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roadtripreader's reviews
357 reviews
Root Brew Float by Sydney Winward
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Soo different from Selkie but still kinda cute, but I need more before I decide I like her backlist - pardon me while I add more Sydney Winward books to my TBR that just never ends I'd build a staircase to another dimension with these books. I digress
The aftermath of tragedy finds us in a small town in Massachusetts with 2 people who need to heal together.
Oh and a good twist in the third act.
Plot/Storyline/Themes:
An ancient which who escaped the Salem Witch Trials (not without bruise, trauma and trust issues) finds love and has to choose between her magic and finally being in love and loved. I do recall a similar choice for Mayla in Selkie but you know what, it's okay, sometimes choices have to be made.
Two Sentences, A Scene or less - Characters:
Jo is a bit meddlesome but in a sweet wholesome way that moght get annoying but really hasn't just yet
I relate to Clarence way more than I thought I would. He was stuck for two years because he wasn't equipped ro deal with his trauma and he waa a fraid to overcome and move on.
Fear will have you rooted in place - you blink and years have gone by.
Favorite/Curious/Ludicrous/Unique Scene:
🙄Boat Scene:😑What I did not like AT ALL in this book was that Clarence wanted to "convince" Jo to give up a lart of herself to be with him 🤨- I was okay with it if she came to the choice on her own nut he went from sweet loveable recluse to controlling in that moment.
🌸Flying with Clarence! Awww, cute
🐈Jinx is a good familiar. Top notch intervening little dude.
Favorite/Curious/Ludicrous/Unique Quotes:
🖤 “Witches live in a place that exists in between two realms. We can only visit one side for a short amount of time.” (Interesting, dimensional beings)
🖤 “He was asking her to…to give up her magic? For him? The thought horrified her. To never again be able to cast spells? Create potions? Step between realms?” (How fcvking dare you!)
🖤 “A potion didn’t need to tell her what she already knew—she was in love with Clarence Watts. But in the end, she would always have to leave.” (Lovesick witch poor thing)
Favorite/Curious/Ludicrous/Unique Concepts:
■Excellent Disability representation
■ Memoria laetissimus Ice Cream
■Witch-lore
■ Matching Scars😥
GR Rating: 2.5⭐ rounded
CAWPILE: 5⭐
StoryGraph Challenge: 1800 Books by 2025
Challenge Prompt: 150 Short Stories by 2025
The aftermath of tragedy finds us in a small town in Massachusetts with 2 people who need to heal together.
Oh and a good twist in the third act.
Plot/Storyline/Themes:
An ancient which who escaped the Salem Witch Trials (not without bruise, trauma and trust issues) finds love and has to choose between her magic and finally being in love and loved. I do recall a similar choice for Mayla in Selkie but you know what, it's okay, sometimes choices have to be made.
Two Sentences, A Scene or less - Characters:
Jo is a bit meddlesome but in a sweet wholesome way that moght get annoying but really hasn't just yet
I relate to Clarence way more than I thought I would. He was stuck for two years because he wasn't equipped ro deal with his trauma and he waa a fraid to overcome and move on.
Fear will have you rooted in place - you blink and years have gone by.
Favorite/Curious/Ludicrous/Unique Scene:
🙄Boat Scene:😑What I did not like AT ALL in this book was that Clarence wanted to "convince" Jo to give up a lart of herself to be with him 🤨- I was okay with it if she came to the choice on her own nut he went from sweet loveable recluse to controlling in that moment.
🌸Flying with Clarence! Awww, cute
🐈Jinx is a good familiar. Top notch intervening little dude.
Favorite/Curious/Ludicrous/Unique Quotes:
🖤 “Witches live in a place that exists in between two realms. We can only visit one side for a short amount of time.” (Interesting, dimensional beings)
🖤 “He was asking her to…to give up her magic? For him? The thought horrified her. To never again be able to cast spells? Create potions? Step between realms?” (How fcvking dare you!)
🖤 “A potion didn’t need to tell her what she already knew—she was in love with Clarence Watts. But in the end, she would always have to leave.” (Lovesick witch poor thing)
Favorite/Curious/Ludicrous/Unique Concepts:
■Excellent Disability representation
■ Memoria laetissimus Ice Cream
■Witch-lore
■ Matching Scars😥
GR Rating: 2.5⭐ rounded
CAWPILE: 5⭐
StoryGraph Challenge: 1800 Books by 2025
Challenge Prompt: 150 Short Stories by 2025
Why the Whales Came by Michael Morpurgo
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
The Cavern by Alister Hodge
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
A Duet with the Siren Duke by Elise Kova
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
The Republic of Pirates: Being the True and Surprising Story of the Caribbean Pirates and the Man Who Brought Them Down by Colin Woodard
informative
slow-paced
4.5
From the Belly by Emmett Nahil
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
All the prayers on the Merciful were answered. The answer was Nope...no mercy for you lot. If the sea is a tempest - then it stands to reason that the creature who dies(cheats death) and is reborn from that tempest (in a dead whale no less) is not to be trifled with.
I loved having a hundred questions jostling for attention as I read: The All-knowing Man From Inside The Whale - is he a sea-god? A sea-monster? An inbetween? Is Essex a manifestation of that Essex ship?!? So many questions I could eat them
I was firmly in his corner from the start. Well, him and Isaiah Chase - something about tortured souls aboard a ship whose only purpose is to torture and murder whales really drew me in. Poseidon was asleep during the whaling era. The Man From The Belly of the whale was not.
Plot/Storyline/Themes:
Ah yes. Get even. Even Steven? Square. The chaotic beauty of slow-marinating revenge sanctioned by The Gods Below is a far better tool for karma.
So if you find a "dead" man in a whale, maybe check that he's dead first before talking smack about him and threatening to throw him overboard🤷🏽♀️ See I love a story about vengeance and this feels not just like vengeance or revenge - this feels like beautiful, terrifying wrath. I love it. Plus I hate whalers so I'm okay with everyone on the Merciful suffering.
Two Sentences, A Scene or less - Characters:
Captain Coffin is a powertripping alcoholic nepo-baby trash. Man fvck him.
The Man From The Whale brought the ocean with him and I had to wonder if this ship would become an island ship complete with skeletons of the crew, lush greenery poking through and supernatural keeping it tethered to one spot. Maybe not but I was not disappointed with the outcome.
I don't know whose past was more intriguing- The Man from the whale or Isaiah Chase.
Favorite/Curious/Ludicrous/Unique Scene:
🌸The storm kills men up-top, and the man from the Belly of the whale wakes up. Not ominous at all.
🌸Captain Coffin's greed: dumping the boon for cruelty's sake.
🌸Isaiah's Dream: deceased dad with a message and picture. Whale
🌸Isaiah and The Bucket
🌸Bye Bye Bellamy - you had it coming.
🌸Fallon and Isaiah in the brackish ocean inside The Hold
Favorite/Curious/Ludicrous/Unique Quotes:
🖤 “Let me out of this cell, and you will know exactly what a curse feels like.” (I love a good cures. Release the God from the Belly of The Whale already.)
🖤 “What you let me see in sleep, Gods Deep and Gods Above, let me see in waking.” (Chase the Seer)
🖤 “Whalers deal in death. They go bloody wherever they travel. They revel in it. I can’t just stop what’s been set into motion” (Essex)
Favorite/Curious/Ludicrous/Unique Concepts:
■The hum, Essex and the shadow
■Whaler's Contract
■Captain Johanna Briggs
■Isaiah's instant deep healing vs Merciful's Rot
■ A rich boon of fish
■ The ocean in The Hold
■Dreams of The Seer
■Bellamy's Eye and The Whale
GR/SG Rating: 3.75
CAWPILE: 7
StoryGraph Challenge: 1800 Books by 2025
Challenge Prompt: 150 Horror (Fantasy) Books by 2025
I loved having a hundred questions jostling for attention as I read: The All-knowing Man From Inside The Whale - is he a sea-god? A sea-monster? An inbetween? Is Essex a manifestation of that Essex ship?!? So many questions I could eat them
I was firmly in his corner from the start. Well, him and Isaiah Chase - something about tortured souls aboard a ship whose only purpose is to torture and murder whales really drew me in. Poseidon was asleep during the whaling era. The Man From The Belly of the whale was not.
Plot/Storyline/Themes:
Ah yes. Get even. Even Steven? Square. The chaotic beauty of slow-marinating revenge sanctioned by The Gods Below is a far better tool for karma.
So if you find a "dead" man in a whale, maybe check that he's dead first before talking smack about him and threatening to throw him overboard🤷🏽♀️ See I love a story about vengeance and this feels not just like vengeance or revenge - this feels like beautiful, terrifying wrath. I love it. Plus I hate whalers so I'm okay with everyone on the Merciful suffering.
Two Sentences, A Scene or less - Characters:
Captain Coffin is a powertripping alcoholic nepo-baby trash. Man fvck him.
The Man From The Whale brought the ocean with him and I had to wonder if this ship would become an island ship complete with skeletons of the crew, lush greenery poking through and supernatural keeping it tethered to one spot. Maybe not but I was not disappointed with the outcome.
I don't know whose past was more intriguing- The Man from the whale or Isaiah Chase.
Favorite/Curious/Ludicrous/Unique Scene:
🌸The storm kills men up-top, and the man from the Belly of the whale wakes up. Not ominous at all.
🌸Captain Coffin's greed: dumping the boon for cruelty's sake.
🌸Isaiah's Dream: deceased dad with a message and picture. Whale
🌸Isaiah and The Bucket
🌸Bye Bye Bellamy - you had it coming.
🌸Fallon and Isaiah in the brackish ocean inside The Hold
Favorite/Curious/Ludicrous/Unique Quotes:
🖤 “Let me out of this cell, and you will know exactly what a curse feels like.” (I love a good cures. Release the God from the Belly of The Whale already.)
🖤 “What you let me see in sleep, Gods Deep and Gods Above, let me see in waking.” (Chase the Seer)
🖤 “Whalers deal in death. They go bloody wherever they travel. They revel in it. I can’t just stop what’s been set into motion” (Essex)
Favorite/Curious/Ludicrous/Unique Concepts:
■The hum, Essex and the shadow
■Whaler's Contract
■Captain Johanna Briggs
■Isaiah's instant deep healing vs Merciful's Rot
■ A rich boon of fish
■ The ocean in The Hold
■Dreams of The Seer
■Bellamy's Eye and The Whale
GR/SG Rating: 3.75
CAWPILE: 7
StoryGraph Challenge: 1800 Books by 2025
Challenge Prompt: 150 Horror (Fantasy) Books by 2025
Murder on the Sea Witch by Irina Shapiro
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Cheerio darling! Such fancy pants manners that maketh man, I do believe that fellow in that badass movie Kinsmen said so - and he was right. This pair of sleuths is so cordial.
I do love a good whodunnit procedural. Round up all the suspects, first there's just way to many, everybody and their uncle is on that list but boy is it rewarding when the key suspects emerge after some sleuthing around!
So there's a whole lot of backstory I'm not privy to having just selected this book out of the whole series to match my theme but the characters do mention past events in a "recap" kind of way and it really helped.
Plot/Storyline/Themes:
I always tend to figure out the murderer early on amd as soon as they mentioned "unwrapping party" I just knew. Still - what fun. Such a curious murder! A man in a Sarcophagus without a scratch but a missing brain.
The clue is in the mummification process.
Two Sentences, A Scene or less - Characters:
Aaw! I am already fond of this duo. I will have to start at the first book though because I want to see how Daniel Haze and Jasom Redmon become partners. I also love the fact that the characters actually eat food in this book. So often atories go on or chaptera and chapters and not a single sip of water.
Favorite/Curious/Ludicrous/Unique Scene:
🌸The interview (interrogation)of Jock Thomas
🌸Checking in with Mr. Edgerton Esquire who might as well be Methuselah 😂🤣
I’m not sure that man would remember his own mother,” - (Daniel)
“Given that he’s probably been practicing law since Jesus was a toddler, I can’t say I blame him,”- (Jason)
Favorite/Curious/Ludicrous/Unique Quotes:
🖤 “You know, I honestly hope you never decide to go on a killing spree. You’d never be caught.” (Daniel on Jason)
🖤“I would never leave you out there in the wilderness and try to save myself. You are a part of me, the mother of my child. I would do everything in my power to bring you back from the dark place you found yourself in.” (Jason on Katie 😍)
🖤 “The Egyptians don’t care about their culture. They’d sell their own mothers if they could make a profit” (Oof so crass but facts is facts and dare I say still true today but worse, some might sell you to make a profit )
Favorite/Curious/Ludicrous/Unique Concepts:
■ Corpse in a Sarcophagus
■The Dawn of The Suez Canal
■ All The Food:Meat Pies!Fried Fish! Potatoes! Venison! Coffee! Cake! Cheese pie! Mouthwatering Yum.
■Mrs Upton's Egyptian scarab necklace
■Mutes: Paid Mourners
■Illustrated Police News
StoryGraph Challenge: 1800 Books by 2025
Challenge Prompt: 150 Mystery Books by 2025
I do love a good whodunnit procedural. Round up all the suspects, first there's just way to many, everybody and their uncle is on that list but boy is it rewarding when the key suspects emerge after some sleuthing around!
So there's a whole lot of backstory I'm not privy to having just selected this book out of the whole series to match my theme but the characters do mention past events in a "recap" kind of way and it really helped.
Plot/Storyline/Themes:
I always tend to figure out the murderer early on amd as soon as they mentioned "unwrapping party" I just knew. Still - what fun. Such a curious murder! A man in a Sarcophagus without a scratch but a missing brain.
The clue is in the mummification process.
Two Sentences, A Scene or less - Characters:
Aaw! I am already fond of this duo. I will have to start at the first book though because I want to see how Daniel Haze and Jasom Redmon become partners. I also love the fact that the characters actually eat food in this book. So often atories go on or chaptera and chapters and not a single sip of water.
Favorite/Curious/Ludicrous/Unique Scene:
🌸The interview (interrogation)of Jock Thomas
🌸Checking in with Mr. Edgerton Esquire who might as well be Methuselah 😂🤣
I’m not sure that man would remember his own mother,” - (Daniel)
“Given that he’s probably been practicing law since Jesus was a toddler, I can’t say I blame him,”- (Jason)
Favorite/Curious/Ludicrous/Unique Quotes:
🖤 “You know, I honestly hope you never decide to go on a killing spree. You’d never be caught.” (Daniel on Jason)
🖤“I would never leave you out there in the wilderness and try to save myself. You are a part of me, the mother of my child. I would do everything in my power to bring you back from the dark place you found yourself in.” (Jason on Katie 😍)
🖤 “The Egyptians don’t care about their culture. They’d sell their own mothers if they could make a profit” (Oof so crass but facts is facts and dare I say still true today but worse, some might sell you to make a profit )
Favorite/Curious/Ludicrous/Unique Concepts:
■ Corpse in a Sarcophagus
■The Dawn of The Suez Canal
■ All The Food:Meat Pies!Fried Fish! Potatoes! Venison! Coffee! Cake! Cheese pie! Mouthwatering Yum.
■Mrs Upton's Egyptian scarab necklace
■Mutes: Paid Mourners
■Illustrated Police News
StoryGraph Challenge: 1800 Books by 2025
Challenge Prompt: 150 Mystery Books by 2025
Beneath the Surface: Killer Whales, SeaWorld, and the Truth Beyond Blackfish by Howard Chua-Eoan, John Hargrove
challenging
informative
sad
slow-paced
3.5
Lazy Researcher Review:
SeaWorld is depressing Jurassic Park except the Whales haven't figured out how to open the cages, walk out and devour everyone yet.
The Hubris! He never liked being called an "entertainer" at Seaworld and learning the dance steps. Newsflash buddy you were a MFking entertainer, no better than a circus ringmaster terrorizing the animals into performing.
I started out kinda mad at the author but he kept me engaged the entire time. He still has an issue with self-importance like he really wants us to be in awe of him and his achievements at SeaWorld and applaud his subsequent decision to go against SeaWorld and open his eyes to see whale captivity as the torture it actually is. Okay Hargrove, took you long enough - here's your pat on the back HOWEVER when you were in your 20s climbing the ranks, working in that fishbowl, looking into the eyes of these animals - you were no longer a "kid" to be an active participant in the cruelty and then blame it on naivete of youth.
Self-importance can coexist with being knowledgeable and an expert because he is an expert and knowledgeable but he also comes off as desperate for praise.
Captivity is always captivity, no matter how gentle the jailer.
Giving any kind of instruction to a whale is ludicrous to me. Now put it in captivity and it's constantly bossed around by essentially a tiny prey on 2 legs to do tricks like cute dogs for an audience other tiny prey and then we wonder why they become depressed.
Very early on, he says these are beings as much as humans are beings. THEN WHY were you perpetuating an industry that keeps these BEINGS in captivity when the whole ocean is their home and now they're basically chained in a bathtub to perform for hairless apes??? I don't care about Hargrove's redemption arc, he reaped the benefits of his career right up until he decided he was ready to move away and of course money was involved even as he advocates for whales.
Hargrove is as much an opportunist as the Orca Whales - he weighed the pro's and cons and balanced the books - be on this side of the debate, get a documentary, book deals, adoration OR stick with SeaWorld as the world turns against it.
"We were dedicated to working and performing with the whales; and we steadfastly believed we were doing what was best for the orcas" - what's best for the orcas is to be free. Indisputable fact
Rabbithole Worthy or Nah?:
Well I ended up watching Blackfish so I'd say pretty much a rabbithole.
I hate everything this guy represented in the past. His whole career is "captivating" because it was manufactured decades before his birth to be this magical myth by literally capturing creatures not even meant to be in close proximity to us from the moment we evolved out of the water and decided to dwell land.
Snore inducing or Willing All-nighter :
SeaWorld and all Whale theatre shows have perverted the bond between ocean and humans. Y'all are not the Whalerider of our time, you have not been chosen by nature - you perverted nature. So yeah, willing all-nighter - I was fired up and pissed off.
Spotlight on Theorists/Quotes/Concepts:
□"If you have a question about orcas, frame it as if you were asking about people." (Dr Ingrid Visser)
□"SeaWorld’s corporate marketing strategy turned the orcas into the pandas of the sea, commercial and cuddly, with little hint of the complexities of killer whales and the effects of confinement on them." (I hate SeaWorld)
Significant EVENTS : Toooo many
■Tilikum and Dawn Brancheau, 2010
■SeaWorld The facilities unchanged since 1960s.
😡Shamu's capture, trauma and death 6 years into captivity. 6 years
😡The Capture of Namu😭and subsequent drowning
😡The Capture of Moby Doll. Sam Burich can rot in hell.
😡Griffin Orca-Capturing Business.
■Orca Sleep schedules: they should not be sleeping alone FFS
■The Hydro Hop is NOT natural for Orcas so noooo I don't find it fascinating.
■Takara banged on the gate because she wanted to be free c'mon it's not rocket science.
■The Bridge: A trainer's whistle
OVERALL:
Honestly I found it fascinating in a very upsetting way. It's wrong. SeaWorld shouldn't exist. Whale-Trainer🙄 man GTFOH with that job. No. They're no better than the Quaker Whalers who destroyed whole genetic lines of whales and other creatures. At least the whales massacred in that era didn't have to endure years and years of captivity and performances. It's lose lose lose SeaWorld is the bowels of hell.
StoryGraph Challenge: 1800 Books by 2025
Challenge Prompt: 150 NonFiction (Humanities:Memoir) books by 2025
SeaWorld is depressing Jurassic Park except the Whales haven't figured out how to open the cages, walk out and devour everyone yet.
The Hubris! He never liked being called an "entertainer" at Seaworld and learning the dance steps. Newsflash buddy you were a MFking entertainer, no better than a circus ringmaster terrorizing the animals into performing.
I started out kinda mad at the author but he kept me engaged the entire time. He still has an issue with self-importance like he really wants us to be in awe of him and his achievements at SeaWorld and applaud his subsequent decision to go against SeaWorld and open his eyes to see whale captivity as the torture it actually is. Okay Hargrove, took you long enough - here's your pat on the back HOWEVER when you were in your 20s climbing the ranks, working in that fishbowl, looking into the eyes of these animals - you were no longer a "kid" to be an active participant in the cruelty and then blame it on naivete of youth.
Self-importance can coexist with being knowledgeable and an expert because he is an expert and knowledgeable but he also comes off as desperate for praise.
Captivity is always captivity, no matter how gentle the jailer.
Giving any kind of instruction to a whale is ludicrous to me. Now put it in captivity and it's constantly bossed around by essentially a tiny prey on 2 legs to do tricks like cute dogs for an audience other tiny prey and then we wonder why they become depressed.
Very early on, he says these are beings as much as humans are beings. THEN WHY were you perpetuating an industry that keeps these BEINGS in captivity when the whole ocean is their home and now they're basically chained in a bathtub to perform for hairless apes??? I don't care about Hargrove's redemption arc, he reaped the benefits of his career right up until he decided he was ready to move away and of course money was involved even as he advocates for whales.
Hargrove is as much an opportunist as the Orca Whales - he weighed the pro's and cons and balanced the books - be on this side of the debate, get a documentary, book deals, adoration OR stick with SeaWorld as the world turns against it.
"We were dedicated to working and performing with the whales; and we steadfastly believed we were doing what was best for the orcas" - what's best for the orcas is to be free. Indisputable fact
Rabbithole Worthy or Nah?:
Well I ended up watching Blackfish so I'd say pretty much a rabbithole.
I hate everything this guy represented in the past. His whole career is "captivating" because it was manufactured decades before his birth to be this magical myth by literally capturing creatures not even meant to be in close proximity to us from the moment we evolved out of the water and decided to dwell land.
Snore inducing or Willing All-nighter :
SeaWorld and all Whale theatre shows have perverted the bond between ocean and humans. Y'all are not the Whalerider of our time, you have not been chosen by nature - you perverted nature. So yeah, willing all-nighter - I was fired up and pissed off.
Spotlight on Theorists/Quotes/Concepts:
□"If you have a question about orcas, frame it as if you were asking about people." (Dr Ingrid Visser)
□"SeaWorld’s corporate marketing strategy turned the orcas into the pandas of the sea, commercial and cuddly, with little hint of the complexities of killer whales and the effects of confinement on them." (I hate SeaWorld)
Significant EVENTS : Toooo many
■Tilikum and Dawn Brancheau, 2010
■SeaWorld The facilities unchanged since 1960s.
😡Shamu's capture, trauma and death 6 years into captivity. 6 years
😡The Capture of Namu😭and subsequent drowning
😡The Capture of Moby Doll. Sam Burich can rot in hell.
😡Griffin Orca-Capturing Business.
■Orca Sleep schedules: they should not be sleeping alone FFS
■The Hydro Hop is NOT natural for Orcas so noooo I don't find it fascinating.
■Takara banged on the gate because she wanted to be free c'mon it's not rocket science.
■The Bridge: A trainer's whistle
OVERALL:
Honestly I found it fascinating in a very upsetting way. It's wrong. SeaWorld shouldn't exist. Whale-Trainer🙄 man GTFOH with that job. No. They're no better than the Quaker Whalers who destroyed whole genetic lines of whales and other creatures. At least the whales massacred in that era didn't have to endure years and years of captivity and performances. It's lose lose lose SeaWorld is the bowels of hell.
StoryGraph Challenge: 1800 Books by 2025
Challenge Prompt: 150 NonFiction (Humanities:Memoir) books by 2025
The Whale Rider by Witi Ihimaera
emotional
informative
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
"You have called and I have come, bearing the gift of the Gods"
I watched the movie without realizing it was a book years ago and it was a tearjerker. But the book is sooo much BETTER which hardly seems possible.
The style of writing feels like I'm sitting at the feet of an old Uncle Rawiri as he tells the long story of his tribe leading up to the reborn whalerider, heir of Paikea and Chieftain of the village. It is enough to draw tears to the eye, sniffles and of course:
"If the whale lives. We live.
Haumi e, hui e, taiki e.
Let it be done."
I bloody cried reading about Kahu's unending love for her old goat of a grandfather and Maori heritage. Reading it is so much more powerful than I could have expected. And then I cried watching this movie.
Plot/Storyline/Themes:
I didn't realize the story is told from Rawiri's perspective. Also so many things were left out of the movie that were like finding treasure of color enhancing brushes to turn paintings into captivating masterpieces.
Dare I say I prefer the book?🤔
Two Sentences, A Scene or less - Characters:
Maori Origin Myth is so lush and blue and green and invigorating and oh so beautiful: Sky Father and Earth Mother. The guardians: Lord Tane, Kiwa, Rona, Kaukau, Takaaho, Te Pu-whakahara, Tangaroa.
The guardians of the origin myth mirror Kahu's Biker guardians. I LOVE Uncle Rawiri and Nanny Flower so much.
Old Paka, Koro Apinara searching for something right under his nose, in his face ...right there. Old stubborn bull.
Favorite/Curious/Ludicrous/Unique Scene:
🌸The first whale rider: breaking through the surface throwing spears that transform and a prayer for the future.
🌸Kahu's Biker Guardians help Nanny Flowers with Kahu's Birth cord.
🌸Kahu and Uncle Rawiri at the movie theatre and the the Orca Pod sighting.
🌸Kahu's letter to Rawiri in Papa New Guinea
🌸Kahu's School Ceremony: Speech for Koro Apinara
🌸Kahu, Rawiri and Nanny Flowers go to sea. Kahu and the dolphins find the stone🐬
🌸The Ancient whale and his herd in Antarctica and The aurora australis.
🌸😭😭😭Kahu singing to the Ancient Whale. The ancestor.
Favorite/Curious/Ludicrous/Unique Quotes:
🖤 “ Uia mai koia, whakahuatia ake ko wai te whare nei e? Ko Te Kani —’.” (Kahu's Speech! The Haka and Nanny Flower)
🖤 “Our Koro was like an old whale stranded in an alien present, but that was how it was supposed to be because he also had his role in the pattern of things, in the tides of the future.” (The Ancient Whale and Koro)
🖤 “Karanga mai, karanga mai, karanga mai.” (Whalesong)
Favorite/Curious/Ludicrous/Unique Concepts:
■ The Ancient Bull Whale and Kahutia Te Rangi/Paikea
■Whalespeaking: The power of interlock
■Whale-Family: Wehenga-kauiki
■ Navel of the Universe.
■Te Moana Nui a Kiwa, the Great Ocean of Kiwa.
■Houses of Learning: Te Whakaeroero, Te Rawheoro, Rangitane, Tapere Nui a Whatonga.
■Apanui, Muriwai and Mihi Kotukutuku
StoryGraph Challenge: 1800 Books by 2025
Challenge Prompt: 150 Fantasy (Mythology) Books by 2025
I watched the movie without realizing it was a book years ago and it was a tearjerker. But the book is sooo much BETTER which hardly seems possible.
The style of writing feels like I'm sitting at the feet of an old Uncle Rawiri as he tells the long story of his tribe leading up to the reborn whalerider, heir of Paikea and Chieftain of the village. It is enough to draw tears to the eye, sniffles and of course:
"If the whale lives. We live.
Haumi e, hui e, taiki e.
Let it be done."
I bloody cried reading about Kahu's unending love for her old goat of a grandfather and Maori heritage. Reading it is so much more powerful than I could have expected. And then I cried watching this movie.
Plot/Storyline/Themes:
I didn't realize the story is told from Rawiri's perspective. Also so many things were left out of the movie that were like finding treasure of color enhancing brushes to turn paintings into captivating masterpieces.
Dare I say I prefer the book?🤔
Two Sentences, A Scene or less - Characters:
Maori Origin Myth is so lush and blue and green and invigorating and oh so beautiful: Sky Father and Earth Mother. The guardians: Lord Tane, Kiwa, Rona, Kaukau, Takaaho, Te Pu-whakahara, Tangaroa.
The guardians of the origin myth mirror Kahu's Biker guardians. I LOVE Uncle Rawiri and Nanny Flower so much.
Old Paka, Koro Apinara searching for something right under his nose, in his face ...right there. Old stubborn bull.
Favorite/Curious/Ludicrous/Unique Scene:
🌸The first whale rider: breaking through the surface throwing spears that transform and a prayer for the future.
🌸Kahu's Biker Guardians help Nanny Flowers with Kahu's Birth cord.
🌸Kahu and Uncle Rawiri at the movie theatre and the the Orca Pod sighting.
🌸Kahu's letter to Rawiri in Papa New Guinea
🌸Kahu's School Ceremony: Speech for Koro Apinara
🌸Kahu, Rawiri and Nanny Flowers go to sea. Kahu and the dolphins find the stone🐬
🌸The Ancient whale and his herd in Antarctica and The aurora australis.
🌸😭😭😭Kahu singing to the Ancient Whale. The ancestor.
Favorite/Curious/Ludicrous/Unique Quotes:
🖤 “ Uia mai koia, whakahuatia ake ko wai te whare nei e? Ko Te Kani —’.” (Kahu's Speech! The Haka and Nanny Flower)
🖤 “Our Koro was like an old whale stranded in an alien present, but that was how it was supposed to be because he also had his role in the pattern of things, in the tides of the future.” (The Ancient Whale and Koro)
🖤 “Karanga mai, karanga mai, karanga mai.” (Whalesong)
Favorite/Curious/Ludicrous/Unique Concepts:
■ The Ancient Bull Whale and Kahutia Te Rangi/Paikea
■Whalespeaking: The power of interlock
■Whale-Family: Wehenga-kauiki
■ Navel of the Universe.
■Te Moana Nui a Kiwa, the Great Ocean of Kiwa.
■Houses of Learning: Te Whakaeroero, Te Rawheoro, Rangitane, Tapere Nui a Whatonga.
■Apanui, Muriwai and Mihi Kotukutuku
StoryGraph Challenge: 1800 Books by 2025
Challenge Prompt: 150 Fantasy (Mythology) Books by 2025
Selkie by Sydney Winward
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Another one for the favorite pile. There are just sooo many great books that pass under the radar. This is one of them. And to think I'd never have found this book if I hadn't been actively searching for Selkie in the title to go with my theme this month. It has: Vikings! By Freya! Glorious Vikings - rituals, bride stealing, blood fueds, REVENGE! everything I love.
Plot/Storyline/Themes:
Aww! For honor and the protection of his remaining family, Klaus would do anything and then the anything collides with true love in the form of a selkie and it's just so complicated and I was rooting for all of them - Except the Borgen clan - they can fck right off.
Two Sentences, A Scene or less - Characters:
Okay yes blah blah great characters but I came away with this from the amazing descriptions of the selkie form: I want to pet a seal! Omg I love seals so much they are adorable waterdoggies. So freaking cute.
Favorite/Curious/Ludicrous/Unique Scene:
🧜♀️Klaus and Mayla escape drowning
🧜♀️Fried fish and conversation 😍
🧜♀️Female Seals try to nibble Klaus
🧜♀️Rainwater, clamshells and Selkie Magic
Favorite/Curious/Ludicrous/Unique Quotes:
🖤 “It’s a selkie!”
“Thor’s mercy.”
“A good omen.”
“A bad omen, fool.”
“Praise to the gods.”
“Who are you?.” (Good Omens)
🖤 “We will board our boats, find our chieftain, and go viking.” (Go Anders!)
🖤 “My love. My life.Hjartað mitt.” (So bloody cute)
Favorite/Curious/Ludicrous/Unique Concepts:
■ Cursed Boat
■Viking Village wedding customs
■Bride Stealing
■Selkie Beauty Spots
■ Selkie Women Magic
■Selkie Men Worriors
■Selkie Language
StoryGraph Challenge: 1800 Books by 2025
Challenge Prompt: 150 Romance Books by 2025
Plot/Storyline/Themes:
Aww! For honor and the protection of his remaining family, Klaus would do anything and then the anything collides with true love in the form of a selkie and it's just so complicated and I was rooting for all of them - Except the Borgen clan - they can fck right off.
Two Sentences, A Scene or less - Characters:
Okay yes blah blah great characters but I came away with this from the amazing descriptions of the selkie form: I want to pet a seal! Omg I love seals so much they are adorable waterdoggies. So freaking cute.
Favorite/Curious/Ludicrous/Unique Scene:
🧜♀️Klaus and Mayla escape drowning
🧜♀️Fried fish and conversation 😍
🧜♀️Female Seals try to nibble Klaus
🧜♀️Rainwater, clamshells and Selkie Magic
Favorite/Curious/Ludicrous/Unique Quotes:
🖤 “It’s a selkie!”
“Thor’s mercy.”
“A good omen.”
“A bad omen, fool.”
“Praise to the gods.”
“Who are you?.” (Good Omens)
🖤 “We will board our boats, find our chieftain, and go viking.” (Go Anders!)
🖤 “My love. My life.Hjartað mitt.” (So bloody cute)
Favorite/Curious/Ludicrous/Unique Concepts:
■ Cursed Boat
■Viking Village wedding customs
■Bride Stealing
■Selkie Beauty Spots
■ Selkie Women Magic
■Selkie Men Worriors
■Selkie Language
StoryGraph Challenge: 1800 Books by 2025
Challenge Prompt: 150 Romance Books by 2025