November Wrap-Up
what I read and watched last month
This is my Monthly Wrap-Up series, where I share quick reviews for the things I read and watched during the previous month. If you are a new reader (welcome!), here’s the October post:
I wanted to continue with the horror theme for another month, though in the end most of what I read and watched did not quite fit in that genre. I have been extremely busy with my classes, so this is a shorter list, but quality is more important than quantity, right? Let’s just get into it.
What I Read.
The Dragon Republic by R.F. Kuang
After single-handedly ending the Third Poppy War, Rin leads the remaining members of the Cike on a revenge quest against the Empress. However, they soon realize that they can’t do this without help, and they join up with the revolutionaries that are trying to overthrow the Empire and build a new Republic.
I have to admit that I enjoyed this book much less than the first one. It took a while for me to get into the story, the pacing was slow and the middle section really dragged, it was an overtly long montage of battle after battle that I think should have been trimmed down. I respect the commitment to portraying the grimy and sometimes boring details of warfare, but it could have been better delivered. The fanfic vibe was even more noticeable this time around (we get it, this is about Avatar the Last Airbender), and the prose isn’t helped by the modern therapy speak and the constant explanations about how the characters are feeling and the meaning behind their actions. I know that Kuang is deliberately being heavy-handed with the themes of the story, but it sometimes feels insulting to my intelligence when the author explains everything like I’m not going to get it. I can draw my own conclusions. The side characters are not well handled either, they were either flat or inconsistent (except for Nezha). I thought the way Kitay was framed in particular was baffling, because he’s clearly having some sort of corruption arc, he’s very brutal and cruel from the very beginning of the book, however we are told that he’s still the best and kindest person Rin knows, one of many examples of what we are told and what we are shown not matching up.
Despite all these problems, the action and the worldbuilding are still good, and I still like Rin a lot, she genuinely carries this series. I didn’t expect the Hesperians to come into play and was a little turned off by them at first, but their inclusion in the story really adds more nuance and depth to the power struggle and (heavy-handed as it was) I thought the portrayal of White supremacy, racism and imperialism was very well done and appropriately upsetting. I’m saving some of my other thoughts on this book for when I write the full series review, suffice to say that the last 100 or so pages were the best part and I wish the rest was more like that. 3.5/5 Not as good as the first one but I’m still invested.
Silver Nitrate by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Childhood friends Montserrat and Tristán are both in their late 30s and struggling to maintain their careers in the entertainment industry. Montserrat is a talented audio editor whose harsh personality makes it difficult for her to be liked by the men at work, while Tristán is a washed-up actor who hasn’t seen much success since a car accident left him scarred and destroyed his reputation. The pair of friends meets an old horror director, Abel, that tells them weird stories about a movie he was never able to finish, a movie which is apparently cursed. Looking to end the curse and perhaps change their lives for the better, the three of them decide to finish the movie.
I liked this more than Mexican Gothic, and my rating for this one was 4.5/5 If you want to know my thoughts on this book, you can become a paid subscriber and read my review here:
Hangsaman by Shirley Jackson
Natalie Waite is about to enter University, and she feels suffocated by the expectations and grievances placed on her by her self-absorbed father and her miserable mother. She often loses herself into her own fantasies, but a terrible event right before her departure brings her crashing down.
I was really enjoying Natalie as a PoV and her interactions with her family were very interesting, she became one of my favorite Shirley Jackson characters in just a couple dozen pages, but I had to put this book on pause for a little bit due to what happens to Natalie. This is no criticism of the story, it was done very well, and I really want to see how this affects Natalie and how the story progresses, but it was still an upsetting scene and I can tell that sexual abuse and trauma are going to be an important part of the book, so I want to get back into it with the proper mindset, because I didn’t expect that at all. You will have to wait until my next wrap-up to see my review of this one.
Chainsaw Man (ch. 137 to ch. 185) by Tatsuki Fujimoto
Denji has to decide what he wants for himself, to live a normal life with Nayuta or to be Chainsaw Man. What does it mean to be happy? While he struggles to make sense of his own desires, a strange group that calls itself the Chainsaw Man Church makes moves to force Chainsaw Man out.
I fell off Chainsaw Man a while back, I kind of lost interest in part 2 once Asa stopped being the main focus, but I’m so glad I finally caught up, these recent volumes have done such a good job at exploring Denji’s sex drive and how it’s used against him. When I first started the series I thought that fans wanted the story to be deeper than it actually was, but overtime I changed my mind, and now I see how nuanced Denji’s relationship with sex is and how it ties into the larger themes of the series. It always goes back to people being objectified and their bodies being used as tools and weapons, their desires and dreams being turned against them. Devils are the ultimate manifestation of this, literally taking over people’s bodies, but then you have to compare that with Pochita’s selfless love for Denji and how it just wants Denji to be himself. I’m not smart enough to unpack all of this, at least not right now. I love Denji, and even though I wasn’t entirely happy with how Nayuta was handled, the scene of Denji realizing that he still has something to live for and finding hope was beautiful. That’s my boy for real!
Also, of course, I have to mention the Statue of Liberty scene. Turning the quintessential symbol of the American empire into the physical embodiment of the atrocities that America carries out under the banner of “freedom”? Whoever tries to say Chainsaw Man isn’t a deeply political story is lying to themselves.
I’m not giving this a rating since this is an ongoing series, but I’m loving this current arc, and I’m excited to continue reading.
What I Watched.
Cyberpunk Edgerunners
David has a hard life as a low-income kid in a society where everything has a price tag. His mother does everything she can to let him attend a prestigious school, but they are thin on money and things only get worse when they get caught in the crossfire of a gang shooting. Circumstances force David towards a life of crime and constant danger.
The animation was beautiful, I especially loved the use of color and lighting, every scene was vibrant and eye-catching. That, plus the great music choices, gave this show a very unique vibe. The fast pacing of the story was anxiety-inducing at times, it feels like there’s never a moment to breathe, and that’s exactly how our main character feels. I’m not familiar with the game, but I was still able to follow along; the show doesn’t explain a lot about the setting, but you can pick up the worldbuilding easily enough.
Dorio and Maine are my favorites from the crew, I loved their designs and their dynamic. I know most people are partial to Rebecca, and I did like her, she just didn’t stand out to me as much as the others. I was impressed by how fast they make you care about all the characters, even some that are only on the show for a couple episodes before they gruesomely die. You could say that’s the whole point—in this world nobody lasts long, how you go out is far more important than how you lived. I loved David’s character development and I didn’t think his death was necessarily tragic, he accomplished his dream and that seems to me like him winning against the depressing world he lives in. He went out without any regrets, and that’s all that matters. The final scene was beautiful and bittersweet.
I have only two negative points. First, the fan service is a little distracting. I think it’s funny how this is the kind of futuristic setting where we are supposed to just accept that women are super casual when it comes to nudity, but the same somehow doesn’t apply to the men (normalize full-frontal male nudity or chill with the breasts). Second, I thought the Arasaka execs that appear in the final episodes should have been introduced earlier, they felt a little tacked-on and would have perhaps worked better as faceless entities. Still, I liked the show and can see why some people are super passionate about it. 4/5 Not one of my personal favorites, but it’s quite good.
Arcane (season 2)
After Jinx’s destruction of Piltover’s Council, any discussion of peace between Piltover and Zaun is forgotten, and both sides prepare for all-out war. On Piltover, the remaining members of the Council debate how to deal with Zaun and Jinx, with Mel trying to keep things under control while the Medarda matriarch pushes for violence. On the underground, Silco’s death has left a power vacuum, and different factions fight each other for dominance.
Oh, boy. You guys will have to wait a little bit longer for this one, because I have a lot to say, and it wasn’t going to fit into this post. I’m still organizing my thoughts on this season, but the review should hopefully be out by next Sunday. Stay tuned for that!
Substack Highlights.
The Dehumanization of Amber Heard by
BTS, and other victims of the english language by
A Soundtrack to Life: The Art of Pairing Music to Enhance Every Experience by
may those who defy their fate be granted glory. by
Rhaenyra Targaryen is Not Very Bright: A Hater’s Analysis - Part 1 by
I’m tired of having to defend the Humanities by
In The Future, Will I Be Me by
Kagurabachi: Find a Vibe, be a Vibe by
The year is almost over! I’m not close at all to reaching my reading goal, but I’m trying to make peace with that and stop treating books like a metric. It’s hard, because I love checking things off from a list and looking at numbers. I hope I can read a little bit more before the year ends, but I won’t push myself. Anyway, the Fall 2024 anime season is coming to an end, so I will finally be able to talk about the shows I’ve been watching. This monthly format doesn’t really work for seasonal shows, so for now I’ve decided that I will only write reviews once the entire season or at least the first course of a show is over. That means I get to talk about Re:Zero in my next wrap-up!
If you have read or watched any of the things on this list, let me know what you thought about them in the comments!
Upcoming:
December 13: I love loving things a little too much, a love letter to fan-projects like wikis, fanart, fanfiction, etc.
[Paid] December 15: The Poppy War Trilogy, full series review.
December 22: If we never get Winds of Winter, reflections on what it was like to be an ASoIaF fan in 2024, and thoughts on the future of this fandom.
December 27: Ranking Every Anime Show I’ve Watched (as of 2024) and, since people seemed interested…
December 29: Ranking Every Fantasy Book I’ve Read (as of 2024), exactly what it sounds like. Something fun and very different from what I usually do. Expect a couple hot takes on both rankings.
My uni classes are going on break until the end of January, which means I should be able to write a lot more this month and the next. I’m working on a couple other posts (the Arcane review, for example) that are not listed here because I’m not certain how long they are going to take me to write, so this schedule is subject to change.
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Thanks so much for featuring my essay!! Just about to publish Part 2.
Glad u liked silver nitrate! I still have mexican gothic above it but I enjoyed the characters more on nitrate