Subplots & Storylines – November & December 2020

Well, my noble questing friend, we’ve made it to the end of 2020! I’m stewing on some reflections of the past year and dreams for the next, which I hope to share later, but for now—it’s time for Subplots & Storylines!

November began with my 25th birthday and December ended with a quiet (but oh so lovely) family Christmas. In between, I enjoyed an online concert, some much-needed time off, loooots of art created on the weekends, ugly Christmas sweater days at work, baking gingersnaps, more Mario Kart than I’ve played in months, and some very exciting progress on The Brightest Thread (more on that later too!).

I watched a few fun things over the last two months, and my reading appetite is beginning to pick up again too (hooray!) so… prepare for some reviews!

Screen Subplots

Tenet

Inception has got to be one of my all-time favorite movies. So another Christopher Nolan film with Inception vibes was bound to be a win for me! I’ve heard mixed reactions to this one, but honestly I think a lot of that’s because time travel stories always get criticized for their logic.

Anyway! I personally LOVED Tenet. The nonstop action, mind-bending time travel, charisma of some of the characters (Neil!), and near-constant tension of the soundtrack had me utterly engrossed. Definitely going to rewatch it in the future so I can understand the plot better, but I had to do the same with Inception, and I love movies that make me think. 🙂

Mortal Engines

This has been on my to-watch list for a long time, even though I haven’t read the book it’s based on. It was pretty good! The concept and visuals were FANTASTIC—I mean, post-apocalyptic, vaguely steampunk-ish, gigantic moving cities? Cities that prey on smaller cities and swallow them up? Pretty awesome. I also loved the soundtrack, haha.

I did feel like the storyline moved a little too fast to get as attached to the characters as I wanted to, and that some dialogue and plot devices were a wee bit cliched. But overall it was a fun movie!

TV Shows

Attack on Titan: Junior High // I watched the bulk of this spin-off season in November and loved every minute of it! Episode 8 with the haunted school was hilarious.

Currently watching:

• To the Beautiful You // The four or five episodes I watched of this k-drama continued to be adorable, cheesy, and just plain fun.
• My Hero Academia (Season 2) // I’ve seen 14 episodes so far and AHHHH, I’m in love with the show now! All the characters have deepened a lot in this season. (Iida is my favorite.)
• The Chosen (Season 1) // Finally picked this up again and watched episodes 3 and 4. The depiction of Jesus is so touching and genuine!

Page Storylines

King’s Warrior // Jenelle Schmidt // (Audiobook) // 4 stars

I reviewed the audiobook HERE.

The Fellowship of the Ring // J.R.R. Tolkien // 5 stars

Still can’t believe the first time I read this was back in 2012. It was high time for a reread. And to me, the best books are those that grow deeper and more meaningful each time you revisit them. The Fellowship of the Ring is most definitely one of them!

To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before // Jenny Han // (Audiobook) // 3 stars

I don’t read a ton of contemporary, but this was an adorable, fluffy story! It kept me entertained pretty much all the way through, and our heroine, Lara Jean, was a relatable introvert with a spunky side.

I will say, though, that by the end I wasn’t even sure who to root for in the love triangle. I thought I liked Josh, but then… things happened. And Peter Kavinsky was actually a way better character than I expected him to be… but he had some serious red-flag moments that Lara Jean just seemed to overlook? (Also wasn’t a fan of the frequent language and casual sleeping around among the side characters.)

All in all, though, ’twas a fun, romantic read!

Stories That Sing: Havok Season Two // Various Authors // 4 stars

Another fun anthology of flash fiction crossing all kinds of wild genres! This time, all the stories are inspired by songs of different decades. Some of my favorite stories were…

• Mothership // L.N. Weldon
• Stealer of Secrets // Cassandra Hamm
• The Devil Tries Again // R.F. Gammon
• Taller Than Ever // J.L. Ender
• The Balloon Man // Morgan Busse
• From the Mind of the Dead // Josiah Dyck (yay, bro!)
• Wreaking Havoc // Ronnell Kay Gibson
• Siege of the Dead // Kristiana Y. Sfirlea
• Careful What You Wish For // Emily Grant
• One Day in the Park // Teddi Deppner
• Skinthief // Cassandra Hamm
• Renaissance // Elizabeth Liberty Lewis

There’s a little something for everyone here, and plenty of promising writers to keep an eye on in the future!

Adorning the Dark // Andrew Peterson // 5 stars

Hands down one of the BEST books I’ve read on the intersection of faith and creativity—and one of the best books, period, that I’ve read all year.

Equal parts casual conversation, life memoir, and inspiration, each chapter takes a thoughtful look at the life of a Christian creative.

The frustration and joy of trying to capture eternity within art.

The invitation to make art with God.

How to serve the audience and serve the work.

The way community nourishes art and vice versa.

What touched me especially was the beating, brilliant heartbeat within story and song—and how crucial it is that this God-breathed art lights up the darkness. Even if it’s just in one person’s life. (The chapter on discipline hit me hard and made me cry.)

This book was exactly what my weary heart needed, and I have no doubt that I’ll read it again in the future! I highly recommend it for any believer who writes, sings, or creates in any form.

I’ll end with two of my favorite quotes:

Somewhere out there, men and women with redeemed, integrated imaginations are sitting down to spin a tale that awakens, a tale that leaves the reader with a painful longing that points them home, a tale whose fictional beauty begets beauty in the present world and heralds the world to come.

And:

Those of us who write, who sing, who paint, must remember that to a child a song may glow like a nightlight in a scary bedroom. It may be the only thing holding back the monsters. That story may be the only beautiful, true thing that makes it through all the ugliness of a little girl’s world to rest in her secret heart. May we take that seriously. It is our job, it is our ministry, it is the sword we swing in the Kingdom, to remind children that the good guys win, that the stories are true, and that a fool’s hope may be the best kind.

The Story Hunter // Lindsay Franklin // 4 stars

While perhaps not as fun and lighthearted as the first book or as full of adventurous settings as the second, this ending to the Weaver trilogy was still solid and offered many awesome reunions! (Which is always one of my favorite things about series endings.)

This story saw Tannie and her friends trek across the chaos-ridden kingdom and search for story strands underground in a race to beat the villains at their own game. So it goes without saying that the stakes have definitely gone up!

Diggy plays an important role here, and ouch, my heart hurts for this girl. And even though Mor had less of a spotlight, we still got lots of wonderful moments between him and Tannie. 😉

The ending offers a beautiful look at the power of story, redemption, and the delicate balance between justice and mercy. Can’t wait to see what Lindsay Franklin writes next!

The author includes a trigger warning in her review on Goodreads (which you can read HERE), but I found the matter to be handled well. Just mentioning it here as a heads up.

Takane & Hana, Volume 1 // Yuki Shiwasu // 5 stars

My first and only manga read of 2020 was this lil’ rom-com about a high-schooler who falls in love with a rich 26-year-old businessman. (Yep. Don’t take it too seriously, otherwise it’s… potentially creepy. *cough*)

To save face for her family, Hana stands in for her older sister at an arranged marriage meeting. And… well, she accidentally starts falling for the guy meant for her sister: the fussy, aloof Takane. What transpires is lots of banter, rivalry, and cute moments as their personalities and different worlds clash.

Rating it 5 stars because despite the “say what?!” aspect of the premise, it was presented in such a fun, fluffy way that I zoomed right through and plan to read the next one!

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix // J.K. Rowling // 5 stars

I won’t say much about this one because surely there are others out there like me who STILL haven’t read the whole series (or watched all the movies), and I don’t want to spoil it.

But. I will say that in true Harry Potter fashion, this gigantic beast of a book took its time chugging through the school year and doing all its foreshadowing in a meandering way, so that when everything hits the fan in the last 100 pages, you feel like the speed limit jumped from 30 kph to 100. SO INTENSE AND EMOTIONAL. AHHH.

In the first 700 pages, though, Harry is quite often a royal jerk to his friends. Kind of understandably so, because he’s only 15 and has been through a heck of a lot… but also dude, maybe don’t yell at some of the only people who are on your side?

And UMBRIDGE. I finally understand why everyone hates this woman, and for me, it’s because she’s so realistic. You probably won’t meet a Voldemort-class villain in real life, but you’re likely to meet a sickly sweet, manipulative, controlling, bureaucratic person like Delores Umbridge. It was immensely satisfying to watch other teachers at Hogwarts subtly rebel against her growing control.

Anyway, despite being annoyed at Harry sometimes, I thoroughly enjoyed this fifth foray into the wizarding world! I may be in denial about a certain spoiler about the ending (my poor heart), but I’m eager to see where the next two books go now that the tide is turning!

And with that, goodbye 2020… and hello 2021!

Have you read/watched any of these yourself? What was one of your favorite reads from the end of 2020? Let’s chat!

And keep an eye out for a recap of my 2020 reading coming soon, along with The Brightest Thread news and New Year’s thoughts. Maybe not exactly in that order. 😛