Watching Roundup: February 2021

A couple of days late, but welcome back to Watching Roundup: a monthly feature where I talk about all the shows and movies I watched in the course of the month.

I ended up watching a lot less in February than I did back in January. I got into Author Mentor Match, so a lot of my usual screentime has been taken up by writing and planning. I’m still in shock that I got in, tbh. Too shocked to even write a proper blog post about it, haha. I will though! Eventually. Once I’ve composed myself a little. It’s… kind of overwhelming to even write about it? But maybe I’ll do a retrospective about the whole experience after I get through my revisions.

Without further ado, let’s get back to the Roundup!

Book Review: Soulless by Gail Carriger

This book has been on my TBR for a shamefully long time. I’m a big fan of Gail Carriger’s work. I read her YA Finishing School series years ago and loved every single book. Finishing School is the prequel series to the Parasol Protectorate, of which Soulless is the first book.

Book Review: Elatsoe

Elatsoe by Darcie Little Badger is a remarkable book. I’m note even sure if I can justify it in words, but I’ll do my best.

17-year old Elatsoe (pronounced El-At-So-Way) “Ellie” Bride lives in a world that’s similar to ours… but not quite.

Steeped in author Darcie Little Badger’s Lipan Apache heritage, Ellie’s world is one of ghosts and the spirits of old stories. Ellie has the ability to commune with spirits. She even raised the ghost of her old dog from the dead. But there’s one line that people with this ability must never cross: you can bring back animal spirits, but not humans. Human ghosts are too unpredictable.

Book Review: The Love Curse of Melody McIntyre

This is my second book by Robin Talley and it couldn’t be more different than the first.

I read her Macbeth retelling, As I Descended, a few years ago. It’s a dark, creepy, gender-bent, Sapphic take on Shakespeare’s classic play. It was one of those creepy, atmospheric books that I love to read in autumn. (Preferably with the lights on, because I don’t do so well with the spooky stuff.)

The Love Curse of Melody McIntyre is entirely different. Different tone, different genre, different everything. And yet, these two stories are linked by their Shakespearean themes.

Book Review: Everything Leads To You

Wayyyy back in 2019, my library hosted a book swap. You could bring in 10-15 books to trade. I attended two of these events and came away with some amazing reads. I spent last year working my way through them. I only have a few left now, and Nina LaCour’s Everything Leads To You was one of them.

Top Ten Tuesday #5: Purple, Yellow, and/or Green Book Covers

Welcome back to Top Ten Tuesday! This week’s topic is a colourful one: in honour of Mardi Gras, these are a few of my favourite books with purple, yellow and/or green on the cover!

Book Review: Stepsister

Jennifer Donnelly’s Stepsister is an epic Cinderella retelling that completely blew my mind.

I always enjoy a good retelling. Cinderella retellings in particular.

Which is weird, considering it was never my favourite Disney movie. I grew up during the Disney renaissance. I owned VHS copies of the movies. My top 3 favourites are still Beauty and the Beast, Mulan, and The Lion King. Poor Cinderella never ranked as highly for me.

And yet, it has the best retellings.

Top Ten Tuesday #4: Valentine’s Day/Love Freebie

Love is in the air! I’m always afraid I’m going to forget something important whenever I make a Top 10 list. Does that happen to anyone else? Just me?

For this week’s topic, I’m gonna tell you about 10 of my favourite bookish ships! This is by no means an exhaustive list. I’ve been accused of having enough ships to overcrowd the ocean.

Book Review: Spoiler Alert

Hold onto your shipper hearts, my friends! It’s time to talk about Olivia Dade’s Spoiler Alert and the joys of fanfiction.

Top Ten Tuesday #3: Books Written Before I Was Born

Once again, it feels like these topics are being chosen by someone who read my mind. (Thank you. But also: get out of my brain!) I was an English major, so I’m well-versed in books that came out before I was born. In some cases, centuries before I was born. (Follow the link for more info on TTT.)