Music Monday 01/10/2018

of course, the way that i break my hiatus is by telling you what music i have been listening to during this time of hibernation. i hope you enjoy! (and tune in for the next blog post – i’ll explain my absences.)

I Don’t Lack Imagination // EˆST • this song is definitely blasted when i’m angry. and it’s the best way to get your emotions out with a catchy beat and melody. EˆST is definitely one to watch.

i don’t lack imagination to my own goddamn frustration …

Go Fuck Yourself // Two Feet • i heard this song in ‘Atypical’ (gah i love that show!!) and holy smokes!! that beat drop gets me every time. it’s a sultry piece of music!

play these little games …

Chicago // sufjan stevens • let’s be honest here: sufjan stevens is an angel that has been sent to grace us with his beautiful music. this song is one of his older ones (and quite a different one from others on his ‘carrie and lowell’ album!). i definitely recommend checking out this album. the amazing song titles are just the beginning!

i’ve made a lot of mistakes …

Soul Lay Open // Terence Ryan • ooft that chorus is the most catchy chorus that i have heard this week. i can’t get it out of my head!

threw pennies in the whole time I was growing up …

whisper // serpentwithfeet • i found this artist just a couple of days ago and i fell in love. his unique voice paired with orchestral music makes the most interesting sound. it’s even better if you use headphones. ‘whisper’ itself is a brooding song which creeps upon you from its inception.

I Feel Like I’m Drowning // Two Feet • you can definitely find the on-brand guitar riffs and beat drops in this song. yes, it’s two songs from the same band in the same post. but, damn. their songs are so sultry and enchanting.

you’re a poison and i know that is the truth …

invoice // serpentwithfeet • yep-a-doodle-dee! another song from this artist. ‘invoice’ begins with josiah wise’s classic vibrato voice and comes together with an amazing beat drop. please listen to this one.

whatever makes you cold …

Big God // Florence + The Machine • okay, any song with florence welsh is going be the best. ooft, i can’t get over the beat and the haunting guitar playing in the background below florence’s unique voice.

jesus christ it hurts …

Me and The Devil // Soap&Skin • if you’re not listening carefully, you would confuse this song with something from florence + the machine. anja plaschg creates a dark, soul-stirring sound in this song. the string instruments with their incessant playing of the same notes echoes throughout the song.

hello satan, i believe that it’s time to go. me and the devil, walking side by side …

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what have you been up to while i was away?

 

I Made My First Donation.

yes, it’s a pretty different post this time around. i couldn’t do Music Monday because i have limited internet access and couldn’t listen to too much new music 😦

even though this is a different sort of post, i am planning to include a more down-to-earth series on this blog where i just talk to you guys about what’s going on and to discuss current world events that i feel particularly passionate about.

but i do have pretty exciting news!! i made my first donation ever and i am pretty proud of it!

where do I begin?

i’ve always had my own personal views and values in life, some opposing what my parents believe (often we would have arguments trying to persuade each other on our side). i believe that as a teenager, it is good to gain your own insight of the world. listening to your parents’ ideas is good, but i don’t believe in consistently eating up their words and not having your own core beliefs. though arguing sounds tiring, it is actually quite interesting to hear opposing arguments because perhaps it can shift your own understanding and ideas.

but becoming independent in my thoughts really didn’t fully shift until last year where i sort of found my ground in what i believe in. i became (or more so accepted) that i was a feminist (but more on that in another post) and i knew what i was against and for. it was last year that i made a pact with myself that when i started earning my own income, i would start donating. even the tiniest amount, but enough to help.

when the clock shifted and we were in 2018, i had a realisation. i didn’t need to have my own income (because yes, i don’t work yet), i could easily ask my mum if she could pay with her card and i would pay her back (because yes, i also don’t have my own card).

whenever i make excuses, it’s not a matter of not being capable of doing something, it’s because i don’t believe i can do something.

people often create a stigma of young people as naïve and incapable. while we can make some immature choices during our lifetime, we too have a voice. the future rests in our hands, so shouldn’t our voices be counted?

i think this stigma is what made me feel … unable to do anything? i would constantly make excuses that i am too young to do donate.

then something just clicked and i asked my mum and i donated $15 to the Times Up campaign which combats sexual harassment in the workplace for both men and women.

it’s not that much money, but i felt really empowered when i did it! and i urge you to do the same, no matter what age you are.

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i will definitely be donating to more charities in the future and i’ll update you guys when i do!

January TBR

january is luckily the time when i have holidays which also means i have all this time to read all the books i want … what a life! unfortunately, i fell into a bit of a reading slump, more so to do with all of school coming my way, but i’m now catching up on my reading!

17 Things I Learnt About 2017.

Dear Past,

Here is what you will experience as you go through the roller coaster ride that was 2017. Just remember: enjoy it.

1. This year will go by extremely fast.
2. You will be tested.
3. You will finally find people who you can be yourself around.
4. Stepping out of your comfort zone definitely rewards you.
5. You will see parts of the world you only dreamed about.
6. Intelligence is not defined by science and maths, even if society paints it that way.
7. Reading will be hard to juggle around school, but in the end it’s the most rewarding thing you do.
8. You will make friends with people who you wouldn’t have talked to unless getting involved with extra-curricular.
9. You will finally find your place.
10. Life is getting tougher, but you will find a way.
11. You will make the most of what you have been given.
12. You will question a lot about yourself, but in the end you will know what is right.
13. Putting in the extra effort will be rewarded.
14. You will find that people who you have not talked to in a long time value you as a friend.
15. You are more known than you feel. Invisibility is no longer a word in your vocabulary.
16. You will grow as a person and develop your own ideas about the world.
17. No matter what happens, you will be okay. I promise.

Sincerely,
Me

(haha, any Dear Evan Hansen fans out there??)

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Okay, breathe in, breathe out …

I can’t believe this is the second year of The Book Type Gal, bridging very close to our third year. Starting a blog has been the best experience for me as it gives me a creative outlet among all the stress of school and life. It started in 2015 as a little thing I wanted to do and it spiralled all the way from there. Before, writing on this blog made me feel anxious and frustrated because I was putting a lot of effort into my content, but I wasn’t feeling like it was being seen. Then I took a majooooooor break and I’m slowly working myself back into posting regularly. I won’t make any promises, but I already have a schedule worked out and I’m already brainstorming a bunch of ideas.

For those who are reading this right now, it is you who have supported me through endless moments of ups and downs. You were with me when I was ranting about a character death, and some of you were constantly supporting my Instagram among the many changes it made.

I can’t believe another year has gone by!!! Here’s to 2018 lovelies!!! (as my younger self would have said: stay crazy! x)

 

Music Monday 25/12/2017

Okaaaaay, the pressure is most definitely on!! This is my last Music Monday of 2017 which means I’m going to show you all of my favourite tracks from this year!

WARNING: THIS IS AN EXTREMELY LONG LIST. IT IS DEFINITELY THE BIGGEST MUSIC MONDAY EVER!! thanks for sticking with me!!

Unearthed Book Launch

I know!!!! How exciting!? Yes, I got to meet Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner for the Unearthed book launch in Australia!!!

When Earth intercepts a message from a long-extinct alien race, it seems like the solution the planet has been waiting for. The Undying’s advanced technology has the potential to undo environmental damage and turn lives around, and Gaia, their former home planet, is a treasure trove waiting to be uncovered.

For Jules Addison and his fellow scholars, the discovery of an alien culture offers unprecedented opportunity for study… as long as scavengers like Amelia Radcliffe don’t loot everything first. Mia and Jules’ different reasons for smuggling themselves onto Gaia put them immediately at odds, but after escaping a dangerous confrontation with other scavvers, they form a fragile alliance.

In order to penetrate the Undying temple and reach the tech and information hidden within, the two must decode the ancient race’s secrets and survive their traps. But the more they learn about the Undying, the more their presence in the temple seems to be part of a grand design that could spell the end of the human race…

Riverdale: The River’s Edge

Riverdale is a chilling “teen soap opera” with romance and all the mystery a small town with it’s quirky inhabitants could get.

Season 1, Episode 1

Riverdale, season 1 Trailer

Rating: 

Over the past few days, I have seen much hype around the new TV show, Riverdale. It continuously popped up on my Facebook feed as the show adapted from the Archie comics. I was impressed, but the trailer didn’t immediately make me want to binge the show. I had my questions about it. Eventually, with it’s continuous marketing on my social medias, I decided I would test the waters, see if this show was good enough to continue.

When the show arrived on Netflix, I was eager to begin and within the first few moments knew I was going enjoy the show.

Archie Anderson

Betty Cooper

Jughead

Veronica Lodge

So, the characters. Jughead is the narrator of the story, a quiet boy who was once Archie Andrews’ friend. He spends his time writing a novel about the death of a Riverdale inhabitant, known as Jason Blossoms. He and his sister, Cheryl, drove out to Sweetwater River for a boat ride where soon, a boy scout found Cheryl sitting by the waters edge, Jason nowhere in sight. It is later presumed he is dead after his body cannot be found.
In later scenes, Cheryl is shown to be the grieving sister, still the head of the school, popular, mean and devious.

Archie is the main character and boy, oh, boy he is the most handsomest around! He has a knack for writing music (he has a beautiful voice!) but finds he is expected to work for his father’s company and play varsity football. His ultimate dilemma in this episode is choosing how to juggle his passions. Over the summer, he hooked up with his music teacher Ms Grundy which leads to scandals and secrets throughout the show.

His best friend is Betty Cooper, who we find has a crush on Archie. She is the typical “girl-next-door” who needs to find the courage to ask Archie about moving forward in their relationship and gets reassurance from her best fried Kevin Keller that he feels the same way. She’s the sister of Poppy, Jason’s girlfriend. Soon, Betty befriends the new girl, Veronica Lodge and finds this is a way to stop her from always being what everyone believes her to be, perfect. To be honest, I found that I shipped Betty and Archie more than any other character.

Veronica Lodge presents herself as a confident girl, coming to Riverdale after being in New York. Her father is on trial for fraud and embezzlement and so her mother and her decide to start afresh. She catches the eye of Archie, and upon a dare are both locked in a closet for seven minutes where they soon kiss. Veronica frets that it’s wrong and unfair to Betty but does it anyway. I found this scene to be so annoying! This is mainly because I want Archie and Betty to be together.

Archie (left) and Betty (right) are at the Chook’Lit Shoppe where they first meet new girl Veronica (middle). Doesn’t she look so good!?

The scenes in this show are very cinematic. The colours and camera shots create a very beautiful and intriguing look. The music score is fitting and the set locations are perfect.

Jason (left) and Cheryl (right) Blossoms at the beginning of the episode.

I found the town of Riverdale to be somewhat similar to the town of Rosewood, where the inhabitants of the show Pretty Little Liars reside. Within the town are secrets in every single person which gives this show something dark to ponder over. I love it! After all, aren’t secrets the foundation of a good teen drama?

From a distance, it presents itself like so many other small towns all over the world. Safe. Decent. Innocent. Get closer, though, and you start seeing the shadows underneath. 

This episode ended on a definite cliffhanger … they found Jason’s body. It happens that he was shot in the head which gives us more questions, especially since Archie and Ms Grundy heard a shot when they were together. I think there are a ton of more secrets to do with Riverdale. We’ll just have to find out.

Overall, this show definitely stepped up and proved to be an excellent teen drama!

Shadowhunters: A Door Into the Dark

Season 2, Episode 2 

Promo 2×02 “A Door Into the Dark”

Rating:

This episode begins with Jace and Valentine returning to the ship after escaping a risky situation where Jocelyn tried to kill Jace.

This fuels anger between all of the characters especially Clary and Jocelyn, who reveals that Jace has demon blood in him and shows a scene where Jace is a baby and turns the flowers all black.

Everyone says that Valentine is the monster but you—you just tried to murder your own son! 

Victor Aldertree is continuing to stir things around at the Institute and I still feel something shady about him. We’ll see in the coming episodes.

Now, Valentine is beginning to build his army, going to fight clubs to find the best and strongest. I love how Alec and Izzy’s relationship are shown in these scenes. I enjoyed their fighting scene very much. So badass!

This episode is the time when Clary is beginning to question her role as a Shadowhunter. She feels unwanted, Alec fuels this feeling even more, and wants to return to the way things were before—when she was a mundane. This causes her to ignore everyone around her and try to become human again, returning to painting and blocking the world away. However, she gets sucked into Valentine’s trap by seeing that Dot is alive and trusting her!

At the same time, Simon is trying to find Camille after Raphael (yes!) talked to him. Simon enlists the help of Magnus and they travel all the way to India (how convenient is portal travel?) to find her. In this scene, I began to view how Harry Shum Jr plays the role of Magnus. Don’t get me wrong, Matthew Daddario and Harry Shum Jr are probably the best at depicting their characters, but in this part with Simon, I felt the acting to be a little forced. I love Harry Shum Jr and how he plays him, but I really didn’t connect with Magnus this time around. Maybe I’m a bit too harsh? I know it’ll definitely get better as the episodes go by and I’ll begin to loosen up!

Jocelyn and Luke are trying to find Clary after being taken, and after some deliberation, the only way they can track her down is to use Alec and his parabatai bond with Jace as they think Clary is with Jace. Luke uses an adamas stone made by the Iron Sisters (Lisa Berry will be playing Sister Cleophas in the show. Instead of taking the role of Luke’s mother, Sister Cleophas will now be Luke’s sister) with a parabatai rune marked on it and they gather Alec to start tracking Jace and Clary. They are aware of the consequences which can end badly for Alec, but begin despite some trepidation.

Alec is able to find Clary and Jace, but he suffers a lot and the adamas is beginning to hurt him. My heart was beating incredibly fast at this time! MY POOR ALEC! The pain transpires to Jace who is trying to escape off the ship with Clary. This slows them down and they are incredibly close to being killed. It’s now that Dot opens a portal for them to escape to, risking her life which results in her later being killed.

This episode was good and the tension was at an all time high! I’m so pumped for episode three when Maia makes her appearance.

Catch my next review tomorrow!

Music Monday 16. 01. 2017

Our first Music Monday of the year! I’m so pumped to tell you what I’ve been listening to. Tell me in the comments if you like any of these songs and give me some suggestions!

F**ked Up // Leo Kalyan • Don’t let the title fool you, this song is amazing! Leo Kalyan has such a smooth voice and I’m in love with this song.

Like a crystal chamber, within a maze of danger

Don’t Leave // Snakehips, MØ • I have a feeling that this song could become big on the radio. Snakehips and MØ have both been quiet successful in 2016 and I could see this becoming a hit.

You know me. Now and then, I’m a mess

Unbound // MAALA • I was attracted to this song by the album cover which looks so interesting. Turns out, the music is just as good! This has such an edge to it and is similar to my favourite singer ever, Thomston.

You caught me off guard. Lightning lover

London // Greyson Chance • Ugh, I love Greyson Chance and was first introduced to him from his song Hit and Run. London is slow but he has such a beautiful voice. Also, he’s cute right?

You wandered through every chartered street, knew where the flowing water goes

Redbone // Childish Gambino • Have you heard this song slowed down? It’s amazing and the original is too! This is so smooth and rhythmic and it’s a good song to wind down to.

Too late. You wanna make it right, but now it’s too late

Love Is Like A Match // Imogen Brough • I’m in love. This song was in a trailer and I’ve been trying so hard to find this song! Finally in it’s in my hands and so many memories are flooding through my mind!

Burn through the night just to love again

Shape of You // Ed Sheeran • Of course this song is featured this week! I love Ed Sheeran and after a whole year of silence, he surprises us! I can’t wait until the album, coming out March 3rd.

Girl, you know I want your love. Your love was handmade for somebody like me

Castle on the Hill // Ed Sheeran • This song gives me definite James Bay vibes. How awesome would it be if they do a collaboration? *dead*.

I’m on my way. Driving at 90 down those country lanes

Love Me Now // John Legend • I think this song has a beautiful message but it’s also quite catchy. John Legend always has the best songs!

I don’t know who’s gonna kiss you when I’m gone. So I’m gonna love you now, like it’s all I have

Shadowhunters: This Guilty Blood

Season 2 is finally upon us! If you’re new to the Shadowhunters fandom or you still haven’t caught a glimpse of season 2 catch the trailers down below:

Shadowhunters Season 1 Trailer

Shadowhunters Season 2 Trailer

Rating: 🎥🎥🎥🎥 (4 video cameras!)

Season two is definitely proving to be a step-up from the first season. The props are better, the makeup (in terms of the runes) are how we all wanted, the relationships are all developed, the drama and tension is rising, and the characters are more three-dimensional.

Of course, I was super stoked to finally watch This Guilty Blood. After a year of waiting, after the cliffhanger of Jace leaving with Valentine, I was eager to know more. I think the first episode definitely made the wait worth it.

To start off with, the new intro to the show is so much better. The original theme song “This is the Hunt” by Ruelle is the same, but everything else is different and I like it a lot more.

The episode picks up moments after the end of season one. We see Jace and Valentine on the infamous ship that will be a place for many more scenes to come throughout the season. Just as you think Clary has arrived to rescue Jace and they’re about to return to the Institute, we see Valentine who Jace later kills. Actually, Valentine has been using shape-shifters and isn’t really dead. And Clary, well she’s not really there. Valentine shape-shifted into her to test Jace’s loyalty. And Alec! he’s so heartbroken and confused about Jace’s departure and he’s pushing everyone away (especially Magnus) and I feel sorry for him.

The relationship between Jocelyn and Clary feels somewhat strained to me, and maybe it’s because I really want them to sit down and tell each other everything. Jocelyn, especially what with everything about Jonathan. Jace found out that he has demon blood, but is that really true? You’ll just have to wait and find out … I can’t stand not having Sebastian on screen yet!

Victor Aldertree. Nick Sagar plays this character really well! He is handsome but there is something about Aldertree that has us all suspicious. Also, #Climon. I never really used to ship Simon and Clary in the books, though I did feel sorry for him, but in the show it’s so cute how much Simon likes Clary and how he was so close to telling her how he felt about her! I can’t wait until #Sizzy.

The soundtrack for season two is already proving to be the best. I loved the music in season one and now it’s even better. Like everyone knows, music conveys emotions to the viewer so they definitely made the right choice with the music score.

Sometimes with adaptions from books, I can get really picky at how certain aspects of the show or movie are conveyed. This can sometimes make the cliffhangers hardly cliffs at all, more like pebbles because I’ve been expecting it from the show. While everyone else who has not read the books is freaking out about the whole Jace-is-my-brother-and-Valentine-is-my-father situation, I’m over here thinking about the whole They-think-Jace-is-Jonathan-and-they-have-it-all-wrong-and-I’m-desperately-waiting-for-Sebastian-to-arrive situation. (By the way, Sebastian has been cast according to Cassandra Clare, we’re just waiting to find out who it is!)

So, all in all, season two is already so much better! Having the characters now more developed and comfortable in their positions and roles stands out and makes this show much better than how it was before.

Catch my next review later!