Friday 30 July 2021

Werewolves Within – Film Review

 


Originally published on Set The Tape


Opening a film about werewolves with a quote from Mister Rogers about being kind and neighbourly is certainly a bold move, and it definitely sets the tone for Werewolves Within, the new horror-comedy from Josh Ruben, that adapts the PlayStation VR game of the same name.

Straight off it’s worth making it clear that whilst this film is technically a video game adaptation, it has very little in common with the source material. One of the things that other film adaptations do, and that can often lead to films that fall flat, is that they try to bring all of the characters and story of the games to the big screen, attempting to take what made those games successful in the first place and putting them in a new medium. Whilst this can be done well, it more often isn’t, and has led to video game movies being considered something of a bad genre.

Werewolves Within, however, takes a different approach. The original game sees you sitting around a camp fire in a medieval village,trying to figure out which of the people in the group is secretly a werewolf. Instead of adapting this, Ruben takes the basic seed of the concept and transplants it entirely, bringing it up to date.



The film sees Finn Wheeleer (Sam Richardson) travelling to the town of Beaverfield, where he’s set to be the new Park Ranger. Upon arriving Finn finds a small town that’s somewhat divided, as some residents want to sell up their land to a developer who wants to build an oil pipeline, whilst others refuse to give up their homes. He meets Cecily (Milana Vayntrub), another recent addition to the town, who gives him a small tour, introducing him to the various odd inhabitants.

It doesn’t take long for things in Beaverfield to go wrong, however, and the various members of the town soon find themselves trapped inside the local inn as a huge snowstorm rages outside. With the power out they think that their problems will soon pass, until they discover a viciously destroyed body under the inn; a body that’s been mauled by some strange animal. When more odd things start happening, the townsfolk come to the only logical conclusion: that it’s definitely a werewolf who did this, and it must be one of them. Now they’ve got to find a way of surviving the storm and this vicious killer; but who can they trust when one of them might be the monster?

Werewolves Within feels a lot like Clue with a dash of horror thrown in, and whilst the film deals with monsters and murders it’s the comedy that takes centre stage. Ruben focuses on the people of Beaverfield, and gets a lot of fun out of pitting this odd group against each other. There’s the pipeline industrialist, the environmentalist, the odd redneck couple, the staunch republicans, the womaniser, the gay couple; all kinds of arch, over the top stereotypes are thrown into the mix just to add more drama and weirdness. And for the most part it works pretty well.



With the film leaning more into the comedy aspect there are certain moments that feel a little bit too ridiculous, that lean into farce more than anything else, and even though the plot is dealing with a potential monster in their midst you kind of forget that this is even supposed to have any horror involved. And you can be forgiven for forgetting that there’s even a werewolf in the film, as we’re so focused on the people that you even begin to question if there is an actual monster in the movie or not.

There are some good performances in the film, especially from Sam Richardson and Milana Vayntrub, who just click really well together. The pair form a very quick bond, and there are sparks of romance between the two of them that are just delightful. I’d love to see them get to play against each other in a romantic comedy one day, as they really show a ton of chemistry and charm that makes their scenes together some of the highlights of the movie.

Werewolves Within might not be your standard video game movie, nor your average dark comedy, but it has a lot of charm and you get the sense that everyone involved in making it had a lot of fun doing it. If you’re looking for a good, fun movie to fill a couple of hours it’s definitely worth a watch.


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Thursday 29 July 2021

Final Fantasy X – Throwback 20

 

Originally published on Set The Tape


Straight off the bat I’m going to say that I’m a little shocked and appalled that 20 years have gone by since the release of Final Fantasy X, a game I remember being hyped to play long before it came out, and one that felt like a huge leap forward for the classic Japanese RPG series. Now it’s older than the entire franchise was when it was released. Time, why must you punish us by continually progressing?

Final Fantasy X was the first entry in the beloved Square series to come to PlayStation 2, and was the first game in the series to break away from pre-rendered backdrops to fully three-dimensional backgrounds. It was also the first game in the franchise to use voice acting; something that many fans were unsure of when it was first announced. Until this point the series was well known for a particular style, and many were worried that this new, modern entry wouldn’t feel like a Final Fantasy game. Luckily, upon release it became a huge success.

The story takes players to the world of Spira, a place inspired by Japan, Thailand, and the South Pacific. These influences would inspire both the look and feel of the game, which along with the leap in technology made the game stand out amongst its brethren. We play as Tidus, a star Blitzball player who is transported to Spira from his home of Zanarkand following an attack from the monstrous entity known as Sin. Shortly after arriving in Spira, Tidus becomes the bodyguard to Yuna, a young woman who’s set out to defeat Sin.



The game still followed many of the main gameplay elements of previous entries in the series, presenting players with a large world to explore through a third-person perspective as they take control of Tidus. Most importantly for fans, the game retained the core combat element of the series, whereby the player is able to assemble a team of three characters to use in turn based fights. The game also retained the random combat encounters that was a staple of the franchise.

Final Fantasy X did, however, add some new features, including a Blitzball mini-game, where the player is able to compete in the fast paced underwater sport. Whilst being an optional part of the game in the later stages, Blitzball is an important part of the story early on, and thanks to this it encouraged players to go out of their way to seek out these mini-games, where they were sometimes completely forgotten in previous series entries.



Upon release Final Fantasy X was showered with critical acclaim, with many gaming publications giving it near perfect scores. The game was praised for the bold new innovations to the series, including its voice cast, and was seen as an improvement to a formula that, whilst popular, had become somewhat unchanged over the previous entries. The game still retains a high score on Metacritic today, with a score of 92 out of 100.

Due in large part to its success it’s also one of the few Final Fantasy games to get a direct sequel and was the first to do so, with Final Fantasy X-2 released on PlayStation 2 just two years later. This sequel shifted players into the shoes of Yuna, who along with two returning squad mates from the first game search for Tidus across Spira, whilst also trying to prevent the country from falling into politically motivated war. Both Final Fantasy X and Final Fantasy X-2 have received HD remakes over the years, first on the PlayStation 3, and most recently on the Nintendo Switch.

Final Fantasy X was something of a gamble for Square when it first came out, as they introduced a lot of new elements to the game, and took a very different approach to the type of story they wanted to tell. It not only worked out well for this game, but has gone on to become one of the most important entries in the franchise as the games that have come after it have taken many of these elements into their own structure. Final Fantasy X is one of the most important entries in the series, and one that will hold a special place for many fans.


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Wednesday 28 July 2021

Gamera vs. Zigra – Throwback 50

 


Originally published on Set The Tape

Whilst most people outside of Japan will think of the Godzilla franchise whenever you talk about giant monster movies, a franchise that deserves recognition is Gamera. First appearing in 1965, the titular Kaiju has gone on to become an icon in his own right, and one that has been incredibly popular with children, making him the monster that’s ‘friend to all children’.

Because of his popularity with younger viewers, and the massive success of Kaiju Eiga during the 60s and 70s, several Gamera films were produced over a short period. Unfortunately, this also led to some entries in the series being a bit flawed in quality. Sadly, 1971’s Gamera vs. Zigra is one of these films.

When an alien spaceship, piloted by the creature called Zigra, attacks a base on the moon and kidnaps a female astronaut, the aliens take control of her, using her as an emissary to the people of Earth. Abducting two marine biologists, and two children, the woman displays her newfound abilities under the control of Zigra, using them to create massive earthquakes that destroy parts of Japan. When the children escape and head back to the mainland the woman goes after them, whilst the giant turtle Gamera attacks the UFO, releasing Zigra into the ocean.



Freed from his ship and exposed to Earth’s forces, Zigra grows to massive size, and begins attacking Gamera. The two giant creatures clash and Gamera is sent into a coma at the bottom of the ocean. With the help of the two children, Gamera is eventually awakened from his stasis and fights Zigra a second time, and manages to completely destroy the monster and save the people of Earth.

Whilst Gamera vs. Zigra begins well enough, with a good sequence showing the Zigran spaceship attacking the moonbase, once things head to Earth the film definitely slows down, with much of the plot centring around the Sea World Amusement Park in Kanagawa, which film company Daiei was in a cross-promotional agreement with. The film is so focused on showcasing the Park that much of the interesting parts of the story, such as the magnitude 18 earthquake, and the Zigran attack on the military, all happen off-screen.

The focus of the Gamera series has always been children, but it feels even more blatant in this film, with several important problems being solved by a pair of seven-year-olds. Whilst it’s important that children’s films put children in prominent roles, Gamera vs. Zigra goes a little too far, and it makes every adult in the film look like a bumbling idiot. The scenes where the kids are getting the best of a powered alien controlled woman are pretty painful, and I think even kids would look at them and feel embarrassed.


Zigra himself has a pretty interesting design, taking the form of a giant goblin shark. The suit looks pretty good, both on land and in the water, where he and Gamera fight. Some of the best moments for the monster are definitely when he’s on land, where he walks around on his tail, giving the creature an interesting look compared to a lot of other Kaiju. There’s one scene in particular where the shark design is utilised well as Zigra slices a ship in half; one of the few stand out parts of the piece.

Sadly, due to the relatively low budget of the film, neither Gamera nor Zigra get to really show off their stuff, and most of the fights happen either underwater or in sparsely populated areas. The large scale city destruction that has become a staple of the genre is missing, and its absence is definitely felt. But it’s not all bad. There are a few interesting moments, and a few fairly ridiculous ones too. At one point Gamera even plays part of his theme on Zigra’s fins whilst the monster is knocked down. It’s a bit too ridiculous, but you can’t help but be won over by it.

Whilst Gamera vs. Zigra isn’t technically the final film in the Showa era for Gamera, it’s the last entry in the original Gamera series, and is a poor note to leave on. The film was so unsuccessful that it didn’t reach the US until 1987 –  sixteen years later!


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Tuesday 27 July 2021

Plurality – Film Review

 

Originally published on Set The Tape


A series of child kidnappings and murders has the people of Taiwan on edge. Someone is stealing children off the street, children with birth defects and disabilities, and killing them in horrific ways. When the latest victim of this killer is the young son of a congressmen, a daring new plan to catch them is put into place.

However, things take a turn when a bus with several key witnesses and suspects crashes, killing everyone on board. A scientist working on an advanced new technique manages to scan the brain patterns of the people on the bus and loads their minds into the body of a coma patient in a vegetative state. Now the police are able to question the suspects as they take control of the new body they find themselves in.

Whilst most of the minds are uncooperative, one of the suspects seems to be able to see flashes of memories from the others, and believes that he’s onto the trail of the killer. Making a deal with the detectives, to get the body to himself as well as getting the chance to see his daughter, he agrees to help with the case. But with the killer inside the same body, and making things difficult for everyone, it’s not going to be easy finding the answers that everyone needs.



Plurality is a film with a pretty bold premise, and one that wasn’t particularly clear to begin with. We see the police interrogating several people, before the surprise revelation that they’re in the same body. This shock moment comes only a few minutes into the movie, and sets out early that this is going to be a film that plays with expectations.

I’ve seen the film being described as Taiwan’s version of Split, but this seems to be a very surface level comparison. Whilst yes, there are multiple people inside one body, and one of them is a killer, this film does some stuff very differently. This isn’t using the real world issue of dissociative identity disorder (previously called multiple personality disorder), but invents a reasoning for things that sits squarely in the bounds of science fiction. These aren’t different personalities, but distinct people, all of whom led separate lives in their own bodies before their death. Not only does this open up the story and the investigation into the child killings, but is also avoids an exploitative depiction of a very serious mental health condition.

Tony Yang plays Case 193, the body into which the different minds are loaded. Yang does a very good job at portraying these different people, who we do occasionally see depicted by other actors. There are scenes where he switches from one person to another, sometimes multiple times, and after a while it becomes pretty clear which person he is even before he opens his mouth. Yes, some of the mannerisms and actions are exaggerated for effect, but it does mean that with a slight tilt of the head or a shift in movement we know that Yang is suddenly a different person.



The other leads, Detective Wang (Frederick Lee) and Dr Shen (Sandrine Pinna), who play the grizzled detective and sympathetic scientist respectively, are enjoyable to watch too. Okay, both of them make some rather silly decisions at times in order to move the plot along in a certain direction, decisions that mean you wouldn’t really trust either with responsibilities like this after this movie, but they get some great scenes between the two of them that really give them a chance to show off their acting abilities.

Some of the best moments though would have to be the ones that take place inside the shared mind of Case 193, where the rooms and hallways of the institute take on a sinister turn. The moody lighting and odd effects that get used during these moments are pretty simple, but thanks to how different they are to the rest of the film you’re never at doubt that you’re inside this strange mindscape where anything can happen. These scenes tend to be some of the creepier parts of the film, especially when the killer begins stalking the other personalities, coming out of the darkness to eliminate them.

Plurality is, on the whole, a lot of fun. It has some interesting ideas and a narrative that’s got more than a few twists and turns that’ll keep you wondering and trying to figure out answers. Add onto this a cast of really good actors and some short but intense action sequences and you’ve got a film that’s well worth a watch.


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Monday 26 July 2021

Star Wars Adventures: Tales of Villainy #6 – Comic Review

 


Originally published on Set The Tape


The latest issue of Star Wars Adventures: Tales of Villainy picks up where the last issue left off, with Padme Amidala and Anakin Skywalker trapped in a theatre that’s been taken over by criminals during a swanky party; and any illusion that Katie Cook wasn’t just writing a Star Wars version of Die Hard goes out the window as the first lines of the entire issue are near quoting the movie.

Padme muttering to herself “Come back to Naboo early, Senator, we’ll get together for the festival of light, have some canapes” as she sneaks around the building might be one of the best parts of her story, though I think she should have been doing it whilst wearing a vest and crawling through an air vent just to get the full experience.

The rest of this story sees Padme finally finding Anakin, and the two of them trying to come up with a plan to stop the hostage takers, as the lead criminal tries to convince Tomarian to hand over his stash of Beskar by blowing up key parts of the building. The resolution comes pretty quickly, with Anakin and Padme doing very little to actually stop the villains. A few quick swings of the lightsaber and a few well places blaster shots ends the entire thing without much fanfare.

The second story in the issue is written by Daniel Jose Older, who writes the Star Wars: High Republic Adventures series, and actually takes readers back to a time just before that series began. We get some key insight into the inner workings of the villainous Nihil, and if anything this issue raises more questions for the main book to answer.

We go on board the Gaze Electric, the huge flagship for the Nihil fleet under the command of The Eye. It appears that the Nihil have a Hyperspace Savant named Mari San Tekka prisoner, who they’re using to predict the emergence of debris from the Great Disaster from hyperspace. Mari San Tekka predicts a debris emerging in the Trymant system, and as such the Nihil change their plans and head to Trymant 4, the planet where we meet our main characters in the very first issue of Star Wars: The High Republic Adventures.

Whilst the main bulk of this story focuses on a handful of the Nihil racing each other through the expanse of the Gaze Electric in order to board their Spider ship in time to head to Trymant 4 (a ship we see a lot of in the other title), it’s the small pieces of background information that really make the story interesting. We get to see some of the inner workings of the Nihil, and get another allusion to them searching for something specific. I’m interested for this to get expanded upon more in the other title, and to find out more about Mira San Tekka, who I’m assuming has to be related to Lor San Tekka from The Force Awakens in some way.

The first story in this issue was a fairly by-the-book affair, one that never really excited too much, and didn’t really showcase the characters of Anakin or Padme too much. On the other hand, the second story had a lot of interesting elements to it, ones that have made me more intrigued for answers in Star Wars: The High Republic Adventures.


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Sunday 25 July 2021

Pokemon 3: The Movie – Spell of the Unown – Throwback 20

 

Originally published on Set The Tape


After the massive success of Pokemon: The First Movie, and the ever increasing popularity of the franchise overall, Toho continued to produce more Pokemon films, though these would see limited release outside of Japanese theatres. Pokemon 3: The Movie – Spell of the Unown, was the last Pokemon movie to get a theatrical release outside of Japan until Detective Pikachu, but also received a hugely popular theatre release in Japan, coming in third that year to The Green Mile and Mission: Impossible 2, but only came to the UK via video a year later.

The film is set during the events of the third season of Pokemon: The Johto Journey’s, which focuses on the monsters and region from the second generation of games. The story sees series lead Ash (Veronica Taylor), Misty (Rachael Ellis), and Brock (Eric Stuart) travel to the town of Greenfield, where scientist Professor Spencer Hale has created a device to study the elusive Pokemon Unown.




After discovering a series of ruins connected to the Unown, Professor Hale is sucked into a portal to their realm, which leaves his young daughter Molly alone. Searching for clues to her father’s whereabouts Molly accidentally summons the Unown, who use their powers to make her wishes come true, transforming her home into a giant crystal palace, and summoning the legendary Pokemon Entei to become her companion and protector. Investigating into the Professor’s disappearance, and the arrival of Entei, Ash and his friends end up being sucked into a series of illusions and warped versions of reality as the Unown and Entei try to protect Molly from outside interference.

Pokemon 3: The Movie- Spell of the Unown is definitely one of the strangest entries in the Pokemon movie series; a franchise that’s always been a little odd. Much of the marketing for the film was based around the inclusion of Entei, one of the three legendary beasts from the second generation of games, but when it comes to actually watching the film viewers get the odd twist that this creature isn’t really Entei, and that it, along with most of what we see happen in the film, are all illusions and constructs created by the Unown. Because of this the film has a very disjointed and dream-like quality to it; though it still proved to be hugely popular with fans, who actually praised it for having a more complex plot than the previous two films.



The film also came with an animated short, that aired before the movie, called Pikachu & Pichu, which saw the series’ mascot being left alone in the big city whilst Ash and his friends go off to organise a surprise. Pikachu, and the other Pokemon, meet the Pichu Brothers, a pair of Pichu, and end up getting into a series of misadventures across the city, before ending up back at their hotel in time for a surprise party Ash and the others arranged for them. This short proved popular amongst the fans, and the Pichu Brothers would make other feature film appearances further down the line, as well as getting their own mini-series, Pichu Bros. in Party Panic, on the Pokemon Channel; which was only viewable via the Nintendo GameCube.

Whilst only hardcore fans of the franchise would continue on to watch future Pokemon film releases Pokemon 3: The Movie – Spell of the Unown proved to be the final time the feature films would get much notice outside of Japan until the release of the live action Detective Pikachu, and as such has stuck around in the memories of many fans as the last time they got to see Pokemon in the cinema.


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Saturday 24 July 2021

Son – Film Review

 

Originally published on Set The Tape


The new horror film Son keeps viewers on their toes as we watch a young mother fighting to be believed after her son falls ill with a mysterious sickness, in the latest film from writer/director Ivan Kavanagh.

Son opens in the past, showing a young woman fleeing into the night before giving birth in the seat of her car, repeating to herself ‘I don’t want it’ over and over again. After this the action jumps forwards several years as we see Laura (Andi Matichak) now living a peaceful life with her son David (Luke David Blumm). When Laura hears strange noises coming from her son’s room one night she investigates to find a crowd of people in the room with him.

However, when the police arrive they find no evidence of anyone having been in the room other than her and David, and the only person who seems to believe his is one lone detective, Paul (Emile Hirsch). Not long after the incident David falls violently ill, throwing up huge quantities of blood, becoming covered in bruises and open wounds, and falling into a coma. The doctors are unable to explain any of it, but Laura is convinced that she knows what’s happening. She reveals to Paul that she ran away from a cult years ago, and thinks that they’ve come for her son. Now Laura is determined to get away with David before the cult return to finish what they started with him.



Son has a pretty interesting concept behind it, particularly because for much of the film we’re being kept guessing as to what’s really happening. There are certain things that we cannot deny, such as David falling ill with a mystery sickness, and the bodies that begin to stack up across the course of the story, but everything else is left something of a mystery. We get to go along with Laura and see what she sees, this cult stalking them, and possible connections to demonic entities, but, we’re also presented with the possibility that this is all a delusion in her mind, and that we’re seeing only what she believes is real and not what is actually real.

This heightens the tension of the movie, as you’re left wondering if anything you’ve seen is real or not. Some may argue that it takes some of the fear factor away, that there might not be an evil cult hunting this mother and her son, but if anything I think it keeps you more on edge as you begin to question if the hero of the film might actually be the villain; especially when she begins to perform some morally questionable actions to help her son.



You get the sense throughout Son that it’s been in part inspired by some of the classic demon child films in horror, such as The Omen and Rosemary’s Baby, though instead of focusing on the horror of having a child being host to dark forces it instead makes the unconditional love that a mother has for her child the main theme. And Andi Matichak is superb at this, and gives an incredibly strong performance. She manages to walk the fine line between fierce strength and crippling terror, making her incredibly believable as a mother desperately trying to hold her family together.

Luke David Blumm also gives an incredibly strong performance, one that’s impressive for such a young actor, especially because of some of the physical demands of the role as he’s writhing and contorting during scenes where the sickness is tearing him apart inside. These moments are augmented by both make-up effects and frankly disgusting sounds, but his performance very much sells these moments too.

Son is a violent, gory, film filled with twists and turns that will keep you interested and engaged, and will leave you feeling pretty satisfied come the ending. Yes, much of it is a mystery throughout, but once those final credits roll I think you’ll be left with something of a grin on your face as everything clicks into place. Whilst it does feel more like a psychological drama than overt horror at times, it’s still a thoroughly entertaining movie.


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Friday 23 July 2021

The Follower by Nicholas Bowling - Book Review

 


'When her twin brother goes missing in Northern California, Vivian Owens follows his trail to the town of Mount Hookey, home to the followers of Telos: a mountain-worshipping cult that offers spiritual fulfilment to those who seek it.

'While trying to navigate the town’s bizarre inhabitants and the seductive preaching of the initiates of Telos, Vivian will have to confront questions about herself, her family, and everything she thinks she knows about the world. She quickly realises that her search is about far more than her missing brother – it is a quest for the secret of happiness itself.

'To that end, there is only one question she needs to answer: what is really at the top of Mount Hookey?'

The Follower is billed as Welcome to Night Vale meets Twin Peaks, a bizarre tale of a young woman from the UK who travels to the strange little town of Mount Hookey in California to try and find her missing twin brother, who joined one of the odd cults that seem to run the town.

The story follows Vivian, a woman in her early twenties who's travelled to the other side of the world searching for her flaky twin, Jesse. The family had recently faced some personal tragedy when their father died, and as their mother seems to barely have a grasp on reality it's up to Vivian to go searching when her brother disappears after joining the followers of Telos.

Things begin with Vivian arriving in Mount Hookey after being assaulted in a nearby town, where she was knocked unconscious and left with to black eyes. Left without any money, credit cards, her phone, or her passport Vivian has very few options open to her, but chooses to keep on searching for her brother. She discovers that rather than there being one unified Telos cult in the town there are several different factions, who are often at odds with each other, and that Jesse could have been connected to any of them.

Trying to find answers, Vivian gets the cryptic clue that her brother 'went up the mountain', searching for the crystal city of Telos. Travelling up after him she ends up receiving another head injury, and in her muddled haze sees a strange glowing figure. When she manages to return to town she learns that there might be an even bigger mystery going on when she's approached by another family searching for their own missing relative.

The Follower sounded like a book that should have been perfect for me. The creepy and weird franchises it was being compared to are the kind of thing that I really like; and I've always found that a good cult story tends to be a lot of fun for writers to come up with some seriously odd ideas. But despite being compared to some very weird stories The Follower felt pretty mundane for the most part. Perhaps this was my own fault, that I was hoping for something really weird where you're left wondering what the hell it is you've just read; but the book read much more like your standard missing person thriller for the majority of it.

Most of the book focuses on Vivian as she searches around the town, speaking to various members of the Telosians, occasionally chatting to people who're nothing to do with the religion. She hangs up missing posters, and generally looks down at the inhabitants of Mount Hookey as she judges them for their odd beliefs. For the most part this seems to be Vivian's only character trait, and despite following her for the entirety of the narrative I felt that I never really got to know her. There was little to her character other than wanting to find her brother, and we never got to know anything about her; about her personal life, friends, partners, hopes for the future. If anything she seemed like an empty vessel just moving the plot forwards.

The book is written from the third person, and as such we rarely got a glimpse into Vivian's thought and feelings. This lead to me feeling pretty detached from her; which didn't help when she made what I thought were some odd decisions. For example, she begins the book having just been mugged and has none of her money or important personal items with her. She literally has the clothes on her back and a stack of fliers. Instead of getting in contact with her bank of her embassy she just carries on; even though she has no money for food. It's also odd that she's putting up posters with her contact detail on it when her phone's been stolen.

Perhaps some of this is down to the number of head injuries she sustains over the course of the book, being hit in the head or knocked out at least half a dozen times over just a few days. Once of twice would have been one thing, but by the end of the book it was becoming something of a running gag. Sadly, it also leads to what I felt was a pretty disappointing moment when all seems lost, when she's fighting to save her brother and she gets knocked out, only to wake up being told not to worry about it as other people sorted it all out no bother. I ended up feeling a little disappointed that the tension was undermined so quickly afterwards, and Vivian made to seem to helpless.

Like I mentioned earlier, the book was billed on being weird, but never really lived up to this. There are moments as the story progresses when it looks like there is going to be something unusual happening, and there's definitely something otherworldly or explainable that takes place. But the book never tries to explain this, and it becomes a background element that seems unimportant after a short while, despite it being the thing that instigated the entire plot. The characters and the author seem happy enough to walk away from the mystery, from the most exciting part of the narrative, without any real worry; and this led to me feeling incredibly disappointed by the ending.

I'm sorry that this isn't my usual kind of review, that I'm not singing the praises of the book like I normally like to, but I just couldn't connect to the story or the characters. I'll admit that this is probably a me thing, and that other people could find a lot to like in this book. It has some interesting ideas, and whilst the book didn't set my world on fire others might really like it. So if there is anything in what I've said about this book that you think sounds a little interesting, or that you might like you should definitely give it a read to see for yourself. This is, after all, just my opinion, and this could be a book that you absolutely adore.


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Thursday 22 July 2021

Come With Me by Ronald Malfi - Book Review

 


'Aaron Decker's life changes one December morning when his wife Allison is killed. Haunted by her absence--and her ghost--Aaron goes through her belongings, where he finds a receipt for a motel room in another part of the country. Piloted by grief and an increasing sense of curiosity, Aaron embarks on a journey to discover what Allison had been doing in the weeks prior to her death.

'Yet Aaron is unprepared to discover the dark secrets Allison kept, the death and horror that make up the tapestry of her hidden life. And with each dark secret revealed, Aaron becomes more and more consumed by his obsession to learn the terrifying truth about the woman who had been his wife, even if it puts his own life at risk.' 

Come With Me tells the story of Aaron Decker, a man struggling with the sudden and brutal death of his wife, Allison. Having chosen to stay home one morning when Allison goes shopping he's shocked when he learns that there's been a shooting in the local shopping precinct. Rushing down there he can't find his wife, and has to wait around for hours waiting for any news of her; unfortunately, when that news comes it's devastating. Trapped in the same shop as the shooter, Allison ran at him to try and draw attention away from the people trying to run to safety. Whilst this saved others lives, it cost Allison her own.

Struggling to figure out how to cope with such a tragic moment, Aaron retreats into his work, allowing himself to go onto autopilot as he loses himself in routine. This all changes one day, however, when he finds a receipt in Allison's belongings, a receipt for a motel out of state. Realising that this considered with one of his work trips he begins to question what it could mean. Was Allison away on work? Or was she perhaps having an affair?

Travelling to the motel to try and find answers Aaron comes away without any proof as to what Allison might have been doing there. He's about to give up on ever learning what was going on when he opens the locked trunk in Allison's closet and discovers files full of interviews and reports on a series of murders that have taken place over the last decade. Aaron realises that Allison has been tracking a serial killer in secret, a series of murders that not even the police realise are connected. Wanting to learn more, Aaron decides to carry on what his wife stared.

The blurb for Come With Me really doesn't do this book justice. Yes, it raises the mystery of what Allison was doing in this motel, but I think that by not mentioning the hunt for a serial killer it's really burring the most exciting part of this book. Okay, the relationship between Aaron and Allison is a huge part of the story, and the whole book is written from Aaron's point of view as if he's talking to his wife, but the most exciting part is this hunt for the killer.

The first several chapters of the book take their time in setting everything up, and even though when the book begins Allison has already been killed we get to know her through Aaron's memories of her, so that once he relives the day she died we're already invested in them; and it hurts to see him go through that pain. It's also sad as we watch Aaron searching for answers, beginning to question if perhaps his beloved wife was cheating on him; betraying him in the worst way possible. Getting to be inside his thought process we see how much it affects him, how the doubts begin to creep in and alter his perception of everything.

Malfi made a genius choice in presenting the book the way he does. This isn't a narrator talking to some random reader, it's a man in mourning talking to is departed wife. It makes everything he's going through feel so much more powerful. He's not just wondering if his wife cheated on him, he's opening up to her about what that possibility means to him. Aaron pours his everything into the narration of this book, and it feels incredibly personal, like we're looking in on something we shouldn't be.

We also get to see a lot of development in Aaron over the course of the book, and his search for the answers to the central mystery change him a lot. He goes from a man who'd never think to look into something like this to a man who's questioning everything he sees, unsure who to trust, but willing to walk into danger to find the answers he seeks. With so much of the story being focused on the hunt for this killer it's impressive how much time we spend with the characters too, and how well developed everyone feels.

There are a lot of spooky moments in the book too, times where you're not sure what's going on. Like Aaron you begin to wonder is Allison might still be around in some way, whether her spirit is watching over her husband, leading him along this journey as tiny little things that are just out of the ordinary seem to happen. The inclusion of these moments definitely change the narrative somewhat, and you're often left wondering if perhaps Aaron is losing him grip on reality a bit due to his grief and growing obsession with the case.

I honestly had a ton of fun with Come With Me, even if it's not the most uplifting book to read. It deals with grief, depression, and obsession in frank and honest ways; as well as throwing in a genuinely engaging mystery that will have you reading long after you know you should put the book down for a bit. Whether you're coming to the book hoping for a good character driven drama, or an interesting mystery thriller Come With Me will keep you hooked right up until the end.


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Wednesday 21 July 2021

The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix - Book Review

 

'In horror movies, the final girl is the one who's left standing when the credits roll. The one who fought back, defeated the killer, and avenged her friends. The one who emerges bloodied but victorious. But after the sirens fade and the audience moves on, what happens to her?

'Lynnette Tarkington is a real-life final girl who survived a massacre twenty-two years ago, and it has defined every day of her life since. And she's not alone. For more than a decade she's been meeting with five other actual final girls and their therapist in a support group for those who survived the unthinkable, putting their lives back together, piece by piece. That is until one of the women misses a meeting and Lynnette's worst fears are realised--someone knows about the group and is determined to take their lives apart again, piece by piece.

'But the thing about these final girls is that they have each other now, and no matter how bad the odds, how dark the night, how sharp the knife, they will never, ever give up.'

The Final Girl Support Group feels like a love letter to slasher horror films, a book that's written by a fan of the genre for fans of the genre, and one that packs in a host of nods to famous cinematic killers.

The story follows Lynette Tarkington, a woman who lived through two brutal massacres in her youth. She's part of a very special group of people, a group known as Final Girls. These are young women who've gone up against brutal and sadistic killers and lived to tell the tale. Although Lynette sometimes questions if she can really be a Final Girl herself.

Once a month Lynette leaves her specially adapted apartment, which has become a secure prison designed to keep any would-be killers away, to attend a support group meeting with a handful of other survivors. These women, like Lynette, faced off against brutal killers and lived, and killed the killers who were targeting them. Together they've managed to find others who understand the trauma that they've been through; though it doesn't necessarily make them all friends.

When their latest meeting is broken up by the news that one of their own has been murdered Lynette believes that this can only mean they're all in danger. Whilst the others don't believe her claims at first, when other members of the group come under attack Lynette knows that it's only a matter of time before this killer gets her, and sets out to find out who's brave enough to try and take on the ultimate group of survivors before she's the only one left.

For those that are familiar with the tropes of the slasher sub-genre there's a lot to get out of this book. Even within the first few chapters, before anything has really happened, the reader gets treated to characters that are inspired by some of the best leading ladies of horror; and their survival stories bear a striking similarity to some pretty well known films too.

At first I wasn't quite sure what kind of book this was going to be, as when the characters are talking about their slashers and their franchises I started to think that this was some kind of world where film characters live on beyond the end of their films, and that these were those fictional characters. This wasn't helped when Lynette was talking about their franchises being 'rebooted' as if I was supposed to know what she was referring to. After a while, however, it became clear that this was supposed to be a world where these were the women that inspired the slasher films. 

The idea that some of the cheesiest, bloodiest horror films around could have been inspired by real events was definitely a more interesting approach. The concept of something as strange as Friday the 13th being based on a real person's life was one that was definitely worth following; and for the most part the book did this well. There were parts where I wished they'd have explored this more, such as the killer that inspired A Nightmare on Elm Street.

For the most part the book isn't about slasher killers, but is instead a tense thriller were we see this one woman fighting to survive in a world where people don't believe her, and where attack could come at any time. Lynette is clearly a capable and competent woman, and over the course of the book we see her bringing plans into place that show that she's been ready for something like this to happen for years. However, because we get inside her head we also see that a lot of this is very much just a surface level thing, and that underneath it all she's a woman dealing with severe trauma and mental health issues.

For me Lynette was a very unusual protagonist, because for a lot of the book I wasn't sure if I liked her or not. She seemed selfish, and even rude at times. She's certain that she's right, and that her way is the only way that's going to work. Yet despite it all she was always worried about her friends, about the other final girls; and is willing to walk into danger in order to help them. She's a flawed and complex hero in a genre that normally has quite one dimensional leads.

The Final Girl Support Group is a book where the author clearly loved the source material that inspired it, and it's a book that horror fans are sure to enjoy. It takes a look at the tropes of the slasher genre and tries to put a real world spin on it, and pretty much does so perfectly. I'd have loved to have spent longer in this universe, learning more about these final girls, as well as the people who stalked them, and how the world sees survivors like this. Sadly, Grady Hendrix couldn't spend longer on this project, as I think it'd have to be a vast tome to fully satisfy me; but then I guess if I'm wanting to read more it shows that the book has really gotten its claws (or knife gloves) into me. Definitely one to pick up.


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Tuesday 20 July 2021

Good Neighbours by Sarah Langan - Blog Tour & Interview

 


Make sure to read on past my review for an exclusive interview with Sarah Langan, where I get to ask her about the book!

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'Welcome to Maple Street, a picture-perfect slice of suburban Long Island, its residents bound by their children, their work, and their illusion of safety in a rapidly changing world.

'But when the Wilde family moves in, they trigger their neighbours' worst fears. Arlo and Gertie and their weird kids don't fit with the ways Maple Street sees itself.

'As tensions mount, a sinkhole opens in a nearby park, and neighbourhood Queen Bee Rhea's daughter Shelly falls inside. The search for Shelly brings a shocking accusation against the Wildes. Suddenly, it is one mom's word against the others in a court of public opinion that can end only in blood.'

One of the things that's really hit home for a lot of people over the last year of lock-downs and isolation's is how important our homes are to us. It's probably something that a lot of people never thought about until they were spending the vast majority of their time stuck at home, but they're an incredibly important part of our lives. But it's not just your home that matters, its the people who live around you. Your neighbours and the community can dictate whether your home feels like a safe haven, or if it leaves you constantly on edge.

Good Neighbours shows readers what should be a perfect neighbourhood, a place where people are friendly with each other, where they share their thoughts on the community group social media, where they get together to have barbecues, where the kids can play safely. When it's working the way it should it's a wonderful place to live; but when things start to go bad it can be the neighbours around you who can make your life hell.

Maple Street is a community that most of us would want to live in, but very quickly, before the bad stuff even begins to happen, we get a sense that there's something awful just beneath this perfect veneer. The neighbourhood seems to be ruled by Rhea Schroeder, a college professor who acts like the den mother for the families on the block, but is in fact a master manipulator, and coldly evil woman.

We see this when the Wilde family, who have recently moved into the neighbourhood, are left out of the community's fourth of July celebration. Rhea makes it clear to Gertie Wilde that it wasn't an accident that they were the only ones not invited, though Gertie has no idea what the family could have done to receive this kind of treatment. Before anything can be made of this, however, the ground in the park literally opens up beneath them as a sinkhole appears; putting an end to the festivities.

Over the coming days, with the summer heat soaring and the fumes and bitumen leaking from the hole in the middle of their community, tensions continue to build around the Wilde's. Things come to a head one day when Shelly, Rhea's daughter reveals a dark secret to Julia Wilde. Then a terrible accident happens, and Shelly falls into the sinkhole. 

As the search for the missing girl goes on and on it becomes clear that the child won't be found alive, and as the neighbourhood mourns this terrible tragedy Rhea begins to start rumours. She claims that Shelly was trying to run away from Arlo Wilde, who was amongst the various adults trying to get the kids away from the sinkhole. She claims that Arlo has raped her daughter, and possibly multiple kids on the block.

This begins a mob mentality that grows and grows as the summer wears on. The parents of the neighbourhood begin to suspect that Rhea's claims might be right, then that perhaps their own kids were molested at Arlo's hands. They look at the Wilde's, a family so different from the rest of them, with different accents and a low income background, and decide that they're a danger. Taking justice into their own hands the neighbourhood soon descends into a state of horrific vigilante justice.

Good Neighbours ended up being something of a very disturbing book to read. Not because it included references to child sexual abuse (something that is only a wild rumour in the book anyway), but because of how terrifyingly real the mob mentality of the people on Maple Street was. Because of our vantage point as the readers we get to see everything that happens in this book. We see the events that lead up to the tragic death of Shelly, and know that Arlo Wilde is completely innocent; but we have to watch at the others start to listen to the accusations against him and go from outright denial to thinking there's a chance they could be true. We see these seeds of doubt turn into a conviction that this man must be a paedophile, and that anything done to him is more than justified.

It's almost terror inducing how quickly things spin out of control in this story, and how these average, normal people become driven to abuse, vandalism, and even violence because they've become convinced of something that's just flat out wrong. Even when their kids are telling them it's not true, that Arlo never did anything to them they're rationalising attacking him in the street.

Where so many thrillers keep the real events a mystery, hoping that the reader will try to work things out Good Neighbours takes on a very different approach, and is so much stronger because of it. You end up feeling so much for the Wilde's, you become worried for what will happen to them, and you'll even begin to hate these 'normal' everyday people who are being twisted into a violent, hateful mob.

One of the things that made the story so affecting for me is that I've seen this. It happens every day. It's not motivated by a child falling into a sinkhole, but I've seen how rumours and lies are used by one malicious figure to turn others into a force for evil. We see it with the nastiness of people refusing to take precautions during the pandemic because they've bought into lies about medicine. We see it with political supporters being whipped into performing armed insurrection because they've been fed lies about the political process. We see it with the daily attacks on trans and queer people by those who peddle recycled ideas that rights are being stripped away from others, or that children are in danger.

It's so ridiculously easy for people to buy into false narratives because everyone wants to feel like they're the smart ones. Everyone wants to be the one to be able to say 'I saw the truth' and 'I did the right thing', so they engage in reckless actions convinced that they're in the right; and nothing that is said to them can sway them because then they'll have to admit they're caused harm. This is what takes centre stage of Good Neighbours, this horrible, twisted part of human nature; and because of that, this book felt haunting to read. It was something I felt I'd seen before in real life, and something I'm afraid could one day happen to me and those I love.

Sarah Langan does a brilliant job at piling on the pressure, of crafting a narrative that on one hand makes you want to stop reading because you know something awful is coming, yet urges you to read on because you need to see that happens next. But she doesn't just rely on the heart pounding story to drag you in, but also crafts some wonderfully engaging and intriguing characters too.

The leads of the book, the Wilde's feel like the most human characters in the book. They're flawed people. They openly admit that they come from backgrounds that the rest of their neighbourhood would happily look down on, yet are always trying to be the best kind of people they can be. Gertie is a former beauty pageant contestant who's had to grow up being abused and assaulted, she's had so much grief in her life, yet always tries to present a happy and friendly face to others. Even when things are going awfully for the family she's fighting her own inner demons to carry on and support those around her. Arlo, her husband, has a similar past. Having been a semi-famous singer who's battled drug addiction in the past he's had to put his life back together, and his family are a huge part of that.

Sadly, the people on Maple Street judge them by their looks, by Gertie's beauty and Arlo's tattoos, and can't allow themselves to see the good people beneath these trappings. They make snap second decisions about the kind of people they are because of their outward appearances and their accents. The fact that Gertie and Arlo know this, can see their neighbours thinking these things about them, but still try and be nice and friendly and kind speaks volumes to the kind of people they are.

Good Neighbours is a very human drama, one that's driven by very real fears and prejudices, ones that I think we've probably all seen in our lives. Yes, it might be set several years in the future, it might have a narrative about global warming and the damage it has taken on the world, but thanks to how grounded the rest of the book feels this speculation about what our future might end up being like feels like something that's almost certain. Let's just hope that our future is filled with neighbours like the Wilde's, rather than Rhea Schroeder.


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Hi Sarah, thank you very much for taking the time to answer some questions about Good Neighbours, I really enjoyed the book and am super excited that I’m able to ask you a few questions about such an engrossing read.

I am so grateful! Thanks for reading it and liking it!


Good Neighbours is set a handful of years into the future, and makes the changes brought on by pollution and global warming a background element of the story. What made you choose to make this relatively small time jump, and what impact did this allow you to have on the narrative?

I wanted to heighten the anxiety people are feeling about the future. Global warming is happening at a much more accelerated pace than any of us imagined. It hasn’t really affected Long Island, where I’m from and where the story is set, just yet, but in a few more years, the summers will likely be much hotter. I wanted to capture that sense of bewilderment, in which even the adults are unmoored. There’s this night time logic that happens when unpredictable, natural things happen—hails falls in summer, anthrax rises up from melted permafrost, sinkholes open. It all has a rational explanation, but it also feels much bigger than that. Much more ominous.


The book struck me as a story that felt very real, where the quickly escalating fervour in Maple Street is fuelled by outlandish stories that people are quickly willing to believe because of an almost mob mentality. Were there any real world examples that inspired this, or is it simply something that you see on small scale in places like social media?

I was thinking about the ways people act on Facebook and Twitter. We’ve become very polarized and we’ve lost nuance. It’s affected our ability to have real dialogues. It’s reduced our political debates. It’s empowered corporate interests. It’s sold us the lie that we’re empowered, when if fact, every time we log in, we’re chucking that power down a hole. 

I wanted to investigate that instinct inside all of us, that drives us toward tribal behaviour. In real life, I’m often surprised by the ways many people I follow on social media act. They’re decent people in real life, but pretty insufferable online. They get validated for making blanket statements, for casting judgement and defining some people as good and others as bad. It’s a ridiculous way to behave.

I was horrified by the storming of the capitol. I was surprised by it, too. But given what I wrote, I shouldn’t have been.


The Wilde family seem like a very likeable group, and despite Gertie and Arlo having some trauma in their past they came across as a very average, normal family. Did you try to make them average in a way to heighten the tension of the experience of having a neighbourhood turn on you, as a way of putting your reader into their shoes?

I did – I wanted them to be very relatable. They were actually too nice in the early drafts – I had to make Gertie a less fantastic mom, Arlo a scarier dad, and Julia a little meaner. Larry’s still a cutie pie.

I used to have this habit, where I was too hard on my characters. They had too many flaws. I thought this was realistic, but as I grow older, I can see that it’s important to show the good things, too. So, some of my depiction of the Wildes was my effort to be accurate. I think they’re great people.


Maple Street seemed like a pretty regular neighbourhood to begin with, but over time it became clear that most of the people there were very different from the Wilde’s, and most of them seems to come from a place of better wealth and privilege. Did you go into the book wanting to write a story that took a little look at class and wealth, or was that something that evolved over the course of writing the book?

I grew up in a town called Garden City, on Long Island, and this book is set in a town called Garden City, on Long Island. My town growing up was very homogenous. It was great in many ways, and also stifling in many ways. I think people who are too much alike tend to compare very small differences. For instance, we knew what everybody’s parents did for a living, and who had houses in the Hamptons. The people struggling in that town felt very invisible, and like they had a lot to hide. So, I was thinking about that, and I was also thinking about the American Dream, and how the cost of buying into it keeps rising.


Did you have to do a lot of research into how people react in large groups, where the truth gets twisted and people act out of control, in order to write the story; and if so, what kinds of things did you look into?

I studied the Kitty Genovese case. She was murdered in front of her building in Queens in 1964. The urban legend that I was taught in sociology class as true, was that none of her neighbours called the police. In school, this case is used to explain the bystander effect. But the more I researched, the more I realized that story was a lie. In fact, lots of people called the police, but the cops never showed up, so to cover their own reputations, they lied about it. Kitty didn’t die alone, either. A neighbour saw her struggling, ran out, and held her in her arms. My friend Billy Picard told me that the legend got traction because of white flight. White people felt guilty about moving out of cities, and this gave them the excuse to blame themselves (Kitty, her neighbours, and her attacker were all white) instead of the black people they were running from.

I also studied the Stanford Prison Experiments, in which students were cast as either guards or prisoners, and became sadists or masochists, accordingly. The study posits that humans are very weak, and our natures pretty horrific. It’s also a lie. The experiment was flawed. The professor who ran it let his students know the results he was looking for, and being polite, good kids, the students complied.

The more I researched, the more I realized that people are actually pretty good. But sometimes, our best instincts get hijacked. My story is about the monster within.


The character of Rhea struck me as a bit of a broken person. She’s very much a narcissist, and is behind pretty much everything awful that happens in the book, but I couldn’t help but feel it was because she was never given help that she needed and had to struggle alone most of her life. Did you intentionally make her something of a victim in order to not have an ‘evil’ villain?

I think she is a victim! Being a mom is very difficult, because we’re expected to be perfect. I wanted this book to show the ways that kind of thinking, that forced mask, can really damage a person, and can damage a family. We all live behind these closed doors, and it strikes me as a pretty stupid way to live.

I did study narcissism in-depth to get Rhea right. It’s a very serious illness, caused by deep neglect. I think the word gets thrown around much more than it should.


The children of Maple Street seem to view the sink hole that opens in the park as something a little bit more than just a hole, and it takes on a quasi-magical nature in their minds. As the person who created the story can you say whether that’s something that existed purely in the kids minds, or is there something a bit out of the ordinary going on too?

I love this question, but I want to leave the answer to the reader. It’s open-ended.


Your other books seem to have a much more horror bent to it, and because of how awful the events of Good Neighbours are, and how much it got under my skin I’d say it definitely borders on a horror very much grounded in reality; but were you ever tempted to make it a more overt horror story at any point?

Oh, yes! I was tempted to make it a horror story. But it the book resisted my efforts—Rhea in particular. She wanted the stage, and she wanted to tell her very human story, about people, and our follies, and our beauty. I had to learn to write in a different way, and it was hard. I kept worrying that this new way of telling a story would bore people if there weren’t any monsters. Happily, it seems that it didn’t!


Are there any writers that have been an influence on you over the years, or any stories that have particularly inspired you?

I love both Kelly Link’s Stranger Things Happen and Megan Abbot’s You Will Know Me. I learned a lot about writing from studying both of them. I also re-read Stephen King’s Carrie while writing Good Neighbours. It’s his first book, but it’s also his most efficient one. I wanted this book to be stark and pared down. The kind of book a reader would open and not be able to close. Another novel I love is Eudora Welty’s Golden Apples. Munro’s short stories are pretty fantastic, too! 


If people enjoyed this book what can they look forward to seeing from you in the future? Are there any projects that you’re working on at the moment that you can tease?

I wrote a very long short story called Night Nurse, in an anthology called Hex Life, that’s now out. I also wrote a novella called “You Have the Prettiest Mask,” in Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet. You can read the first chapter in Lithub, and decide if you want the rest.

Right now, I’m working on the television adaption of Good Neighbours along with my next novel, Mom’s Night Out, which was sold to Simon and Schuster as: The Stepford Wives meets The Lottery. I’m hoping to live up to it! 

 

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Monday 19 July 2021

A Universe of Wishes: A We Need Diverse Books Anthology - Book Review

 


Originally published on Set The Tape


'In the fourth collaboration with We Need Diverse Books, fifteen award-winning and celebrated diverse authors deliver stories about a princess without need of a prince, a monster long misunderstood, memories that vanish with a spell, and voices that refuse to stay silent in the face of injustice. This powerful and inclusive collection contains a universe of wishes for a braver and more beautiful world.'

A Universe of Wishes is the new YA short story anthology collaboration between Titan Books and We Need Diverse Books, a non-profit organisation of children's book lovers that aims to create work in the publishing industry where all children can see themselves reflected in the stories they read. As such, A Universe of Wishes presents readers with a varied and interesting array of stories from a diverse group of authors. The stories within this collection cover a variety of genres, from urban fantasy, to historical fiction, to sci-fi, and even some romance thrown in too. 

The first story in the book, 'A Universe of Wishes' by Tara Sim starts the collection of wonderfully, introducing readers to the feel of the entire book. In this story we follow Thorn, a teen living on the streets following a family tragedy, who is trying to collect magic from corpses in order to have a wish come true. Having discovered that people contain a spark of magic within them, but rarely even use it, Thorn breaks into a funeral home to harvest this magic from the dead, but is caught by the boy who works there, leading to an unlikely friendship and budding romance between the two. Not only does this story introduce the readers to some of the key themes of the book, but it's also a sweet story about these two teens learning to trust each other, and the love that eventually begins to form between them

'Cristal y Ceniza' by Anne-Marie Mclemore is a wonderful re-imagining of Cinderella, that sees a young woman travelling to a neighbouring kingdom to beg sanctuary for her family from the king and queen. With the government of her home land tearing apart queer couples and forcing people into heterosexual marriages she fears that she will lose her mothers to cruel men, and seeks an audience during a ball to celebrate the prince's renaming ceremony, him having just transitioned. however, once she arrives at the ball, thanks to the magic contained within the crystal shoes she was given, she finds herself face to face with the handsome young prince, and begins to fall for him.

It's not all about finding love in these stories, however, as 'Unmoor' by Mark Oshiro tells the story of a young man dealing with the heartbreak of his recent relationship coming to an end. In this world where magic is real and there are more supernatural ways of moving on following a break-up Felix employs a powerful spell-caster to help remove the connections of places from the memories of his former love. But as the process goes on he begins to suspect it might not be enough as we discover more about his former boyfriend.

'Habibi' by Tochi Onyebuchi is a powerful story written in the form of letters begin shared between two young people in solitary confinement in prison. One of them is housed in Long Beach, California, whilst the other is prisoner in the Gaza Strip in Palestine. This story deals with the cruelty of imprisonment, the horrors that people do to each other, and helps to raise some awareness of the awful ethnic cleansing that the coloniser state of Israel performs on the people of Palestine, acts of genocide that the world turns its back on.

The book also has a couple of short stories set within existing book universes for readers to try out. 'A Royal Affair' by V.E. Schwab is set within her Shades of Magic universe and shows readers the relationship between Alucard and Prince Rhy, set long before the start of the series. There's also 'The Scarlet Woman' by Libba Bray, which is part of the Gemma Doyle series.

A Universe of Wishes has a lot to offer readers, it has a diversity not just in the topics on offer, but the authors contributing too. Queer characters, same sex relationships, love, heartbreak, imprisonment, colonisation, and even death play parts in these stories. But through them all is a sense of hope, hope that magic, wishes, and a belief in yourself can get you through and give you a better life. Now more than ever it's important for people, especially younger readers, to see themselves in fiction, to be represented and recognised in good ways. With racism, homophobia, transphobia, abelism, and xenophobia on the rise, and right-wing fascism a constant threat, it's important that we celebrate a diverse and varied world, and this book helps to do that.


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