Stephy Reading Challenge - Book 20

 

Twice Bitten by Lynsay Sands

An Argeneau Novel

This was not the book I had planned for T. I had a Star Wars book planned. Even started reading it, but got cranky for reasons I won't rant about here. So, I dug out another Argeneau book, cause they make me happy.

This book focuses on Elspeth Argeneau and Wyatt MacKay.

Elspeth moved to Canada to get away from her controlling mother. She rents a room from Meredith, a sweet old lady. Everything seems to be going well until Elspeth is stabbed and comes home to find her mother and younger twin sisters have invaded her home. Made that stabbing not the worst part of her day. Then she meets Wyatt, Meredith's grandson. The thing is, she's met Wyatt before. She just doesn't remember it. And then someone keeps trying to kill her. Things seem pretty shitty for Elspeth. But hey! She met her lifemate! Again...

I really liked Elspeth and Wyatt. Elspeth was a tough character but also caring and kind. Wyatt took everything calmly, which was refreshing. No panic about any of it. 

Also, G.G. is fantastic and I love him.

As always with this series, great read.

I didn't much like Martine (Elspeth's mother) for what she did, but I enjoyed seeing another side to the immortals. She wasn't evil. She didn't do what she did to hurt her children. She is just a long-lived woman who suffered a great loss and did not cope well. I don't agree with her choices, but it was interesting to read. 

Random Stephy Thoughts About Marvel's Netflix Shows

When I say Marvel's Netflix Shows I'm talking about Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, The Defenders, and The Punisher. Which I binged in February when it was announced they were leaving Netflix. Three days after I finished all of them it was announced they will be moving to Disney+. Which I already assumed might happen, but I am overly paranoid and was afraid Disney might edit them so I wanted to get through a watching before Disney could mess with them. Which, I am not saying that will happen. I am saying I am weird and think of all sorts of worst-case scenarios for everything.

I was going to do a detailed summary of each season of each show in order with thoughts and opinions, but… Well, I binged them all and they’ve all smooshed together in my head. So instead, I’m going to do just a list of random thoughts and feelings about the entire series of shows. Spoilers for all, obviously. Also, fair warning, I had very little previous knowledge of any of these characters. I knew the most about Danny Rand and Luke Cage and just cause they were both in a Spider-Man cartoon that was on Disney a few years ago. Oh, and I knew a little about Daredevil from the Ben Affleck movie… But… Yeah… Here we go.

• Not a huge fan of The Punisher. I don’t hate him or anything. I just don’t really dig him. Both seasons of the show were pretty good and worth the watch. But I’m not gonna run out and start reading all the comics. 

• Jessica Jones is fantastic and I will be running out and reading all the comics about her. 

• Claire Temple is a goddess and deserves much praise.

• When Colleen told Danny that he was sleeping in the corner of her dojo, I automatically sent him to the corner anytime I thought he was doing something stupid. This carried over to all the characters. Anytime someone did something stupid I would send them to Danny's Corner. But by the end, it was no longer Danny’s corner. It was Trish’s corner cause she did some of the stupidest fucking shit out of all the shows. 

• Seriously, though. What the fuck, Trish?

• I really wish we got another season of Iron Fist. Mostly I just wanted to see Ward and Danny off on an adventure and finding themselves and being bros. 

• Also want a Misty and Colleen show. 

• I really wanted Vanessa to turn on Fisk. Sad it never happened.

• Why do the psychopaths in these shows end up with smart, beautiful women? I mean, it only happened twice, but that is still two times too many… Especially since none of the "heroes" got a relationship happy ending.

• At the end of Punisher season one, Frank fucking destroys Billy’s face. Destroys it. I was very angry about the lack of scarring on Billy in season two. Yes, there was scarring, but, in my opinion, not enough for what was done to him. Or for him to fucking whine about it for half a godsdamn season. 

• Fucking Turk, man. Every time I started a new season of one of the shows I was immediately thinking “Wonder what Turk will be doing this time.” My favorite was in the first season of Luke Cage when he was “Where’s my money” at the fucking worst time possible. Second was playing golf by the river.

• Danny could have been better written, at least in season one. He was naïve to a point of it being annoying. I expected him to be a little too trusting and naïve after returning from K’un-Lun, which he was and it worked. But sometimes he acted like a little kid and that didn’t work for me. 

• Hogarth went off the fucking rails, didn’t she? She started out as a stereotypical slimy lawyer, but by the end, I was just sitting here shocked at the shit she was doing. 

• I really wanted Jessica and Luke to get together and have their daughter, like in the comics. And for the third season of Jessica Jones I just wanted it to be them doing some crime-solving or something while the rest of the regulars from all the shows come in to baby-sit. And all the episodes just be focused on that. Come on. Picture Matt Murdock with a baby in a pouch and walking through the city. Misty panicking because she has no idea how to deal with babies. Danny trying to get little Dani to meditate. Just fantastic.

• I really did not like the series finales for Luke Cage or Iron Fist. I think if there were another season for each show I would have been fine, but the endings I got were shitty. I feel like while the Daredevil finale left some questions unanswered and things were a little open-ended, it was still a satisfying enough ending to please me. 

• I thought Danny and Colleen were an adorable couple. I loved the scene where they’re trying to cook dinner and are both just confused and making it up as they go along. 

• Loved when Danny showed up in Luke Cage. Their team-up was just fantastic. I wished they would have done more team-ups or other appearances from each other in the shows after The Defenders. Even something small like when Luke showed up in Jessica Jones, season three. I would have even been happy with some name-dropping. Like, that scene where Hogarth tells Jessica that Trish will need a new lawyer since Trish doesn’t want Hogarth’s firm to represent her anymore. I would have loved for Jessica to make some comment about calling Nelson & Murdock or something. 

• David Tennant was fantastic as Kilgrave. Actually, all of the actors playing villains were fantastic. Vincent D’onofrio gave off such fantastic serial killer vibes. All the actors were great, really. I can’t think of a single actor that made me go “really? Couldn’t have cast someone better?” Also, I am aware of the complaints that Finn Jones was cast as Danny Rand, that an Asian or Asian-American actor would have been better. Which, yes. Okay. I can agree with that. But Finn Jones did a good job as Danny Rand, in my opinion. I’m just talking about the acting skills of those involved. 

• These shows did a good job at making their villains sympathetic. I didn’t agree with them, but shit I felt bad for the shit they had gone through. 

• I almost felt bad for Shades. Dude just wanted to help run a nice little criminal empire and he surrounded himself with people that have major family problems. And those family problems just keep causing trouble.

• Was it just me or did Frank Castle’s voice have a Christan Bale as Batman vibe? 

• I really liked Micro in season one of Punisher. Was pretty sad that he didn’t return for season two. 

• Aside from my previous issue with season one Danny Rand, the characters were all well written.  

That's all I got. Since the shows will be on Diseny+ soon, I will probably do a rewatch at some point and might do that nice organized season-by-season summary and review. But this is what y'all get for now.

Stephy Reading Challenge - Book 19

 

Born to Bite by Lynsay Sands

An Argeneau Novel

This is a lovely story about Eshe and Armand meeting and falling in love. 

Oh. 

And figuring out who murdered Armand's previous three wives and his daughter-in-law. 

Soooo... A paranormal romantic murder mystery! Yay!

Eshe is a strong, bad-ass, smart, beautiful immortal and I am a little in love with her.

Armand is a bit broody, which... Understandable. Three of his wives have been murdered. But still likable. Also, he's a farmer, which was fun. I mean, a vampire is talking about birthing cows and cleaning stables. Fantastic.

Romance was good. Mystery was solid. Great book all around.

Oh!

And Bricker!

Yay Bricker!

I love you Bricker. At one point he acts as the Voice of Reason, but he did very good and we're all very proud of him.

Stephy Reading Challenge - Book 18

 

Rosemary's Baby by Ira Levin

Trigger Warning!

rape mentions ahead

Oh. This book.

Let me start by saying this was written in the 60s, and it shows. There were some words, phrases, and ideas that just aren't cool by today's standards.

Also, I have watched the movie with Mia Farrow a few times over the years. So, I knew what was going to happen from page one. I also feel like I've read this book before, but I could be wrong.

Now, for those that don't know, this book is about Rosemary. A young wife to an actor living in New York. Rosemary and her husband, Guy, move into a new apartment. Soon they meet their neighbors, an elderly couple named Roman and Minnie. Rosemary becomes pregnant. And in the end, she discovers she gave birth to Satan's son. Oh, and Roman and Minnie and all their friends are Satan-worshipping witches. Book ends with Rosemary rocking the baby and cooing over him.

Not sure if it was because I knew what was going to happen, or if Rosemary was blind to red flags. I mean, there were so many red flags that Rosemary could have made curtains, a set of sheets, and a few dresses from them all. 

Also, for some reason, I kept picturing Ray's parents from Everybody Loves Raymond (a show I've never watched a full episode of) as Roman and Minnie. No idea why. But it did send me into giggle fits at times. 

Out of everyone, Rosemary's husband was the worst. And that includes the Satanists and Satan himself. After he drugged his wife and let her be raped by Satan, he tells her the scratches on her body are because he fucked her while she was passed out drunk.

What.

The.

Fuck.

And in the end, he was like "They promised you wouldn't be hurt. And you weren't. Not really." Dude. She was drugged, raped by Satan and y'all made her think she was crazy! Oh, and you all killed one of her closest friends. All so you could be a famous actor. I would have applauded if Rosemary slit his throat. Actually, I'm just gonna pretend that's how the book ended. Cause fuck him.

This was... a frustrating read. I was just so angry at Rosemary's husband throughout the whole thing. And it was frustrating that she didn't kill him. But, it was a solid horror read. I also recommend the movie with Mia Farrow. I have not watched the newer mini-series yet so I have no opinion of it.

Stephy Reading Challenge - Book 17

 

Who Was Queen Elizabeth by June Eding

This was the best I could do for a Q. All other Q books I have went into hiding.

This is a book for kids, and honestly, it did its job well. It didn't overly sugar coat things. It did occasionally gloss over or soften the blow of some details that would have probably been a bit much for its target audience. 

My child has a few books from the Who/What Was/Is series and I highly recommend them for kids. Well written and informative with some nice pictures.

 

I'm a history nerd, and as such, this book entertained me. And I wish this series was around when I was a kid because I would have read them all.

Nancy Drew and the Captive Curse

(yes, I did take pictures of my computer on my phone... how else was I going to text them to my friend to show him how awesome I am?)

Aw yeah! Time to solve a mystery! (ignore the sticky note. Homeschooling, man)

About a year ago (I'm guessing at the time, but we're gonna go with it) I started watching Gab Smolders play Nancy Drew games. And I became addicted (Here's a link to her playlist ). The addiction happened for a few reasons. One of which is that Gab is practically perfect in every way. Another being the games seemed interesting and fun. As well as educational. Which... coming from someone that obsesses over the historical accuracy of the Assassin's Creed games, this was a big plus. I adore video games that teach me more than which button lets me pet animals.

On New Year's Eve, I finally broke down and bought myself one of the games. I went with the cheapest one Steam had that I hadn't watched Gab play. I wanted a new experience, not to just follow what I already saw be done. And I was a little worried that I wouldn't like them when I actually sat down to play them. Then, of course, shit happened and I didn't get to play the fucking thing for about a month. But oh, when I did get the chance? Loved it. Spent about nine hours solving a mystery and clapping every time I solved a puzzle. 

This is a point-and-click adventure game where Nancy Drew is asked to come to Castle Finster to figure out what this "monster" is that is plaguing the place. So, off Nancy goes to Germany. 

I fully enjoyed the entire game. 

Graphics were pretty good. It was made in 2011, so keep that in mind. Scenery was *chef's kiss* beautiful. 

Puzzles were great. Some were easy for me. Some I took an hour to work out, but I never got super frustrated. I did pull out a walkthrough a couple times. During the parts in the woods. I have no sense of direction. In real life, and in video games. I once got lost in the woods beside my house. And in video games... My brother would have to get me out of my ship in Knights of the Old Republic because I just kept losing the damn exit ramp. So, yeah, I pulled out a walkthrough to get myself out of the woods during this game. I also used it for two of the last puzzles. One because it was timed and I panic during timed things in video games. Figured I'd just save myself the stress. And when I got to the last puzzle I knew it was going to take me hours to figure out, and it was already 1:30 in the morning so I gave in. I was tired and didn't want to stop just to have that last 15 minutes of gameplay waiting for me.

Characters were all pretty fun. I really liked Karl's game, Raid. I would play it if it was an actual game. Lukas was the stereotypical prankster kid. Kind of cute, though. Renate was spooky and fun. Wanted to hear more of her stories. Anja was smart and fun to talk to.

Great game. Five mysterious clues out of five.

Before you get into the game, you get this screen. Where you can learn how to play (I didn't need that, thank you Gab Smolders) or read about previous cases (games, it's a scrapbook of the previous games). I thought it was super cute.

The monster was none of these things. Which made me sad.

Lukas. Little shit was constantly just standing there when I turned around in the foyer. Made me scream more than once.

 

I got to learn some German!