Book Review · Books

Pretty in Punxsutawney – Laurie Boyle Crompton [BOOK REVIEW]

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★★★

What happens when you get stuck in time, re-living the first day in your new school?

Andie is a teenage girl, who loves movies. She is the type of person that knows exactly what to say… after it’s too late to say it. She is quirky, cutishly nerdy, and adorable in a silly way. And when she moves to Punxsutawney (I don’t think I’ll ever pronounce this town correctly), on the first day in her new school, she gets caught up in an endless loop of having to re-live those 24 hours again and again.

As in the movies, she is convinced that the curse can be broken with a true love’s kiss, she goes on a mission to get the boy. But is he the right one? And is true love what breaks the curse?

Not knowing how to end the loop, Andie tries to get first kiss with a guy she thinks is her true love, and when that doesn’t work, she suddenly tries to make the different types of people hang out together and realise that it doesn’t matter how you look like, to be a good person.

I really loved the idea of the loop in a high-school theme, and that was the main reason that I wanted to read this book really badly. I also loved that the main idea of this book was that looks don’t matter, and don’t judge a book by its cover, but I think that the author took this meaning way too far into the book, and it became too unrealistic, that it was laughable.

I enjoyed the layout of the different types of kids in the school, the jocks, the cheerleaders, the goths, the school-paper girls, the nerds. They were all described very realistically, and I enjoyed the times when we would realise that prejudice doesn’t matter. I can relate to a lot of this, because I was hanging out with both nerds and jocks in my high-school times, being a sports person and being a ‘’weirdo’’ that wants to read at the same time.

I also somehow managed to like the movie references, even though at moments, they are too overwhelming, and sometimes completely unrelated to the plot in place.

What I didn’t like, is how Andie kept changing in order to fit, how her behaviour changed, and her mindset during different days. I did not like this at all. I think that a person should always keep being themselves, no matter who they talk to. Doing the thinks she kept doing, only to be liked by one guy was miserable. Ladies – you are beautiful, no matter what you wear or how you do your hair. If that guy really likes you, he wouldn’t care about all these things and he would see within.

In retrospective, this was an enjoyable read. I am glad I read it, but somehow I think I might’ve been too old to read it now. But for you guys that are still in high-school, or love reading about high-school,  this one is definitely worth your time.

Thank you to Netgalley and Blink, for providing me a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

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Book Review · Books

Wonder Woman: Her Greatest Battles – George Perez [BOOK REVIEW]

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★★★

 

This is my first graphic novel, and I did enjoy the art in it! This book contains the greatest battles of Wonder Woman. It is a compilation of seven comic book scenes, all sharing a different battle of Wonder Woman, and a different kind of art.. But even though I enjoyed the art, as a first one, this didn’t make me happy.

The stories  are put in this compilation chronologically by when they were made, starting from a scene that was made in 1987, until the last one, which was made in 2013. I will give a brief comment on all of them – in order:

 

‘’Power Play’’ from Wonder Woman #6 (1987)

Plot & Pencils: George Perez, Script: Len Wein, Inks: Bruce Patterson, Colors: Tatjana Wood, Letters: John Costanza, Cover: George Perez

The first story is a scene where Diana is fighting the god of war – Ares. As a first one, it is not the best descriptive piece of information – so for a person that haven’t heard about Wonder Woman before, this one won’t be of any use. I also didn’t quite enjoy the art in this one.

‘’And for the first time in his immortal existence, the war-god weeps… for, without those alive to worship him, Ares’ power swiftly wanes…’’

 

‘’In The Forest Of The Night’’ from Wonder Woman #119 (1997)

Story & Art: John Byrne; Colors: Patricia Mulvihill; Cover: Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez

 

In this scene, Diana is on a mission to save officer Michael P. Schorr of the G.C.P.D. from the cheetah that used to be Barbara Minerva. Diana manages to convince Barbara to win the battle with herself and become human again. Even though I didn’t quite enjoy the art – I did enjoy the story itself. It was a great lesson of fighting for who you are within, and winning battles with yourself and not surrendering to anything that might be in your way. We also get to have a little sneak-peak of how Wonder Woman started existing in the first place.

‘’Yes, Mike, it is not widely known, but I was not born as mortals are, my mother sculpted a baby from the clay of Themyscira and the Gods themselves breathed life into that clay. ‘’

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‘’Stoned: Conclusion’’ from Wonder Woman #210 (2005)

Script: Greg Rucka; Pencils: Drew Johnson; Inks: Ray Snyder; Colors: Richard & Tanya Horie; Letters: Todd Klein; Cover: J.G. Jones

This one is a gladiator battle between Wonder Woman and Medusa. I really enjoyed this one, the art was amazing and we even get a few scenes with Circe-witch on it. I love how Wonder Woman is presented to be smart and the sacrifice that she made was very brave. Such a powerful story! Amazing!

‘’Sacrifice: Part four’’ from Wonder Woman #219 (2005)

Scripts: Greg Rucka; Pencils: Rags Morales, David Lopez, Tom Derenick, Georges Jeanty & Karl Kerschl; Inks: Mark Propst, BIT, Dexter Vines, Bob Petrecca & Nelson; Colors: Richard & Tanya Horie; Letters: Todd Klein; Cover: J.G. Jones

Superman has been brainwashed and wants to kill Diana. Not much happens apart from Wonder Woman and Superman fighting. I didn’t like this one, only because of one quote that says:

‘’You’ll forgive me for saying it, princess, but you look good on your knees…’’

 

‘’A Murder Of Crows: Part Two – Throwdown’’ from Wonder Woman #41 (2010)

Script: Gail Simone; Pencils: Chris Batista & Fernando Dagnino; Inks: Doug Hazlewood & Raul Fernandez; Colors: Brad Anderson; Letters: Travis Lanham; Cover: Aaron Lopresti

 

Even though the beginning features Achilles and Patroclus, after a page or two we don’t see them anymore, and I am standing like… what’s the point in mentioning them in the first place then? This piece of art contains a battle between Power Girl and Wonder Woman, and how Power Girl can never be like Wonder Woman, unless, of course, she has no other choice. I liked this one, maybe the most, even though the art was just average.

 

‘’Justice League: Part Three’’ from Justice League #3 (2011)

Script: Geoff Johns; Pencils: Jim Lee; Inks: Scott Williams; Colors: Alex Sinclair, HI-FI & Gabe Ettaeb; Letters: Pat Brosseau; Cover: Jim Lee, Scott Williams & Alex Sinclair

This piece of art was different than anything else in this book. We see a lot of famous heroes fight, like Superman, Batman, Green Lantern, Aquaman, and of course, Wonder Woman. The art is really colourful, which I enjoyed, but the story was confusing. See, it started from the middle of a comic book, and then ended unfinished. It only covered the part where Wonder Woman appears, but it confused me and I didn’t enjoy the story as much. Again, I didn’t like the way how they express themselves to a woman. They see Wonder Woman and they call dibs on her. Really?

 

‘’Goddown’’ from Wonder Woman #23 (2013)

Script: Brian Azzarello; Art: Cliff Chiang; Colors: Matthew Wilson; Letters: Jared K. Fletcher; Cover: Cliff Chiang

 

A very confusing chapter, and I didn’t enjoy it at all. It was about Hera and her children, and Wonder Woman protecting them. Even though this is the newest made, it didn’t seem like it, and the art seemed old-style.

Overall, I didn’t enjoy it as much, and it wouldn’t be something I’d choose in the future. I’d rather go with a proper beginning-to-end story rather than a compilation next time.

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Postcards

The Art Of Carl Larsson In A Postcard

postcard
Brita in the drawing room – painted by Carl Larsson

When the love for receiving postcard will combine with the love of art, this is what happens.

It makes my day!

For those that are not aware, Carl Larsson was a Swedish painter, mostly painting using oils, watercolors, and frescoes. He considered his finest work to be Midvinterblot (Midwinter Sacrifice), a large painting now displayed inside the Swedish National Museum of Fine Arts.

The postcard that I have received is called Brita in the Drawing Room.

I really love it and this that it is ahead of its time.

What do you think? Do you like it?

Postcards

Los Angeles Times – Postcard

Hello guys.

I am so, so, so sorry that I was away for a while. Maybe you missed me. Maybe not. Who knows.

While I was away I received not so many postcards honestly, but that is all because I am moving to England next week, and I wanted to have some two weeks time brake, so the postcards wouldn’t come to the Macedonian address, but go there, to the English one.

This is what I got while I was away. Well, this is just one of them, hehe 🙂

It’s from the USA. Peter (/u/Devee) sent it to me, as a thank you for my Tinkerbell postcard . I love this dinosaur card though. It is amazing. It is a photo by Ricardo DeAratanha, who is a photographer at Los Angeles Times. It is called Dinny, and it’s a 150-foot-long Apatosaurus, at Cabazon Dinosaurs.

Peter, thank you so much!

Ina <3

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Postcards

Do You Remember Morph?

Hello guys! Today someone surprised me with Morph. Do you guys remember him?

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Thank you /u/PM_ME_HAPPY_MEMORIES

Morph is an amazing animation that started in 1977 in the UK. This card comes from there too. He is 12cm tall and he is always made from a lump of clay. He has his own YouTube Channel and even 38 years later, you can still watch him there.

Here is a video of him, to remind all of us about this adorable creature, that we all love.