Tag: Bad Houses

Collectioun of Cunnynge Curioustes for August 23, 2014

Johann Georg Hainz's Cabinet of Curiosities, circa 1666. Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
Johann Georg Hainz’s Cabinet of Curiosities, circa 1666. Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

During the Renaissance, cabinet of curiosities came into fashion as a collection of objects that would often defy classification. As a precursor to the modern museum, the cabinet referred to room(s), not actual furniture, of things that piqued the owners interest and would be collected and displayed in an aesthetically pleasing manner. Collectioun of Cunnynge Curioustes is my 21st century interpretation of that idea.
 
Dear Internet,
You can follow me on Pinterest on what I’m reading, watching, and listening.

Writing

Ephemera – Prose Companion to The Lisa Chronicles

  • i climbed the walls of the wasteland
  • dragons

Reading

Finished
Bagged & Boarded: Bad Houses
The Fortune Hunter by Daisy Goodwin
(Amazon | WorldCat | GoodReads)
A digital ARC was provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
This should have been a novel that got the pulse racing and the imagination quickening. Instead the pacing, the oft switching of POV, and the tedious of the description just slowed the story down. I read the first 75 pages and was bored stiff of what was going on. I could not find any compelling reason to continue, despite the fact the genre and period are right up my alley. I also could not find a character I could commit too or cheer for. I found Goodwin presented a lot of exposition that wasn’t necessary and as such at times, the story felt forced, as if she was hoping to wing it back into the path to keep it moving forward.
The technicality of the writing is fine and it’s not a terrible story, but I just feel the hype was much more than what the story delivered. This may appeal to readers who like Philippa Gregory.

Watching

  • Rectify
    This show is one of the best shows on TV. Full stop. Daniel Holden is one of the most compelling, complicated, and and sympathetic characters ever written. I love this show.

Weekly watching: Outlander, The Bridge, Project Runway, The Almighty Johnsons, True Blood, A Place To Call Home, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, Cosmos: A SpaceTime Odyssey, Elementary
What have you read/watched/listened to this week?
x0x0,
lisa

This day in Lisa-Universe in:

Bagged & Boarded: Bad Houses

Bad Houses
by Sara Ryan (story) and Carla Speed McNeil (art)
[Amazon | Worldcat | GoodReads | Comixology]
Length: 156 pages
Release date: October 29, 2013
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Rating: 3.5/5 stars
tl;dr: An engrossing tale of two people who fall in love, but it’s also a story of healing the past and moving towards the future. So while the book is great, it’s not amazing and that is perhaps its failing. It could have been amazing but it simply did not live up to its potential.
Review: Bad Houses is marketed by Dark House as juvenile fiction but I don’t think that’s accurate. The story contains adult situations that are reads far too sophisticated for juvenilia.
The story is on point and the side stories are fill in the edges. The flashbacks hint at things that are not fleshed out, but that’s okay — the end doesn’t need a pretty bow to necessarily feel complete. You know, feel, and love the characters as if they are a part of your own existing circle of friends. Character development is exquisite and the art is gorgeous. Ryan’s ability to capture the essence of a person in succinct form is a brilliant trait coupled with McNeil’s art makes this a joyous book to hold.
But the more I sit with this story, the more I feel as if something is missing from the tale.  I don’t’ feel satiated when I closed the cover. Sure, I want more of  Anne/Lewis, but there is an element in their story that is missing. If Ryan had explored that more with her writing, let McNeil fill in the art bits, the story would have been perfect. But as such, it isn’t and rates only 3.5/5 stars.

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