Doomlings: Imaginary Ends Expansion

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My friend introduced me to Doomlings after she backed the game on Kickstarter. When I visited her one weekend, we played several rounds of Doomlings and I loved it. I loved the art style, it feels similar to Unstable Unicorns or Exploding Kittens. The game is easy to learn and explain to someone else. Several weeks ago, I was contacted by someone from Doomlings asking if I would be willing to review the game. I was delighted! They were kind enough to send me a copy of the base game and their expansion, Doomlings: Imaginary Ends. I had already written my review of Doomlings three years ago, but because they were open to sending me the base game, I introduced my brother to the game. Doomlings: Imaginary Ends adds so much more to the base game.

Image is a photo of Doomlings Imaginary Ends. It shows a bunch of cute creatures. One at the bottom looks like a circular narwhal . The one above it looks like a red blob with lightning on it.
My copy of Doomlings: Imaginary Ends. Photo taken by me, copy provided by Doomlings

If you’re new to Doomlings, I’d recommend checking out my original review of the base game here before continuing to read this review. In summary, Doomlings is a game where players collect trait cards before the world ends due to an apocalyptic event. The player with the highest number of points at the end of the game wins. Some trait cards have abilities while others are cute and add points. The base Doomlings game has a stack of trait cards and apocalypse cards that help keep the game interesting. This is where the Doomlings: Imaginary Ends expansion comes into play.

Image is a photo of a catastrophe card. It says Abyss Stares Back. It shows the night sky with a purple shadow over it. At the bottom of the card it says: -1 Gene Pool Suppress all cards from your hand. Stabilize. World's End: -5 if you have 12 or more traits in your trait pile.
This new Catastrophe card from Doomlings: Imaginary Ends. Photo provided by Doomlings

Doomlings: Imaginary Ends has five different expansions which add a twist to the game. The expansions are: Magical Merchants, Glitterlings, Moonlings, Deeplings, and Fuzelings. The Magical Merchants can sell players trinkets that may score extra points at the end of the world. Glitterlings are cards with abilities based on chance meaning playing them could benefit you or they could backfire. Moonlings allows players to give out unwanted cards and add rewards. Deeplings can give players a chance to suppress abilities. Finally, Fuzelings is a mix of the above expansions and can provide players with additional combos with other cards played. The amount of replay value in this expansion is wild! This expansion has five new additions for every game and that’s on top of all the cards from the base game.

Image is a photo of a person holding the Glitterlings cards in a fan. The cards are rainbow in color from red, orchid, gray, green and some are multi colored.
Glitterlings cards. Photo provided by Doomlings

Since I was introducing my brother to Doomlings, we played a few rounds of the base game before introducing the expansions. What worked well for us was that we played the expansions separately with the base game, so we could truly understand how they modified the game. I couldn’t choose a favorite expansion because they all added something to the game. With that said, the Glitterlings stood out the most to me. My brother was able to pull out some combos at the end of one of our games and I could not compete. The beauty of the expansion is that there’s still so much I haven’t played with yet. The expansion adds 127 new cards to the game and that takes time to see these cards pop up.

Doomlings: Imaginary Ends is $24.99 which is the same cost as the base game. In my reviews, I don’t usually bring up what something costs. Cost does matter though. If I’m going to invest in a board game, TTRPG, or a trading card game, I can’t always sink hundreds of dollars into that game. The fact that Doomlings costs $50 for both the base game and an expansion is a reasonable investment. I can see myself bringing out Doomlings at future board game nights along with Doomlings: Imaginary Ends.

In summary, Doomlings: Imaginary Ends was a fun and new addition to the base game. I was a Doomlings fan before playing the expansion and unsurprisingly, I’m still a fan of Doomlings. I am looking forward to seeing Doomlings dominating the board game market and if any expansions are released in the future.

Love And Other Conspiracies by Mallory Marlowe

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Image is a book cover for Love And Other Conspiracies by Mallory Marlowe. There's a shadow of Bigfoot behind the couple. The woman is holding on to the man as he supports her.

I’m biased. I see a romance book featuring cryptids and I’m intrigued. I discovered Love And Other Conspiracies by Mallory Marlowe last year and specifically asked for this book for Christmas. Once I received my physical copy, I prioritized reading this book this month. Love And Other Conspiracies was such a lovely, heartwarming romance book. I am obsessed and cannot wait for the sequel to come out later this year.

Hallie Barrett is a producer for a popular website that produces short web series. After her relationship ends, she’s left without a show to produce. After stumbling upon Hayden Hargrove’s Cryptid Hunting docuseries, she asks Hayden to sign on and become the new show she’s making. Hayden agrees but asks Hallie to step in as co-host. She’s never been a co-host before especially because she’s always been behind the camera. As Hallie starts to get to know Hayden, she realizes how great of a guy he is and while they may not find Bigfoot running around, she finds love instead.

This was adorable. Hayden’s love for conspiracy theories and his show is genuine. Hayden even has a cat named Cthulhu. Once I read that, I knew this would be a five-star book. There was no way this book would let me down, not even a little bit. Hayden and Hallie were cute together. Hallie was clearly crushing on Hayden for a while before they got together. I was rooting for her to make the first move. In most of the romance books I rate highly, the characters have to be good together or I have to believe they will be together after the book ends. I feel that way for them.

I liked the setting of this book. I could picture Hallie in LA, stuck in traffic, and rooming with her best friend. The production company she works for reminded me of Buzzfeed or Dropout. In the episodes that Hallie and Hayden filmed, they would film onsite. One of the scenes in the book features Hallie and Hayden in West Virginia at the Mothman statue. I went to see the Mothman statue several years ago, so it was fun to reminisce as they were there in the book.

There isn’t much else to say. Love And Other Conspiracies was cute and I can’t wait to read the sequel. I rated Love And Other Conspiracies five stars on Goodreads.

Blue Beetle (2023)

Posted in Bizarre Brunette Big-Screen Watches by
Image is a movie poster for Blue Beetle. It shows a neon blue beetle highlighted in pink light. In pink it says "Only In Theaters" With a bolded 2023 and in blue #BlueBeetle

I remember Blue Beetle being released in theaters, but missed my chance to go. The DCU was kind of a mess with James Gunn trying to figure out what was canon or not. Blue Beetle, I felt got lost in that shuffle. When me and my husband were deciding what we wanted to watch, he encouraged me to watch Blue Beetle with him because he really enjoyed it. Blue Beetle was a solid movie from DC and I’d love to see Blue Beetle pop up in future DCU movies.

Blue Beetle follows Jaime Reyes (played by Xolo Maridueña) as he flies home to see family after graduating college. He gets a job cleaning a rich mansion belonging to Victoria Kord (played by Susan Sarandon). Jaime overhears an argument between Victoria and Jenny Kord (played by Bruna Marquezine). After standing up for Jenny, Jaime and his sister, Milagro (played by Belissa Escobedo) are fired from the job. Jenny promises Jaime she can get him a job at her father’s company, Kord Industries. Jaime arrives at Kord the next day where he bumps into an anxiety-ridden Jenny. She gives Jaime an enclosed package and tells him not to open it. Jaime shows it to his family revealing that he has a blue scarab. The scarab attaches to Jaime which freaks out his family. Victoria realizes the scarab is gone and will do everything to retrieve it.

The DCU’s track record is not great, so it’s nice that Blue Beetle is a good movie. I liked Xolo as Jaime Reyes. I think he embodies the character and brings a Spider-Man-youth to the role. Jaime’s family is easily the best part of the film. George Lopez plays Jaime’s Uncle Rudy and is hilarious. There’s a scene where Uncle Rudy explores the original Blue Beetle’s stuff and he is thrilled. Nana, played by Adriana Barraza, has her time to shine and shows up to protect her grandson. Jaime’s connection to his culture and family is a core feature of this film.

Regarding the villain, I think it’s easy to say that Susan Sarandon is not a memorable villain. However, I think Victoria has her moments. She is shown through flashbacks of going to foreign countries and how the weapons she helped create would destroy countries. Her righthand man, Carpax (played by Raoul Max Trujillo) is a victim. He was saved but forced to participate in Victoria’s experiments. Victoria violates many human rights violations, but because she’s rich, she gets away with it. Victoria being a villain is almost too real. She may not be able to go hand in hand with Jaime, but I’d argue that what Victoria does is even scarier.

The real question worth addressing is whether Blue Beetle is canon in James Gunn’s DCU? According to a quick internet search, the answer is yes. Although, it’s not clear how Blue Beetle as a character will fit into his future projects. It would be a dream to see Blue Beetle show up in a live adaptation of Young Justice as that was my first introduction to Blue Beetle as a character.

Blue Beetle is well worth the watch. I thought the movie has character and life to it which is something the DCU needs.

A Thousand Miles by Bridget Morrissey

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Image is a book cover for A Thousand Miles by Brdiget Morrissey. This coer shows two people on the opposite side of the road. There are mountains ahead of them.

A Thousand Miles by Bridget Morrissey wasn’t a book I included in my February TBR post. I have a list of audiobooks I want to listen to this month, but I didn’t want to set a firm goal regarding how many I would finish. A Thousand Miles has been on my TBR for way too long. This book was written for me, I mean a romance taking place while the two main characters are on a road trip together, adorable. A Thousand Miles was so cute and was my favorite audiobook I listened to.

Dee Matthews is the cohost of the podcast “Did I Forget To Tell You” which is primarily an interview show. She speaks with friends and family and frequently talks about her experiences, often referring to one person as “Redacted”. Redacted is known as Ben Porter, a science teacher who used to date Dee when they were in high school. While they dated, they buried a time capsule in Ben’s grandma’s backyard. Presently, Ben turns up at Dee’s door asking her to come with him on a road trip to his grandma’s house to dig up the capsule. Dee agrees to accompany him because it’s not like anything would happen between them anyway. As the miles fly by, Ben and Dee quickly reignite their chemistry from all those years ago.

The road trip aspect of the book was so fun. As someone who has driven to Colorado several times, I could easily picture where Dee and Ben would stop on their adventures. The adventures they have are over-the-top, to say the least. I found myself looking forward to the moments when I could listen to this on my commute home or when I cleaned the house. I was glad I listened to the audiobook because the narration differs from Dee’s podcast transcripts to another audiobook narrator reading Ben’s point of view. It was easier to follow along as I listened to each chapter.

Ben is the best guy. He’s a science teacher and loves baseball. He adores Dee. While Ben is laid-back, Dee is the opposite. She’s opinionated, flirty, and stubborn. Out of the two, I felt Ben was more established and Dee came off as immature. I didn’t mind that though since a core theme of the book was that Dee and Ben dated in high school. Throughout the book, I felt that Ben and Dee reuniting was meant to be.

A Thousand Miles was the road trip, baseball, rom-com I needed in a book. This was one of my favorite audiobooks I have listened to and part of me wants to buy a copy of this book to have on my bookshelf. I rated A Thousand Miles five stars on Goodreads.

Star Wars Outlaws Review

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Image is my copy of Star Wars Outlaws. It shows a woman with a creature on her shoulder. To left left is ND-5, a big robot carrying something on its back.

Spoilers for Star Wars Outlaws

Last weekend, we had a snow day. I had nowhere to be and while I don’t always love snow this time of year, I like having relaxing days at home. It was the perfect time to sit and devote myself to finishing Star Wars Outlaws. I had been chipping away at the game for a month or so. I was distracted by all the side quests and other odds and ends. Star Wars Outlaws is an immensely fun game and while I have my grievances with the game, it’s worth playing.

Star Wars Outlaws takes place after The Battle of Hoth in Episode V. Kay Vess is trying to survive in Canto Bight after her mother abandoned her when she was little. Kay agrees to break into crime lord, Sliro Barsha’s, vault. Kay is unfortunately betrayed after she learns that the crew is a part of The Rebel Alliance. Kay escapes with her companion, Nix, but Sliro puts a death mark on her meaning assassins from several of the crime factions are trying to hunt her down. After recovering from the failed job, Kay gets another shot at breaking into Sliro’s vault and she can’t pass up the opportunity of robbing Sliro and getting revenge.

There were several things I loved about the game. The first is the nostalgia I felt while playing the game. One of the planets Kay visits is Tattoine and I liked being able to roam around the planet on her speeder. Mos Eisley was realistic and it gave me flashbacks to playing Star Wars: Battlefront II with friends on Xbox. Another interesting planet choice was Akiva. I read Chuck Wendig’s Aftermath book which takes place on Akiva. It was neat to see the planet brought into more Star Wars lore. One of Kay’s contacts is Temmin Wexley who appears in the books and eventually flies with Poe Dameron. As a Star Wars fan who reads the books and comics, it’s cool to see so many references throughout the game.

I can’t write a review of Star Wars Outlaws without talking about Nix. Nix is adorable! There was a moment when Nix was kidnapped and sold to Jabba The Hut and I was enraged. It was sweet karma when the individual responsible for this was killed in the story. Besides being a cute companion, Nix is helpful to Kay. Nix can steal items while Kay is in a firefight. I unlocked an ability where Nix can pull the pin on a grenade if a Stormtrooper has one on their person. I started doing this all the time. There was one Imperial base where I ended up killing five Stormtroopers this way, it was satisfying.

I was honest when I said there were things about the game I didn’t enjoy. The first would be the lockpicking piece. Kay has a device that she uses to pick the locks on doors or containers. How this works is Kay pulls out the device and as the player, you have to listen to the beeps of the lock. From there, you click the button on the beat of the beep. This was aggravating. I had to turn on a feature in the game that provided a visual cue which made this easier, but still annoying. Kay picks a lot of locks, so this kept coming up time and time again. There were several moments where Kay had to pick a lock fast before she was discovered. I would have to repeat this multiple times because I could not figure out the sequence. The lockpicking aspect of the game could have been designed better as that was the worst part by far.

I wouldn’t call this a grievance, but a gameplay preference. Star Wars Outlaws is a primarily stealthy game. I don’t have the patience for stealth. This comes from my love of first-person shooters. I want to go in, kick ass and take names. In Star Wars Outlaws, you can’t go into the Imperial base guns blazing. Kay will get a Wanted status and be hunted down by The Empire. One thing other players pointed out that I also agree with is how stealth could be better. For example, when Kay hides behind cover, she never is fully hidden. I was discovered once by a Stormtrooper when Kay was hidden behind a crate because her head was poking out. Additionally, when Kay is in a firefight, she gets shot at because she isn’t fully behind cover. An easy fix for this would be to have a button to press on the controller when Kay approaches and when players press the button, Kay would fully get behind the cover and be hidden. For a game that’s primarily stealth-based, I think this could be improved.

Is Star Wars Outlaws a perfect game? No, but does every video game need to be the best game ever? I don’t believe Star Wars Outlaws deserves some of the harsh criticism I have seen online. If there’s ever Nix merchandise that is released, I would buy it in a heartbeat.

State of the Role & Campaign #4 Predictions – Critical Role

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Critical Role uploaded their “State of the Role” in which they share what’s coming up next. In this State of the Role, Critical Role made some big announcements specifically the end of Campaign #3 (also known as Bells Hells) and a new series that will air after the Campaign #3 finale. While I’m behind on Bells Hells as I’m still watching Mighty Nein, this is still big as it leaves a question unanswered, what will Critical Role’s fourth campaign be? I wanted to break down everything that was revealed in the State of the Role in more detail.

Campaign #3 Finale on February 6th

Bells Hells will conclude on Thursday, February 6th. The finale will be over eight hours in length. In the State of the Role video, there was a discussion that filming had to conclude temporarily due to the fires in California. As a side note, the California fires are devastating, to say the least. My heart goes out to anyone impacted or who lost their homes in the fires.

I’m curious as to how Bells Hells will wrap. While I have fallen behind, it’s clear from what I have read about the campaign, that this might be world-ending which could impact the previous campaigns and the fate of those characters. I would be sad if the ending of campaign #3 were to kill off Vox Machina for example in an apocalypse type of event.

I would like to see campaign #4 taking place hundreds of years in the future. It would be nice for fans to get a fresh start and to be able to follow along without having to watch the other campaigns.

Exandria Unlimited: Divergence

After the finale airs, Critical Role’s next mini-series will be called Exandira Unlimited: Divergence. Brennan Lee Mulligan is the DM with Matthew Mercer, Liam O’Brien, Jasmine Don, Alex Ward, and Celia Rose. Alex Ward is coming back to Critical Role!! I could not be more excited. Alex Ward is one of my favorite TTRPG players in this space. He specifically is in Vampire: The Masquerade live plays and I like that Alex brings focus to other TTRPG systems. I will watch the heck out of this series even if I have not seen or watched any of the other Exandria short series. I may not understand everything, but I will be here for it. This was easily the most exciting thing that came out of State of the Role.

Campaign #4 Predictions

This leads me to the final discussion point, what will Critical Role’s 4th campaign be? The big question is whether Critical Role will do another Dungeons & Dragons campaign or will they highlight their system, Daggerheart? I would watch campaign #4 regardless of the TTRPG system. If Critical Role were to use Daggerheart, I think it would be smart from a business perspective. TTRPGs remind me of trading card games in the sense that for them to be successful, you need players to play them regularly. If players aren’t playing Daggerheart, books won’t be bought and the system could fade into obscurity. However, if Critical Role does use Daggerheart, will they isolate fans who aren’t interested in Daggerheart at all?

As mentioned, I would watch Critical Role whether they use Dungeons & Dragons or Daggerheart. I like the chemistry of the cast and I want to put my Beacon subscription to good use. As a side note, whatever happened to Candela Obscura? I’d love another Circle or Candela mini-series. If I had to predict, I think Critical Role would utilize Dungeons & Dragons still, but I could see Daggerheart popping up again as it gets closer to its full release and Gen Con specifically.

I’m curious to see what happens and how everything unfolds. I will be waiting for Exandria Unlimited: Divergence to drop on Beacon in the wake of Bells Hells and their choices made in the grand finale.

Mothman, Curses and Baseball – Romance TBR

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It’s February which means it’s my annual romance reading month. I have big reading goals for this month as I’m going to attempt to read four books in a month plus audiobooks on top of that. It’s ambitious for sure, but I think it can be done. The books I have chosen for this month are roughly 350 pages each, so they aren’t long books. I have to aim to read a book a week and if I’m good with my time management, I can achieve this. I’m going to summarize what I read last month and what romance books I will read this month.

In January, I wanted to read three thriller books. In total, I read four books and listened to two audiobooks. They are as follows:

  • The Book of Cold Cases by Simone St. James 2/5 stars
  • The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley 5/5 stars
  • Critical Role: Bells Hells – What Doesn’t Break by Cassandra Khaw 3.5/5 stars
  • What Lies in the Woods by Kate Alice Marshall 4/5 stars
  • All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson. Unrated
  • Nurture: A Modern Guide to Pregnancy, Birth, Early Motherhood – And Trusting Yourself and Your Body by Erica Chidi. Unrated.

The two books that stood out to me from last month were The Hunting Party and All Boys Aren’t Blue. I love Lucy Foley and while The Hunting Party is my least favorite thriller she’s written, I still enjoyed it. All Boys Aren’t Blue was an interesting memoir. I like when the authors read their own audiobooks. I found it engaging to listen to.

Here are the four books I’m going to try to read this month:

Image is a stack of four books on top of each other. From top to bottom they are, Love and Other Conspiracies by Mallory Marlowe, The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang, Do Your Worst by Rosie Danan and The Art of Catching Feelings by Alicia Thompson.

Love And Other Conspiracies by Mallory Marlowe

Hallie Barrett is a producer working for a company similar to BuzzFeed. Hallie is tasked with producing a new web series that will gain popularity online. Hallie finds Hayden Hargrove’s podcast which is dedicated to conspiracy theories and cryptids. Hayden agrees to partner with Hallie to turn his podcast into a live show. After several stays at haunted locations throughout California, Hallie and Hayden may not find Bigfoot, but they do find that they have feelings for each other.

I started this book already and I’m obsessed. Hayden has a pet cat named Cthulhu, how cute is that. Is this book cheesy? Yes. Am I loving every bit of this book? Also yes.

The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang

Stella Lane builds algorithms to predict how customers will spend their money. While Stella has had success in her professional life, dating has not been working well. Stella is on the Autism Spectrum and she decides to hire an escort to help her find a date. Michael Phan is smitten with Stella from the get-go and she pays well, so he has nothing to lose by helping her. While their partnership is innocent at first, once they learn more about each other, are they compatible together?

This is a re-read as I read The Kiss Quotient several years ago. I have been trying to re-read more books from my collection and I remember loving this book when I originally read it several years ago. I rated The Kiss Quotient four stars which feels too low. This book has stuck with me and I tend to compare the romance books I have read to this one. It wouldn’t surprise me if I were to re-read this and bump up my rating.

Do Your Worst by Rosie Danan

Do Your Worst follows Riley Rhodes, an occult expert, who is hired to investigate a curse at a Scottish castle. She meets Clark Edgeware, an archaeologist, who has had some career bumps. Clark doesn’t want Riley stealing his thunder, but he also has no right to chase her away from the castle. Riley and Clark are forced to work together to break this curse.

Do Your Worst has a 3.48 average rating on Goodreads which feels low. However, I can’t pass on the premise of this book. I don’t need every book I read to be a masterpiece.

The Art of Catching Feelings by Alicia Thompson

Daphne Brink loves baseball and it’s been a good distraction as she finalizes her divorce. Daphne heckles baseball player, Chris Kepler during a game. Feeling bad, she reaches out to Chris to apologize although she fails to mention that she was the one to heckle him in the first place. Chris responds and finds that it’s easy to make conversation with Daphne. Daphne feels bad for not telling Chris the truth. There’s no way that Chris won’t find out about this, right?

I listened to With Love, From Cold World by Alicia Thompson last year and I liked it a lot! The audiobook narration was cringy, so I wanted to physically read Alicia’s other books. I’m looking forward to reading this one, it looks cute.

Am I going to be able to read all four of these books? It will be a lot of reading, but I’m sure that I will manage.

Star Wars Outlaws Isn’t Bad

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Image is a photo of my copy of PS5 Star Wars Outlaws Gold Edition. Includes Game and Season Pass. It shows a woman on the cover with Nix on her shoulder. Next to her is a giant robot carrying something on his back.

When Star Wars Outlaws was released last year, I didn’t hear much about the game. That’s usually not a great sign when a big video game developer releases the game and then there isn’t much discussion online. It indicates the game either didn’t sell well or was not well-made. This didn’t stop me from buying a copy of the game for myself as I wanted to see if the game was good. Star Wars Outlaws is not a perfect game, but I’m enjoying it a lot! I played for nine hours straight last weekend which is not something I do often. I’m saving most of my thoughts on this game for the review I intend to write. For this post, I wanted to scour the internet and read critiques of Star Wars Outlaws. From there, I wanted to share if I agree or disagree with them. This isn’t an all-encompassing list, but these critiques were said by multiple reviewers.

Too Much Stealth or The Stealth in Star Wars Outlaws Sucks

It’s funny, I hate being stealthy in video games. I would much rather go in guns blazing than hiding. Star Wars Outlaws is a stealth-heavy game, so you would think that I would hate this part of the game. I don’t mind the stealth in this game. For the most part, Kay can sneak her way through bases without getting caught. Have I gotten caught before? Sure, but then I either hide and the guards go back to what they were doing or Kay dies and I figure out a better way to sneak around. It does make completing missions longer, but I don’t mind it as much as others who have played the game.

I can’t speak to the critique of whether the stealth in Star Wars Outlaws sucks. I don’t play a lot of stealth video games as I tend to avoid them. This critique can be broken down into Kay not being able to fully hide behind the cover or Kay not having a lot of armor, so when she is caught, it’s going to hurt. My thoughts on this is comparing Kay Vess to Han Solo. Would Han Solo be able to take on waves and waves of Hutt enforcers or Stormtroopers? I’m sure he could, but eventually, he would be overwhelmed. The last thing I would add to this; I think for those who want more of a Star Wars gun-blazing type of game, I’d recommend Star Wars Battlefront II. Iden Versio is equipped to run out and kill everybody and Kay Vess simply is not built for that type of gameplay.

Lockpicking is Tedious

I absolutely agree with this. The lockpicking mini-game in Star Wars Outlaws is one of my least favorite parts of the game. I’m going to save most of this for my full review of the game because there is so much I want to say about this.

How Can Kay Punch Stormtroopers helmets and not break her hand after?

This critique is hilarious to me. When Kay sneaks up behind enemies or specifically Stormtroopers in this case, she punches them in the face and then drags their bodies behind cover. How can Kay not break her hand over and over again doing this? I would have liked to see more takedown options for Kay. Stealthy takedowns are crucial for Kay and for Kay to succeed in her missions, but punching Stormtroopers in the helmet over and over again? That must get tiring.

It’s misleading to call Star Wars Outlaws an Open World Game

I think this critique is valid even though it doesn’t play into my opinions about the game. Star Wars Outlaws specifically on Wikipedia lists the game as being “Open World”. I don’t have an exact definition of Open World when it comes to video games, but if I’m describing a game as Open World, it would be a game where I could explore the entire galaxy and do what I want when I want. There is a point in the game where Kay has the chance to explore three planets in any order the player chooses. That’s not Open World. Open World would be giving Kay access to the entire Outer Rim. I don’t want to reveal which planets Kay gets to explore, but I like the planets that were chosen for the game. I don’t mind that the game isn’t Open World, I mean Jedi: Fallen Order and Jedi: Survivor wasn’t Open World and I didn’t mind them. I think fans are yearning for an Open World game and when Star Wars Outlaws was described as Oepn World and it isn’t, fans were left to be disappointed.

As I was reading reviews, some gamers described this game as trash or rotten. I think that’s harsh. Star Wars Outlaws isn’t perfect, but it’s fun. I wasn’t expecting to love this game as much as I have. There needs to be Nix merch soon because I would buy it in a heartbeat. Once I complete the game, I’m going to write my in-depth review where I will dive into everything I love and everything I didn’t about Star Wars Outlaws.

Ice Castles – A Snowy Wonderland

Posted in Life Lately by
Image is a photo of the Ice castles. There are huge blocks of ice that are frozen. There are trees hanging overhead. It's a sunny winter day.

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.

Image is another photo of the ice castle. You can see an opening which leads to a tunnel. There are snow globes hanging from the trees.

What Lies in the Woods by Kate Alice Marshall

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Image is a book cover for What Lies in the Woods by Kate Alice Marshall. The background is a dark green almost black background with branches. In bright pink font is the book's title.

CW: SA, using sex as a coping method for trauma

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.