Category: Reviews

Music Review: Taylor Swift’s Folklore Album  

Megan Brownell social media editor  

Taylor Swift surprised Taylor Nation yet again with the annoucement of her upcoming album: The Tortured Poets Department. With the track list already relased, I’m preparing for her release by listening to Folklore. Because of this, I have found a new love for the album and decided to review its beautiful lyricism this week.  

This album was released back in July 2020 and the album shot up to the number one album in the first week, and stayed at number one for eight weeks. She also debuted three top ten singles, with ‘cardigan’ at number one, ‘the 1’ at four, and ‘exile’ featuring Bon Iver coming in at six.  

This was a different kind of album for Swift, more of indie vibes that showcased incredible poetry writing.  

The album opens up with ‘the 1’. It has a great beat and fun lyrics I love to sing along to. The song references a relationship, unknown if this happened to Swift or not since folklore is a lot of story like songs that did not actually happen. ‘The 1’ references how a past lover could have been the one, talking about why it didn’t happen. This song also opens the folklore set on the era’s tour, and those opening beats are so fun and exciting, leading into both the album and its era at the show.  

Cardigan comes in next, the single that debuted at number 1 on the billboard charts. This is one of the songs that plays into the ‘love triangle’ about James, Betty, and August. Folklore is fun made up stories Swift wrote to pass the time in quarantine. The other songs that play into it are ‘Betty’ and ‘august’. All are great songs, making an interesting story about a boy who messed up and lost the love of his life, in Taylors words.  

My two favorites on this album are ‘my tear ricochet’ and ‘exile’. ‘My tears ricochet’ is a deep felt song that just brings up pain and singing this song is what cures it. The song is about struggling in a relationship, and it is displayed beautifully. After knowing how long Swift struggled in her past relationship with Joe Alwyn, now fans speculate folklore songs were real and about her and Joe. ‘Exile’ is a songwriting masterpiece to me, and her and Bon Iver sound incredible. This is another song voices the hardships of being in a relationship going south, and cuts your deep listening to it.  

Towards the end, the songs get super slow and emotional with ‘peace’ and ‘hoax’. Both have such deep lyrics that pass slowly with the music.  

She also came out with a bonus track, ‘the lakes’. This is the main song that leads back to Swift’s new album, with its lyrics ‘take me to the lakes where all the poets went to die’. It too is a beautiful song, with that indie feel that makes it fun to sing loud too.  

Overall folklore is an incredible album. This gets no skips from me, but two songs that I have to be in a certain mood for but still heavily enjoy when I do listen to them.  The stories and gut wrenching lyrics bring this to a 9/10 for me, only being brought down by those two sometimes skippable songs. I would recommend giving it a listen and connecting to these beautiful songs.  

Book Review: The Glass Castle 

Alyssa Tyler editor in chief 

The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls was published on Jan. 1, 2005. The self-memoir soon became a national best seller and then took on the movie world with a 2017 production. Brie Larson starred as the main character, the author and narrator of the story, Jeannette herself.  

The memoir opens with Walls first memory, burning herself as a toddler from boiling hot dogs. From there, the story continues at a fast pace. The Walls family is unconventional at best, by never living in the same place for long, not enrolling the kids in school, and getting by the bare minimum. Walls details the many times her family would get up and ‘skedaddle’ and then move onto the next place.  

Wall’s parents are interesting at best. They both struggle with their own issues, her father dealing with alcoholism and her mother suffering from some form of mental illness. Her father cannot and will not hold down a job, while their mother has a teaching degree but would rather do other things. All these factors lead to them living in despair, with no heating, plumbing, electricity, and overall, destitute ways of living.  

Walls continually describes her father as brilliant even with his alcoholism. Many times, throughout the memoir he outlines his plans for building machines that will change the world. However, his biggest goal is to build a glass castle for his family.  

As the family travels through the west coast, picking up random jobs and moving when the ‘mob’ is hot on her father’s tail, they eventually end up in their father’s childhood hometown. There, the family finally ‘settles’ down and the four siblings begin to grow into young adults.  

They continue to fall into despair as they fall deeper into poverty, the three oldest siblings begin to lose faith in their parents. Especially their fathers dream of building a glass castle. The three siblings begin crafting a plan to move to New York City, attend college, and get out of the small town they lived in for years. From there, their parents follow them to the big city, and begin to live off the streets by their own choice.  

Overall, this story was heartbreaking but inspiring in the same way. I do wish that the author went into further detail about her time at school. I would have liked to see more information concerning her career and the direction that it took her in. In the end, the title of the memoir really pulled the entire book together. Overall, I rate this a 4/5.  

Music Review: Nicki Minaj vs Megan Thee Stallion, battle of rap stars  

Megan Brownell social media editor 

Instead of reviewing an album, this weeks music review will pertain to two singles working as ‘diss tracks’ both directed at two of the best female rappers in the indsutry. Including Megan Thee Stallion’s single, Hiss and Nicki Minaj’s single, Bigfoot.  

How did this feud begin? Megan released ‘Hiss’ where one of the lyrics contains, “ “These hoes don’t be mad at Megan, these hoes mad at Megan’s Law/ I don’t really know what the problem is, but I guarantee y’all don’t want me to start,” Megan’s Law requires sex offender registrys to be public information, but how does all of this turn into a feud? Fans of both artists made the conlcusion that the lyric was directed towards the one and only Nicki Minajs’ husband, Kenny Petty, who is a regiestered sex offender.  

Hiss was released on Jan. 26 and has hit bumber 32 on the Billboard Hot 100 for its first week.  

Some claim that Hiss was not orignally released to be a diss track, however, when Minaj relized there was a ‘diss’ on her husband, she took to social media. Minaj went live on Instagram, announcing that she would be releasing a new song titled Bigfoot.  

Let’s first discuss Megan’s song, Hiss. Personally, I enjoy Megan Thee Stallions music, and this was the perfect diss track with her style of music. I loved the intro, it made me know it was going to be an entertaining song.  

It contained that regular Megan flare, a fun beat and her normal rap lyrics. I loved the song, no matter the meaning behind it.  

Moving towards Minj’s song and its release. While some could argue that Hiss was not directed at Minaj intentionally, no one could claim that with Bigfoot. First, the title is an obvious hit towards Megan as she was shot in the foot in 2020. The single was released on Jan. 28, and has not been out long enough for a Billboard placement.  

Personally, listeners can tell the song was written quickly to respond to the fighting. At a first glance, the beat and intro makes it seem like it’s going to be a good response, but as the song goes on, I found it hard to listen to.  

The music and lyrics ease in, but then she gets pouty with her voice, which quickly starts to go downhill from that. There was a mix of her usual rapping style, then a sudden switch to a slower cadence and odd lyrics. 

Overal, I expected more from Minaj. The worst part about the song was the last minute. Minaj freestyled with no beat in the background. Minaj discussed how she loves who does support her and how Megan should be “careful” because there’s other stuff she won’t want out.  

Overall, I think Megan Thee Stallions song was best, earning an 8/10. But for Minaj, I did not enjoy it and cannot see it being a song you can jam out to like her normal music. I had to give this one a 2/10, as there were still some good parts but so many bad ones that shot down its potential.  

Book Review: Crescent City, a series  

Alyssa Tyler editor in chief  

In honor of Sarah J Maas releasing the third installment of the Crescent City series, I’ll review the series as a whole. The latest installment, House of Flame of Shadow was released on Jan. 30, this review will contain no spoilers for the latest book but will contain spoilers for the earlier books.  

The series begins with Bryce Quinlan, a party girl expert, finding her best friend, Danika, and her pack brutally murdered. Bryce then floats through the next two years dealing with her grief and guilt over the night that changed her life. Eventually, Hunt Athalar, also known as Umbra Mortis (it is supposed to mean something scary but after 1000+ pages people typically forget) finds Bryce and they begin to solve murders spanning across the entirety of the city.  

However, centuries before this, Hunt was a part of a rebel organization. The group had the goal of destroying those in control, and they lost. Hunt’s lover was killed, Hunt was tortured for years, taken in as a slave, and was put under the control under the woman that killed his lover. Since then, he had worked as the Umbra Mortis, doing whatever his owner told him to do. Although even his ‘boss’ was not in charge, she was under the control of the Asteri, a group of supreme beings that took names after major stars. So, the duo, Bryce, and Hunt, begin to attempt to solve the murders, all while attempting to untangle the web of lies and secrets Danika made before her death.  

All the above is introduced within the first book, leading to one of the main complaints of this series. Maas is known for creating complex and intricate worlds for her series. However, with the two other series, Throne of Glass and A Court of Thornes and Roses, the world building was slower and easier to understand. However, for this series the first 100 pages are chaotic and extremely confusing. As the book and eventual series goes on you can begin to catch on to what the different houses are and the differences between them.  

With the two other series, there is no technology. No phones, guns, nothing. They have complex magic to help them win wars but there is no social media to find their opponents. In Crescent City, however, technology is a massive part of the story. From finding their targets, ending the bad guys, and even just in day-to-day life. Personally, I found the difference to be refreshing, I thought that it offered a unique perspective and could add interesting plot twists to the future.  

Looking at the characters, the development for each character is top tier. The development isn’t perfect, which makes it easier to relate to these non-human characters.  

Overall, even with the confusing world building, the overall plot of this series is unmatched. Especially at the end of House of Sky and Breath, the second book. The final plot twist and cliffhanger was one of the best I have seen done. Overall, I rate this series a 4.5/5, mainly because I have not finished it. I would highly recommend this series to readers over the age of 16 due to its mature content.  

Music Review: Harry Styles debut album  

Megan Brownell social media editor  

For this week’s music review, I wanted to throw it back a little and review Harry Styles debut solo album, ‘Harry Styles’.  

This album came out in May 2017 after his band One Direction announced a hiatus in 2015. Two other members of the band, Niall and Zayn began their solo careers before Styles, and yet, he is arguably the most successful solo after the band breakup.  

Styles first released his debut single, ‘Sign Of The Times’ in April, and not to sound dramatic, but this song changed my life. I was 13 at the time, getting ready to head into high school, hearing this song for the first time was incredible. It’s a slower song, and kicks up in beat once you get closer to the end. It is also a longer song, around 5 minutes full of emotional lyrics that tie you into the song. Even now I still resonate with this song and it has such a deep meaning to it.  

That was the only single from the album, and a good choice from Styles. The rest of the album came out a month later, and held up to the standards of the first single. The album houses only 10 tracks, but all 10 are great in their own way. Track one is ‘Meet Me in the Hallway’, a slow song that as well kicks up the beat once you get to the chorus. This isn’t the strongest song to open with but it aids a nice transition into it.  

Moving down to track four, ‘Two Ghosts’. This probably switches off and on with ‘Sign of The Times’ as my favorite on this album. This song has a mid tempo, slowing it down a little after fast paced ‘Carolina’. The lyrics are another fantastic showing, talking about how he feels distant from an old love, wondering what it is like to have your heart beat, reminiscing on who they used to be. Fans also speculate this song is about Taylor Swift, back from when the pair dated in 2012-2013, as he used lyrics like ‘red lips’, as well as referencing his infamous white shirt that Swift mentioned in her song ‘Style’.  

‘Kiwi’ is another song to be talking about, being the most dance worthy, fun beat song on the album. The title does not make any sense, as the song talks about a relationship and the big phrase in the chorus, “having your baby, it’s none of your business’. It is super fun, and has made the setlist for every show Style has done, containing a fun dance break he does with one of his band members, as well as closing every show after the song with his iconic ‘whale’ water blow in his goodbye.  

The album ends just as it started, with a slow love type song, ‘From The Dining Table’. This is another title that I personally don’t understand, but the lyrics are beautiful. The song is all about missing an ex, with lyrics such as ‘even my phone misses your calls,’ ‘maybe one day you’ll call me and tell me that you’re sorry too’. I like this song to end the album as it provides a strong finish. 

My personal rating of the album is a 9/10, as it took me some time to love all of the songs. I would say it’s skipless there are one or two I need to be in the mood for to enjoy. This was a great debut album and set up his success for years to come.  

Poor Things, a movie review 

Luke Geier Reporter 

Writer and director Yorgos Lanthimos is back with a new visually stunning and complex narrative film: Poor Things.  The film quickly shaped up to be a major awards contender upon its release and has already picked up two Golden Globes earlier this year in the Best Motion Picture (musical or comedy) category, as well as the award for Lead Actress (in a comedy) with Emma Stone taking the win. 

Adapted from the 1992 novel by Alasdair Gray, Poor Things follows the journey of Bella Baxter, a woman who attempts suicide but is resurrected. She is then forced to rediscover the world around her and herself.  As she navigates her surroundings, her trial-and-error shapes her into the person she is destined to become.   

Over the years, Lanthimos has established himself as a unique voice in the movie world thanks to his distinct style and approach to filmmaking.  While the themes of Irony and dark humor that usually define Lanthimos’s previous work can also be seen in Poor Things, this film seems to be a breaking point for him, as he creates a film with elements of what we’ve come to know and love him for, with a strange and beautiful fantasy backdrop.   

Emma Stone gives a once-in-a-lifetime performance in the leading role of Bella Baxter.  At the beginning of the film, the character of Bella Baxter is reborn, which means she must relearn every basic function possible.  Throughout the film, we see Bella transform not only through her understanding of self but through her understanding of society and the mad world that surrounds her.  It’s an incredibly complex character that very well could’ve been undersold by a variety of actresses, but Emma Stone’s commitment to the role is incredible, making it one of the best things about the movie. 

Emma Stone’s performance isn’t the only standout though, as the film features a wide array of characters played to perfection by the incredible supporting cast.  Willem Dafoe gives a beautifully strange and heartbreaking performance as Dr. Goldwin Baxter, the mad scientist behind the creation of Bella herself.  As the movie unravels, Dr. Goldwin comes to terms with the fact that while he created Bella, the life she decides to live is in her hands, and the depth that Dafoe gives the character is incredible.  Mark Ruffalo also steals the show numerous times with his sleazy and controlling portrayal of Duncan Wedding. 

While many audiences may have been unfamiliar with Yorgos Lanthimos before this film, it’s safe to say that the attention Poor Things is receiving and will most likely continue to receive throughout the rest of the awards season is incredibly well deserved.  

Book Review: How To Sell a Haunted House 

Alyssa Tyler editor in chief 

I spend many early mornings in Whitesitt Hall. Many times, I will go to the Student Publication office at four in the morning to start knocking out work. And when I do this, I start making coffee, tidying up, and attempting to get everything organized. Typically, I listen to an audiobook during this time, and let me say personally, do not listen to a horror novel while in a near century old building by yourself. 

This past week I read the book, How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix. For the past few years, I have kept myself to a strict rule: only read the books on your ‘To Be Read’ list. However, when scrolling through Libby and Hoopla this book caught my eye, and I decided to cut some slack for myself.  

The novel opens with Louise, a basically single mother to a five-year-old, Poppy. Louise receives the call that both of her parents have died in a car crash from her brother Mark, who she cannot stand. Mark is a messy little brother while Louise is the most stereotypical oldest daughter to ever exist. It is her way or the highway; she must work harder than everyone else, and her younger brother, Mark, will never meet her expectations. However, now that they have entered their adult lives, they have essentially split ways.  

This news comes as a shock, and Louise then flies from San Fransico to meet her brother in a suburb of Charleston to go over the funeral arrangements. Almost immediately they begin fighting about anything and everything. From how to get rid of everything in the house, the funeral arrangements, to the will. 

One thing to mention before diving too farther into the plot is the sibling’s mother, Nancy, was an avid puppet owner. She inherited puppets, made puppets, lived puppets. When the two enter their childhood home they both find every inch filled with dolls and puppets, all that are extremely creepy. However, one tops them all, Pumpkin, Nancy’s childhood toy that Louise took a liking and sudden hating to as a child.  

As the sibling duo begin going through the house, they notice odd happenings. Dolls moving from one room to another, writing in the mirror, thumping in the attic, all the tell-tale signs of a haunted house. And one item seems to be at the heart of the issue, Pumpkin. 

The novel begins extremely slow, it is almost impossible to get through. As the oldest sister I understand not agreeing with your siblings, but there’s only so much complaining you can take about it. While Mark is beyond aggravating, everything he does will drive someone crazy.  

The writing, however, was well done. With horror novels I have a hard time finding myself ‘scared.’ If I want to be ‘scared’ of a novel it typically has to be a psychological thriller. However, there are a few scenes in this book that had me hooked. While in Whitesitt Hall I was double checking shadows and looking down on every hallway. The plot was interesting if anticlimactic and predictable, but there are some relationships that are saved which also warmed my heart. Overall, I rate this book 3.5/5.  

Music Review: Nicki Minaj’s Pink Friday 2 

Megan Brownell social media editor  

To kick off the new semester, I wanted to start off with a music review with an album I myself haven’t listened to a lot of. On Dec. 8, Nicki Minaj released her newest album, Pink Friday 2. While I do enjoy Minaj’s music, I haven’t sat down and listened to her new music until now.  

Overall from my first full listen, I enjoyed the album. I probably wouldn’t listen to the full album multiple times for my taste, but I know that a lot of these songs will become frequent in party playlists. Many are fun, upbeat, and are what you think of when you hear a Nicki Minaj song. That is my favorite part of the album, is that iconic touch that will make a room go crazy when it comes on the shuffle.  

The album itself debuted on the Billboard hot 200 at number 1 after its first week, and debuted 14 songs on the hot 100 list. The highest song was ‘Everybody’ featuring Lil Uzi Vert, at 26.  

Starting the album off, the opening song is ‘Are you Gone Already’. I was surprised, as it started off slow and I recognized the song as Billie Ellishes ‘when the party’s over’. I thought I had clicked on the wrong song first, then I realized it was a part of the song. It was a weird start to the album in my opinion, as even though Minaj has used different songs to remix before like ‘Anaconda’ which was released in 2014 and based off of ‘Baby Got Back’ by Sir Mix A Lot. The song itself though was more slow, which strayed away from her typical sound. 

Moving onto track three, FTCU was a prime song that when I heard, I could just know it is a Minaj type song without knowing directly it was hers. It was a fun, hype type of song that I know I would have fun dancing to if it came on at a party.  

As you go down the tracklist, it mixes between party songs and slower songs. Though slower songs aren’t what I specifically think of when I think Nicki Minaj, they were really enjoyable to listen to. These slower songs helped the album flow more.  

After a full 22 song tracklist, the album ends with ‘Just The Memories’. It was a somewhat slower song, with a good beat. I felt like it was a great way to close out the album, being slower than some others songs while keeping that Nicki type lyrics and fun to it.  

My favorites are probably ‘Needles’ and the now iconic ‘Super Freaky Girl’. ‘Needles’ was a tad slower song, but the beat was strong. ‘Super Freaky Girl’ has been out for some time, and is another song based on a different song, ‘Super Freak’ by Rick James. It is fun and danceable, and also had a trending dance on TikTok. 

After my listen, I give the album an 8/10, as it had some good listens, a few not so great, but kicked it up a notch with fun exciting listens. I think this is a good album to listen to, and maybe get ahead of knowing the lyrics to the next generation of party songs.  

Book Review: Caraval 

Alyssa Tyler editor in chief 

Over winter break I was lucky enough to have more time than usual to read and relax for a little. That being said, one book I read was Caraval. This is a three-book series with Caraval being the first book.  

In this world, there is one magical event every year, Caraval. It is said to be the most magical event in all of the world, and whoever wins receives one wish from the master of Caraval himself, Legend. For years this event mirrored a magical circus, however, after one of the participants killed herself years back, the event has since become stationary. Those who are invited have two options, watch or participate. Those who participate must follow a list of questions and hints and solve the mystery to win it all.  

Enter the main character, Scarlett and her sister Donatella, who goes with Tella for the rest of the series. Ever since their mother vanished years ago, Scarlett has been sending countless letters to Legend begging for him to come to their small island and host Caraval. Scarlett never receives a response from Legend, and finally after being engaged to a mysterious Count from across the sea, she sends one last ditch effort to attend Caraval.  

Scarlett finally receives a response and is gifted three tickets for Caraval. Two for her sister, one for her betrothed. However, leaving the island will be near impossible due to Scarlett and Tella’s abusive and overpowering father. So, Tella stages a kidnapping, and off they go to the magical island where Caraval is now held.  

Shortly after making it to the island, Tella is stolen from Scarlett. Then she receives her first clue and hint, to win it all, she must find her sister. Along with Scarlett there is Julian, the young man that helped them escape the island and is now pretending to be Scarletts fiancé. Together the two of them must work together to find Tella without succumbing to the madness of the game. 

Overall, I struggled to finish this book. It has an interesting idea and principle, however it’s just boring and nearly impossible to relate to the characters. Scarlett, for example, is the epitome of an older sister, however, she is so extremely anxious she essentially fails to do anything correctly the first time. So, there are many times in the first book alone where she overthinks things to the point of ruining the plan. Getting through around 400 pages of that is not the most enjoyable.  

However, it was slightly entertaining with the mysteries and the multiple relationships she had to balance. I did nearly did not finish this book multiple times, however I couldn’t find anything else to read and stuck through it.  

The next book, Legendary, features Scarlett, which was much more entertaining than the first. However, going in depth over the rest of the series will spoil the rest. Overall, I rate this book 2/5. It’s well written, but some of the character growth and overall development made it hard to get through.