February 2024 Roundup

Welcome to the February 2024 roundup!

I know February is the shortest month of the year, but this year, it felt like it was done and dusted quicker than usual even though we have that extra leap year day. I was busy getting back into the routine of life now that school holidays are over, and I attended a book launch and The Eras Tour. There was also a big storm that caused a 12-hour power outage, and wow, are modern people (sadly) not built for being without the internet. As for the rest of the second month of 2024, this is what I got up to…

What I’ve Been…Writing

Blogs and outlining a non-fiction WIP. It’s taken me longer than I’d like to get back to my usual routine, but the end of this month has seen more structured days than non-structured days, so I am getting there. This has allowed me to focus on blogs more, and to start outlining my next writing project. It will be something I’ve been talking about for a few years now, and that’s putting together a Writing Checklist/Routine book.

Watching

Argylle

A movie about a writer that’s advertised to be full of twists and has a decent cast made this an instant watch for me. Was the movie great? Not really. Good? Some of it.

The cast of Bryce Dallas Howard, Sam Rockwell, Henry Cavill, Bryan Cranston, Catherine O’Hara, and Samuel L. Jackson had the star power, and the direction included some really amazing action scenes. But once you were on the fourth or fifth fight, all choreographed to an entire song, it wore a little thin. As for the plot, it was the typical writer’s novel unwittingly mirroring a real-world event that put them in danger. Then came the twists. Some were so obvious it was almost laughable when they played out exactly how you thought they would. Others were so absurd you wondered why they went in that direction. Then, there were a few surprises that mostly worked simply because the cast is so great at what they do. In the end, the movie did work overall. So, if you can suspend your disbelief for the crazier twists and the action scenes that would actually kill people if done in real life, instead of the heroes walking away with a scratch, Argylle is the movie for you.

Madame Web

This was another movie I was pretty excited about that turned out to be different than advertised. While it looks like a team superhero movie, it’s actually just an origin story for a character who isn’t all that great. Cassie Webb (Dakota Johnson) is exposed to a special spider bite in utero (I kid you not), when her mother goes into labor in the jungles of Peru while trying to find said spider to cure diseases (the reasons for which are a nice surprise reveal later on). Unaware of this spider bite, and the full history of her mother, a grown-up Cassie is a paramedic who doesn’t actually like people, and works with… Ben Parker. Yes, Uncle Ben from the Spider-Man movies is in this origin story too, and is one of the best parts of this uneven movie.

After an accidental death sees Cassie’s spider powers activated, she has visions of the future, mainly of a spider villain who is trying to kill three teen girls. They of course all have a loose connection to Cassie, and she takes them under her wing (while also hating the responsibility because she’s not a people-person) before she abandons them for a week to learn about her powers in Peru. The girls (Sydney Sweeney, Isabela Merced, and Celeste O’Connor), despite the movie poster and trailers, never actually have powers in this movie, just possible powers that Cassie “sees” in the future when the final events of the movie transform her into Madame Web. If there does manage to be a spin-off/sequel showing the other girls with their powers, I’d watch it, but given how badly received Madame Web has been, I’m not sure that’ll happen.

True Detective: Night Country

I have mixed feelings about this one. On one hand, there was a lot to love. Jodie Foster and Kali Reis were fantastic in their roles as Danvers and Navarro, two police officers investigating the death of a group of scientists. They were found frozen to death, and when their case seemingly links with the previous murder of a local activist named Annie K, Danvers, and Navarro have to solve both crimes to find answers.

There are mysterious flashbacks to the loss of Danvers’ son and a murder/suicide case she worked on with Navarro that wasn’t as clear-cut as it was made out to be. All of these cases also have an underlying supernatural element thanks to Navarro’s heritage and her family connection to the afterlife. This manifests in her seeing ghosts, most of which provide some genuinely scary moments for the audience. My only issue with this was that the supernatural element just didn’t go anywhere. (Spoilers) In the final episode, the mystery of who was responsible for the deaths of Annie K and the Scientists was revealed without the supernatural element being involved at all, and I found that disappointing given the build-up to it. I also wasn’t a fan of other answers being left to the viewer to decide what they meant. In my opinion, those types of endings have too much ambiguity to pull off anything with satisfaction, which slightly spoiled the show for me. What True Detective: Night Country got right, however, I did enjoy, so if you do like a good mystery with a side of supernatural horror, it’s worth checking out the six episodes.

Reading

Shout Out To My Ex By Sandy Barker

This is the second book in the Ever After Agency series, which are romance stories centered around an agency that secretly matches couples, usually at the request of a friend or family member. For Shout Out To My Ex, we’re introduced to Elle Bliss, who is on the cusp of becoming a big fashion designer but can’t let go of the boyfriend she was with ten years ago at Fashion School. He left her one day without explanation, and she hasn’t been able to track him down. Her sister and business partner gets the agency involved, and they manage to find Leo, going by Lorenzo now, who is also a fashion designer about to hit it big. Enter Poppy, the matchmaker from the first EAA book, who got her happy ending and is now tasked with giving Elle and Leo theirs. There’s fashion, misunderstandings, paparazzi chases, fake and real romances, and secrets. Although I didn’t quite gel with Elle and Leo, I loved revisiting Poppy and the other characters from the previous book, and I can’t wait to see what they get up in the next. Recommended for fans of fun, light romance, and happy ever afters.

Redemption By GR Thomas

The fourth and final book in the A’vean Chronicles sees the Angels, led by earth-born Sophia, finally crack the trail of clues they’ve been chasing since book one. The riddles they’ve had to solve have been a real highlight of the series, as have the relationships formed, and it all comes together in the action-packed final story. Complete with a big betrayal, a huge battle, and the resolution of Sophia’s complicated romance with Ben, GR Thomas knows how to end a series, and does a great job of rounding off the story in this imaginative and entertaining world of Angels and Demons.

The Five Year Plan by Jodi Gibson

When Demi’s expectation of inheriting the family cafe she’s been running doesn’t happen, it forces her to remember The Five Year Plan she made with her best friend and sets about changing her life. This leads to an impromptu trip to Italy to visit estranged family, and an instant attraction to Leo, a rival in the cafe business who she just can’t get out of her head. When old family secrets and town rivalries threaten Demi and Leo’s relationship, she has to choose between her own happiness and family loyalty.

This was such a fun read from author Jodi Gibson, who knows how to pull the heartstrings. Filled with humor, so many tasty food descriptions, and wonderful characters, this book was a real joy to read and would be perfect for fans of romance, travel, and family stories.

Christopher Pike Books

Inspired by the Netflix series, The Midnight Club, I’m re-reading the books of my favorite author, Christopher Pike, and enjoying the nostalgia and reading for fun and not to review. In 2022/2023, I read Pike’s YA books. For 2024, I’m reading his Adult books.

This month I read The Season Of Passage.

If you’ve got any good book recommendations, let me know in the comments, or be my friend on Goodreads and share your books/recommendations! You can also find and follow my reviews and book recommendations on Amazon and BookBub.

If you’d like to add the Blackbirch books to your Goodreads “Want to Read” shelf and/or check out the reviews, click the following links:

Blackbirch: The BeginningBlackbirch: The Dark HalfBlackbirch: The RitualBlackbirch: The Collector Taking Photos Of

Book events and Taylor Swift. I started this month attending a book launch for Kylie Orr’s thrilling novel, The Eleventh Floor, and ended it by seeing Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour! Here are some photos from both, more of which can be found on my Instagram account.

Blackbirch Review Of The Month

This month, I started posting reviews and teasers for my book series again on social media, and this was the most popular—a fantastic 5-star review for the third book, Blackbirch: The Ritual.

On The Blog

In case you missed any of my posts, or want to re-read them, here are the latest blogs.

January 2024 RoundupReminders About What You Can Control In Writing Vs. What You Can’tResetting After Writing A Book

Other blogs…

A big thank you to E.S. Foster at Foster Your Writing for asking me to interview on their wonderful blog. She put forward great questions about writing and my book series, and you can find the interview here if you’d like to check it out:

Interview With K.M. Allan

Well, that’s it for this month. I hope you’ve enjoyed my February Roundup. Let me know what you got up to in the comments!

— K.M. Allan

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