Catwoman: Soulstealer (DC Icons #03) by Sarah J. Maas Review

Catwoman: Soulstealer completely blindsided me. I figured that I would read something that I wouldn’t be too invested in and let me tell you, I was, in no way, prepared for what I was signing up for.

I’ve read other books by Sarah J. Maas and while I enjoyed some of them, none were without faults. Maas has two insanely popular fantasy series (Throne of Glass and A Court of Thorn and Roses) and while both have strong female characters, representation has always been a problem for her. Her books do feature people of colour and those who identify as queer but never in a prominent role, they are always secondary characters and often die (but that problem is not limited to Maas) and sometimes characters are queer-coded but end up in straight relationships.

With Soulstealer, Maas tries to rectify those earlier mistakes and she comes out blazing! What struck me as soon as I started reading was that she didn’t pull any punches. Soulstealer, predictably follows Selina Kyle, it’s set in the city of Gotham and features some familiar characters but I loved the way Maas owned this book and the character.

Soulstealer’s Selina Kyle is Maas’ creation and I loved her as soon as she stepped onto the page. But I’ll get to her in a bit. One of the best things about this book was that it did NOT feature Bruce Wayne/Batman and it really works for Soulstealer. It allows Catwoman/Selina Kyle to really shine and be the MVP in the book. The character who does feature here from the Bat family is Batwing/Luke Fox

What actually surprised me was how subtly political she was in Soulstealer and how well she had handled it. For instance, Luke Fox, son of Lucius Fox served in the armed forces, is a decorated veteran and yet still had to contend with racism back home. The only thing that keeps him from being harassed is his privilege and wealth and he is aware of that.

He suffers from PTSD and still chooses to step out every night to protect his city. It is a daily struggle for him and something that he is actively dealing with during the events of Soulstealer.

I absolutely loved Selina Kyle! She was witty, smart as hell (genius level), ruthless, devoted to those she called family and has a moral compass, a strange accessory for a criminal. I loved her ambition and drive. She is her own character and not defined by who she’s with. If you love her comics avatar, you’ll love this version just as much (if not more)

We also have Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn and this is where the queer representation comes in. I loved loved loved the way Maas handled the relationship between Ivy and Harley, it was tumultuous and a mess but it was also tender, soft and protective. Also, kudos for stating, in no uncertain terms, that the Joker is bad news for everyone concerned, including Harley herself. Maas makes it clear that it’s a toxic relationship and I love her for that.

I loved just how beautifully Ivy and Harley complement each other. The budding, fragile friendship between the Ivy and Selina gave me so much joy. Meaningful and well written female friendships are so hard to come by in fiction and this was as good as they come.

There are a bunch of other characters but I’m not going to get into that and spoil it for those who haven’t read the book, suffice to say that you should read Soulstealer ASAP! You will not be disappointed in the least.

I loved Wonder Woman: Warbringer and Catwoman: Soul Stealer is a worthy addition to the DC Icons series.

Captain Marvel Review

NON-SPOILER Review

I saw the movie last night and I can safely tell you that it is amazing! Marvel did a great job introducing Carol Danvers and setting her up for Avengers – Endgame.

The Marvel films, when they first released, worked brilliantly because people weren’t used to their way of story-telling, it was new and fresh. But over time, those same refreshing ideas started feeling stale because they also tended to stick to a formula. Which is why while films like Doctor Strange and Guardians of the Galaxy 2 make for perfectly enjoyable viewing, their rewatch value isn’t great. It’s safe to say that Marvel execs and Kevin Feige realised this. The diversity in directors for their next few projects seems to have breathed new life into the MCU, we had Taika Watiti (Thor Ragnarok), Ryan Coogler (Black Panther) and most recently, Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck for Captain Marvel. That diversity helped telling stories better and also gave us dynamic characters, both primary and secondary.

Also note, the writing credit for Captain Marvel also includes women in addition to the directors Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, Geneva Robertson-Dworet, Nicole Perlman and Meg LeFauve and it shows.

Is Captain Marvel is perfect film? No. Will you care while watching it? Also No! Because once the film starts, you will be completely immersed and in it and invested in Carol, beginning to end. The best part about the film is that it is about Carol Danvers, she is the protagonist of this story and she doesn’t have to share it anyone else (case in point, Antman and the Wasp) The team behind the film were tasked with making an origin film that immediately tied in with Avengers and they did a great job.

I’ve had a problem with Marvel’s brand of humour in their last few films where they insert a joke just when they’re building up an emotional scene, the joke immediately dispels the tension and that’s not always a good thing. It felt jarring and jerked me out of the film. The humour here was natural and organic, it stemmed from who Carol is. Most importantly, the humorous moments didn’t feel contrived.

What I loved about Carol was her spirit, she was cheeky, spunky and irreverent. There was something that was refreshing about her character, she seemed normal in a way her other MCU colleagues didn’t. She wasn’t a playboy billionaire, a god of Thunder nor a super soldier. I suppose, what I’m trying to say that she looked and sounded like women we know and not an idea of what women should look like and how they should behave. And that felt like a breath of fresh air.

The casting of the film is top notch and after watching the film, I can’t imagine anyone else playing this character. Brie Larson became her character and she made it look effortless. Samuel L. Jackson was amazing as a less cynical and paranoid Fury, Ben Mendelsohn as Talos, the main Skrull bad guy was great, Lashana Lynch was amazing as Maria Rambeau. Larson’s scenes with Jackson and Lynch were some of the best and were at the very heart of the film. Annette Benning looked like she was a great time. Goose the cat was absolutely adorable and I wanted to take him home!

Larson trained for 9 months prior to filming and it shows. She physically looks strong, like she could do everything that was happening on screen, she looked capable. I also loved that Larson/Danvers wasn’t sexualised AT ALL! That is exceedingly rare and I can’t begin to tell you how good that felt. When she fought, her hair got messed up, she didn’t always look ‘pretty’, when she fought, she went all in and didn’t worry if her expression would look nice in high-speed. Danvers also drove her story forward, she actively participated instead of reacting to things that were happening to her.

Danvers, in the film, is unapologetic about who she is and she doesn’t try to change herself to suit those around her so that they don’t feel threatened.

It was amazing to watch the men in the film tell Carol that she wasn’t strong enough or that she needed to get her emotions in check or she wouldn’t be able to control her powers and she proved them wrong every time! Or when she told her mentor that she didn’t have to prove anything to him. Those scenes have power and they resonate beyond what you see on screen because this is how women are portrayed, as weak and emotionally unstable. It is empowering to see a character like Captain Marvel go toe to toe with her enemies and always get back to her feet despite her falls.

I loved that the film-makers did not give Carol a love interest and instead we saw her friendship with Maria, her best friend and her daughter, Monica. Their friendship formed the heart of film, the emotional center and it was beautiful to see. Her interaction with Fury, on the other hand, was downright hilarious. Someone please cast Brie Larson and Sam Jackson in a buddy road-trip comedy, do it NOW!

Captain Marvel is a great film and deserves all the love. It’s a film that everyone can enjoy, but I can safely tell you that it’s different for the female audience, Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel is empowering and it’s not her super-powers but her unbreakable spirit that make her so.

I saw it once already but I think a second viewing is warranted because I’m certain I missed things since I was so caught up in everything on screen.

P.S. – I feel like the Star Force was under-utilised and I hope we see more of them in the future. I love Gemma Chan and would love to see her in a future Captain Marvel film.

The Man in the High Castle – Season 3 Impressions

So, I finished season 3 (finally) I kept pushing it off because I wanted to get as close to the season 4 premier as I could. The only silver lining? I got the Season 4 trailer shortly after finished the season.

Now, onto impressions:

First off, Juliana (Alexa Davalos). Full disclosure, I am Joeliana shipper. I loved the Joe (Luke Kleintank) we saw in seasons 1 and 2. His character in season 3 made sense. At the time, for the first time, we saw that Juliana does care for him and possibly loves him. And he loves her too, even in the fucked-up state, a part of him does love her. But he’s so traumatized that he pushes all his soft emotions under lest they pull him under their weight. There is a reason why he only Juliana what he actually had to do to get out. Juliana has to kill him, thinking that that’s the only way to escape him. And she doesn’t immediately deal with it. We see her flashback to him after that, letting us know that he’s still on her mind.

She ends the season by successfully traveling to another universe. I think she was only able to do it because she had nothing holding her back in her own. She killed Joe and left Frank (Rupert Evans) (and I think they both realized that they wouldn’t meet again, which is why he refuses to walk her out, telling her that if he doesn’t then he can pretend she never left) She was finally and that was finally let her travel.

I can’t help but want to see Joe again. I know, at this point, we don’t know whether he’s coming back. I keep feeling that Joe and Juliana need closure and they understood each other in a way that she and Frank never did.

Next up, Nicole Becker (Bella Heathcote). Let me begin by stating that I will forever be grateful that Season 3 gave us quite a few queer characters and at least 1 healthy queer relationship. I liked Nicole and her take charge attitude. She was sure of her capabilities and didn’t underplay them. Her time and relationship with Thelma (Laura Mennell) was always going to be limited. For starters Nicole works for the Reich which disapproves of homosexuality and Thelma is married (albeit to a gay man) She is most certainly outed by the guy she takes over from at the advertising agency, the same guy who gets Thelma out of prison. I am curious to see if we see her again in season 4. Himmler got shot shortly after ordering her re-education, so I don’t know if was sent back to Germany or if she’s still in America.

Finally, on to John Smith (Rufus Sewell)I think the John Smith we see is getting more and more distanced from his family. Don’t get me wrong, he’s still committed to keeping them safe. But he also stops communicating with his wife, Helen (Chelah Horsdal) It is clear from the earlier seasons that they work best when they work together, but the actions of their son, Thomas, puts them at odds. And now John is keeping things from her deliberately, leaving her more and more isolated.

He discovers Thomas in some of the other films, alternate versions of their family, where they’re happy and together. His own pain is assuaged, somewhat, knowing that there are versions of the universe where Thomas is alive and happy. But he doesn’t share this with Helen. Part of it could be that he doesn’t want to cause her more pain but it doesn’t matter because he never gives her that choice. He can sense that Helen is feeling lonely and isolated and realizes that she reaches out to him, multiple times, and he refuses her every time.

He can see that she’s barely pulling through and doesn’t really do much to help her, save to tell her repeatedly that they must be very careful of how they present themselves because now they’ve been thrust into a position where any misstep might put them all in danger. Except, he dumps all this squarely on her shoulders. Growing increasingly distant to an extent where Helen is no longer sure of who her husband truly serves.

There is discontent in him, his face when the Statue of Liberty is torn down, is telling, he is far from happy. But he has also become the perfect soldier, there’s no fight in him. Helen’s decision to leave him with her daughters makes perfect sense because she’s no longer if he would choose his children’s well-being over that of the party.

Season 4 is going to see him get only more committed to the party and the Reich. He is becoming increasingly darker and season 4 being the final season, we will things come to a head for him. I think he will have to make a choice, between his family and daughters and a party that would kill children for a something that they have no control over. At this point, I have no idea what he would choose.

The trailer also gave us a glimpse of John in another universe, someone vastly different from the John Smith that Juliana is familiar with. It’s a good nod to the audience, but I don’t see that relationship going anywhere because a) it’s not her world and b) she needs to come back to her own world because she wants to save it. She also meets him almost immediately, you can tell because her injuries are exactly the same as they did when the Nazis were holding her prisoner.

Season 4 has a lot of loose ends to tie up and I hope they do a good job. I love and enjoy the show and would love for it to end on a note that is earned and feels right. Here’s hoping.

GAME OF THRONES SEASON 8 TRAILER ANALYSIS

The trailer is finally out and it’s… underwhelming. I can understand why though.

Okay, analysis time:

I am certain that pretty much everything we see is from the first half of the season, specifically till episode 3, the episode where the Battle for Winterfell takes place.

The trailer even starts with what a scene from episode 3 with Arya running through Winterfell. The makers have been so incredibly tight-lipped about the show’s final season that I’m half surprised that we even got a trailer for it. Not surprisingly, it gives us nothing that we didn’t already know would happen.

Jon and D riding towards Winterfell with the forces on their horses. They should look regal but don’t.

It’s stunning how there’s no chemistry between them, no sense of familiarity or comfort. If one didn’t know better, one could think that they were strangers who had only just met. We see them together, in one more scene, in the crypts, and even there, Jon is stiff and don’t look at her. He seems to do that a lot. They look as stiff and incompatible as ever. The promo photographs didn’t do them any favours and neither does the trailer.

We also see Sansa, on the battlements as she sees the dragons fly over Winterfell and while she does look awed and impressed, she doesn’t look scared. I’d be inclined to think that both shots of her in the trailer are from the same episode, but her costume has tiny differences.

The ascot is missing in the first still. She looks contemplative in the 2nd, as if looking at something in the distance and lost in thought. (Also, Sophie Turner looks stunning)

It is some measure of good news to see that Tormund, Edd and Beric survive the demolition of the wall. They also appear to back at Winterfell which means that Jon and Co know, not only that the wall was destroyed but that it was destroyed by a dragon. I’m sure that went down well.

We see Sam and Bran, deep in conversation, presumably in the very first episode, still mulling over their discovery and how to deal with it. We also see Jaime and I’m certain he’s at Winterfell. We see him fighting at Winterfell. His dialogue is also telling, “I promised to fight for the living, I intend to keep that promise.” It’s possible he’s speaking those lines Jon, considering that their families have been trying to kill each other for some time now. It also mirrors what he told Cersei when he told her that he would be riding North.

The others featured in the trailer are the following: Missandei, Greyworm, Varys, Tyrion, Jorah Mormont, Davos, Podrick and Brienne. Missandei and Greyworm kiss and look very much in love. I also think it spells their doom. I fear that neither is long for the world.

I’m actually surprised that Tyrion was featured in the trailer only once and had no dialogue.

The two people completely missing from the trailer are Theon and Euron and that is no accident. I think neither will be involved in the Battle for Winterfell. Theon is on his way to King’s Landing to rescue Yara and Euron is on his way to secure the Golden Company for Cersei.

The one person who really worries me is Cersei. Her scenes featured in the trailer are the most mystifying. She has a smug smile on her face when she’s standing with Qyburn and her teary-eyed smile later, i think that might be one of the few scenes from an episode after ep3. I am even more convinced about the Kidnap plot.

Then there’s this scene:

I brightened it up and I can still barely see who’s in it. Cersei is clearly seated on the throne, Qyburn is standing on the right with the Mountain on the left. The person below the throne, appears to be dressed in gold or something that reflects the light, with their hands tied behind their back. It also appears to be a man, judging by the trousers that are also visible. The person next to that guy is the one I can’t be sure of. At first, I thought it was Varys, standing with his arms folded behind his back. But the silhouette isn’t right. There are people theorizing that it’s Sansa. But if that’s the case, she would standing right in front of Cersei and not off to the side and the hair also appears to be different. The placement doesn’t seem right to me.

The person in front of her, could also be the person who managed to get Sansa out of Winterfell and deliver her into Cersei’s clutches but even then, it doesn’t make sense for Sansa to stand to the side, if that is indeed Sansa to begin with. Don’t get me wrong, I believe that the Kidnap plot will come to pass, I’m just not convinced that’s Sansa.

The trailer does a great job of showing us just enough without spoiling anything.That has to be a first. I’m also surprised by how little we had of Jon and D. It is also telling that the trailer showed us NO scenes of Jon interacting with Arya, Bran or Sansa, or even Sam for that matter. That’s not realistic. He only just found out that not only are Arya and Bran both alive but that they’re also at Winterfell, there’s no way he doesn’t go to see them. He loves Sam like a brother, so also, why not a reunion scene. And we know that he does run into Sansa’s arms as soon as he enters through the gates of Winterfell so why not put that into the trailer?

To be honest, this trailer raises more questions than it answers them…