trashc-anon

[trashc-anon]

Nightbooks by J.A. White

Rating: This book surpassed my expectations and I enjoyed reading it, I would recommend if this is your wheelhouse. 4/5

Why did I pick up this book?

I desperately needed a book to read at a Christmas party to pass the time so I browsed through Libby and came across this book. What stuck out was the beautiful cover art. It was a retelling which fulfilled the last reading goal I had for the 2022 Reading Glasses Challenge. I also recently watched Wednesday on Netflix and was definitely in the mood for more horror, which I'm NEVER in a mood for.

Who I would recommend this book to?

if you like juvenile horror fiction

if you like fairy tale retellings

if you like stories about writers

if you're looking for books about cats

if you've ever felt weird for having niche interests

Keep reading if you're okay with spoilers!

What quotes resonated with me?

"Every sentence is a learning experience - no writing is ever wasted."

"Maybe it’s not just me who’s weird… Maybe we’re all weird in different ways."

"If I had never come here, I would still be the same old Alex Mosher, too scared and embarrassed to be who I am."

What did I like?

The themes and tropes of the story! I absolutely love the theme of self-acceptance so much as well as found family and stories about the power of stories. My favorite scene was when Alex lured the witch by reciting opening sentences that he had drafted.

I also love how this story, despite being a horror, fills you with hope and encourages the reader to pursue their interests.

Not all books have dynamic protagonists, but I think Alex was a round character who had his own fears and desires. You could see how he went from hating himself to embracing who he was. I also found it very amusing and relatable when he experienced writers' block and procrastinated on his work.

In regards to the identity of unicorn girl, I suppose I could've seen it coming, but I didn't. It was unexpected and definitely added to my enjoyment of the book!

Finally, I usually cannot deal with any sort of horror at all, but this book had the perfect amount. I'm honestly interested in checking out JA's other work to try to explore the genre even more.

What did I dislike?

The only thing I had any dislike for was how quick the ending was and how seemingly unaffected Alex and Yasmin were by the kidnapping. However, I think this type of ending is very acceptable for juvenile fiction. I also am curious if the author goes more in-depth with how they were affected psychologically in the sequel (which was just released this year!). I was also uncomfortable reading horror and a story about a kid being kidnapped, but that's a preference-thing and no fault of the story itself. Reading this book was a big step out of my comfort zone and a very positive experience. :)

What wheelhouses/doghouses does this book fall into?

absentee parents accepting outcasts adults who hates their life alchemy antagonist was also a victim books about books brothers cats characters frozen in time child abduction clever way to save the day everyone is saved everyone plays a role in saving the day facing fears fantasy world adjacent to modern-day reality first book found family happy ending hero overcame societal expectations horror if it weren't for you meddling kids its bigger on the inside juvenile fiction libraries magical apartment magical garden netflix adaptation novel sequence outsmarted a seemingly impossible situation power of friendship power of stories protagonist is an underdog protagonist is a writer protagonist solves the mystery reclaiming retelling of fairy tale retelling of hansel and gretel retelling of scheherazade self-acceptance soft magic system stories within stories supernatural elements trauma unambiguous ending unexpected twist unicorns winning standoffish person over witches

#books #nightbooks

[trashc-anon]

Nightbooks (2021)

#Nightbooks #horroredit #Krysten Ritter #Lidya Jewett #Winslow Fegley

[trashc-anon]

10 Kid Friendly Movies To Consider For October/Halloween

#Horror

[trashc-anon]

The trope is annoying because it implies a positive and desirable relationship between prince and princess. This movies is slams because it subverts the trope in so many clever ways!

Shes MADE princess for dark reasons

The prince is a wet blanket of an accomplice to the crime

Shes forced to save herself and prove her identity as commoner, denying the power of princess, which never clashes with her feminity nor her power as a person

She wins by being compassionate and metal as fuck!

Fucking fantastic!

OK I know the whole “a prince saves the princess? Well that’s not MY STORY” trope is kinda annoying by now but let me tell you thIS FUCKING MOVIE

Damsel on Netflix.

Fucking fantastic.

#damsel #damsel netflix #spoilers

[trashc-anon]

My latest! I unexpectedly got an early screener of DAMSEL, the new dark fantasy Netflix original film starring Millie Bobby Brown!

We've got a castle, a dragon, a sword, and some HEAVY anti-monarchy energy! I'm here for all of that! 🐉⚔️

My review is live now and the film will be released on Netflix tomorrow!

#Damsel #Netflix

[trashc-anon]

I really love how the the flowers, especially the roses, in Damsel have like a bloody tone to them. It really adds an unnerving layer every time they’re on screen

#damsel #damsel netflix #spoilers

[trashc-anon]

I'm more of a sci-fi lover than a fantasy lover (in case you couldn't tell) but Damsel (2024) was cool, I kept pointing at the screen and saying 'this is structured like a horror movie!'

It's got an innocent 'maiden' (read: teenage girl) as the primary victim, an unseen monster (they take care not to reveal the whole dragon until a while into the movie!), gore, chase sequences, false hope, building tension/dread into the reveal of the monster, and even jumpscares! And that whole sequence taking place in a CAVE with TIGHT SPACES??? UGH! Cave exploration/diving is freakin' terrifying to me, it was so fun to see it utilized this way. Maybe I haven't seen enough fantasy, but this made me realize I want more horror fantasy. So cool.

Funny that the moment the dragon's appearance is revealed in full (in the cavern scene against Elodie's dad), it moooostly goes back to feeling like a typical fantasy movie. Like I def saw that resolution coming from a mile away, but still overall really good stuff.

#damsel #damsel netflix #spoilers

[trashc-anon]

I think the horror of deconstructed damsel comes from the realization you loved someone you never truly knew. The crash of the idolization when you realize you've just been projecting an ideal onto someone who could never be that and coming to terms with that. We turned the princess into a helpless damsel and robbed her off her personhood, then destroyed her by trying to find a person where there was none anymore.

#damsel

[trashc-anon]

Also, I canNOT tell you the dread I felt when we saw the men coming down into the mountain after her. I was BRACING to see the whiny baby prince and his stupid haircut.

The RELIEF I felt when it was her dad. Thank the HEAVENS and also the author.

#Damsel Netflix #Damsel #sameeeee #spoilers

[trashc-anon]

Damsel showed an important scene

All the steps of wearing the intricate wedding gown, and each piece of ornament being put on.

The framework of the dress was almost going to burn her to death.

It restricted survival. And all was left of innocent girls before her was a grave full of wedding gowns and rock of self engraved names.

With every piece of cloth bravely ripped, was a step closer to hope and freedom.

Damsel shows the truth behind the glorified medieval beauty.

And for young mind of children's, it's more important than any 'top noth' CGI.

How far society has come to reconstruct the notion of beauty, where little girls no longer need to wear cages to look 'beautiful'.

It's a brave, brilliant, thoughtful fantasy genre movie for the new generations. Which is not adorned with beautiful lies. This is not a fairytale, it's an empowering movie for every kid to watch. 10/10

#Damsel #damsel netflix

[trashc-anon]

Just watched Damsel, and I really liked that through it all, Elodie never lost her kindness.

She was able to be badass and a survivor, and both physically and intellectually strong, while trying true to her kind character and also never losing her femininity.

If you’re into female- centric fantasy, I highly recommend! It was a fun watch. As you could probably tell from the trailers it’s basically fantasy “girl power” feminism 101, but it owns that.

#damsel

[trashc-anon]

the new damsel movie on netflix is. weirdly cathartic? walked away satisfied. only girlies surviving. THATS the fantasy adventure horror i want 💅

#damsel #damsel netflix

[trashc-anon]

So, I Just Watched Netflix's DAMSEL...

...And I'm wiping tears?? ...Because I loved this movie and the allegory and it was the perfect girl movie for International Women's Day which was yesterday??? This movie got a 58% Rotten Tomatoes score and I'm honestly confused! It was a beautiful perfectly original fairytale. In the good old days, this would have either been a sleeper hit in the theatres or a beloved classic discovery in the VHS rental market and likely overplayed at odd times on HBO like The Neverending Story. It for me is on tier with The Seabeast and Predator for excellent modern "girl-power" films, that should have been released in the theaters. It subverts so many fairytale tropes, and while it's predictable, I'm an old soul who still can cast myself back to girlhood and for me, again, the allegory touched me. Much in a similar way that Maleficent did, with its origin for the title character as a metaphor for the loss of trust and innocence after a violation, "a sexual assault" with loss of wings. It 100% wasn't intentionally this deep, but this for me was about the price of colonization; of adhered-to ancestral memory that the "winners" who write history carry, sacrificing 'the other" for generations destroying their own souls.... Until the convenient lies are finally faced. Ugh, I loved what they did with the dragon, with all the supporting characters, with the amount of harrow, and some consequential violence, enough to genuinely scare but not enough to scar. It felt very old school in that way. -Like a good solid 80's style fantasy, except for some of the non-practical effects. IDK, maybe it's just about my soft heart, but again...

This movie made me cry. I honestly and truly adored this fairytale.

#THISISAREC --For the fairytale girlies... The ones who like dragons, Grimm teas, and girls bloodied and determined.

#damsel

[trashc-anon]

Daenerys walked (got fucked over by d&d) so that Elodie could run (roast a family of colonizers who'd been ritualistically murdering young women for hundreds of years alive before happily nope-ing the fuck outta there with a new dragon mommy)

#damsel #damsel netflix

[trashc-anon]

just watched Damsel and honestly? I had a great time. I was pleasantly surprised at how high the production cost was. like the costumes? amazing. the set pieces and locations were also great. the dragon's design? unique. I actually didn't mind the acting, i loved the relationship between the sisters and the step mother. an easy watch. who can't love a brutual revenge story where the girl gets the dragon.

#Damsel #damsel netflix

[trashc-anon]

I don't know about you guys but i really miss seeing "high fantasy" dragons in media, high fantasy dragons are like Smaug (The Hobbit), Draco (DragonHeart), Saphira (Eragon) and Spyro (Spyro the Dragon games franchise) for example, they have their own free will and cannot be controlled, they are highly intelligent and capable of speaking and even writing or drawing. It seems the version of dragons that has taken over is the animalistic and realistic version, that are basically huge dogs that can breath fire, bring back intellectual dragons that like to make riddles to fool intruders, bring back grumpy dragons that live isolated from everyone but they are actually lonely and in need of a friend, bring back the loyal and brave dragons that are willing to sacrifice themselves to save the ones they love, dragons that will talk to you about the mysteries of the world and the universe, JUST BRING BACK HIGH FANTASY DRAGONS GODDAMIT

#rant #dragons #i agree #fantasy

[trashc-anon]

If I made a video about Eragon would you watch it?

I don't really do media analysis on Philosophy Tube because other people can do it better and also it's just not where I'm strongest - however I do kindof want to do an unnecessarily deep dive into the Eragon books?

I just finished the new one and I have a lot of thoughts, but mainly a lot of joy and excitement that I want to share???

idk would you watch that? If I was like, "Hey - normally we do serious philosophy, but just this once for a treat let's do something easy and different and talk about a fantasy book series I love?"

Last time I did media analysis was with the Chernobyl series back in Philosophy Tube Season 2 and it didn't do super well, but I feel the planets aligning to try it again...

I think there's potentially some interesting questions to be asked... Honestly, part of my reluctance (I'm recognising now) is my own snobbery. There are so many YouTubers who do media analysis and I like the idea that Philosophy Tube is somehow more highfalutin than that, but that's pride talking and maybe I shouldn't listen to that...

#Eragon #Murtagh #please do!