I can’t believe we’ve reached the end of yet another month and it’s August which means we’re a month closer to the fall 😉 This was a slower month for me when it came to reading but a very busy month when it came to movies I’ve watched.
WHAT I’VE READ
Last month, I read “The Rakess” by Scarlet Peckham and “Duke of Midnight” by Elizabeth Holt for the historical romance readathon. I had a huge selection of historical romances I could have gone with but I settled down with these two and I’m really glad I picked them for the readathon.
My favorite of the two has to be “The Rakess”. I’m currently working on a review for it and it’s hard to reign myself in and concisely explain why I really enjoyed this book. Peckham specializes in feminist historical romances and this was exactly that and more. I’ve never read a historical romance that explored the fight for women’s rights/equality the way this book did. While other historical romances scratched the surface of inequality, this book set the whole society and imprisoning patriarchal ideology on fire. The women in this book who promised themselves to fight for justice fought so “dirty” in the eyes of society that was completely refreshing to read and follow their journeys. This book also does a great job in exploring heavy topics such as dealing with trauma, and sometimes, dealing with it in a very unhealthy way. So please be aware of trigger warnings for this book before going into it because there’s a ton. To name a few trigger warnings: loss of a child and loved one, grief, alcoholism, miscarriage, addiction, trauma, sexual harassment/assault.
WHAT I’VE WATCHED
This month, I watched 10 movies and 2 crime documentaries. 5 of those movies were Marvel Movies and I had such a fun time going back into the universe and seeing my favorite people kick names and take ass. If you got that reference, virtual cookie for you 😉 I had a couple movies/shows that really stood out for me so I thought I’d share what I liked and disliked.
Let’s start off with the dislikes because there weren’t much.
Captain Marvel
“Captain Marvel” won the competition for me and once again, I have a post coming out soon with a mini review as to why but to keep it short, it was very lack luster for me. The writing had a ton of flashbacks and personally, flashbacks don’t always result int he most gripping storylines and they tend not let me connect with the character when most of the character development comes from five second flashes of their past. That’s pretty much what happened in this movie.
Major Grom: The Plague Doctor
The movie that I loved this month has to be “Major Grom: The Plague Doctor”. This movie is on Netflix (for my American people, I don’t know if it’s available in all countries). It’s a Russian movie following a detective who finds himself in unfortunate situations trying to crack a case. It’s so funny and ridiculous but also action packed. I highly recommend it if you want some action and a good laugh. I was told by many people that it has “Man from U.N.C.L.E” vibes which is one of my favorite movies ever. I watched it dubbed because I was with my parents and they can’t read captions as fast as I can and honestly, that added another comedic layer to the movie because the English translators were clearly ad-libbing and off beat with the Russian. It was pretty funny.
The Keepers
I cannot end this post without talking about “The Keepers”. This is an award winning seven episode crime documentary on Netflix following two 70 year old women exploring the death of their high school teacher, Sister Cathy Cesnik. The fact that this case is still open today is mind boggling. This whole case was just chilling, horrifying, and absolutely D I S G U S T I N G. Major trigger warnings for sexual assault, rape, pedophilia, murder, and if you’re uncomfortable watching a documentary about the Catholic Church covering things up, you may want to steer clear of this one. A couple of times, they go into vivid details of the sexual assault and rape so if that’s not okay for you, steer clear. If you don’t have any trigger warnings, I really suggest watching this because things like this happen everywhere, not just under the Catholic Church. We see women being scrutinized and silenced in big corporations and other organizations everywhere. I went into this documentary blind and again, if you don’t have trigger warnings, go ahead and go in blind and be prepared to have your mind blown. The way this documentary was put together was also done so well because each of the seven episodes, we learn something new and end with a cliffhanger that we truly didn’t see coming. We’re constantly questioning people who are being interviewed and what’s real or not and trying to not scream at how so much of what happened during this time got buried.
Midyear Reflections: Favorite Journal Spreads
I really changed up how I journal this year and thought I’d share some of the functional and aesthetic changes I’ve made! Check it out if you’re looking for minimal spread ideas.
Review: In a Holidaze by Christina Lauren
A small review on one of Christina Lauren’s later publication that features a ground hog day plot where our character is stuck reliving her Christmas holidays in order to win over her crush. And yes, I did read this when it was a hundred degrees outside lol.
Thing’s I’m in The Middle Of: Murder and Dragons
I talk about reading “The Last Namsara” by Kristen Ciccarelli and watching “The Keepers”
Read on to find out what I loved so far this year and didn’t love and what I’m looking forward to in the next six months 🙂
Review: Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse
Dark, atmospheric, fantasy rich with references pre-Columbian civilizations. This book features one of my favorite characters, Serapio, who’s as much of a cinnamon roll as he is catastrophically destructive and mysteriously dark and eery.
Check out my latest monthly post to read about me gushing over “The Martian” and the Korean Drama “Hospital Playlist”.