Stories I Ate This Month: April 2018

Hello, everyone! It’s me again, and I’m here to review the stories that I ate this month. Now, in case you haven’t read one of these particular blog posts before, when I say “stories” I mean any type of story. This includes novels, television shows, and movies. I will forewarn you and say that my murder-mystery obsession is still underway, so please don’t be too disappointed that most of these stories are of that genre. Now, without further ado, let’s get on to all the reviews! Let’s start with the books!

The first two books that I read this month are Stalking Jack the Ripper and Hunting Prince Dracula by Kerri Maniscalco. This series features a high-society girl who is born and raised in the Victorian Era, but has a fascination with the dead. She is determined to study forensic medicine despite society’s and her father’s disapproval. She tries to use her skills to find Jack the Ripper and a killer imitating Dracula. Overall, I really enjoyed these stories. There were times where I felt characters had a change of heart that were convenient for the story. However, I enjoyed the overall mysterious nature of the stories and the two main leads. There will be at least two more books of this series, if GoodReads is anything to go by, and I will be sure to read those as well. With that in mind, I’m giving these books an A-.

The third story that I read this month is Ready Player One by Ernest Cline. I actually broke one of my rules with this particular book. I watched the movie before I finished the book. I know. I am also surprised. But I will say that I was prompted to do so because the book and the movie were so different, and I agree with that. Just in case you aren’t aware, Ready Player One takes place in the future where people would rather be hooked up to the Oasis, a virtual reality game filled with hundreds of different words and experiences, than dealing with the resource-depleted and poverty-stricken world. Wade, our protagonist, is looking for the Easter Egg hidden within the Oasis so that he can take over control of the Oasis. There’s puzzles to the solve, adventures to conquer, and plenty of 80s trivia to trudge through. There were aspects that I liked and didn’t like about the novel. I thought that the character arc for Wade was really interesting in that it covered his highest highs and lowest lows. However, the book was really exposition heavy, which is a little weird to say about a novel. It just had an issue where the characters would be about to do something, but they had to stop and explain every bit of lore behind it before getting on with it. It was very frustrating at times. On the other hand, once the third act of the novel began, I couldn’t put the book down. And for that reason, I’m giving this novel a B+.

Finally, the last book I read for the month of April is The Madman’s Daughter by Megan Shepard. This is a young adult novel take on the classic The Island of Dr. Moreau. In short, this novel is about the struggles of Juliet who must discover if her father is the madman everyone claims he is when she finds him on a deserted island with natives with “distinguishing” features. I’ve actually read The Island of Dr. Moreau for a class I took in college, and I could appreciate all of the details that were related to the original text. However, I wasn’t as interested in some aspects of the novel. For example, the novel does rely heavily on a love triangle, which doesn’t interest me in the slightest, especially when I want to learn more about the island, the doctor, and horror thereof. I will probably continue on in the series because I’m such a completionist, but I will have to give this novel a B-.

 

This first and only television show season I finished was Death in Paradise season 6, a BBC show about a British detective who works as the head inspector for a Caribbean island. As you can imagine, the culture shock will bring on the hilarity. I like the show because it tends to mix things up a bit every so often and the mysteries have really interesting twists. For this season, and let me go ahead and give a SPOILER ALERT, the head detective is replaced closer to the end of the season. However, I appreciate the dynamic that each character brings to the show, including new characters. I also find the mysteries themselves different than what I’m used to seeing on other shows, which is why I find the show all the more compelling. So, if you’re into mysteries, British humor, and are okay with cast changes, I would definitely recommend this show. I’m giving this particular season an A.

 

So, the first movie that I saw this month is Ready Player One based on the book with the same name. Please see above for a summary of this movie. Despite the fact that the movie differs greatly from the book, my summary will still stand. I will preface this by saying that I hadn’t read the book before watching the movie, which may have impacted my overall experience. Most people who’ve read the book, hate the movie. And I can understand where they’re coming from. However, I’ve heard those same people watch the movie a second time and enjoy it much more. If you see the movie for what it is, a movie about an underdog traversing his way through 80s trivia and challenges, then you’ll enjoy the movie. I sure enjoyed it. I even enjoyed it after finishing the novel. There are things that I can nitpick like the overuse of exposition, but overall, I’d give this movie an B+.

The last movie that I saw this month is Avengers: Infinity War. If you have no idea what this movie is about, WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN THE LAST TEN YEARS? Oh, excuse me. I meant to say that it is the latest movie of the MCU and is basically the story of Thanos searching for the infinity stones. I refuse to go into spoiler territory, but I will say that I loved this movie. It had action, heartbreak, and humor. There’s not a great deal that I can negatively say about the movie. There is one scene close to the end where the special effects looked “wonky,” and I felt (like many other fans) that there were other ways for the movie to go that would have been more effective, but I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt until I see part two. I’m giving this movie an A-.

Annnnnnnnnnnnnd that’s it for this set of reviews. Sorry again that it is so late. I’ve had an interesting week. I’VE GRADUATED! It’s been sort of an emotional roller coaster the past few days, but I honestly cannot be more excited about the next chapter of my life. Or maybe I can’t be anymore scared. But anyway, I hope you’ve enjoyed these reviews, and I’ll see you guys next month!