Last weekend, me and my husband went to the Minnesota Ice Castles. The Ice Castles are exactly what they sound like. We went to this event several years ago, but it was in a different area. This year, it was at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds. Near the Ice Castles, there was an ice sculpture park where you could watch contestants create ice sculptures. Someone made a Trojan; another sculpture was a beer bottle from a local brewery.
It’s nice to have outdoor events in Winter. I don’t mind Winter as a season, but these months can drag on.
When I finished reading What Lies in the Woods by Kate Alice Marshall, I thought to myself that I should watch an animated movie after this. I don’t mind darker thrillers, but this was heavy to read. This book was a rollercoaster because I wasn’t sure if I liked the way this book was written and then I ended up reading 250 pages in a day. That’s how thrillers can be sometimes. I enjoyed this book and I will look into reading Kate Alice Marshall’s other books.
Naomi Shaw is a survivor. When she was young, she was stabbed 17 times by a serial killer. Her friends were witnesses and Naomi was rescued. Her testimony put a serial killer in prison. Several years later, this serial killer dies, so Naomi visits her small town to reunite with Cassidy and Olivia. As they talk, it’s clear lies bind them and what they said on the stand is not what played out. Is it worth digging up what happened all those years ago? or should things stay as they were?
What Lies in the Woods was interesting in the way the story unfolded. It’s clear something happened in the woods all those years ago and how Naomi is lying about something. Olivia is the first to mention a woman named Persephone, but she isn’t explained initially. I found that frustrating. As the reader, I was being left in the dark. Additionally, flashbacks of the three girls are in the same chapter as present-day events which was a little confusing. If the flashbacks were separate chapters, I would have liked that better. With all of that said, once I was a third of the way through the book and Persephone was revealed, I was invested in learning about what Naomi went through.
Diving into the characters, I couldn’t stand Naomi at first. There is a moment in the book where Naomi tries to seduce a married man. Naomi uses sex to make herself feel better and not be trapped with her thoughts. I felt bad for her, but it doesn’t excuse her actions. As the book went on, I think Naomi recognized this and grew as a character. By the end of the book, I didn’t mind Naomi and could understand why she was the way she was. Cassidy, who goes by Cass, is mean. The way she treats Naomi is deplorable which Naomi pushes off as that’s how Cass has always been. Olivia, going by Liv, processes her trauma quietly and seems to be with her thoughts. This friendship is fascinating to read because I don’t believe their friendship would have lasted if they had not endured this together.
The only grievance I have with this book that I wanted to mention is Naomi. The way sex was described in this book made me uncomfortable. I think it can be realistic that instead of drowning your sorrows or trauma in alcohol, using sex can be a coping mechanism. As a reader, I was uncomfortable reading these portions of the book. I don’t think it was wrong to include this, but I felt the book would have proceeded the same without it.
I liked this book a lot! It was dark, but a page-turner which is exactly what I was looking for. I rated What Lies in the Woods four 1/2 stars on Goodreads.
CW: Death of Children (will be referenced, but I won’t go into detail. It’s featured in one episode). In my opinion, that episode is difficult to watch.
My husband has been following DC and their TV and film schedule. James Gunn is at the helm and I’m curious about his projects and how they will be received by fans. The DC film universe has always been disorganized, which is a shame because there’s so much potential. One of the first projects in James Gunn’s schedule is an animated show called Creature Commandos. My husband watched it, so he encouraged me to do the same. We watched the show together last weekend. Without knowing anything about Creature Commandos, I thought the show did an excellent job showcasing the characters in only seven episodes.
Creature Commandos takes place after The Suicide Squad and Peacemaker. Amanda Waller (voiced by Viola Davis) has to change tactics after her daughter revealed to the public about Suicide Squad’s existence. Amanda decides to form a new superhero group called Creature Commandos and since they aren’t human beings, there’s no way she’s violating any human rights laws, right? Amanda tasks Rick Flag Sr. (voiced by Frank Grillo) to lead the group. The group consists of The Bride (voiced by Indira Varma), G.I. Robot, Weasel (both G.I. Robot and Weasel are voiced by Sean Gunn), Doctor Phosphorus (voiced by Alan Tudyk), and Nina Mazursky (voiced by Zoë Chao). Creature Commando’s first mission is to protect a princess from an assassination attempt.
I enjoyed this show more than I thought I would. To be fair, I didn’t know much about the show before watching it. G.I. Robot is a Nazi-killing robot who needs to be protected at all costs. The way G.I. Robot smiles when Rick Flag tells him the enemies are Nazis, it was adorable. I liked the friendship that was formed between Bride and Nina. The characters worked well together and all had their own reasons as to why they ended up on this team.
Before watching Creature Commandos, I’d recommend reading the episode description for episode #4 ahead of time. The content warning I posted above is for this episode. The fourth episode details Weasel’s back story and my husband warned me about this episode before I watched it. The episode involves the death of children and I SOBBED. James Gunn, how could you do this to me? I was sobbing so hard that my husband had to stop the show and ask if I was okay to continue, which I was, but he had to promise me that nothing else bad was going to happen. I did not expect this episode to get to me as much as it had, but it was so upsetting. This episode is worth watching because it provides more backstory to Weasel who is in The Suicide Squad movie. Be prepared to have a tissue box nearby.
Creature Commandos is a strong start for the DC universe. I would be open to watching another season of Creature Commandos if renewed for season #2. I want to dive into the Creature Commandos comics and learn more about this team. I love The Suicide Squad, so I’d love this ragtag anti-hero team.
Lucy Foley has written four thrillers and I have read three of them. I save her books to read every January because it kicks off my reading year with a bang. The book I started this year with was The Hunting Party. The Hunting Party reminded me of This is Our Story by Ashley Elston, a YA version of this book. Both books focus on a murder that happens with hunting as the background to the setting. While I liked The Hunting Party, I think it was Lucy Foley’s weaker book out of the ones I have read.
For a New Year’s Eve trip, several friends rent a lodge in the middle of the wilderness. Emma, Mark, Samira, Gilles, Nick, Bo, Miranda, Julien, and Katie reunite to reminisce about their days attending Oxford together. A few days later, one of them is found dead. Meanwhile, Heather and Doug who work at The Lodge are trying to find the missing guest. The Hunting Party is told from both the past and the present before converging into the pinnacle reveal of who killed whom.
I described The Hunting Party as Lucy Foley’s training wheels book. This is the first thriller she released before The Guest List and The Paris Apartment. The Hunting Party walked, so The Guest List could run. This book felt slower than her other books. It wasn’t until page 200 where secrets started to drop that I was invested in this mystery. The Hunting Party had more red herrings and dropped plot points which left me feeling disappointed as a reader. In case it’s needed, a red herring is a clue, story point, or information written in a book that is meant to be distracting, so the reader thinks it’s important when it might not be. I won’t go into those since it would spoil the entire book.
Besides the story, this friend group was awful and I was here for it. The story is told from the perspective of five characters, three of them were a part of the friend group. There’s Meredith, who’s meant to be the attractive, bubbly friend whom everyone is jealous of. There’s Emma, the newest to the friend group as she started dating Mark, one of the original friends. Finally, there’s Katie, the introvert and quiet friend in the group. One of these friends needs to be put in friend jail because the betrayal is obscene. With thrillers, I don’t mind reading books where I hate everybody. It’s nice to root for someone, but I’m okay with being invested in the drama. This friend group was chaos and to see it dissolve as the book unfolds was interesting to read. There were plenty of motives amongst the friend group as to who would have the motive to kill someone else. I felt there was enough going on where I didn’t put two and two together until closer to the end which was a nice surprise.
This was my least favorite Lucy Foley book I read. That doesn’t mean I didn’t like it. It still kept my interest which is what I want with a thriller. It wasn’t on the same level as The Guest List and The Paris Apartment. I rated The Hunting Party five stars on Goodreads.
A few weekends ago, me and my family got together for a board game day. Through our text chat, we were throwing out ideas on what game we wanted to play, and Arkham Horror was brought up. It’s been a hot minute since I have played Arkham Horror. I have written about Arkham Horror before on BizarreBrunette as it’s a game I first played back in college. During our gaming day, we played two different rounds of Arkham Horror where we won once against Cthulhu and then we were decimated by Ithaqua in our second game.
Before getting into Arkham Horror further, I wanted to take a trip down memory lane and detail why this game holds such a special place in my heart. I was first introduced to Arkham Horror at my local board game store in my college town. This was the first game I played which was a cooperative board game. I loved how each of the pre-made characters had its specialties and as a group, we could discuss who would play which character. Once playing Arkham Horror, I began my descent into learning and playing more board games. Arguably without Arkham Horror amongst other board games, I wouldn’t be as into them as I am today.
In the first game, I chose Mandy Thompson, the researcher. I played Mandy before in other games. Mandy can cause a re-roll for herself or other players if the roll isn’t a success. It’s such a good ability and I find that in most games of Arkham Horror I play, Mandy is a character that’s chosen frequently. In our second game, I played Sister Mary, the nun. I can’t recall a time I played as Sister Mary and I don’t know why. She starts the game blessed (meaning that she rolls a success on a four, five, or a six, not just a five or a six) which is so good. The trade-off is she starts with no money which can be tough since money is used to buy items including weapons, spells, or other miscellaneous items. This is where it helps to have a variety of different characters at the table since they have their resources and weaknesses.
For those who haven’t read my other Arkham Horror posts, I will describe a bit of the game. The goal of Arkham Horror is to work together to close portals that pop up in the town of Arkham. To win the game, the players have to permanently close six gates before the entity is released. If the players don’t do this, they can fight the entity, but if the entity kills the players, the players lose the game. In our first game, we had an advantage because we started with two elder signs which can help close gates in the place of clue tokens. In our second game, we didn’t have as useful of items, and Ithaqua came out sooner than Cthulhu did. It was the perfect storm that led to us losing the second game.
Arkham Horror is a game I will continue to play and will always be in the mood to play. I like how players have to work together and there’s a dice-rolling element to the game, so it feels like a mix between playing a board game and a table-top roleplaying game. It’s a game that never gets old no matter how many times I get to play.
Since being a part of a regular Vampire: The Masquerade game, I have fully dived into all things World of Darkness. I had started watching a live play on the World of Darkness YouTube channel called New York By Night. I fell off from watching the rest of the episodes consistently, but have now gotten back into a rhythm with watching thirty minutes or so at a time. It was around this time that I saw this video called Project Ghostlight pop up on my social media. I follow Alexander Ward on various social media platforms as he’s a TTRPG player and actor who appears in New York By Night. In this announcement, he is going to be the storyteller for a new chronicle and live play series, Project Ghostlight.
Alexander Ward is one of my favorite TTRPG players to watch. In New York By Night specifically, he is so unsettling. It goes beyond roleplaying a character. His mannerisms with his vampire, Issac are creepy. He smiles abnormally wide which fits the character he’s trying to portray. I have watched bits and pieces of LA By Night which Alexander Ward is also in. I haven’t finished the series, but in the twenty minutes I watched, he acts differently as Nosferatu vampire, Jasper. If that wasn’t enough, Alexander was also a guest on Critical Role’s Candela Obscura series and his circle is one of my favorites. To hear that he will be the storyteller this time instead of a player in Project Ghostlight, I’m excited. I’m curious to see what type of story he will weave.
I have been struggling to find Vampire: The Masquerade live plays and podcasts still producing new content. I have been listening to Canada By Night which I adore, but I’m always looking for other options. I like seeing what other players do in their stories and what types of characters they create. Project Ghostlight has the potential to bring Vampire: The Masquerade more mainstream. I’d love to see more players get exposed to this game that I love so much.
I haven’t subscribed to Project Ghostlight’s Patreon yet. My hope is they will drop the episodes on YouTube as well. If they don’t, I would be open to subscribing as I don’t want to miss out on this new chronicle. If you have any Vampire: The Masquerade, Werewolf: The Apocalypse or Hunter: The Reckoning live play recommendations, I’d love to hear them in the comments below.
A few weeks ago, one of my friends had marked that they were interested in attending the Book Fair at Inbound Brewco. I’m all for supporting local bookstores and I’m a beer drinker, so the event sounded like it would be fun. On top of that, it’s cold in Minnesota this time of the year, so it’s nice to have something to go do inside. The event happened this past Saturday and I was excited to see how many people showed up for this event.
Me and my friend drove downtown which is where Inbound is. As we approached, there was horrendous traffic everywhere. I haven’t seen traffic like this unless it’s a sporting event such as the Twins or the Vikings playing. I knew immediately that this would be people who wanted to attend the Book Fair. We drove away from the traffic and parked several blocks away which worked well. We walked several blocks and approached the brewery to see a massive line! The line was out the door, all the way down the street, turning left and down a side street. Me and my friend were committed, we already paid to park and had friends we were meeting up with, so we ventured to the back of the line.
One thing I always appreciate about a situation like this is meeting new people. I have stood in long lines at conventions and always ended up chatting with those around me. There was a woman and her friend behind us who would jump into our conversation every now and then. We found out that we were reading the same book and would chat about the various books we liked to read. It gives me a sense of community that we are all united in attending this event because of our love for local businesses and books. After an hour and forty-five minutes of waiting, we were ushered into the tap room.
I’m not complaining about the wait time to get into the brewery. I’m not an event planner and I could never be an event planner. I have massive respect for event planners for this reason. I think the brewery did not anticipate this many attendees which is why the line was so long. Inbound is one of my favorite breweries, but it’s not big enough to handle this event. However, if the event were in summer, it wouldn’t have been as big of a deal to wait. Me and my friends were not dressed for the weather. My feet were freezing and I should have worn fleece socks. I didn’t bring gloves and trying to call friends and let them know where we were in line did not help. I’m choosing to focus on the positive things about this event which is how exciting it is to see this many people show up. It was fun to chat with different people and be in the atmosphere. After the event, I drove home and didn’t talk to anyone for the rest of the day. I felt I had too much social interaction and needed to recharge my social battery.
With that said, I’m happy I went. Me and my friends survived the cold together. I would attend an event like this in the future, but knowing how popular this event would be, I don’t think I would attend again in January.
I’m starting 2025 off strong by finishing my first book of the year. In January, I usually read thrillers. Thrillers are quick reads for me and I find it ramps up my reading year. I had wanted to read The Book of Cold Cases by Simone St. James for a while. I fully went into this book thinking it would be a new favorite of mine. On top of that, I added some of Simone St. James’s other books to my reading list as well. The Book of Cold Cases had so much potential, ultimately, this book didn’t work for me.
In 1977, Beth Greer was tried and acquitted for the murder of two men. Beth continued to live in Claire Lake, Oregon where the crimes occurred. Currently, Shea Collins is a blogger for her own True Crime website. She’s written extensively about the Lady Killer case, which Beth was linked to. After meeting Beth in a chance encounter, Shea asks her for an interview and is surprised when Beth says yes. Will Shea finally solve this infamous case and did Beth do it?
I was under the impression that The Book of Cold Cases was a thriller. This book is a thriller, but it’s also a ghost story. When Shea interviews Beth, she notices some odd occurrences at the house. It’s revealed to the reader that there are ghosts in Beth’s house. I will be honest, I was not a fan of the supernatural element to the story. I am fine with ghost stories if I’m reading a horror book. I had expectations for what I wanted this book to be, so when it wasn’t what I had originally wanted to read, I was disappointed.
Regarding the characters, Shea was a dull character to follow. She had a traumatic event happen to her as a child which is supposed to explain why she writes her blog. I would have loved to read more character development from Shea. What’s the goal of her blog? Does she want to solve these crimes? Does she want to be an author? Instead, she isolates herself, but that’s all I know about her. It would have been more interesting to hear about her blog and what motivates her to continue writing. The Book of Cold Cases is story-driven, but arguably not character-driven, which is fine. However, I like to care about the characters I’m reading about and I didn’t feel that way about Shea.
Leading into the story, it was okay. Towards the middle of the book, it’s revealed who the true killer is. I didn’t find the reveal to be particularly interesting. On top of that, once the killer was revealed, I stopped caring about the book. In my eyes, the book was finished and all Shea had to do was write the story and what happened all those years ago. Instead, the final climax of the book features Shea trying to escape a ghost.
The Book of Cold Cases boils down to personal preference. I like thrillers and horror, but I don’t need bits of both in one book. I don’t think this author is for me. I read the premise of her other books and they follow the same format of thrillers mixed with supernatural elements. I removed them from my reading list. For those who liked this book, I’m happy for you! This book wasn’t for me. I rated The Book of Cold Cases two stars on Goodreads.
In my 2024 – Pop Culture Year in Review post, I mentioned being a part of a Candela Obscura campaign. This was completely unexpected because, at the time I joined this campaign, I was already in two other campaigns. I was under the impression that this would be a one-shot. Our group had a blast, so now this has turned into several sessions. I’m unsure how long this will last, but I’m happy to see this through. I wanted to share how I found my group and what has transpired in our sessions.
If there’s anything I can suggest to new players looking for a TTRPG group, it’s to join a local community. This can be through Facebook, Discord, or another social media platform, but it has worked wonders for me. I was browsing through a TTRPG Facebook group and someone had posted looking for players to play Candela. Candela Obscura is Critical Role’s horror tabletop game that they have created. I have played Candela Obscura several times and I have come to enjoy it. I like how there’s already a world established, so there isn’t a lot of world-building that needs to be done. It’s easy to pick up the book, page through it, and be ready to launch into a game. I had commented that I was interested and after conversing with the other players, we settled on meeting for our game.
With horror games, I approach them differently than I would with Dungeons & Dragons. I don’t focus as much on the character’s backstory, instead, I like to figure out what my character will do to help herself and the group survive. Horror TTRPGs can be unforgiving in that aspect, so I don’t get attached to my characters like I would in a Fantasy setting. During character creation, I decided to play a Doctor with a focus on examining items that come from supernatural means. My main skills are in Intuition which emphasizes investigating and piecing the story together. Dr. Vivienne Baker is my character’s name and I have grown fond of her the more I play her. She works as a Doctor at an academic university and she is someone who fights for the lower class.
Our first session took place on a train where our circle had to protect magical furniture. Rumors were circulating that this set of furniture was cursed in some fashion. When I say that our plan crumbled, I mean it. One of the players had to fight off four enemies at once, I was cornered by some henchmen, and another player was transported to another dimension. In one encounter, I rolled a six which was a critical success, and ended up breaking free from the henchmen and escaping. With all of that said, our group ended up escaping somewhat. The session was intense and our DM did an amazing job of creating conflict for us.
As far as what is to come in the future sessions, I have no clue. There’s a mysterious healthcare company that is trying to collaborate with us. I have no doubt that our deal with them will backfire miraculously. Will Dr. Vivienne Baker survive? Or will she suffer a scar and be forced to retire from Candela Obscura for good. I will be happy with the outcome either way. No matter what, I will keep you all posted on Vivienne’s fate.
For the holidays, a few family members asked me for gift ideas of what I would want for Christmas. After some thought, I decided to send a long list of different books I wanted. I like providing books as gift ideas because books are relatively inexpensive and it sets me up to have a great reading year. I wanted to share all the books I got for Christmas and hopefully when I will make the time to read them.
A Wizard’s Guide To Defensive Baking by T. Kingfisher
I have wanted to read a book by T. Kingfisher for a long time. The various book bloggers I follow have raved about her books and I was feeling left out of the loop. A Wizard’sGuide To Defensive Baking is about a young wizard named Mona who doesn’t have the same magical powers as everyone else. Her magic only works when she’s baking bread. When a dead body is found at her bakery, she’s pulled into a conspiracy she didn’t want to be a part of. This premise reminds me of Legends & Lattes, so I’m curious if this is going to be a cozy fantasy book.
A Perilous Undertaking A Veronica Speedwell Mystery by Deanna Raybourn
This is the second book in the Veronica Speedwell series. This series takes place in London in the late 1800s. Veronica has rejected societal norms in which she is supposed to be married. She has teamed up with Stoker who has helped her solve various mysteries. In this book, Veronica is asked to help save an art patron before he’s executed for murder. I read the first book in this series while in Europe and I enjoyed it, so I wanted to continue reading the series.
Love And Other Conspiracies by Mallory Marlowe
Love and Other Conspiracies is a romance between a web producer and a cryptid expert who also hosts a podcast. I don’t know about you, but I love cryptid conspiracy theories. I went to see The Mothman statue in West Virginia several years ago and now I’m a fan. I think the premise of this sounds too cute and most of the reviews have been positive. I hope to read this during February which is when I usually read exclusively romance.
Yours Truly by Abby Jimenez
I loved Part of Your World when I read it last year. As a reading goal, I want to read more from authors that I have read before. Yours Truly takes off where Part of Your World left off. Yours Truly focuses on Alexis’s best friend, Briana, and her romance with a doctor. I loved Alexis’s friendship with Briana, so I’m looking forward to reading this.
Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree
I own the original cover of Legends & Lattes, but I don’t own this edition. The artwork is stunning and I love the image on the spine with the sword through the coffee cup. I’m not normally someone who would collect special editions of books, but happy to make an exception as Legends & Lattes is a book I adore.
The Ashes & The Star-Cursed King by Carissa Broadbent
The Ashes & The Star-Cursed King by Carissa Broadbent is the second book in the Crowns of Nyaxia series. I read the first book last year and I enjoyed it. I described the first book as Hunger Games with vampires. The second book builds off the climactic ending from the first book and I’m curious to see what Oraya will do.
It’s a good feeling to have something new to read.
Bizarre Brunette 