March wrap up | the month I binged movies

Hello lovely people! I did come back from hiatus thinking I’d be able to post five times a month, but seems like life had other decisions for me. Good news: I got a job! Bad news: it is freaking EXHAUSTING. I mean, there’s nothing much to do except sit at a chair in front of a computer but for 14 hours. I did get more reading done than I thought possible, and I watched a lot of stuff.

What I read

The Forest of Stolen Girls by June Hur

June Hur knows how to write a mystery for sure. This story is much more darker than I anticipated, and the mystery is so well plotted, although slow paced. (OK maybe I am bad at guessing mysteries but this plot twist is so unpredictable)

I loved the prickly sister bond between Hwani and Maewol, the lack of romance and the historical setting. Once again amazed at how June Hur combines historical happenings with the mystery. My rating: ★★★★✩ (4.5 stars)

Count Your Lucky Stars by Alexandria Bellefleur

I started reading this without knowing that this was the third book in a series, and I didn’t recognize any of the characters or the relationships already formed. I read this for a a low stakes romance, but I found myself bored halfway through. The beginning was very good, funny and filled with a lot of sexual tension, but all that kind of went away after the first half of the book. My favourite character just might be the pet cat. I initially thought of rating this two stars but there was that one scene which made me laugh my stomach out, so I’m going to rate it higher. My rating: ★★★✩✩ (3 stars)

Hani and Ishu’s Guide to Fake Dating by Adiba Jaigirdar

Adiba Jaigirdar writes the most relatable characters. Ishu was so me in every way possible (except for being an overachiever – I am a chronic underachiever lol) I really liked Hani and I hated her two ‘friends’ so much. Another character I loved was Ishu’s sister. She’s a side character, but her whole story arc felt so familiar. I adored the representation, and seeing two South Asian sapphics falling in love was so awesome. My only complaint about this book is: it should have been longer. The final conflict was resolved too quickly and I just…wanted more of Hani and Ishu. My rating: ★★★★✩ (4.5 stars)

Skyward by Brandon Sanderson

I really loved this energetic, fun sci fi novel, and Spensa is one of my favourite main characters of all time. I liked the fact that while it has all the stereotypical science fiction staples, it wasn’t afraid to be as weird as possible. This book is very weird, OK, but it is so, so fun. I reviewed it, earlier this month. You can read my review here! My rating: ★★★★★ (five stars)

If We Were Villains by M. L. Rio

This is the first dark academia book I’ve read, so I was apprehensive about how I’d liked it. I shouldn’t have worried because I reread this book immediately after I finished because it left me with ~that~ inexplicable feeling. The characters are all Shakespeare actors, and being a former Shakespeare actor, I can safely tell you that randomly dropping quotes into your conversations is not pretentious, just normal stuff when you’re obsessed with drama. The central love story left me with so many feelings, the prose was beautiful, and whatever complaints I have about this story are far overshadowed by the good stuff. My rating:★★★★★ (five stars)

Pachinko by Min Jin Lee

I was really hoping to love this book, because everyone else who’d read this seem to love it. I liked it a lot in the beginning, but as I went further into Sunja’s life I couldn’t help feeling that it was not my kind of story. I…don’t really know how to explain how I felt about this book. I wasn’t as captured by Noa’s or Mozasu’s or Solomon’s story as I was with Sunja’s and Isak’s, and as I got near the end, I kept wishing for this book to end (which is the worst kind of feeling tbh) But a lot of people have enjoyed this story, so I highly recommend you to give it a try! My rating: ★★★✩✩ (3.5 stars)

Radio Silence by Alice Oseman

I had really high expectations going into this book because I loved Loveless. Except, Radio Silence took a long while to really pull me into the story and its characters. When it did, though? Now that was something, and the last few chapters were a journey I wouldn’t forget for a long time.

One thing I love about Alice Oseman’s stories is how they are so effortlessly diverse and Radio Silence is no exception. I also loved Frances and Aled’s strong bond, which hit me harder than any romance ever could. And Frances’s mother is simply the best, no questions asked. My rating: ★★★★✩ (4 stars)

With The Fire On High by Elizabeth Acevedo

Sometimes there comes by a good book that you read, enjoy and then forget all about it; this is that book for me. Here are some random through I had while reading:

• Emoni is so inspiring and strong
• The food descriptions are heavenly
• The prose is sharp and it just speaks to you
• I really don’t care much about the romance

What I watched

I watched a ton of stuff which I didn’t note down anywhere, so I’ll try to remember them.

Princess Mononoke: I know I say this every time I watch something incredible, but this actually might be my favourite movie of all time. It just…made me feel a lot of things, it’s hard to describe.

Black Widow: I love Yelena Belova. Also the family dynamics were awesome. But other than that, this felt so average. Black Widow deserved her movie sooner than this.

Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings: This had such a cool start with awesome action sequences, and a massively underwhelming ending. Xu Xialing is hot, Shang Chi is funny and Wenwu might be my favourite character in the entire story (a good villain in a long time, and I’m a sucker for his kind of character arcs)

Journey to the Centre of the World: (this is the one with a younger Peeta Mellark) I watched this on TV while at work, and it was fun I guess?? Awful CGI though.

Hawkeye: I wasn’t planning on it, but I really enjoyed this one. Having never watched Endgame or Infinity War, I don’t know much about Hawkeye’s killing-spree era, but there was Hailee Steinfeld and Yelena, so what could go wrong? (Naming the villains the Tracksuit Mafia was a CHOICE, but then, this is a Christmas themed comedy.)

Spiderman 2 & Spiderman 3 (the Tobey McGuire ones): i don’t remember anything that happened, ngl

Dune: huge, grand and epic but also somewhat boring please don’t kill me

The Handmaiden: The ultimate ‘be gay, do crime’ movie, brilliantly written and acted, unforgettable stuff. The middle third of the movie traumatised me. Trigger warnings for pretty much everything, watch it if you’re over eighteen.

Pachinko: I only finished the second episode in this before I put it on hold. It has the same tone as the book but I hope I like it better.

Bridgerton season two: I didn’t watched the first season and I started this purely because of the twitter hype. I’m on the fourth episode and I’m on the fence about continuing it, because I hate love triangles and when it’s two sisters? Even worse.

Young Royals: watch this one for the pain, guys.

We Are Lady Parts: a hilarious, loud, colourful story about an an all Muslim female punk band. Loved it so much, even when it rang cheesy.

Twenty Five, Twenty One: at this rate I’ll end up watching all of Kim Taeri’s filmography. This show has been my happy pill for most of March, and I’m still on episode 08 so there’s a lot of catching up to do.

life update

My country’s in a supremely shitty situation every time I listen to the news I hear something worse. I am very, very lucky that I’m not affected by the worst of it; but I have no idea what’s coming.

Economic crises aside, there’s nothing much I got to do this month. I got a job, and my coworkers are friendly and good people (totally new to the world of corporate politics here and I have no idea what they say behind my back). Travelling by bus every morning is the worst part of it, because there aren’t many buses on roads these days and the ones that run are jam packed with people. That, and the time a random weirdo filed a complaint against me and I cried in front of three people. Totally embarrassing.

I drew my first art! It’s a very crude and simple Six of Crows fanart but it’s my first and I love it for that reason, you can see it over on my twitter account.

six of crows <33 pic.twitter.com/csyw03Zck4

— jan (@ink_spun) March 7, 2022

That’s all for my March wrap up! I don’t have many goals for April, but here’re some things I hope to do:

🔸try to post frequently

🔸read at least five books

🔸eat and drink well

🔸not go to work late

How was your March? What was your favourite read?

Hoping you all have a wonderful April!

Advertisement