Remarkably Bright Creatures [review]

Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt
Published by Ecco on May 3, 2022
my rating: 4.5 stars
Goodreads avg: 4.47 (as of Jan 19, 2023)
Spoiler-free review
Goodreads

My neurons number half a billion, and they are distributed among my eight arms. On occasion, I have wondered whether I might have more intelligence in a single tentacle than a human does in its entire skull.

Remarkably Bright Creatures follows three perspectives: an older woman named Tova, a giant Pacific octopus named Marcellus, and a young man named Cameron. These perspectives are all incredibly different. Tova lives alone, her husband recently deceased, and cleans the aquarium in the evenings, thinking about her long-ago missing son. Cameron struggles to hold a job and wants to find the father he’s never known. Marcellus observes, and eventually intervenes in Tova’s life. I found this to be an incredibly beautiful book; it was slow to hook me but once it did I was all in. While I found Marcellus’ chapters to be cheesy and inconsistent at times (he knows what a barrette is, but not what a pacifier is. He knows what a driver’s license is, but not what a football is), it took little away from my enjoyment. This is a slow-moving examination of our character and their lives that ends in an emotional climax; I found myself sobbing over the last couple chapters. I highly recommend this to lovers of literary fiction and am so glad that my great-aunt gifted it to me, knowing my love of octopuses!

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February 2023 Wrap-Up

I got little-to-no reading done this month due to some personal issues that have come up. I don’t have high hopes that March will be better, but we’ll see! I have been watching a lot of TV and movies, though. I’m going to change up the format of these wrap-up posts a bit because I think the big long lists are getting boring and I’d like to break that up a bit.

Books Read:

• Going Bicoastal by Dahlia Adler. 3.5 stars, RTC.
• The Edge of the Abyss by Emily Skrutskie. DNF.
• Several People Are Typing by Calvin Kasulke. 4.5 stars, RTC.

Books read: 2 books plus 1 DNF
Average rating: 4 stars (same as last month, at least I’m reading books I like and DNFing those I don’t)

Movies:

• The Banshees of Inisherin [2022]. 4.5 stars.
• The Stepfather [2009]. 3 stars.
• Alice, Darling [2023]. 3.5 stars.
• Don’t Worry Darling [2022]. 3 stars.

• Intrusion [2021]. 2.5 stars.
• Nocturnal Animals [2016]. 4 stars.
• See for Me [2021]. 3 stars.
• The Rizzle [2018]. 2 stars, short film. (I am not uploading the poster for this because the google images page had too many creepy pictures)

• Girl [2020]. 3 stars.
• Fractured [2019]. 2 stars.
• Event Horizon [1997]. unrated.
• Prospect [2018]. 3 stars.

TV Shows

• Paul T. Goldman
• The Last of Us, Season 1
• RuPaul’s Drag Race, Season 15
• RuPaul’s Drag Race, Season 8

• New Amsterdam, Season 1
• Bar Rescue, Season 8
• Love Is Blind, Season 3 After the Altar
• Queer Eye, Season 2

• The Texas Killing Fields
• 28 Days Haunted, Season 1
• Murdaugh Murders
• Bar Rescue, Season 1

Short Reads & Watches

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My Month in Photos:

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The Cabin at the End of the World [review]

The Cabin at the End of the World by Paul Tremblay
Published by William Morrow on June 26, 2018
my rating: 5 stars
Goodreads avg: 3.31 (as of Jan 8, 2023)
Spoiler-free review
Goodreads

I initially read this in October 2019 and had no idea how to review it, so I didn’t. As the film adaptation is set to be released in February, I figured it was time for a re-read! I had given this four stars the first time around, but had to up it to five this time. The tension in this is just immaculate. The characters felt incredibly believable and as much as I wanted to know what was going on in the greater scheme of things, the real story is what takes place in the cabin itself. I think in part I liked it better this read because I knew going in that it is more of a literary horror — there are terrible things happening, but the focus is more on the characters and their interactions. I know this hasn’t worked for a lot of people, but I really recommend it for those interested in both horror and character studies.

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January 2023 Wrap-Up

2023 has been… hectic so far. I’m hoping it’s starting low so we can go up from here!

Books Read:

• Such Pretty Flowers by KL Cerra. 3 stars, review.
• The Atlas Paradox by Olivie Blake. 3 stars, review.
• A Little Bit of Feng Shui by Ai Matsui Johnson. 5 stars, review.
• Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt. 4.5 stars, RTC.
• The Cabin at the End of the World by Paul Tremblay. 5 stars, reread, RTC.
• Our Share of Night by Mariana Enríquez. DNF.
• Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo. 4 stars, reread.
• Polysecure by Jessica Fern. 3.5 stars, review.
• Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse. DNF.

Books read: 7 books plus 2 DNFs (the exact same stats I had in December!)
Average rating: 4 stars (yay!!!)

Other Media:

• Movies:
  • This Place Rules [2022]. 4 stars.
  • Brian and Charles [2022]. 3.5 stars.
  • Bros [2022]. 4 stars.
  • The Menu [2022]. 4 stars.
  • Crimes of the Future [2022]. 2.5 stars.
  • Uncut Gems [2019]. 2 stars.
  • The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent [2022]. 3.5 stars.
  • Everything Everywhere All At Once [2022]. 2 stars.
  • The Old Ways [2020]. 3.5 stars.
  • Love in the Villa [2022]. 2 stars.
  • The Hatchet Wielding Hitchhiker [2023]. 2 stars.
  • The Batman [2022]. 2 stars.
  • The Babysitter [2017]. 2.5 stars.
  • The Big Short [2015]. 4 stars.
  • The Lost City [2022]. 3.5 stars.
  • Flashback [2020]. 2.5 stars.
  • Smile [2022]. 4 stars.
  • The Invitation [2022]. 2.5 stars.
  • The Handmaiden [2016]. 3 stars.
  • Side Effects [2013]. 1.5 stars.
  • A Taxi Driver [2017]. 4 stars.
  • M3GAN [2022]. 3 stars.
  • The Mummy [1999]. Rewatch, 4.5 stars.
• TV Shows:
  • House of the Dragon
  • RuPaul’s Drag Race, Season 15
  • New Amsterdam, Season 1
  • Jessica Jones, Season 3
  • The Last of Us, Season 1

Short Reads & Watches

• Existential Threats & Good Books | 2022 in Review

My Month in Photos:

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Such Pretty Flowers [review]

Such Pretty Flowers by KL Cerra
To be published by Bantam on February 7, 2023
my rating: 3 stars
Goodreads avg: 3.58 (as of 2023-01-02)
Spoiler-free review
Goodreads

disclaimer: I received an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for review consideration. Quotes have been taken from the advanced copy and may differ from the final publication.

Releasing next week, Such Pretty Flowers was a solid thriller (with some horror elements) that moves along steadily as we follow Holly in the search for the truth about her brother’s death. Holly becomes obsessed with the enigmatic Maura, who her brother Dane was newly engaged to. This was a quick read — I devoured it in just two days. My only qualms were that I found myself bored at parts and that some of Holly’s actions seemed a little absurd to me. I know characters often make ridiculous decisions in thrillers but I was often internally screaming at Holly as she continued to fall in deeper and deeper. I definitely recommend this to thriller fans, especially those with an interest in botany.

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February 2023 TBR

I’ve decided to [gasp] start doing monthly TBRs? On average, I read ~2740 pages per month (easier, I think, than worrying about books per month since their lengths can vary so much). I decided to give myself a goal of 2055 pages for my TBR; this is about 75% of my monthly average so it gives me some leeway for mood reading and for slower reading months. I am currently reading Going Bicoastal by Dahlia Adler (~165 pages of 336) and Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse (115 pages of 454). I’ll group these into my leeway category (depending on the results of next month, I may include current reads in my TBR pages).

• Hell Bent by Leigh Bardugo (496 pages): I just re-read Ninth House in preparation to pick this up and I’m very excited!
• The Anatomy of Jane by Amelia Lefay (261 pages): This has been on my polyamory TBR and I’m hoping I enjoy it.
• Answering Tough Interview Questions for Dummies (320 pages): A re-read! I graduate in May and need to prepare myself for some job interviews.
• A Shadow in the Ember by Jennifer L. Armentrout (647 pages): This is on my owned TBR and I’m excited to pick it up after getting caught up on the Blood & Ash series.
• The Edge of the Abyss by Emily Skrutskie (320 pages): I read the first in the series years ago and need to finish this sapphic pirate duology!

Do y’all have monthly TBRs and if so, what are you planning on reading? If not, what do you think you’ll be in the mood to read this month?

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Burn, Rewrite, Reread #4

I haven’t done this meme since 2019 but I thought it would be fun to try it out again!

What you have to do is: randomise your read shelf on goodreads, choose first 3 books & then decide which one and why you want to burn, to rewrite & to reread.

Burn: Braised Pork, I feel so bad but I just didn’t ‘get’ it.
Rewrite: Ancillary Justice, this was a little bit of a struggle for me and I think I could love it with some adjustments.
Reread: Everless. Hear me out! I gave this 4 stars when I first read it and… think I’d probably like it less now? But couldn’t tell unless I reread it.

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Burn: Dangerous Girls, I tagged this as queerbaiting on Goodreads and it’s one of those thrillers where the end is completely out of left field — because the author didn’t give any indication it could go that way.
Rewrite: I did not write reviews for either of these books, but I’m going to go with The Lost World?
Reread: Because Through the Woods was just so unique that I don’t want to rewrite it.

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Burn: The Horse Whisperer, I’m sure if I read this now I would not have a great time with it.
Rewrite: The Empress of Salt and Fortune, I wanted to love this so much but it just didn’t do much for me.
Reread: Lolll sorry, The Crown of Gilded Bones. I ate up this series in 2022.

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The Atlas Paradox [review]

The Atlas Paradox by Olivie Blake
Published by Tor Books on October 25, 2022
my rating: 3 stars
Goodreads avg: 3.74 (as of Jan 8, 2023)
Spoiler-free review
Goodreads

I’ve seen people say that it feels like this was meant to be a duology that Blake had to expand into a trilogy and I agree with that sentiment. Thinking back, I remember almost nothing that happened in this book. It was a lot of talking, repetitive conversations, and exposition, I guess? This suffers immensely from second book syndrome and the only thing that kept me going was the characters and their relationships. Thankfully I still found myself deeply invested on that front. I expect the next book to be more cohesive and plot-filled. And as always, I ship the polycule. ❤

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Letterboxd Gems XVI

Hi everyone! Time for another edition of Letterboxd Gems. As a reminder: every so often I’ll post particularly funny or entertaining Letterboxd reviews from movies I’ve seen recently. If you’ve never heard of Letterboxd, it’s like Goodreads but for movies (feel free to add me if you’d like!) and there are plenty of interesting reviews. I’ll usually sift through them after seeing a film, which is how I got the idea to share them! A lot of these reviews will have spoilers, so feel free to skip through only to films you’ve already seen if you’d like to avoid being spoiled.

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No Exit [2022]

the nail gun was the main character

chloeac

when the little girl opened tiktok but it was called klipklip instead………

natb294

A lot of rehab places let you leave if you sign a form saying you promise to try and rescue a kidnapped child.

bransonreese

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Aliens [1986]

The most creative part of this was adding an “s” to the title.

jizzmonkey

probably would have liked this more if the cat had more screentime to be perfectly honest

leeyim

Did the math, and I do believe, on a purely technical level, “Get away from her you bitch!” does in fact pass the Bechdel test.

timcop

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Fresh [2022]

*fear of dating intensifies*

efw

this would never happen to me because i have social anxiety

blackswannss

nooo Sebastian don’t be a cannibal ur so sexy aha

chefboyarbrie

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December 2022 Wrap-Up

Onward to 2023.

Books Read:

• After the Eclipse by Sarah Perry. 5 stars.
• What Moves the Dead by T Kingfisher. 3 stars.
• Sand by Hugh Howey. 3 stars.
• Astrid Parker Doesn’t Fail by Ashley Herring Blake. 3.5 stars.
• How to Keep House While Drowning by KC Davis. 5 stars.
• The Woman in the Library by Sulari Gentill. 2 stars.
• Across the Sand by Hugh Howey. DNF.
• Preludes & Nocturnes by Neil Gaiman. DNF.
• The Daughters of Izdihar by Hadeer Elsbai. 5 stars.

Books read: 7 books plus 2 DNFs.
Average rating: 3.79 stars

Other Media:

• Movies:
  • Jungle [2017]. 2.5 stars.
  • Last Night in Soho [2021]. 2.5 stars.
  • The Outfit [2022]. 5 stars.
  • Persona [1966]. unrated.
  • Set It Up [2018]. 2.5 stars, rewatch.
  • The Fly [1986]. 4 stars.
  • Candyman [2021]. 2 stars.
  • The Noel Diary [2022]. 4 stars.
  • The Day After Tomorrow [2004]. 4 stars, rewatch.
  • Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris [2022]. 3.5 stars.
  • Who Killed Santa? A Murderville Murder Mystery [2022]. 4 stars.
  • Dashcam [2021]. 0.5 stars.
  • Home Alone [1990]. 4 stars, rewatch.
  • Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery [2022]. 2 stars.
  • Die Hard: With a Vengeance [1995].
  • How the Grinch Stole Christmas [2000].
  • Love Actually [2003]. 1.5 stars.
  • The Black Phone [2021]. 4 stars.
  • Thelma & Louise [1991]. 4 stars.
  • Texas Chainsaw Massacre [2022]. 2 stars.
  • Girl in the Shed [2022]. 3 stars.
  • The Ring [2022]. 4 stars.
  • I Believe in Santa [2022]. 0.5 stars.
  • Falling for Christmas [2022].
  • Single All the Way [2021]. 2.5 stars.
• TV Shows:
  • Wednesday
  • Sins of Our Mother
  • Don’t Pick Up the Phone

My Month in Photos:

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