Review Archives - The Blog of the Mad Hattress

Sketch A Day – A Drawing App By Artists for Artists

Sketching something once a day is a great concept! It can not only help you to improve through practice it can also help you to make drawing daily part of your routine. But there are problems with it, sometimes you just don’t know what to draw or you will draw the same things over and over again. A friend from Slowly(another great app which I can highly recommend!) told me about this app called “Sketch A Day” which I want to present and kinda review for you here today 🙂

Sketch A Day basically looks like a light version of Instagram, where you can upload pictures and other people can like or comment on them. But if you dive deeper into the functions of the app, you will see that it’s a lot different, because it’s made with artists in mind. When uploading an image you can for example tell the app what kind of medium you have used, so that later your drawing can be sorted accordingly and found by the people who enjoy exactly that. You can choose between very common ones like digital, pencil or ink, but you have many more options such as gouache, charcoal or pastel. You can also talk about the reference you have used if you have used any. Which I mostly used to share and find new cool tutorials. But the biggest advantage of the app, are their prompts!

As I mentioned before, there are those days when you look at a white sheet of paper or a white screen and your mind seems empty. A prompt can not only help you start it can also make you try out motifs and styles which you might have never thought of yourself. Prompts can also be interpreted in many different ways, making it a fun challenge to come up with something interesting. One prompt could be the word “story” which might lead some people to think of some kind of storybook right off the bat. Other people might think of their favourite story and draw something out of that, while others might draw a storyteller.
A prompt that really made me think was “symbol” because that could be almost ANYTHING! It could be an icon used to show people where the restrooms are, it could be referencing something or symbolizing a feeling. In the end, I decided to go for drawing the sign which I have often seen used as a symbol for sign language in general. It’s actually the international sign for “I love you” often used by deaf celebrities when posing for a picture. But drawing that was more difficult than I thought… I went from drawing a realistic hand to an emoji hand to adding an emoji heart but still, the canvas looked empty. So I tried out different things and in the end, created something that itself references old comic books. I don’t think I would have ever come up with that idea if it were not for the app.

Some of the Drawings I did on the App for the prompts “Flying”, “Atmosphere”, “Massage” and “Bug” 😉

There is also the option to become a gold member, which I personally have not tried out yet, but I still want to talk about it. One of the functions which you are gaining by signing up for it is being able to create an artist profile, which basically means adding a background picture, description and everything to your already existing profile and being able to show off the artworks you have made on there in a better way. Which to me sounds a bit… underwhelming considering that I could do almost all those things on Instagram for free. The other function which will be opening up to you is chatting with other members, which I know you can do on Instagram too, but hear me out! Because that’s actually the function I would love to have the most, which made me consider signing up sometimes already xD Because compared to Instagram, which basically everyone can use, on Sketch A Day there are only artists, many different ones with many different styles. And more than once I would have wanted to be able to ask someone how they drew something. And I feel like if I have had the option they would have answered.

But even without these features, I feel like the app is still worth recommending! One of the things that gives me additional motivation is my streak meter which is showing me how many days in a row I uploaded a drawing. At times it can be stressful to come up with an idea inspired by the prompt, but you can always see the prompt coming the next day and if you watch an advert (which sometimes works, but sometimes it does not for some reason) you would get to see all of the upcoming prompts for the rest of the week. So that way you can at least think about what your next drawing could be, which I find super helpful^^ Also there is a kind of library with texts other members have written about how to draw. Recently I read one about how to draw hair the correct way. I am still not able to do it(because I suck I guess xD), but I think it’s cool to have this kind of knowledge collection on there.

All in all this app seems to be made by artists for artists, it’s a way to connect to a creative community and not only be inspired by them but also motivated to draw. It gives you ideas and hints, that keep you drawing on a daily basis and thus practising and getting better with time. I feel like it makes sharing art, for someone who might be still a bit insecure(like ME) about their work, easier because as of now I have never gotten a bad comment or no likes on a picture. So it might be a good first step, before switching to another app one day. Therefore I would highly recommend it for beginner artists, but also don’t see why a professional artist could not have fun with it. I guess this app is for everyone, who like to create something visually. If you got curious now and want to check it out, you can do so here on android and here on apple devices 🙂

Greetings and good wishes
The Mad Hattress

Category: Art, Review | LEAVE A COMMENT

March 16

Papergang – One Year Later

You might all be familiar at this point with my monthly reviews of Papergang Mystery boxes, now it has already been one year of me subscribing to them and I think that’s worth a special review 😉 I actually already did a half years box and my verdict after half a year was actually that if those last boxes don’t manage to sweep me off my feet, I might have to cancel my subscription. Let’s see if they have managed to do that in the end or not!

This is NOT an official design by OhDeer or Papergang, but an interpretation of their old designs to fit the theme of this post created by myself 🙂

One topic I get can out of the way already is the Brexit. It cost me a lot of nerves in the second half of 2021, because at first many of my boxes got lost or shipped back to the UK and when they were delivered in the end, I had to pay extra, A LOT. If you want to know more about why that was, you can read about it in my other post *here*. But gladly the team behind the Papergang subscription found a way to solve the problem, which they had not even caused in the first place. This is why I don’t want to consider it in my review at all. It happened this one time and it got fixed, it could have been communicated better with the customers, but all in all, they did their best 🙂

What I will be focusing on in this review are mostly the points I already criticized in my half-year review and if they did improve upon them or not. Let’s begin with my fixation on the boxes having or not having a theme to them 😛 When reviewing the Papergang next to the scrawler box from October 2021, I have to say that the Scrawler Box did fit my wishes way better because they had a clear goal in mind: Providing you with the utensils you need to do a certain project. And I loved that, they even had the artist from that box make a drawing with those exact things.
But with Papergang it’s not so easy, since it’s not really connected to art. But still, I feel like there could have been more of a theme in many boxes. Like for example focussing on a set to write letters to friends and trying to pick utensils that would help with that particular idea. Or focussing on notetaking and notetaking alone. What I observed after a year of Papergang is that they treat it more like a refill box for stationery you are going to use up over time anyways. In almost every box you will get a graphite pencil and sticky notes, but only one time you get one pencil case in 12 boxes, because that’s not something that gets used up. I would have loved for the things that I get in the boxes to feel less random.

Art is a big debate when it comes to Papergang in general. By working together with an artist for every new box and really only including exclusive items inspired by their designs, Papergang is standing out and I think it’s a brilliant idea. But it could be improved immensely when they would actually include their art. I know they don’t like to put artworks in because people will complain about it not being stationary and not having practical use. But I feel like trying to get the design from an artist on a pen, often does not work out which is why sometimes, I don’t think like the cooperation is really worth much. Not because the artists are not good, but because we don’t even really get anything from them. Most pencils are only in a colour matching the artwork on the front of the box, planners are often printed with their designs, but most other things are not. I just feel like that’s a bit of a waste and it could be such a cooler experience if we would actually get some art to keep or try to incorporate their designs better into the refills we get.

Customer Service was a negative point in my half years review. I admit that was mostly due to me being a bit annoyed at awaiting a cool compensation and only getting some random cards and randomness as you know, it’s not something I am fond of xD But all in all, I have to say the customer service is great, you get an answer pretty quickly and they try to help you solve your problem ASAP. I even got about half of the extra costs for the Brexit problem repaid and not with a coupon or a free box, but with the money no questions asked. If I should name one things that I loved the most about Papergang I would say it’s their customer service, even though I would have liked it even more to not rely on them so much aka not having had so much trouble with the boxes last year xD

Final Verdict
I have to say sadly there was not one box anymore which impressed me as much as the box from 2020 which I had bought previously to my subscription. I kinda took this one as a stand-in for the whole year of Papergangboxes in 2020 and I later even got some more from that particular year. Maybe this year the topics had just not been my personal favourite or the artist they choose to work with did not cater to my style. Sadly with most of the boxes from 2021 I was just bored which let me cancel my subscription or better not renew it for 2022. Though I will miss having to open and talk about a box each month, I am not quite sure yet if I will get a replacement or not. I would not say I will never again buy a Papergang box, since I have still hope they can improve and maybe, just maybe I will even have a year-long subscription again in the future. But for that to happen, they would have to wow me and we will have to see about that.

Greetings and good wishes
The Mad Hattress

March 3

Papergang January 2022

Remember me talking about a goodbye in the review of my last Papergang box? Well, I might have been a bit dramatic when I wrote that down. When I am writing this post, I am not sure if my One year review of Papergang has already been uploaded or not, but just to be clear I did in fact cancel my subscription at Papergang. But that does not mean that I can’t get boxes anymore 😉 Basically, my plan was to not pay for a full year of boxes from which 60% or more might bore me but keep an eye on what boxes are to come and only buy the ones I am really interested in. That’s exactly what I did with this one, so let’s take a look at it together 🙂

This month’s box seems to have been inspired by calligraphy much, which is actually why it caught my eye. Calligraphy is something I do enjoy in my free time and what I saw in the pictures on their website, looked like something good. This box contains one debossed Daily Planner(dotted), some ombre sticky notes, a 6-sided ruler with measurements and markings designed for lettering, a refillable fountain pen(which comes already filled) and an Art print.

My camera picked up the colors here in a very strange way but I sadly only realized later :/ That’s why the next picture will look different, just so you know 😛

I mostly wanted to get this box because of the fountain pen, on the pictures, it looked like a high-quality pen which I thought might be specially made for using it for calligraphy. But when I open the box and took a good look at the fountain pen, I was really disappointed. Not only does it feel and look like very cheap quality, the nib is also no different from the fountain pen nibs you can buy at every store for school. What I was expecting was a fountain pen with a wide nib for example, or a nib that widens when you press it down or even multiple nibs you could interchange. But what we got, was less impressive than any normal fountain pen you can buy for cheap. The only thing I liked, was that there is a small hole right under the screwline that lets you check on how much ink is still left in the cartridge.

The next thing that I was kinda surprised about was the fact that they put an art print in here. I remember that actually, last year’s January box had an art print too, of two flowers. I also remember it has not been received very well since art technically is not stationary the people subscribing could use it practically. This print is no different other than it having a holographic foil finish on the letters. I also feel like with lettering and calligraphy as a topic, for an art print there would have been more possibilities. Of course, that’s a personal opinion of mine, but I feel like to introduce someone to lettering, you could have used different fonts in different sizes. Even with only two words, you could have had some decorations, different colours and so on. The text on the paper even feels a bit small, as if something would be missing.

The rest of the box is mostly okay, nothing that I could talk about for long. The planner is a great addition to the first box of the year since people can start using it for important dates right away and sticky notes are also always relevant. I am not a huge fan of the designs, since you can barely see or feel the debossing on the notebook and the dotted design on the sticky notes, feels like a wasted opportunity to incorporate some guidelines for people who are actually somehow inspired to do lettering or any other form of calligraphy after receiving this box.

The only thing in here, that I personally feel like actually using is the interesting metal ruler. It has the quality that I was expecting all of the items had, it feels sturdy, the measurements can be read very clearly and with its six different sides, it can be used for many different things. Like making your own guidelines on paper, measuring the size of different letters and so on. And it’s also the only item that to me feels like it is really connected to calligraphy.

My final verdict on this box is, that sadly Papergang can still disappoint me in different ways. This time it was not only kinda boring, like most of the boxes from 2021(which is why I cancelled my subscription) no it did feel almost deceiving. Because I don’t feel like I was the only one with expectations for a box designed like this. I feel like more items that are actually connected to calligraphy should have been included in here. And the ones which are, should have been better quality. All in all I feel like they could have done so much better with only some small changes.

Greetings and good wishes
The Mad Hattress

Category: Mystery Box, Papergang, Review, Subscription Box | LEAVE A COMMENT

March 1

Papergang December 2021

Things were a bit rough at the end of the last year and also the beginning of 2022, which is why I only returned back home in February, where one Papergang box still waited for me to open and review it 😉 So let’s do it together!

The December paper gang box has a jungle-like theme again very similar to another box from 2021, but its contents are very different. This box really feels like one preparing us for the new year because amongst them is a fully customisable Wall Calendar, 2 pairs of 2 different sticker sheets, three dual-ended highlighters, an HB pencil with gold foiling and an A5 Deskpad.

The last paper gang box of the year actually really surprised me since at this point I had already decided not to renew my subscription for 2022 (more on that in a later post) and basically was waiting for it to end xD This might sound a bit tough, but almost all of the last boxes have kinda disappointed me so I really did not expect to love most stuff in the last box that I would get for 2021!

I loved the calendar for its design, every page has a calendar sheet on one side and a beautiful drawing on the other. My birth month march has an owl which I appreciate very much! The calendar sheet is so customisable that you could even use it for another year than 2022 if you might already have a calendar for the upcoming year at home. That’s because only the numbers are printed on the paper, but they are not connected to any days in the year, those are delivered with the stickers or you can just write them in by hand.

The stickers can basically be used to mark every important event in the year: you get some balloons for birthdays, aeroplanes for upcoming travels, a beer and a wine glass for a party maybe? There are also some less obvious ones like question and exclamation marks, some smilies and just coloured dots. Next to the day stickers you also get some that say “Important”, “Holiday” and “Day Off”, all in matching colours to the beautiful calendar.

Last but not least let’s talk about the pens. The highlighters come in a very pastel yellow, blue and red. I actually just found out that they are dual-sided because I made the review and it’s in the explanation sheet, but visually it’s not very obvious xD Visually with the also very pastel coloured paper of the calendar, I feel like they might be a bit too pale to really show. But on the other hand, using brightly coloured highlights might have not looked good either. So I guess it comes down to personal preference.
As with the graphite pencil… I said again and again that I don’t think graphite pencils are a good tool to write something down for the long term. On a small post-its it might be no problem since that’s not used for long but in a notebook or a calendar like this, a smudging pen is not what I would want to use. A fineliner or a ballpoint pen would be the better choice in my opinion. But considering the rest of the box was so great, I think it’s a forgettable detail.

All in all, I would say I am pretty happy to have gotten this box as my last one out of the big subscription, it sadly could not make the disappointment of the other ones go away, but it was a nice goodbye. The calendar is really nice and can be used multiple times, depending on how you decorate it. I only wrote the birthdays in mine, so I can appreciate the beauty of the calendar for many years 😉

Greetings and good wishes
The Mad Hattress

Category: Mystery Box, Papergang, Review | LEAVE A COMMENT

January 5

A Review on “How To Write A Letter” by Chelsea Shukov & Jamie Grobecker

Publisher: Clarkson Potter
Published: 19th October 2021
Length: 139 pages
Genre: How-to Book
Price: 11,99€ on Amazon

What is it about?

The go-to resource for creative ideas and helpful tips for writing thank you notes, addressing envelopes, cover letters, and everything in between, from the creators of Sugar Paper

Feeling like sending a little love in the mail but not sure how to get started? Along with letter-writing golden rules, How to Write a Letter will make it easier to:

• select the perfect stationery for any occasion
• find the best salutation and sign off
• choose the right words for any situation, from congratulations to condolences
• properly address an envelope in style

With this book, you’ll discover how hand-writing your thoughts and feelings have the magic to turn a card, letter, or even scrap of paper into a treasure.

Review:

You might think to yourself: What an odd name for a review! But as you can see, today’s review is not about me telling you how to write a letter, but reviewing a book about that topic! As someone who loves writing letters and sending cards for festive occasions, I really wanted to know what a book like that would be about exactly. If I could agree or disagree with the points mentioned and if it might help me up to my game or bore me a lot. So if you had the same thought or are like my husband and can’t get past the greeting in a card alone hoping this book might help you out, this post is for you!

It’s a fairly small book, which was what surprised me at first. I was expecting a guide of some sort and ruffling through the first few pages, I was a bit disappointed seeing every first page only being half-filled and every second page filled with an illustration. Don’t get me wrong, those Ilustartions fit the style of the book and look great, but I thought I paid for tips, not nice aesthetics. It gets somewhat better after the initial pages, but there are sections like that in the book till the end. Was that necessary or could more information have been added?

I like the topics they have chosen to talk about like “thank you” notes, professional pursuits, or loss. There is something in here for every important occasion you would want to write a letter about. They all come with example letters, that might kickstart your own ideas or help you understand what writing a letter about loss, for example, is really about. I could really see how someone like my husband, could use this to come up with ideas, especially with their section called “finding the right words”. But it does not give you much, if you need to write multiple letters about one topic, you will either have many similar ones or don’t get past the first. I would have loved some more pages, with some more examples.

The authors Chelsea Shukov & Jamie Grobecker seem to know what they are talking about since they have successfully started the company sugar paper which focuses on gifting something substantial in a digitalized world. They produce their own stationery from paper, over notebooks to their own pencils. Their company really tries to make writing letters in modern times a luxurious thing, everyone should do one in a while. And I really love that idea, but I have to say I am not so satisfied with the book they have created.

Final Verdict:
I really want to say something good about this book, but when I read it, one question was on my mind: Who is this book for? Because letter enthusiasts like me might already know about most of the things listed here, how to find the right words and what the right stationery is for you. And people who can’t find the right words on their own, only find some small prompts and less guidance than you would hope for. Actually, you would get about as many or even more by googling for free. So I would not recommend it for them either. But somehow… I guess I still enjoyed it. I liked reading about something I am passionate about and knowing who wrote it was passionate about it too. I like the design and I got it as a gift, so it might be something someone else would be happy to get gifted too. Maybe it can be an acknowledgement of their passion or can start the passion in someone else. But if you want to buy it for yourself, you might be disappointed or at least have to think about what you want it for.

Greetings and good wishes (and a happy new year!!)
The Mad Hattress

Category: Book Review, Review | LEAVE A COMMENT

December 15

Papergang VS Scrawler Box October 2021

Before I was financially reminded of Brexit and the problems that come with it, I wanted to venture out and find some new subscription boxes to try out! The Scrawler Box was something that meet all of my criteria: its a monthly subscription that perfectly fit into my mailbox and delivers me some things I am passionate about. It can’t be compared 100% to the Papergang Box because it has a different theme, where the Papergang surprises me with unique stationery every month this box is all about art supplies. Still, the size and the number of things inside were close enough that I wanted to review these two boxes side by side. Quick Disclaimer, because of some personal issues I am actually a bit behind on reviewing them, so the two boxes you will read about here are both from the month of October 🙂

Right from the start, we can see the biggest difference between the two boxes which is appearance. Where the people behind Papergang try to come up with a different design for every box, the scrawler box has the same, kinda dull design on the outside since it launched. But it’s not all about what is on the outside, but also what is on the inside, right?

Let’s start with the new box, like the Papergang box it comes with an instructional menu telling us about the content of the box. But instead of doing it like a folded brochure the scrawler box actually comes with a little booklet, which does not only show us the contents but gives us an interview with the artist featured, tips and tricks on how to use the materials, an art gallery showing what fans created with the previous boxes and something called “scrawler extra” which in this case is an article about Movie Magic 🙂
Hidden under some paper are the highly anticipated art supplies, in October we’ve got three differently coloured Copic markers together with special marker paper, one fineliner, one graphite pencil and a kneadable eraser from Farber Castel. Ontop of that we get a unique sticker designed to look like the boxes logo, such as an exclusive artwork and some British candy.

The Papergang Box contains an A5 Notebook with a “Midnight Garden” pattern which can also be seen on the box cover, one birthday greeting card with a gold foil finish, a foldable pen pot with a pink chevron design, three pencils with gold stamped quotes and gold-dipped ends, five A6 sticker sheet and two stainless steel gold coloured metal straws in a pink cotton pouch. Since I want to keep it fair and some of you might not know the folded brochure which acts as a menu guide here also has an interview with the artist they feature in this box such as a colouring sheet fitting with the overall pattern.

As I have just mentioned both boxes are working with a different artist every month, for the Octobers Scrawler box the artist is called Alexandra Olivia and for that month’s Papergang collaborated with Olivia Burton. I have to say, since I am such a Halloween enthusiast I had actually somewhat hoped for a Halloween theme for both boxes, both have kinda disappointed me. But I have to say the Papergangs collaboration and Burton’s design seem a bit more fitting than the brightly coloured markers and art from the scrawler box. But I guess that’s more personal preference than actual minus points 😉

Unlike with the Papergang subscription which I have been reviewing for the whole of 2021, I only have one scrawler box to go off, so I try not to judge the whole subscription too much based on it since maybe other months boxes have done it better. With that that in mind, what disappointed me was the few contents of the box. I remember seeing more in the boxes I saw online. Though I have to say that most of the things came from name brands, which can be quite expensive, so that might explain why there are only three markers. And they are more of less primary colours in a bit more pastel versions, which means you can combine them to get a bigger range of colours in the end.

I did like the artwork that comes with it, which is something that I actually would love to see in the Papergang boxes too. They are working together with artists, after all, I would be happy to have something from them to hang up on my wall. But I know some other people only want stationary and are annoyed by too much art content, so maybe something like the Scrawlerbox really is the better subscription to include something like this.

The people who follow me for a while now know that I love to look for a kind of theme or activity to do with the contents of the box and with Papergang I often fail at this quest. But Scrawler Box seems to really be focused on this kind of experience, which is why you get a small amount of the right paper to use with the supplies to start ASAP with whatever inspiration the box might give you. You have everything you need: A graphite pencil and eraser to make a sketch, a fine liner for the lineart and the markers to colour everything in. You even get a small snack to boost up the creative process, which I really love! And as a person living in Germany, when do I get the chance to try British candy otherwise? 😉

Seeing the outside of the Papergangs October box really got me excited, because that’s the kind of aesthetic that I like, even though it had nothing to do with Halloween whatsoever. I loved being able to keep a part of it in form of the stickers and birthday cards. Of course, there is the notebook too, but it’s mostly white for the writing of course and the cool design rests on the edges of the paper. Here it would be the perfect opportunity again to include an artwork piece, but as I just said, I know some people get upset, so it’s not something I want to judge, but something I wanted to mention and maybe wish for 😛

The pencils are the signature of OhDeer, the company behind the Papergang, but I never really liked them much. The whole point of a graphite pencil is to sharpen it until it’s eventually gone. Meaning that at some point the quote will begin to vanish too, leaving some words without context reflecting the light of their pretty gold foil in the end. Also, I feel like graphite pencils might not be the best utensil to take notes with since it smudges on the paper and does not feel as smooth as a ballpoint pen. But that might also be a personal opinion.

What really got me thinking were the metal straws… It’s not that I don’t need them or do not get the idea behind them, saving the environment and so on, but with the debate about the artworks in mind, these are not stationery items. Yes, I could make myself a hot beverage to accompany myself while writing with the supplies, but with that explanation, I could also use a cool piece of artwork by the featured artist to hang up above my desk to get into the right mood. The straws also have some ridges on the top to mimic the part where you were able to actually bend a plastic straw, which is also a design choice that I can’t really get behind.

It’s hard to say if I can determine a real winner in this review competition since both have their advantages and disadvantages. The scrawler box really seems a bit less nice and luxurious with its brown carton on the inside and on the outside, so the nicely designed Papergang box definitely gets the point there.
But judging on the inside of both boxes, I feel more drawn to the Scrawlerbox having a clear theme and activity to do after the initial opening. With the Papergang boxes, I sometimes catch myself just putting the pencils inside my pencil case without trying them out further.
These October boxes in particular both kinda disappointed me more than they surprised me. I was expecting something Halloween-ish but got nothing. Instead, I got some markers ins colours I don’t like and metals straws that I can’t bend. But that’s more a me-problem 😉

All in all, I would say both boxes have their respective rights to be in the categories they are in. People who want to have more of an activity to do should get the Scrawlerbox to create something right after you have unboxed it. If you are more into collecting unique pencils, note blocks, paper and other stationery you will be happier with the Papergang subscription. That way everyone will get what they are looking for and in my case, I guess I should consider getting them both in 2022, to get all of my needs satisfied!

Greetings and good wishes
The Mad Hattress

Category: Mystery Box, Papergang, Review, Scrawler Box, Subscription Box | LEAVE A COMMENT

November 18

A Review about “The Shadow and Bone Trilogy” by Leigh Bardugo

Publisher: Macmillan USA
Published: 5th of July 2012 (this Box Edition 14. November 2017)
Length: about 400 pages per book + bonus material
Genre: Youn Adult, Fantasy
Price: 20,99€ on Amazon

What is it about?
In this world there are people existing who have different magical powers like bending the wind, controlling the water, and creating fire. They are called Grisha and in most countries, they are feared for their powers, isolated from society, or even hunted down. Only in Ravka they are protected by the King and serve in his army to fight a common enemy “the Fold”. It is otherwise known as the Unsea because it’s like the void of the ocean, but also not at all and it harbors all kinds of creatures, and everything that enters their world is their prey. Even the famous Grisha are not powerful enough to keep them at bay until a Sun Summoner is found. Her light is the only weapon capable of destroying the darkness… or is it?

Review:
Like many others, I have been led to reading this book series by its Netflix adaptation named after the first book “Shadow and Bone” which came out on Netflix this year. This actually lead me to be pretty disappointed when I realized that some aspects and stories from the show, don’t actually appear in the books. I will try and keep this review spoiler-free, but if you want to know exactly what they have changed from the books you can read about it on my other post *here*. And if you have not watched the series yet and want to know more, you can also read my review about it 😉

Having to fight my way through book one was totally my fault since I just had the wrong expectations and also because I pretty much knew every single thing that happened in the books from the series. It may speak in favor of the Netflix series as a great adaptation that the books are not much more detailed, but it may be something you want to consider before starting to read the series. But reading books two and three was actually much more fun and entertaining and even though the web series was renewed for season two, if you can’t wait until then, reading the books it’s based on might be the right choice 😉

Not having the other storylines from the Netflix series compete with Alinas quest to save her country is actually helping it. Yes, she is still a “Marry Sue”-like character, the one from the prophecy which is nothing new. But her character is genuinely interesting, her relationship with Mal feels very real, and exploring the world and its mechanics through her is still very fun. I have heard people comparing the series to Harry Potter, but it’s more like the Anime Avatar: The Last Airbender, with less spell casting and more nature taming. I really like the idea of it and their explanation of the so-called “Small Science”.

When asked about what genre her book falls in, the author started jokingly called it tsarpunk, “it takes its inspiration from the aesthetics, culture, politics, and social structure of early 19th century Russia.” It does really make a difference since most fantasy worlds are often inspired by medieval Europe and having this be more connected to Russia makes it stand out and more unique.

If you want to read more about Bardugo’s takes on her own stories, I can highly recommend going for the box edition I bought on Amazon. Each book had a bonus section with an Interview with the author herself and some specials like a letter written by Mal. And the designs on the cover are awesome, the only problem I have is that there is a Netflix sticker, referring to the show, which is printed onto the cover, you can’t take it off. But if you don’t care about that and might only be placing the books inside the box on your shelves, it will still look pretty great.

Final Verdict:
From the perspective of coming to these books after the show, it was a bit disappointing at first, and reading book one was a bit boring to me. But books two and three hooked me in again and that’s why I actually don’t want to blame the author for me watching the series first. The story itself is pretty interesting, the tsarpunk aspect makes it very unique and you have a nice set of characters to accompany you on your journey. It’s a nice story about magic, power, love, and responsibility. And since they already changed some aspects of the story in the series, they might change the ending as well. So if you want to know what the original author intends for the story or if you just want to dwell a bit more in this awesome world, pick up the books, they are worth it. And if you want to display the books(especially the ones I am reviewing here), keep the Netflix sticker in mind, but also think about the bonus stuff inside this edition 😉 All in all, I would say I loved the story, would not necessarily compare it to Harry Potter, but recommend it to everyone who wants to read something magical and different. I rate this trilogy a 4 out of 5 rating.

Category: Book Review, Review | LEAVE A COMMENT

November 4

A Review about “Shadow and Bone” (Netflix)

Rezension: Shadow & Bone – Eine Reise in die Welt der Grisha - Filme & Serien

Where to watch: Only Netflix (because it’s a Netflix Original)
Published: 23. April 2021
Length: Currently only one season, but renewed for at least a second (based on the books there might be 3 seasons in total)
Genre: Fantasy, Action
Main place of action: A made-up world and different made-up cities, heavily inspired by Russia

What is it about?
In this world there are people existing who have different magical powers like bending the wind, controlling the water, and creating fire. They are called Grisha and in most countries, they are feared for their powers, isolated from society or even hunted down. Only in Ravka they are protecting by the King and serve in his army to fight a common enemy “the Fold”. It is otherwise known as the Unsea because it’s like the void of the ocean, but also not at all and it harbors all kinds of creatures, and everything that enters their world is their prey. Even the famous Grisha are not powerful enough to keep them at bay until a Sun Summoner is found. Her light is the only weapon capable of destroying the darkness… or is it?

Was it good?
“Shadow and Bone” is a book adaptation of the original trilogie and some other books from the Grishaverse by Leigh Bardugo. When I say “some other books” I mean that the Netflix Series does cover more than the Story of the original 3 books. You could actually say it’s more inspired by the books, than a real adaptation because they basically took parts of other books which take place in the same universe but a diffrent time and characters who never appear in the first Grishaverse trilogy and weaved them into their version of the story. Which made it more interesting actually 😉 If you want to know more about what they changed(with spoilers) you can read my other post about it *here*.

Since I loved the idea of avatar-esque element bending, I was really intrigued to watch the series! And I was pleasantly surprised about how good the series is, from a visual standpoint but also storywise. But maybe not because of the main storyline, which might be confusing to someone who has not yet watched the series. I try to keep this review spoiler-free, but very early on you will meet a set of characters that will immediately steal the show. They are called the crows a group of thieves who has their own series of books called “The Six of Crows”.

Without telling you about their role in the events unfolding, I can tell you they play a crucial part and they will be in every episode of the show. When following them on their journey you pretty much forget about the other stuff happening and you look forward to them appearing on screen again. I actually talked to multiple people about it and a bunch of thieves just seem to be more relatable than a Marry Sue character, who is part of a prophecy, you know will lead her to win in the end. Don’t get me wrong, her story is still somewhat interesting and it’s important to understand how the world around them is working, but it’s not the reason you will watch this show 😉

On top of these two different storylines, you will follow another set of characters on their journey and in every episode, you will switch between them. You will get to see different perspectives in totally different parts of the world, and meet a ton of new people. That must be very confusing, right? That was what I thought, but it actually is not like that at all. It’s fun and entertaining to see the different roads they take and it spices everything up a bit. I really like that they did it that way and I have not seen it done in any other series yet!

The show has intrigued me so much that I read the book series and so far they manage to adapt the story in a very good way and used their 8 episodes to cover book one completely. Season two will most likely be covering book two, that’s why I predicted that there have to be at least 3 seasons, to cover the 3 original books. Maybe more, since they created their own story on top of everything, and if all seasons are as good as this one, the more the merrier!

Final Verdict
As you might have noticed, I think the series is worth the hype it got and it’s great that it was renewed for a second season. I would want to give it 5-star rating for its excellent cast, the great visual effects, and the way they improved the narrative compared to the story of the books. But they also made some not-so-understandable decisions, which if you want to get spoilered, you can read about in my before mentioned post. Therefore I will give it 4 and a half stars or in this case popcorn bags, but I am still very much am looking forward to the next season.

Category: Review, TV/Web-Series | LEAVE A COMMENT

October 20

Shadow and Bone – Differences between the book and the Netflix-Series

“Shadow and Bone” is a very popular Netflix Series about a Russian-inspired Fantasy world, in which witches and warlocks are called Grisha. In most of the Countries, Grisha’s are actually feared, or even hunted down. But the land of Ravka treats them like royalty, raises them in wealth, and trains them to become soldiers in an age-old war. The story, which has been called the Harry Potter of the new generation, is heavenly inspired by the books of Leigh Bardugo, but after reading the first one myself, I noticed some major differences that I wanted to share with you. So if you thought about maybe reading the books because you loved the series much, as I did, this post is perfect for you 😉 But it might also be interesting to the people who only read the books too, if you want to see what got adapted and what did not. The things I will be pointing out are SPOILERS, if you are new to this series and don’t like to hear spoilers at all, I would highly recommend go watch the series now and come back after that. It has only 8 episodes and it’s very bindgeable 😉

1: Alina is not Shu, nor belongs to any other minority
This might not be something affecting the story directly, so changing it made no real difference there, but it was still something that really confused me. The first few minutes of the first episode show that as a Shu-looking woman Alina has to face racism every day, which of course is a problem we have in our world too. But in the books, Alina is only an orphan, nothing is said about her heritage, she is not criticized because of her skin color and she does not even seem to speak any of the languages outside of Ravka. Don’t get me wrong, being an orphan, having your life completely change, and having to face jealousy from other Grisha does not make her life easier, but still. Making her part of a minority group like that, without any real reasoning behind it, makes it seems as if they wanted her to be more of a victim and that does not sit right with me.

2: There are no parallel timelines, so more Mal and Alina?
If you loved the way the story was told in the series, being able to see the crows preparing the heist, Mal trying to get to Alina and Nina being abducted and growing onto her kidnapper, you will be disappointed in the books. Because the only storyline we get to experience in full detail is Alinas, we only get a small glimpse of Mal at the end when their storylines became one again in the series, after finding and defeating the stag. But until then, we don’t even know that Mal is looking for Alina and honestly, we don’t even care about him anymore. If I would not have seen the series first, I would not even have known, they were in love with each other for the first 2/3 of the book. Alina does say she is in love, but we have no information about Mal whatsoever and with him seemingly not answering her letters, we readers will tend to like the Darkling as a possible love interest way more. Which is another thing, caused by the different style of storytelling: In the series you could see the Darkling being manipulative, hiding things from Alina, you just knew something was off. But in the books, you don’t really get that feeling. I can’t really decide which way is better…

3: The Darkling is not an “older” man
A bit like changing Alina to being Shu, at least for me it felt like they changed the Darkling to be intentionally older than he was described in the books. Yes as a powerful Grisha and with all of his backstory being known at one point, he is very much older than Alina, but in the books, he does not look that way, he is actually described as being as young as Alina herself. And I think it’s important because the whole first book is about how naive Alina is, how she falls for him and his orders and how he slowly begins to own her. I think that partially is due to the way he is looking, Alina seeing someone not older than her, forgetting about his long life and being more easily manipulated by him. To be honest, that might also be why I felt as if it was obvious that he had bad intentions from the start. And again I don’t know which execution I liked more: the series being very open about Alina and Mal belonging together and the Darkling being bad or the books only hinting at Alina and Mals possible future but having the Darkling be less obviously the bad guy, making readers actually root for him.

4 +5: The crows and the Grisha hunters are not present
For many viewers including me, the crows were even more interesting than the whole Alina-being-the-savior storyline. They were just more relatable than a prophecy character who became royalty overnight, not to mention the brilliant acting and very fitting casting choices for lovable gangsters. The only problem is, they are not present in book one. They are not mentioned once, they don’t just show up at one point as Mal does and basically, their whole storyline in the series never happened in the books. After doing some research while also trying not to get spoilered myself, I came to the conclusion that the characters actually only exist in their own books called “The six of crows”. The same goes for the Kidnapping timeline, Nina and Matthias also have their story told in the Crows book series. Both seem to only have inspired the character we know from the series, their stories being altered to match the new storyline, but you can still consider the duology their original story. I actually think the series was more interesting including them in the way they did and it did not change Alinas Storyline up to this point at all, so I think it was a clever decision to make, also not having to do multiple series but putting all the cool stuff in one. The only problem is, if you were looking forward to reading about the crows or even Nina and Matthias, you will either have to wait or just read “the six of crows” right away, instead of the original Grishaverse trilogy.

All in all, I have to say, that I was a bit disappointed in the books, having had certain expectations from watching the series first, which of course is more my fault than Bardugos. But I think many people will be in the same situation, so I thought it was worth writing about. I was very sad that my favorite characters were missing, that the story was basically the same as in the series, meaning that I did not even get as many cool details out of reading the books as I would have liked and I think I do actually prefer the way viewers were introduced to Alina and Mal’s relationship in the series. In the books, because we don’t know about his efforts, we don’t really grow attached to the idea of them being together, even though their love is very clearly shown at the end. I am looking forward to reading the next books, since apart from the other timelines, we saw in the series, but not in book one, it ends more or less exactly where the Netflix series ends. So everything from book two will be new to me and maybe it will make reading a bit more interesting and who knows, maybe the crows do show up at one point and if not, I already have their own Duologie at hand 😉

Greetings and good wishes
The Mad Hattress

Category: Book Review, Review, TV/Web-Series | 3 Comments

October 13

Gamereview “Hollow Knight”

The last time I talked about a game on here, it was about a combined experience of gameplay and watching a tv series, that I found so special that I had to share it. This time I want to talk about a game which is also one of its kind, you may have heard of it before. “Hollow Knight” was published in 2017 so it’s already some years old but it has not lost its charm since then. It’s a platform jump’n’run like super Mario, but it has a very eerie vibe to it, which makes a further comparison to its cheery counterpart almost impossible. Let’s jump right into the review.

Review
The story of the game is kinda hard to put together because it’s not something linear that leads you through the game. You get fragments of knowledge from people you meet and statues you find, which leads you to explore the story and discover all the pieces on your own. For me that was very different and I have to say, I felt kinda lost at some points, and in the end, I really did not play the game to find out what it was about. Might be a plus to some people who really want to solve the mystery, but I kinda ignored it. This is not necessarily a bad thing, because it means the game itself, got me coming back again and again.

The general mechanics are fairly easy, you are playing an unnamed character, as far as I have understood it, it’s not the Hollow Kight, but for the purpose of this review let’s call him Knight 😉 Knight wakes up in a cave, follows some kind of call, and ends up in an almost empty village. There he meets an old bug, who tells him that all other members have gone into an underground dungeon to fight and never came back. So Knight decides to do the same and jump down a well to get into a sewage system and his adventure starts.

In typical jump’n’run fashion, you are exploring a sidescrolling environment, fighting your way through enemies with a sword, and find secrets and hidden items. What’s interesting is that the one environment you are entering is actually only a part of a big map with different areas that have different enemies and different designs. You can find the other areas by beating bosses, learning new moves, and finding new ways to travel. It was very intuitive because you have to revisit tunnels where you have been before, as soon as you learn to jump higher or wider, to explore caves and so on.

I have heard some people comparing the game to “dark souls” because it’s harder than most of its kind. But since I have played and terribly failed at dark souls, I think I can safely say that “Hollow Knight” is at least playable 😉 If you die, you will lose all of the currency you have earned, but you can get it back by fighting “the remains you have left”. At some point in the game, you also unlock some kind of bank where you can go back and store the so-called Geo you find and save it from getting lost in battle(but be careful with that xD) and other options too. In the same way, you can also unlock a way to quick travel, which can be very convenient, and combined it make a less nerve-wracking experience than dark souls.

Final Thoughts
All in all, it’s a challenging game that might be harder than Super Mario, but not as hard that it would keep you from finishing it. It has a mysterious story that frames the experience, but can be ignored if needed. The gameplay is very intuitive and interesting and the environments are minimalistic but stunning. The music seems very well composed so that it accompanies you on your journey, but it does not distract you from your tasks. The boss battles are diverse and every new move you learn will be needed to access a new area. I think it’s a very great game 🙂

Greetings and good wishes
The Mad Hattress

Category: Gaming, Review | LEAVE A COMMENT