Hilda TV Show Review (Contains Spoilers)| Carenza Bramwell

Taken from Google Images 

Title- Hilda
Creators- Luke Pearson, Stephanie Simpson and Kurt Mueller  
Cast- Bella Ramsey, Daisy Haggard and many more

Genre- animated, urban-fantasy, drama

Length- twenty-six episodes 

Platform- Netflix

Rating- 4/5 stars

Plot

Hilda is a British-Canadian-American animated urban fantasy drama television series based on the graphic novel series of the same name by Luke Pearson. Produced by Silvergate Media and Mercury Filmworks, the series follows the adventures of fearless Hilda, a young blue-haired girl who, along with her deerfox Twig, moves to the city of Trolberg, where she befriends even the most dangerous monsters.

Taken from Hilda's Wikipedia Page

Opinions

Taken from Google Images

My connection with the Hilda stories starts back in 2010-2011 when I was on a day trip to Edinburgh and I visited a gallery where they were selling the first two books. I can't remember what gallery now, but I have this memory of asking my parents to get me the books. I liked the look of the stories and the artwork. I must have read them at the time and throughout the years since they have survived many book unhauls. I'm not sure when I became aware that they were adapting them for a Netflix show, but I had to watch it. The first series came out in 2018 and I watched it a couple of times. As I waited for a second series, I almost forgot about the show. Then suddenly, in December of last year, I saw that there was a new series. I had to watch it. I decided to rewatch the first series as I couldn't remember much from it, which was a smart decision. 

Taken from Google Images

This show made me really want to go exploring. I think I've been feeling like that a bit more because of lockdown and being nearly a year into a pandemic, but I just want to go somewhere and do something. Hilda would go exploring and find things to draw and I want to do that. It reminded me of when I was a kid and I would go to art galleries with my family, I would always find somewhere to sit and draw, even if it was in the middle of the floor. I want that excitement again. Also because of this show, I want to get back into drawing. I wrote a whole blog post about this, which you can read here. I've caught the exploring and creative vibes from this show. 

Taken from Google Images

I really loved the characters in this show. They each felt unique and had their own interests. Hilda is a great character. She's kind and caring, her passion for the wilderness and nature is really admirable. Frida and David are great characters, both with their own arcs and development. Alfur is a cute character. I love Wood-Man's sassiness. Hilda's mum, Johanna, could easily have become a disliked character as the mother who sometimes stops Hilda from doing the reckless things she does, but she's a very fleshed out character and I appreciated this. The creatures featured in this show are stunning. Twig is an icon, so is Raven. 

Taken from Google Images

I adore the art style of this show. It's very different from the book, which I'm kinda glad that there's a distinction between the books and the show. The colour palette is beautiful. I really want to spend some time drawing some of the scenes from this show as I love them so much. Forbidden Planet have released a line of merch for this show and I'm so tempted. I only own the first two books, so I am planning on getting all the graphic novels and reading them. This show is just so wholesome and fantastical, it was the perfect thing to watch during lockdown. I needed a bit of escapism and I got it. 

The ending of series two made me gasp. I cannot believe that Hilda and the baby troll have somehow swapped. I really need to know what happens. Hopefully we don't have another two year wait between series, but I know animated shows take a while to make. I think they're developing a movie length episode and I am very excited. 

What did you think of Hilda?

Carenza :) x     

Earthlings by Sayaka Murata Book Review (Contains Spoilers)| Carenza Bramwell

Title- Earthlings

Author- Sayaka Murata (Translated by Ginny Tapley Takemori)

Series- N/A

Published- 2020

Page Count- 247 pages 

Publishing House- Granta Books

Genre- translated fiction, magical realism 

Rating- 2/5 stars

Content Warnings- Child Abuse, Sexual Assault (on a child), Murder, Cannibalism 

About the Author

Sayaka Murata (村田沙耶香 Murata Sayaka; born August 14, 1979) is a Japanese writer. She has won the Gunzo Prize for New Writers, the Mishima Yukio Prize, the Noma Literary New Face Prize, and the Akutagawa Prize.

Taken from Sayaka's Wikipedia page

Plot

Natsuki isn't like the other girls. She has a wand and a transformation mirror. She might be a witch, or an alien from another planet. Together with her cousin Yuu, Natsuki spends her summers in the wild mountains of Nagano, dreaming of other worlds. When a terrible sequence of events threatens to part the two children forever, they make a promise: survive, no matter what.

Now Natsuki is grown. She lives a quiet life with her asexual husband, surviving as best she can by pretending to be normal. But the demands of Natsuki's family are increasing, her friends wonder why she's still not pregnant, and dark shadows from Natsuki's childhood are pursuing her. Fleeing the suburbs for the mountains of her childhood, Natsuki prepares herself with a reunion with Yuu. Will he still remember their promise? And will he help her keep it?

Taken from Goodreads

Opinions 

I had picked up this book after seeing it in a bookshop (remember when we could go to bookshops?) and then saw Convince Store Woman (also by Murata) all over the internet. I liked the cover and I thought the premise sounded interesting. I bought a signed edition as it sounded like a book I would really like. I was very wrong.

Before I get into why I didn't like it, I would like to talk about the marketing on this book. I feel that the marketing really did this book a huge injustice. A lot of the reviews, including the ones on the back, talk about how funny this book is. It is not a funny book. It's a deeply harrowing book. The cover also makes it seem like it's going to be fun and fluffy. While the toy hedgehog is important to the story, by having it on the cover it's actually quite misleading. Beth, from BooksNest, made this amazing thread on Twitter pointing out why the marketing was so bad for this book. They really tried to paint it in a light that it isn't. 

The only vaguely positive thing I have to say is that I kinda get the message this book was aiming for. It was a commentary on society and the expectations we have. I liked that message. Even though attitudes have changed, there is still an expectation to live a traditional life and conform to it. It does feel like we are all being churned out by factories, something the book mentions over and over. This message had the potential to be really powerful, but with the direction it went in, it just lost me. 

I found my experience reading this to be disturbing and harrowing. At first, it seemed okay. Then the child abuse and sexual assault plot lines were introduced. A scene that made me feel quite uncomfortable was the scene were the main character, I think aged 11 or 12 and the other character being 12 or 13, have sex. Yes, sometimes people that young do have sex, but it felt uncomfortable to read. The last twenty pages of this book made me feel physically sick. I normally have quite a strong stomach for violence/gruesome scenes as I know they're not real, but this was the first time I have ever felt repulsed by something I've read. 

I'm glad this book was so short as it made it an incredibly quick read, but as I had wanted to enjoy this, I found it a huge disappointment. This is my second two star read of 2021 and normally the lowest I give is three stars. I will not be keeping my copy and no longer have a desire to read Convince Store Woman. What started as a promising book, quickly became an uncomfortable read.

Carenza :) x   

Getting Back into Art| Carenza Bramwell

This is a bit of a different post from my normal ones, but today I wanted to talk about how I'd like to get back into art. By art, I mean drawing, but I am open to trying other mediums. This was a goal of mine for 2020, but due to various health issues and the shit show that was 2020, I abandoned it. So I've decided it's something I'd like to pick up again. In this post, I wanted to talk about why and how I'm planning on doing this. It's partly due to my interest in all things creative and partly to have a hobby that isn't linked to my work life. 

It's A Hobby

Quite possibly the main reason I want to get back into art and drawing is because it's something I could see becoming a hobby. So far, my only hobbies are all interlinked with "work" and my degree. I read a lot of books. I watch a lot of films/tv shows. I enjoy these things but when you study Creative Writing, it reaches a point where it feels like you aren't switching off because you are constantly surrounded by writing. 

I want something to do that genuinely feels like a hobby and not because it's useful to my life. I miss being able to switch off and enjoy myself. I think by getting back into drawing, I could give myself the break I need. I am almost always working on something. Whether that be for my degree, content creation or the student magazine I work on at uni, I do something for one of these everyday. I'm in my final term and to be honest, I am very stressed. I know I need that little rest bite from everything, so by spending some time drawing or doing something arty, it could give me that break I need. 

It's De-stressing

As I've just touched on, I need something to give me a bit of relaxation time. I'm not saying that colouring in is an art form (though it could be considered one), but I've spent some time colouring in and I've found it so relaxing. Just focusing on what I'm colouring and giving my brain a break. I think getting back into drawing will help with moments of relaxation. 

It's Something I Enjoy

I come from quite a creative oriented family, so it's really a surprise that I'm interested in all things creative. I used to love going to galleries and finding somewhere to draw whatever painting I was sat in front of. I was that kid that would sit and be annoying. I'm not sure why or when, but I lost interest in drawing. It's something that used to give me a lot of pleasure, but now it's something I barely do and I have so many art materials from my days when I would draw. 

I'm not a very confident drawer, so it's something I'd like to improve. I plan on getting back in with physical drawing before potentially trying digital art. I could see digital art being useful in the future, but I want to be more confident with pen and paper first. All of my other interests (writing, books, films/tv, theatre), as I mentioned earlier, have become connected to my life plans. This would be something purely for fun.  

How I'm Going to Do This?

The September 2020 Scrawlr Box, not featured is this months sweet as I gave it to my mum

I recently purchased my very first Scrawlr Box. They are a UK based art subscription service. I bought one of their back list boxes from September 2020, which focused on Posca Pens. For £17.00 and free postage to the UK, they sound amazing. I'm really looking forward to trying this new medium. My goal is to hopefully set aside at least an hour a week to work on this new skill. It might become less as my work load increases. If I don't have time to do this, then I think colouring in would be something I could see myself enjoying. 

I hope you enjoyed this slightly different post from me. What's something you're hoping to get back into?

Carenza :) x   

 

Anti-Valentine's Day Book Tag| Carenza Bramwell

Happy belated Valentine's Day! Whether you celebrate it or not, you cannot avoid this celebration. Personally, I've never celebrated it as it's my Grandma's birthday and I'm comfortably single. However, in the spirit of the season, I thought I would to a Valentine's themed book tag. I found this one on Storme Reads A Lot, the original post is linked here. I hope you enjoy!

1) Name a Character That Annoys You For No Apparent Reason

I recently read Catherine House by Elisabeth Thomas and I could not get along with the main character. She was kinda annoying, but mostly I just didn't like her. It's very hard to annoy me so it took me by surprise by how annoying I found her. I can't even remember her name.

2) What's A Book You Read That Ended in Total Heartbreak?

The last time I remember crying at a book was back in 2018 in a reread of Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare. That book makes me weep every time. Again, it's very hard to make me cry about books, so that is the last time I remember being heartbroken over a book.

3) What's A Book Where One of Your Favourite Characters Doesn't Make It?

I'm not going to give it away, but there was a character death in The King of Crows by Libba Bray that made me so angry. They deserved better and I cannot believe they were killed off. Also this series deserved a better ending which made this characters death even more annoying.

4) A Character That's A Total Buzz Kill?

I just finished reading The Poppy War by R.F Kuang and thinking about it, I didn't vibe with Altan. I'm just not sure what the point of his character and story arc where. This is a very loose answer as I literally couldn't think of anyone else.

5) A Book In Which the Dreaded Love Triangle Makes An Appearance?

Cassandra Clare loves a good love triangle. Heck, the woman loves a good love octagon at this point. I love Cassie's books, but I am getting a bit frustrated with this all who's into who in each series. I'm still going to read her books, but I would like it if we could move away from all this complicated romance. 

6) Name a Book Filled with Action Packed Fighting Scenes.

I've already mentioned it, but The Poppy War had some epic fight scenes. This is a book about war, so it's unsurprising. I thoroughly enjoyed how much action was in this book, which at times did get a bit gruesome, but I really enjoyed this book. 

7) A Book In Which the Older Brother Causes Issues for the Main Couple?

Honestly, I can't really think of any. There are probably some, but none are coming to mind.

8) A Really Sad Book That Makes You Cry Your Eyes Out While  Simultaneously Breaking Your Heart?

I hate repeating myself in a tag as it can come across quite lazy, but Clockwork Princess broke my heart. I cried at least three times while reading. I've read this book at least four or five times and I still cry each time. It's just a very well written romance. 

9) A Book Filled With Blood and Gruesome Scenes You Can't Get Out of Your Head?

House of Blood and Earth by Sarah J Maas. Although I can't remember much about this book, there are some stand out gruesome scenes I cannot forget. I'll have to read it again and I'm not looking forward to those scenes. 

10) What's Your Favourite Anti-Valentines Day Movie?

I'm going to have to pick Lady Bird. Yes this does have romance in it, but at it's core it's about family and friend love over romantic love. Also I may be picking this because it's my favourite movie. 

I hope you enjoyed this anti-valentines day tag!

Carenza :) x  

How to Tackle That Workload| Carenza Bramwell

It can be easy to feel overwhelmed when the workload starts to pile up. As someone graduating in four months, I can relate a lot to the feeling of everything piling up and not knowing what to do. So in today's blog post, I thought I'd share some of the things I do when I feel overwhelmed and unsure how to tackle that workload. This is mostly aimed at students, but can apply to other areas of life.   

My work set up at home

Lists

I am a strong believer in the power of lists. I find that by making a list I can easily organise everything I need to. When I start making a list, at first I just jot things down. I like to write a first draft digitally, so I can go and add things if I need to. If it's a to do list, I will write down all the things I need to do. Often, there is quite a lot and it isn't just for one thing. It could be for uni, within that there's my different modules. It could be blogging or random things I need to do. I then sort it into categories. After sorting it into categories, I then write it on paper. 

My most recent to do list, split into days and colour coordinated 

My favourite thing about physical lists is colour coordinating. I've come to learn that I'm a very visual person. Above is a photo of a recent to do list. It's broken down into days and then tasks that need completing on those days. Lists help keep track of everything and have helped me to stay on top of things. Plus there are so many different ways to make a list which means you'll be able to find the perfect way for you.   

Time Management

This might seem fairly self explanatory and to some degree it is. Learn how to manage your time and that workload will vanish overnight. Or that's how it seems. I'll let you in on a little secret. I'm actually not very good at time management. I try to be, but it really isn't one of my strong suits. So if you're anything like me, here are some tips for how to get better at time management and use it to help with that workload. 

The key I've found is to break it down into manageable chunks. Again, this seems obvious but it isn't always. When things start to pile it up, it can be overwhelming and hard to work out how to tackle it. By breaking it down into manageable chunks, you make something that seems impossible actually possible. Work out how much time a task will take and how much you actually have to give. These are two similar but different things. Say a task might take you twenty minutes, give yourself thirty just in case you need a bit of wiggle room. It takes a long time to become good at time management, years of practice. Don't beat yourself up if you haven't mastered it overnight. 

Organisation Methods  

There are lots of organisation methods out there, so this part is about finding a method that works for you. Personally I am a physically writing it down type of person. I have a planner that I use to write stuff I want to get done and if I have any work that needs completing for another date. I also use it to keep a track of my deadlines and see what I've got coming up. I have a wall calendar as well that I use to keep an overview of everything. Colour coordinating is a big part of how I stay organised. Each of my modules has a different colour, so from a glance I can see what is due when. Within my planner, to do tasks are in a different colour to things that are happening on certain days. It's taken me a while to cultivate this system but I have found that it does help me keep on top of work.  

It may seem like procrastinating but take some time to find out what sort of organisation method works for you. Once you've found something, it will stick and you'll be able to use it to keep on top of that workload. I'd recommend trying seeing if you're a digital or physical person. You could like more traditional planners or you might like the bullet journal style. There's so much out there which means you'll find something that works for you. 

Take a Break

It can be hard when everything starts to get the better of you to give yourself breaks. They are so important. I am just as guilty as the next person of having the mindset of getting everything done then essentially passing out afterwards. This is a really unhealthy mindset. It doesn't have to be a super long break, even five minutes can be enough to give yourself a rest.

I'd recommend the pomodoro method. I know a lot of people who trust this method. It's where you work for 25 minutes, then take a 5 minute break. You are encouraged to use these five minutes doing anything that isn't work related. It could be making a cup of tea or feeding a pet. Give yourself those small breaks that you deserve as you'll be able to do more work without feeling tired or burnt out.

The main take aways from this post to tackle that workload are that a lot of what goes into it is planning. It's working out how to get stuff done, rather than getting stuff done. I spend a good chunk of time planning what I'm going to do each day. It's also vital to take breaks. To anyone out there looking to find ways to tackle that workload, I hope this post helped. 

Carenza :) x  

Book Hype and the Power of Reviews- Book Topic Discussion| Carenza Bramwell

Recently I've been thinking a lot about book hype and the power of reviews. This came about for various reasons, mostly due to my experiences with some of the books I was reading. In today's post, I wanted to discuss both of these "issues" and assess if they are a good or bad thing. Just a little disclaimer before I get into this post- all opinions are entirely my own. You are entitled to yours just as I am entitled to mine. Let's be respectful of each others thoughts.  

My beloved university shelves

The reason I am writing about this is because of two books I have read recently, which are Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens and Catherine House by Elisabeth Thomas. I actually have a full review of Where the Crawdads Sing, which you can read here. Both of these were books I picked up because at least one person I followed and trusted said they were good. I had read the summaries for both when I was purchasing and thought these sounded like books I would enjoy. Both, for various reasons, ended up being books I did not enjoy. I gave Where the Crawdads Sing 3/5 stars and I gave Catherine House 2/5 stars. So why did I pick them up in the first place?

The power of the review. This can be for books, films, tv shows, just about anything you can leave a review on. No matter what you are buying or where you are buying from, you read the reviews from other customers first. It gives an indication of if the product is good. When it comes to book reviews, I use Goodreads as a place to find informative and reliable reviews. I try to read a wide range of opinions and use the star indicator as a guide for what I think of a book. Where the Crawdads Sing has an average rating of 4.47 stars from over one million ratings. I had also seen good things from someones opinions I trusted. Catherine House has an average of 3.12 stars from over twelve thousand ratings, yet someone whose opinion I trusted had shared positive things about it, so I picked it up. Through these reviews and testimonials, I thought I had purchased two books I would really enjoy. I was wrong.  

Reviews, on the whole, are a useful tool. It allows you to see what a wide range of people thought of something. That being said, they can also easily influence how you think of a book. If a book has a lot of positive reviews, you assume it must be a good book. The same with negative reviews. There have been times when after reading a book, I read some reviews of people who either loved or hated the book and find myself beginning to agree with them. I let myself be swayed by their opinions. Reviews hold so much power. One bad review isn't going to tank a book, but lots might. The same for positive might lead to a book being overhyped. It can be difficult to form your own opinion with so many out there. I am still going to do my research before buying a book, but I am going to try and read less opinions before and after so I can formulate my own opinions. When I was reading reviews of Where the Crawdads Sings and Catherine House after I had read them, I gravitated towards reading negative reviews. I wanted to know why these people hadn't liked them. I let it taint my own opinions, which was wrong of me. 

This leads me to my next point- book hype. These days it feels very easy for books to become hype. There's a lot of discussion around whether certain books deserve the hype. I remember when I joined the book community in 2016, I went and bought a lot of the classic, hyped books. I read them over many years and ultimately found myself disappointed by these books. It could be I picked them up at the wrong time or that the hype was so big, that they just didn't deliver in the end. I have read some hyped books and enjoyed them. There can be some element of guilt if you don't enjoy a hyped book, you almost feel left out as everyone is raving about it and then there's you that didn't enjoy it. Obviously in the book community, we like to big up books we enjoy it. It helps the author and with reviews. Sometimes it can do more damage than good as it gets a reputation for being overhyped. Some books I've read that were very hyped and I didn't see the hype include Six of Crows, These Violent Delights and A Darker Shade of Magic. A hyped book I did like was Serpent&Dove.  

A lot of this does come down to personal opinion. Sometimes a hyped or heavily talked about book isn't for you and that's fine. With the power of the review, it takes a lot of time and effort to develop your own opinion and criteria. I'm still getting there and I've been doing this for five years. Ultimately, there are pros and cons to both. I love writing and reading reviews, especially from a wide range of opinions. It just comes down to remembering your opinions are valid.

What are your thoughts on reviews and book hype? Do you think they are good or bad things?

Carenza :) x 

The Secret History by Donna Tartt Book Review (Contains Spoilers)| Carenza Bramwell

Title- The Secret History  

Author- Donna Tartt

Series- N/A

Published- 1992

Page Count- 629 pages

Publishing House- Penguin

Genre- mystery, dark-academia 

Rating- 5/5 stars 

About the Author

Donna Tartt (born December 23, 1963) is an American author. Tartt's novels are The Secret History (1992), The Little Friend (2002), and The Goldfinch (2013). Tartt won the WH Smith Literary Award for The Little Friend in 2003 and the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for The Goldfinch in 2014. She was included in Time magazine's 2014 "100 Most Influential People" list.

Taken from Donna's Wikipedia page.

Plot

Under the influence of their charismatic classics professor, a group of clever, eccentric misfits at an elite New England college discover a way of thinking and living that is a world away from the humdrum existence of their contemporaries. But when they go beyond the boundaries of normal morality their lives are changed profoundly and for ever.

Truly deserving of the accolade Modern Classic, Donna Tartt's cult bestseller The Secret History is a remarkable achievement - both compelling and elegant, dramatic and playful.

Taken from Goodreads. 

Opinions 

If you like or are interested in "dark academia", then this is the book you'll get recommended to death. It is the most beloved book in the dark academia world. It was a book I had seen in charity shops over and over, so when I found a copy for 50p I just had to have it.  I didn't actually know much about it going in, but I am so glad I decided to pick it up.

This is a long, dense book at 629 pages. It focuses around academia, specifically Greek language and high brow academia. A lot of the academic talk went over my head. I pride myself on being fairly intelligent, yet this book was beyond me. It's almost inspired me to start learning again for the sake of learning. I put this down to the writing. Donna Tartt's writing is so beautiful that you feel fully absorbed in the writing. I haven't felt like this about an authors writing in a while. Usually when I am reading, the thing I spot is the plot or the characters. As someone studying to become a professional writing, I really should pay more attention to writing. The writing was just sublime. I adored it. It was one of the reasons I didn't want to put this book down.

I saw in a few reviews comments on how the characters were all unlikeable due to their "snobby" attitudes. To some degree, I agree. These are people from high society, wealthy backgrounds and vastly intelligent. Our protagonist, Richard, is well out of his depth around them. He comes from an ordinary life in California. Yet it was their untrustworthiness and unlikeable qualities that made this a highly gripping read. You couldn't trust them. Key bits of information where withheld until the right point in the story. Yes, they are snobby, but Tartt made you care about them. I really liked them as an ensemble, even Bunny. As annoying as he was and you understood why they had to kill him, you really did pity him. One of the best casts of characters I've read about in a very long time. 

The twists and turns in this book were very well executed. Each reveal made you want to keep reading, despite these chapters being very long. They were easily 50-150 pages long. It just added so many layers to this book. I have a feeling this is going to be one of my favourite reads of the year. You knew from the beginning that they had killed Bunny, but the reason why shocked you. How you found out, and it wasn't till almost 200 pages in, kept you invested. I had almost forgotten that this was Richard reflecting on events that had happened eight years ago. I've never read anything quite like it.

Yet more gushing praise was how highly atmospheric this book was. The setting of the university, the locations visited. Every little detail about this book was chosen with great care and you can tell that in the writing. I think it's clear from this that I loved the book. As a writer, I really appreciated it's craft and how it was made. The gothic, dark academia vibes transported you to the college and made you feel as though you too were going along on this journey.

I have plans to read her other two books at some point this year. I know The Goldfinch was turned into a film and that not many people have read her most recent release. I hope she writes more books as I need more books from her. It was just a very beautiful, well-written book.

Have you read The Secret History?

Carenza :) x   

Bridgerton TV Show Review (Contains Spoilers)| Carenza Bramwell

Taken from Google Images

Title- Bridgerton

Creators- Chris Van Dusen

Cast- Phoebe Dynevor, Rege-Jean Page, Jonathon Bailey, Nicola Coughlan and Claudia Jessie, plus many more

Genre- Alternative Period History Drama

Length- eight episodes

Platform- Netflix

Rating- 3/5 stars 

Plot

Wealth, lust, and betrayal set against the backdrop of Regency-era England, seen through the eyes of the powerful Bridgerton family.Based on the popular Bridgerton series by Julia Quinn. The main characters are named A-H in birth order: Anthony, Benedict, Colin, Daphne, Eloise, Francesca, Gregory, Hyacinth. Book 1, The Duke and I, features Daphne and Simon's story.

Taken from Bridgerton's IMDb page. 

Opinions 

Taken from Google Images

This show was everywhere. You couldn't escape people talking about it. It's not the type of show I'd normally gravitate towards. I like period dramas but not usually the ones with a lot of romance. However, after hearing everyone talk about it, I figured I should give it a try. There was a lot of talk around the casting for the show, both good and bad. Some people were very happy that a normally very white genre was making an effort to be more diverse, however there were talks about how the books had racist undertones and it was diversity for the sake of diversity. Personally, I'm not sure where I stand on this issue, but I would recommend looking into it more. I think I should mention I have not read the books and probably won't. I haven't heard the best things about them. This seems to be one of the rare cases where they've taken an okay source material and turned it into a good show. 

Taken from Google Images

Bridgerton was very melodramatic and that is an understatement. I think these types of characters are doomed to be over the top. There were quite a few moments that were meant to be serious, but I couldn't help laughing at them. I don't think the fault lies with the actors, but with the source material and the scripts. I can't remember what episode it was, but it was a scene between Daphne and Simon, where Daphne was talking about how she could become a princess and actually stomped her foot. It just made me laugh. Also, the sex scenes were so ridiculous. The first one between Daphne and Simon made me laugh again. I think the performances were admirable, I'm not sure about the writing. 

Taken from Google Images

Speaking of Daphne and Simon, I have to say that I did not like their relationship. We all knew it was heading down the romance line, we could see that a mile away. I actually thought that those scenes where good. They had good chemistry. But once they were married, it all went downhill. Miscommunication is my least favourite trope and this show used it a lot. They were both in the wrong at multiple occasions throughout their marriage. I hated the plot line where Simon says he can't/won't have children and Daphne's response. It's a very contentious issue. I have heard some talk that when this book was released in the early 2000s, that was an empowering moment for women, but since the #MeToo movement, attitudes have changed. Regardless of when it was written or what the attitudes at the time, Daphne did not have consent and it was wrong. As far as their characters go, I didn't really like them. They had a few shining moments, but overall I found them dull. Again, this isn't a comment about the performances, as I felt the two actors did well. As this was their love story, it was probably my least or at least one of my least favourite moments in the show. 

Taken from Google Images

Two characters I adored were Benedict and Eloise Bridgerton. I think they are generally well loved from the show. They had interesting story lines and good characterisation. I loved the scenes between the two of them. I'm hoping we get more of them in the upcoming season as they were the two I loved the most. Eloise was iconic. There's a lot of chatter online, particularly on YouTube, about how these two have "queer vibes" and I agree. I know that from what I've heard about the books that they'll probably end up in straight relationships, but I hope the show with it's interest in diversity, allow them to explore alternative relationships. My new favourite chaotic sibling duo. 

Another thing I didn't enjoy that bumped down my rating was the ending and specifically the announcement of who Lady Whistledown is. I know this is in the books, but from the TV show (and only having seen the show) it didn't make sense. Why would Penelope ruin her family just for the boy she likes? It frustrated me to no end. I did like Eloise trying to investigate who Lady Whistledown was. I'd be interested if this plotline was in the books. 

Something I want to highlight is the production itself. The costume and set designs were gorgeous. As always for a Netflix show, they went big and it looked good. I also really liked the music, using modern songs in the style of Regency music was a nice touch. I hadn't been aware that they were doing it until I heard Toxic by Brittany Spears on a cello. I do appreciate a good behind the scenes team and this one went all in. 

Despite my issues with the first season, I would watch the second one as I know it's going to focus on Anthony, who was a character I enjoyed. Jonathon Bailey is an actor who I've watched for a while, ever since I was a kid and he played Leonardo in Leonardo. I'd be very happy to see him in the spotlight. I know a lot of people who really enjoyed this show, I just don't think I was the intended target. However, after the announcement of Lockdown, this was the perfect show to take our minds of everything. Hence, the 3/5 stars rating.

What did you think of Bridgerton?

Carenza :) x