Spotlight Sunday - Crooked Kingdom (Six of Crows #2)

Crooked Kingdom

Leigh Bardugo

OHMYGOSH I NEEEEDDDD ITTTTTTT

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Synopsis:

Kaz Brekker and his crew have just pulled off a heist so daring even they didn't think they'd survive. But instead of divvying up a fat reward, they're right back to fighting for their lives. Double-crossed and left crippled by the kidnapping of a valuable team member, the crew is low on resources, allies, and hope. As powerful forces from around the world descend on Ketterdam to root out the secrets of the dangerous drug known as jurda parem, old rivals and new enemies emerge to challenge Kaz's cunning and test the team's fragile loyalties. A war will be waged on the city's dark and twisting streets―a battle for revenge and redemption that will decide the fate of magic in the Grisha world.

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I don't have any teasers yet, as the cover has been released this past week, but if you want more information, check out this great interview with the author, Leigh Bardugo: Crooked Kingdom Interview

Aaaaannndd if you're as excited as I am, you can preorder it here and here.

Seriously guys, if you haven't yet read Six of Crows, please, please, please start it, like yesterday. It's a fantastic, epic novel, and I can't wait to get my hands on the second and final book of this duology. I really hope Bardugo doesn't write any more books in this series - she's planned for two, and one thing I've learned with all this reading is that when authors continue on in a series because the readers have asked for it, it's never turned out too well. Forcing creativity never really does, in my experience. When a story ends, it ends. I must admit, I'm nervous for the end of Crooked Kingdom, mainly because not everyone is going to survive. 

Oh, and the pages are going to be stained again - not sure what color yet, but they will be. And isn't that cover just amazing? Fits in perfectly with the series.

September 22nd, are you here yet?? 


UPDATE:

Thanks to my subscription to Bardugo's email newsletters, I actually do have a teaser for you! It's short, but awesome.

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Teaser:

"You're no monster.You're the man who sits idly by, congratulating yourself on your decency, while the monster eats his fill."

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Aaannnddd some incredible fanart

Credit: Marty-MC Credit: Terrible Nerdery *If you want to be kept up-to-date on all things happening with Leigh Bardugo, you can sign up for her newsletter here*

Something New

Hey, everyone. Normally when I make a post, it's about a review of some kind, or spotlighting a new piece of entertainment that looks really good. Today, however, I'm going to change it up a bit, and talk about something new I made, just yesterday. In order to (hopefully) get more exposure, I've created a Facebook page for my blog, Mischief Managed.

If you're curious about this new page, all you have to do is click here. Now, you may be wondering what is going to be on this page. Is it just going to be the same reviews? Well, yes, that will be part of it. I'll have links on the Facebook page that will take viewers here, to my actual blog, so they can read the review in full. But that's not all I'll have. 

On the Facebook page of Mischief Managed, I'll be making posts about books that are on sale, or sharing posts made by authors/actors/musicians about their work. I'll also post any funny gifs or memes that pop up, to hopefully give viewers some laughs. There might be posts about what books I'm currently reading, shows I'm watching, movies I'm going to see, and bands that I'm obsessing over. It's going to be a lot of fun, and I hope you guys will join me on this new journey.

The main difference between my blog and my Facebook page is going to be that the blog will have full reviews and more details about whatever is being featured, while the Facebook page is going to have shorter posts, with different kinds of details (like sales, interviews, teasers, gifs/memes, etc.)

So, if you're interested in this, all you have to do is click here. If any of you want to give it a quick looksee and maybe a like, that'd be cool ;) I'm 100% open to suggestions and new ideas, so any thoughts you have on how I can improve my blog/page, feel free to send me a message.

Also, does anyone here use Twitter or Instagram a lot? What's your preferred method of social media? Would you like to see an Instagram/Twitter account of Mischief Managed? Let me know what you think!

To thank you for reading this post, here's a picture of some cute wolves.

Film Friday Review - Everest

Everest 

4 out of 5 Humbling Stars

"You, my friends, are following in the footsteps of history, something beyond the power of words to describe. Human beings simply aren't built to function at the cruising altitude of a 747. Our bodies will be literally dying. Everest is another beast all together." 

Wow, is this movie something else. The graphics for Mount Everest are simply amazing. They show how overwhelming, scary, and unforgiving Everest is, yet at the same time how beautiful and awe-inspiring it is. And the cast, phenomenal job. I feel like I went on this journey with them, though of course very far in the background; I can feel their joy when the reach the top, and their anxiety and fear when the storm comes. At the end of the movie, it's impossible to look away. Jason Clarke and Jake Gyllenhaal are fantastic in their roles, along with the rest of the cast.

Some of the way they show people dying is truly disturbing, there one second and gone the next. The makers of this film accurately show how Everest can mess with one's mind. No sane person would undo their harness, or feel like they are overheating and start to take off some layers while near the top of the mountain. How some people just lay down and die, their bodies simply too exhausted to keep moving, and how they are left behind, either being overlooked or people simply too focused on themselves to help another, is frightening. The fact that some of these bodies are left on the mountain as markers is even scarier.

"I'm climbing Mount Everest because I can, because to be able to climb that high and see that kind of beauty that nobody ever sees, it'd be a crime not to."

There are some problems I have with this film, starting off with the probability of some of the problems actually happening. Ropes are not fixed in place, oxygen is not left where it is supposed to be, which I can understand, but there is a specific scene when people say they are going to check/do these things. What happened that they didn't? Also, how could they have not known about the storm? My main problem, though, is with the bad choices that some of the characters make. A leader/guide should allows follow the rules and make sure his group gets back as safely as possible. If a group member is behind the group and is still climbing to the summit after the allotted safe time has passed, it is the leader's job to bring him back to camp, no matter how much he may want to make his dream a reality by climbing Everest. And shouldn't there be more attention paid to the climbers as they are traveling between camps? If someone is coughing more than they should be, or if someone is having other health problems, they should not be allowed to continue. Do these things actually happen in real life? Was this a real problem during the 1996 climb, or just added into the movie?

Besides for these concerns, Everest delivers on its goal, which is to tell the story of the actual 1996 disaster, following as closely to the truth as they can. It shows how the mountain is friends with no one, no matter how many times one may have climbed it, no matter how well one thinks he knows it, Everest doesn't care. If you climb Mount Everest, you're risking your life, and there is never a guarantee that you'll get to keep it. Once you start climbing, you belong to the mountain. Humans can never truly best Mother Nature, and this film leads to the question: Can anyone ever really conquer Mount Everest, or are they just surviving it? One thing I know for sure, this is one challenge I'll never face. I completely fine with observing Everest from a distance.

"There is competition between every person and this mountain. The last word always belongs to the mountain."

Review - Six of Crows

Six of Crows

5 out of 5 Thieving Stars

"No mourners, no funerals."

Oh, hell yes, Ms. Bardugo. This right here is one hell of an awesome book. I've always been a fan of the antihero, and here Bardugo has created an amazing cast of characters than we really shouldn't like, yet can't help liking anyway. I mean, we've got spies and thieves and convicts oh my! Simply awesome. Definitely deserving of a Spotlight Sunday post, and an all-consuming read that once you start, you'll forget about everything else and get sucked into the story whether you want to be or not.

"This isn't a job for trained soldiers and spies. It's a job for thugs and thieves."

Okay, I will admit, I was a bit lost and confused at first. Six of Crows is based in the same world as Bardugo's Grisha series, which I read the first book of, but I didn't remember enough to be able to really understand all these terms she was using (which reminds me, I need to read her other series ASAP). There's so much thought that is put into the Grisha, people that are separated into three groups, and then subgroups, depending on what magic they can wield. The amount of detail that is also put into this alternate world (for Six of Crows it's based on an alternate Netherlands, the Grisha series on alternate Russia) is crazy-good. The guide of the Grisha groups and the maps drawn in the beginning of the novel really help us understand these different groups, and accurately envision where the crew is during their heist.

"Everything seemed sunnier with a weapon in his hand."

Now, onto the freaking impressive cast of characters. I've been reading a couple of novels now that deal with multiple POVs, and Bardugo is able to navigate between five different POVs magnificently. With each character's chapter, I am sucked into their thoughts, understanding their reasoning behind their decisions and actions, and sometimes being treated to a couple of flashbacks, too! I absolutely love the characters she has created in Six of Crows; each one is unique and essential to the plot of the story, making for one hell of an engaging novel. Kaz, Inej, Nina, Matthias, Jesper, and Wylan are so developed and flushed out that I feel like I really know these characters. At first I thought they were older than they actually are, since this is definitely a mature read, but I like them as teenagers. It shows that anyone can become anything at any age. Oh, and the nicknames for the characters are pretty cool and match their person perfectly.  I love getting to see them grow and live up to their badassery, and they are the perfect group for this novel.

"Never something for nothing."

Moving past my obsession with the amazing crew Bardugo has created, I am blown-away by the amount of research that must have been done in creating this plot. Not only did Bardugo create her own language, she also had to make sure that the thieving skills of these characters are realistic. The way that she gets them into a problem, and then solving the problem, is completely believable. Hell, if anyone reading this wants to become a thief, you can learn quite a lot from Bardugo here. The finesse that is needed to make this work is astronomical, and Bardugo pulls it off with ease. I know it took a lot of research and planning, which just goes to show how talented an author she is because of how effortless it all seems.

"When everyone knows you're a monster, you needn't waste time doing every monstrous thing."

Okay, I haven't really talked about the plot yet, have I? Well, basically it's six people banding together as a crew to pull off the ultimate heist, one that seems so impossible you're going to need to know how they plan on pulling it off. But besides for the plot, I love the relationships between the crew, of seeing how they grow not just individually, but as a group and maybe, between certain characters, something more. Let me make it clear right now, though: Six of Crows is by no means a romance novel. Yes, the romance is there, but it's teasing, fluttering to the surface for a page, only to go back into the shadows. It never takes away from the overall feel of the novel, of a crew pulling off a heist, and in my opinion, it just adds more depth to the characters and makes them a bit relatable. There is just the right amount of romance in the background, and I'm glad Bardugo chose to add it in. 

"Trickery is not my native tongue, but I may learn to speak it yet."

Overall, if you haven't gathered this already from my review, you should start reading Six of Crows ASAP. It's suspenseful, action packed, dark, and there's never a dull moment. Everything that happens is important, and Bardugo has created a wonderful world filled with fantasy and kickass characters. Is it September yet? I need the sequel Crooked Kingdom now!! Oh, and those black stained pages? Beautiful!

"Nations rise and fall. Markets are made and unmade. When power shifts, someone always suffers."

Film Friday - Deadpool

Deadpool

Okay, I've just been dying to see Deadpool for about forever and somehow screwed up and didn't preorder tickets. And everything for opening weekend was soldout. So, I've now settled for seeing it this coming weekend, am going to avoid spoilers by any means necessary, and preorder tickets ASAP to get the best damn seats available, smack-dab in the middle of the theater. Oh, you'd like a synopsis, an idea of what this movie is about? Well, yes, I shall post one, although it's hard to think about not hearing or seeing anything about this movie yet, because the hype surrounding it is through the roof.

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Synopsis:

Based upon Marvel Comics' most unconventional anti-hero, DEADPOOL tells the origin story of former Special Forces operative turned mercenary Wade Wilson, who after being subjected to a rogue experiment that leaves him with accelerated healing powers, adopts the alter ego Deadpool. Armed with his new abilities and a dark, twisted sense of humor, Deadpool hunts down the man who nearly destroyed his life. (C) Fox

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Trust me when I say this is going to be a freaking hilarious action movie. I can't wait to see it. And for those of you who still need some convincing, just check out this little trailer link, and you can join in the hype with the rest of us. Is it the weekend yet??

"Fast, funny, and gleefully profane, the fourth-wall-busting Deadpool subverts superhero film formula with wildly entertaining—and decidedly non-family-friendly—results." —RottenTomatoes Critics Consensus

Trailer Link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vN6DHB6bJc

And is it just me, or does Ryan Reynolds kinda sound like a superhero—or anti-hero—name? ;)


Update:

I've just seen Deadpool, and it's freaking awesome. The plot is a bit predictable, but the awesome cast, setting, and hilarious scenes make up for the not-so-surprising ending. Ryan Reynolds is the perfect Wade Wilson, and just know going into this movie that it has definitely earned its R-rating.

4 1/2 out of 5 Hysterically-Profane-Violent-Entertaining Stars

And the soundtrack has totally grown on me, especially Shoop by Salt-N-Pepa—so catchy!

Skin Game (The Dresden Files #15)

**Edit**—this review was written wayyy back in August of 2015, so that should make more sense when I complain about how long it is till the next book. Gotten down from 9 months of waiting to only 3!!! Peace Talks is out on May 10th!!!!!!!!!!!! Are you excited? I am!


Finally done playing catch-up with The Dresden Files. Umm, what??

Skin Game

5 out of 5 Hiest-Filled stars

"Thank you, Mab, for this wonderful, wonderful game. Maybe next time we can play pin the tail on the wizard."

I'm all caught up on The Dresden Files. How did this happen so quickly? Well, that's an easy question—this series is so completely epically awesome that I couldn't put any of the books down. The more important question: how am I going to wait until MAY OF 20-FREAKING-16 for the next book?!?! Butcher you're killing me here! Although I guess I can't complain too much, since everyone else who's caught up has been waiting a year already, with another several months to go. Gonna be a looonnnggg year. But worth the wait. As always, Butcher does not disappoint, and Skin Game is no exception.

"If you want to live, if you want your friends and family to live, I expect you to do more than survive it. I expect you to skin them alive."

Plot-Line:

Fast-forward a year from the end of Cold Days. Harry's still on the island, has a ticking time bomb inside his head, and Molly has yet to have spoken to him since she became the Winter Lady. So Harry's basically been spending his days doing Parkour while Alfred Demonreach (yes the island's spirit has been given its own name) is limiting the pain the parasite is causing Harry. And then, lo and behold, Mab shows up, telling him that he only has three days to live before the parasite kills him, and that she's been the one stopping him and Molly from communicating. Harry needs Molly's help in order to survive, but first he needs to complete Mab's newest mission for him: use his skills to pay off one of her debts. And what exactly does Harry need to do? Help Nicodemus, leader of the Knights of the Blackened Denarius, break into the vault of the Lord of the Underworld, Hades himself. Easy peasy. Nothing like being a part of a group of supernatural villains to up one's paranoia. But a quick snatch and grab seems too simple, and Nicodemus is known to be a tricky, back-stabbing bastard. Harry needs to find out what other game is being set into motion and quick, before his own 'allies' take him out of the equation. Just another day in the average life of the Winter Knight.

"This is what it looks like when someone's fighting for his soul."

Notable Parts:

Harry has developed a preference for Parkour. This includes shouting "parkour" whenever he finds himself doing it, whether that be while running through the Well of Demonreach or in the middle of a fight. Mostly in very absurd scenes, which always makes me crack a smile. We also learn more about the parasite in Harry's head, and have another get-together with Harry's double, which is always interesting. And Michael is back! Giving wise words of advice to Harry—it's great finally getting to read about him since the terrible attack all the way back to Small Favor. Karrin is a big help, as always, and even Butters gets some time in the spotlight. The little villain gang that Nicodemus brings together is quite the interesting group, and it was fun getting to read about all of these non-trustworthy people working together. Never know what someone is going to do next. As always, there's great setups for future novels, added in eloquently without it feeling like plans are just being thrown in our faces. And I always love it when Harry proves how much he has grown since Storm Front, using his head before his magic, planning and being prepared. Time to win some games, Harry.

"You think your power is what shapes the world you walk in. But that is an illusion. Your choices shape your world. You think your power will protect you from the consequences of those choices. But you are wrong. You create your own rewards. There is a Judge. There is a Justice in this world. And one day you will receive what you have earned. Choose carefully."

Overall:

What another great read to an amazing series. The Dresden Files is one of the best urban fantasy series out there, and I have absolutely no idea what I'm going to read next. 15 books in 3 months. 15 years of work all caught up. I can no longer finish one novel and move onto the next installment. I'm stuck in the same boat as everyone else: waiting patiently (ha) for the next book. At this point, I'll be happy to get a cover release. May, why are you so far away? It's going to be a looonnnngggg couple of months. I will now join the wait with all the other readers, taking whatever scraps of info Butcher will give us until the next release. Peace Talks sounds freaking awesome, and I can't wait to see what Butcher has in store for Harry next. Knowing him, it's going to be intense, action-filled, a rollercoaster of emotions, and, quite simply, epic. As each and every book in The Dresden Files has been.

"What happens if she does it? What happens if she turns me into her personal monster? What is she going to do with me then?"

"Oh, Harry. You're asking exactly the wrong question."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

He looked at me, his face serious, even worried. "What is she going to do with you if she can't?"

Cold Days (The Dresden Files #14)

Movin' along on The Dresden Files catch-up game.

Cold Days

5 out of 5 Winter Stars

"The fun begins when the games end, my Knight."

HARRY DRESDEN LIVES!!! And what a comeback! Cold Days is a complete game-changer in The Dresden Files series. Changes and Ghost Story may have felt like the world was turning upside down, but Cold Days takes the cake in this regard. Harry's life will literally never be the same. How can it be, when he's working for the Queen of Air and Darkness, Monarch of the Winter Court of Sidhe, Mab herself? Harry is facing some dangerous situations with even more dangerous decisions, not to mention the battle against the Winter mantle. It's quite a bumpy ride during this next installment of The Dresden Files.

"Bad things kept happening to me. It was high fucking time I started happening to them."

Plot-Line:

Cold Days picks up where Ghost Story left off: Harry's in Arctis Tor and healing from his gunshot wound. And Mab's got some very unique ideas regarding his physical therapy. Nothing like 77 attempted murders in 77 days to get you back on your feet. And boy does Mab have quite the mission for Harry once he's all healed up. Time to pull of the impossible, Harry, and kill an immortal. Yeah, you read that right. Mab wants Maeve dead, and to make matters even worse, Harry's got to deal with the dark, primal urges of the Winter mantle while also learning some seriously scary information and stop a growing threat that could take out the whole Midwest. Not to mention that the enemy is playing with some really dangerous, time-paradox weaponry. So, just an average day for our friendly, back-from-the-dead wizard.  

"Build a man a fire and he's warm for a day. But set a man on fire and he's warm for the rest of his life."

Notable Parts:

Lots of new information given out in Cold Days. Not only about the individual books in this series, in tying everything together from book-freaking-one, but also the world Harry lives in. Between Demonreach, the real purpose for the Winter and Summer Queens, and the dangerous Outsiders, I'm feeling a little overwhelmed. And really, really scared for Harry and friends. Speaking of friends, Harry's got some of the best. Without the help of Thomas, Murphy, Molly and Mouse, Harry would be in real trouble. Like, apocalypse-trouble. You can never underestimate the power and effect of trustworthy, having-your-back-till-the-end help. I love Harry and Thomas's relationship—they act exactly like brothers do, and it's nice having their banter mixed in with all the doom-and-gloom-end-of-the-world situations. But even their humor cannot ease what happens at the end of this novel. Let's just say that the Courts of Faerie have some changes to adjust to. I'm still trying to wrap my head around that ending.

"No one just starts giggling and wearing black and signs up to become a villainous monster. How the hell do you think it happens? It happens to people. Just people. They make questionable choices, for what might be very good reasons. They make choice after choice, and none of them is slaughtering roomfuls of saints, or murdering hundreds of baby seals, or rubber-room irrational. But it adds up. And then one day they look around and realize that they're so far over the line that they can't remember where it was."

Overall:

Butcher, you have some of the best characters I've ever read about, and I seriously cannot understand how well you plan out your novels. We're on book 14 and you're tying information back all the way to book one! Amazing! It takes serious skill to plan, remember and pace novels so effectively. I love it. We've come so far, so much has happened and changed, and still plans set in motion all the way back to the beginning are in effect 10+ years later. Mind-blowing. Simply amazing. Cold Days is one of my favorite installments to The Dresden Files, and I can't wait to see how everything plays out in future novels. Harry's right. There's a storm coming.

"This Winter Knight thing. You're not changing. You've already changed."

The Heroes of Olympus (Whole Series, Books #1 - 5)

OMG more Percy Jackson and the world of the Olympians?? YES!!!  

The Heroes of Olympus

5 out of 5 Heroic Stars

THERE ARE SPOILERS FOR THE PERCY JACKSON AND THE OLYMPIAN SERIES HERE. IF YOU HAVEN'T READ THOSE BOOKS YET, STOP READING MY BLOG AND START READING THE LIGHTNING THIEF!!!

Ohmygosh, this series is freaking awesome! I love the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, and the premise for this new series, The Heroes of Olympus, kind of worried me a bit, which is why I'm behind on reading. Which actually worked out for me, cause I got to read the whole series without having to wait a year between books! I freaking love binge-reading. Anywho, Rick Riordan has created a fantastic squeal series, weaving together seven POVs together seamlessly, making me care a lot for each individual character, and loving the chemistry when everyone is together. For those of you who've read the Percy Jackson series, The Lost Hero picks up several weeks after the end of The Last Olympian. And if you haven't read the first series yet, get on it! It's amazing!

The Prophecy of Seven

Seven half-bloods shall answer the call,

To storm or fire, the world must fall.

An oath to keep with a final breath,

And foes bear arms to the Doors of Death.

So for the last series, we got to deal with the second Titan war, and the evil Titan Kronos. Well, we've upgraded now. Time to deal with giants (even worse than Titans) and the Earth Mother herself, Gaea. Fun times right? How about not. The Prophecy of Seven, spoken by our new Orcale of Delphi, Rachel Elizabeth Dare, is basically about the end of the world. If Gaea rises, that's it, apocalypse and death and destruction ensured. The Seven demigods are going to need all their strength to band together and save the world. There's just one pesky problem: we're not dealing with only Greek demigods. We've also got Roman demigods, too, and the two groups don't really get along. Camp Half-Blood and Camp Jupiter don't even know about each other, and for good reason. Anytime the two interact, wars are started. Not to mention that the gods are getting a bit schizophrenic having to deal with split personalities of both their Roman and Greek sides. Not only do our heroes of Olympus need to find each other, but they have to fight against everything trying to keep them from succeeding in their quest (ehem Gaea cough cough), facing dangers worse than they've ever imagined.

I simply love the multiple character POVs throughout the series. I mean, Percy's always been my favorite, and I of course would want his POV more than others, but Riordan creates such amazing characters that it gets hard choosing a favorite. I especially love the character POV for the last novel in the series, Blood of Olympus. Since this is a review for the whole series and not just one specific book, I don't want to give too much away, but it's not that hard to figure out who the Seven are. They make an awesome team, and I have complete faith that they will fulfill the newest Great Prophecy. A team this in sync can do anything. But Gaea is eternal, and she's got an army. We're going to need everyone's power, strength, courage, and intelligence mixed together to even stand a chance of stopping the Earth Mother. No biggie. Easy peasy. Ha. But seriously, Riordan has so much character development throughout the series, and none of it feels rushed or forced at all, that it's like I'm growing right alongside these characters. Each individual character arc seems completely natural, and Riordan effortlessly weaves all seven different character-stories together to make one hell of a series. If you haven't read The Heroes of Olympus series, get on it ASAP. You're really missing out.

“Being a hero doesn’t mean you’re invincible. It just means that you’re brave enough to stand up and do what’s needed.”