The End Of The F***ing World

The End Of The F***ing World

Rating: TV-MA

Network: Netflix

Language: English

Episodes:  8

Cast: Jessica Barden, Alex Lawther

Synopsis: A budding teen psychopath and a rebel hungry for adventure embark on a star-crossed road trip in this darkly comic series based on a graphic novel by  Charles S. Forman.

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I have never reviewed a television show before. I have done recaps and have talked about some of my favourite shows plenty of times on the blog, but there is a first time for everything. The End Of The F***ing World made me want to yell at everyone to watch it. It made me want to immediately rewatch it, and it, mostly, made me want to debate why it really shouldn't have a second season.

The tagline of 'Some love stories begin at the end' is rather brilliant and fits this darkly humourous story perfect. It is a love story, but a darkly messed up one. Much of this show rests in the kind of dark places you might not expect it to at first glance, but those moments are matched by the dry British humour that works incredibly well in this story format. The show especially shines in the moments that embrace that humour and the darkness together and allows them to work their magic.

Alyssa and James are two characters that work their way into your heart. How fiercely you come to care about these two teens will surprise you. It sneaks up on you and it is too late by the time you realize how much you care. The actual, and emotional, journey that these characters take is immensely satisfying. The cast is so mesmerizing, with Jessica Barden and Alex Lawther giving amazing performances in particular. They are biting, brilliant, and gut wrenching. The acting and plot combine perfectly to make these characters feel so vivid and that is part of what makes this show so wonderful. 

This is the type of show that is best experienced as cold as possible. The less you know going in the better. It is meant to be experienced along with the characters, shocks and all. It makes for a pretty unforgettable watching experience that you'll want to immediately get others to watch simply so you can dissect it with someone. It demands to be talked about and debated and that, for me, is the mark of a great television show.

These eight, incredibly crafted, episodes tell a complete story. It feels like the proper ending to Alyssa and James' story.  The story is left in such a way that it can really only go in one of two directions, and I am not all that interested in exploring either of them. It would taint the ending this season gave us, and lose a little bit of the magic that made this such a memorable show. The End Of The F***ing World may be the type of show you want to have a follow up season, but it is not one that needs it. I would watch these actors is pretty much anything they did next, but I firecely hope that they leave Alyssa and James behind to exist in the near perfect bubble that is this season.

My favourite thing about The End Of The F***ing World is that it is entirely not what you think it is going to be when you first start it. Episode three is where I started to realize what this show was really doing and saying and I fell completely in love. I have some spoilerly thoughts on what the show ends up being really about and if you're interested (and have watched the show) they are under the Show/Hide tag below:

There is an almost unintentional Bonnie and Clyde vibe to James and Alyssa's story and that instantly appealed to me. Their being on the run is both unexpected and brilliant, especially as it explores so much of their characters. It makes James examine who he thinks he is, and it makes Alyssa discover what she's really made of. Each of these characters has a journey that is shared and an individual one which, for me, added so much to the story.

 

If you enjoy dark comedies that have a surprising amount of heart I recommend spending an evening with this hidden gem of a show. I'll be available for you to unload your feelings to after you've finished. 

Waiting On Wednesday .... Legendary

Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking The Spine that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

This week's pick is Legendary by Stephanie Garber

**Spoilers for Caraval**

Here is the Goodreads synopsis 

Stephanie Garber’s limitless imagination takes flight once more in the colorful, mesmerizing, and immersive sequel to the bestselling breakout debut Caraval

A heart to protect. A debt to repay. A game to win.

After being swept up in the magical world of Caraval, Donatella Dragna has finally escaped her father and saved her sister Scarlett from a disastrous arranged marriage. The girls should be celebrating, but Tella isn’t yet free. She made a desperate bargain with a mysterious criminal, and what Tella owes him no one has ever been able to deliver: Caraval Master Legend’s true name.

The only chance of uncovering Legend’s identity is to win Caraval, so Tella throws herself into the legendary competition once more—and into the path of the murderous heir to the throne, a doomed love story, and a web of secrets…including her sister's. Caraval has always demanded bravery, cunning, and sacrifice. But now the game is asking for more. If Tella can’t fulfill her bargain and deliver Legend’s name, she’ll lose everything she cares about—maybe even her life. But if she wins, Legend and Caraval will be destroyed forever.

Welcome, welcome to Caraval...the games have only just begun.

I loved Stephanie's first novel, Caraval, and this (sort of) sequel sounds amazing. It feels like, at least from the description, that it is more of a connected companion novel. We're getting a new main character as Donatella takes centre stage, but it also references events that occur in book one.

I am soooo excited to return to this lush, magical, breathtaking world. Caraval swept me away and I cannot wait to fall back under its spell.

This one comes out just in time for summer which means ice cream and I some how suspect that Stephanie would approve of Legendary being enjoyed with some ice cream.

Expected release date - May 29, 2018

Weekly Obsessions

The awesome Kelly at KellyVision started posting a weekly post highlighting whatever she happened to be obsessed with that week. I LOVE this idea, so much in fact that I will be doing it myself every Saturday.

BOOKS

Cover of An Assassin's Guide to Love and Treason by Virginia Boecker (goodreads)

This was referenced as Phillipa Gregory meets Mr and Mrs Smith in the official announcement and I was immediately sold. I love the rivals who want to make out with each other trope so much!

The cover of this was revealed, and I think it's pretty fun!

I loved Virginia's previous books and am excited to find out more about this one. I especially look forward to the Shakespeare connection!

TV/MOVIE

iZombie Season Four Trailer

Spoilers for the previous season of iZombie but I am so excited that this show is returning in about a month. It's such a fun show and I LOVE this teaser for the new season.

I love these characters so much, and I am hoping that we see some progression with Liv and Major this season.

What are you obsessed with this week?

Girls Made Of Snow and Glass by Melissa Bashardoust

Girls Made Of Snow and Glass by Melissa Bashardoust
Release Date - September 5,  2017

Publisher Website - Raincoast Books
Publisher Social Media - Twitter
Pages -  384 pages
My Rating - 4/5
**received for an honest review from publisher**

Here is the Goodreads synopsis

Frozen meets The Bloody Chamber in this feminist fantasy reimagining of the Snow White fairytale

At sixteen, Mina's mother is dead, her magician father is vicious, and her silent heart has never beat with love for anyone—has never beat at all, in fact, but she’d always thought that fact normal. She never guessed that her father cut out her heart and replaced it with one of glass. When she moves to Whitespring Castle and sees its king for the first time, Mina forms a plan: win the king’s heart with her beauty, become queen, and finally know love. The only catch is that she’ll have to become a stepmother.

Fifteen-year-old Lynet looks just like her late mother, and one day she discovers why: a magician created her out of snow in the dead queen’s image, at her father’s order. But despite being the dead queen made flesh, Lynet would rather be like her fierce and regal stepmother, Mina. She gets her wish when her father makes Lynet queen of the southern territories, displacing Mina. Now Mina is starting to look at Lynet with something like hatred, and Lynet must decide what to do—and who to be—to win back the only mother she’s ever known…or else defeat her once and for all.

Entwining the stories of both Lynet and Mina in the past and present, Girls Made of Snow and Glass traces the relationship of two young women doomed to be rivals from the start. Only one can win all, while the other must lose everything—unless both can find a way to reshape themselves and their story.

Fairytale retellings have always been a favourite of mine. It's one of those buzz words that will immediately get me to add a book to my to be read pile. Girls Made Of Snow and Glass offers a feminist twist to the classic Snow White tale, and blends it with a little heartbreak and magic.

Melissa Bashardoust weaves in recognizable elements of the Snow White tale subtly. It's done cleverly and in a way that does not feel overt. The story shines because of the elements that are added to the story. It makes it a more well rounded story, and definitely offers a different perspective on a story we all know well.

The relationship between Mina (the Evil Queen) and Lynet (Snow White) is the heart of this story. It is effectively used to show how society and expectations are geared towards women be adversarial towards one another. Mina is the aging Queen who sees herself, in large thanks to the people around her, as easily replaceable by the young Lynet. It is a theme prevalent in society. There is the idea of the young ingenue replacing the old and bitter has been. The man who divorces his wife for a younger woman. These ideas are not new, and yet seeing the impact of this on both Lynet and Mina in this story felt fresh. This book also deals with beauty standards, and the pressure that is placed on women to fight the ageing process as hard as they can. It also shows the pressures for women to fit into a specific mold and life that may not be what they want. This feminist twist paints the Snow White tale in a completely new, and entirely welcome, light.

The magical elements in this novel are seamlessly woven into the Snow White story. The lack of heartbeat in Mina, and the fact that Lynet is crafted from snow form a unique angle to this story that is used to flesh out the overall arc of the story. I was hesitant about the magical elements, but they worked beautifully and enriched the story in many ways. The magic also defines the two characters in a lot of ways and allowed some insight to who they are, and the reasons behind their actions.

There is usually a Prince who saves Snow White in any adaptation of the novel. That is not the case here. This is really Lynet and Mina' story. There is, however, some romance to be found within these pages. Lynet's love interest is a smart young woman who catches her fascination. Their tentative steps toward each other offer a few genuinely sweet moments that the reader will appreciate. There is also some romantic undertones to part of Mina's story, with that one being more heartbreaking. Neither side plot overshadows the main focus, and instead serves to compliment it.

If you're looking for a unique take on the Snow White tale I highly recommend this one. It's a retelling where the author fully embraces making the story their own. It examines the story through a feminist lens and makes us look at both the Snow White and Evil Queen character tropes in a different light.  

Waiting On Wednesday .... Neverworld Wake

Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking The Spine that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

This week's pick is Neverworld Wake by Marisha Pessl

Here is the Goodreads synopsis 

Beatrice Hartley has no plans for the summer—except a secret reunion with her five former best friends.

Once upon a time, back at Darrow-Harker School, they were the cool kids, the beautiful ones. Then the shocking death of Jim—their creative genius—changed everything.

One year after graduation, Beatrice is returning to Wincroft—the seaside estate where they spent so many nights sharing secrets, crushes, plans to change the world—in the hopes that she will get to the bottom of the dark questions gnawing at her about Jim’s death. She suspects that her friends knew much more than they ever let on.

But as the night plays out in a haze of stilted jokes and unfathomable silence, answers seem unlikely. Her friends are all so different now, so splintered and lost. It’s too late. Beatrice senses she’s going to live the rest of her life far away from them, never knowing what really happened.

Then night fades to morning. A thunderstorm rages, and a mysterious man knocks on the door. He looks like the exhausted ringmaster of a cheap traveling circus. Blithely, he announces the impossible.

And so begins the Neverworld Wake. The nightmare. The nothingness. 

I am intrigued by this novel mainly because I loved Night Film and the trip that novel took the reader on. This one is just as mysterious and just as dark sounding. I am excited to devour it in the middle of summer lounging by the pool. I know that, if nothing else, Marisha Pessl will deliver some great writing, but I am sure the twists of this story will be worth the wait.

Expected release date - June 5, 2018

The Wedding Date by Jasmine Guillory

The Wedding Date by Jasmine Guillory
Release Date - January 30,  2018

Publisher Website - Penguin Random House
Publisher Social Media - Twitter
Pages -  304 pages
My Rating - 4/5
**received for an honest review from publisher**

Here is the Goodreads synopsis

A groomsman and his last-minute guest are about to discover if a fake date can go the distance in a fun and flirty debut novel.

Agreeing to go to a wedding with a guy she gets stuck with in an elevator is something Alexa Monroe wouldn't normally do. But there's something about Drew Nichols that's too hard to resist.

On the eve of his ex's wedding festivities, Drew is minus a plus one. Until a power outage strands him with the perfect candidate for a fake girlfriend...

After Alexa and Drew have more fun than they ever thought possible, Drew has to fly back to Los Angeles and his job as a pediatric surgeon, and Alexa heads home to Berkeley, where she's the mayor's chief of staff. Too bad they can't stop thinking about the other...

They're just two high-powered professionals on a collision course toward the long distance dating disaster of the century--or closing the gap between what they think they need and what they truly want...

The Wedding Date has a premise that is straight out of a romantic comedy movie. A guy asking a girl to be his date at a wedding he doesn't really want to go to alone kicks off a whirlwind romance. It's the perfect kind of meet cute that seems just plausible enough to happen but also kind of magical.

The chemistry between Alexa and Drew is instantaneous. The reader feels that spark the moment they first banter in the broken down elevator. It is part of what makes any romance novel enjoyable, and this one captures that chemistry easily. It's an easy rapport that they have, and it makes their falling in love feel all the more believable. It also doesn't hurt that this plays with the fake to real relationship trope which is one of my favourites. It can be delightful when done correctly like it is here.

This is a romance novel where the heroine of our story is a black woman and the hero a white man. I cannot speak to the representation held within, but I enjoyed the fact that it's simply a love story. There are parts of the story that are directly driven by the fact that Alexa is a black woman, and things that are specific to things she would experience. There are times where Drew has to confront his privilege as a white man and the impact that has on their relationship. It, however, really is just a love story at it's heart. It is totally a rom-com movie in book format and I look forward to the eventual movie starring Chris Evans and Lupita Nyong'o (at least we can hope).

There is, of course, the required amount of angst to be found within these pages. Each of these characters have their own set of insecurities that come to the surface as their connection continues to grow. With these insecurities come irrational decisions, communication failures, and assumptions that lead to even more ill advised decisions. I appreciated that both characters had issues they had to work through, and that both of them were shown to have flaws. It made for a more realistic read. There may be a feeling of repetition to this element of the story, but I found it worked within this novel. You can't deal with your feelings until you talk about them and Alexa and Drew are the Queen and King of Not Communicating. It may be a little frustrating at times, but only because you want them to work through their issues and just be together already.

There is so much talk of food in this novel that I was basically hungry the entire time I was reading it. Be warned that there are numerous mention food that seem specifically written to induce cravings. It's something that is included in the very first time Drew and Alexa meet so it becomes kind of cute that it is something that is continued throughout the novel.

The secondary characters were one of my favourite things about this book. Both Alexa and Drew have friends and family that are fairly fleshed out. I looked forward to seeing them interacting with their friends and family almost as much as I looked forward to seeing them together. Drew's friend, Carlos, almost provided a lot of comic relief and the friendship between them was something that stood out while reading.

If you're looking for a steamy, fun read that I recommend that you pick this one up. This may be Jasmine Guillory's debut novel, but I anticipate that romance fans will be eager to read whatever she writes next. It's also a perfectly on theme with its release being just in time for a Valentine's Day read. 

New To My Book Closet

It's that time of the week again. Time to show you what bookish goodies made their way into my home and book closet (to be saved from the evil book eating cat monster named Aria). This is inspired by the various "mailbox" posts out there (eg. In My Mailbox by The Story Siren, and Stacking the Shelves by Tynga's Reviews)

Just one book to share this week. I picked this one up because I have been watching the American Crime Story series that is based off this book.

There was so much about this case that I didn't know before watching the show (such as the fact that there were five victims, not just Gianni Versace) and it made me want to find out a bit more.

Vulgar Favors: Andrew Cunanan, Gianni Versace, and the Largest Failed Manhunt in U.S. History
by Maureen Orth  (goodreads)

There is also a fantastic podcast called Still Watching: Versace which examines both the show and the case. I especially love that they interview the cast and other people involved to get a behind the scenes perspective of making a show like this. I wish I had found it sooner as they read the book over the holidays to prepare for the show and I would have read along with them. I am playing catch up now though. 

What bookish goodies made their way into your mailbox this week? Let me know in the comments.

Happy Weekend and Happy Reading!