i’m not sure if i’ve ever posted the uk cover here in this newlsetter, so please feast your eyes on both the us (left) and uk (right) covers side by side:
i adore the orange/gold and green color scheme of the uk cover. i adore both of these covers so much!!!
for the release of the weavers of alamaxa, the follow up and conclusion to the daughters of izdihar, i’m partnering with my local indie bookshop riverbend books for a preorder campaign. if you preorder the weavers of alamaxa from riverbend, you’ll get a signed and personalized copy, and a link to an exclusive virtual event where i’ll be chatting all about weavers!
now for some media consumption updates!
what i’ve been watching (tv/film):
earlier in january i binged all of ATTACK ON TITAN. i’d watched the first season when it first came out in…2014? but i’d forgotten most of it so i started over. i loved it, with reservations (as always). the ending in particular i have qualms about, but i can’t say much without spoilers, so all i’ll say is: they really should have stuck to their guns when it came to eren. anyway, the series brings up a lot of interesting points about cycles of violence, populism, fascism, and indoctrination.
i then regressed a bit and ended up rewatching ONCE UPON A TIME with a friend. i’d kind of forgotten that i was deep into the ouat fandom back in the tumblr days. like, this was one of my major fandoms, and i just kind of blacked a lot of it out??? partly, it’s because the series really degraded in quality as the season went along, especially the final season that really should not have existed, but watching the first season reminded me of how good and interesting and fresh the series was when it first aired. it was riding that wave of fairy tale retellings/fairy tales in our world and it was doing it in a pretty innovative way, particulary in how the writers chose to connect all these fairy tales to center around snow white and rumplestiltskin. also, emma swan is one of my favorite characters of all time.
i randomly started this german show called LIEBES KIND (DEAR CHILD). it was really well done, though i think i would have enjoyed it more had i gone in with different expectations. i kept expecting a twist, but there wasn’t one. the show chose to forgo surprises and twists in favor of a straightforward exploration of the trauma of being kidnapped and held captive. i’ve never actually seen the movie room, but i imagine this is very much like that.
in a desperate attempt to understand the reylo phenomenon, a friend i and binged the STAR WARS trilogy. i’m always down for a good enemies to lovers, and i love a good villain, but this…wasn’t it, imo. maybe it’s partly because i’m so profoundly unaffected by adam driver, but i also just thought his character was full of inconsistencies. the films themselves were…not great. they were at their best in the first part fo the third film, when they focused on the new trio (finn, rey, poe) interacting.
joined everyone else in watching SALTBURN and was mainly just profoundly annoyed at how much better it could have been. this really could have been a fantastic eat the rich story but instead it was just really weird for no good reason.
i finally watched PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN and. wow!!! i do think that the first part of the film could have given us more payoff in the scenes where the mc lures me and tells them off, in order to set the stage a bit better, but overall the film does a great job building tension and making you wait for that other shoe to drop, and boy, when it drops, it drops!
what i’ve been reading:
i started my year off with a thriller! julia bartz’s THE WRITING RETREAT was a perfect way to start off my reading year. i don’t read too many thrillers because they’re usually just not my vibe, but i really enjoyed this one! it was kind of off the wall but that’s why i loved it; i a love a thriller that’s not afraid to descend into chaos.
i had a really great time with THE FOXGLOVE KING by hannah whitten. it was an interesting reading experience in that i didn’t realize just how compelled i was until the end. i very much enjoyed the creepy necromancy, the religious theology, and the dynamic between the three main characters.
tore through HEARTLESS HUNTER by kristen cicdarelli and had an absolute blast. could not put it down. it’s an enemies-to-lovers witch/witchhunter story, which i’m always a sucker for. really cool magic system too!
that’s all folks! until next time!