Category: Reviews

Movie Review: Wonder Woman

On By cherylmahoneyIn Fantasy, Reviews4 Comments

I was late to the game for Wonder Woman, only getting to the theaters to see it after it had been out several weeks.  That meant there was plenty of time for me to see all the Facebook comments and have all the conversations about how amazing it was, and how empowering my female friends found it.  And to be honest, I heard all that and thought, yeah, okay, cool, I like strong women stories.  Then I saw the movie.  And they were ALL SO RIGHT!!  There are other (not enough) strong female characters in movies, but this one was something special.

Wonder Woman gives us the origin story of Diana (Gal Gadot), daughter of the Amazon Queen, who grew up in an entirely female community on a magically-shrouded island.  She grows up among female warriors who fight for peace, and is trained by their greatest fighter (Princess Buttercup–I mean, Robin Wright).  When Steve Trevor (Chris Pine), an American spy pursued by German ships, breaches the island’s secrecy, Diana learns of World War I raging across the planet.  Convinced Ares is behind the conflict, she leaves with Steve, intent on ending the war by destroying Ares.

Diana is amazing–but I think the real hero(ine) of this story may be Patty Jenkins, the director.  Like I said, there are other strong women in film, but this one felt different–and I think it’s the female director, making different choices. Continue reading “Movie Review: Wonder Woman” →

Book Review: How to Be a Normal Person

On By cherylmahoneyIn ReviewsLeave a comment

I picked up How to Be a Normal Person by T. J. Klune on a friend’s recommendation–and it turned out to be one of the most fun books I’ve read this year, with a serious contender for favorite romantic couple.  This is particularly remarkable considering it’s way, way far out of the usual genres I read.  For one thing it’s contemporary real world.  Also, it’s a homosexual romance involving an asexual stoner hipster.  And it was brilliant.

The story centers around Gus, who has just been marking time in the past few years since his father died.  He lives in a tiny town of 300 people, and runs his late father’s video rental store (reminder: contemporary novel).  Tuesdays are the worst days of the week–it’s 99 cent rental day and the place is packed, with at least four customers coming in.  And then Gus meets Casey, a new arrival in town, who Instagrams everything, spends most of his time stoned, and writes teen paranormal fiction.  Also, he thinks Gus is amazing, which confuses Gus not a little.  But he thinks Casey is amazing too, and decides he has to learn how to be normal for Casey.

Books are usually about the characters for me, and this one is really about the characters.  And the writing style.  Both are hilariously, hysterically funny.  Gus has an inner monologue going of freaked out confusion for much of the book, and it’s awesome.  He is wonderfully secure and insecure at the same time.  He is totally, fully himself–but loses it completely in unfamiliar or nerve-wracking situations (like, say, Casey saying hi when they meet).  He somehow manages to consciously set out to change himself, without changing even a little. Continue reading “Book Review: How to Be a Normal Person” →

Book Review: Anne’s House of Dreams

On By cherylmahoneyIn ReviewsLeave a comment

I’m going to be a bit timey-whimey, and after reviewing Anne of Ingleside (Book Six), I’m going to jump backwards and review Anne’s House of Dreams (Book Five), of the Anne of Green Gables series by L. M. Montgomery.  I reread them in the proper order—but I was excited about Anne of Ingleside so that review was written faster!  I had a lot of thoughts about Anne’s House of Dreams too though…and along some of the same themes, in fact.

Anne of Green Gables has grown-up by this book.  Near the beginning, Anne marries her sweetheart Gilbert, and they set off from Avonlea to their new “house of dreams” in another village on Prince Edward Island.  Changing location gives Montgomery the opportunity to introduce an entire new community of friends for Anne, including sharp-tongued Miss Cornelia, storyteller Captain Jim, and beautiful, tragic Leslie.  Although Anne is still in theory the protagonist, it’s the “supporting” characters who truly shine here.  Spoilers galore to come!

Besides being chronologically earlier, this book was also written significantly before Anne of Ingleside.  It doesn’t have the same themes of disillusionment–and yet, for a series that is generally classified as for children, it has very adult themes.  Montgomery writes with a light touch and an ultimate positivity that somehow masks how dark some of her concepts actually are, and like Anne of Ingleside, I didn’t fully appreciate it until I got older.  And now I think I appreciate the book even more because of those mature notes that have more depth than childhood idylls. Continue reading “Book Review: Anne’s House of Dreams” →

Book Review: Anne of Ingleside

On By cherylmahoneyIn Reviews, Young Adult1 Comment

I’ve recently been rereading the eight-book Anne of Green Gables series by L. M. Montgomery, for the fourth (fifth? sixth?) time.  As always with Montgomery’s work, I love reading her fiction as informed by her journals (and her journals as informed by her fiction…it’s cyclical).  I recently finished book six, Anne of Ingleside, and had…a LOT of thoughts.  I reread Montgomery’s journals quite recently, and there was a lot that came to bear in this book.

The last time I read Anne of Ingleside, it was my favorite of the series, though I couldn’t have told you why.  On this read, I’m not sure it still is—but I know why it was.  This changed significantly in the several years since I last visited it.

Anne has grown up by now, and is the happy mistress of gracious Ingleside, with her successful doctor husband Gilbert, five children (number six on the way at the beginning), faithful maid (and surrogate co-parent) Susan Baker, and a respected place in society.  The stories mostly revolve around Anne’s children, their little adventures and childhood heartbreaks.

I realized for the first time in this reread that two completely different worldviews are at odds in this book.  The setting and framework is optimistic and idyllic; the episodic stories are grim and disillusioned. Even though this is book six of eight, this is the very last novel Montgomery ever wrote, and her later journals show her deeply struggling with depression and dissatisfaction with aspects of her life.  Anne of Ingleside is a war between Montgomery’s optimism and pessimism. Continue reading “Book Review: Anne of Ingleside” →

Book Review: Night of Masks by Andre Norton

On By cherylmahoneyIn Reviews, Science Fiction1 Comment

Andre Norton and I have a complicated relationship.  It’s sort of like an acquaintance who was really fun a few times, and now you keep trying to become better friends even though they’ve never been quite so fun again.  I love Norton’s Gryphon Trilogy, and for reasons that should suggest a really great author (beautiful writing style, intriguing characters with compelling relationships, complex world).  And…it never quite works out with her other books.  I actually liked Night of Masks reasonably well–but it’s no Gryphon Trilogy.  It may have given me some insights though.

I’d practically sworn off of Norton, but I couldn’t resist this premise: a young man with a facial deformity has the chance at a new life by pretending to be a boy’s imaginary hero.  So cool!  Plus a sci fi setting, a mysterious conspiracy, and uncertainty about who to trust…it all sounds golden.  And it really was decent.  Just not as golden as I hoped.

I think I figured out where the gulf may lie for me between liking (and sometimes disliking) and loving Norton’s books.  Based on Night of Masks, she doesn’t appear to have any sense of humor.  I don’t think there was a funny line in the entire book–and that makes it a little hard for me to love. Continue reading “Book Review: Night of Masks by Andre Norton” →