Ben Affleck Teases Deathstroke For The DCCU

Today on Twitter, Ben Affleck promptly set off DC fans as he shared what appears to be test footage of the villain Deathstroke.

Deathstroke (Slade Wilson) is a villain who first appeared in The New Teen Titans – originally an archenemy of the Teen Titans, writers over the years have developed the mercenary to become an enemy of other heroes in the DC Universe. Wizard magazine rated him the 24th greatest villain of all time, and in 2009, Deathstroke was ranked as IGN‘s 32nd greatest comic book villain of all time. Having made an appearence in the Batman video game Batman: Arkham Origins, and played a major villain in the DC TV series Arrow.

Thus, the knowledge that Deathstroke will be making another appearance, this time in the DC Cinematic Universe, has got fans all over Twitter frantically talking about the video that Ben Afleck tweeted this afternoon.

The footage has been filmed on his phone, and is silent footage taken from the movie cameras. The brief video shows Deathstroke walking up to the camera and turning his head side to side, showing off his armour and the iconic black and orange helmet.

As the video has no sound and no further commentary from Affleck, and Warner Bros. have been very quiet so far, fans are left questioning what the release of this footage means and where this footage fits in. But it’s safe to say the world is very ready for Deathstroke on the big screen.

Weekly Bookette #9 Bestsellers of August 2016

It is time again to look back on last month and check up on the books that sold the most during the last four weeks. So here goes:

Stan Lee VS Jack (King) Kirby

Stan Lee is the most recognisable name in comic books. His name and Marvel go hand in hand in everyday conversations among comic fans and MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe) movie watchers. Stan is perceived as the happy old man who makes iconic cameos in movies based on “his” creation, but did Stan create the likes of the Fantastic Four, The Incredible  Hulk, Iron Man, The Avengers, The X-Men and, the most famous of all Spider-Man?

This is not the first time this question has been brought up, in fact in the past few years it has come up more frequently. While the average person or Stan Lee fanboy might think this is a ridiculous notion, there is quite a lot of evidence to support the challenge of Stan’s Legacy.

When you get into reading comic books regardless of age, you are told that back in the 1960’s Stan Lee and Jack Kirby Created what we know today as the Marvel Universe. With Stan getting the majority of the credit, and for the most part the only name mentioned regarding who created what. Stan’s story is that he would come up with an idea or plot then give it to Jack, and he would return the art to him with a few suggestions. Stan would then write in dialogue to fit the art.

The other side of the coin is that it was Jack Kirby who did the majority or the creating. It is said that Jack would not only do the art but write the majority of each issue, key concepts and plot lines. Stan would have no idea about the story or even the idea till very late in the publication process. What Stan did do was make Kirby’s writing a little more appealing to read.

According to this interview, Jack and his wife Roz Kirby did with The Comics Journal in 1990, four years before his death, Stan had virtually nothing to do with creating the Marvel Universe.

GROTH; When did you meet Stan Lee for the first time?

KIRBY: I met Stan Lee when I first went to work for Marvel. He was a little boy. When Joe and I were doing Captain America. He was about 13 years old. He’s about five years younger than me.

GROTH: Did you keep in touch with him at all?

KIRBY: No, I thought Stan Lee was a bother.

GROTH: [Laughter.]

KIRBY: I did!

GROTH: What do you mean by “bother”?

KIRBY: You know he was the kind of kid that liked to fool around — open and close doors on you. Yeah. In fact, once I told Joe to throw him out of the room.

GROTH; Because he was a pest?

KIRBY: Yes, he was a pest. Stan Lee was a pest. He liked to irk people and it was one thing I couldn’t take.

GROTH: Hasn’t changed a bit, huh?

KIRBY: He hasn’t changed a bit. I couldn’t do anything about Stan Lee because he was the publisher’s cousin. He ran back and forth around New York doing things that he was told to do. He would slam doors and come up to you and look over your shoulder and annoy you in a lot of ways. Joe would probably elaborate on it.

GROTH: When you went to Marvel in ’58 and ’59, Stan was obviously there.

KIRBY: Yes, and he was the same way.

 GROTH:And you two collaborated on all the monster stories?

KIRBY: Stan Lee and I never collaborated on anything! I’ve never seen Stan Lee write anything. I used to write the stories just like I always did.

GROTH:On all the monster stories it says “Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.” What did he do to warrant his name being on them?

KIRBY: Nothing! OK?

GROTH:Did he dialogue them?

KIRBY: No, I dialogued them. If Stan Lee ever got a thing dialogued, he would get it from someone working in the office. I would write out the whole story on the back of every page. I would write the dialogue on the back or a description of what was going on. Then Stan Lee would hand them to some guy and he would write in the dialogue. In this way Stan Lee made more pay than he did as an editor. This is the way Stan Lee became the writer. Besides collecting the editor’s pay, he collected writer’s pay. I’m not saying Stan Lee had a bad business head on. I think he took advantage of whoever was working for him.

GROTH:But he was essentially serving in a capacity as an editorial liaison between you and the publisher?

KIRBY: Yes, he wasn’t exactly an editor, or anything like that. Even as a young boy, he’d be hopping around — I think he had a flute, and he was playing on his flute.

GROTH:The Pied Piper.

KIRBY: Yeah. He’d come up and annoy me, and I told Joe to throw him out.

GROTH:Stan wrote, “Jack and I were having a ball turning out monster stories.’’ Were you having a ball. Jack?

KIRBY: Stan Lee was having the ball.

GROTH:You turned out monster stories for two or three years I think. Then the first comic that rejuvenated superheroes that you did was The Fantastic four. Can you explain how that came about?

KIRBY: I had to do something different. The monster stories have their limitations — you can just do so many of them. And then it becomes a monster book month after month, so there had to be a switch because the times weren’t exactly conducive to good sales. So I felt the idea was to come up with new stuff all the time — in other words there had to be a blitz. And I came up with this blitz. I came up withThe Fantastic Four, I came up with Thor (I knew the Thor legends very well), and the Hulk, the X-Men, and The Avengers. I revived what I could and came up with what I could. I tried to blitz the stands with new stuff. The new stuff seemed to gain momentum.

GROTH:Let me ask you something that I think is an important point: Stan wrote the way you guys worked — and I think he’s referring to the monster stories specifically here — he wrote, “I had only to give Jack an outline of the story and he would draw the entire strip breaking down the outline into exactly the right number of panels. Then it remained for me to take Jack’s artwork and add the captions and dialogue which would hopefully add a dimension of reality to sharply delineated characterization.” So he’s saying that he gave you a plot, and you would draw it, and he would add the captions and dialogue.

ROZ KIRBY: I remember Jack would call him up and say it’s going to be this kind of story or that kind of story and just send him the story. And he’d write in everything on the side.

KIRBY: Remember this: Stan Lee was an editor. He worked from nine to five doing business for Martin Goodman. In other words he didn’t do any writing in the office. He did Martin Goodman’s business. That was his function. There were people coming up to the office to talk all the time. They weren’t always artists, they were business people. Stan Lee was the first man they would see and Stan Lee would see if he could get them in to see Martin Goodman. That was Stan Lee’s function.

When asked about the creation of the Fantastic Four Jack continues with blunt honesty.

GROTH:Can you tell me give me your version of how The Fantastic Four came about? Did Stan go to you…?

KIRBY: No, Stan didn’t know what a mutation was. I was studying that kind of stuff all the time. I would spot it in the newspapers and science magazines. I still buy magazines that are fanciful. I don’t read as much science fiction as I did at that time. 1 was a student of science fiction and I began to make up my own story patterns, my own type of people. Stan Lee doesn’t think the way I do. Stan Lee doesn’t think of people when he thinks of [characters]. I think of [characters] as real people. If I drew a war story it would be two guys caught in the war. The Fantastic Four to me are people who were in a jam — suddenly you find yourself invisible, suddenly you find yourself flexible.

ROZ KIRBY: Gary wants to know how you created The Fantastic Four.

GROTH: Did you approach Marvel or —

KIRBY: It came about very simply. I came in [to the Marvel offices] and they were moving out the furniture, they were taking desks out — and I needed the work! I had a family and a house and all of a sudden Marvel is coming apart. Stan Lee is sitting on a chair crying. He didn’t know what to do, he’s sitting in a chair crying —he was just still out of his adolescence. I told him to stop crying. I says. “Go in to Martin and tell him to stop moving the furniture out, and I’ll see that the books make money.” And I came up with a raft of new books and all these books began to make money. Somehow they had faith in me. I knew 1 could do it, but I had to come up with fresh characters that nobody had seen before. I came up with The Fantastic Four. I came up with Thor. Whatever it took to sell a book I came up with. Stan Lee has never been editorial minded. It wasn’t possible for a man like Stan Lee to come up with new things — or old things for that matter. Stan Lee wasn’t a guy that read or that told stories. Stan Lee was a guy that knew where the papers were or who was coming to visit that day. Stan Lee is essentially an office worker, OK? I’m essentially something else: I’m a storyteller. My job is to sell my stories. When I saw this happening at Marvel I stopped the whole damned bunch. I stopped them from moving the furniture! Stan Lee was sitting on some kind of a stool, and he was crying.

GROTH: Stan says he conceptualized virtually everything in The Fantastic Four — that he came up with all the characters. And then he said that he wrote a detailed synopsis for Jack to follow.

ROZ KIRBY: I’ve never seen anything.

KIRBY: I’ve never seen it, and of course I would say that’s an outright lie.

GROTH:Stan pretty much takes credit in an introduction to one of his books for creating all the characters in The Fantastic Four. He also said he created the name.

KIRBY: No, he didn’t.

GROTH: The next character, if I remember correctly, was The Hulk. If I remember correctly you drew a six-issue run of that, then it was cancelled for a little while, then Steve Ditko started it in an anthology book called Tales to Astonish. Can you talk a little bit about how you were involved in creating The Hulk?

KIRBY: The Hulk I created when I saw a woman lift a car. Her baby was caught under the running board of this car. The little child was playing in the gutter and he was crawling from the gutter onto the sidewalk under the running board of this car — he was playing in the gutter. His mother was horrified. She looked from the rear window of the car, and this woman in desperation lifted the rear end of the car. It suddenly came to me that in desperation we can all do that — we can knock down walls, we can go berserk, which we do. You know what happens when we’re in a rage — you can tear a house down. I created a character who did all that and called him the Hulk. I inserted him in a lot of the stories I was doing. Whatever the Hulk was at the beginning I got from that incident. A character to me can’t be contrived. I don’t like to contrive characters. They have to have an element of truth. This woman proved to me that the ordinary person in desperate circumstances can transcend himself and do things that he wouldn’t ordinarily do. I’ve done it myself. I’ve bent steel.

GROTH:Well, this is probably going to shock you, but Stan takes full credit for creating the Hulk. He’s written, “Actually, ideas have always been the easiest part of my various chores.” And then he went on to say that in creating The Hulk, “It would be my job to take a clichéd concept and make it seem new and fresh and exciting and relevant. Once again, I decided that Jack Kirby would be the artist to breathe life into our latest creation. So the next time we met, I outlined the concept I’d been toying with for weeks.”

KIRBY: Yes, he was always toying with concepts. On the contrary, it was I who brought the ideas to Stan. I brought the ideas to DC as well, and that’s how business was done from the beginning.

GROTH:Stan also claimed he created the name. “the Hulk.”

KIRBY: No, he didn’t.

ROZ KIRBY: It’s just his word against Stan’s.

GROTH:There was a period between ’61 and ’63 when you were just drawing a tremendous number of books.

ROZ KIRBY: May I make one point? In all these years, when Jack was still creating things, Stan Lee hasn’t been creating things. When Jack left Stan, there wasn’t anything new created by Stan.

KIRBY: Yeah. Stan never created anything new after that. If he says he created things all that easily, what did he create after I left? That’s the point. Have they done anything new? He’ll probably tell you, “I didn’t have to.”

GROTH:Can I ask what your involvement in Spider-Man was?

KIRBY: I created Spider-Man. We decided to give it to Steve Ditko. I drew the first Spider-Man cover. I created the character. I created the costume. I created all those books, but I couldn’t do them all. We decided to give the book to Steve Ditko who was the right man for the job. He did a wonderful job on that.

So you have two people telling two completely different stories, surprise right? Sadly there is practically no one alive from that time that was involved with Marvel at the time except Steve Ditko who still continues to produce independent comics and has remained silent and out of the public eye for years.

Many Creators have supported the fact that Kirby did the majority if not sole creating of Marvels most famous heroes. Even controversial and designated grumpy old man of comics Alan Moore believes Jack to be workhorse behind the creations. Check out a short video of him answering a fan question about Stan Lee here

Needless to say, I’m inclined to believe the Kirby camp. I have always thought if Stan was this creative machine how come he has not created anything significant since Jack left Marvel? Jack and Roz even pointed that out in The Comics Journal interview. Let’s be honest any of Stan’s new comic properties suck or are certainly not anywhere close to the quality of his claimed previous “creations.”

Many people believe Marvel put Stan in cameos in the Marvel movies cause well he’s Stan Lee. No. He sued Marvel for not making any money from the original Spider-Man movie. Not only did he win the suit (He is also the only one to sue Marvel successfully) Stan won the right to be in every Marvel property and receives a reported million dollar a year salary from Marvel.

We are talking about a man who used to have “Stan Lee Presents” on every Marvel comic book. Not “Stan Lee and Jack Kirby Present”. He even said one time publicly that he created Captian America. He didn’t create Captian America that was Joe Simion and Jack Kirby. While Stan has talked highly of Kirby and his other “collaborators”, he will kind of backpedal on questions of contribution and creation for a legal reason as well as moral I suppose.

Stan Lee is one of the best self-promoters and even managed a couple of catchy (if not sometimes annoying) catch phrases Excelsior! And True Believer. Is he evil? No. Shaddy? I’d say yes. He is not the first person to profit off of someone else’s work, and he won’t be the last.  

The reason credit is such an important issue in the comic book industry is because of the amount of work creators put into creating fantastic entertainment. It’s a genuinely collaborative medium, and back in the early days of comics artists were fighting for recognition and fair pay. Even today pencilers, letterers, inkers and colourists are struggling for recognition, while writers are given most of the credit.

It’s important to point out (and this is of course widely debated among fans and pros alike) that you can create a comic without a writer. If the artist is a talented storyteller, you don’t need words to tell a story. A writer without an artist is essentially a short story or script writer. Without pictures with the words, there is no comic book, but so long as there are pictures you have a comic. Jack was proof of this.

At this point you might be thinking this is a pretty one-sided article favouring  Jack Kirby, well it is. If you want to hear Stan’s side, there is no shortage of him talking about how he created the Marvel Universe. Just google search and take you pick of written and video interviews. What I found hard to find when I googled Jack Kirby was his side of the story, and the fact not too many people know about it. People are going to make their own choice on who to believe (at least I hope so).

Many Stan Lee supports say that without Stan there would be no Jack Kirby. They could not be more wrong. Jack had already made a name for himself when he co-created Captain America in 1940 a good 20 years before the start of the Marvel Universe, so it’s not like Jack wasn’t known before being associated with Stan. If anything without Jack Kirby there would be no Stan Lee.

To be fair Stan has been the face of Marvel for a long time, even during bad times when Marvel was on the verge of bankruptcy, his tireless promotion kept marvel in the public eye, and it was also a great benefit for him to so. It seems Stan does nothing that will not help him personally.

Stan has said that the 2016 convention season will be his last, and at the age of 93 I don’t blame him. For anyone wanting to get there Stan Lee comic signed this will be your last chance, but before you rush to your long box or hit up your local comic shop to find some vintage comics of “his” make sure you got enough cash to get each one signed. Yes, the man who “created” much also profits much. Stan is charging  $100 Canadian per signature at Fanexpo Canada (our dollar sucks so I get why it has to be higher) so about $70-80 American. The line usually spans the majority of the convention floor, so we’re talking hours of wait time. The general notion with fans is that his signature will be worth a lot when he eventually passes away, and others just want it for sentimental value and there belief that he created whatever comic there getting signed. To contrast that most creators even legends in the industry charge nothing or a more reasonable fee like 10 or 15 dollars a signature (It’s only reasonable compared to Stan’s fee, I’m not a fan of signature fee’s, in general, i do however understand charging for retailer exclusive variant comics)

The reality is there is no shortage of his signature’s, and unless you get the comic, graded and got the signature verified by a CGC (Certified Guaranty Company) employee in person it’s worth next to nothing. Signatures do not always increase the value of the comic in fact it can hurt the value, what does make a comic valuable is the rarity, and or cultural significance of it. I think once people start to realise Stan had little to do with Jacks creations the less his signature will be worth in the collectors market.

So is Stan Lee the Creator or co- creator of the Marvel Universe? The evidence suggests that he is not either. Jack Kirby and his family never reaped the benefits of his hard work, thankfully after a lengthy battle in the courts recently the family got a settlement out of court and Jack Kirby is starting to get the recognition he deserves even if it is too late. It was Marvel and not the Kirby family who sued. Marvel was suing over the Kirbys termination of copyright assignment they had filed.

I bring this all up just a  before what would have Jack’s 99th birthday (August 28th). It is also nice to see Marvel Acknowledge Kirby by having a week long celebration of his work, although this was probably worked out over the settlement out of court with the Kirby family. Marvel would barely mention him before the lawsuit.

These days I rather hear more about Jack Kirby than Stan Lee, and while I know I didn’t cover all the different variables and topics, it is a very in-depth issue, and I can only hold people’s attention for so long. So perhaps I will do another article on the topic later on down the line.

Happy Birthday to Jack King Kirby The King of Comics.

Book Review: “We Were Liars” by E. Lockhart

Have you ever been so messed up by a book that you’ve had to close it and stare off into the distance and breathe for a second?

If you haven’t, E. Lockharts We Were Liars will tick that one off the bucket list.

We Were Liars is the story of a young privileged girl from a wealthy family trying to put together the pieces of what occurred one summer where an accident has caused her amnesia.

This book has had plenty of hype around it for some time – and it’s honestly no wonder. Everything about this book has been so wonderfully crafted, from characters to the style of the text.

Every character is unique and shining, from the sick and tired protagonist to her rich, white family that seem to make her even more sick and tired. It very accurately portrays what life would be like in communities and families of that kind of stature and wealth, with parents using their children to manipulate the heirs to the fortune. It’s also shockingly sad to see how the family cope with the tragedy and the main characters mental illness as a result, with her mother focusing on how her daughter looks and whether it keeps the status of their family name upstanding rather than letting her daughter break down in front of anyone.

However, whilst you recognise these people are spoiled, privileged and seemingly blind, they also manage to be incredibly sad and sympathetic – they’re so incredibly sad and tragic in their own world, and their narrative carries that of a burden that only people from a family of that level of wealth and stature could know.

The narrative of the story is incredibly well laid out – Lockhart’s narrative is unbearably smart, absolutely thrilling and a constant edge-of-your-seat read, right until the very end. It’s sharp, surprising and at times absolutely hilarious. Then the reveal is so stark, so unbelievably shocking, that the intelligent narrative both aides it, and then in turn is aided by this reveal. It’s such an incredible and thoughtful build up to something so earth-shattering, and I genuinely cannot fault it.

E. Lockhart’s “We Were Liars” is unique, shocking and spine-tingling, with quick narrative, sympathetic and believable characters and a heart-wrenching story. It’s well worthy of all the positive criticism it has received, and fully deserves a spot on every young adults bookshelf.

The Expanse SN1 EP6 – Rock Bottom

If you’re wondering what TV series you should be watching for free online or on demand, look no further. You need to be watching The Expanse over on the Syfy channel.

If you’re new to the series, click here to start from the beginning. If you’re caught up on things, then get ready. Episode 6 is fast paced.

Earth

To start, we quickly touch base with events on Earth. It’s the end of a conversation between Avarasala and an old acquaintance. She’s trying to strike a deal with him. She’s asking for spy equipment so she can spy on Fred Johnson. In return, she offers her “friend” a deal he can’t refuse.

Ceres Station

It’s a few minutes after Miller’s kidnapping at the end of Episode 5. It turns out Dawes is behind the abduction. Dawes is mad at Miller for not taking the deal he offered to give up Havelock’s attacker. He now decides Miller needs to be “taken care of.” But before that, he decides to question Miller to find out exactly what he knows about Julie Mao.

As Dawes and his thugs beat Miller to get information, we learn a bit of Dawes’s background. We hear the story of the sister who Dawes loved and the choices he had to make for the good of his family. It seems those rough choices led Dawes to the OPA.

Finally, Dawes is done. He has Miller taken to be executed, but Miller is saved by Octavia Muss. She get’s Miller back to his apartment but is shaken from the ordeal. In saving Miller, she also kills for the first time.

Octavia Muss

 

Miller is finally able to look into the data chip he pulled from the hamster in Julie Mao’s apartment back in EP 5. He takes his findings directly to the Star Helix station and his Captain. The Captain listens as he gives his report and his theory on the Julie Mao case. Then, to our surprise, locks the chip away and fires Miller.

It seems Dawes has gotten to her.

Abandoned Asteroid Mine

A side story is interspersed with the scenes of EP 6. Two asteroid miners, an uncle and his nephew, are out in the asteroid belt scavenging for ore.

As they finish with the asteroid, they’re suddenly hailed by an MCRN (Mars Congressional Republic Navy) ship, the MCRN Scipio Africanus, and told to prepare to be boarded. The MCRN troops tell the uncle and nephew they are not authorized to be where they are. They’re also informed that their ore is being confiscated and they must take the long way around the area to get home.

Unfortunately, the miner’s ship does not have enough fuel to make it.

After an argument with the troops where the uncle insists they’re not doing anything wrong, the troops leave.

Later, the drunk and frustrated uncle tosses the nephew out into space then speeds off towards the MCRN Scipio Africanus.  

Holden. Naomi. Amos. Alex. Fred Johnson.

Holden and crew arrive at Tycho Station.

Finally face to face, Holden asks Johnson why he’s invited them. There’s a palpable tension in the air since no one trusts anyone. While Amos and Holden enter a standoff with Johnson and his security force, Naomi has to take charge and diffuse things before they get out of hand.

Things calm down and we find out that Johnson actually needs Holden’s help to find a survivor of the Scopuli. Naturally, Holden agrees to go search for the survivor alone. This causes an argument with Naomi, Amos, and Alex who don’t want to be left on Tycho with Johnson. During the argument, the truth about who really sent the distress call out from the Canterbury comes out.

Naomi and Johnson’s crew get the Rocinante ready for the mission. Finally having some down time, Holden, Naomi, Amos, and Alex get to know each other. We get to find out a bit about each of their pasts.

When the Rocinante is ready for take-off, Holden is pleasantly surprised to find that Naomi, Amos, and Alex have all decided to go with him. It seems they’re all finally bonding.

As we’re shown scenes of how close the four are becoming, we hear Johnson explaining the parameters of their search and the dangers ahead.

Finally, they set off and the audience is left with the feeling of nervous excitement as if the climax of the season is finally here.

Do us and the show a favor. Share this with your friends. We promise you won’t regret it.

Uglies Readalong Liveshow Announcement!

If you guys watched my video from last month you know I’m hosting a readalong currently for Uglies by Scott Westerfeld.

This is my all time favorite book & I had a total blast rereading it! I’ll be hosting a liveshow on my channel on September 3rd at 8pm CST! I’ll be joined by some amazing booktubers & we’ll be doing an in depth fun discussion about the book.

THERE WILL ALSO BE A GIVEAWAY!

Watch the video below to find out more about the readalong & live show 🙂

Hope you can join us!

Happy Reading,

ALY

Exciting Unboxing FT. Meagan Precourt

I’m lucky enough to be friends with upcoming author Sara Ella! Sara wrote a book called Unblemished which is set to be published October 11th of this year & will be published by Thomas Nelson which is a part of Harper Collins!

Sara was kind enough to put me on the list to reacieve an ARC, that’s right folks, an Advanced Readers Copy! Whoop Whoop!

Below is me sharing my excitement with all of you over receiving the book!

Make sure to add this to your TBR!

Happy Reading,

ALY

DC Planning 8-hour Live Streaming Event In September

CBR is reporting that DC Entertainment will be doing an 8-hour Live stream on their DC All Access YouTube channel. The event is in honour of  DC All Access hitting the 1 million subscriber milestone.

Tiffany Smith and Jason Inman will be hosting the live event, which will include interviews with comic book writers, insider information, news updates and much much more.

Paul Malmont, DC’s director of digital marketing content, said “Now, more than ever, we’re committed to bringing unique, entertaining stories about all things DC to our fans. The first-ever DC All Access all-day live stream event is a thank you to our fans for their support,”

 

Fire up your PC or download the free DC All Access app to watch the stream that is taking place September 2nd, 2016 at 9 a.m. PST.

 

The Remnant Chronicles Look Book – BOOKTUBE TOURS

I was selected to reviece a copy of the new YA fantasy release The Beauty of Darkness by Mary E. Pearson. I thought it would fun to do a look for each book so that’s what I did for my host day!

If you’re interested in this series there is a readathon going on called #READREMNANT so check it out! All the info for this booktube tour and readathon is in the description box of the video 🙂

Happy Reading,

ALY

Book Review: ‘The Unexpected Everything’ By Morgan Matson

Andie Walker always had her life planned to the tiniest second. As the daughter of a man in congress, she has no time for errors or impromptu plan changes. But when a scandal forced her father to step down and her internship plans to fall through, Andie will have to think on her feet to tackle the unexpected.

The Unexpected Everything is the absolute perfect summer read – it’s light, fun and full of teen romance, but is also very deep, emotional and realistic.

The standalone story focuses mostly on Alexandra Walker, aka Andie, as she tries to navigate an unexpected summer spent with her distant and work-a-holic father, her three best friends, and her spontaneous new job as a dog walker.

The actual story in this book is surprisingly emotional and deep – I found myself getting misty eyed more than I anticipated! The main point of Andie and her fathers friction is the refusal to talk about her mother, who has passed away five years prior. The story deals with the grief well – her loss is still known well, and is still a painful point, but it’s not ignored or the complete and utter forefront. It’s handled very realistically, and I found myself feeling really pained for Andie.

Andie herself is a character that is very relatable, perhaps minus the political figure father line. But she’s so wary of life straying outside the plan she’s mapped out, out of her circle of friends and committing to romantic relationships as they could shake that plan up. So understandably, a lot of the book is her trying get herself to stray from her strict lines and rules of life, and explore outside of her comfort zones. It’s a lot of fun watching her react to certain situations, especially when they’re so new to her.

The supporting characters in this book are all great, and all very individual characters – you do feel as if you know these people well, and inspite of their teen drama, they’re all incredibly likeable, especially Andies close unit of friends. Whilst at times their drama and talking points can be so eye-rollingly over the top, just think back to when you were seventeen – these are all perfectly reasonable things that high school friends would discuss and get excited or upset about. It’s an emotional and volatile time, and the author not only understands it, but respects it a great deal. The characters are never framed as over the top tropes or as bad people, they’re just teenagers with drama, drama you can easily invest in and thus get emotionally attached to.

The romance in this book is also very sweet – the strains, anxieties and awkward moments are showcased just as much, if not more, with the honeymoon period of teen romance.

Alongside the romantic relationship, other relationships are valued just as much, if not more. There’s a wonderful balance so the entire book isn’t hammering romance at you – friendships are held to just as high an issue in this book, and Matson wonderfully handles their love for each other, their in-jokes and the way they talk to each other. This book presents that friends are just as important to have as anything else in the world, and the issues that friendships can come up against.

Andie’s relationship with her father is also a pleasant surprise. Most readers will assume from the beginning that it won’t be until the end of the book that their relationship even begins to resemble a father and daughter trying to reconnect – and they’d all be wrong. From fairly early on, her father and Andie begin to try and work out their issues. It’s awkward, but it’s very sweet, with a joint effort from both of them. Andies father turns out to be an incredibly charming and delightful character.

Overall, The Unexpected Everything is genuinely a lot of fun. Although predictable at points, it’s mature and intelligent with respect for the characters and their relationships, whilst still being a light summer read. With all the above, plus a healthy dose of sci-fi references and a massive nod to George R. R. Martins A Song of Ice and Fire series, it’s the ideal book for anyone who’s looking for a few laughs, some drama and summer romance. Plus, dogs.