The trailer did not give us many clues of what the story would be and how it will evolve or more importantly, how the series would connect to the movies. Fans around the world had dozens of theories and a lot of them did not come true, but one of the biggest wishes has been finally granted: we have our Scarlet Witch!

From January 15th to March 5th, Disney+ released nine WandaVision episodes and by doing that, they have started a new era for the MCU, who now have the possibility to develop content with a focus on characters which have not had the fair amount of screen time in the movies but are equally important. Or as fans and Sebastian Stan (who plays The Winter Soldier, Bucky Barnes) called it, “agreed, instead to send the mentally broken characters to group therapy” and they got their own series. Honestly, I am not complaining about seeing more of Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) and Vision (Paul Bettany), as well as getting introduced to S.W.O.R.D. and Monica Rambeau, along with Darcy and Agent Woo again. Without further ado, let us break down what has happened!

Status Quo after Avengers: Endgame

First, we need all to be on the same page. So, if you have not watched Avengers: Infinity War or Avengers: Endgame, please stop reading now and come back when you have!

The last time we saw Wanda was at Tony’s funeral when she and Clint (Hawkey) talked about losing Natasha and Vision and how they think that they know for what they have sacrificed their lives. Personally, I thought, they would stay in contact because after all they are kind of connected. Her brother, Pietro, saved Clint’s life and he named his son after him and he was the one who pushed her to become an Avengers in Age of Ultron. However, it seems that she chose to be by herself and grieve, but what we know is, that soon after Thanos got defeated, the events of WandaVision took place.

Welcome to Westview

The series starts with Wanda and Vision being newlyweds and moving into their house in Westview. The set up looks like it did in the 50s on The Dick van Dyke Show, followed by I Love Lucy. They settle in and invite Vision’s boss and his wife over for dinner. Everything is peaceful until he chokes, and no one does anything to help him until Wanda commands Vision. We’re also introduced to the nosy neighbour, Agnes (Kathryn Hahn).

In the second episode the set up changes to the series Bewitched and I Dream of Jeannie and it sees Wanda and Vision prepare for their magic performance at the town’s charity event. To be accepted and find friends, she and Agnes attend a lady’s brunch, which gives The Stepford Wives vibes, with the town’s first lady, Dottie (Emma Caulfield Ford). There we meet Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Parris) aka Lieutenant Trouble in Captain Marvel. However, she introduces herself to Wanda as Geraldine. Putting everything else aside, this was the point where everyone’s brain has truly started overthinking as to what was actually going on. If the helicopter in the beginning and the beekeeper at the end of this episode indicated that something strange is going on, as well as the voice from the radio asking her, who is doing this to her.

The first episode in colour is the third one, in which the series style changes to mirror The Brady Bunch and All in the Family, where surprise, Wanda is pregnant and not even Vision can explain this! We witness how Wanda’s powers have started to change and she is not only able to just move things but let them appear out of thin air. The pregnancy progresses so fast that at the end of the episode we can congratulate the new parents to twins, Billy and Tommy, who are also known as Wiccan and Speed in the comics. The episode ends with Monica confronting Wanda with the truth, that she is not living in the real world and that she needs to stop what she is doing, but Wanda kicks her out of town, which seems to be under a magic dome.

Episode 4 gives us more information as to what has been going on outside of Westview, which we will discuss a little bit later!

The fifth episode transforms to the setting of Family Ties and Growing Pains as well as paying homage to the intro to Full House, in which Olsen’s older sisters starred in. The twins are growing up fast and are now ten years old, whilst Vision starts to become more and more suspicious about what is going on around him and confronts Wanda and she herself cannot explain it. At the end of this episode the biggest cameo was revealed when Evan Peters (who played Peter Maximoff aka Quicksilver in the X-Men First Class movies) stands in front of Wanda.

What has happened to Aaron Taylor-Johnson, who originally played Pietro in Age of Ultron, you might ask? Well, the last time we saw him he was killed by Ultron while saving Clint’s life, who took his body with him on a rescue ship. During the finale events of the show, it is revealed that Pietro’s real body is buried on another continent which means Wanda has brought him back to Sokovia to be buried next to their parents.

The story gains more speed in the next episode, which looked a lot like an episode of Malcolm in the Middle, in which Westview is celebrating Halloween. Wanda and Vision both dress up as their characters in the comics, only that they refer to it as being a Sokovian fortune teller and a Mexican wrestler. Pietro and the twins dress up as their comic counterparts as well, which gets topped by the fact that the twins get their powers too. While Wanda and Pietro are out for trick or treating with the twins, Vision is exploring the town. The closer he gets to the town’s border, the slower the people move until they are not moving at all. He discovers the magical wall and goes through it to see agents surrounding him, ready to shoot.

After Wanda has expanded her territory and saves Vision, episode seven breaks the fourth wall again in a Modern Family and The Office way. Vision tries to make his way back to his wife, while Wanda starts to realise what she did. The seventh episode is the last sitcom-ish one before we all finally get to know what the heck is really going on. And, oh boy, we have not been prepared for this. Grab your tissues and something to cuddle because this will hurt.

What really is going on in and around Westview and introducing S.W.O.R.D.

So far it is entertaining but weird, right? Yeah, well because it is not real! The whole thing is just a made-up reality. To start processing everything, episode four gives us the break we needed to take two steps back and see the bigger picture.

Five years ago, Monica blipped and returned to a world in which her mother has died from cancer. Despite that, she settles into her life quite easy again and starts to work for her former employer, a company co-founded by her mother, S.W.O.R.D., or ‘Sentient Weapon Observation Response Division’ (in the comics it stands for ‘Sentient World Observation and Response Department). Remember the after credit scene in Spiderman: Far From Home?

Monica is sent to assist an FBI agent (hello Agent Woo, played by Randall Park, who was previously seen in the second Ant-Man and the Wasp) in a missing people’s case, which turns out to be Westview. It seems that no one can remember that this town or the people who lived there ever existed. Monica sends in a helicopter drone, which is found by Wanda in episode two. After touching the energy field, Monica gets sucked into Wanda’s world. Shortly after, S.W.O.R.D. agents build an observation base on the town’s border and seek the help from a scientist, which marks the first appearance of Darcy Lewis (Kat Dennings) in the MCU since Thor: Dark Kingdom. I don’t know about you, but I was extremely happy to welcome Kat Dennings back in the MCU. I think she has a great natural amount of humour and as much as I like all my beloved superheroes, they are nothing without the help of friends and allies. We learn that she made a new life of her own in her field and became Dr. Lewis. But apart from that, we do not got any further information on what her life has been like in her time off-screen.

“You’re saying the universe created a sitcom starring two Avengers?”

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Darcy quickly finds out that the energy surrounding Westview is similar to the one after the Big Bang and somehow, she is able to “plug” into Wanda’s mind and see what she has created. Imagine people seeing your thoughts, feelings, hopes, and wishes. It is sad to know that so many people can see how she is suffering…

Hayward, the director of S.W.O.R.D., wants to take down Wanda because he sees her as a villain, a possible threat and accuses her of having stolen Vision’s body. The last time we saw Vision was in Wakanda when he was killed by Thanos, so does this mean that the Avengers have left his body for S.W.O.R.D. to pick up? This is not okay and I still have a problem with processing this!

Darcy, Agent Woo, and Monica, who literally have been in Wanda’s head and describe her emotions as a “hopeless feeling like drowning and grief”, are on her side and see in her the solution. The three of them start to take the matter into their hands, to warn Wanda and ask her to release the people. They find out that Wanda rewrites reality and the only need to find something that requires no change because it is from the decade as the sitcom she is currently living in. They send in a drone, but the plan goes sideways when Wanda leaves her bubble to confront S.W.O.R.D. and tell them to leave her alone in an epic Magneto kind of way.

Hayward kicks out the trio after referring to Monica’s difficult relationship with Karen Danvers aka Captain Marvel, but the trio sneaks back into the base again and while Darcy stays behind to hack into the S.W.O.R.D. database, Monica and Woo are on their way to get backup. At the same time, Wanda is expanding her territory to save Vision and the base becomes a circus with Darcy in the middle.

This is the moment in episode 7 when Vision finds Darcy, who he recognises being the only person willing to help him when he stepped out of Westview, and he finally gets all the answers he so desperately was looking for.

Outside the dome Monica and Woo meet her aerospace contact and to our dismay, it was not a superhero guest star like Richard Reed from the Fantastic Four. Monica desperately tries to get inside the town and what follows is the birth of a new hero. While fighting her way through the barrier, Monica turns into a superhuman known in the comic books as Photon, who can see and use electromagnetic energy.

This leaves Agent Woo as the only one outside who has to take care of the information Darcy has sent him before she got sucked in with it being about Project Cataract, which is Hayward’s plan to bring back Vision, but this time as an emotionless weapon.

Commercials, clues and Easter eggs

Before we continue, we first have to take a closer look at the commercials and Easter eggs! During the series, we see six commercial breaks, which all are referring to a traumatic event in Wanda’s life. The first is a Toaster by Stark Industries. While the company never was in the business of household appliances, this is a hint to the bombing of Sokovia during which she and Pietro lose their parents and they both have been trapped with a ticking bomb in front of them for two days. The bomb was made by Stark Industries.

The second commercial is showing a Strucker watch, which is a hint to Hydra’s experiments with the mind stones. You can see it as a countdown until the twins got their powers. The next one is Hydra Soak soap “Find the Goddess Within”, which only can refer to the moment when she got her powers.

Then we have the Lagos paper towel, which is obviously referring to the events taking place at the beginning of Captain America: Civil War. The slogan “When you do a mess you did not meant to do”, is referring to Wanda accidently killing people because she has not had her power under control yet. In episode six, we have the Yo-Magic yogurt commercial, which is not as easy to decipher. This could hint either to the Hydra volunteers who have died during the mind stone experiments or to Wanda who is sucking the life out of the people in Westview. The last commercial is about Nexus, an anti-depressive, which clearly alludes to Wanda’s mental health state and the fact that she escaped into a false reality to avoid her emotions.

Aside from these obvious hints, there are a lot of Easter eggs hidden in the show. For example, the wine Wanda serves in the first episode “Maison du Mepris”, which is a nod to the comic book “House of Madness” in which Wanda has a massive break down and has to cope with the loss of her husband and children, who never really existed. However, this is not the only nod to the origins of Wanda.

There is the house number 2800 and the license plate of her car having “Excelsior” and 12-28-22, Stan Lee’s birthday, on it. Nods to X-Men are not only made by Peters appearance, but as well in the last episode when Billy and Tommy take part in the epic seasons finale fight which ends in the twins recreating the epic scene from Days of Future Past with Charles Xavier and Quicksilver in the White House’s kitchen. There’s also an honourable mention of another comic book movie adaptation Kick-Ass in which Peters and Taylor-Johnson have been playing besties is made and do not let us forget about all the Hexagon’s.

It’s been Agatha all along … or not?

At the end of episode 7, Monica finds her way back to Wanda and tries to warn her about what is going on outside her almost perfect bubble. Agnes, who took care of the twins, takes Wanda to her house and offers her a cup of tea, but Wanda is confused to not see or hear her children. Agnes tells her that they are playing in the basement, but this is extremely far from the truth because what Wanda finds there is a magic vault and as a homage to The Munsters and The Addams Family the song “Agatha All Along” reveals her as Agatha Harkness, a powerful witch.

Warning: Emotional flashback rollercoaster incoming! Grab those tissues.

In Salem 1693, Agatha’s coven wants to burn her because she betrayed her coven by practicing dark magic. However, she calls it that she only bents the rules with her power, which she cannot control yet. While the witches, including her own mother, try to kill her, she absorbs their magic and becomes even more powerful. So apparently witches are real in the MCU, but what was Agatha doing the 300+ years before she appeared in Westview? Back in Agatha’s basement, she confronts Wanda with what she has been doing and wants to know how. She mocks Wanda for not being capable of doing the fundamentals like a protection spell but is able to bend reality. To find out what led to this very day, Agatha takes Wanda down memory lane.

The first memory is about the Maximoff’s preparing for their movie night which explains all the sitcom style episodes because she watched them with her family and loves especially The Dick van Dyke Show. This happy memory turns quickly into one of the darkest, when the bombing starts and her parents die with the twins trapped and a bomb in front of them for two days. Agatha has the theory that Wanda used a probability hex to stop the bomb from exploding, which would mean that Wanda had her powers way before she actually got them from the mind stone.

The next memory brings us to the scene in which Wanda was brought into the room in which Loki’s sceptre has been waiting for her. The stone moved towards her and she has a vision of herself in the famous Scarlet Witch costumes. We still do not know why Pietro survived the experiments, but it seems it was Wanda’s fate.

“But what is grief, if not love persevering?”

The next memory brings us back to the Avengers compound, which is the first home she ever shared with Vision. As he enters the room by walking through the wall, he offers to comfort her and after a while she opens up to him about losing her brother. This scene right here is the basis of their relationship.

“What happened when he wasn’t there to pull you back from the darkness?”

The next memory is showing us what brought us to this mess. Wanda is at S.W.O.R.D. HQ asking if she can see Vision and give him a proper burial. Hayward is willing to grant her wish to see him, but the scene unfolding for her is a brutal one. S.W.O.R.D. is “dismantling the most sophisticated scientific weapon ever known” while pointing out that she cannot bury three billion dollars worth of Vibranium. Full of anger, she destroys the lab and tries to find out if there is anything left of Vision, but she cannot feel him anymore and she leaves.

Wanda drives to Westview and in her hand, she holds a property deed that says “To grow old in – V.” Out of grief, she unfolds what Agatha calls chaos magic and created her house, turns Westview into a 50s sitcom and recreates Vision out of her mind.

Agatha points out that Wanda has no idea how dangerous she truly is, and that this chaos magic makes her a Scarlet Witch and that she should surrender her magic. Wanda attacks Agatha, who gets stronger with every hit, calling it herself “taking power from the undeserving”, which is her thing. The fight between these two is put on hold when Wanda throws Agatha under a car and it looks like The Wizard of Oz with only her shoes peeking out, but there is no break for Wanda. Vision is finally back at her side, saving her from Hayward’s White Vision who is trying to kill her.

Wanda is sure she can fix everything, while at the same time realising that she has to sacrifice her own happiness. The moment she takes down the magical dome, Vision and the twins dematerialise, so she stops and continues her fight against Agatha.

“Did you know there’s an entire chapter devoted to you in the Darkhold? That’s the book of the damned. The Scarlet Witch is not born, she is forged. She has no coven, no need for incantation.”

“I’m not a witch. I don’t cast spells. No one taught me magic!”, is Wanda’s reaction to this revelation. The MCU did not follow the original comic path and did not took the opportunity to introduce mutants into their world, but chose to make Wanda a witch. They are connecting the show with Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D and The Runaways through the Darkhold and Agatha mentions something what Dr. Strange might not like to hear: “Your power exceeds that of the Sorcerer Supreme. It’s your destiny to destroy the world”.

“I do not have one single ounce of original material. Perhaps, the rot is the memories. The wear and tear are the voyages. The wood touched by Theseus himself.”

Vision continues his fight against White Vision until he points out that he is not the true Vision, only a conditional one and White Vision requests elaboration. Vision mentions the thought experiment of “the Ship of Theseus in the field of identity metaphysics”. Both then come to the understanding that both of them are the real, they are just two pieces which have to become one. Vision helps his doppelgänger to regain his memories because as a carbon-based synthezoid, his memory storage is not so easily wiped.

In the last minutes of their fight, Wanda beats Agatha with her own tricks unleashing newly found powers, which turn her into the Scarlet Witch. She does not kill Agatha but put her into the role she chose for herself, the nosy neighbour, forever.

So long, darling

There is one last thing for Wanda to do and Vision is here to encourage her to do that. The family of four goes back home and the parents bring their children to bed. Wanda thanks the twins for choosing her to be their mother. While the magic is lifting form the town, Wanda and Vision prepare themselves to say goodbye again in a heartbreaking scene.

V: Wanda, I know we can’t stay like this. But before I go, I feel I must know. What am I?

W: You, Vision … are the piece of the Mind Stone that lives in me. You are a body of wires and blood and bone that I created. You are my sadness and my hope. But mostly, you’re my love.

V: I have been a voice with no body. A body, but not human. And now … a memory made real. Who knows what I might be next? We have said goodbye before, so it stands the reason …

W: We’ll say hello again.

Wanda had the chance to say goodbye and she came out stronger out of it. On her way out of town, everyone looks with hatred at her, but not Monica. Wanda apologises and asks her why she does not hate her. How could she? She would to the same to get her mother back if she could. Wanda leaves Westview and Agent Woo takes care of clearing up the bit of mess that is still there, starting with arresting Hayward.

WandaVision is about Wanda dealing with her mental health and we follow her through the five stages of grief. She mentioned to Fake Pietro that she does not know how she did it. She was feeling completely alone, empty, endless nothingness. It is time to understand that every human or hero for that matter, is going through a traumatic event at some point and that it is equally important to address that and to understand that it is okay to not feel okay. Most things in Wanda’s live have been far from happy and those fewer positive moments are yet not enough to make up. Depression is something you do not always see, so pay attention. In my opinion, Elizabeth Olsen deserves all the awards that exist for her amazing performance and Paul Bettany I salute you to making me cry like a baby. I really do hope that he has renewed his contract with Marvel.

When Darcy meets Vision, she points out to him that the love they have is real. It might be weird at first to think of a human loving an android. Vision has evolved not only from an A.I. who got a body, but he has actually developed feelings, including regret, pain, and love. They both have been given life in some way from the mind stone and this created a special bond between them. I like to refer to them as soulmates. They complete each other. While I love to see their love, it hurts as well. Honestly, I am still not over the fact, that none of the Avengers have been there to catch her when the darkness overcome her.

To be continued …

The big question we are left with is, how will this all be woven into the future Marvel projects.

One thing we do no for sure is that Evan Peters appearance was a nice idea but has nothing to do with the mutants being introduced to the MCU because when Monica escapes from Agatha’s and Fake Pietro’s house, she finds a portrait shot with his name on it, Ralph Bohner.

After crashing into Hayward’s car, Darcy took off, but I do not think they brought her back just for a quick hello. I am positive we will see her again, hopefully very soon. Agent Woo came to stay and who knows, maybe he will get a larger part in the MCU at some point. And who knows, we may have not seen the last of Agatha, as well.

A sure bet is Monica as in the mid credit scene of the last episode, an FBI agent approaches her who later revels herself as a Skrull, mentioning that an old friend of her mother’s is inviting her, to space. This connects to the after credit in Spiderman: Far From Home in which we saw Fury chilling on a spaceship and may be the bridge to Captain Marvel 2 as well as another Disney+ show.

And then there is this epic after credit in which we see Wanda in the middle of nature all by herself in a small wooden house, drinking tea on the porch, while an astral Scarlet Witch is studying the Darkhold. In the last second, she hears Billy and Tommy scream for help. Knowing that Elizabeth Olsen is currently in London working on Doctor Strange 2: Multiverse of Madness and confirming that her character will be in it, it is safe to say that we will see a desperate Wanda seeking Dr. Strange to help her understand her powers more and bring her children back.

And we cannot forget about the fact that there is a White Vision flying around, who needs to be reconnected with Wanda and live happily ever after!

What did you think of WandaVision? Tell us in the comments below!

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25 years ago, Assane’s father Babakar (Fargass Assandé), an immigrant from Senegal and single father, tries to give his son a better life in Paris by working as a driver for a wealthy family, the Pellegrinis. One day he is accused of having stolen the necklace of the empress out of Hubert Pellegrini’s (Hervé Pierre) safe. Out of shame, his father commits suicide in jail and leaves poor Assane as an orphan.

Years later, the Pellegrinis want to sell the necklace for charity. Assane, inspired by the gentleman thief of which he was gifted a book by his father before his death, sees his chance for revenge.

As the story evolves you get some hints as to what was the real reason for the necklace going missing as well as what happened before Barbarak’s suicide. What does Pellegrini’s wife, Anne (Nicole Garcia) and the investigator Gabriel Dumont (Vincent Garanger) have to do with it?

At first Lupin, which released January 8th on Netflix, looks like just another fun con story with the one and only Omar Sy in the leading role. It most definitely entertains you for around three and a half hours while transporting you to France for a short time. However, it shortly turns into a light crime story in which you will start to fear for the wellbeing of some characters, whilst also facing a major topic of our current society.

Assane is a Black immigrant and an orphan at the age of 14. His only friends are those he made in childhood (or so it seems over the course of five episodes) and are Benjamin Ferel (Antoine Gouy) and Claire (Ludivine Sagnier), with the latter being his on and off girlfriend and the mother to his son, Raoul (Etan Simon). Throughout his whole life, he has to face racism on top of not being able to trust people due to what has happened to his father.

It is interesting to see how this is picked up and made a side topic throughout the series. A short sentence in the first episode within a fast-paced conversation made it brutally clear as to why Assane knows that he will get away with pretty much everything until proved otherwise.

“You didn’t look at me. You saw me, but you didn’t look at me. Just like they don’t look at us. Those I work for, who live up there, while we live down here. Those at the top don’t look at the bottom. Thanks to that, we’ll be rich.”

Let that sink in. Based on the shows I’ve watched, I don’t think any other series has woven  the issue of racism into their main plot so naturally. Assane turns this into his advantage (if you can call it that) and because “every Black guy looks like the next Black guy” to get where he wants to be. This is followed by how “lower class” individuals can easily be framed, because of course such a person has to be the thief since they need the money or whichever other cliché.

For those who have seen one or two other crime series, they will know where some situations lead. There is a potential police corruption and silence of media. The fact that someone can leave all moral behind and sell themselves for money as well as what this power through money can do to those, who are left alone on the battlefield in their fight for justice.

For now, there are only five episodes available, but it is confirmed that there will be at least five more and they will be released in the next few months according to Netflix. With 17 novels and 39 novellas in total, there is a lot of material from which you can spin a story from!

Have you watched Lupin? Tell us in the comments below!

The post TV Review: Lupin appeared first on The Nerd Daily.

Based on the 1968 play of the same name by Mart Crowley, The Boys in the Band was adapted into a film in 1970 with the original off-Broadway cast. For the play’s 50th anniversary, it was revived on Broadway in 2018 with actors Matt Bomer, Jim Parsons, Zachary Quinto, Andrew Rannells, Charlie Carver, Brian Hutchison, Michael Benjamin Washington, Robin de Jesús, and Tuc Watkins. After their great success there, the full cast got back together for the Netflix adaption, which released globally on September 30th 2020.

The Boys in the Band follows Michael (Jim Parsons) who prepares to host a birthday party for his friend Harold (Zachary Quinto). Some hours before the party, Alan (Brian Hutchison), an old friend from college, calls him under tears and ask to meet him. Michael agrees to meet and tells Alan to come by his apartment, however, Alan cancels, but happens to come by in the end.

Slowly all the guests arrive, including Donald (Matt Bomer), Michael’s former sweetheart; Bernard (Michael Benjamin Washington); Larry (Andrew Rannells) and Hank (Tuc Watkins), who are a couple with a complicated relationship; Emory (Robin de Jesús) and his gift for the birthday boy, Cowboy (Charlie Carver). The wild party comes to an early end when Alan finds out that Michael and all of his friends are homosexual and attacks Emory.

“We all have to call on the telephone the one person we truly believe we have loved.”

Frustrated, Michael starts a game in which everyone has to call the one person they every truly loved and announces a point system to find out who comes out of this game as a winner. Bernard is the first one to make his call. Depressed, he passes on the phone to Emory, whose experience is not any better. The game soon becomes more serious when Hank and Larry start to fight. While Hank left his wife and family to be with Larry, he does not want to be tied to one person even tough he loves that person deeply. Lastly, Michael forces Alan to call a former good friend from their college times. He knows that Alan has been more than just good friends with that person, but Alan ended their relationship because he was afraid of what he felt.

Before everyone leaves, Harold confronts Michael with his self-hatred. With only Donald staying with him, Michael has a nervous breakdown and later leaves to go to church.

The movie adaption is absolutely brilliant. You can see that the cast knows each other and their parts so well. For me, it felt like watching a theatre play at home. The cast transports all the different emotions, which come and go so quickly and perfectly. They pick up the audience and invite them to take a closer look on what it feels like to be so-called ‘different’.

However, Michael is without a doubt the most complex character of them all. He is Catholic and homosexual, he struggles with his life as it is on top of a midlife crisis. He feels like being above them all, while in fact, he is the only one not accepting who he is and stands in the way of his own happiness. If Harold had not called him out on it, you would understand where the plot leads after watching Jim Parsons face after he confronts Brian Hutchison’s character. You can see the self-doubt, the unrequited love, and helplessness. Constantly bouncing back and forth between what he should do according to society as well his believes and what he wants to and his life to be.

I think what you definitely can take with you after watching the Broadway show or the movie adaption is that you should always stay true to yourself because it can eat you from the inside out and can turn you into a frustrated person who reflects his dissatisfaction on others and drags others down to make himself feel better. That way, you distract yourself from your feelings which is not healthy at all.

The Boys in the Band is a fantastic movie for all of us who miss to go to theatres. This way you get something similar right into your living room! Prepare some popcorn, a beverage of your choice, and tissues as you will need them all.

What did you think of The Boys in the Band? Tell us in the comments below!

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And now imagine if this library of yours would be a special one… One that keeps the biggest secrets of the world in it and you are the Guard of all those mystical things. Dream job, right?

Back in 2004, The Librarian franchise begins with“The Librarian – Quest for the Spear” and introduces you to Flynn Carsen (played by the great Noah Wyle) who is around 30 years old and a student for life. He loves to learn and to read. His desperate mother tries to pair him with girls so that he would finally get interested in starting his own family and get a decent job. Having a dozen of degrees should get him one, right?

When his university kicks him out, he falls into depression, not knowing what he should do now. One day, a letter arrives for him, inviting him to a job interview to be the new Librarian of the Metropolitan Public Library. You can imagine how Flynn reacted. Taking one step at a time, he arrives at the Library only to find out that he was not the only one getting the invitation.

When it is his turn to enter the interview room, he meets the library administrator Charlene (Jane Curtin) who asks him a simple question. Why should he be THE librarian? Not knowing how to answer, he starts telling her what he can find out about her from only looking at her clothes and behaviour, which convinces Judson (Bob Newhart), the head of library.

Flynn is then introduced to his new place of work and cannot believe that he should now be the guard of Pandora’s box, the golden fleece, and numerous other historical and magical artefacts. This must be a joke, but no, it is not! All those things of which we learn in history are real and need to be protected at all costs. From now on, he can call the famous sword Excalibur his friend and gets paid for what he loves. However, his perfect job turns sideways, when he is sent on his first quest to retrieve a stolen part of the Spear of destiny. Now he must put his genius brain to the test and prove himself worthy of being the librarian.

In 2006, the second movie “The Librarian: Return to King Solomon’s Mines” released in which Flynn receives clues to retrieve the book of which gives its owner the power of time and space. Flynn travels to Kenya to start his next big quest.

The last and third movie of the franchise “The Librarian: The Curse of the Judas Chalice” came out in 2008. For a fantasy story, this one is operating on another level. Flynn is sent to New Orleans to retrieve the Judas Chalice, the vampire version of the Holy Grail. Yes, you read correctly. The movie picks up the story of Vlad Dracul and lets Flynn work with and fight some vampires.

Are you hooked already? If not, let me give you some more reasons why you should definitely give these movies a chance:

• Books
• A charismatic nerdy main character
• Magic everywhere you look
• History provided on an entertaining level
• Books, books, books
• Fun fight scenes
• Oh, have I mentioned books already? Like shelf after shelf as far and beyond your eyes can see?

So, now if you’ve watched the trilogy, how about watching the TV series now as well while you are at it?

A couple of years later, the American network TNT announced they planned to continue the story of Flynn, Charlene, and Judson and bring the beloved story to the audience as a TV series. In 2014, the first episode of The Librarians aired and as the title reveals, it is about more than just one librarian.

The Library is in need of help and sends out invitations to potential new librarians. Usually, this happens when the current librarian dies. However, Flynn, who is not yet dead, is desperately trying to save the library as it has lost its anchor at the Metropolitan Public Library and starts floats around from one place to another, losing its magic. It is soon clear, that those three candidates will not compete against each other, but should complement one another. Together, they can save the library.

Cassandra Cillian (Lindy Booth) is a brilliant mathematician and scientist who later discovers that she has a bit of magic in her blood; Ezekiel Jones (John Harlan Kim), a thief and hacker whose IQ is higher as his EQ; and Jake Stone (Christian Kane), a polymath, linguist, expert in architecture, art, art history, archaeology, and world cultures.

As in the movies, a guardian has to be chosen to keep the librarians safe, so Col. Eve Baird (Rebecca Romijn), a former member of the NATO Anti-Terrorist Unit, is chosen to be their new guardian.

Replacing the position of Charlene and Judson in one character is Jenkins (John Larroguette) who helps them all for four seasons long.

We hope you enjoyed the introduction to this franchise and are already on your way to watching the movies and TV series. The only things left to do for you are now to get a delicious drink and some snacks and enjoy while hiding from the heat or cold, depending where you live!

Have you watched the trilogy or series? Tell us in the comments below!

The post Dive Into The World of ‘The Librarians’ appeared first on The Nerd Daily.

Jo & Laurie takes place between the two books, Little Women and Good Wives, in which Jo has successfully published her first book and struggles to write her second. Laurie, the best friend every woman is dreaming of, surprises her with a week long trip to New York to give her genius mind a little break. Little did she know that this week will bring her not only museums and opera, but an unforgettable moment with the one and only Charles Dickens. Unfortunately, Jo did not see that Laurie had more on his mind that could change both of their lives forever. If only Jo would finally be honest to herself.

Since I watched the anime Jo and Her Sisters, I longed for more about Jo and Laurie. I do not need romance, instead, give me a genuine friendship and I will be in tears in no time. Jo and Laurie have a unique bond on an intellectual level, which can only be described as a soul broken in half and made whole again by finding each other.

Nowadays, we understand Jo’s decision ( or more Alcott’s decision) for not getting married, and pursuing her career and feeling fulfilled by it. Our society evolved and accepts that not every woman wants to get married and start a family and there is nothing bad about it. Alcott was ahead of her time with giving us such an independent female character. But as we all know, Jo ended up in family life eventually when she married her German professor and started running a school. She found a way to combine family and work, something that was unique for her time. But let us be honest, for me, there is only one true pairing and in my mind Jo and Laurie has to end up together. Thanks to Stohl and Cruz, we got the alternative ending and it is beautiful.

Laurie takes Jo to New York under the impression that he only wants to keep her mind off her work, when he secretly plans to ask her to marry him. Jo, being her lovely stubborn self, refuses over and over again. At some point, I felt my heart break into dozens of little pieces thinking “this cannot happen again”. I have to admit, that I was close to throwing the book against the wall in frustration. Driven by hope, I continued reading and witnessed how Meg and Brooke got engaged, seeing Laurie start college and returns with a fiancé approved by his uncle. At that point, I saw the scene of Jo and Laurie standing on the hill in Gerwig’s adaption confessing their love to each other but Jo ruining it, again so I panicked!

But when his fiancé breaks off the engagement after she sees how the best friends are around each other, there is hope for a little reader’s heart. Jo, finally starting to realise that she made the biggest mistake of her life, wants to confess her love while telling Laurie that he accepts his decision because she asked him to look for another girl to become his wife. The beautiful moment when they both are finally on the same page and there is nothing stopping them to get engaged, it lead me to sob over getting the ending for two of my all time beloved characters which, in my opinion, they deserve.

Margaret Stohl and Melissa de la Cruz did a fantastic job capturing the atmosphere that Alcott created. It truly feels like an official in-between volume, which only got lost for the longest time. The language, the surrounding, and everything is in a perfect symbiosis.

Jo & Laurie will give you a cosy feeling and will make those happy who cannot get enough of this famous story and of these beloved characters.

Jo & Laurie is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers, like your local bookstore.

Will you be picking up Jo & Laurie? Tell us in the comments below!

Synopsis | Goodreads

Bestselling authors Margaret Stohl and Melissa de la Cruz bring us a romantic retelling of Little Women starring Jo March and her best friend, the boy next door, Theodore “Laurie” Laurence.

1869, Concord, Massachusetts: After the publication of her first novel, Jo March is shocked to discover her book of scribbles has become a bestseller, and her publisher and fans demand a sequel. While pressured into coming up with a story, she goes to New York with her dear friend Laurie for a week of inspiration—museums, operas, and even a once-in-a-lifetime reading by Charles Dickens himself!

But Laurie has romance on his mind, and despite her growing feelings, Jo’s desire to remain independent leads her to turn down his heartfelt marriage proposal and sends the poor boy off to college heartbroken. When Laurie returns to Concord with a sophisticated new girlfriend, will Jo finally communicate her true heart’s desire or lose the love of her life forever?

The post Review: Jo & Laurie by Margaret Stohl and Melissa de la Cruz appeared first on The Nerd Daily.

Soon we will have a new novel written by Victoria Schwab, The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue. Those who had the opportunity to read it before its release on October 6th 2020 have loved it and based on Schwab’s previous novels, it will have plenty of mystery and supernatural in it! So, before you pick up Addie, maybe you want to pick up something that might be not yet on your radar: The Dark Vault series.

The two novels, The Archived and The Unbound, published before Schwab’s big success with the A Darker Shade of Magic series and it was then printed in one book called The Dark Vault afterwards.

To quote the blurb, “imagine a place where the dead rest on shelves like books. Each body has a story to tell, a life seen in pictures only Librarians can read. The dead are called Histories, and the vast realm in which they rest is the Archive.” This description has to make you intrigued in what the story is about!

We follow Mackenzie Bishop after she loses two of the most important people in her life, her grandfather and her little brother. Her parents decided to leave the past behind and move into an old building called the Coronado, which was a hotel once before they changed it into an apartment house.

On her first day, she meets Wesley Ayers who seems to have as much of a big secret weighting on his shoulders as she has. Before her grandfather died, he taught Mac what it means to be a Keeper, working for the Archive and hunting down Histories who have woken up from their shelves in search for the lives. Before a Keeper dies, they have to give their position to a new one and for four years, Mac has been alone. She has to lie to everyone around her, not telling them what she is and what she does in her free time…until now! It turns out that Wes is indeed a Keeper and in an old building such as the Coronado, there are a lot of Histories to hunt down. But what they both did not see coming is how complicated things will get and that one History will change their job forever.

“The Narrows are a buffer between the two. Sometimes a History wakes up. Sometimes Histories get out, through the cracks in the Archive, and into those Narrows. And when that happens, it’s the Keeper’s job to send them back.”

For me, Victoria Schwab is a genius. Her mind goes beyond boundaries, her writing is fabulous, and the characters she creates are precious. The Dark Vault became one of my favourite books of all time because it not only has a plot you have not read before, but because you are taken on a journey and can create the scenery in your mind. The Coronado is a place which I would love to visit. It is described as glamorous with a touch of the past and a library for all residents. Of course, I would not need the spooky aspect of it, with ghost-like forms walking down the corridors, but I definitely would love to be friend with Mac and Wes.

Both of them are independent teens who have such a huge responsibility on their shoulders. As every employee knows, work is not always fun. You may like or even love what you are doing, but some colleagues can stab you in the back and your boss might not be the nicest person on earth. However, you keep doing it, proving yourself and trying to improve your workspace.

Mac is the youngest person who ever became a Keeper and as such, she stands out. With Roland, a Librarian, having her back, she has not fear of others coming after her. Well, at least until the second book.

In the first book, the story follows Mac getting to know her new home, bonding with Wes, and hunting down a History who is unique from the others because it wants to erase the Archive and kill Mac. The second book follows Mac starting at a new school to which Wes goes to as well. Haunted by what has happened to her at the end of the first one, she has to face the enemy once more who has returned and has much bigger plans with the Archive and Mac.

“It hurts to breathe, but I have this trick, where I try and focus on the good, so I remind myself that things only hurt because I’m still alive to feel them. Silver linings, kids. I’m full of them.“

I do not know how Schwab does it, but Mac and Wes are very dear to my heart, as every character of hers is. While Mac is the more serious and more experienced one when it comes to the Archive, Wes is more carefree. However, they both experiences great loss and depressing times. From the beginning, they were meant to become friends, if not even soulmates and of course, a little bit more.

Schwab tells a love story in a way that it does not is in the centre of her story, but more like a nice little addition accompanying you while you read and it is given to you as a reward at the end.

To not give away too much of The Dark Vault, if you are looking for a ghost story, reliable characters, for some nice and sad moments, a setting that will make you awe, and so much more, I highly recommend this precious masterpiece.

The Dark Vault is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers, like your local bookstore.

Have you read The Dark Vault? Tell us in the comments below!

Synopsis | Goodreads

The two novels from The Archived Series appearing together for the first time.

Imagine a place where the dead rest on shelves like books.

Each body has a story to tell, a life seen in pictures only Librarians can read. The dead are called Histories, and the vast realm in which they rest is the Archive.

Mackenzie Bishop’s grandfather first brought her here four years ago, when she was twelve years old, frightened but determined to prove herself. Now her grandfather is dead, and Mac has grown into what he once was: a ruthless Keeper, tasked with stopping often-violent Histories from waking up and getting out. Because of her job, she lies to the people she loves, and she knows fear for what it is: a useful tool for staying alive.

The post Review: The Dark Vault by V.E. Schwab appeared first on The Nerd Daily.

The series has become an instant top series on Netflix and it did not disappoint in its second round. Of course, the worldwide audience is now expecting to hear that the series will be renewed for a third season, even if we might have to wait longer for them to shoot and release it due to the ongoing COVID restrictions.

On the bright side, this gives us more time to get hyped up and see how the series may continue, and if there is a chance to pick something from the graphic novels or if the show will do its own thing from now on.

Before we focus on the potential plot of season 3, let’s do a little refresher of what has happened in the first two seasons.

On October 1^st, 1989, 43 children have been born to mothers who at the beginning of this day haven not been pregnant. Fascinated by that, Sir Reginald Hargreeves has traveled around the world to adopt these children, but only seven mothers agreed. Not bothering to give them names, Hargreeves calls them by the numbers one to seven and trains them to use their superhuman powers to become The Umbrella Academy. After one brother died and another disappeared, the eventually go in different directions, losing contact with each other at some point.

That is, until one day, they received the information that their father has died and they all meet again to bury his ashes. Followed by being reunited with the brother who disappeared years ago, he informs them that he time travelled to the future and has only a couple of days left to find out what has caused the nearing apocalypse. Fast forward 10 episodes, we know the who and we know the how. Unfortunately, that did not help and Five has to save his siblings by time travelling into the past.

This is where season two picks up. Instead of only travelling back a couple of days, the siblings get split up during the time jump and find themselves in different years within the 1960s and unfortunately, the apocalypse has travelled back with them. Once again they have only a handful of days left to not only try to save the world again, but while they are at it, save the President of the United States, J.F. Kennedy.

If you are interested in a more detailed recap of the first two seasons, check out our episodic Season 1 and Season 2 recaps.

So, now that we are all up to date, let’s break down what kind of plot season 3 could give us.

I think it is safe to say that at least a bit of the third graphic novel, Hotel Oblivion, will be brought into the series. Not only has showrunner Steve Blackman revealed that he has hidden 43 sparrows during the second season, but we saw the Sparrow Academy at the end of season two as well.

Keeping in mind that firstly, we have a new timeline, which could be because of Harlan who has a bit of Vanya’s powers within him. Second, there has always been 36 other children across the globe who have been born the same day as the original seven and have supernatural powers themselves, so it is quite obvious that we had to meet some more of them (points to Lila). Taking a look at the graphic novel, robo mother Claire brought Vanya to her “real family” at the end of it, which turned out to be the Sparrow Academy.

The showrunners decided to give Justin Min’s character Ben a second chance to be alive and turned him from number 6 to 1.  Keeping in mind that Ben was the one who saved Vanya while sacrificing his ghost self, it could be possible that he might be the reason why she would turn her back on the Umbrellas and join the Sparrows.

Besides the two academies, what could be the main plot of season three? Of course, fixing the timeline should be priority one. It would be great if the show could pick up the story of the super hidden prison, Hotel Oblivion, for the world most crazy villains with superpowers, maybe showing what has happened with some of those gifted children that went down the wrong path.

But what they must focus on is to tell us more about Hargreeves! If you have read the graphic novels, you know what he his and know how he is connected to the 43 gifted children. At the end of season one, there is even a short scene hinting at it. Now with another short scene in season two, it is quite obvious that Hargreeves is what we call an alien and that the 43 children are some kind of alienish too. This alone could fill half of a season if you ask me.

Despite the general plot, we want to see some character developments as well. To quote the blurb of the first issue of the third graphic novel: “Number Five is a hired gun, Kraken stalks big game, Rumor is dealing with the wreckage of her marriage, a rotund Spaceboy runs around the streets of Tokyo, Vanya continues her physical therapy after being shot in the head‚ and no one wants to even mention Seance until issue #2.“

Well, when it come to Luther two things are possible for him. One is to follow his graphic novel path and leave everyone behind, not giving two cents about anything and anyone, or to stay because of the chance to have Ben back in his live and to deal with his clearly still not resolved daddy issues. Personally, I think that Luther has to change drastically because otherwise he will turn out to be very unimportant to the family and the story.

Diego had quite the impressive character development in season two. Do not get me wrong, I still think that Luther and Diego are more alike than they would ever consider possible, mainly when it comes to Reggie, but for me, Diego has the chance to become the new number 1 of the Umbrella Academy. I mean, have you picked up how he used his powers in the battle against the company?! He literally stopped a ton of bullets! Only Vanya was able to impress me with her power, but we will come to that soon enough.

In the graphic novel, Allison takes care of Vanya while she recovers from the shot in the head whilst also trying to see her daughter again. In the show, she started a political revolution and was able to do that for most of the time without rumouring anyone. She clearly has a strong persona and found some new confidence, but when it comes to her heart, I am not sure how she will keep coping with loss. She fell for Luther as a child, but married someone else later and became a mother. She gets divorced and is not allowed to see her daughter. In the 1960s, she marries once more and loses her husband again. When she returns to their time, there could be a possibility that her daughter may have never been born. I have no idea how her story could continue, but I wish for her to see Claire again, make peace with herself, and put her powers to good use.

Dear Klaus, what will you do now after you had your last goodbye from Dave and continue living without having Ben on your side? We do know what a sober Klaus looks like and it is nice to see that he does not need alcohol or drugs to be awesome or to cope with his powers. I still believe that we have not seen all that Klaus is capable to do. In the first episode of the second season, we see how he commands an army of ghosts to fight and I really want to see more of that.

I can see Five becoming bonkers after realising that he has messed up again, and turning into a hitman for one episode, followed by getting back on track and fixing the mess he has made. Yes, I blame it on Five. The little know-it-all should learn to work together with his siblings. I want to see a vulnerable Five, one that does not hide behind the thick walls he has surrounded himself during his time in a post-apocalyptic world.

Ben, Ben, Ben. Oh, how much I wish for Umbrella Ben to be alive and well. I think it is possible, because in this show everything is possible, right? But now that the Hargreeves siblings have to face an alternative version of their late brother, we may get to know more about the original timeline Ben’s death. Needless to say, that Ben has evolved his powers as his ghost persona, being the only one who could get near Vanya and save her. It would be interesting to see how much Sparrow Ben is different from Umbrella Ben and if their might share some things, like their love for books and their power, because it was clear in that one second we saw him at the end of season two that their might not share the same empathy.

Last, but never least, what about Vanya? Just like her graphic novel counterpart, she had to recover from amnesia and get to know herself once again. With no negative emotions of her childhood, Vanya was able to channel her powers and use them better this time around. She seems to be in control of them. Now that she remembers her past, what is her role in this new family? She is by far the strongest one of them. She may be even responsible for the new timeline if I interpret the hint correctly that a bit of her power stayed in Harlan, after she gained them back.

I can’t forget to mention Lila because we definitely need more of her and I want to see Diego happy again. After all, she is one of those other 36 children born on October 1^st and something tells me that she would make season three so much more fun.

I am positive that we will get to see a third season even if we have to wait for quite some time, but I cannot imagine that Netflix would cancel this show as it has done with others due to the ongoing pandemic restrictions. Who knows, maybe we will be blessed by an even longer season with more episodes to binge watch through.

So, what do you think? What are your hopes for the next season? Tell us in the comments below!

The post Hopes For Season 3 of ‘The Umbrella Academy’ appeared first on The Nerd Daily.

Evie and Caleb have been friends since the have been four years old. They live next to each other and they are BFFs for life. Caleb would do anything or Evie, literally. When she decides to do pursue a career as a mathematician, he looked for something similar and went for math and programming. When she wanted to go to Newton Academy, a private boarding school for science, he packed his bags and followed her. Caleb is the one who Evie can count on, when she feels her anxiety building up. He is the only person who truly understands her. She feels safe when he is around.

You might have guessed in which direction this story will go. Yes, of course Caleb is heads over heels in love with Evie and even tried 17 times to kiss her, but Evie’s one true love is mathematics and she never was interested in dating anyone. Maybe one day she will be ready to make place for another kind of love and will pick him to fill that spot.

But Caleb was not prepared for Evie to fall in love with a physics solution and becoming interested in the boy who wrote it, Leo. Encouraged by her therapist to form new relationships, she starts a relationship in which she gets her first ever boyfriend.

Bex, Evie’s and Caleb’s best friend since they started Newton Academy, knows that Caleb’s feelings for Evie are more then just staying her best friend. She tries to encourage him to make a move. When Evie wants to apply for Frontier, a conference for future scientists, she is afraid to do it by herself and asks Caleb to work on her project with her. When they must create an online profile on Frontier’s homepage without revealing who they are, Caleb sees his chance to confess his feelings to Evie without triggering her anxiety.

This book was an absolute joy to read and it can essentially be described asThe Big Bang Theory meets Rainbow Rowell’s Fangirl. Evie even reminds me of Sheldon with only having eyes for her study, only having a small amount of people she calls friends and trusts, followed by falling in love unexpectedly.

Despite the cute love story surrounded by things I have never understood in school, this book won me over talking freely about anxiety and social disorder. I cannot speak for everyone, but for me it was described the way that a lot can recognise.

Parks puts the spotlight on everyone who cannot deal with Evie and her problems as well. It is shown how hard it is for the person suffering to not feel weak and in the need of help all the time, while showing that some people around such a person is coping with it differently.

While Evie’s own mother treats her like a fragile vase and does not agree with her on everything that she sees as a too high obstacle to achieve, Caleb acts normal…whatever normal is. He knows what Evie can or cannot bear, listens, and is empathetic. He leaves her be and the moment she needs him, he is there to calm her down and encourage her to do not stop trying. When you suffer from anxiety, you do not want to hear that you will not be able to achieve your goal, you want someone to just be there so that you feel strong enough to make your next step.

Personally, I did not like how fast Evie and Leo’s relationship evolved. At some point I understood that Evie did not understand it herself. But from not forming relationships at all to dating a guy was nothing I could wrap my head around.

Another aspect I love about this book is that there is the never-ending battle between science and religion as Parks has included Bex, a character with a religious background. Why does a girl with a father as a priest goes to a school for future scientist? That question, as well as how Caleb may or may not have win Evie over, will be answered when you pick up this book and start reading.

The Quantum Weirdness of the Almost-Kiss is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers, like your local bookstore, as of January 5th 2021.

Will you be picking up The Quantum Weirdness of the Almost-Kiss? Tell us in the comments below!

Synopsis | Goodreads

Caleb has always assumed that when she was ready for romance, Evie would choose him. Because he is her best friend, and he loves her, and he has almost kissed her 17 times…

Seventeen-year-old Evie Beckham has never been interested in dating. She’s been fully occupied by her love of mathematics and her frequent battles with anxiety (and besides, she’s always found the idea of kissing to be a little bit icky). But with the help of her best friend and her therapist, Evie’s feeling braver. Maybe even brave enough to enter a prestigious physics competition and to say yes to the new boy who’s been flirting with her.

Caleb Covic knows Evie isn’t ready for romance but assumes that when she is, she will choose him. So Caleb is horrified when he is forced to witness Evie’s meet cute with a floppy-haired, mathematically gifted transfer student. Because Caleb knows the girl never falls for the funny best friend when there’s a mysterious stranger around, he decides to use an online forum to capture Evie’s interest. Now, he’s got Evie wondering if it’s possible to fall in love with a boy she’s never met.

Told in the alternating voices of Evie and Caleb, THE QUANTUM WEIRDNESS OF THE ALMOST KISS is a YA romantic comedy, sure to satisfy fans of Jenny Han, Rainbow Rowell and Stephanie Perkins.

The post Review: The Quantum Weirdness of the Almost-Kiss by Amy Noelle Parks appeared first on The Nerd Daily.

Diverse and action-packed, All These Monsters follows 17-year-old Clara, whose only wish is to escape her abusive father and mother, who never did anything to stop him. She finally has her chance when Grayson St. John, CEO of St. John Technologies, announces that he is forming a private fighting squad against scrabs, the monsters who have invaded earth.

Literally running for her life, she hops on a bus which takes her to the tryouts. After making it into the squad, her team is sent to Europe. Clara is finally free from her past, but must face other monsters, which are not as obvious as she first thought.

With not knowing Tintera’s previous work, I did not know what to expect from the plot and I have to say, I was even sceptical how this idea of a story will turn out. Except for one thing, I was not disappointed.

The book is full of diverse characters who all get their fair share in the spotlight, with badass females who save the day. You start to root for them all, while also fearing for their lives. Focusing on Clara, you can see her character develop and become independent with every situation she is facing. At first, she is the girl who runs away from her past, with no money and not knowing anyone. She quickly gets recognised for her fighting skills by her team leader, Julian, who feeds her when he finds out that she is coming to training hungry. Despite that, Clara can take care of herself on her own. She forms friendships and alliances, which is something she never knew she would have.

It is forbidden to start a romantic relationship with your team leader, but it was soon obvious that Julian feels more towards Clara. I am not sure if Clara ever felt the same way about Julian, even just a tiny bit. I guess she was overwhelmed by the fact that people see her and are interested in her. However, from that moment on, things got complicated and the focus shifted from fighting scrabs to an unhealthy relationship.

For such a strong character Clara has become, to get tangled up with someone who quickly showed his aggressive side, made me want to scream. She just escaped one abuser, to fall into the hands of another and become like her mother. God help her! Afterwards, reflecting on the book, it may be necessary for the story to evolve and to set the path for the second book in this duology.

In such a complex world, Tintera has created there is much to explore. I am excited to get to know how the story will continue and what will happen with the team.

All These Monsters is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers, like your local bookstore, as of July 7th 2020.

Will you be picking up All These Monsters? Tell us in the comments below!

Synopsis | Goodreads

Seventeen-year-old Clara is ready to fight back. Fight back against her abusive father, fight back against the only life she’s ever known, and most of all, fight back against scrabs, the earth-dwelling monsters that are currently ravaging the world. So when an opportunity arises for Clara to join an international monster-fighting squad, she jumps at the chance.

When Clara starts training with her teammates, however, she realizes what fighting monsters really means: sore muscles, exhaustion, and worst of all, death. Scrabs are unpredictable, violent, and terrifying. But as Clara gains confidence in her battle skills, she starts to realize scrabs might not be the biggest evil. The true monsters are the ones you least expect.

The post Review: All These Monsters by Amy Tintera appeared first on The Nerd Daily.

As readers, we know that books can be like medicine. Depending on our mood, it can lift us up or make us cry. Books are always there for us whenever we need them.

In The Little Paris Bookshop, which has been translated into 27 languages, the German author Nina George lets books heal our souls and takes us on a trip for the search of lost love and the exploration of relationships.

Jean Perdu owns a floating bookstore in Paris. He calls his bookshop “pharmacie littéraire” or the literary pharmacy and prescribes books to his customers which will help them with their current state of mind. He strongly believes that not every book is for every reader and therefore would not do them any good. A book must fit to its reader like a good pair of jeans and I love this idea and agree 100 percent.

“I wanted to treat feelings that are not recognised as afflictions and are never diagnosed by doctors. All those little feelings and emotions no therapist is interested in, because they are apparently too minor and intangible.”

It seems that he can help everyone through literature except for himself. For more than 20 years, he lives with a broken heart and has not found a way to fix it. When his one true love, Manon, left him, the only thing that she left behind was a letter for him to read. Afraid to find out which words she left for him; he has put the letter away for years.

When he is finally brave enough to face his past, he uproots his bookshop and travels to the south of France, accompanied by two of his friends, to find peace and end his suffering.

“The feeling that washes over you when another summer nears its end. Or when you recognise that you haven’t got your whole life left to find out where you belong. Or the slight sense of grief when a friendship doesn’t develop as you thought, and you have to continue your search for a lifelong companion. Or those birthday morning blues. Nostalgia for the air of your childhood. Things like that.”

This lovely book is the perfect read for a rainy summer afternoon as it will transport you to the lovely France flower fields and their small cottages with their vineyards. George has created a reliable main character with Perdu, a man who was too afraid to get to know the truth that he must face the ugly reality that 20 years later and it is too late to make up for everything.

His longing for Manon stopped him from fixing his broken heart or finding a new love with another woman. Following his journey, you will find yourself rooting for his happiness, while asking yourself why he could not have opened the letter sooner. It hurts to see what Perdu lost because of it, but it will warm your heart when you see what he gains.

At the beginning, I was not able to see in which direction the story would evolve. It is not about the bookshop, it is about life, love, and souls. Perdu finds out what has happened with Manon and how her live has been. He meets Luc and discovers that she really loved him. In the end, Perdu is able to love again and fill his heart with new love.

The biggest lesson you can take from this story is to never wait to seek answers, because you never know what could happen later or if it is not too late. On the other hand, it shows that you can find love and happiness at every age and that you are the master of your own live and form your future the way you want it, if you only are brave enough take the first step.

With a cup of tea in one hand and the book in the other, you will quick get cosy and have the smell of French lavender surrounding you.

The Little Paris Bookshop is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers, like your local bookstore!

Have your read The Little Paris Bookshop? Tell us in the comments below!

Synopsis | Goodreads

“There are books that are suitable for a million people, others for only a hundred. There are even remedies—I mean books—that were written for one person only…A book is both medic and medicine at once. It makes a diagnosis as well as offering therapy. Putting the right novels to the appropriate ailments: that’s how I sell books.”

Monsieur Perdu calls himself a literary apothecary. From his floating bookstore in a barge on the Seine, he prescribes novels for the hardships of life. Using his intuitive feel for the exact book a reader needs, Perdu mends broken hearts and souls. The only person he can’t seem to heal through literature is himself; he’s still haunted by heartbreak after his great love disappeared. She left him with only a letter, which he has never opened.

After Perdu is finally tempted to read the letter, he hauls anchor and departs on a mission to the south of France, hoping to make peace with his loss and discover the end of the story. Joined by a bestselling but blocked author and a lovelorn Italian chef, Perdu travels along the country’s rivers, dispensing his wisdom and his books, showing that the literary world can take the human soul on a journey to heal itself.

Internationally bestselling and filled with warmth and adventure, The Little Paris Bookshop is a love letter to books, meant for anyone who believes in the power of stories to shape people’s lives.

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