Posted in Book Review Tuesday, Books

Book Review Tuesday (8/25/20)–The Good for Nothings

Happy Tuesday, bibliophiles!

This book came on my radar via Edelweiss over the summer, and I bought it on my kindle before my trip to Vail, right around its release date. I’d seen it garner comparisons to Guardians of the Galaxy, The Lunar Chronicles, and the Aurora Cycle, so naturally, I was ITCHING to read it. Sadly, it lived up to none of its comparisons–but that certainly doesn’t mean that it wasn’t fun.

Enjoy this week’s review!

Amazon.com: The Good for Nothings (9781250311252): Banas, Danielle ...

The Good for Nothings–Daniella Banas

Cora Saros belongs to one of the most formidable crime families in the galaxy. Her role? The family disappointment. A heist gone awry lands her in prison, without any hope and with the eyes of all her family on her. Her only way out of the mess she’s in is through a deal with the shady prison warden–if she retrieves a long lost relic rumored to grant immortality, he’ll wipe her records.

With the help of Elio, her robot companion with a knack for baking cookies, Wren, a chipper pickpocket, and Anders, a warrior with a tough exterior, Cora sets off to clear her name–but soon realizes that she’s in over her head. Will she and her crew be able to live up to the task?

funny-guardians-of-the-galaxy-gif-3 - The Marvel Report

Imagine a mashup of Guardians of the Galaxy and Indiana Jones. Add in some of the charm of Heart of Iron and the Lunar Chronicles, and make all of the characters secretly ENFPs. Mix it all together, and you’ve got The Good for Nothings. But although all of the books and films that I mentioned should have made something I would love with every inch of my body, it was…decent, for me. Not bad, but not spectacular, for me.

I’ve mentioned GotG twice already, so I’ll attempt to make this quick: this novel certainly drew a lot from it, but with varying degrees of success. On one hand, it succeeded in making a classic, irreverent found-family sci-fi, filled with great treasures, banter, and reluctant friendships. But there were some portions that seemed to rip it off almost to a T–remember the “nothing goes over my head, my reflexes are too fast, I would catch it” scene with Drax, anyone?

Guardians Of The Galaxy Gotg Edit GIF | Guardians of the galaxy ...

Even though it’s been a solid four years since I’ve seen that movie, it was easy to see that Banas ripped off this gag with lines of Anders’ dialogue. Several times, too. I’m all for drawing inspiration from media, but don’t…y’know, borderline plagiarize it. As much as I love that scene, it fell flat for me with The Good for Nothings.

Now, onto my favorite part…found family! Though it’s not nearly as well-executed as, say, Aurora Rising or the Honors trilogy, I still liked some of the chemistry between Cora, Wren, Elio, and Anders. I wasn’t overly attached to any of them, but they were decent characters. All of them had moments of being funny or lovable. However…well, remember how I said in the first part of the review to make all of them secretly ENFPs? Now, nothing against ENFPs, but at their cores, all four of the main characters had the same personality. On the surface level, they had a few distinguishing traits to their names (Wren is cheerful, Anders is secretive and tough, etc.), as we got to know them better, their personalities were startlingly similar to one another.

With that aside, I’d say that The Good for Nothings was entertaining, if nothing else. The writing was decent, and the humor fell flat more often than not, but the world-building had moments of being fascinating, and I liked all of the different settings that Cora and the rest of the gang got thrown into. It’s a very light-hearted and feel-good novel, so if you’re looking for something to take your mind off the state of things (which I’m sure a lot of you are), The Good for Nothings would be a great pick for you.

Overall, a YA sci-fi that leaned too much on some of the material that it may have been based off of, but was still a fun, feel-good novel at heart. 3 stars!

Not bad obama GIF on GIFER - by Kezshura

It appears that The Good for Nothings is a standalone, but Danielle Banas has two other books out: Once Upon Now and The Supervillain and Me.

Today’s song:

(Happy birthday, Jeff Tweedy!)

That’s it for this week’s Book Review Tuesday! Have a wonderful rest of your day, and take care of yourselves!

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Posted in Weekly Updates

Weekly Update: August 3-9, 2020

Happy Sunday, bibliophiles!

First and foremost, I hit 200 followers this week! (I’m currently at about 207, I think.) But I’d just like to give each and every one of you a big thank you for your endless love and support.

wholesome memes, aesthetic, cats and love and affection memes ...

I’ve definitely had a nice week. I spent a few days in Vail with my family, and we did lots of walking amongst flowers and eating too much sugar, so that was a lovely reprieve from the monotony of 2020 life. (Also, writing in a bunk bed is on another level of good vibes.) As far as writing goes, I’ve finally decided to resume writing my paranormal fantasy WIP, and that’s been fun to get back into the groove. All I’ll tell you so far is that it draws a lot of inspiration from Hellboy/B.P.R.D. and Guillermo del Toro, and there’s quite a lot of sarcasm, amphibious creatures, and questionable magic afoot.

As far as reading goes, the 4-5 star high capped off last week, and I’ve had almost entirely 3 star reads this week. I got another library haul yesterday, so hopefully that’ll help pick things back up again, but only time will tell.

Other than that, I’ve started catching up on season 2 of The Umbrella Academy, started watching Devs ([loud screaming]), and I’ve been rewatching What We Do in the Shadows with my family so that we can get my brother into it. (We’ve already blown through the whole first season) I also watched I Am Trying to Break Your Heart, which was lovely.

WHAT I READ THIS WEEK:

The Shadow Wand (The Black Witch Chronicles, #3)–Laurie Forest (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)

The Shadow Wand (The Black Witch Chronicles Book 3) (English ...

How to Be a Good Creature: A Memoir in Thirteen Animals–Sy Montgomery (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)

How to Be a Good Creature: A Memoir in Thirteen Animals ...

A World Without You–Beth Revis (⭐️⭐️⭐️)

A World Without You by Beth Revis

Starswept–Mary Fan (⭐️⭐️⭐️)

Starswept: Mary Fan: 9781946202277: Amazon.com: Books

The Good for Nothings–Danielle Banas (⭐️⭐️⭐️)

Amazon.com: The Good for Nothings eBook: Banas, Danielle: Kindle Store

POSTS AND SUCH:

SONGS:

CURRENTLY READING/TO READ NEXT WEEK:

Ice Wolves (Elementals, #1)–Amie Kaufman

Ice Wolves (Elementals, #1) by Amie Kaufman

Blanca & Roja–Anna-Marie McLemore

Amazon.com: Blanca & Roja (9781250162717): McLemore, Anna-Marie: Books

Show Me a Sign–Ann Clare LeZotte

Show Me a Sign by Ann Clare LeZotte - Hardcover Book - The Parent ...

On a Sunbeam–Tillie Walden

Amazon.com: On a Sunbeam eBook: Walden, Tillie: Kindle Store

Tarnished Are the Stars–Rosiee Thor

Tarnished Are the Stars by Rosiee Thor

Today’s song:

That’s it for this week in blogging! Have a wonderful rest of your day, and take care of yourselves!

Posted in Book Tags, Books

Mid-Year Freakout Book Tag

Happy Tuesday, bibliophiles!

I found this tag over at One Book More, and it looked like a lot of fun! I can’t seem to find who created the tag, so if you know who originally created it, please let me know so I can tag them! 🙂

Let’s begin, shall we?

WHAT IS THE BEST BOOK YOU’VE READ SO FAR IN 2020?

Amazon.com: Aurora Burning (The Aurora Cycle) (9781524720926 ...

I think everybody saw this one coming, but seriously, Aurora Burning was PHENOMENAL in every sense of the word.

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WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR FAVORITE SEQUEL OF THE FIRST HALF OF THE YEAR?

Amazon.com: The Survivor: A Pioneer Novel (9780062658098): Tyler ...

Since I probably shouldn’t put Aurora Burning in twice, I’d say The Survivor. What a beautiful end to an inventive and underrated series!

IS THERE A NEW RELEASE THAT YOU HAVEN’T READ YET BUT YOU’RE REALLY EXCITED FOR?

Amazon.com: The Sound of Stars (9781335911551): Dow, Alechia: Books

The Sound of Stars came out in late February, and it sounds like an incredible novel!

WHAT IS YOUR MOST ANTICIPATED RELEASE FOR THE SECOND HALF OF THE YEAR?

Amazon.com: The Burning Kingdoms (The Smoke Thieves ...

The Burning Kingdoms is the final book in the Smoke Thieves series, and I am SO EXCITED TO GET MY HANDS ON IT. I requested an eARC of it and it got declined, but I requested it again, so we’ll see how that goes…

Top 20 Fingers Crossed GIFs | Find the best GIF on Gfycat

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT SO FAR?

Girls of Storm and Shadow (Girls of Paper and Fire Series #2) by ...

After the groundbreaking masterpiece that was Girls of Paper and Fire, Girls of Storm and Shadow failed to pack the punch that its predecessor had.

meh gifs | WiffleGif

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST SURPRISE SO FAR?

Amazon.com: The Scorpion Rules (Prisoners of Peace) (9781481442725 ...

I had low/average expectations for The Scorpion Rules, but it ended up blowing me away! I really want to read the sequel soon…

WHO IS YOUR FAVORITE NEW TO YOU/DEBUT AUTHOR?

The Invisible Library (The Invisible Library Novel): Cogman ...

I just discovered The Invisible Library series and Genevieve Cogman this April, and I’m so excited to read more of her novels! I have The Burning Page on hold, and it shouldn’t arrive for a few more weeks, but I can’t wait…

WHAT ARE 6 BOOKS THAT YOU WANT TO READ BY THE END OF THE YEAR?

Excluding some of the TBR ones that are already on here…let’s see…

Among the Beasts & Briars by Ashley Poston

Ashley Poston has never disappointed me, and I am ECSTATIC to read Among the Beasts and Briars!

Amazon.com: The Good for Nothings (9781250311252): Banas, Danielle ...

Even though the art style of the cover kinda makes me angry, The Good for Nothings sounds like it’s right up my alley! I also requested an eARC of this one, so we’ll see how it goes…

Amazon.com: A Song Below Water: A Novel (9781250315328): Morrow ...

Not only does A Song Below Water sound like a timely and beautiful novel…SIRENS. SIRENS!

Amazon.com: Goddess in the Machine (9781984835925): Johnson, Lora ...

Another eARC I requested (and was declined, and that I requested again…), Goddess in the Machine sounds absolutely FASCINATING.

Amazon.com: Honor Lost (Honors Book 3) eBook: Caine, Rachel ...

The final book in the Honors series, I’m eagerly awaiting to read Honor Lost! (My school librarian got to read it before me…kind of jealous, not gonna lie…)

Amazon.com: Kingsbane (The Empirium Trilogy) (0760789267772 ...

After finishing Furyborn recently, I can’t wait to see how the series continues in Kingsbane!

I TAG ANYONE WHO WANTS TO PARTICIPATE IN THIS TAG!

Harrison Ford Shrug GIF by Star Wars - Find & Share on GIPHY

Since I’ve already posted once today, check out today’s Book Review Tuesday for today’s song.

That’s it for this lovely book tag! Have a wonderful day, and take care of yourselves!
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