media update: August

Asterisks denote something I particularly enjoyed or found especially worthy of my time; double asterisks are reserved for the creme de la creme.  As always, your mileage may vary.

FICTION

1. The Year of the Witching by Alexis Henderson:  Immanuelle lives in a puritanical society run by the Prophet.  One day, Immanuelle accidentally goes into the forbidden woods, where she learns that four powerful witches killed by the first Prophet still exist in spirit form, and they have plans for her.

2. The Silent Wife* by Karin Slaughter:  A young woman is attacked, and the case is similar to several previous ones, but the alleged perpetrator of those crimes is behind bars and claims that he was set up by a corrupt police force...including Sara Linton's dead husband.  So engrossing I had a hard time doing anything else until I finished it.

Side note: I have to give a content warning for EXTREMELY graphic descriptions of very brutal sexual assault and its aftermath.  I've been reading Karin Slaughter since the beginning, and most of her books have something disturbing in them, but this is much nastier than usual.  In fact, unless I'm forgetting something, this is probably her second-worst one in regards to content after Pretty Girls, so caveat reader.

3. True Story* by Kate Reed Perry:  In 1999, Nick Brothers attends a party with his fellow lacrosse teammates, and two of them are later accused of sexually assaulting a passed out girl.  In 2015, Alice is now a successful ghostwriter, but she's haunted by the story she can't tell about the things that happened "when [she] was asleep".  One of the reviews said it's about the power of lies to shape the truth, which is spot on.  This book was really good all the way through, but the ending was phenomenal.  I think I actually clapped.

4. The Comeback by Ella Berman:  Grace is a former teen actress who's struggling with her failed marriage, her lost career, and the memories of the lauded director who took advantage of her.  It's good, but I really wish I'd read something else as a "buffer" first, because three books in a row about sexual assault were a bit much, emotionally speaking.

5. The Dirty South by John Connolly:  In 1999, the body of a young black woman is discovered, and it might have ties to earlier murders. Charlie Parker (seen here in his early days, shortly after the brutal murders of his wife and daughter) decides to investigate.  (Not out in the US until October; I read the UK version.)

Side note: Although it's not a major theme like the previous three books, this book ALSO had sexual assault in it.  I am going to make sure my first book of September is funny, or at the very least free of sexual assault.

2020 total so far: 31


NONFICTION

Nothing this month.

2020 total so far: 11


MANGA/GRAPHIC NOVELS

1. You Brought Me the Ocean by Alex Sanchez and Julie Maroh

2. Stepping Stones by Lucy Knisley

2020 total so far: 17 volumes of manga and 9 graphic novels


MOVIES

1. Doctor Sleep*:  A group of (for lack of a better phrase) psychic vampires preys on people who have the "shining" ability.  With the help of a young girl who shares his gifts, Danny Torrance (Ewan McGregor) tries to take them down.  I'd give this 3.5 stars but rounded up for the performances, especially Rebecca Ferguson as the charismatic but deadly Rose.

Side note: I will forever stan director/writer Mike Flanagan for making not one but two horror movies in which a cat survives (the other being Hush).  I'm so sick of that trope!  I hate that my first reaction upon seeing a cat in a horror movie isn't "Awww!" but "Oh god, in what horrible way is that poor cat going to die?", so props to Flanagan for not doing that.   

2. Project Power:  A new street drug grants superpowers for five minutes, but you don't know what you're going to get...and it may kill you.

3. Swallow*:  Hunter (Haley Bennett) is a trophy wife, living in a gorgeous house her in-laws bought as a wedding present.  She cooks and vacuums the house in kitten heels, but there are signs she's not quite conforming to the image her husband wants; when he's at work, she plays mobile games on her phone and eats cheese puffs, wiping her fingers on her blouse.  Then she develops the irresistible urge to eat inedible objects like marbles and thumbtacks as a way of regaining control over her life.  Gorgeous cinematography and a stunning performance by Haley Bennett.  I've liked her since Music & Lyrics, and when you compare her performance as a Britney Spears-esque pop starlet to this...well, if movies ever get made again and she lands the right part, I bet she wins an Oscar someday.

4. Bad Boys for Life:  Two Miami cops (Will Smith and Martin Lawrence) try to take down two drug lords who just happen to be mother and son.  Pretty boilerplate for the most part, but there are some funny lines and decent action scenes.

2020 total so far: 54


VIDEO GAME OF THE MONTH

Depending on my mood when you ask me, The Last of Us is either my favorite or second favorite video game of all time, so The Last of Us 2 was an automatic must-buy when it came out.  No holding off for a sale, no waiting for an "ultimate edition"...I just went to Walmart and bought it as soon as I could.

Unfortunately, I won't be able to give you even a vague plot description because I refuse to spoil this game.  Also, I can't address one of the major controversies about this game because that's a big-ass spoiler too.  Instead, I'll just go straight to the positives and negatives.  They won't be complete, because I'm leaving out anything remotely spoilery, but you should get a decent idea.

YAYS:

• TLOU2 replaces Red Dead Redemption 2 as the most beautiful game I've ever played.  You certainly can't fault RDR2's backgrounds, but the facial animations occasionally left something to be desired, which isn't an issue here.  Every grimace of pain, every soft look of affection, every expression of terror...you see them as clearly as you would on a real person.  And the backgrounds are stunning.  The abandoned houses have toys and family photos; the businesses have display cases and OSHA posters.  Nature is gorgeous too, from lush foliage taking over a once busy street to mountains wreathed in fog and snow.
• Flawless voice acting, with no bad performances, even from the NPCs.  Along with Rockstar, Naughty Dog consistently gets the best voice talent in the industry, and this is no exception.  
• The story is engrossing, consistently surprising, and heartbreaking; I choked up more than once.  Christ, when one scene was over, I excused myself and had a nice little cry in the bathroom.
• Exciting gameplay.  Nothing beats sneaking up behind a clicker and introducing it to your shiv, or throwing molotovs at a bloated creature until it falls over.  (See the YMMV section for a disclaimer on this.)
• At one point, you're in a kennel full of barking dogs and one of the cages is empty.  If you look closely, the nameplate says "MARLEY".  I love me some dark humor, and assuming that's a nod to Marley & Me, well...that's just a fantastic fuckin' joke.  There's also a scene where someone finds a porn tape whose title winks at one of Naughty Dog's most famous games.
• There is a character who has a very limited amount of screen time and no dialogue, but I would kill or die for them.
• Did you think the 80s classic "Take on Me" could never be made slow and poignant?  You'd be wrong, my friend.

NAYS:

• Although it's a necessary evil, I REALLY didn't like having to kill dogs in this game.  And they aren't zombie dogs, or mutated; they're actual dogs who are sent after you by enemy humans who scream in horror when they see what you've done to their best friend.  You don't have a choice, because the dog will rip out your throat if you don't take them down first, but it still feels awful.

• A couple of glitches.  Most of them were just odd, like a side character somehow being up a tree, but one of them caused my character to fall through the scenery and die.

YMMV:

• This is an extremely difficult game.  There are difficulty options, but if you play on anything other than the easiest settings, it WILL make you rage out more than once.  I played on normal, and one section made me so pissed off I had to stop playing and take a walk around the block to calm down.  And full disclosure: one boss fight was giving me so much grief that after dying literally a dozen times or more, I had to change the difficulty level to easy.  Am I proud?  No, but my other option was to quit playing entirely, and that was not going to happen.  It was still a really tough fight, and I did die a few more times, but I finally beat it and then promptly changed the setting back to normal.  If you beat the first one on normal, or similar games, then rest assured, you can beat this one on normal too.  There's no shame in switching the difficulty if a particular area is giving you so much trouble you're about to quit.  It's better than missing out on this game!

In my many, many years of gaming, I've often found that the second game in a series tends to be my absolute favorite:  Silent Hill 2, Dead Space 2, Red Dead Redemption 2, Dead Rising 2, The Evil Within 2, and (until the fourth one came along) Resident Evil 2.  Before I played TLOU2, I was curious as to whether it would continue this streak. I thought about it for a while, and at first I thought the original was still my favorite, but I decided to do a second playthrough before I decide for sure.  Either way, this is a very worthy successor and an absolute must-play.  I give it 10 state quarters out of 10.