Book Review: One of Us is Next by Karen McManus

Lucky for me, Karen McManus is awesome, and published the sequel to One of Us is Lying back in January, so that means I just finished reading One of Us is Next! It was as entertaining as the first installment, and it makes me just want to read everything this woman puts out. The text is easy to read, and her characters are described in such a vivid way that I almost feel bonded to all of them.

Read more

Book Review: The Turn of the Key by Ruth Ware

I’m sure I said this a few posts back, but I feel like I’ve been reading like a fiend these past couple months, and it continues with The Turn of the Key by Ruth Ware! I was a huge fan of her first novel, In a Dark, Dark Wood, so I’m always excited to see what she’s got next. Earlier this year I read her latest installment, The Death of Mrs. Westaway, and that sucker stuck with me. Needless to say, I was very surprised when a new novel dropped just a few months after finishing that up – but it was a happy surprise!

Read more

Movie Review: We Have Always Lived in the Castle

As a fan of all Daddario and Farmiga siblings, and Sebastian Stan’s face, I decided to watch We Have Always Lived in the Castle last night. Adapted from Shirley Jackson’s 1962 mystery novel of the same name, this film wasn’t necessarily mysterious based on today’s standards, but it was certainly eerie. Mainly because lead, Merricat (Taissa Farmiga), is quite odd and very succinct in her actions and vocabulary.

Read more

Television Review – Week 2/11-2/15

Here to recap all the television I watched this week! I’ll keep it brief, too!

I Am the Night – Three episodes into this limited series and I feel like I have more questions than answers. India Eisley’s Fauna is awkward and looks terrified all the time, and Chris Pine’s Jay is a hot mess. It’s all still just vague enough to keep me interested, and the fact that it’s based around the Black Dahlia murder makes it a must-see. Hopefully more exciting news in the weeks to come.

Drunk History – Switching it up this season means that sometimes host Derek Waters isn’t actually interviewing anyone, but some of his friends are. I’m okay with it and so should you because it’s still the same drunk mess that actually makes learning about history (sort of) tolerable. This week’s episode focused on love, since you know, Valentine’s Day, and notable guests included Josh Hartnett and Alison Brie.

Will & Grace – Grace and Jack try a crash diet for Jack’s upcoming nuptials and so they won’t split any more of their pants. Will is trying to be a more exciting professor after getting some negative reviews, so he ends up doing a mock case Judge Judy style between Karen and one of her former step children who actually liked her. Hilarity ensues!

Brooklyn Nine-Nine – Rosa sports a plethora of hairdos (ridiculous) and Jake makes a promise to a victim’s mom that he’ll solve her son’s murder case. he can’t and goes crazy trying to solve it, talking to “olive Rosa” and walls. Eventually they do manage to find the culprit, after some hilarious dialogue and a fantastic turn by CSI agent Daryl (“very uncool name, Daryl!”).

How to Get Away With Murder – Five seasons in and this show is ridiculous but still so darn compelling! Only two episodes left and I’m still not sure what’s going to happen. This week saw a Christmas gathering with Annalise’s mother, played by Cicely Tyson, and some of her firm friends. her boss is awkward, but not as awkward as dinner with the Keating Five (now that Oliver is a part of it) and Conner’s mom. Bonnie thinks she might be pregnant, but she’s not. The feds are onto Annalise and all she’s been up to these past five years, but Tegan’s potential lady-crush on Annalise ends up saving her some time and gets her case reassigned. Side note: I am all on board for Frank and Bonnie to be a thing already!

And as if watching twelve shows simultaneously wasn’t enough I decided to add two more to the mix this week!

Miracle Workers – This limited series where Daniel Radcliffe and Geraldine Viswanathan play angels answering prayers and Steve Buscemi is God has some serious potential. Daniel Radcliffe’s character has been answering prayers for centuries and is really good at finding keys and gloves, but anything other than that gets sent up to God. Meanwhile, God has the news on 24/7 and is sick and tired of seeing how awful it is that he plans to destroy earth. In walks the newest angel, played by Viswanathan, hellbent on saving earth by answering one of the “impossible” prayers: helping two people fall in love. Very interested to see where this half hour comedy goes!

Roswell, New Mexico – I discovered this show at five episodes in, so naturally I binged them all Monday in order to be caught up for Tuesday’s new episode! Yes, this was a series in the late 90s, but besides the name and book as source material, these are distinctly different imaginings. This series takes place ten years in the future with a more cultured cast. Primary focus is on Liz trying to figure out what actually happened to her sister Rosa’s mysterious death a decade ago. Pretty quickly she realizes three siblings are aliens, but being a scientist now, they mainly just fascinate her. The aliens, Max, Isobel, and Michael, couldn’t be any more different but they all love each other fiercely and would like to keep their identities a secret, especially from the government who just moved into town for some secret project. My favorite characters so far in the series are Liz & Rosa’s best friend, Maria, and Michael and his former lover Alex (favorite ship, as the kids would call it). I recommend!