Author Archives: Bizarre Brunette

Halloween Workout – Cycling as Darth Vader

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Happy Halloween! I’m going as Kylo Ren for Halloween this year. I think my husband wanted to do a couple costumes, however, I was set on Kylo. I was browsing through Pinterest and was inspired to put this costume together. Besides dressing up as Kylo, I also dressed up as Darth Vader and went to a Halloween-themed workout class at the gym that I go to. As someone who loves both Halloween and exercise, it was a fun thing to do.

Image is a photo of me and another woman. I'm wearing a Darth Vader costume without the helmet. There's a black cape and I'm in all black. It looks like I have a control panel on my chest. There are knee braces and I'm in workout shoes. The woman next to me is wearing black mouse ears, a black workout tank top and bright orange leggings

When me and my husband bought our house last year, I signed up for a group fitness gym. I have been a member at a lot of different gyms and this one is unique. It feels like a small community. In bigger commercial gyms, people show up to work out and leave. Instead, I feel like I have gotten to know some of the members who attend the same classes that I do. Attending group fitness classes is something that I look forward to each week. I gravitate towards boxing and cycling if I want to do cardio or I do a strength class or circuits if I want something that’s weight lifting based. I end up doing about 4-5 classes a week depending on how sore I am.

My gym puts on events every now and then including this Halloween-themed class. There were four different cycle classes. Each class was 30 minutes long with different instructors per class. I ended up signing up for all four classes. The time went by fast! I couldn’t believe I cycled for two hours straight. When I got off the bike, my quads were a little wobbly. I ended up winning a prize for being on the bike for the longest in costume.

I don’t write about exercise here and part of that is intentional. My health and fitness goals are something that I have chosen to keep private. With that being said, I’m so happy that I found this gym.

The Marvels (2023)

Posted in Bizarre Brunette Big-Screen Watches by

I have felt disconnected from the Marvel cinematic universe. I saw Ant-Man earlier this year and it was fun. I didn’t see Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. #3 because I figured it would be sad and didn’t want to cry in the theater. I haven’t watched Secret Invasion yet, but the reviews are not the greatest. I also was spoiled about a certain character’s death in one of the first few episodes and I’m a little salty about it. With all that said, the Marvel movie I’m looking forward to is The Marvels. The Marvels isn’t a Captain Marvel sequel, but more of a team-up between the various versions of Captain Marvel. I know some aren’t really Brie Larson fans, but I’m personally looking forward to this movie.

I watched Ms. Marvel last year and it was so good! I am excited to see Iman Vellani back as Ms. Marvel. Ms. Marvel is one of my favorite characters in comics. She’s nerdy, passionate, and genuinely a good person. She is the quintessential superhero. There’s a moment at the end of the trailer where Ms. Marvel looks at Goose as Goose breaks out the tentacles and eats a few of the enemies. She screams in absolute terror. That’s the most real reaction you can have to seeing a cat eat people.

This leads to another thing that I’m looking forward to. Seeing Goose! Who doesn’t want to see a loveable, alien tentacle kitty? There’s also a clip from the trailer of more kitties floating around and I think Goose could use a friend.

What’s interesting about The Marvels is that this movie does the most with acknowledging the TV series on Disney+. There’s obviously Ms. Marvel, but also Monica Rambeau (played by Teyonah Parris) who was highlighted in WandaVision. With Carol’s friendship with Monica’s mom, Maria, I could see some touching conversations between the two of them. While Doctor Strange In the Multiverse of Madness springboards off of WandaVision, The Marvels could provide an essential link between the Disney+ shows.

I was reading the comments of The Marvels trailer and they were surprisingly not as toxic as I thought they would be. I think people should let everyone enjoy what they want to enjoy. I get that this movie might not be what other fans are looking for, but don’t yuck on someone’s yum.

I’m excited to see The Marvels and even if the reviews aren’t great, I’m sure that I will have fun watching it.

Sex Cult and Holiday Romance – Barnes and Noble Book Haul

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One of my friends came to visit me a few weeks ago and we decided to wander around Mall of America. I tend to avoid Mall of America for the most part due to the traffic and the amount of people, but it was kind of nice to walk around. Every time I go to Mall of America, I like to stop in the Barnes and Noble as it’s been in the same location for decades at least? Of course, I ended up buying books. It’s rare for me to walk into a bookstore and not buy anything. I wanted to share what I bought.

Image shows a stack of three books. The bottom book is The Last Housewife by Ashley Winstead. The middle book is Wreck The Halls by Tessa Bailey and the top book is Chainsaw Man Vol #2.

The Last Housewife by Ashley Winstead

Shay Evans and her friend Laurel were recruited by a man into a cult while they were in college. Shay and Laurel barely managed to escape and Shay has since built a new life for herself. Shay learns from a podcast that Lauren has died. Shay feels extremely on edge as she’s not entirely sure that Laurel’s death was a coincidence. Shay decides to go back to the town to get some answers and if Laurel was murdered, Shay will do nothing to get justice.

I have read some reviews and I heard this book is really dark. I think it helps to look up content warnings for a book ahead of time as I like to be prepared before reading a book. I was thinking I would read The Last Housewife either in December or January when it gets darker outside.

Wreck The Halls by Tessa Bailey

Melody Gallard is the daughter of a famous musician. She tends to avoid any publicity and keeps to herself. There are talks about her mother’s band reuniting, so Melody decides to get involved. Beat Dawkins is the lead singer’s son. Beat and Melody knew each other when they were young, but stopped being friends after the band disbanded. Now that Melody and Beat will spend a lot of time together, they may see sparks begin to fly again.

I don’t read Holiday romances too often, but I thought this would be cute to read in December to get into the holiday spirit.

Chainsaw Man Vol #2 Tatsuki Fujimoto

Chainsaw Man follows Denji who has a demon named Pochita living inside of him. Chainsaw Man follows Denji’s adventures in demon hunting.

While I do think Denji’s obsession with boobs feels a little too on the nose for a manga, I loved Pochita. Pochita is the cutest thing and one of the main reasons why I’m continuing on in the series.

For the remaining months of the year, I want to have more of a TBR type of plan for November and December. I’m also writing out a few 2024 reading goals as well since 2023 was a little bit of a wash when it comes to hitting my reading goals.

Guinness and the Irish Countryside – Ireland

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The last country that we went to while in Europe was Ireland. Adding Ireland to our trip itinerary was an easy decision. With our trip being two weeks, we didn’t want to travel too far into Europe and run out of time to see the things that we wanted to see. Plus, it would have added time to our travel back to the US which I think me and my husband wouldn’t have been a big fan of. Ireland was lovely and I’d love to go back.

Image is a beautiful library. The ceiling is really high and it's two stories. There are several balconies on the second story. There are several shelves that are empty.

One of the first places we visited while in Dublin was Trinity College. Trinity College is located in Dublin and is open to the public. The campus was stunning! The architecture is well-preserved and the buildings themselves are gorgeous. The real draw for me though was The Old Library and the Book of Kells. Wandering through the library made me feel like I was in a Dark Academia book. I love all things Dark Academia and Spooky in the books I read and going through the library was right up my alley. It’s interesting because when we were there, a lot of the shelves were empty. The books are going through a restoration process right now which I found fascinating. There were some videos displayed that highlighted what that process is like. Trinity College was one of my favorite places we visited while in Dublin.

[Image is a picture of me smiling holding a Guinness]

Besides Trinity, me and my husband also went to the Guinness Storehouse and booked a Guinness tour. This was something that we booked far in advance. There aren’t that many beers that are as globally well-known as Guinness is. The Guinness Storehouse has seven floors. On the first floor, it talks about what actually goes into a Guinness and how Guinness is made. Throughout the other floors, it shows how Guinness has evolved. One of the facts that I took with me is that Guinness was the first beer to have Nitrogen added to it. During the tour, we had a free tasting along with a demonstration of how you’re supposed to drink a Guinness. At the end of the tour, you could visit the gravity bar on the top floor. The gravity bar is a bar surrounded by windows, so you could have a stunning view of Dublin. The Guinness Storehouse took a lot longer than I thought as we were there for almost four hours. There was so much to see and it was nice to have a pint after the tour.

Image is of The Cliffs of Moher. There are several cliffs that are a mix of a bright green and brown. There's water below. It's cloudy, so there is fog on the water where you can't see the end of the water.

One of the last things that we saw while in Ireland was the Cliffs of Moher. The Cliffs of Moher are on the Western coast of Ireland. To get there, we took a train from Dublin to Galway and then a tour bus from Galway to the Cliffs. The Cliffs are breathtaking. The grass is so green which makes sense because it was pouring the entire day that we were there. It was really windy while we were there. It felt like I was going to be blown over the cliff. There are a few pictures that me and my husband took and my hair is whipping around. We were at The Cliffs for two hours and I thought that was plenty of time. I walk fast, so I found that we climbed The Cliffs relatively quickly. Seeing The Cliffs in person was so worth it.

Image is of me and my husband with the cliffs in the background. My hair is flying around. It looks like it had been raining outside.

I wish that we had more time in Ireland. I’d love to visit Cork or Kilkenny, but we didn’t have the time. I feel like a broken record at this point, but I’d love to go back to Ireland. As I reflect on our trip as a whole, I do feel that two weeks was a long time to be away from home. In many ways, this trip has taught me a lot about how I like to travel and helped me prioritize different trips that I want to take in the next few years. I’m so glad that I was able to finally go to Europe, it was a trip that was a long time in the making.

Is Curse of Strahd’s Ending Underwhelming?

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Ginny Di is one of my favorite TTRPG (tabletop roleplaying game) content creators. I find her videos easy to follow and I like that she has tips for both players and DMs (Dungeon Masters) to improve the gameplay experience. I saw a video she recently posted titled Fixing Curse of Strahd’s Ending and I was immediately intrigued. My group completed Curse of Strahd earlier this year and I had a blast. I was curious what was wrong with the ending of the campaign.

Slight Curse of Strahd Spoilers down below and Ginny Di’s video

Some players had stated that they felt the Curse of Strahd ending was underwhelming. Some players found that depending on what level they were, they could take down Strahd in two or three rounds. In our game, Strahd put up a fight and that’s partially because our group didn’t have a plan on how we were going to face Strahd, we just wanted to take him down and we would figure it out as we went. Ginny Di reviewed a guidebook titled Curse of Strahd: The Wedding at Ravenloft by Wyatt Trull. The guidebook provides a potential way for players to face Strahd that would feel impactful.

In The Wedding at Ravenloft, players are invited to Strahd’s wedding to Ireena, an NPC (non-playable character, typically voiced by the DM) that the players met early on in the game. Players can either attack Strahd right away before the wedding begins or let the wedding proceed. If players let the wedding continue, they can object to the marriage or yell obscenities throughout the ceremony. After the wedding, Strahd takes Ireena, locks the players inside, and forces them to fight their way to him.

I like the idea of The Wedding at Ravenloft because it sounds like a video game boss battle of sorts. The wedding serves as the cut scene to battle with Strahd. There’s Ireena who serves as the motivation for the players because if they don’t save her, she will forcibly be bound to Strahd for the rest of her days including being turned into a vampire. I could see this being useful for a DM who wants to put their players in a position where any decision they make will have consequences.

This video was interesting to watch and put a new perspective on Curse of Strahd that I wouldn’t have known otherwise. For those who are looking for more TTRPG content, I would highly recommend watching Ginny Di’s videos.

James Bond, Sherlock Holmes – Visiting London

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I knew for a fact that I wanted to go to London on our trip. I love all things pop culture that are based out of the UK such as James Bond, Sherlock Holmes, Doctor Who, and more. I had London listed in a travel bucket list post that I wrote in 2016, so it’s neat to be able to say that I can cross London off my list. London was nothing short of amazing and it held up to every expectation that I had.

Picture is a building that is across the Thames river. The building has a blue roof. It almost looks like solar panels at the back. It's a brown building with two towers in the back.

Starting with the pop culture references first, I made a point to visit the SIS Building aka. the MI6 building featured in many of the James Bond films. The SIS Building wasn’t a far walk from where we were staying and I wanted to see the building up close. It’s a really cool building. We didn’t go inside and quite frankly, I don’t think we could go inside? It was still worth it to see. Besides the SIS Building, we also visited the Sherlock Holmes Museum at 221 B Baker Street. I read a few of the Sherlock Holmes stories in high school and I love the Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective game that my brother bought for me. Right when we exited The Tube, there was a Sherlock Holmes statue waiting for us. My friend commented that Sherlock looked like Bill Nye and I can’t unsee it. My husband wasn’t the biggest fan of the museum since the tour guide acted like Sherlock Holmes was real, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. We also went out of our way to find the TARDIS from Doctor Who. We did not go to the Doctor Who Museum because it was really out of our way, but I would happily go to London again and make time to see it.

Image is a photo of me. I have sunglasses on and I'm smiling. Behind me is the SIS building.

Besides the pop culture references, we did see quite a bit including the London Eye, Buckingham Palace, and Big Ben. My husband successfully convinced me to go to The London Eye. I don’t do well with heights, but it was worth it. It was cool to see London in all its glory. There was also a voiceover explaining all the buildings and it was easy to follow. Seeing Big Ben was another highlight of visiting London. While we were walking around, I found myself looking at the architecture of the various buildings we passed. It’s cool to see these buildings still preserved and in good shape.

Image is a statue of Sherlock Holmes. He looks like he is thinking. A friend commented that he looks like Bill Nye. At the bottom of his statue it says "The Greatest Detective"

Me and my husband couldn’t leave London without going to a few pubs. I liked how most of the pubs we visited were two floors. I liked sitting at a pub and looking out the window. I’m usually a beer drinker and I definitely had a few pints. Another drink of choice for me is an Espresso Martini. It’s so good. I like it because it’s the perfect drink to have after dinner and socialize. It doesn’t feel as heavy as beer. I kind of knew that going to London, we would be drinking more than we normally would in a day-to-day routine.

Photo is of Big Ben. There's a red decker tour bus on the road passing by.

London was well worth the visit and if I ever have the chance to go back, I would. There’s so much to see in London and I figure that if I were to go back, I’m sure I would have a different trip since I didn’t get to do everything that I had on my list. I would love to make it to Scotland at some point as well. My next post will focus on Ireland as that was the last country we visited on our trip.

Europe Comics Haul

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It should be no surprise to anyone that I found a variety of different comic book stores while in Europe. I love comic book stores. I think it’s cool how a hobby or an interest can connect people from across the world. I went to four different comic book stores while on our trip. I remember waiting for our flight from Boston to Minneapolis and thinking about how heavy my backpack had become since I bought so much. I wanted to share which stores I went to and what I bought!

Gosh! Comics

Image is a comic book store. There's a Batman sign that splits the shop windows. There's a sign with gosh in lower case on the left hand window.

The first comic book store we visited was Gosh! Comics. Gosh! was a random find as it wasn’t on my list of things to do while in London. We were walking around and I saw the Batman sign above the entrance. Gosh! might be my favorite comic book store from this list. On the first floor, they had local comics published in England. I bought a few local comics along with a few trade paperbacks on my list. Gosh! had two floors with the downstairs having its DC, Marvel, and Manga sections. Gosh! was such a fun, random find in London.

Sub-City Comics

Image is of a comic book store. The sign says "Sub-City Comics" with a red circle that's filled in the background.

Sub-City Comics is a comic book store in Dublin that’s a short walk away from downtown. Sub-City Comics also had a shelf of local comics from a publisher called Atomic Diner. I bought two graphic novels, one takes place in WWII in Ireland which I thought seemed interesting. Sub-City also had a big Manga section which is cool to see. I’m seeing more local comic book stores expand their Manga section which I think has directly contributed to me reading more Manga on a weekly basis.

Forbidden Planet

Forbidden Planet is more of a chain of comic book stores with locations in both the United Kingdom and Ireland. I stopped in the Dublin location during our trip. Forbidden Planet was cool, but it was more toy-heavy than the other stores. I like action figures and collectibles, but it’s not the main reason I go into a comic book store. Forbidden Planet also had a huge collection of Loungefly backpacks. I ended up finding a few single issues to purchase. One of the comics that I was going to purchase was an expensive variant. The person who was ringing up my order warned me that the issue I picked was really expensive which I appreciated! It would have been easy for her to let me purchase it without knowing how expensive it was.

Honorary Mention – Newbury Comics

The last store I visited was Newbury Comics in Boston. I wasn’t planning on buying anything else since I bought so many comics, but of course, I ended up finding things. The first thing I stumbled upon was the Critical Role Jester Lavorre action figure. I just started watching The Mighty Nein and I’m slowly getting into the story. Jester is so fun and a fan favorite which I can see why. Jester is still in the box and I’m contemplating where to put her. I think I might put her either on my Table Top Roleplaying shelf or on my desk when I work from home.

In total, I bought six graphic novels, seven single issues, and an action figure. It’s no wonder why my backpack was so heavy. I’m looking to organize what I bought and determine which comics I want to read first.

Heaven on Earth – Traveling to Iceland

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This is the first post in my Europe travel series. I wanted to start off in chronological order as Iceland was the first country that me and my husband traveled to. When me and my husband started planning this trip, Iceland wasn’t a country that was on our radar. However, when we began researching flights, we saw that we could take a direct flight from the Twin Cities to Iceland which helped solidify our decision to fly to Iceland first.

This is a photo from Iceland. It shows a gray, yellow, and blue colored sky. Beneath the sky, there is gray rock covered in this bright green, yellow, and deep green grass.

One of the first impressions that I had of Iceland was that it felt like we were on a different planet. Iceland is a beautiful country. As we were traveling to Reykjavík, the scenery was exquisite. There was black lava rock and green and yellow rolling hills. Reykjavík is a gorgeous city surrounded by water and mountains. I’m reviewing all the pictures I took and they don’t do the city justice.

Photo is a selfie of me and my husband. We look a little tired. Behind us is the Rainbow Road. The Road has stripes of red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple paint. Behind us is a big chuch in the distance. There are several shops on either side of the road.

On the first day we spent in Reykjavík, we did most of the touristy stuff including Rainbow Road, Hallgrímskirkja (a Lutheran Church), and shopping downtown. We ate a lot of waffles, drank a lot of coffee, and had to stay awake for 18+ hours due to the time zone difference. The jet lag hit both of us hard.

Photo is a distant view of several mountains. The clouds look like they are laying on top of the mountains. There is a body of water that separates the mountains from where we were standing

On the second and final day in Iceland, we went to The Blue Lagoon. The Blue Lagoon is a geothermal hot spring, spa, and hotel resort. This was another touristy thing to do, but so worth it. It’s about 30-40 minutes outside of Reykjavík, so not too far out of the way. As we arrived, there was a pathway that led to the entrance which again was surrounded by this black lava rock. The water at The Blue Lagoon was a bright blue color which seems so unnatural, yet beautiful. We made a reservation ahead of time, so we were able to quickly check-in and proceed to the springs. It was 50 degrees out, so pretty chilly, but the water was warm. We spent a few hours at the hot springs before navigating back to our hotel.

This is a photo of me in a body of water. The water is a bright perwinkle blue. There are black rocks behind me stained with white patches
Photo is of me standing in the walkway to The Blue Lagoon. There is a gray brick pathway. On either side are these black and white lava rocks.

We spent two full days in Iceland which I felt was a good amount of time. If I were to revisit Iceland, I’d love to rent a car and drive around the country. I’m sure there was a lot that me and my husband missed out on since we could only do so much. From Iceland, we flew to London, and that’s what I will talk about in my next travel post.

Controllers & Coffee: Spider-Man and Eldraine

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Now that I’m getting back to my routine, I have been getting back into gaming regularly. I have a lot of options as far as what to play next. With the weather slowly getting cooler, I’m ready to get cozy under a blanket and play a game. I wanted to share where I’m at and what I plan on playing next.

Consoles

[Image is a video game poster for Marvel's Spider-Man on Playstation. It shows Spider-Man swinging on a web in the air]

The game that I have been playing is Marvel Spider-Man as the second game comes out this month. I am playing on New Game Plus which carries over the previously leveled-up Spider-Man from a previous game. The enemies aren’t that tough, if anything, Spider-Man’s health drops more after every hit, so I have to be more strategic during boss battles. Once I finish the first Spider-Man game, I plan on playing the sequel. I’m looking forward to battling Venom and playing as Miles.

After playing through both Marvel’s Spider-Man and Spider-Man 2, I want to play Jedi: Survivor. I finished Jedi: Fallen Order this year and I loved it I heard the sequel was equally as fun.

Regarding my Switch, I don’t have a specific game that I’m working through, however, I do have some pre-purchased games that I want to get to eventually

PC

I haven’t played a game on PC in a long time. I had to pull up Steam to see what I had in my library. I have three games that I haven’t finished yet and when I look at them, I’m not sure if I’m in the mood to play them. I could see a fresh Steam haul in the future, but since I spent a lot of money to travel to Europe, I need to focus on saving.

Board Games

I have so many new board games thanks to Gen Con. I have Queen By Midnight which is a game from Critical Role’s game company, Darrington Press. I have another game that I want to play called Vagrant Song Me and my brother have been trying to do regular board game days, so I’m hoping that I can play these soon.

Roleplaying

As a nice change of pace, I’m in a new campaign at Bad Wolf Adventure Studios. Instead of playing on Thursday, I’m playing on Mondays. I prefer playing on Mondays versus Thursdays. Playing DnD on Mondays gives me something to look forward to. By the time Thursday comes around, I’m usually tired from the work week, so I found it difficult at times to fully be invested in the campaign. I’m playing a human sorcerer in this campaign which has been interesting to manage since my character is more focused on spell casting versus being in physical combat.

Miscellaneous

I have been playing more Magic: The Gathering than I have in the past. Part of this has to do with the release of Wilds of Eldraine which is the fairy tale-themed set. I loved Throne of Eldraine, so I was happy to see that Magic was willing to go back to that set. I have six boosters waiting for me to open on Arena, so I could see myself trying to build a standard deck and playing on Arena, so I can fully enjoy the set.

It feels so nice to be able to unwind and play video games. I have a good plan in front of me and I cannot wait to play Spider-Man 2. I have been looking forward to this game for five years.

Science, Victorian Mysteries, and Fairies – Books I Read in Europe

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When I travel, I always look forward to reading. I pack my Kindle and pre-download several books to keep me occupied, especially when waiting around in an airport. During my two-week trip to Europe, I read three books. It helps that our trip had five different flights, so lots of downtime to read books. I wanted to share the three books I read, along with my thoughts on each book.

Love, Theoretically – Ali Hazelwood

Elsie Hannaway is an adjunct professor, racing around different campuses to teach her classes. To supplement her income, she’s a “fake girlfriend” on a dating website. She attends one of her client’s family gatherings and runs into Jack Smith, the brother of her client. Jack wrote a scientific paper discrediting Elsie’s field of study, so it’s safe to say that she hates him. Elsie is trying to get a job at MIT, and guess who’s on the hiring board? Jack Smith. Elsie has to interact with Jack throughout the MIT hiring process, and Jack may be a lot of things; maybe Elsie misjudged his original intentions.

I can’t objectively review any of Ali Hazelwood’s books because I love them so much. I love reading about academia and the science that each book focuses on. I will say that Ali Hazelwood has a pattern, and I would love to see her deviate from that. I want to see a new type of protagonist. How about a chemist who owns a brewery and doesn’t have rock-hard abs. I rated Love, Theoretically by Ali Hazelwood five stars on Goodreads.

A Curious Beginning – Deanna Raybourn

Veronica Speedwell is free to do as she pleases. After planning her aunt’s funeral, she is planning her next move. When she returns home, she catches someone robbing her house. After fleeing from this person, she meets a German Baron who convinces Veronica that she’s in danger. The Baron leaves Veronica with his friend, Mr. Stoker. Before the Baron can collect Veronica, he’s murdered. Stoker instantly realizes the danger of the situation and takes Veronica away into hiding. Veronica and Stoker are forced to work together to figure out who killed the Baron.

This was the perfect book to bring with me while in Europe. I loved the setting in London. Veronica is a character who honestly doesn’t care what other people think of her, which is especially important since the book is set in 1887, and women at that time were expected to be married. I liked her partnership with Stoker. Stoker carries a lot of anger and trauma with him, and Veronica starts to grow on him throughout the book. I rated A Curious Beginning by Deanna Raybourn four stars on Goodreads.

A Court of Thorn and Roses – Sarah J. Maas


Feyre is hunting in the Forest to feed her family when she kills a wolf that approaches her. As it turns out, the wolf that Feyre killed was really a Faerie, and killing Faeries is strictly forbidden. Feyre is found out and is taken by Tamlin, one of the Faerie high lords, to his kingdom, where she will live for the rest of her days. Feyre is taken back by Prythian but starts to enjoy her routine. As she learns more about Prythian, she sees that there’s a dark underbelly to the land. Something is happening, and it could lead to the end of humankind.

This was perhaps the most hyped book on my Goodreads TBR shelf. I have heard nothing but positive things about this series, so I feel that I went into reading this book with a more critical lens. With that being said, I liked this book for the most part. I liked Prythian, the world the fae live in. I liked the darker creatures that Feyre hunts or interacts with. The romance between Tamlin and Feyre was okay. I wasn’t entirely sold on it, especially when the curse was revealed. One of the things I didn’t like was the latter half of the book, when Feyre is imprisoned by Amarantha. Feyre is tormented and abused, and it’s difficult to read. It feels like Sarah J. Maas threw a bunch of abuse in there, and I don’t think it was entirely needed. I can understand why everyone liked this book, and I did like it. I rated A Court of Thorn and Roses by Sarah J. Maas three stars on Goodreads.

I haven’t fully decided what I will read next. I have a few options as I’m trying to dwindle my TBR before buying any more books, and I have a book on hold at the library. I’m sure it will be something dark and spooky, as it’s officially spooky season.