Book Review: A Guide For Murdered Children

New year, new you, new thrillers! Coming up is A Guide For Murdered Children by Sarah Sparrow. Full disclosure, I got an advanced epub copy through Netgalley.

You are either going to love or hate this book.

The first half of the book is focused on setting up the premise; children who were murdered can possess the bodies of recently deceased adults, and exact vengeance on their murderer. They do this with the help of a Porter; a still living adult who can guide them through the process and provide moral support in a AA-type setting. Psychic alcoholic and disgraced cop Willow Millard Wylde (yes you read that right) digs up a cold case that he couldn’t forget, unbeknownst to him that the victims have returned to solve their own cases.

Some readers will be frustrated by the slow build. Sparrow takes her sweet gentle time getting to the point, and if you find her prose charming, in the first half at least it’s a fun, if macabre ride through Wylde’s scumbag past and that of the world of ghosts he refuses to want to understand. And if you don’t like it but hang on anyway, the premise is so original that half the tension comes from the fact that you haven’t read anything like this before, and you don’t know where it is going. I honestly really did enjoy the writing style in the first half, but Sparrow clearly struggles with resolution in the second half.

Unfortunately, while the premise is brilliant and new, many individual elements feel far more cliche. The villain has a unnecessarily long and utterly boring maniacal monologue, that, despite him crooning over a character I genuinely like who was at his mercy, I felt myself wishing he’d just shut up and murder the poor guy already. There are tired stereotypes about the mentally disabled that are as boring as they are offensive. The list of character names, like Willow Millard Wylde, Adelaide, Pace, etc sounds like a list of baby names compiled by a soon-to-be parent deadset on finding the most unique names possible and passed off to a panicking partner who helpfully suggests “Annie” and “Daniel” to balance things out. The way the women are written makes me somewhat suspicious that this is yet another case of a male author assuming a female name in the hopes of getting attention in the wake of Gone Girl. No one knows who Sarah Sparrow is yet, but I couldn’t help but wonder when Willow got a hot girlfriend decades younger named Dixie Rose.

A Guide For Murdered Children has a fantastic premise from an author who has real talent. The problem is Sparrow needs an editor who is willing to take a machete to whole sections of work and pluck the good parts out of the long, regurgitated mess that is the second half.

A Guide For Murdered Children will be published on March 20, 2018 and available wherever fine books are sold.

Megan “Spooky” Crittenden is a secluded writer who occasionally ventures from her home to give aid to traveling adventurers.

Women's Libation! Is A Tall Drink Of A Book

When I was in university, our women’s resource center would have a charity event every year called Women Who Rock. It was, essentially, a band show at a bar that featured female music groups of all sorts, and the bar also sold drinks with amazing names like Menstruation Sensation. When I finished reading Women’s Libation! Cocktails to Celebrate a Woman’s Right to Booze by Merrily Grashin, my immediate reaction was to mail a copy to each of my former volunteer mates. Finally, more inclusive drink names we could use!

Women’s Libation is in essence, a cocktail recipe book with illustrations and a page explaining the punny drink name. Feminists of yore are honored for their work, and moments in feminist history are marked. Nothing revolutionary, but it wasn’t meant to be. If you’ve never mixed drinks before, Grashin has you covered with a basic overview of the tools you need, methods to know and some common ingredients.

There are a few missteps here; not all the women in the book are exactly deserving of a cheers or a drink. Aung San Suu Kyi is honored with a twist on the Singapore sling, and Coco Chanel with the sangrita Mez Coco Chanel No 5.

Granted, that could just be poor timing as the book was likely completed months before Aung San Suu Kyi refused to speak out against the genocide in Myanmar. Still, this isn’t the first time she’s been quiet about violence against Muslims; the calls for the repeal of her Nobel Peace Prize are only the most recent and forceful criticisms against her. Coco Chanel I’m a bit more puzzled by. Now, there has yet to be any clear hard evidence that Chanel was an active Nazi agent, but there is some reason to believe that she was and at best being a Nazi wasn’t a deal breaker for her. I think if there’s any dispute about whether you are a Nazi, there’s only one drink for you.

Seriously, Chanel should have been bumped and Dorothy Parker honored with a Manhattan. That’s a huge missed opportunity!

Nevertheless, Women’s Libation! is a quirky recipe book sure to tickle your funny bone. While many of the blurbs may just be fact regurgitation, the drawings are adorable and the puns wonderfully groan worthy. As for the recipes themselves? They are twists on classics, nothing too crazy to make the drink unrecognizable and some like the Our Toddies, Ourselves are in my opinion an improvement on the standard. I didn’t get to test very many of them, but as a former bartender, so many of them looked good.  If nothing else, dear reader, I do believe this is an excellent resource for those bar fundraisers.  Why not replace all the cocktail names for the night?  I guarantee more money will be raised through drinks that way.

Cheers!

Women’s Libation! Cocktails to Celebrate a Woman’s Right to Booze By Merrily Grashin was published on November 7th, 2017, and is available wherever fine books are sold.

Megan “Spooky” Crittenden is a secluded writer who occasionally ventures from her home to give aid to traveling adventurers.

Artemis by Andy Weir Is A Bumpy Ride

Some authors become notorious for repeating themselves. When you read a Stephen King novel, chances are you’ll encounter things that you’ve seen in other Stephen King novels; black people with magical powers, an average looking middle aged schlubb with a smoking hot wife, a writer protagonist, etc. With Dan Brown, well, you’re going to get Dan Browned. There will be assassinations, conspiracies, and the most dubious presentation of fact that a simple google search will refute. Artemis is only Andy Weir’s second book, but after the success of The Martian he seems to be on track to repeat a formula that makes bank.

Jazz is a smuggler living in the moon city of Artemis. After failing to qualify as moon tour guide in an attempt to set up caches outside the multi-domed city, she is offered a very dubious job of committing corporate sabotage — cutting off the city’s supply of oxygen to allow a competing supplier to swoop in and save the day.

For the first half of the book Jazz is our tour guide and explains how a city on the moon could function. This is undoubtedly the strongest part of the book. It’s fun to think about, and fun to have it explained. Jazz in this part is witty, but unfortunately her humour turns juvenile and grating halfway through.

The social science of the book just doesn’t work very well. Nothing is technically illegal, Jazz says. No age of consent, just go too far and you’ll get beaten up for sleeping with a 14 year old or beating your wife. But said abused wife is presumably left with her abusive husband, who will certainly be more careful in making sure no one finds out rather than actually stopping. The pedophile is still free to do as he pleases. And yet the one cop in town is gunning to deport Jazz for smuggling in things like cigars, and she mentions being homeless is illegal. Is it intentional, then, that cigars and homelessness are more unforgivable on Artemis than domestic violence and sexual abuse? Probably not. Weir is here to tell you how a city on the moon could physically function. How it functions socially is far less thought out.

The plot depends on all the characters being super geniuses. Jazz can learn in an afternoon what most people dedicate years of academic study to learn. Artemis’s one and only cop Rudy puts Poirot, Sherlock, and Columbo collectively to shame, solving crimes instantaneously and without effort. Side characters have graphic calculators for brains and whip up solutions within seconds of thinking. This wasn’t terribly irritating in the first half of the book, but in the second half it becomes more and more unrealistic, and then conveniently when the plot needs to thicken they overlook obvious things.

Jazz is also a bit of a emotionally stunted psychopath, almost utterly incapable of empathy. Other character’s motivations are an utter mystery to her unless it’s spelled out for her. Other character’s feelings simply aren’t acknowledged or quickly dismissed. She does not stop to question as to whether the insanely dangerous sabotages she commits might be perilous to the city (spoiler: they are). Mostly, she just snarks at the reader about how attractive she is, how the domes of the city like boobs, and how the reader can stop pretending to know what a niqab is, you ignorant uncultured swine. The whole narration is a conversation between Jazz and the reader, and while at first I was rapt with attention, by the end of her story I was tired and knew she was full of shit. Andy Weir thanks a slew of women for helping him write a female narrator, but I’m not sure why when he just slapped the personality of a male teenager on Jazz and called it good.

Artemis is an entertaining read that suffers from poor characterization and overindulgent exposition. It has an excellent start but in the end when the fate of the city is at stake, I couldn’t help but wish that the entire book was about the first caper. When you know by the third caper that anything that can go wrong will go wrong, it gets a little difficult sitting through meticulous details of welding and the 100th slut shaming joke to get there. 

Megan “Spooky” Crittenden is a secluded writer who occasionally ventures from her home to give aid to traveling adventurers.

Praise Amaat, Ann Leckie's New Book Is Out

2015 was an innocent time, if you can remember that far back. That was what, eighty years ago? Yet I remember it like it was yesterday; the world seemed sane, and Ann Leckie’s Imperial Radch trilogy concluded with Ancillary Mercy. It was a bittersweet read, as I just wasn’t ready to say goodbye to Breq and friends. Leckie said she was likely to return to the universe, and lo, she has delivered. Provenance is a new stand alone novel in the same setting, where the conclusion of The Imperial Radch has set the wheels of change throughout the whole galaxy.

Ingray has a hard time impressing her adoptive mother. In Hwae society, the head of the household passes their name onto a selected heir, and Ingray’s brother is shaping up to be first choice. Ingray concocts a scheme that will see her broke, but will not fail to get attention: bust the disgraced Pahlad out of a prison that no one has ever escaped from and find out where e hid the priceless artifacts e had stolen. But that was the easy part; the hard part is a murder conspiracy that gets in the way!

After the events of Ancillary Mercy, at first this book seems like a step backward. The Hwae are far from the Radch, and the civil war there is only a matter of gossip and speculation. The situation that Ingray has found herself in, however, becomes increasingly large-scale as the story progresses. What might have been an inter-family struggle slowly boils up to a simmering threat of war.

And it is a slow boil. Much of the book is discussion between characters about what other characters might possibly be thinking or doing, but it’s okay because Provenance is primarily a mystery wrapped up in science fiction. Ingray is no Poirot, but through conversation she works her way through what the hell is going on and how to move from one crazy plan to another, not unlike how Agatha Christie’s detectives arrived at the truth. Unlike many cozy mysteries, Leckie avoids sticking to any type of formula. The plot seems to be going one way before a amphibious alien piloting a mech drops in on the scene to complicate things even further for poor Ingray, and that’s just one example of the kinds of roadblocks that pop up unexpectedly.

I’ll admit, I really miss Breq and the Radchaai, and practically cheered when a Radchaai side character showed up (then I turned on the kettle because I always think, “You know what would be rad? Chai.”). That said, I’m glad we got to have a look outside the empire, and I’m very glad that Leckie is still playing with gender. The Hwae have three gender classifications, which the Radch evidently still have trouble with. Once a person comes of age, they can announce their preferred gender pronouns. Like in the Imperial Radch trilogy, the primary focus is not on gender at all, but it does play it’s part in the general themes of identity and belonging. Like Breq, Ingray and Pahlad (or is it Garal?) do not know exactly where they belong. While it is acceptable on Hwae to declare gender identity and have it respected, changing names, changing allegiances, and challenging tradition while still honoring the past are central themes of this book. Why, yes, there’s alien politics and mysteries to solve, but as in Imperial Radch, there is more to the story than just fun sci-fi adventures.

The only criticism I have for the book is that Ingray’s motivation for her original harebrained scheme does not align with the unsure, meek girl we spend most of our time with. The synopsis in the book cover describes her as “ambitious”, but for the most part she is coasting on what is expected of her rather than acting out of a desire to win a title. I understand that her mother expects her to take risks, but she puts herself in a huge amount of debt and risks her very position in the family in the first few pages. Ingray is much smarter and collected than she gives herself credit for, but her reasoning for busting Pahlad/Garal out of Compassionate Removal just never seemed in character, especially reflecting back after the ending.

I didn’t love Provenance as much as I did Ancillary Justice, but I loved Ancillary Justice enough to stay up until four am reading. Provenance didn’t keep me up late at night, but I still happily zipped through it in just three days and it is a worthy addition to the universe Leckie has created.

Provenance was published by Orbit and released on September 26, 2017, and is available wherever fine books are sold.  

Megan “Spooky” Crittenden is a secluded writer who occasionally ventures from her home to give aid to traveling adventurers.

The Beautiful Ones: Book Review

Nina Beaulieu is in beautiful Loisail for her first Grand Season, where she’ll try to snag a husband with the help of her cousin, Valérie. She rebuffs most of her suitors, but when she meets telekinetic Hector Auvray, he becomes her favoured suitor. But Hector and Valérie were once engaged, and he has returned to exact some kind of retribution for her faithlessness.

Now, The Beautiful Ones by Silvia Moreno-Garcia is promoted as a fantasy and a romance, but leans far far far toward romance. In this alternate history, some people are born with psychic abilities; two of our heroes have the power to move objects with their mind. Nina lacks control; it is frowned upon for women to display these powers, and she is labeled a witch. Disappointingly, that is as far as it goes. The focus is on the romance; while Hector helps teach Nina to control herself, and it serves her well in the end, it ultimately is window dressing for a romance novel.

That isn't to disparage the book for being a romance. I’m not a huge fan of the genre because it is often formulaic and I feel like if I read one, I’ve read all of them. The set up for The Beautiful Ones is very interesting, and I was hoping it would break the formula. The first half felt like it would, but in the end I was a bit disappointed. I was hoping that after finding out about Hector and Valérie, Nina would strike out on her own as a telekinetic performer and break barriers down for psychic women. Maybe she’d reconnect with Hector later, maybe Valérie would leave her husband for Hector and renounce the strict expectations that forced her into marriage. When another suitor for Nina shows up, I was hoping he was actually conspiring to fix everything up for poor Nina and then bow out.

Alas, it was not to be. The second half becomes your bog standard romance. Valérie is cold but not completely unsympathetic in the first half, but in the second half she becomes a psychotic villain. Nina is a pure virgin, whereas Valérie is not afraid to use her sexuality to get what she wants. Hector stops being any sort of agent of his own; whatever happens, is because Valérie drives the plot with her mad schemes and Nina decides either not to put up with it, or acts rashly for maximum melodramatics.

In Moreno-Garcia’s favour, Nina is very much like a Jane Austen heroine. She doesn’t sit idly by, and once she knows what she wants she goes for it. I just wish Valérie was more than just your standard romance novel harpy villain, and that the story moved in a more subversive way. At first I found myself comparing it to Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier; both Hector and Maxim de Winter are haunted by their past and unable to let go, and Nina and Mrs. de Winter are standing the shadow of more beautiful, more refined women who are no longer in their love interest’s lives. But wherea Rebecca took an unexpected turn, The Beautiful Ones went down Romance Tropes Lane and took no more turns after that. Nina might have been fairly progressive for a heroine if this was published a hundred years ago, but for the most part in the end, gender norms and conventions were slightly bent but never broken, and justice is meted out in nothing but predictable ways.

I will also say Moreno-Garcia’s prose is wonderful as always. Often with books set over a hundred years ago, there is a temptation for the writer to try to mimic the prose of Austen or other classical writers, and it usually always comes up short. Moreno-Garcia’s narration and dialogue avoid this entirely, and stands on its own. There are no cheap imitations here, at least.

If you are a fan of romance, you might like it better than I did. While I couldn’t put it down, ultimately it ran too long for me and I was disappointed in the end. I’m very picky with romance, however, and you can do much worse in the genre. If you’re just looking for a romance that doesn’t challenge, The Beautiful Ones may be for you.

The Beautiful Ones by Silvia Moreno-Garcia will be published on October 24, 2017 by St Martin's Press and can be preordered wherever fine books are sold.

Megan “Spooky” Crittenden is a secluded writer who occasionally ventures from her home to give aid to traveling adventurers.

Hellboy: An Assortment Of Horrors

Hellboy has been in the news quite a bit lately, from the roller coaster that was Ed Skrien’s casting as Ben Daimio to David Harbour’s beefcake reveal. Aside from movie news, there has been pieces on how he is a timely hero in an age where Nazis are a thing again, as well as enjoying a slew of new releases this year. The most recent is a short story anthology, Hellboy: An Assortment of Horrors.

If you’re only familiar with Hellboy’s origin story or the Del Toro films, this is an easy book to get into. The stories are stand-alone features and do not draw much on the big events that have unfolded in Mike Mignola’s comics over the years; there are few references to the Nazis, and I don’t recall any mention of the Plague of Frogs, Rasputin or Baba Yaga. There are some quick references, but nothing that will make you feel lost. Even if you’ve only seen the 2004 movie, just keep in mind that in the comics, Liz and Hellboy never date and you’re good to go.

Short story anthologies from various writers are sometimes hard to review, but the quality here is mostly consistent. I only disliked one or two stories, and even then I just found myself speeding through them rather than actively hating what I was reading. It wasn’t so much that I thought they were terrible, just less enjoyable than the others.

Fans of comics know that when new writers take over a character, it’s common to see their personality totally change to fit the new writer’s view. This isn’t the case here. What is particularly lovable about Hellboy is that even when he’s snarky, he’s ultimately a sweetheart. The stories range over the decades and different periods of his life, but each writer nails what makes Hellboy, Hellboy. The Other Side Of Summer by Chris Roberson, for example, takes place in 1950 when Hellboy is five and decides to investigate a haunting with a girl he just met. Most other stories cover cases he takes on as an adult BPRD agent, but it’s really great to see his brief childhood years covered as well.

There is a story or two that seemed to have been written to showcase an original character the writer thinks is cool rather than concentrate on established ones; The Duelist by Jonathan Maberry features a hot young woman named Lilah who is mildly psychic after a few years of dropping acid and we’re supposed to care. The story works just fine without her. It’s not the only story to have an original character, of course, it just feels like a waste of space to read how pale Lilah’s breasts are, and how she folds her arms under her breasts, when we could be focusing on the ghost haunting her town.

There are some great original characters here, mostly by having Hellboy observed from their point of view. Fire Is The Devil’s Only Friend by Michael Rowe does this extremely well, and I think is my favorite story out of the collection. It focuses mostly on a little girl named Hazel, her mother and the mother’s scheming boyfriend. When Hazel is targeted by a child sacrificing cult, she sends out a psychic cry for help that Hellboy picks up on. Hazel and her family aren’t perfect, and she isn’t exactly a cool new character to show off; mostly, she’s a scared and troublesome young girl that Hellboy has to race to save, and it’s genuinely suspenseful and touching.

Other BPRD characters do get some focus. We are treated to two stories all about Liz Sherman, and one focusing on Kate Corrigan, BPRD’s folklorist. Chelsea Cain’s One More Radical Stone Fox follows a teenage Liz Sherman as she runs away from BPRD Headquarters, and it’s one story I wish I could see in comic format. In fact, I’d follow a whole series by Chelsea Cain about teenage Liz Sherman; Mike Mignola writes women well, but Cain absolutely nails a relatable Liz that explores her past and her powers without delving into self pity or unbearable teen angst.

Really, all this anthology was missing was Abe Sapien.

Hellboy: An Assortment of Horrors was published on August 29th by Dark Horse Books and is available wherever fine books are sold.

Megan “Spooky” Crittenden is a secluded writer who occasionally ventures from her home to give aid to traveling adventurers.

Final Girls - Book Review

Quincy Carpenter does not think of herself as a Final Girl, a name the press has given to her and two other girls who became the sole survivors of horror movie-esque massacres. After that terrible night at Pine Cottage, her memory is repressed and that is just fine with her. She’s got a successful baking blog, a loving boyfriend, and an endless Xanax prescription. But when Lisa, the first of the Final Girls, is found dead, Quincy’s world is turned upside down. The third Final Girl Samantha Boyd shows up on her door step, and soon Quincy finds herself forced to remember what happened that awful night.

Final Girls by Riley Sager is a tribute to slasher films. There is no relation to the film The Final Girls, in case you were wondering. If you’re not familiar with the genre, usually the only survivor at the end of the film is a girl, often a virgin or someone who lost her virginity shortly before the end of the movie. There’s a lot to be said about the Freudian implications of the trope, but Final Girls doesn’t really address it. Instead, the focus is largely on the mystery of what happened at Pine Cottage, and Quincy’s difficulty in acknowledging the past.

I hope you like baking, because there’s a lot of it in the book. In fact, the first half of the book is very slow. Like the slasher films this book takes it’s cues from, the protagonists are largely bland and unlikable and you wait anxiously for someone to finally be killed. Quincy is particularly bad about connecting the dots, and moping in purple prose internal monologues.  Her fiance Jeff exists solely to remind her that she’s supposed to be normal now and never deal with her trauma. Sam is the only one who is interesting, but you can tell she’s bad news because she dresses in punk fashion. I know my thrillers well enough to know that punk and goth is usually code for a weirdo or a villain, and other outdated stereotypes.

I felt also there was a fundamental issue with the idea of the media labeling the three girls as Final Girls. The world Quincy lives in must be a kinder one than we live in, because massacres are depressingly common in the US. Quincy says she cannot relate to survivors of sexual assault and other crimes, but there’s no mention of her reaching out to survivors of school shootings or misogynistic rampages. Either they don’t exist in the world, it was just not thought about. In this world, however, victims are usually forgotten or largely ignored and do not become celebrities. Many of us can list off many serial killers and mass murderers, and obsess about what drove them to murder, but rarely can we name a single victim. We deify murderers, not the people and certainly not the women that survive them.

The book picks up towards the end and to its credit, after a point I couldn’t put it down. There are twists and turns and red herrings, a few I called and a few that surprised. The way the pieces fit together with so many coincidences feels unsatisfactory, but there’s enough foreshadowing to prevent it from feeling completely cheap; it’s just too neatly tied together. Speaking of foreshadowing: flashbacks in a novel, even one that wants to be a slasher film, should be illegal. I know, author! I was there, I read it! I don’t need to read it twice!

It would be remiss not to bring up the fact that Riley Sager is the pen name of a man. “Riley Sager” seems to have been chosen, according to The Guardian at least, as a marketing ploy to be the next in the line of Gone Is The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo On The Train With All The Gifts. If so, it does suck that marketing sees successful female authors in the thriller category and decided to stage this as the next one. It’s especially shameful since it is utterly unnecessary; The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo started this “Girl” thriller title trend, and it was written by a man and enjoyed success because of it. There was simply no need! I actually enjoyed Final Girls better than I did The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. Which isn’t saying much, but it’s something.

While Sager is not bad at writing women, finding out that he’s a man makes some things make more sense, like the amount of baking without any talk of cleaning the huge mess baking makes, or the awkward sex talk between two female characters. There’s no Cool Girl speech here, and that’s fundamentally what marketing this book under Riley Sager misses; Flynn is partly popular because she has the perspective of a woman. It isn’t to say that men can’t write women well, or shouldn’t try. But you can’t slap an unisex name on something and hope it’ll sell out of feminist demand for female authors.

That said, if you’re a fan of slasher films, and can put up with a slow start, it won’t be a bad Halloween read. If you were looking for a sort of analysis of the final girl trope, and what it means, you are actually better off renting Behind The Mask: The Rise Of Leslie Vernon.

Final Girls by Riley Sager was published on July 5, 2017 by Dutton and is available wherever fine books are sold.

Megan “Spooky” Crittenden is a secluded writer who occasionally ventures from her home to give aid to traveling adventurers.

The Ancient Magus's Bride Is Just Wonderful

On July 26th Crunchyroll showed off the first three episode of The Ancient Magus’ Bride in theaters across the country, as an installment of it’s Anime Movie Nights. The show has yet to air in Japan or in North America, so it was a rare peak at an anime months before it is due to actually come out.

The Ancient Magus’ Bride follows Chise, a young girl who has lived a life of misfortune and out of desperation, sold herself into slavery. She is auctioned off to a bone faced mage named Elias Ainsworth, who aims to train her as his apprentice and one day marry her. He brings her from Japan to his English countryside residence, which she quickly begins to think of as home.

Now, yes. Elias is in fact a bone faced mage and that seems to be his genuine appearance, having to use magic to appear human at all (a face that Chise complains, looks fake). And yes, Elias makes for an extremely weird romantic interest for Chise. His bone face never changes expression, except for during humorous moments where his face becomes simplistic and he smiles or sweats. Despite his frightening appearance, I was surprised by how quickly I was endeared to it. He can look menacing, or genuinely pleasant, just by his words or the context of the scene. It’s no surprise that Chise quickly becomes loyal to him.

I haven’t seen the prequel or read the manga yet, so I went into this with only the trailer for the series. The show, from what we can tell from the first three episodes, avoids massive exposition dumps and instead prefers to world build slowly, when it makes sense for Chise to ask questions or be given information. It might be more useful for Chise to be sat down and taught everything all at once, but for the sake of narrative we should be glad that Elias and friends prefer to show rather than tell, and only tell when they must.

Chise’s history itself isn’t explained up front; how she came to sell herself into slavery is dripped out in the first three episodes, and I am sure we still don’t have the full story. It does not shy away from the fact that her reasons are depressing and she’s been left severely damaged by whatever has happened. I’m glad the reasons are saved; enough is shown already that we can believe that she felt like it was her best option, but we can watch her heal as we learn more about why she was so desperate in the first place. I realize this may all be explained in the prequel miniseries, but I never felt confused about what had happened. The sadness of the first three episodes are juxtaposed directly with scenes of acceptance, happiness and peace, which works very well. It is emotionally engaging without becoming overwhelming.

The show is heavy on whimsy; fairies come to chit chat, a letter Elias writes becomes a bird and flies away to deliver itself, cute spirits appear out of nowhere to cuddle—all the while harpsichord tingles to emphasize how magical it all is. Luckily, it avoids being too cheesy. The only times I felt like it was edging towards too much was one scene where Chise is babysitting infant dragons. It felt like it went on a bit too long, but again the juxtaposition came; after they fall asleep she has a conversation with their uncle about death. It’s all a bit too heavy to be appropriate for small children, but I can’t help but suspect this will be a good show to introduce to the tweens and teens in your life; cute and bubbly at times, but one that doesn’t sweep away how unfair life can be.

The Ancient Magus’s Bride will being to air on October 7th, 2017 on Crunchyroll. Two of the three prequel episodes are already there, and the third one will be added on September 7, 2017.

Megan “Spooky” Crittenden is a secluded writer who occasionally ventures from her home to give aid to traveling adventurers.

Kind Nepenthe Is A Tale Of The Perverse - Book Review

With Halloween only two months away, you’re going to have to select your October reads soon! To help you select this year’s offerings of spooky reads, I volunteer as tribute to read as many horrors and thrillers as I can humanly stand. Let’s look at Kind Nepenthe by Matthew V. Brockmeyer.

Rebecca Hawthorne really didn’t want to come to Homicide Hill, but recent work troubles and an eager boyfriend, Calendula, made her accept drug dealer Coyote’s job offer to grow marijuana. Her daughter, Megan, comes with them to live off the land in Humboldt County, but Rebecca begins to worry as Megan starts to obsess over death and ghosts. I have to admit I picked this one up for two reasons: my husband is from Humboldt County, and I am also someone’s creepy, macabre daughter named Megan.

“Homicide Hill” is Brockmeyer’s version of Murder Mountain, a real spot in Humboldt County with a sordid history of drugs and murder. While “Murder Mountain” is a better name, it’s understandable that Brockmeyer would want to create his own mythology from scratch, especially since some of the real life murders there are very recent and unsolved. Some elements are there; the real Murder Mountain was once home to a pair of hippie serial killers, while Homicide Hill is the resting place of one long dead serial killer and his victims. It’s obvious what he is taking inspiration from, but does not feel exploitative at all.

Kind Nepenthe works best as a gripping drama with the conflict between dreams and the shitty reality at the center. Rebecca, Calendula, Coyote and Dan are not bad people, but they make terrible decisions one after another that leave them only shitty options. Some of Rebecca and Calendula’s troubles feel a bit contrived; after the first pay day, why doesn’t Rebecca rent an apartment in Eureka and take another job while Calendula stays to grow the weed? Why doesn’t Rebecca homeschool Megan at all? I felt the horror elements could have been cut altogether and more focus put on the very real problems that they all had. A great deal of thought is put into the logistics of growing and selling weed, but simple matters like Megan’s truancy gets shuffled away for unnecessary spookiness. Not much of the horror is actually scary and just feels like a diversion from the good parts. The little boy ghost feels cookie cutter, and let’s just say that any scene that involves a man getting eaten by a monstrous vagina isn’t scary, it’s hilarious. After that it was just hard to take any of the supernatural parts seriously.

This is Brockmeyer’s first novel, but he has published several short stories and has a creepy pasta following. I bring this up not to accuse him of being an amateur; his prose is fine, and the book is miles ahead of many horror novels I’ve read. I do think many of my gripes with this book comes from elements that would be fine in a short story, but do not necessarily work in a novel format. The supernatural scares feel unnecessary, and the ending just feels too sudden and an unsatisfactory way to leave characters that I’ve spent a whole novel getting attached to. In the end it feels like the characters were pushed off of Plot Cliff rather than brought to an organic ending that does them justice.

Kind Nepenthe by Matthew V. Brockmeyer was published by Black Rose Writing on July 27, 2017, and is available wherever fine books are sold.

Megan “Spooky” Crittenden is a secluded writer who occasionally ventures from her home to give aid to traveling adventurers.

My Best Friend's Exorcism - Book Review

My sister is also a voracious reader, but growing up we didn’t have similar tastes in books. I liked Animorphs, she liked Goosebumps. She loved Nancy Drew, I loved Redwall. We both read The Babysitter’s Club, but she was a Kristy fan while I wanted to be Claudia. There wasn’t really anything we could bond over until in our tweens when we got our hands on Fear Street.

My Best Friend’s Exorcism by Grady Hendrix is a nostalgic trip for anyone who experienced the eighties, but for me it reminds me a lot of Fear Street Cheerleaders (my favourite thing ever from R.L. Stine).  The story centers around Abby and Gretchen, two best friends whose relationship is put to the test in 1988, when Gretchen starts acting strangely. She just isn’t herself, and Abby suspects a number of things; a bad trip, problems at home, and even sexual assault. In fact, it’s not just that Gretchen is strange; very odd things begin to happen when she is around. By the time Abby realizes her friend might be possessed, their friends are hurt and Abby has little time left before the demon comes for her.

My Best Friend’s Exorcism, for the most part, relies on pop culture references and tropes to tell its story. For about two thirds of the book, the story goes as you pretty much suspect: the scares get increasingly horrifying; friends turns against friends in misunderstandings; and parents and authority figures do not believe and actively impede their attempts to fix their problems. The scares are genuinely good and frightening; without spoiling anything, there’s one in particular that revived a irrational fear I had as a child, that I had forgotten about until now. Thanks, Hendrix!

It’s all by the numbers until the last third of the book, which saves it from becoming boring and predictable. I did feel that it leaned too hard on tropes before that point, risking the reader getting a little fed up with just how much the world is against Abby. Once Abby approaches the exorcist, however, it becomes far more than just another nostalgic homage to all things eighties.

Below there be mild spoilers!

One common trope in exorcism stories is that a girl is possessed, usually by exploring the occult, and a man must drive the demon (who is often sexually deviant) out of her to save her. There’s a lot of sexist baggage to unpack there! First, it denigrates occult practices like fortune telling and mediumship that are mostly practiced by women. Tainted by these evil feminine practices, the girl/woman becomes sexually perverse and must be stopped by a Church father. The demon in exorcism tales can often be read as multiple dangers of modern society: feminism, free love, new religions, and independence from traditional patriarchal religion.

 Without spoiling too much, My Best Friend’s Exorcism is the first exorcism tale I’ve read that did not totally rely on a man to save the possessed; the power of friendship, not the power of Christ, compels you. Neopagans and Spiritualists may also rejoice; the source of Gretchen’s possession does not come from ouija boards or dabbling in magic. There is a lot of reference to the Satanic Panic of the 80s, but very little concretely ties into the plot.

The surprise twist is a breath of fresh air in the genre, and to me that more than makes up for the derivative parts of the narrative that drives us there. My Best Friend’s Exorcism is a fun, gross, heartwarming tale of friendship in the 80s, and I challenge you not to cry when you read the last paragraph. I now know what I’m getting my sister for Christmas!

My Best Friend's Exorcism by Grady Hendrix was published by Quirky Books in May 2016, but that amazing paperback cover was released July 11th 2017.  It is available wherever books are sold.

Megan “Spooky” Crittenden is a secluded writer who occasionally ventures from her home to give aid to traveling adventurers.

Strange Practice Heals Your Summer Woes

We’re in the thick of summer now, and if you’re anything like me you’re filling up on Hellboy and Castlevania, because in the heat of summer all I can think about is death and horror. It really can’t just be me, because on top of Castlevania, we got the release of Strange Practice by Vivian Shaw. It could not wait for the Halloween season, no, we need a book to remind us that relief is just a month or two away.

Greta Helsing is a doctor to the supernatural, inheriting her clinic after her father died. Among her patients are mummies, werewolves, demons, ghouls, and vampires. Greta loves her work, but a serial killer stalks the streets of London, and humans are not the only thing it is preying on. When the vampire Varney is viciously attacked by a group of cultists, Greta realizes that this is more than your standard vampire hunter. She and her small group of supernatural friends work to investigate the cult and put an end to their reign of terror.

If you insist that vampires are unequivocally monsters not to be romanticized, this is not the book for you. The book does not glorify abusive romance or spend too much time on the melancholy of being a vampire. Rather, the vampires are just so nice and gosh darn eager to help. They do not kill their victims, they do not use their mind control abilities for evil, and their biggest problem is that after all these centuries it just gets a bit dull. Ruthven particularly is less vampire and more Greta’s immortal rich friend who is eager to smother her and anyone he meets with generosity and home cooking. Varney is more morose, but utterly harmless.

Another curious fact about her group of friends is that she has surrounded herself with a harem of men, and no other woman besides Greta is of any importance. Greta mourns her father, but as far as I recall there is no mention of her mother. The only other two mostly-human named female characters are her assistants at the clinic, who cover for her while she investigates the mad monks. They do not have much personality or purpose besides the logistics of running the clinic. Aside from one motherly ghoul who barely speaks, Greta is completely surrounded by men who fawn over her. While Fass is a father figure, the other men in her entourage remind me a bit of characters in a dating sim. I couldn't refrain from taking bets with myself on who she would end up with. (I was, as it turns out, completely right.)

That might give you the impression that this is a light, fluffy read, but not so. It just may or may not be your cup of tea. The world Shaw builds is intriguing even if the vamps lack bite; the idea of a doctor for supernaturals is just too ticklish and Shaw takes great pains to make it all so believable. In between developments, Greta attends to mummies who need body parts replaced, demons with asthma, and ghouls with depression. I have no idea if any of Greta’s medical talk is accurate, but it is certainly convincing to the lay reader without feeling overwhelmed with jargon. If you’ve ever read a good sci-fi whose science you didn’t completely understand, you’ll know what I’m talking about.

In fact, structure-wise my only criticism is the pacing. The book feels a good fifty pages too long, as much minutiae is explained that doesn’t really need to be. Whole scenes could have been cut, and the ending overstays its welcome after the climax we slowly clawed our way to. That is in part intentional: Shaw’s strengths lie in the witty banter between Greta and her friends, but not much so on mystery or action. Either more action or a shorter book would have improved the experience.

Once we get over the lack of much that is actually morally grey (let alone pure evil), Strange Practice offers a spoopy summer read. Frankly, there should be more books like it: if the weather isn’t quite ready for fall horror reads, Strange Practice will whet your appetite for monsters until it is seasonally acceptable to binge read Dracula late at night.

Megan “Spooky” Crittenden is a secluded writer who occasionally ventures from her home to give aid to traveling adventurers

Vambrace Yourselves: The Great Wonder Woman Roundtable

Despite being one of the three most important characters in the DC universe, it's taken Wonder Woman an inordinate amount of time to get a movie adaptation worthy of her. Until now, the only adaptations of the Amazon Princess's adventures were the Lynda Carter-starring 1970s TV show and the 2009 animated movie.  Otherwise, the character was generally either part of an ensemble or worse, given a side role. It felt like Wonder Woman will never get the chance to shine her fellow Trinity members Batman and Superman got. Even the announcement that WB is making one that'll be a part of their cinematic universe didn't inspire confidence, especially due to the controversial nature of the DCEU, influenced by the general depressing tone and quality of already released films.

But all our fears turned out to be unfounded, as Patty Jenkins's Wonder Woman turned out as well as it did, gaining outstanding critical acclaim and love from fans both old and new —  breaking box office records all over the world. After this undeniable success, the future of female-led superhero movies is looking brighter than ever.

Naturally, we here at Critical Writ have our own thoughts about Wonder Woman. We've already released our review of the movie, written by our own Elessar and now it's time for our other members to discuss how the film affected them.

Warning:  We do discuss spoilers below!  

Let's begin by sharing our personal history with the character. Are you a new-fangled fan, or were you already very familiar with Wonder Woman?

Tova: I’m very new to Wonder Woman. I borrowed the Sensation Comics anthology with Wonder Women stories from the library just before the movie premiered and had read some of that, and I read the first volume of DC Bombshells, but that’s the only experience I have with the character outside of hearing and reading about her. I’ve also frequently used the GIF of Lynda Carter smashing the patriarchy, of course.

Adrian: I’m very familiar with the comics and animated stories! I’m a fan of Greg Rucka’s various runs, Gail Simone is my hero, but the Justice League cartoon stands out as having the most on-point Wonder Woman. Susan Eisenberg’s voice work epitomizes Diana much like Kevin Conroy is the definitive voice of Batman. I love Diana so much that once aspiring to write a Wonder Woman screenplay served as a catalyst for growing my creative writing skills.

Rosario: I am very familiar with the character, insofar as “half-remembered fragments of Lynda Carter’s show” and being a long-time fan of the DCAU. Even now, getting comics in my country is a tall order, so I never got into them. But Diana was always one of my favorite heroes. My love of all things mythological just cemented my love for her.

Megan:  I’ve been reading Wonder Woman now for almost ten years; it was Gail Simone’s The Circle that really made me a fan.  I wanted to get into her earlier, but I always thought her costume (the one with the star spangled panties) was utterly ridiculous.  Terry Dodson drew her to make her look so powerful, so it was when I saw the cover for The Circle that I felt I could really get over that.  Ever since, I felt like DC had the greatest superhero ever on their hands that they just weren’t promoting well.  If you’re a longtime Wonder Woman fan, it’s the same as being a long suffering Wonder Woman fan.

Ivonne: I’m pretty new to Wondie. I mean I know Lynda Carter’s Wonder Woman, and that’s about it. I never read the comic books before last year, and I’ve only read a smidgen of stuff since. Mostly, everything I know about Wondie I know from the DC animated movies/series, and word of mouth.

What are your overall feelings on the movie?

Adrian: Relief. It’s been a rough five years or so for DC fans. The comics went through a contentious period with the New 52 and the DCCU has been struggling to find its footing. It had grown hard to imagine that DC fans would ever “get to have nice things.” Patty Jenkins delivered a fun, tonally-accurate, and explosive adventure. I feel, for once, hope for the DCCU.

Tova: I’ll answer this question in a very literal way: Many and intense! There’s a lot of joy simply in seeing a badass heroine at the centre of a story, but when empathy is one of the central characteristics of that heroine, that joy turns much stronger and bigger. Perhaps the sadness in the movie was also heightened as a result, because I felt that more intensely than usual with epic adventure movies as well. And a strange kind of protective love for mankind that most of the type of humans and human actions we see in this story really shouldn’t inspire but which Wonder Woman is full of. It was definitely an inspiring movie. I’m aware I’ve likely ignored many issues with the plot because of all these emotions and the awe it made me feel, but that seems like minor details when a movie gives you this kind of experience.

Rosario: I agree with Tova, I am probably being more forgiving of the film due to the sheer excitement of seeing Diana in the big screen. Do understand, that for me has been a really, really long time. The other DC animated film about her I keep hearing about? I don’t even think it’s dubbed, there are no DVDs of it being sold here, it hasn’t been aired so far as I know… It has been a really, really long time. The hype has been so real here, with people going multiple times to the cinema for Wonder Woman. This is not something we do here. When I sat in the cinema and saw Themyscira for the first time it felt—wow.

Megan:  Like Adrian, relief.  You’ve come a long way, Diana.  I’m so happy that not only did she get her first big budget film, and not only is it a critical darling and box office success—it is a movie that is in love with Wonder Woman and everything she represents.  Despite the changes from the comic, the movie gets to the heart of what makes her so damn lovable.  I feel vindicated, and I am so happy that millions of people now have a chance to love her too!

Ivonne: Relieved that it didn’t suck! This was the one movie DC needed to get right, and they did, apparently more by accident and lack of care, than by design (they gave Jenkins pretty free reign, and seemed quite surprised by the success of the film). I’m a Marvel fangurl first and foremost, but I needed WW to do well, for the express reason of kicking Marvel in the ass so they start acknowledging their female fans… and so that they don’t screw up Captain Marvel. As for Wonder Woman itself, I loved it. It was inspiring, visually beautiful, and one of the only movies I’ve seen come out of Hollywood that wasn’t male-gazey. It was, in a word, wonderful.

How did you find the plot? What do you think about the the movie's version of Diana's origin?

Adrian: I feel great affection for the clay baby origin, but the New 52 ret-con establishing Diana as Zeus’ daughter opened up a whole new, exciting wing of her family tree that was previously non-existent. So much potential here! And yet, it seems they scuttled all those possibilities in the few minutes of Wonder Woman, establishing that the entire pantheon of gods were eliminated in Zeus and Ares’ great conflict. The plot perfectly serves Diana’s character growth and while I’m thankful for that, I mourn what could have been, and hope for a return of the gods in sequel.

Rosario: I am extremely ignorant of the comics. I know the broad strokes, and with all the controversy the New-52 retcon drudged up it was all but impossible for me to ignore, so… This is the first time for me encountering Diana’s origin, so I am… blasé, maybe? It’s a good story as any. It is suitably mythological for me because of the incestuous undertones: The Amazons were created by Zeus, so kind of like his daughters, then Zeus and Hippolyta had a clay baby. To me it was more important how the film emphasized how it was the Amazonian society that gave Diana her morals, and how it was Antiope’s and Hippolyta's love what shaped her into the woman who became a heroine.

Tova: I really liked the idea that Diana doesn't have a father, even in the biological sense, but only a mother. Her entire history and heritage being female is just so appealing to me, especially considering no one ever suggests there's something missing there — her family and childhood is whole and full. Like Rosario says, the film still emphasizes the women around Diana, and it's clear they're the ones who shaped her. But you don't go "By the way, you were told a lie about your origin and Zeus is actually your father" and then not examine what that means for the character. I'm not looking forward to that examination (sorry!).

Megan:  The plot, overall, is fairly in line with what we’ve seen before in the comics.  Unfortunately, the goddesses involved in her creation are gone, boo.  But it’s not the New 52 origin, which I was dreading.  The clay baby origin is always my favourite, and while there was a quick line that suggested that wasn’t true, that person wasn’t under the sway of the lasso yet, I don’t think, and so I’m choosing to ignore it.  I just wish there was a cinematic of the clay baby coming to life and the Amazons crowding around the one child they ever had, or that they included that they were reincarnated from abused women.

Ivonne: I’m not a fan of all the goddesses having been killed, but I don’t mind Diana having a father. Although, not going to lie, when it was revealed that he had sired Diana on Hippolyta, my immediate thought was to wonder what animal he turned her into to rape her, since Zeus is kind of known for that. I know, pretty awful, but there you have it. Zeus was very… clean in this version of Greek mythology. But I guess he’s dead, so whatever. I’m fine with not having him present in her life.

How did you feel Gal Gadot fared in the role?

Tova: Great! She has such an expressive face, and I love how you get to see the outside world reflected through her eyes when you watch her watch it. Like when Diana first encounters soldiers wounded in the war, or the people in the French village they reach after going through No Man’s Land. I’m ashamed to admit it, but I’ve grown somewhat immune to similar scenes showing war after so many movies have used them, and they don’t pack the same emotional punch anymore. But thanks to Gadot’s acting (and probably the writing and directing as well) these scenes do work, and it makes the whole story more engaging, as it gives us great insight into Diana’s motivations in her quest to end the war. Then she puts on her warrior face, and the determination behind Gadot’s eyes is just as convincing as the compassion.

Adrian: I’ve been a fan of Gal since her work in the Fast & Furious franchise. Gisele and Han OTP! I think she did a good job in accurately expressing Diana’s warmth, determination, conviction, and purity of heart. I don’t feel like Gal’s talent as an actress has grown much past her days in Fast, but I think I’m in the minority on that assessment: after all, she did make millions of people cry!

Rosario: She pulls off the naïvety so well. I don’t remember much of her prior work, thus, I cannot comment on that, but when she runs up, excited at seeing a baby, when she was eating the ice cream and thanked profusely the vendor… Gadot was amazing. The way Diana marveled at her own power was also very good acting. She was occasionally weak when she had to be more serious, but maybe that could be interpreted as Diana being somewhat confused at the stupid morality of Man’s World, so I don’t give much weight to it.

Megan:  Fantastic.  There were a few lines I thought were clunky, particularly the narration at the beginning and at the end, but it could have just been how it was written.  Those were my only gripes, and I quickly forgot it once the film got going.  When she was cast I was disappointed that they didn’t go with an actress who was more muscular; yes, I was one of those people!  And I will admit I was wrong.  Gadot looked powerful and strong.  I totally believed she could lift a tank like it was nothing.

Ivonne: Back when Gadot was introduced, I wasn’t sure I liked her. And on a political level, I don’t, because her politics regarding Palestine is typically Israeli. That said, and setting dubious politics aside, I thought Gadot was fabulous in this role. She really owned it, she seemed to revel in it, she looked gorgeous and powerful. She was so expressive in her wonder when Diana is first running around London, and yet she never comes off as naive or stupid. Gadot ended up being perfect for the role despite my initial misgivings.

What are your thoughts on the film's supporting cast - the characters adapted from comics (Steve, Etta) and the original ones (Sameer, Charlie and Chief)?

Adrian: Etta was exceptional; we need more of her. In the past, Steve has pointedly been Diana’s damsel in distress, but in the film they succeeded in making him more than a mere love interest, but a friend and an inspiration. Diana deserves no less. I really enjoyed the original characters, but much like Etta, I’m saddened that we can’t expect to see more of them.

Rosario: Steve was so charming, I truly hurt for Diana when That Scene happened. Because of how much the trailers featured Etta, I was disappointed that we didn’t get more of her in the film, so I hope there is a director’s cut or extra scenes or something when we can appreciate more of her, as well as have more of the trio. Overall, I thought the supporting cast was great, especially their interactions with Diana. My favorite was Chief, mainly due to the potential of his character. In a universe where the gods existed, could it be really that he is a demigod? I sure hope so! I hope he appears in more films! Also, I liked how the Soldier Trio represented something about war. Sameer is the person with no other hope than to join the war, Charlie is the soldier who struggles to try to make something of himself in a war he doesn't know what it stands for anymore and that has damaged him, and Chief is the one so hurt by conflict that he is just numb to further conflict. That’s what they are until Diana comes along.

Megan:  I love Etta!  More of her please!  If her sequel is modern day, can she have been reincarnated?  Same actress in the role of Smetta Smandy? Steve was great.  The animated movie kind of poisoned his character for me (he’s a chauvinist pig in that one), and Chris Pine is kind of a similar character in the first Star Trek film so I was anticipating something similar.  But Pine did a fantastic job and I really loved him in the end.  Sameer, Charlier and Chief were great; I really love that the film didn’t shy away from the fact that this was a war of colonial powers that brought men of colour from around the world to fight in a war they had no real stake in.  I also hope the theory that Chief is a demigod himself is true, I’d love to see him in the sequel.

Ivonne: Chris Pine was another surprise for me (along with Gadot). I thought he did a fabulous Steve Trevor. He was never over-bearing, despite probably thinking Diana was a little bit crazy, and ultimately he proved himself to be respectful of her and her power. I was pleased at how well Chris Pine, a leading man normally, seemed to naturally take to the role of supporting actor to Gadot. As for the Howling Commandos Lite, they were pretty good. If I have any complaints, is that we maybe didn’t get enough of them. They grounded Diana, humanized the faces of this terrible war, and they did it well.

Tova: I don’t think there’s much to add here! I always like a good ragtag team of misfits, and then one here did not disappoint. Like the others have said, I would have liked to see more of them, and more of Etta Candy, so I’m a little sad the sequel will take place in the present.
I’ll also miss Steve, who really was a pleasant surprise.

What are your thoughts on how the movie handled its human and supernatural villains?

Adrian: Dr. Poison was very intriguing, another character who I desperately want to know and see more of. Ludendorff and Ares were a bit two-dimensional, but I felt like Dr. Poison could carry a whole film. Could we get extras and vignettes like they did for the MCU? Ares serving as a violent muse to mankind has some interesting tendrils to explore, but ultimately it seemed to diminish the depth of the human villains.

Rosario: We definitely need to see more of Dr. Poison. Elena Anaya’s interview with The Verge uncovers so much I am thirsty. And I didn’t even know it! That said, while I agree that Ludendorff and Ares need to be explored more, I think I may be one of the only people who disagree with the assessment that the film did not serve itself by having Ludendorff and Ares be stereotypical villains. I actually liked that Ludendorff was like a human version of Ares. It really set up that Man is the best (as reflected by Steve and Etta) and the worst.

Tova: I think it was necessary to have human villains, for the reason Rosario describes, to show personifications of the worst as well as the best of humankind. I do not agree about Dr. Poison. To my, admittedly limited, understanding of the DC world of heroes and villains, one of its biggest issues is that villainy there very often comes from mental illness. It’s so full of mentally unstable villains that an asylum for the “criminally insane” is one of the main locations of DC stories, and a large share of Batman’s enemies have been patients there. Along with that there’s also the more widespread trope where disfigurement or disability (the two often being intermixed in pop culture) either serves as a sign of evil or itself leads to evil.

One of the clearest examples might be Two-Face, who is driven insane and adopts his villainous persona after being severely scarred on one side of the face, and is often portrayed as suffering from schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and/or dissociative identity disorder.

With this in mind, to have a villain who is obsessive, sadistic and “a maniac”, and whose “hideous” facial scars are described as proof of her sadistic side (all descriptions from the Anaya interview) seems to me to reinforce all those harmful tropes. I think Dr. Poison is a step up from characters like Two-Face, but then, why use that category of storytelling device at all? There are so many better options out there.

Megan:  The villains just weren’t developed well, but I think that was okay for the story they were trying to tell.  It wasn’t really about who the big bad was, because the real danger is the potential for evil that is in every human.  That said, what I like about Wonder Woman comics is that she really gets to the heart of her villains and often wins them over to her side.  Part of me wishes we saw that with Dr Poison, the last big fight could have been cut down and we could have had some resolution between them.  On the other hand, an unrepentant female villain is so rare, outside the femme fatale trope.  She’s scarred, she’s mean, she’s not sorry, and she’s not not going to fall for a pretty face, Steve.

Ivonne: I really wanted more of Dr. Poison. I felt like there was a great deal of development left at the table with her. But she was convincingly evil, and I was glad she didn’t fall for Steve’s shenanigans at the party. The actress needed more room to shine, because honestly, she was fabulous.

I thought the use of Ludendorff was a strange choice, seeing as he is an actual historical figure from WW1 that survives that war to get somewhat involved with Hitler prior to WW2. Making the choice to kill him was odd, to say the least. They could have called that character anything, made up a name of a fictional general, so why use a real historical figure? Add to that, I guarantee that most American audiences don’t know the name. It’s not that he’s obscure--he’s not--but American history courses are woefully short when it comes to anything before WW2. European audiences probably knew Ludendorff quite well, though, and especially his history.

Ares was… okay. The final battle was all kinds of cool CGI, but it was weird to see Professor Lupin as the god of war. For all that Ares was the boogeyman that Diana chased the entire movie, he wasn’t particularly frightening. That said, I will give kudos to the fact that I never saw it coming that this particular character was Ares. Normally superhero films are fairly predictable, so it was nice to be surprised that way.

What did you think about the movie’s use of the World War I setting, as opposed to WW2, more traditionally connected to Wonder Woman’s origin?

Rosario: I thought it was brilliant, actually. It’s one of the best settings to learn about the murky world we live in, at least for an Amazon warrior. The War is one of the murkiest conflicts ever. The War was arguably started by the Black Hand, an extremist Serbian separatist group, when Gavrilo Princip killed Archduke Ferdinand. It is a prime example of a “your terrorist are our freedom fighters” scenario. The whole thing was magnified by allies dragging each other into war, treaties falling apart all over the place—just look at how the Kingdom of Italy went from the Allied side to the Triple Entente side. It’s really tragic as well how it strips away Diana’s conviction that we are so inherently good. Yet, she chose chose to fight that final battle, anyway. Had I not known from hearsay her comics’ origin is in World War II, I would never have guessed, since The Great War feels so thematically appropriate for Wonder Woman.

Tova: This is where I have to admit I thought the movie took place during WWII all through watching it. Quite embarrassing, but also regrettable for the dimension clearly lost on me because I wasn’t aware of the context! I love Rosario’s analysis here, and in hindsight it truly does enhance the themes of human nature of good and evil and, especially, the grey area in between.

Adrian: There's a lot of thematic symmetry between Diana's first experiences with Man's World and mankind itself coming to grips with the new horrors of modern warfare, so I think the setting world worked beautifully. One of the trailers that ran before Wonder Woman was Dunkirk, the story of a massive rescue operation to save Allied soldiers from the Germans in WWII. A rescued soldier, fearing for his own life, balks at prospect of returning to Dunkirk to save more lives, when the ship’s captain tells him "There's no hiding from this, son. We have a job to do." It's that same call to duty that soldiers faced in WWI, and in a way that had never been experienced before. You won't have trouble finding exceptionally bloody episodes throughout history, but the first World War set a gruesome new standard in suffering, appallingly prodigious in death count; something the world had not previously seen or imagined. Life in the trenches of Verdun was so deadly, so bleak, it's what directly inspired J.R.R. Tolkien's vision of Mordor in Lord of the Rings. Indeed, the never-ending battle of attrition that is “No Man’s Land” set an ideal landscape in which Diana could arise, crossing the chasm that no man could, establishing not just to the audience but to herself, that she can make a difference, even when the task before her is an impossible one.

Megan:  For the story they’re trying to tell, it was a perfect change.  With WWII, you have the Nazis vs the Allies and I think we can all agree that while Allies committed war crimes too, it’s largely accepted that it was a war against evil.  WWI wasn’t about that.  It wasn’t good versus evil, us against Nazis and genocide.  It was empires with stolen lands forcing men to fight over, essentially, nothing.  It wasn’t a war any side can really feel good about.  It was a terrible, pointless  war that should never have happened at all.  I really liked that in the British war council, the general was all for sacrificing soldiers, and on the German council before Ludendorff attacked would not stand for any more lives being lost.  The Germans weren’t any more to blame here than the British.  That and you know, the reveal about Ares, really hit that home.

Ivonne: It was a nice change of pace to have WW1 be the setting, but for all of that, this movie still felt a great deal like Captain America: The First Avenger in the entire latter half. Also, I heard that there were American audiences who were puzzled on which war it was, but honestly, that says more about the public education in this country than anything else. The movie “placed” the setting quite well, between the language Steve used to try to explain it to the Amazons, and the trench warfare. Costumes, props, and things like the planes were gorgeously done to make this period piece work.

What did you like the most about the film? And what you thought was its biggest failing?

Adrian: I have some minor quibblings around Diana’s naiveté (a bit overdone) and the mythology (for instance, they didn’t cover why she wears the bracers or the nature or purpose of their power), but the biggest failing of the film was a lack of representation. Many have rightly said Wonder Woman is inescapably a feminist film, which is why the film is remiss regarding intersectionality. Anyone not hopelessly insulated recognizes the Amazons of Themyscira as queer, yet this is never represented on screen. While the racial diversity could have been worse (I love that Artemis, of an African Amazon splinter-cell Bana-Mighdall, was played by Ann Wolfe!), many Amazons' scenes were cut. With the core cast of Amazons being blonde and white, we’re left with the same old story: white women elevated to the forefront of modern feminist ideals, with women of color unobtrusively shuffled off to the side. While Gal Gadot provides much-needed representation for Jewish women in superhero films, we cannot ignore that “Hollywood perceives her in terms of unspecified whiteness.” Otherwise, I will forever love Wonder Woman for simply getting Diana’s character right. The depiction of Themyscira and the Amazons was otherwise near perfection and the proper tone of the film could serve dividends for the whole future of the DCCU. Wonder Woman is a great movie.

Rosario: I don’t have much to add to this, since I mostly agree with Adrian in failings and strengths. More explanations, more diversity in the Amazons is needed. That said, the combat scenes were well done, the slow-mo was in all the right places.

Tova: If it’s not already clear from the amount of words I used to criticize the character, Dr. Poison is one of my least favourite parts of the film. Anaya plays her splendidly, but I can’t disregard the problematic elements, which are really at the foundation of the character.
One other thing that has kept tugging at my mind since I first thought of it is: Why the hell is there no mention of Wonder Woman returning, or not returning, to Themyscira at the end of the movie? It’s almost like the Amazons are forgotten. That doesn’t fit the tone in the first part of the movie, and certainly not the parting of Diana and her mother. Themyscira is such an important part of Wonder Woman’s story, and I would have liked to see that acknowledged as this first story wraps up.

As for what I liked the most: The feelings! The feminism! The wonder! I suspect everything that has made people love Wonder Woman for decades

Megan:  Not to correct you Tova, but Hippolyta says to Diana as she leaves that she can never come back.  This is a thing in the comics; once she leaves, she may never return.  Of course, in the comics she eventually does, and since Amazons are going to be in Justice League we should get an answer.  I do agree with Adrian about representation, could have been better.  I also really wish Diana was less confused by sexism and more outraged by it.  I suppose that would have clued her into the evils of man sooner, unless she would just conclude the patriarchy is a tool of Ares as well. As for what I liked most….Themyscira!  It was everything I wanted and more.

Ivonne: I loved the way this movie made me feel. I loved seeing a powerful woman who was still feminine and beautiful. I loved that she wasn’t filmed under the male gaze. I loved Themyscira and wanted more of it. More Amazons, more Amazons of color, especially. And as Adrian has already pointed out, the film’s biggest failing was how powerful the white feminism was, but how short it was on representation of anyone else. Yes, we saw black Amazons, and some brown ones too, but they didn’t speak, and one of them was even the Mammy stereotype when Diana was a child. Oooo boy… as a feminist piece, this one has major failings on intersectionality.

I’m not sure if this is a failing or a strength, but I did feel like someone at WB looked around, asked why MoS, BvS, and SS were so critically panned while Marvel has had a dozen hits, and decided “screw it, if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.” Wonder Woman felt, emotionally, like Captain America: The First Avenger to me, and it pretty much even ended the same way. When the movie ended, my husband leaned over and whispered, “Steve will be back in Wonder Woman: The December Soldier!” But seeing as how The First Avenger still remains one of Marvel’s best films, I suppose this isn’t a failure for Wonder Woman. And well, it’s no accident that so many folks, including critics, loved this one, as opposed to the first three DC films.

Finally, let's make a wishlist for the future sequel, which is obviously coming thanks to the movie's reception. What would you like to see in it, aside from the return of Patty Jenkins in the directorial chair? What are your biggest hopes and greatest wishes?

Adrian: More women of color, more Amazons, more gods, more magic! Villains! Cheetah, Circe, and Medusa (see: Wonder Woman: Eyes of the Gorgon by Greg Rucka) would all make great villains for the sequels! Sidekicks! Can we get Wonder Girl Donna Troy and/or Cassie Sandsmark? An Artemis and Antiope buddy warrior movie?! I want all the things! Also, it’s implied the canon that there is a lineage of Amazonian Wonder Women throughout history. Can we get a Hippolyta as an ancient world Wonder Woman prequel? Can we see Nubia, Diana’s twin sister as Wonder Woman? There definitely were Wonder Women before Diana; what else would the suit have been made for?

Tova: More Amazons, which should naturally lead to more WOC and queerness. And it’s not enough to show that other Amazons are queer, I want an unambiguously pan- or bisexual Wonder Woman as well, and I want it treated with the same subversion of the male gaze that much of this movie showed. If I can dream big then bigoted straight men will watch the sequel and feel annoyed and let down, and cool men, women and non-binary folks will leave the theatre feeling empowered. I want a movie that truly deserves the label “cultural Marxist SJW propaganda”. Because we’re worth it.

Megan:  I think as long as China bans any movie with outright LGBT representation, we’re not getting it in a Wonder Woman film.  That would be my greatest wish though. But more Amazons, Nubia, Smetta Smandy, Chief, The Holliday Girls, and Ferdinand please.  Also, WB, email me about my amazing Wonder Woman RPG idea.  The lasso mechanics alone will be worth it.

Ivonne: More Amazons, more women, more women of all colors, goddesses returning, some of Wondie’s classic female villains… and that’s to start! Also, needs more lassoing, and definitely an invisible jet (I’m kidding, that’s stupid). But seriously, I just want more Wonder Woman, and more Patty Jenkins, and LOTS MORE FEMALE DIRECTORS AND STARS. And I want it right now!

Adrian Martinez is a graphic designer, comic book letterer, hobbyist writer, and all-around geek living in New York City.

Dominik Zine is a nerdy demisexual lad from northeastern Poland and is generally found in a comfy chair with a book in hand.

Ivonne Martin is a writer, gamer, and avid consumer of all things geek—and is probably entirely too verbose for her own good.

Megan “Spooky” Crittenden is a secluded writer who occasionally ventures from her home to give aid to traveling adventurers.

Rosario is an early-twenties, outspoken woman, who likes to burrow between piles of books, and store miscellaneous trivia in her head.

Tova Crossler Ernström is a bisexual Swede, feminist, socialist, INFJ, Hufflepuff, HSP and Taurus. She is fond of personality tests, labels and lists.