Monthly Recap (Feb-25)

A clock to perhaps remind me that it’s time to get back to the blogging time capsule, cough up at least one post a month. So here I am, with a monthly recap :: some reviews of the hits and misses for February 2025.

Only the Winds

First, music share — I am totally obsessed with this song. If anyone has any listen-alikes, please do share!

Twilight of the Gods

Animation retelling of Norse mythology, and how the Norse gods came to an end. Only Season 1 is out so far, so fair warning for cliffhanger. (Warning also that this is NOT family friendly.)

This show is absolutely brilliant in plot and execution, the dialogue is tight and spell-binding. Thor is this hammer-wielding, jealous, spoilt, cruel, self-destructive, hateful THING. But his grand time is coming to an end (hopefully) when Sigrid decides to take revenge for the murder of her clan at Thor’s hands. On her wedding, no less.

Can a mortal defeat Thor, especially when all the other gods are rallying behind Thor? The real lynchpin of the show is Loki, Thor’s underestimated, reviled brother, in whose hands rests the fate of the Norse gods. Watch for episode 5, where a bitter Loki describes himself as the ultimate scapegoat for everybody else. This show is so good!

Fargo (Season 1)

I suppose I should’ve watched it way earlier, but I don’t regret being late to this. It was difficult to watch actor Martin Freeman, who played the very affable Dr. Watson to Sherlock Holmes, now act as a truly nauseating weaselly little criminal.

There is no mystery to solve such, just when and how the police will catch on to him. But this show takes so many crazy dives and turns, in the most unexpected ways, I kept getting whiplash. If you are new to the show, it would help to use a lens of dark humor while watching this one. Not something that I would want to watch again.

Dune: Prophecy

The weirdest part was reaching episode six, clicking on next, and finding out that it was already the end of season one. What, already?!

Clearly, Dune franchise is the next Game of Thrones, lavish and landmark with superb visualization, cinematography, etc., etc. The “sensationalizing” levels are much lower than GoT though, in case that might have been a concern for you.

This is a prequel to the latest Dune movies, an interesting look into the history of the Bene Gesserit Sisterhood, and possibly how an important prophecy came to be some 10,000 years later. It’s super intriguing, with lots of complex side plots for different side characters.

However, I wasn’t sure if the casting was right – for example, Emily Watson looks way too kind and amiable to play the role of the ruthless and scheming Sister Valya. Anybody here who watched the show – what did you think of the casting?

Heavenbreaker by Sara Wolf

The shortest way to describe this book is jousting contests in space. The knights jousting are from rival houses, and house honor depends on victory or defeat. So, a lot is at stake and things turn pretty vicious pretty quickly. And, of course, you joust with high tech gear, not on real horses.

The main character Synali has just killed her father, and also wants to destroy his entire house for murdering her mother. She has a lot of rage, and her revenge arc is the central theme. The premise is very unique and the audiobook narration by Ashley Bryce is so good.

Still, I found the pace extremely slow, and there were times when the heroine was just way too angry and self-entitled to be likable. So, while the first book ends on a cliffhanger, I’m not sure I’ll take up the sequel.

Brimstone Bound by Helen Harper (Firebrand Series #1)

A surprisingly well-written Urban Fantasy where a human police officer gets caught up in supernatural conspiracy when her senior officer gets murdered. Unlike the title and the cover image, the main character is a very wry and dry, snarky and practical character. The plotting and writing style almost reminded me of Rivers of London series by Ben Aaronovitch. Nothing super memorable, but quite enjoyable for sure – and I will likely continue the series.

Mind Games by Nora Roberts

A psychic main character fights it out with a (psychic?) serial killer who also killed her parents. The main character is a genius who, despite her traumatic past, is brilliant at everything, including making games, cooking great food, handling relationships really well and, of course, helping cops all along. (Is that a Mary Sue? I don’t know.)

I enjoyed the moments in the story where she reveals various crimes/ criminals to police in hair-raising detail, they are so eerie and well done. But for the rest of it, it reminded me too much of the similar but far stronger book, Night Will Find You by Julia Heaberlin.

Any of these familiar to you? Liked (or disliked) by you? How was the past month for you?