Categories
Books

Review: Cruel Beauty

Cruel Beauty (Cruel Beauty Universe) by Rosamund Hodge

I give this book a solid 5.

LoveIt

I listened to the audio version of this book so that may have had an effect on the comments I make below.

I don’t usually make comments on the narrator because I try to focus on the story at hand, but I really enjoyed the reading of this story. The narrator gave a wonderful and engaging performance.

A dark twist on the Beauty and the Beast tale, Cruel Beauty tells the story of Nyx, a daughter raised as a sacrifice and tribute to the demon ruler of a world in captivity. Filled with hatred and contempt, but bound by duty and a sincere desire to do at least one noble thing in her life, Nyx sets out to destroy her would be husband and then die, with no hope for anything greater.

I know there will be no way for me to fully describe how much I truly enjoyed this story so I’ll just babble on a bit and then stop.  The first thing that I noticed about this story is that it was promoted to me as a YA/New Adult book. I haven’t had the best of luck with these kinds of titles. They are either too teen or too adult for my liking, but this book is what New Adult should be, though I’m sure some will argue for a little more steam and I’d  let them.

I describe this book as a dark twist to a fairy tale for two basic reasons. Traditional fairy tales aren’t that lighthearted, but recently people have forgotten what fairy tales once were, mostly due to the success of the Disney Corporation. Now, I’m not hating on Disney, but some of the things they’ve done to fairy tales is ridiculous.

  1. I want readers to understand that this is a dark story and not because of explicit violence and heavy gore. This story is dark because it touches on the truth of people’s nature and the sense of self-loathing, hatred, and disgust that could arise in any of us at any time given the right circumstances.
  2. This story is also dark because it challenges you to face the reality of choices you make every day and to see whether or not you are always as virtuous as you may think you are.

This book did something to me that not many books have. It made me look forward to reading and experiencing the romance that was taking place between the characters. I think I was pulled into this romance because it’s not at all what you’d expect it to be; especially after you learn that there are others involved you hadn’t expected to even be factors in the equation.

I loved the fact that I really hated Nyx’s family. I don’t use the word hate a lot and I am talking about a work of fiction, but even with all the twists that take place, I’m still not fond of her family, and I love it. This is one of those stories where none of the characters are truly worth rooting for when you get deep down to their souls and see the things they’ve done because they are all human and so beautifully flawed. Even with their lack of virtue, there is still a clear sense that all these lives are still worth saving, simply for the sake of living.

This author may become one of my faves. I’ll definitely have to see what else I can get my hands on from this author. At this point I’ve stopped trying to describe this book and want to say, just read it if you dare. It’s not for kids, and men may not cling to it, but if you are open to really trying something new and different, and have an appreciation for mythology, fairy tales, complicated romance, and or fantasy, then give this book a try.

This review has been posted to GoodReads. If you’d like to obtain a copy of this book, try this link.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords

Categories
Book-Fiction Virtual Book Tours

Of Gods and Madness: The Faithful by @justindherd Interview & #Giveaway by @RABTBookTours #NoirSummer

Greetings readers, bloggers, geeks, and authors and welcome to The ToiBox of Words. I’m your host Toi Thomas, author of Eternal Curse, and today I’m sharing a special interview with author, Justin D. Herd, about his fiction book entitled, Of Gods and Madness: The Faithful. Check out the giveaway at the end and enjoy!

Where did the idea for Of Gods and Madness: The Faithful come from?

It originally started as a story about a man that has migraines but his pills keep him from slipping into another world. Then it became a story about a religious society that worshiped all these gods in the streets, not realizing that they still lived amongst them. The problem came in that my detective character wasn’t able to connect the dots when he was interacting with these gods. So, it became an atheistic society where the mob family is the only one that believes.

How did the title of this book come about?

For the longest time, the book was simply titled The Faithful, named after the mob family in the novel. A big issue throughout the story was that the gods were slowly introduced, filling in the fantasy as the story progressed, but now with Of Gods and Madness: The Faithful, you know exactly what you’re getting into.

What genre is this book and why did you choose to make it so?

This is one that blends a lot of genres, taking what fits and getting rid of the bits that don’t. On a top level, it’s Fantasy. But it’s got a crime element in an urban environment, so it’s Urban Fantasy. But, you hear of that and you think devils and deep magic systems and it’s not quite that. So, long and short of it, I consider it Fantasy Noir. This is a genre that focuses more on the setting, the feel of the prose, and stoic heroes. Overall, it doesn’t even quite fit that, but it’s the closest I’ve found.

What would you say is the overall message or the theme of this book?

Honestly, I’m not one much to talk about theme or any underlying messages. A lot of the imagery might string together to give some unintended context, but it’s always fun to hear what people read into it.

Tell me about the experience of writing this book; how long did it take.

The book took roughly nine months. I honestly don’t remember when I started it, but I finished it in 2008. I started with an idea for three books, opened a world building document, and wrote 22 pages (almost 12,000 words) describing the society, its gods, the characters and their history, as well as a six page treatment of the story. It ended nothing like it. I got caught up for about six months, trying to avoid using any of the ideas for the last two books, but ultimately gave in and finished the book in two weeks.

Tell me about the main storyline within this book.

A mobster becomes a god, only to discover they die too.

That’s the elevator pitch. The longer one involves mobsters, artists, cops, multiple gods, divine civil war, and coups. But hey, at least I’ve got it distilled down to eleven words!

Who is the protagonist of this story?

The main character is Raine Morgan, the right hand of the dominant mob family. He’s the mobster with a heart of gold, paying off his marks debts rather than have the family kill them. He’s not necessarily a believer, but it’s been ingrained into his past. When he accidentally kills someone, much less someone he was trying to protect, he spirals out of control in an effort to get revenge and, ultimately, redemption.

Who is the antagonist of this story?

For the humans, it’s Carrick Uren. He’s a greedy middleman in Na Creidmhigh and hates Raine for not killing people, for being able to surpass him. He takes his opportunity once Raine is caught out after his first murder. As a result, Na Creidmhigh is divided and ultimately becomes a slaughter house.

Then, there’s Theon the Trickster for the gods. As you might expect, he’s always up to no good.

What is the major conflict in this story?

The initial conflict is that Raine is set out to hunt down a couple miscreants, only to come on them assaulting a woman. He charges in, but ends up killing their victim and letting them escape. So he sets out to hunt them and perhaps gain some redemption. Little does he realize that the incident triggers godhood and he catches the attention of the gods. They come together to try to deal with another immortal joining them, only to discover they can die too. That sets off a divine civil war where no one is safe.

Where and when is this story taking place?

I took the amalgamation approach to writing this. It’s a near future technology, but with the clothing and music of the 1920s. It’s a grimy, gritty harbor town where the mob family rules the town. In general, the genre is Film Noir.

As for location, I took old maps of 1800s Boston and used the general locations of things. There are no cars in the world. Instead of trains, they use water trams.

Who is your favorite character in this book?

I’d have to say it’s probably the Shade. But I think people will really latch onto Theon. One of the things I like so much about him is that he pushes the envelope at every chance. Hell, even when he finds out he could actually die, he still screws gods over and toys with humans. He’s out to have a good time, damned the consequences.

Are there elements of your personality or life experiences in this book?

I’ve made sure to weed out anything that would be too much like me. At the end of the day, there’s some allusions to migraines, but not anything that’s explicitly stated. I have chronic migraines, almost every one of them starting with an ocular migraine where I lose my vision for about thirty minutes, then the pain starts.

The only other thing is that Raine is supremely clumsy. I have fallen up stairs, I have tripped over nothing, and would regularly drive my ex-wife crazy with how I would find anything and everything to trip over.

What is one thing from this book you wish was real or could happen to you?

I absolutely love Oki’s Veins. They are this architectural feature, essentially glass channels of backlit water. They run up and down the streets, up walls, connecting the city in a giant art display. It’s impractical and impossible, but it would just be amazing to see that, to have every structure just commit wholly to this feature.

What is something you wish wasn’t real and hope doesn’t happen to you?

I think the limited immortality would be a huge bummer. I mean, it’s one of those things you grow into that you realize immortality isn’t all it’s meant to be. But then to have it and suddenly be told, “Just kidding . . .” I try to explore that in the book, where the disparate gods react to it differently, but I just think that would be the worst.

Let’s say your book is being turned into a feature length film; quick- cast the main two characters and pick a theme song or score.

Raine Morgan – Michael Pitt
Theon – Christoph Waltz
Theme Song: End of the Line by Murder by Death

Do you have any special plans for this book in the near or far future?

Nothing too spectacular. I am already looking at its sequels. My plans are to split the story into two different storylines: one that follows the gods, the other the mob and see where that takes us. It would be a different take for those that love the mortal stuff, but not the gods, they have their series, or those that adored the god stuff, but not so much the mortals . . . well, they can be satisfied too.

~

Okay readers, bloggers, geeks, and authors, that’s all for today. Be sure to follow this blog to see who will be visiting next time. To obtain your copy of Of Gods and Madness: The Faithful, please visit the links provided.

Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Smashwords

iTunes | Google Play | Kobo | Createspace

Visit this author at the following links:

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Patreon | Amazon

a Rafflecopter giveaway

This has been a
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Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords
Categories
Movies

Princess Mononoke Review – Mock Squid Soup No.11 & 6 Degrees of Separation #cinephiles #film #review

Wikipedia

This review will consist of me asking myself 10 questions and answering them to the best of my ability, but first…

We are playing a game of Six Degrees of Separation where I connect the movie I reviewed this month to any other movie the film society has reviewed. I’m making a connection from Princess Mononoke to Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure in just 3 Degrees of Separation.

1. Jada Pinkett Smith is the voice of Toki.

2. She appeared in two of the Matrix Trilogy movies as Niobe, along with Keanu Reeves as Neo.

3. Lastly, Keanu Reeves is Theodore Logan, aka Ted- ½ of that Excellent Adventure…

And now my review. (New: see my viewing experience notes here.)

1. What is this film about?

Trying to type out all these names seems like work, so I’m just leaving them out. This story is about a young prince/warrior who defeats a demon and then ends up with its curse. He then has to go on a quest to find a cure. In doing so he encounters the source of the demon’s rage and the title of the movie. There is a village near the forest determined to progress the ways of humanity. In other words they are dead set on industry at the cost of the forest. This upsets the many spirit gods of the forest taking such forms as boars, wolves, apes, and a weird blue guy who later turns in to weird elk-like thing.

So the young warrior is stuck trying to figure out a way to keep the humans from destroying the forest and the spirit gods from eating or killing the humans. That’s where Princess Mononoke comes in. She has been adopted by the wolf spirit and hates humans, though she is one. The wolves are her family and the forest is her home, no matter how much the warrior tries to appeal to her humanity.

Needless to say, there is lots of bloodshed and no one really wins. Many spirit gods die and there is a sense of rebirth, but I don’t completely understand it all.

2. What did I think of the title, poster, and or trailer?

I couldn’t find a trailer, but I didn’t spend more than a few minutes looking for one. As for the poster, I love the Japanese poster, while the Disney (I’ll visit this in a bit) poster is only okay. I feel like maybe something has been lost in translation, but I say more about this later. The title seems lacking and slightly misleading. I was expecting more from Princess Mononoke and felt as if the warrior was snubbed.

3. What did I think of the main character(s) and how the actors performed them?

So here’s a bit of backstory, most for myself, but also for anyone else who may not know about this film. I, of course, discovered it here, with Mock Squid Soup, when angryparsnip reviewed it.

Originally a traditional Japanese Anime release, Disney obtained the rights through one of their subsidiaries and threw a bunch of many at it to have big name actors read the parts. Little promotion was done and the movie was not well received by American audiences, but it received critical acclaim and is one of the go to anime films for those getting into the genre, like me. The reason I know this last bit is because I did a survey of my geek friends.

I must say that the voice talent is good. They picked the right actors to voice these characters, especially Keith David. As soon as the narration started, his signature voice added intensity to the story.

4. What did I think of the direction and cinematography?

As I understand it, very little was alerted from the original script, but I still feel like there was something missing. It’s difficult to review the direction when I know the film has been dubbed, but I can say that the anime is some of the best I’ve seen, though I haven’t seen much. Here’s a quote from the notes I always take when watching a movie for review (I like to keep a record of thoughts that pop out of  mind). “Individual anime characters don’t have a lot of distinguishing features, but all the important characters are still distinguishable.”

5. What did I think of the soundtrack and score?

One reason why I never really got into anime was the fact that the soundtracks always annoyed me. I know it’s part of this style of art, but I don’t like it. I was happy to hear that this was not the typical anime soundtrack. The music didn’t drive me crazy and there was only one short song that I can recall.

6. What did I like about the story as a whole?

I liked how the story was contradictory, but can’t be sure if that was intentional or not. The strongest characters in the story are all women except for the warrior, but the women all follow their leader blindly. Many of the characters want to kill the spirit gods/animals for killing loved one, but they are constantly killing the animals. I think this is supposed to show how humans don’t value non-human lives.

Also, I love the way they depict the demons.

7. What did I not like about the story?

This film was strange, but not unpleasant. There were only a few things that really bothered me. 1. I never completely warmed up to the ghost-doll-like creatures in the forest. 2. There were too many awkward silences- I had flashbacks of the Twilight movie (sorry if that’s one of your faves). 3. Some things just weren’t explained and that irked me. Why was she drinking the blood?

Seriously, if you know the answer to that last question, please tell me.

8. Would I recommend this movie to others?

Yes.

9. If yes, who? What would I rate this movie?

I would recommend it only if I know the person liked anime or were into varied artistic expressions.

On a scale of 1 to 5 movie reels, I give this film 4 reels.

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10. Was there anything in this movie that could be related to me or anything I have written?

I don’t think I’ve written anything like this, but I’d like to. I like to be able to tell a story steeped in history and folklore. I’m working on something to this nature, but it doesn’t involve animals. I should try to write a story with talking animals- I’ve already tried talking plants (somewhat).

Watch, rent, or buy this movie here.

Mock Squid Soup – Film Society

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MOCK! and The Armchair Squid are proud to introduce Mock Squid Soup: A Film Society. Each month, on the second Friday, we shall host a bloghop devoted to movie reviews. We invite others to participate and post their reviews…Don’t be shy; come join the fun! 😀

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords