We made it through March!

So sorry for being a tad bit late in posting this. I’m going into finals season with school and as usual, I’m having a hard time wrapping my mind around how quickly time has passed.

I’ve been having to devote more of my personal time to assignments – it’s currently April 5th and I’ve yet to pick up a book this month – which means I haven’t had time to fully flesh out my ideas for this post.

Anyways, please enjoy my March wrap up!

Please note: there will be a few spoilers in the book section so if you’d like to avoid them, feel free to scroll on to the next section :))

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Books

Lies We Sing to the Sea – 5.0 ⭐

I absolutely loved this book for multiple reasons. The ending was just so bittersweet – I was so happy yet heartbroken simultaneously – and I love the style of how the story was told. It used the style that fanfiction typically uses when there’s multiple characters involved – how they switch from perspectives while still contributing to the main plot – and I think that’s a huge portion as to why I loved this so much.

Apparently this book was marketed as a sapphic retelling of The Odyssey but I am here to say that it is absolutely not a retelling whatsoever. I was reading a plethora of upset comments on Reddit from back when this book first came out in 2023 because it was marketed as a retelling, however, I personally like to think of this as an alternate universe/ending to The Odyssey. And if you’re willing to look past the “inaccuracies” – to take this as its own story that’s separate from the “canon” Greek myths – you’d absolutely love this. As for the sapphic part, there are sapphic scenes but there isn’t a true sapphic character represented here. There is a bisexual main female character, but not sapphic sadly. I think the emotional bond between the two female main characters ran so much deeper than it did between the one FMC and the male main character – the interactions seemed to be a lot more physical than emotional compared to the interactions between the two FMCs.

The author uses names from the classic myths but they aren’t the characters we’ve accepted from the myths, and their character arcs aren’t the same. Even I was confused at first with the names, but once I realized it wasn’t canon to the classics we all know and love, it started to make more sense. And the same can be said for any fanfiction – the characters/people in fanfics aren’t the exact same as the media where you met them from – so as long as you keep those two entities separate, you’ll be fine.

If you are interested in picking up this book, I urge you to read the content warnings for any potential triggers as this book does deal with some heavy themes.

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes – 5.0 ⭐

In honour of Sunrise on the Reaping release month – and because I’ve been meaning to read this for the longest time – I decided to read this for the first time. I had seen the movie with my sister in the theatre when it first came out and absolutely loved it, and watched it again on the plane back from a recent vacation, so I was super excited to finally dive into this.

It was super interesting to see Snow’s internal monologue, he’s a lot more cold-hearted than I would’ve imagined him to be from the movies of the original trilogy – I knew he was cold-hearted from those but I didn’t realize the depths of that until reading this book.

One of my favourite things about Suzanne’s writing – especially in this entire franchise – is her symbolism. We saw it with Catching Fire and Mockingjay, and she absolutely killed it in Ballad as well. Specifically with Snow’s personal items – his mother’s compact and shawl, and his father’s compass – and how those come into play when necessary to symbolize his mother quite literally slipping away from him, and him moving to be more like his father. The final straw being the final scene between him and Lucy Gray, specifically when they’re at the cabin by the lake and Snow finds his mother’s shawl in the mud and Lucy Gray is nowhere to be found.

Another thing I noticed, and absolutely loved about this book, is the amount of irony and foreshadowing. There are so many ironic and foretelling moments in this book that I feel we don’t quite see as thoroughly in the movie as we can in the book. In terms of foreshadowing, the only part that comes to mind that we get in both book and movie is through the Ballad of Lucy Gray. Using this ballad specifically and choosing to name her character after this is quite literally telling us that Lucy Gray will be a ghost character. And if you’ve read the original books, or seen the original movies before reading/watching this one, you already know that’s going to be the case since Lucy Gray was quite literally wiped from the Capitol. But I noticed that throughout the book – the subtleties in the songs, and the symbolism – Suzanne was literally telling us from the get go what was going to happen to her. Like this could not have been a more perfect prequel to this franchise.

Sunrise on the Reaping – 5.0 ⭐

So I was originally going to try and wait for the paperback release but I was near my local bookstore on the 19th and figured why not. Also, I’m currently writing this blurb the day before this post goes live, and now that I’m looking through my notes, I realize I didn’t make any for this book LMAO.

All I have written is that I just want to give Haymitch a hug and if Coriolanus Snow has no haters, I am dead. How a character can be so vile is beyond me, and it’s crazy to me how much he projected his failed situationship with Lucy Gray onto Haymitch and Lenore Dove, like brother please go to therapy.

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Movies and Shows

The Incredibles

I watched both Incredibles movies after watching a YouTube video on Violet being the most unbothered character in the franchise, and immediately ran to watch these in all their glory. Watching that video made me realize that I don’t actually know if I’ve ever seen them before, and if I had, it was a while ago. So I guess this counts as the first time I’m watching?

Anyways. Specifically speaking about the first film, I absolutely loved Violet and thought Jack Jack was hilarious. I liked the scene where Dash got “caught” putting the thumbtack on the teacher’s chair – that bit was good, especially the security camera footage. I like that the creators went for the bit, when you have a character with that sort of power, you absolutely have to take advantage of that like they do so here.

I didn’t realize the second movie quite literally picks up where they left it in the first one and I’m glad I watched both of them back to back as it felt like one continuous movie. I’ve seen a few comments online of people expressing their disappointment over the lack of time jump in the second movie, but here’s my hot take: I didn’t mind the lack of time jump. Especially since I watched them back to back, it made sense for them to start the second with finishing up the open ended ending of the first movie. However, I’ve seen that apparently The Incredibles 3 is in development and I do agree there needs to be a time jump there.

Ideally I would like to see Jack Jack maybe in middle school and to see Violet in high school, but still with some sort of relation to Tony – I want to see where they went and if they developed over the time jump. Do you want to see a time jump in The Incredibles 3?

H2O: Just Add Water

I started watching this series in February and finished it around mid-March so if you’re looking for my thoughts on Season One, you can find that in my February Wrap-Up.

Anyways, if I were to pick a favourite season I think it would be a very close pick between season two and season three. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love season one and it will always hold such a special place in my heart simply because it’s the first season – it sets up the rest of the show. But I think I just prefer the character arcs more in season two and three compared to season one. Of course in season one, we’re still getting used to them and we’re still meeting them, but I found Emma specifically to be very one dimensional as a character.

She would make a mistake in one episode and by the end they’d close the episode as if she actually learned from her mistake, and yet a few episodes later she’s making the same mistake again. It just felt like they didn’t really allow for her to grow. And if I’m being completely honest, I could say the same thing for Bella, who gets introduced in season three. The basis of their mistakes are different between the two characters, but that doesn’t diminish or take away from the fact that they’re still making the same mistakes all season long – Emma gets overly controlling or too competitive, and Bella jumps to conclusions and assumptions. It really felt like they weren’t given the space to genuinely grow.

Now, I’ll try to keep this paragraph as short as possible because I have so much to write about this character – I genuinely could do an entire post on her – but if anyone needs inspiration on how to create a character that your entire audience base will absolutely loathe (even 15 years later), please watch the second season and pay super close attention to Charlotte. Rewatching this show again just reminded as to how much I genuinely hate this character and everything she does, but holy shit her actress, Brittany Byrnes is amazing in this show. It’s not easy to play a character that little girls are destined to hate but she does it so well that she still has me shaking in my boots 10-12 years later. How she didn’t win an award for this, I will never understand.

Jumping ahead to season three, Bella and Will’s meet-cute will never fail to make me laugh. Bella asks Will if he’ll be alright getting back to the mainland and Will just goes and introduces himself. Tell me that isn’t comedic gold. It’s so out of pocket and totally not the right time and place to be introducing yourself but it’s so fucking hilarious because of how badly timed it is. But as much as I love their meet-cute, I do feel that their relationship fell a bit flat for me personally.

I used to love them when I was younger but watching it now, they just feel forced. The creators basically made them pine after each other all season long for very little payoff, and to be exact, they spent 23 episodes dancing around each other because neither of them were too bold enough to confess their feelings since they ‘didn’t want to ruin the friendship’. Like I honestly thought Will had more chemistry with Rikki compared to Bella, but Rikki was already with Zane which the creators had spent the previous two seasons curating.

The last episode will never fail to make my inner child scream with joy. Nothing will ever be able to make me feel the way I did when I first heard the band play the introductory chords of the theme song, and then to have Bella sing the theme song to close out the show??? Oh my god, it was so perfect. My only critique about the last episode is that I wish Emma (and maybe Ash) had made an appearance just as Lewis did to really bring the whole crew together one last time. God it would’ve been so good.

Dead to Me

I have seen this show before and I’m not entirely sure what exactly told me to watch this but I’m so glad I’m watching it again. I first watched this show when Season One released and immediately watched both Season Two and Three once they were released.

I forgot how much I absolutely love the humour itself and everything about the humour – the pacing, the beats, the sarcasm isn’t overly done or redundant – it’s just utter perfection. If anyone wants to know how to write/perform a comedy-drama, you absolutely need to watch this show and take notes. Jen, the main character played by Christina Applegate, reacts and responds to Judy (played by Linda Cardellini) in such a natural way that it doesn’t even feel like I’m watching a show – it feels like I’m a fly on the wall watching two friends go through life. The way Christina plays Jen is just so natural that anyone could relate to her reactions and the same can also be said for how Linda plays Judy – I think anyone can see a part of themselves in both of these characters. It just feels so natural, and raw, and not like I’m watching a scripted show.

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

This should come to no surprise to anyone – of course I had to watch the movie after finishing the book, it’s only natural.

I have so many notes for this and as much as I would love to spend time going into detail about this book, this post would be so much longer than it currently is – and I don’t want to subject anyone to reading me talk about TBOSAS for like ten minutes. However, I’ll keep my notes for the future and maybe record a full in-depth YouTube video :))

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Music

Bonfire by Grady

If you’re a seasoned reader, you already know the main thing I look for in music is texture. So it will come to no surprise to you that this song absolutely hits the mark with that aspect. Just listen to the opening chords and you’ll hear what I mean – that paired with the drums immediately off the bat is utter perfection.

There’s just something about this song that makes me feel like I’m floating and I’m so incredibly in love with it. It also feels like I’m being mentally transported back in time to the summer of 2018, so it really tugs on those nostalgia strings.

Epic: The Musical

I’ve touched on this before from my January post, but I’ve recently been listening to the Circe and Thunder sagas more. Before, I stuck to a few select songs – the ones that stood out to me after watching and listening the entire musical through – but have been broadening my taste recently. Back in my January post, I mainly mentioned songs from the Troy Saga and the Ithaca Saga, so I thought I’d give an update on what my taste from Epic has grown into.

I’m obsessed with The Horse and The Infant, Thunder Bringer, Ruthlessness, and the entire Circe Saga. The Circe Saga is so short, it’s diabolical as to how short it is. I really wish we had at least another song from that saga, but I’m not really sure how Jorge would’ve made one more fit in since the four we have now do an amazing job at moving the plot along – I just don’t know what else he would have to say as the originals do such an amazing job as they are. Anyways, the songs I mentioned are solely my favourites right now because of how fun it is to sing Zeus’ lines. He’s such a brooding character and it’s so fun to tap into his character’s energy – and the same goes for Poseidon.

Eternal Sunshine Deluxe by Ariana Grande

This should come to no surprise if you’ve read my wrap ups for January and February – of course I listened to the deluxe the minute it dropped – and there are truly no skips.

I honestly don’t think I could pick one as a favourite because they’re all just so incredibly good for their own reasons, but I will say that I’ve been playing Twilight Zone on repeat for the past week, and I am so not sorry.

I’m truly obsessed with how well she captured that feeling – it reminds me so much of What Once Was by Her’s – it’s just so good. Also the intro??? I’m so in love, she killed it.

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Highlights

1. Toronto Marlies Game

I took my dad to a Toronto Marlies game and it was really good. It’s a lot more chill and relaxed compared to a Leafs game – both the crowd and the actual game – but I would absolutely go back to a Marlies game in a heartbeat, especially with the current average cost of Leafs tickets.

Anyway, I had a great time and highly recommend people go to more Marlies games.

2. Bursary Award for School

So I found out that I won a bursary award for my college program, which is really cool and I’m so grateful to my school.

I’m not going to give away too many details about the award or my school solely for privacy purposes, but it will help me out a ton with paying for tuition, and to make any necessary upgrades to my equipment.

So so grateful, and I’m really proud of myself for this accomplishment :))

3. Cataloguing my personal library

I was watching Jack Edwards’ video about him scanning his entire library into Libib with a library scanner and I loved it so much, I just had to do the same thing.

And don’t worry, I didn’t buy the physical scanner simply because I don’t feel that I personally need it – especially when your phone works just as well – but I still had a fun few hours scanning my entire collection of books, CDs, vinyl, and movies into Libib.

It’s a really nice way to keep track of everything without having to manually enter every single item.

4. Site icon!

One final highlight for March is that I changed the site icon!! It’s a very simple icon for now, but I wanted something minimal for now. What do we think? Do we like it? :)))

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Again, so incredibly sorry for posting this late, but life just sometimes gets in the way and I appreciate yous for understanding.

The good news is that once my semester is over, I have the entire summer to spend writing posts so if there’s anything you want to see me review, or talk about, let me know!!

See you in the next,
– julzy