventure Zone: Here There Be Gerblins is that it is the first comic in a series and while it has its own stand alone story, the last couple chapters are very clearly setting up the rest of the series. The ending is nearly a cliff-hanger with how much it tries to drag you into the next arc of the narrative, which for some readers is bug and for others it’s a feature. As of February 2021, only three of the eight arcs from The Adventure Zone: Balance have been made into comics so if you are the type of reader who needs to binge the entire thing, you might want to give it a few years.

The reason I didn’t give The Adventure Zone: Here There Be Gerblins full marks was because I felt there was a bit of a barrier to entry to enjoy this comic. People who haven’t engaged with the podcast will get a full and satisfying story, but they will miss a good amount of the humor and in-jokes tossed around in the characters’ dialogue. Even me, someone who loves the podcast with all my heart, felt like some things went over my head because it's been years since I finished The Adventure Zone: Balance. Additionally, readers who are not familiar with D&D might have a tough time with some of the scenes. Unlike the podcast wherein the players were learning to play D&D with the audience, the comic assumes the reader has a basic grasp of D&D concepts like what a Dungeon Master does and what a Perception Check is. Background knowledge in D&D isn’t critical to understand most of the plot or characters, but for some scenes my experience with D&D really helped me make sense of what I was looking at. At the end of the day, though, I don’t think either of these barriers would make the comic unreadable.

On a Sunbeam By: Tillie Walden Science Fiction Graphic Novel First Second Publisher, 2018

Rating: 4/5 Waves

This review CONTAINS (mild) spoilers for On a Sunbeam.

Content warnings for On a Sunbeam: Violence, bullying, transphobia (brief misgendering of a non-binary character)

Summary: Mia is a young woman just out of academy who begins work with a construction crew specializing in repairing ancient and forgotten places. Throughout her journey, glimpses of Mia’s past show that she has some unfinished and dangerous business she needs to complete before she truly moves forward with her life. A tale of love, adventure and belonging (~in space~).

Review: The first thing that stands out about this graphic novel is, of course, the art. The style is whimsical and lively in a way that I was not expecting going into a science fiction story. While I’m more used to the cluttered gritty sci-fi look, I adored this creative decision. The author also uses color well both to emphasize climactic moments and to disgust between two distinct timelines (past and present). I also loved how beautiful all of the places the characters visited were. Walden clearly had a vision for this sci-fi world and the visuals are some of the most compelling aspects of this story. The only location that I didn’t find appealing was the academy that we see in Mia’s flashbacks. While that may be intentional, the academy stood out as so bland and sterile that in most of those scenes I found myself hoping that we would switch our focus back to the interesting places Mia found herself in the present.

Walden also does a great job at building tension throughout the story. Between the art and how the plot builds I was on the edge of my seat for the final third of this book. That being said, the first two thirds of this book were much slower than I prefer in a graphic novel and it took me longer to finish this book than I usually would because I kept putting it down in the beginning. I still highly recommend it though, because once the story gets going it really moves!

Besides the great art, On a Sunbeam also has some fabulous characters and I loved that in the main cast we get a non-binary crew mate and many women of color. All of our characters get their own arc and are complex and multifaceted in a way that we need to see more of in media. One very interesting aspect of this graphic novel is that there are no male main characters. In fact, I am almost certain that there are no male characters in this story at all. Personally, I did not find this to be distracting. In fact, I didn’t notice until about half way through, but for anyone expecting male characters it is something to be aware of.

At its heart, On a Sunbeam is a love story and what resonated with me the most was that this was a sapphic love story. The journey of Mia and her girlfriend Grace is beautiful, moving and wildly refreshing in that there is no homophobia in the science fiction setting that Walden crafted. What comes between these lovers is culture, obligation and geography which are in no way related to the fact that they are both women. In fact, the captain of Mia’s construction crew is in a loving supportive marriage with her wife and the presence of multiple sapphic couples in the narrative is treated as commonplace and with the utmost respect. 

That being said, the society in this story not completely idealistic as the non-binary crew mate, Elliot, is misgendered by an antagonistic character. This is immediately and thoroughly addressed in the narrative, but in a setting where the author decided to exclude homophobia, I had hoped to avoid all types of bigotry.

Kiki’s Delivery Service (dir. Hayao Miyazaki, 1989) may not be the flashiest or the spiciest movie out there, but it was exactly what I needed to get through 2020. This movie is infused with so much love and peace that watching it soothed my fraying psyche every time. Knowing how the movie ends allowed me to immerse myself in Kiki’s world where differences are celebrated, strangers are kind and communities come together to support one another. The cognitive dissonance I experienced the first time I watched it faded with time and I found myself trusting and yearning for this world that Kiki lives in. It isn’t perfect, but it is so, so beautiful and something that I honestly believe we can build.

Maybe one day, future generations will watch this movie and Kiki’s world and our world will have more similarities than differences. Until then, when my doubts circle and I lose my edge I’ll remember Ursula’s wise words: 

Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey David E. Talbert (2020) Netflix Original Movie Fantasy, Holiday, Musical, Children’s Movie

Rating: 5/5 Waves

“I think it’s time for a new story.” – Journey

This review CONTAINS spoilers for Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey

Summary: Jeronicus Jangle is a genius toymaker who has everything he’s ever wanted until betrayal and tragedy strike and rip away his magic and inspiration. Jingle Jangle follows his journey with his bright, spunky granddaughter to finding his way out of darkness and towards family, love and inspiration.

No content warnings apply for Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey

Last year was a mess and 2021 is already on thin ice, but one of the best things to happen to me this season was my girlfriend sitting me down and convincing me to watch Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey. While the trailer looked fun, especially since it was a musical Christmas story featuring a primarily black cast, I hadn’t prioritized watching it. I tend to feel that everything has already been made when it comes to Christmas movies and I don’t want or need another retelling of the same stories. If I need a bump of Christmas spirit around the holidays, I indulge in a classic and move on. Fortunately for me, she wanted to watch it and we needed a Christmas Eve movie.

I loved so much about this movie that I could write tens of thousands of words singing its praises, but I wouldn’t do that to you, so I will narrow my praises to the most important parts of this movie to me. At the top of the list is just how good this movie looks.

Jingle Jangle is one of the most visually appealing movies I’ve ever seen. From the set to the costumes to the choreography, every single shot of this movie was pleasing to the eye. The clothing was sharp and colorful in a way that I expected to get on my nerves, but it ended up stunning. Costume designer Michael Wilkinson described the fashion as “Afro Victorian”. The characters’ hairstyles are another part of the costuming that stood out. They were creative and fun while also adding dimension to the characters’ looks. And let me just take a minute to personally thank the creators of Jingle Jangle for allowing all of these black characters to have natural hair. I have never seen that in a movie and it almost made me cry. Both the clothing and the hairstyles mirrored the characters’ arcs and added depth to the narrative.

The beauty of this movie can mostly be attributed to its fabulous designers, but I also want to point out that everything looked and felt fabulously expensive. I could not find the budget of Jingle Jangle in USD, but with every set piece, CGI shot, song and outfit you could tell that someone who loved this project spent a whole lot of money on it. It is refreshing to see a story like this getting the financial backing to do it properly.

The visuals were so stunning, in fact, that even if the actual story had been terrible, I would still have been happy to just sit and watch it on mute. Fortunately, Jingle Jangle’s story was phenomenal; heartwarming and inspiring with just enough humor to keep it light without feeling overly juvenile. It also had such meaningful emotional themes that I cried at least three times (in a good way).

The emotional core of this movie is the relationship between Jeronicus and his granddaughter Journey. Jeronicus is a grumpy, disillusioned inventor who abandoned his aspirations after achieving his dreams lead to nothing but betrayal and heartache. Journey is a bright, talented child who wants to learn from her brilliant grandfather, but she realizes she has to reignite his belief in himself first. The story centers around belief in the impossible, like most Christmas stories, but instead of asking the audience to believe in something like Santa Claus, Jingle Jangle reminds the audience to believe in themselves and their own abilities. Personally, I’ve never felt more inspired than when a small child belted about how “The square root of impossible is me!” The story digs into how depression can destroy a person’s creativity and inspiration and sometimes what we need is other people believing in us so we can be reminded to believe in ourselves.

My whole deal is reviewing fantasy though, so I feel like I should mention magic. Like most things in the movie it is very pretty to look at. When Jeronicus and Journey use their magic it is glittery, dazzling and very obviously a metaphor for imagination and creativity. Personally, these characters could have probably just have been very smart, but having a visual to see them thinking in new and exciting ways was nice. Math-but-its-glowing as a magic system is not something I’ve seen much of recently, but I know just enough math words to delight in what is coming out of these character’s mouths when they talk about their inventions. This might be a difficult movie for haters of math or people who study it for a living. If hearing characters say things like, “Belief! It collapsed the wave function.” and “Take the circumference of spectacular, divided by the second derivative of sensational…” is a deal breaker for you, then maybe skip this movie.

Also, I should note that this movie is a musical. This came as a surprise to us the first time we watched it, but luckily we love musicals. The first time the music swelled and Jeronicus started singing we were swept away by the magic of the moment, delightfully surprised and in awe of the musical talent. Every single song in this movie is energetic, fun and refreshingly Black. Director David E. Talbert said that he was inspired by southern soul and gospel music as well as Afrobeat and other primarily black genres. The mix of inspiration creates joyful and fresh new songs for the holiday season.

As a whole this movie got my highest rating because the things I love about it outweigh the flaws. That being said, there are a couple pieces of the story that either didn’t make sense or it feels like they did not think all the way through. First of all, the main conflict revolves around the villain Don Juan, a toy matador who has been given sentience through Jeronicus’s miraculous inventions, not wanting to be mass produced. While the story tries to convince us that the conflict revolves around Don Juan’s narcissism, if you think about this plot point too hard you realize that our protagonist plans to mass produce and sell his creations that are clearly alive and intelligent. Obviously the movie doesn’t dig into the ethics of this, since Don Juan is more concerned about not being one-of-a-kind rather than worried that he is going to be bought and sold as a commodity, but it is a concerning angle that implies some very uncomfortable things about this universe.

Another piece that I found falls apart when you think about it too hard is the framing of the story within a story. Jingle Jangle is told a bedtime story being read by a grandmother to her grandchild (similar to the Princess Bride). The first scenes introduce us to a couple of cute kids who ask their grandmother for a Christmas story and in opening the book we get some spectacular CGI and animation to introduce us to Jeronicus’s world. While there is nothing inherently wrong with this method of storytelling, I found it to be unnecessary since the children listening to the story and the grandmother don’t add much as independent characters. Unfortunately, the story seemed to feel the need to justify these characters’ existence and so in a big reveal at the end we discover that the grandmother is Journey, Jeronicus’s granddaughter.

While seeing Journey with her grandchildren is cute, it leads to questions that I personally did not need to have at the end of this otherwise tied up narrative. For example, the children seem to have never heard of Jeronicus Jangle, Don Juan or Buddy 3000 (another important toy character), yet we are meant to believe that Jeronicus’s story happened in the universe that the children live in? Why wouldn’t they know stories about their rich and famous great-great-grandfather? Why had they never heard of Jeronicus Jangle when it is implied that the toys they have grown up with would have been his or his family’s inventions? By making the children related to the people in the story, the writers distracted me from Jeronicus and Journey whose story is much more interesting and heartwarming. Jingle Jangle is a movie that asks me to think and reflect, so I don’t feel bad poking holes in the story, but I don’t love that they left me hanging with all these questions.  

Additionally, there are also some things that I wish the writers hadn’t included in the movie at all. For example, they fridged Jeronicus’s wife almost immediately which was completely unnecessary and I hated to see that in a movie that got so many other things right. Also, having the only obviously Hispanic character (Don Juan Diego) be the villain in such a cartoon-y way left a bad taste in my mouth.

But Jingle Jangle still got my highest rating because as the sum of its parts, it was a fantastic story and I am so glad I got the chance to watch it. My very favorite part of this movie that has stuck with me even weeks after my first viewing is the relationship between Jeronicus and his family. There are sections of this movie where Jeronicus falls into the stereotypical absentee black father trope, but this story allows his character space to talk about what he did wrong, how he is hurting and Jeronicus learns to do better which is so important. I love the current trend in movies where parents apologize to their children because that can be such a healing experience and Jingle Jangle gives us that, but additionally, it makes the parent work for it and prove to their child that they are healing themselves. It offers hope to children struggling through painful situations like this and give parents an example of how they might be able to fix what they broke.

Overall, Jingle Jangle left me with a feeling of joy and contentment while inspiring me to remember what I used to love and rethink my self-imposed limits. The core message of this movie is a reminder that sometimes our lack of belief in our own skills is enough to stop us from achieving our dreams. Jingle Jangle reminds us to believe in our own capacity and lift each other up even when times are difficult. I don’t know if this movie will become a classic in the general consciousness, but it will certainly become a tradition in my family.

The Old Guard

dir. Gina Prince-Bythewood (2020) 

Skydance Media, Denver and Delilah Productions, Marc Evans Productions

Science Fiction, Action, Superhero Movie

Rating: 4/5 Waves

Summary: An elite group of immortal fighters utilize their gifts to keep humanity safe. They want to remain in the shadows and fade into legend, but in the modern world everyone leaves a footprint and an immortal can only stay hidden so long. Between being hunted by the powers that be and trying to stay sane after living for so long, this group of immortals must also cope with the appearance of a brand new immortal; the first in two hundred years.

Content warnings: Violence, Death, Body Horror, Suicide Idealization

This review CONTAINS spoilers for The Old Guard.

I love media about immortals: immortals in love, immortals in hate, immortals who think they are blessed, cursed, chosen, or anything in between. The Old Guard delivered in all the ways I expected, but there were a few fun twists and turns I appreciated as a fan of immortals. One thing that I loved about The Old Guard is that the immortal characters have no idea why they are immortal. There is no god that has blessed them. There wasn’t some incredible pseudoscience that supercharged them, and there was no mythical contagion like we see for vampires and werewolves. In The Old Guard, sometimes people can’t die and they have no idea why. Personally, I find that both hilarious and compelling. What do you mean you don’t know why you’re immortal? At first, I was a little skeptical because it seemed like lazy world building, but as the story progressed it was clear that the ‘why’ of immortality was irrelevant. The question of this story is not ‘why am I immortal?’ it is ‘what am I going to do with my immortality?’, which is a fantastic question that I loved watching them explore.

This show also did a great job of keeping the tension and the stakes high throughout the story. One problem that can come up in media about immortals is that if they are invincible or can heal from anything then there is no real risk in the story. The Old Guard combats this problem by having this world’s immortality be temporary. In The Old Guard the immortal characters can be killed by anything that would kill a normal person, but after a few seconds they start to heal and simply wake up. What keeps the audience guessing is that at some point in these immortal’s lives, their immortality will run out and they will heal and die exactly like a regular person. This uncertainty coupled with not knowing why people are immortal in this world could be frustrating to some viewers so tread carefully, but if you’re like me and don’t mind some unsolved mysteries at the end of your story, you will really like this movie.

Another aspect of this movie I enjoyed was how much detail was put in to convince you these immortal characters had lived an incomprehensibly long time. For example, they all spoke many, many languages. It’s a neat detail because yes if I lived hundreds of years, I too would have learned all the languages my friends know and then a couple more just to keep it spicy. I also loved how the characters had names appropriate to when they were born, but they shortened them to modern names (Andromache of Scythia goes by Andy). But at the end of the day, it was fantastic acting that sold these immortal characters. The way they were portrayed, from the way they walked and talked to the way they interacted with non-immortals, brought home how long these characters had been alive and how much they had seen over the years. It was all in the eyes, and the actors and actresses did a great job.

At its heart, this is an action movie so it’s important to mention the action. I loved that the women were allowed to beat the crap out of men without making it weirdly sexual. The women characters also beat the crap out of each other without making it sexual, which was very refreshing. I can’t say whether or not this can be attributed to the director being a woman, but that is my suspicion. I also appreciated that this movie allowed their immortal characters to use a fun blend of modern and ancient weapons. Guns are fine, but ancient battle axes are so much better.

What I liked least about the action in The Old Guard is that it was often too dark (as in the lighting was poor). There were whole sequences I could not see because they were meant to be happening at night. I want to watch a movie at 3pm on my laptop and I can’t see in the dark. With my screen brightness at maximum, there were several scenes that were trying to show a dark room or a midnight fight, but all I could see was a black screen. I could understand if this had come out in theaters and was meant to be viewed on the big screen, but The Old Guard is a Netflix Original.

There were also a few tropes in this movie that I am not a fan of. I use the word ‘tropes’ loosely here meaning something I’ve seen often in media; and there are a couple in The Old Guard that I never want to see again. The ones in this movie include: the not-self-aware-immoral-scientist trope, the we-used-to-have-POCs-in-our-group-but-they-died-off-screen trope, and the let’s-kill-a-bunch-of-brown-people-for-exposition trope.

First of all, I’m tired of scientists who want to be evil, but hid behind the “it’s for the good of humanity” spiel. As a scientist, I know that if you got a degree you also took ethics training. You might not have liked it, you might have thought that was ‘limiting your potential,’ but we all know the rules and we are all smart enough to know where the line is. I’m not saying that there shouldn’t be immoral scientists in media. I’m saying that it is not believable for a scientist to think that the world will be behind them when they unveil a new product or research that has so clearly been done in an unethical manner. You are not getting a Nobel Prize for your torture research, Karen. It’s not going to happen and you know that. You can’t even discuss your methods, Karen. How do you think you are going to get published?

Second of all, I personally hated when they revealed that a group of immortals was super diverse a thousand years ago. It’s good that there was a lot of diversity in the original group of protagonists, but the only one that survived was the white woman and all the other immortals since have been light-skinned dudes. I’m tired of being told that almost all the diversity died off. It feels like the person writing the story wanted points for including diverse people without having to write a diverse story. It’s the same emotion as when Thanos snapped the majority of the POC out of the MCU. I’m exhausted.

Lastly, if a story needs to quickly paint their protagonists as hyper competent fighters, a common opening scene is having the group kill their way through a horde of evil henchmen. The problem I have is when this opening scene happens in some far off land that the story never returns to and the people the protagonists murder their way through are all black or brown while the protagonists are all light skinned. To me it's disrespectful to have the majority of a story to happen in the US or the UK and only travel to a Middle Eastern or African nation to kill a bunch of people who don’t look like the protagonists.

That being said, the diversity of the main cast by the end of the movie was actually above average as far as popular superhero movies go. In the beginning, there were mostly light-skinned dudes and the new immortal is the main source of diversity, but by the end the group of protagonists is one of the most diverse teams we have right now with multiple women, multiple non-straight characters and multiple people of color.  

Other things that stood out about this movie were the soundtrack and the message of the story. A good score is critical for a good movie and The Old Guard delivers with music that kept me grounded in the story and seemed to enhance every emotion throughout the story. The Old Guard also ended up extremely wholesome for an R rated movie. The story’s themes revolve around family, purpose and acceptance and the characters are all the more compelling because of it.

Overall, I had a great time watching this movie and I highly recommend it for fans of action, immortals and/or wholesome media. The Old Guard is a fun ride with fabulous characters that will leave you energized and inspired!

Crooked Kingdom

By: Liegh Bardugo

YA Fantasy Novel

Henry Hold & Company, 2016

Rating: 5/5 Waves!

Summary: Book two in the Six of Crows Duology. Inej has been kidnapped, Ketterdam is no longer safe and our favorite group of misfits still has not gotten paid! Follow Kaz and crew on their exciting journey towards revenge, friendship, redemption and (most importantly) cold hard cash.   

This review CONTAINS (mild) spoilers for the novel Crooked Kingdom.

Content Warnings for Crooked Kingdom: Violence, Death, Drug addiction, Plague, Forced Prostitution (mentioned), Fantasy Racism, Sexism, Slavery/Indentured Servitude, Mental Asylums

“Brick by brick.” – Kaz Brekker, Dirtyhands, the Bastard of the Barrel whenever he’s brooding.

I’ve been saving my highest wave rating for a piece of fantasy media that really impressed me, something that I could recommend completely to friends, family and random people on the street. Crooked Kingdom (and by extension the entire Six of Crows duology) by Liegh Bardugo is that fantasy media! Not only does this novel fix all of the problems I had with the first book (Six of Crows), but it expands on the universe and characters in a way that kept me guessing, engaged and completely enamored.

There are so many phenomenal things about this book from its world-building to the story itself, but my absolute favorite aspects were the pacing and the characters. Plans worked, plans failed, and I was on the edge of my seat the entire time. I never wanted to slow down and if I had to stop (to eat and sleep), I knew I would have no problem jumping back into the story. It was an easy read and even though some of the themes were pretty heavy (drug addiction recovery and self worth issues), it was still light enough that I could pick it up regardless of my state of mind.

As for the characters, every single one of our main six get to be interesting, well-rounded and relatable. Even the mastermind who is characterized as extraordinarily brilliant feels like a real person with characteristics that are easy to empathize with. Nearly everyone gets a great arc that leaves the reader more than satisfied (my favorites are Jesper’s and Kaz’s). On one hand, I am glad this series was a duology because it gave the author enough time to tell one long, very well thought out story without having to compress it into one book or drag it out to three. On the other hand, I would like at least a dozen more of these books because I love them so, so much. But I can appreciate that Bardugo showed a lot of restraint in telling the story she wanted to and then stopped, especially in today’s world of extended series that follow the same characters for years long past when the original story had concluded.

I loved so many things about this story that I literally cannot post them all, so here are some highlights that I really want to share (Note: the last one is technically a spoiler, but I won’t go into much detail): 1) The POV of the first and last chapters are not from the main characters’ perspectives so they add a fun dimension to the story that make the world feel really lived in. 2) The romance plots were very well done. As a 27 year-old, I usually can’t relate to teen romance, but I adored watching characters come together. 3) The maps were once again fantastic! When I saw the intricate map of Ketterdam I knew this book was going to be phenomenal. 4) Bardugo does NOT bury her gays. She had the opportunity to and I was on the edge of my seat, but she avoided using that damaging trope!

One thing that didn’t affect the rating but could ruin the book for some readers is that we get an eleventh hour tragedy. To me, this reads like the author didn’t want her main characters getting away with everything unscathed. To avoid major spoilers, I am not going to say what happens, but it is a major development right at the end that to me felt unnecessary. There seems to be a trend in fantasy media where something or someone important has to be lost before you get to the end or else the characters didn’t earn their happy ending. I completely disagree and don’t think clever, creative, and competent characters need to earn their happiness by losing something, especially if it is outside of their control. To me the cost wasn’t high enough to decrease the rating, but if you are interested in spoilers feel free to message me.

It is so difficult to find a series that starts strong and finishes stronger, but Bardugo delivers with the perfect balance of heist, drama and brilliance. I will be rereading this duology over and over for the rest of my life and recommending it to everyone who will listen!

Tldr; If you love heists, diversity, intrigue and/or revenge plots this is the series for you. 5/5 Waves! Go read this! It’s fantastic!

Kiki's Delivery Service By: Hayao Miyazaki Fantasy/Coming-of-age Movie Studio Ghibli, 1989

Rating: 4.5/5 Waves

Content warning for Kiki's Delivery Service: Depression

This review does NOT contain spoilers for Kiki's Delivery Service.

Summary: Kiki, a thirteen-year-old witch, and Jiji, her black cat familiar, leave home for a traditional training year wherein young witches find a new town and develop their own individual magic. Overwhelmed in the big city, Kiki needs to figure out what she is good at, what she likes and who she wants to be. A story of adventure, friendship and growing up.

In times like these the best thing you can do for your soul is to find a Studio Ghibli movie you’ve never seen and dig in. As a Miyazaki fan it was odd that I had never seen Kiki's Delivery Service and now seemed like the perfect time for something light and beautiful and boy did this movie deliver ;D

The list of reasons I loved this movie is too long to include here, so I will highlight the best of the best. First and foremost, the art and music are spectacular. The 2D animation is smooth and soothing (as you would expect from Studio Ghibli animation) and the character designs are cute and comforting across the board from Kiki’s adorable self to the kindly old dog, Jeff, we only see for a few scenes.

The animation style also allowed for another one of my favorite parts of this movie, the physical comedy. So often with live-action physical comedy I am left with the lingering guilt of ‘are they ok?’, but the physical comedy in this movie won’t leave you cringing. They way the artists clearly convey the limitations of flying on a broomstick in silly whimsical ways had me laughing out loud many many times.

Aside from the art, the story and how the characters are written also impressed me. Kiki is thirteen years old and you never forget that. In some stories, especially coming-of-age stories it can feel like the children change so drastically that they go from the maturity of a teen to that of an adult over the course of a few days or weeks. I am not sure how they did it, but they gave me a thirteen-year-old protagonist who is clearly and accurately written as her age, the entire story and still vastly relatable to a wider audience. She learns, she grows, but this isn’t a story about lost innocence, which was a relief.

In fact, most of the themes and messages were realistic and hopeful in a way that left me inspired and motivated. Kiki’s struggles resonated with me and seeing her tackle those problems with the help and wisdom of those around her was a delight to watch.

Finally, something I was so happy to see was the world’s acceptance of witches. It was refreshing to see a witch story that is not about keeping secrets and slowly destroying yourself to save the world. Rather, her powers were something that people found impressive, handy and, in Tombo’s case, awe-inspiring. She was different from other people, yes, but those differences were celebrated much more than they were looked down upon and I absolutely loved it.

The reasons this movie did not get full marks are limited, but this is a review so I’ll explain. For me the issues were the pacing, the inexplicable magical training program, and my own personal cognitive dissonance regarding how nice everyone was to Kiki. The pacing was a bit too slow for my tastes and for people who are used to animation having a Disney style pace (action, song, conflict, song, resolution, song). Since the art and scenery were beautiful I didn’t always mind the excessive wide shots and slow pans, but some scenes were just a little too slow for me.

Another minor issue I had with this movie (as an American) was the lack of logic in how young witches are supposed to be trained. At the very beginning of the movie we learn that at thirteen years old all witches leave home for one year to train, but they do not seek out a mentor, rather they are meant to just go get a job. I understand this seems to be a trial by fire situation, but it seems like a terrible way to learn magic. I also didn’t like how her mother, who was also a witch and went through the same thing at thirteen could leave Kiki so unprepared for her training year. There were several trials Kiki encountered that could have been avoided if her mother had sat her down and taught her about the world and how to be a witch. Even a basic “Here is how I did it” conversation probably could have saved Kiki a lot of trouble. If every witch goes on this training year, then it seems like it would be pretty easy to prepare your own child for this kind of adventure. It didn’t sit well with me that this mother, who was shown to clearly love her daughter, would drop the ball so thoroughly on Kiki’s early training.

And finally, one thing that I loved and that also didn’t sit well with me was how nice everyone was to Kiki. I found myself wishing at many points throughout the movie that people in real life were that kind to strangers and people they didn’t understand. Kiki’s world is stunningly beautiful in its abundance of kindness, but I kept pulling myself out of the story with worry wondering when the other shoe was going to drop. Surely people couldn’t be this nice, of course this is too good to be true. This speaks more to the world I grew up in: that in a fantasy movie the hardest part for me to wrap my head around was that a thirteen-year-old girl from a small town could move to the city and meet wonderful people and the problems she faces aren’t of the predator/poverty/“you shouldn’t have talked to strangers” variety. Like sure, she can fly on a broom and her cat talks, but how in the world did she get an apartment that nice? It’s jarring, but in a wonderful way. It left me wishing the world was truly like that, but it also reminded me that a little kindness can go a long way.

Tldr; At the end of the day, this movie left me with a sense of joy and contentment that I don’t get from movies so much these days. It is a fun, beautiful story that I highly recommend to anyone in need of a little happiness.

Six of Crows

By: Leigh Bardugo

YA Fantasy Novel

Henry Hold & Company, 2015

Rating: 4.5/5 Waves

Summary: Six rag-tag teens are offered the job of a lifetime: more money than they know what to do with and all they have to do is spring a scientist from the most heavily fortified prison in the world. A daring adventure filled with magic, love and betrayal. 

The review CONTAINS (mild) spoilers for the novel Six of Crows.

Content Warning for Six of Crows: Blood, Violence, Death, Forced Prostitution (mentioned), Fantasy Racism, Sexism, Slavery/Indentured Servitude

“No Mourners. No Funerals.” – All of these wonderful characters right before they do something insane.

I can’t tell you how refreshing it was for me to pick this book up and read in three days. It’s been years since I’ve found a book that I simply could not put down. From the writing style to the pacing to the clever characters, this book had everything I didn’t know I needed. Before I dive into why this book knocked my socks off, I want to give a shout out to the several friends who recommended this book to me over the years (you know who you are). You were right! I loved it <3

Aside from how highly recommended this book was, I knew pretty early on that this book was a great fit for me. The first clue was that there are not one, but two maps in the front. I might be the only one, but a good map to start off my fantasy book always puts me in a very good mood. In my version of the book, the maps are illustrated by Keith Thompson and they are beautiful. The detail and imagination that went into these maps, particularly the Ice Court schematic really allowed me to immerse myself in the story, especially since one of the characters actually sketches the Ice Court in the novel. It is so easy to imagine Wylan hunched over a piece of parchment drawing this spectacular map.

My second clue that I would love this book was that it is a heist novel. In fact, knowing that this book was about a fantasy heist was at least half the reason I decided to read it, and Bardugo did not disappoint. What I find to be most compelling about this heist story is how she lays out the mission as nearly impossible, but never gives the reader a reason to doubt the characters’ resolve. Sure this heist seems insane and doomed to fail, but our faith in the characters keeps the reader invested. Bardugo also did a great job with her foreshadowing. The plot twists and the way the characters solved their problems, while surprising, always made sense in hindsight. There were never any instances where I felt like Bardugo used her magic system to ‘cheat’ the character’s out of a bad situation or where the characters were just so clever there was no way I could have ever guessed what they were going to do. The book kept me on my toes, but it never made me feel stupid.

As I mentioned in my About Page, I love me a good magic system, and Bardugo delivers fun and vibrant magic with clear rules and expectations that just beg to be broken. She also does a great job integrating the magic into a world that feels complex and expansive. This world has both a history and a future in a way that makes me feel like the author put a lot of good work in and loves this world as much as I do. My favorite detail is how Bardugo used language and language barriers in the story. The main cast are from different countries within this world and logically speak different languages, though fortunately most are multilingual. I just love the little details like how Wylan speaks schoolroom Fjerdan because he learned it from his tutors and how Matthias only just learned Kerch during his time in prison. It gives the world a fun realistic dimension.

Hands down the best thing about this story is the characters. Usually at this point in the review I have to sigh and tell you that it was a fun book but the diversity was lacking. Fortunately for us Bardugo gives us a beautifully diverse cast of well rounded and compelling characters. Of the six main cast, only one is an able-bodied straight white man (I am making some assumptions about Matthias’ sexuality so you will have to forgive me) and in an age where I am still reeling from the Avenger’s lineup this crew was a breath of fresh air. Every single character comes out of the gate interesting, three-dimensional and just a delight to read. This book is constructed so that every chapter we switch point of view and I found myself excited to see how each character thought and reacted to the wild situations they ended up in. Also, the way Bardugo gets the reader to care deeply for her characters does a fantastic job in creating high stakes with real tension. I found myself holding my breath and flipping pages with much more force than necessary during some high stress scenes. Even the characters that were clearly not good people had me checking my moral compass from time to time and cheering for them anyway.   

I think it’s also important to include how much I liked the writing style of this novel. Everything I listed above wouldn’t have been nearly as enjoyable if the flow and pacing of the writing were not enjoyable to me. This novel is written in a fairly typical YA style of fantasy, fast pace and dialogue heavy, which I loved. There was enough description that I never felt lost, but I also never got bogged down in details I didn’t care about. Bardugo also made a fun choice to break the book up into six parts and at the end of each part there are two full black pages with the part title. The first couple times I mostly ignored it, but when a character is in physical danger and you flip the page and it’s just black! That is a great use of your physical medium! I got chills.

I have one nit-pick that didn’t deeply affect this book’s rating, but could be a deal-breaker for other readers. First of all, this novel is the first in a duology and it does not stand on its own as a story. While the main conflict does get resolved, another plot starts in the last couple chapters and the story does not end at the end of the book. It is clear that a single story has been broken into two books and it came as a shock to me. Fortunately, unlike the poor suckers who read this when it came out in 2015 and had to wait a whole year for the sequel, I only have to wait about a week for my library to have it available. Still for people who want a stand alone book or enjoy when all of the books in a series have a neat and tidy ending, this is not the book for you.

The two things keeping this book from a perfect score were the fantasy racism and how the women were framed in this world. I am using the term ‘fantasy racism’ because there is systemic oppression in this fantasy world and that systemic oppression is a clear metaphor for real-life racism, but in the story the minority group is the one with magical powers and not an ethnic minority. Generally, I think this author did a good job at showing the damage institutionalized racism can do to specific countries and the world as a whole. What I did not enjoy was the sub-plot of one of the main cast (Matthias), who was a member of the highly bigoted ruling class of the most racist nation in this fantasy world, overcoming his racism not through critical thinking or learning to understand the value of lives that are different from his own, but rather because he fell in love. I am open to the idea of racists learning to respect the cultures they were prejudiced against and when done right can be a very powerful thing, but when romance is the key motivator it feels very hollow. Also I have trouble conceptualizing a woman of the minority group falling in love with someone who is literally a part of the military death squad in charge of hunting down her people (Nina I know he’s hot, but what the hell?). Either way, the idea of reforming a racist with the power of love is not a trope I enjoy in my media.

The second thing keeping this book from a perfect score is the treatment of the women characters. One thing I noticed early on is that nearly all of the women characters had been forced (either financially or physically) into prostitution or slavery. It makes the reader think that in this fantasy world the only places to find women are the brothels or in chains. This world is vibrant and full of so many interesting things and people, yet for women the world seems so very limited. I found myself disappointed that even in a novel written by a woman, a well loved character is described during the climax as ‘a  half-naked girl in shreds of teal chiffon’. To be fair, I have read fantasy books that have done their women characters much, much dirtier, but it’s unnecessary and exhausting. I notice it even in small doses and I’m sick of it. Fortunately, neither of these issues I had with the novel got a ton of page-time and there was always something else going on that I could focus on, like the strong female friendships and the brilliant disabled protagonist.

Tldr; Overall, best book I’ve read in a long time. I couldn’t give it a 5/5 because of some issues in how the fantasy racism and women were handled, but I would still highly recommend this novel to anyone who likes fantasy stories, diverse characters and/or a really good heist.