Rating: 4.5/5
Animation and mythology are two of my favourite things, so, when I went to see MOANA, I had good reasons to think I would like it. Disney didn't disappoint. The most original aspect of this feature is the structure of the narrative. It's a journey in every sense, starting with Moana questioning her role in the world, wondering if she can aspire to something more than spending the rest of her life on her island. Then she takes this abstract journey to a new physical level when she decides to sail beyond the riff and find her purpose. Moana is a powerful character, an active heroine rather than a passive princess; in case it isn't clear enough, she repeats this mantra a few times, which is what I like the least about her. The first time it seems a cute and witty way to make fun of the Disney princess stereotype, admirable for Disney's display of self-awareness and irony, but the second and third times are just overkill. Maui reminds me of the Norse god Loki and the African spider-god Anansi. It's fascinating to see through this film how similar myths can be, no matter the geographical and chronological distance between the people that create them. I really appreciate the taste of Polynesian mythology that MOANA offers, with references that are both interesting and thoroughly explained without being excessive. The main core of the film is indeed the human race and the journey of men to find their own identity. A character that I didn't expect to like so much is certainly Tomatoa, the giant crab Maui has to fight in order to retrieve his hook. Tomatoa's song, "Shiny," shows us the crab's character arc as a minor villain in less than three minutes: he humiliates Maui, toys with his prey, and nearly kills both the demi-god and Moana. He is a much more effective villain than the major opponent in the story! I highly recommend this story to fans of myths and adventure!
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Rating: 4/5 Marvel Avengers Academy is a free app available for both iOS and Android devices, released on February 4th, 2016, by TinyCo. In this tap and wait game, you get to build your own Academy of young heroes and villains from the Marvel Universe. Under the watchful eyes of Professor Hank Pym, Director Nick Fury, and Odin All-Father, no less, they study and train to fight A.I.M. and Hydra, which run two rival schools. According to rumours, there is an intergalactic academy, too; maybe a hint at the Guardians of the Galaxy? By completing short missions, you earn rewards: Coins to buy upgrades, buildings, and decorations for the campus; Shards to purchase special equipment and bonus characters; and other tools, needed to upgrade or unlock new recruits. Quests – series of short missions, that is – help you progress the story. You carry out each mission by assigning your characters a number of required tasks, which have hilarious names like “Plot world domination” or “Practice pick-up lines”. At the same time, you have to investigate the mystery behind the “timefog” that clouds some areas of the campus, looking into what Fury, Pym, and Odin are hiding from the students. Soon to come is also a dating feature, Save The Date, a novelty for both city-building games and Marvel games. According to an interview with Jeremey Horn, General Manager of TinyCo., we will be able to send our favourite characters on dates and get them a boyfriend or girlfriend. The game is still in its early stages, therefore you may experience some awkward glitches or get stuck at the same level until the release of a new update. For instance, as of today you can only get up to level 29, after which missions and quests stop giving experience points until the developers introduce new levels. It’s my favourite video game-slash-obsession. One of its best aspects is the high quality of overall graphic and animations. Quests and missions are varied and fun, while the interactions are amusing and sometimes provide priceless fangirl material. For example, if you are a FrostIron fan, get ready for some very juicy dialogue and a “Study together” quest that looks a lot like a date in disguise. The potential couples, anyway, are many more, at least given the number of ambiguous interactions the students share: just to name a few, Black Widow and Iron Man, Falcon and Kamala, and Amora and pretty much every boy in the game. Whereas some may find the waiting annoying, I believe it’s a good stratagem to engage with occasional, busy gamers like me. That way, I don’t have to spend hours playing, but I can just hop in occasionally to check up on my heroes. Less commitment, same amount of fun. Convenient, isn’t it? Whether you are a long-time Marvel fan, a city-building games aficionado, or a sucker for dating games, Marvel Avengers Academy will have something for you. But Nick Fury’s patience is notoriously low, so sign up soon! Rating: 2.5/5 I found it hard to rate this book; I was caught between 2.5/5 and 3/5. At last, I opted for 2.5/5 due to personal taste. There are several factors that excited me about THE PASSION OF DOLSSA. First of all is the historical accuracy: it was my first time reading about the Inquisition in France, and this setting is so thought-out I can't but admire the author for her work. For example, I particularly appreciated the usage of the langue d'oc instead of French, which would have been inappropriate for the time. They may seem like insignificant details, but put together they paint an extraordinary picture of the historical period. Occasionally, YA authors overlook some inconsistencies they believe their readers won't notice (or maybe the authors themselves are not knowledgeable enough to notice), but Julie Berry doesn't make this mistake. Therefore, I wholeheartedly recommend this book to readers who are interested in learning more about its context. To an extent, I also liked the writing style: it's tailored to the time period without being excessively pompous; moreover, the abundance of narrators and narrative forms is quite interesting. However, I did not find it engaging; instead, to me it seems rather dull. I can't say for sure whether it was the writing style that did not persuade me to care for the characters or the other way around. In either case, the two elements are indeed tied together, because I could not bring myself to feel for any of them. Furthermore, the only two that piqued my interest, Dolssa and Lucien, are seldom the narrators. When an author tasks a somewhat ordinary character with the narration of the life of an extraordinary one, I enjoy the technique if the ordinary character displays some appealing traits, too, but in THE PASSION OF DOLSSA any character but these two failed to hold my attention. Moreover, the novel is not very eventful, which only made the experience more difficult for me. More than half of the book is about three sisters hiding Dolssa from the inquisition in a small village. I kept waiting for something to happen, but it didn't. I'm sure this story is meant to be appreciated for its psychological impact rather than the narrative itself, but I wasn't convinced by either of the two aspects. When I say that I gave this book 2.5/5 stars for subjective reasons, I mean that this is a very accurate YA take on novels with a strong religious theme, so, if you are curious or enjoy this premise, you will most likely fall in love with it. The author's note at the end also reinforced my impression of a (fictional) saint's or mystic's biography written for a teenage audience. Unfortunately, it's the sort of book I don't find compelling, so I can only praise the author's precision in her research, and her overall polished prose. Rating: 5/5 Lately, I have been reading loads of fantasy novels with a female MC, so I was eager for change. However, the best fantasy novels with a male MC I've read were humorous; the serious ones turned out be rather tedious in my experience. Not so THE GOBLIN EMPEROR. I will admit Maia, the MC, didn't seem like my favourite type of character at first. I found him endearing in his clumsiness, but I didn't like-like him. That changed further into the story, when he realises the only way to survive in court is to outsmart the other courtiers and nobles trying to take advantage of his inexperience. From then on he shows craftiness, ingenuity, and a subtle disposition for mischief that piqued my interest. He grew on me page by page. I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone looking for adventures, perilous journeys, and the like. Maia's quest is contained within the palace walls; he isn't a warrior, but an emperor, therefore we are invited to partake in the intricacies of politics, not of a forest or a war. The elvish society thus depicted is exquisitely complex, but at the same time it's easy to learn about it, because the MC is as clueless as we are. Having lived in isolation for most of his life, he inherits his late father's throne with little or no knowledge of stately affairs. As a result, instead of boring exposition or, worse, omission of the inner workings of the court, because they are already obvious to the MC (though not to us), the rules of this geopolitical novel are shown to us in a thorough and entertaining fashion. The central conflict takes place between tradition, represented by the court, and innovation, which Maia brings about because, being new to this environment, he hasn't been exposed to the old ways long enough that he can't see the advantage of breaking away from them. Cue some cool steampunk elements – such as fledgling steam-powered technology – which, though not prominent in the narrative, are quite a nice touch. Again, this is not an action-packed novel, so Maia's task to find out who had his father and brothers murdered, unwittingly placing Maia himself on the throne as a consequence, is only a subplot. In fact, it is delegated to another character and the resolution is quite simple, but leads quite smoothly to the end of the story. This is perfectly consistent with the premise: as a ruler, it is inevitable for Maia to delegate some of his duties to others, but, again, if you expect a detective story set in a fantasy world, this is not the book for you. It's a psychological, subtle novel rather than an in-your-face type of story. The highlights of THE GOBLIN EMPEROR are politics, philosophy, and introspection, complemented by high quality dialogue that drives plot and character development in a very natural manner. Therefore, it comes as no surprise that my favourite parts are Maia's interactions with his people, how he comes to trust them, how he learns not to, and how they in turn change their attitude towards him, eventually warming up to him or even getting to admire his good qualities. He isn't a perfect ruler, but he is trying hard. Lastly, the author deals with poignant themes such as gender equality and racism. I appreciated the messages conveyed within the fantasy frame; I found them cleverly interwoven with the storyline and they provided good food for thought, too. Overall, THE GOBLIN EMPEROR proved to be what I was looking for: a good serious fantasy novel with a male protagonist. Fantastic work! Rating: 4.5/5 I came across this book on the hunt for original fantasy YA novels. It's a urban fantasy set in modern-day Brooklyn and Alex, the MC, is a bruja (a Latin American witch) that would very much rather be a normal girl, except she accidentally puts her family in danger by misusing her abilities, and falls in love with a mysterious helper. In all honesty, this premise is the opposite of original, but my interest was piqued at the promise of Latin American folklore and magic. I'm a sucker for myths, legends, and traditions from all over the world, so the novelty of this element did it for me. Fortunately, LABYRINTH LOST proved to be a refreshing change from the usual YA plot that the blurb seemed to set up. Sure, the MC doesn't want her amazing powers because she doesn't want to be "weird" (how cliché is that?). Sure, that power runs in the family and giving up on it means disappointing generations of brujas, starting from her mother and sisters. Sure, her dad left them and she thinks it's her fault. Sure, all of these elements are the same we have seen in countless other books, only this time you get the distinct impression this is what the writer wants. She gives us banal expectations, then she takes them and tears them to shreds. I loved it. I like Alex's personality and the decisions she makes. Instead of simply whining about her unwanted magical destiny, she chooses to wait for her Deathday, the celebration of the awakening of her powers, to try to get rid of them... except it doesn't go as planned. I really appreciated the absence of a lengthy transition from the status quo to the new reality of Los Lagos. This is how a novel usually goes when the MC strives to be normal, like Alex: they meet some sort of guide or mentor that introduces them to the new magical scenario; then they spend forever running from this person or arguing with them because "they just want to lead a normal life"; and finally (maybe) the story moves on… Too bad half of the book is already gone. LABYRINTH LOST gets down to business: Alex does the deed, realises she's the only one that can fix what happens, and sets out to save her loved ones. Action, adventures, and magic ensue, which is the best strategy to keep me interested until the final page. Even the romance was a pleasant surprise in the end, although maybe it's my fault for not reading the full blurb on GoodReads first. Erm. (view spoiler) The author spins this rather dull tale in a way I did not see coming, but I won't reveal any more than that as I'm trying to keep this review as spoiler-free as possible. The focus on the love Alex shares with her family rather than romantic love is another strength of the book. Alex's relatives accompany and support her during her trials as well as guide her on her personal journey to self-discovery and self-acceptance. Compared to the trope according to which family is "the Enemy" and the MC struggles to get away from them, it's refreshing to see that the bond with her family makes Alex stronger. I'm not giving it five stars because the initial development of the Nova-Alex relationship was cringy and in some places sheer overkill: for example, yes, I'm afraid we do have to put up with extensive descriptions of Nova's eyes and muscles. But that eventually changed and then I couldn't put the book down anymore. Looking forward to the sequel! |
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October 2017
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