‘Wild Reverence’ by Rebecca Ross Book Review

July 9, 2025 bysoleilcelineLeave a comment

★★★★★

“To be a lone goddess surrounded by men, devastated from battle, was dangerous. For men are like enthralls; they are drawn to shining, quicksilvered things, keen to tame them.”

Rebecca Ross plunges the reader deep into a world of gods, salt sworn oaths, and deadly rivalries. I felt enchanted by her writing from the very first chapter. Starting off from when the young goddess Matilda is but a child, she weaves us through the goddess’s life, giving us small tastes of what may befall her in the chapters to come. The pantheon of gods and goddesses, Underlings and Skywards, are fascinating and entirely unique. Ross has crafted a world entirely of her own. The magic system is enchanting and immersive.

This is a love story that spans across worlds, building upon itself as the story unfolds. Their love feels entirely natural and yet not of this world. I devoured these pages, eager for more of Matilda’s life as she grew into her power and into her destiny.

For anyone who did not connect with the Divine Rivals series, I urge you to pick this one up. The plot alone will enthrall you, followed by the dynamic characters, and the pacing. Incredible story, I can’t wait to read what Ross does next.

“This is the beginning of the end, I thought. If heatless gods can be made soft by such love, we are all doomed.”

Thank you to Netgalley, St. Martin’s Press, and Saturday Books for the early review copy.

The ‘Jurassic World’ Franchise Needs to End

July 8, 2025 bysoleilcelineLeave a comment

★★☆☆☆

“Jurassic World: Rebirth” Review

We once again find ourselves in the world of Jurassic Park, or rather, Jurassic World. We have all likely lost track of how many Jurassic Park and World movies there have been at this point. And to be honest, I have absolutely no idea where in the Jurassic franchise timeline this movie took place before I entered the theater.

I went in with neutral expectations. I was there to see some dinosaurs, some action, and let’s be honest, to see Johnathan Bailey in those little wire-rimmed glasses. Although, I was not shocked that I left the theater feeling disappointed.

To put it simply, the movie was lackluster. The plot was almost entirely predictable, we’ve already seen this movie before. I hoping this newest installment would bring some more zest, but it felt flat. The side characters were so bland, the movie threw them to the wayside at the earliest possible moment.

Johnathan Bailey did bring an excellent performance as a Dinosaur paleontologist, entirely charming with his own little quirks. I loved what he brought to the character, he felt real, dynamic, interesting. Something almost every other character in this film lacked. There was also an interesting side plot featuring a family that fell upon some bad luck and got dragged into the Jurassic drama.

Scarlet Johansson was there, and that’s about all that she brought to her character and the film as a whole.

Let’s just be grateful they didn’t try to force a romance between our two main characters, because the was absolutely no chemistry there. They did, however, force us into a poignant ending featuring a piano-cover of the Jurassic theme that felt entirely misplaced.

In the end, it was simply a regurgitation trying to emanate the excitement and grandeur of every other movie in the franchise, yet lacking the originality to make it truly charming and interesting.

Lilo & Stitch (2025) Movie Review

May 28, 2025 bysoleilcelineLeave a comment

Comparing the original Lilo & Stitch (2002) to the 2025 live-action remake.

First, a few thoughts on live-action remakes of classics:

Animation and live-action are two different art forms and should be treated as such. Some things can be achieved in animation that don’t translate into live-action and vice-versa.
A different art form necessitates changes.
Any remakes shouldn’t be carbon copies of the original but bring something new, the director’s own take while keeping the integrity and heart of the story alive.

Lilo & Stitch (2002)

★★★★

Growing up on Maui and being a local makes this movie incredibly important to me. It’s more than a part of my childhood. It’s a rare glimpse at local life on the islands. We have very few movies/tv that accurate represents the islands, without being about tourists vacationing.
There aren’t many big films that showcase Hawaiian Pidgin, it’s so comforting to hear the local dialect. “Kapu” meaning sacred, forbidden, or taboo written on a note against Lilo’s door.
This is one of Disney’s unique and original films, showcasing what they can achieve when they aren’t reusing the same old storyline but creating something wholly new.
Children from the Kamehameha Schools Children’s Chorus sung for the Hawaiian Rollercoaster Ride song.
Stitch driving all over Kauai and hitting water on every side of the island is the most relatable island experience.
Overall: It’s a fun and heartfelt film.

Lilo & Stitch (2025)

★★★

Pleakley looks like he’s gunk that came out of my nose. You can make live action without making them look hyper realistic and ugly…
UH Manoa has the best marine biology program, not San Diego…
I appreciate the inclusion of kama’aina in this and the conscious efforts to make this film a reflection of the islands.
They built off the original plot to tell a more dynamic story, but now it feels disjointed. The story no longer fits with the alien/Stitch parts. If they had not felt so tied to the original story, and they just told a story about two sisters who were learning how to continue after losing their parents, I think it would work better. There are some things that just doesn’t translate well from animation to live action, and a cuddly alien with groovy Elvis moves seems to be it. We can love stitch in animation.
Pleakley and Jumba attempt to bring some comedic relief, but only while in faux human form. Pleakley is no longer our dress-wearing gay icon. And Jumba has now become a villain.
The actors all did a great job, especially Maia Kealoha as Lily, Sydney Agudong as Nana, Amy Hill as their tutu, and Kaipo Dudoit as David. They all had a great dynamic on screen, loved the use of Pidgin in this like in the original animated feature. I wish there was more Pidgin throughout, but I’ll take what they give me.

‘The Bridge Kingdom’ A Review

March 23, 2025 bysoleilcelineLeave a comment

★★★★☆

I had vaguely heard of The Bridge Kingdom prior to picking it up on a whim this month, but never knew the story or had any particular impression of it. I gobbled up this story fairly quickly and the more I sit with it, the more I find how much I enjoyed it. As I said, I knew absolutely nothing about this before I picked it up. And this may be in the top fantasy romance books (“romantasy” as the kids say) I’ve read in the past few years.

The first chapter sucked me into the story and had me wanting more, it lost me for a few chapters in the beginning, but quickly picked back up with many fun twists and turns throughout the story. I found myself needing to read more before I went to bed. This was some of the best political fantasy writing I’ve read in a while as well.

The trade and economic policy was interesting and I was not expecting this bridge to be so interesting. Although, I did get lost a few times with all the different kingdoms and their differing dynamics, why did they all have to have such similar names!

The main character felt like a classic fantasy heroine, empowered, strong, “armed to to the teeth,” but also falls head over heels for the love interest and realigns her worldview. I yearn for characters with a little more gumption, a little more intrigue to their character, because at this point they all seem to blend together into these strong female warriors. So at times her character was a bit flat, except for her one fatal flaw, that almost takes her a few times throughout. I liked the slow burn to this, it was much closer to an enemies-to-lovers storyline than other novels, although this was more assassin-to-lover.

I look forward to reading the next book in the series and seeing where the story goes from there.

‘Legends & Lattes’ A Review

March 23, 2025March 23, 2025 bysoleilcelineLeave a comment

★★★★☆

This book embodies cozy fantasy. You slipped into a world of comforts, the world building is subtle yet familiar, reminiscent of many fantastical worlds we’ve seen before. There are surely adventures happening outside the walls of this story, but that’s not our focus. Instead we sit and observe as an orc decides to leave behind a life of murder and seek the quiet comforts of a coffee shop.

I worried this book would be dull or boring, it was neither. I was compelled to keep reading, there are smaller adventures than your typical fantasy. There’s excitement and intrigue and plot, it’s smaller, but no less significant.

I do wish we saw more of the romance develop, it kept leaving me wanting more and it felt unresolved at the end of the story. I wish we had gotten more depth in that relationship.
The ending resolution felt a tad rushed after the devastation of the climax, it read more as a montage sequence, which has its benefits.

Overall, I loved the story, and will be reading more of Travis Baldree’s work soon.

‘Oppenheimer’ Review: An Explosive Experience

July 23, 2023 bysoleilcelineLeave a comment

★★★★★

This movie was absolutely phenomenal. Not many films can keep up the pacing and keep an audience entranced for 3 hours but Christopher Nolan did just that. The interwoven timelines seamlessly brought the story from Oppenheimer’s time as a student through to receiving the Enrico Fermi award. So many fascinating tidbits about Oppenheimer’s time as a student made it into the film, and there were nods to many well-known moments in his life.

I don’t think this film could have been anything less than 3 hours, Nolan brought in elements that made the story more enticing while grappling with the scientific genius and the immoral destroyer of a man. It was a tough line to toe but Cillian Murphy was up to the task and played the role brilliantly. The cast was star studded but not without reason, every face played their time with the camera even with some major actors have little to no lines or screen time.

The soundtrack by Ludwig Göransson is what truly made the movie shine, this film could not have been the directorial masterpiece that it is without that musical genius. The times when Nolan made the directorial choice for silence vs explosion were well-thought out and so appreciated. It’s all in the details.

However, Nolan missed the mark in two areas. The Hispanic community in New Mexico, specifically in and around Los Alamos, was not mentioned. When in truth families and the entire community was ran out of town when the military and Oppenheimer’s scientists came in to build the laboratory in the “desolate desert of New Mexico.” There were people whose lives were uprooted and who suffered from the nuclear weapons tests, and they should have been acknowledged in the film.

Also, the film, while honing in on the scientific mastery of Oppenheimer and the following investigation into his background, shows Oppenheimer grappling with the idea of blood on his hands but doesn’t show the audience. There are moments when the audience feels the horrors and understands the horrifying reality that has just occurred. But that’s assuming the audience has known, background, and understanding of nuclear weapons. Which, as an international affairs scholar, I cannot assume every other viewer has the same background as I do. The film shows an artistic rendering of these horrors, makes mentions of radiation and body counts, but fails to show the audience a glimpse at the true horrors that atomic bombs leave behind. There is a worried that such an epic film showing the ashonishing feat of science won’t leave the viewer with the necessary feeling of deterance, especially in the current nuclear age. We are now closest to midnight on the doomsday clock (courtesy of the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, depicting how close we are to total nuclear annihilation) than ever before, 90 seconds to midnight. Midnight being nuclear annihilation.

Overall, the film astounded me and I am thrilled so many folks are out to see it this weekend and this month. This type of film wouldn’t typically bring a large crowd as it’s more niche, but the fortuitous release alongside Barbie has brought many more folks to the cinema.

The Summer I Turned Pretty, A Review

July 16, 2023July 16, 2023 bysoleilceline1 Comment

TV Show: ★★★★ | Book: ★★

The Summer I Turned Pretty has been an annual summer-time series phenomenon. While the show hit No. 1 show on Amazon Prime following its Season 1 release, and its Season 2 is sure to hit the same, the books leave something to be desired.

Let’s start off with the classic caveat of, this book was originally released in 2009. It’s young adult. While I still read and enjoy young adult books, I feel no longer connected to the mindset of the characters and this has an overall impact on my reading experience.

Now back to the review. The book leaves something, a lot actually, to be desired. It’s what I would classify as a quick summer pool read with naive and young characters. Pool read is by no means a negative here, there are many types of pool reads and I enjoy many of them. In this case, you can read this book with no thoughts, head empty, and you’ll get the same out of it in the end as if you had been annotating and writing your dissertation on it. This is my personal opinion, if you disagree and loved the book, that’s great!

The TV Show on the other hand recognizes the missteps, flaws, and gaps in the book and builds upon it to make the hit show that it has become. There are still the bones, the story, the themes, but we’re getting a much deeper, richer story in the end. We see the strong female friendship of the mothers, the struggles of the teens and the adults, we get a more holistic experience. The book gave us bits and pieces, all from the perspective of a young girl, who is almost entirely unlikeable. In the show we see the raw struggles of dealing with such a heavy loss at pivotal teenage and young adult years, of losing both family and friend. It’s shown from all perspectives, multiple experiences intertwining to tell a story of different kinds of loss and recovery.

The book just didn’t have that. And again, it was written in a different era of teenage storytelling, it’s meant for a young audience than myself. But there are other stories, showcasing heavier topics to younger audiences, written in earlier times, that manage to tell this story in a stronger way. I’m glad the show saw these gaps, grew and expanded upon them to give us the moving picturew

The Enduring Magic of “Sabrina The Teenage Witch,” Review

July 16, 2023July 16, 2023 bysoleilcelineLeave a comment

★★★★

No, this isn’t a review of the 2018 pop-drama The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, but rather the classic American sit-com of the 1990’s to early 2000’s, Sabrina The Teenage Witch.

I fear this show has been lost among the onslaught of new content coming in seemingly every day on the mass of streaming platforms. Don’t get me wrong, I am grateful and thrilled by the sheer volume of film and television coming out in 2023, however I do think that sometimes Hollywood priorities volume and availability over quality. Not to the fault of the creators, but to the detriment of the talent involved in the creation of television and film, especially with the lack of equality in residuals pay and streaming studios taking shows off their platforms without notice never to be seen again…

But back to Sabrina the Teenage Witch. There’s something special, something entirely more magical in watching 90’s sitcoms in the 2020’s. I myself yearn for a simpler life, with less smart appliances, AI-infused into every technology, and everything electric or battery powered. Sometimes I prefer more analog means. While there are many, many things there were severely lacking in 1996, and many things that have vastly improved since then, there’s a comfort in sitting back and watching the 1990’s fashion, corded landlines, brick computers, and talk of Y2K.

Sabrina may be just a classic 90’s sitcom with fuzzy graphics and an animatronic cat, but it provides a type of comfort and certainty that cannot be achieved in modern sitcoms filled with iPhones and talk of dating apps.

Humanity’s Downfall: A ‘Don’t Look Up’ Review

June 26, 2023 bysoleilcelineLeave a comment

★ ★ ★ ★

Don’t Look Up is an apocalypse comedy, set in the modern era that puts the viewer face-to-face with some of today’s toughest realities. I began watching this film the week it came out, a depressing evening in December 2021. However, after about an hour of the film, I had a feeling I knew its end and during the midst of my own personal anxieties, that wasn’t an ending I felt emotionally available to watch.

Flash forward to June of 2023, the day after I finished my last assignment for my Masters program I decided I was ready to finish watching it. It was emotional, it was honest, it stared the viewer in the face.

I enjoyed the playful mix of characters, some caricatures of reality, and how they each brought a different element to the screen. They each decided to face this new reality in a different way, through a different coping mechanism (sexual advances, screaming at the world, peace with one’s maker, denial, overcompensation, etc). The ties to our current reality are obvious, at times on the nose. Many viewers commented on the “Look Up” vs. “Don’t Look Up” war as a metaphor for vaccines and anti-vaxers, in a post-COVID era. I felt the most on the nose comparison was climate change, the approaching comet being of course the changing climate and escalation of climate disasters.

I really didn’t understand Ariana Grande’s cameo in the story. It felt out of context and while it was parody on life itself and stardom, it didn’t feel like it fit so much as the rest of the story. But then again, I’ve never been much of a fan of hers, so that could be my own bias clouding my judgement.

Overall, the film wasn’t exactly thought provoking as it was enticingly depressing and evocative.

2023 Book Releases

January 4, 2023 bysoleilcelineLeave a comment

Unlike the past years I’ve reduced my anticipated book releases to the ones I’m really prioritizing reading in the new year. In past years I’ve filled the list to the brim and never manage to make my way through all of them. With this list of 10 I’m more confident I can prioritize these top book releases for 2023.