📺 ~ The Umbrella Academy (Season 2)

rating: 9.5/10

THIS SHOW HAD A TOTAL REDEMPTION ARC COZ HO-LEE SHEET THAT WAS BOMB. from that spectacular opening scene itself i knew, KNEW this was going to be different. and boy oh boy, it was.

 

first of all, the cinematography—that beautiful, BEAUTIFUL cinematography, hot DAMN (cornfield scene w five and vanya was >>). the aspect ratio was different, and the color grading too. i'm pretty sure either the director changed or a whole new direction was taken. the budget also felt like it was higher for this one. 

second of all, the plot: compared to season 1, we were WAY better w this one. i'm pretty sure the writer's room changed for this season. although it carries the same concept as last season, the execution was better. we got more of an exploration into the commission, which i appreciated. THANK GOD THE HANDLER IS DEAD I DESPISED HER. she's a real psycho. THE CHARACTERS—i feel like they were better explored this season. we saw diego w his hero complex, luther's issues w his dad, allison and how she doesn't feel like she has earned the things she does w her powers, klaus' grief w dave and his aimlessness, AND FIVE. lord that one scene where we see him tearing up when he talks about losing his family to the apocalypse did me in for his character. and bro aidan gallagher is so talented—i didn't realise why he hunched and walked weird until i realised that it was coz he was literally an old ass man in a child's body. that detail was mind-blowing to my pea brain lol. his acting in the seven stages episode was also great. loved seeing him agitated lol. also, reginald hargreeves' appearance was exciting. his character seems to be a lot more complicated than i initially thought. 

AND ALIENS?? that's fascinating coz the foreshadowing was there, which made it more fun. we saw pogo and grace's origins too. ben's death made me tear up bro it was kinda emotional. i feel like plot holes were covered this season and it felt good. 

WE SAW MORE UMBRELLA CHILDREN TOO. i'm excited to see what the sparrow academy counterparts hold for us next season. the hargreeves family reunion in this season felt better. the gang was back and the dysfunctioual family sticking together was so satisfying. i just loved this season a lot. raymond was a great busband, and that poster is cool af let's appreciate it.

📖 ~ A Torch Against the Night

rating: 4.5/5

ok, so most surprising thing: i don't hate helene anymore LOL yes vry shocking i'm rooting for her now. AND, I HAVE A NEW SHIP: HELENE X HARPER. I SAW THE SPARKS BABY THERE IS SO MUCH POSSIBILITY MUAHAHAHAHAHA. i'll be SCREAMING for them in the next two books, just you wait (edit 2025: lol sweet summer child).

also i knew keenan was trash. can't believe he's the nightbringer. at the reveal, my first thought was LAIA YOU HAD SEX W THE NIGHTBRINGER. i was literally so pissed at that but i also acknowledge that laia was in a vulnerable position and he took advantage. it was disgusting to see him manipulate and put her down. the power imbalance pissed me off. BUT THANK GOD ELIAS IS MY BAE AND MY MAIN SHIP SAILED THEY'RE CONFIRMED I CAN'T WAIT TO SEE THEIR RELATIONSHIP IN THE NEXT TWO BOOKS COZ THEY'RE SUCH A HEALTHY COUPLE THEIR COMMUNICATION IS TOP NOTCH THEY'RE SO HONEST ("you're sure this is what you want?" "i'm sure." "then i'll find a way.") ELIAS IS THE STANDARD ok lemme stop. i just know that i'm gonna be a total simp for darin coz like?? he's so smart??? i was damn impressed. i love that guy. i highlighted more in this book than the last one lol. it isn't by much but it's still something. the commandant can go jump off a cliff i hate her sm. but oh well.

📺 ~ The Umbrella Academy (Season 1)

rating: 6/10

klaus really saved this show. i loved his character, his storyline, HIS COOL POWERS LIKE DAMN. it was rlly nice seeing him. five was also good but i wanna see more of him before i reach any conclusions. aside from these two, i don't really have any strong opinion about any of the other characters. i was pretty meh abt them.

the plot was good but i felt like the execution could've been better. the show felt like filler half the time, and the presence of the time commission felt superficial. i'm sure there could've been some other way to introduce them or subvert the plot point somehow. if the time commission ends up having a better role in future seasons, i'm all for it. i'm also very curious about the other children born on the same day as the main cast.

this was a mediocre season, imo. loved the song scores tho. let's see if it gets better or worse in the future.

📖 ~ An Ember in the Ashes

rating: 4/5

i rlly wish i could rate this book lower but i can't. as i told abeer, my rating criteria is both about my enjoyment and an objective critique of this book. so let's get to this review.

helene. GOD. i hated her so much lol. you should see my goodreads progress as i was reading: it was wild. she's like a cockroach, i swear, she refuses to die. she's evaded death two times in this book. if she does it a third time i'll break something. i really don't like helene. if she wasn't in love with elias and thought of him as family, the plot would've been the same. they just needed to spice shit up Imao drama is necessary for young adult novels. so mad that she evaded death. although she hasn't redeemed herself yet, the last scene might've lessened my dislike of her. but it's still there.

now LAIA: i knew from the beginning that she was a coward, and part of me knew that it would be a part of her arc—but that piece of dialogue about her fear being a necessary part of survival, the revelation that her thoughts of what daris would do in her place were actually her own, and the way she's not afraid when she drops into a pitch black catacomb with elias at the end: it all made me feel better about her. she's grown since the beginning, and i feel proud. no more whining about daris this and daris that lol no just her. and breaking her brother out of prison ofc.

i like elias' character and his arc. i liked his acceptance of his death. it was freedom sure, but the last line of the book ensures that he's going to gain TRUE freedom. body and soul. love that.

this book dragged for me. i mean, it's over 400 pages. the sa attempts and the allusions to it were uncomfortable. i don't care abt objectivity in that aspect, i just didn't like it. and laia being fooled like that all along also didn't sit right w me. just being used for selfish desires ugh. why's it always the girls being deceived? and the superficial violence w the lashings at the hands of the commandant in the beginning also irked me. i eventually kind of dismissed it, but i still hate it. superficial is superficial. young adult shi pisses me off. other than that, i liked the lore coming together. AND I LOVE ELIAS AND LAIA'S RELATIONSHIP I NEED MORE I SWEAR ASJDJS.

📺 ~ XO, Kitty (Season 1)

rating: 5/10

i'm late in logging this lol i binged all ten eps literally the day after it premiered.

 first of all, ew, coz kitty is quirky and clumsy af and is the typical privileged wattpad ghorlie. i love ann cathcart, but kitty? god no. i KNOW that if i knew her irl i would want to strangle her to death coz GOD NO. second, half the problems in this show could've been easily solved by proper communication. i was pissed at dae for not being able to say anything other than "kitty, i can explain" in the first couple episodes and it pissed me off. ngl, i loved dae in the beginning. he was an adorable bean, but i started disliking him in the second half of the show. third, Q AND MINHO AND ALEX THE AUSSIE TEACHER ARE THE REAL MVP'S OF THIS SHOW YOU CAN'T CONVINCE ME OTHERWISE THEY LITERALLY SAVED THIS SHIT. minho can run me over—i loved him, his sass, and his charisma, and just his character in general. i called it in the beginning even before watching the show that kitty and minho would be endgame, AND GUESS WHAT THEY WERE MUAHAHAHAHA. Q is loml why're the best ones always gæ but oh well i loved him as well hehehe. ALSO HOT AUSSIE TEACHER I REFUSE TO CALL BY NAME U WERE GREAT BAE U SLAYED. four, the Kitty Gay Panik™ era was not something i expected, but i think i probably did at some point. it was not totally unwelcome, but some aspect of it felt awfully like queerbait. five, the conflicts were what i used to write in 5th grade—dumb af. the plot was so 12-year-old middle schooler. i think jenny han's work is just not my cup of tea.

overall, it was a shit show, but it was a FUN shit show. thank god it was short or i would've lost it.

📖 ~ Pineapple Street

rating: 5/5

i liked this book quite a lot actually. the themes about money and family were well executed, the three protagonists were well-written, and the development was good. i was especially a fan of darley and malcolm's relationship (their kids are adorable) and curtis mccoy. it seems that i have an affinity for liking assholes. i thought i might've been similar to george until, well, she didn't give up brady despite finding out he was married. i like skewed morality but not like this. she's spoiled is all i'll say, but i am definitely a fan of her and curtis' relationship. i love how the book starts and ends with his pov, and how the burning of the house on pineapple street is symbolic of letting their old mindsets go and starting anew. i think this was contemporary literature. i watched a video essay on old money while i was reading this. it's definitely a good book, which i would recommend to someone who has patience (so not abeer.) also, i want a husband like malcolm. i wanna be darley—she's my fav out of all three. sasha reminded me too much of my own mother yikes. george was... george. this was another book that made a city come to life, so i appreciate that too. brooklyn is wonderful.

📖 ~ The Song of Achilles

rating: 4/5

it's a good book. overhyped? kinda—but the author deserves the hype because TEN WHOLE YEARS TO WRITE THIS SINGLE BOOK? i admire her effort. and i feel like i can see her hard work in the words too.

it must've been a harrowing task to rewrite the entire illiad within 300 pages lol. and even as someone who has never read that behemoth of an epic, this book is perfectly readable. the symbolism of achilles chasing hector in his armor, who looks like achilles, is something i just realised and am trying to wrap my head around (edit 2025: i didn't know wtf i meant by this at first but i think i was trying to say that achilles might've thought like he was also killing a version of himself coz he felt responsible for patroclus' death in some way). the ending was uhh abrupt. i wanted to see things from achilles' point of view tbh. but the thing that made me shed a tear was patroclus recounting his memories of achilles to thetis. that was the real tearjerker—could really feel the grief through the words. but it really does speak to madeline miller's writing skill that i understood every conflict. all-in-all, it's a very good book. deserves to be called a modern classic, in my opinion.

🎨 ~ Uzumaki

rating: 3/5

the last part dragged like hell and i had to skim read. the ending too was... odd. the purpose of this book was only to show oddities stemming from normal events. oh well. shuichi was kinda nice, i liked him. otherwise, aside from the art, this book was pretty meh.

🎬 ~ The Edge of Seventeen

rating: 8/10

i can't believe i didn't write a review for this movie. i could've sworn i did. here's my thoughts two years after watching this (it's 2025 currently). 

i liked hailee steinfeld's performance (a completely objective opinion, of course. no way i'm a shameik moore kinnie w her haha). her character was so awkward but relatable lol. i'd like to see hailee and woody harrelson in some other project together because they have very good screen chemistry.

i thought the brother was an a-hole at first but that one scene did make me sympathize with him (and shed tears). 

it was a good coming of age movie with a good screenplay. kudos to cast and crew for pulling this off.

📖 ~ Today Tonight Tomorrow

rating: 5/5

TWO 5/5 ROMANCES IN A ROW???? NICE GOING ME. but still, this book gave me the heart flip feels ifykwim. THANK YOU ABEER ALHAMED FOR RECOMMENDING THIS BOOK ILYSM BAE AND NEIL MCNAIR CAN HAVE ME LIKE BRO THE THINGS THIS GUY SAYS I JUST FNDNDNMS. that kiss—it was so hot: think of the keeho reaction clip but it was just me stock still on the bed and getting FEELINGS. AND THE SEX TOO LAWDDDDDD inexperienced guy x experienced girl never felt so good. it wasn't explicit but that's the beauty of writing and words: it doesn't need to be to make one feel everything. I COULD FEEL THE KISS BRO GOT SHIVERS LIKE OH MY GAWD FJDJKSKS. goodness gracious this book is so slowburn but it's so wild to think it all happens in less than 24 hours. i just love this book okay? i felt like i was the protagonist herself in so many moments (hence the kiss shivers shit bro) and yea. i love this book a lot.

🎬 ~ Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara

rating: 7.5/10

this was my second zoya akhtar movie, and i gotta give it to her: she knows how to write her characters. they're so real and nuanced, and their conflicts are always rooted from actual life experiences. women directors know their shit. while Dil Dhadakne Do is still my favorite one by her, i feel like for its time, this movie must've been a hell of a release. i doubt any bollywood movie at the time had ever explored such human depth and friendship. but nonetheless, this movie was good, and its themes and messages are spectacular too. hritik and katrina's chemistry was great—hope to see more of them.

🎬 ~ The Grand Budapest Hotel

rating: 10/10

"there are still faint glimmers of civilisation left in this barbaric slaughterhouse known as humanity." in my personal opinion, that really is the ultimate message of this movie. i love how the quote reflects both the supporting characters and ultimately, gustave himself by the end of it all. it felt very nostalgic and sentimental. i suppose that really was the overall vibe of the movie. the segments where mustafa narrates his experiences with gustave and the writer writes about it feels like such a personal account. and of course, let's not forget that this movie is pure cinema at its finest. the colors, the direction, the camera movements, the actors' performances (there were so many big names in this lol); wes anderson was not playing around. and oh yea, this was my first wes anderson movie. half my motivation to watch this was to know what the whole wes anderson trend was about. anyways, back to the review. THE HUMOR OF THIS MOVIE—ralph fiennes' delivery is so good, it got me cracking up multiple times. ALSO TONY REVOLRI?? FLASH THOMPSON?? can't believe this was his debut—he served. so yes, loved the movie. can't wait to check out more of anderson's work.

🎬 ~ Ghosted

rating: 6.75/10

i knew going into this movie not to take it seriously and honestly, i had fun. it was hilarious to see sebastian stan and anthony mackie's cameos, and then them literally dying a minute or something into their entrance. the entire mcu throwback is immaculate. chris evans and ana de armas' chemistry was off the charts in Knives Out so it was great to see them as the leads in this movie. also love how they subverted the damsel-in-distress trope and chris pulled it off pretty well. ana is great in action movies. she gave black widow energy fr. overall, it was a fun movie.