The Uncanny Counter 2 – Kdrama Review

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The Uncanny Counter Season 2: Counter Punch

Title: The Uncanny Counter 2

Language: Korean

Genres: Action, Mystery, comedy, Supernatural

Objectional Content: Violence, Domestic Violence, Murder

Synopsis: from (MyDramaList): Evil spirits from the afterlife arrive on Earth in search of an immortal existence. The story follows a group of counters who are tasked with catching these malevolent entities.

My Review

In season 1 of the Uncanny County, So Mun was the rookie of the team. He had to learn to navigate his new powers while also coming to terms with the death of his parents. Now, in season 2, So Mun is the ace of the team. He has mastered his abilities, improved his fighting skills and can use psycokinesis. When a trio of evil spirits kills and consumes a team of Counters in China and gains their abilities, So Mun and his fellow Counters have their skills put to the test.

Mun has gained confidence in his abilities and the rest of the team rely on him to get them through. A new Counter also joins the team, Na Jeok-Bong, who has a unique ability as well. He can smell evil spirits. Too bad for him, they smell foul. He doesn’t really contribute much else to the team, in my opinion. Do Ha-Na seems to be more open in this season. In the past, she was very closed off and reserved, not wanting her team mates to know anything about her past. In this season, they are all much more like family.

At one point, Ha-Na reconnects with an old classmate. For a brief period she gets to experience true happiness and something of what a normal life could be. Sadly, with her job, she knows it’s something she can never really have.

When someone the Counters know and trust is possessed by an evil spirit, things start to get crazy. This evil spirit is stronger than most they have faced before. When the trio from China start to work together with this new spirit, things get very dangerous for the Counters. They all come very close to dying on multiple occasions.

I have to say that I really enjoyed with show. It was great to see these characters again. The ending felt nicely wrapped up so I wouldn’t expect a third season. Honestly, I don’t think a third season would benefit this show at all. They would have to keep upping the stakes and unless one of the team actually dies, I don’t think they can up it much more.

My rating for The Uncanny Counter 2 is 4 out of 5 stars. It loses a star because I didn’t really like Na Jeok-Bong as a character and there are times when it feels a bit cheesy. I’d recommend this show to anyone who watched the first season, and if you haven’t watched the first season, go watch that first!

Have you watched the Uncanny Counter? I’d love to know your thoughts in the comments!

Destiny: Child of the Sky – Symphony of the Ages # 3 by Elizabeth Haydon

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Destiny: Child of the Sky - Symphony of the Ages #3 by Elizabeth Haydon

Title: Destiny: Child of the Sky

Author: Elizabeth Haydon

Series: Symphony of Ages

Sexual Content: Minimal

Objectional Content: Violence, Sexual violence, violence against children

Synopsis (From Goodreads): A FELLOWSHIP OF THREE

To stand against the F’dor– an ancient, vile being intent on destroying the world– a fellowship has been forged: Rhapsody, a Singer of great talent and beauty; Achmed, an assassin with unearthly talents; and Grunthor, a giant of jolly disposition and lethal skill with weapons.

Driven by prophetic visions, the three know that time is running short, know that they must find their elusive enemy before his darkness consumes them all. But after their final, brutal confrontation with the F’dor, their world crosses the threshold of disaster and faces utter oblivion. The action reaches a fevered pitch, achieving a crescendo of tragedy, love, and triumph of human spirit over world-shattering cataclysm.

With death at hand and the world crumbling at their feet, these three will finally discover their true …

DESTINY

My Review

Destiny picks up where Prophecy left off. Rhapsody and Ashe have parted ways. While Ashe goes off to prepare to take on the mantle of Lord Cymrian, Rhapsody heads out into the world with Achmed to find the children of the F’dor. It is their hope to separate out the demon blood for Achmed to use to track it down and kill it once and for all.

i have to say, I enjoyed this book more than Prophecy. I think because the story focused a lot less on Rhapsody and Ashe’s relationship. She is with Achmed in the beginning of this book, looking for the demonspawn children. After, she goes to find several of them on her own, allowing her to be an independent person once again. The focus also shifts onto other characters as well, though I would say Grunthor doesn’t get nearly enough page time.

Rhapsody goes through a great deal in this book. It’s actually pretty amazing how she’s able to survive perilous situations, nearly dying, and overcoming overwhelming despair. Rhapsody is definitely a fantasy heroine for the ages.

While above, I indicated that the sexual content was minimal, what there is comes close to a rape scene. This is a warning for anyone who might be triggered by such scenes. It is thankfully relatively brief.

I feel like the reader gets to see a lot more into Achmed’s mind and feeling in this novel as well. He may not be one for emotional displays, but he is utterly devoted to Rhapsody and loves her in his own way.

If you wanted to, you could stop reading the series here. It was originally meant to be only a trilogy and the plot is nicely wrapped up by the end. The series does continue on with Requiem for the Sun, which I will be reading next.

My rating for Destiny is 4 out of 5 stars (Ashe is still annoying) and I would recommend that anyone who has read Prophecy, read Destiny. And if you haven’t read any of these books yet, start with Rhapsody.

Thanks for reading!

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Dr. Brain – Kdrama Review

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Dr. Brain, Kdrama on Apple+

Title: Dr. Brain

Language: Korean

Genres: Thriller, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Medical

Synopsis (from MyDramaList): An emotional journey that follows a brain scientist who is obsessive about figuring out new technologies to access the consciousness and memories of the brain. His life goes sideways when his family falls victim to a mysterious accident, and he uses his skills to access memories from his wife’s brain to piece together the mystery of what actually happened to his family and why.

My Review

Dr. Brain follows Dr. Koh Se Won as he researches how to communicate between two people’s brains. After a family tragedy, he becomes even more determined and ultimately succeeds. He connects with his wife, who is in a coma, to help find their lost son.

I really did enjoy this show, even if there were some things that I found odd, or kind of just out of left field. For example, it makes sense that after syncing with another person’s brain that Se Won might take on some traits of that person’s personality. What is weird is that after synching with a cat, he’s able jump higher than usual and his reflexes have improved considerably. His eyes even glow green momentarily when he accesses those abilities.

The motive behind the whole plot is also rather far fetched. I don’t want to spoil anything about it, but it just didn’t really make sense.

I did like Se Won and seeing him progress and change as a person the more times he synced with people, taking on some of their traits and learning to feel emotions he previously hadn’t. the very end was also a bit confusing. I think there was supposed to be a second season, but unfortunately, Lee Sun Kyun, who played Dr. Koh passed away.

My rating for Dr. Brain is 3 out of 5 stars and I would recommend giving it a watch if you’re looking for something different and short. There are only 6 episodes so it’s easy to get through.

As always, thanks for reading!

Kpop: Demon Hunters – Review

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Kpop: Demon Hunters, Netflix Movie

Title: Kpop: Demon Hunters

Language: English

Genres: Animated, Action, Thriller, Comedy

Synopsis

Centuries ago, demons plagued the human world, stealing their souls to feed their king, Gwi Ma. Then, three women, known as Hunters, arrive and drive the demons away. They create a magical shield called the Honmoon, to keep the demons out of the human world. Since then, there has been a group of three in each generation who are chosen to keep the Honmoon strong and fight any demons that make their way into the human world.

Now, the Kpop trio known as Huntix, are this generations Hunters and soon they will seal the Honmoon for good and keep demons out of the world forever.

My Review

I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised by this movie. Honestly, I had no idea what to expect. I was just browsing through Netflix looking for a movie to watch and this appeared. I figured i would give it a shot and if it sucked, i could just stop watching. Admittedly, the animation threw me off at first as it’s not my favorite type of animation, but I got over that pretty quickly.

First of all, the music in this movie is amazing! I literally downloaded the soundtrack as soon as the movie ended and I’ve been listening to it ever since. Several of the songs give me the feels and sometimes even goosebumps.

The main trio is also great. Each of them has their own unique personality, but you can feel their bond as soon as they come on screen. They’ve been friends for a long time and their shared goal of sealing the Honmoon forever gives them a great deal of motive. While that is their main goal, they also truly love their fans and their jobs as idols.

Despite how superficial this movie may look on the surface, it explores deeper themes of friendship, found family and redemption. There are some genuinely heart warming moments along with a good deal of action and comedy.

I think this movie would also benefit from being expanded into a series. It would be interesting to know more about the past Hunters, and in particular how these three girls were chosen and what their lives were like before.

Other than that, I really can’t find fault with this movie and there fore rate it 5 out of 5 stars. I’d recommend it to anyone who likes Kpop, Kdrama, anime, or is just looking for a good movie to kill some time.

Thank for reading!

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Prophecy: Child of Earth – Symphony of the Ages #2 by Elizabeth Haydon

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Title: Prophecy: Child of Earth

Author: Elizabeth Haydon

Series: Symphony of Ages

Sexual Content: Descriptive

Objectional Content: Violence, Sexual violence, violence against children

Synopsis (from Goodreads) In Rhapsody, a fellowship was forged–three companions who, through great adversity, became a force to be reckoned with: Rhapsody, a singer of great talent and even greater beauty; Achmed, an assassin with unearthly talents; and Grunthor, a giant Sergeant-Major whose jolly disposition stands at odds with his deadly skill at weapons. Having fled the F’dor–an ancient, powerful evil–the three emerged on the other side of the world, only to discover fourteen centuries had passed. Their homeland had been destroyed, their people scattered across several continents, and everyone they ever knew had long since passed away…except, perhaps, the F’dor.

Prophecy continues this powerful epic. Driven by a prophetic vision, Rhapsody races to rescue the religious leader of her new homeland while Achmed and Grunthor seek evidence of the F’dor. These three may be their world’s only hope, the heroes spoken of in the Prophecy of the Three, but their time is running short. They must find their elusive enemy before his darkness consumes them all.

My Review

So, I’m not really sure how to review this. I started reading Prophecy in January, right after I’d finished the first book, Rhapsody. It is now June and i just finished it. i don’t think it’s ever taken me six months to get through an entire book before. This should not be taken as any sort of reflection the book itself, because the book is fantastic. I really enjoyed reading, when I read it. The problem here is me. For some reason, I just did not want to read.

The latter half of the book (the part most fresh in my mind) focuses quite a bit on the relationship between Rhapsody and Ashe. Now, I have no problem with romance in books, but in this one it meant a fair amount of sex scenes. There’s nothing wrong with that, but it just didn’t feel like it added a lot to the story overall. Mostly, it makes Ashe look a little pathetic. He’s been in love with Rhapsody from the moment he saw her and his desperation is really starting to show. Their relationship also causes Rhapsody to ignore some of the things she should be responsible for, much to Achmed and Grunthor’s annoyance.

There is a lot more going on besides just Rhapsody and Ashe, but i don’t want to spoil anything so I’m not really going to say anything about it. Though I would like to say that there is some pretty descriptive violent scenes that may be triggering for some people.

My rating for Prophecy is 4 out of 5 stars. l’m on to the third book, Destiny, which hopefully won’t take me six months to read!

Thanks for reading!

Bad Influence: The Dark Side of Kidfluencing – Review

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Title: Bad Influence: The Dark Side of Kidfluencing

Language: English

Genres: Documentary

Trigger Warning: Child Abuse, Sexual Assault

Synopsis: Documentary about child influencer Piper Rockelle and the kids who were in her Squad.

My Review

Before Watching this documentary, I had no idea who Piper Rockelle was. Why would I? Afterall, I’m a 40 year old woman. Piper’s content is not something I’m interested in. However, I am interested in documentaries, and quite recently, the effects being on platforms like YouTube is having on the younger generation.

Piper Rockelle has been in the spotlight nearly her entire life. Starting with Pageants as a toddler, winning her first pageants as age 3. She was on two different TV shows before the age of ten, and then became the star of her own YouTube channel. Soon, other kids become involved and the Squad is born.

The documentary follows testimony of the former members of the Squad as well as their parents. The kids relate how Piper’s mother, Tiffany, was in control of everything. She controlled the content, the channels and the children. Tiffany was exceptional in manipulating people to get what she wants. She manages to isolate the kids from their parents so they don’t learn just what was going on until much later.

I won’t go into great detail of what these kids endured but it involved spending twelve hours or more a day filming videos, being told what to do, how to act and what to wear. Off camera was even worse as several of the children experienced sexual assault by Tiffany.

Now, I’m not a parent. I’m the type of person who has never wanted kids so obviously I don’t know what it’s like. Still, it baffles me the way the parents in this documentary were talking about everything that happened. It sounded like their concerns were more about the careers of their children as opposed to the trauma they went through. The parents file a lawsuit against Tiffany, but initially, the main concern is loss of revenue from Tiffany and partner sabotaging the other kids YouTube channels. This honestly baffles me. Do these parents not speak to their children? Do they not listen? I realize I’m not in their shoes and I don’t know what is actually going on but from some of the things the parents said, I really have to wonder what they were thinking.

In all of the this, the biggest victim is, of course, Piper. While the other children were able to leave, Piper is still trapped with her mother, being forced to film videos and take photos that get more and more provocative. As of the time of the making of the documentary, Piper was only 15 years old. I don’t understand how people can call people who choose not to have children selfish and terrible people, when there are parents out there abusing and exploiting their children for money.

More and more situations like this are coming to light and being talked about in the media. I really hope this message gets around more and channels like Piper’s, as well as family vlogging channels featuring children, will be banned, or at least demonetized.

This is an excellent documentary and I highly recommend it! 5 out of 5 stars.

Have you seen this documentary? Let me know what you thought of it!

Bad and Crazy – Kdrama Review

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Title: Bad and Crazy

Language: Korean

Genres: Action, Thriller, Mystery Comedy

Synopsis (from MyDramaList): Soo Yeol, a skilled but morally compromised officer in the Anti-Corruption Unit, faces a turning point after meeting K, a righteous but eccentric man. Despite his high school diploma, Soo Yeol has climbed the ranks by catering to his superiors’ desires, often ignoring justice in the process. As promotion time nears, he fears being left behind, especially after his hopes with Congressman Do Yoo Gon are shattered by K’s arrival. Together, the “bad boy” and the “crazy guy” form an unlikely partnership—bringing both chaos and change.

My Review

Watching these types of shows makes me wonder about what the justice system is really like in Korea. Are cops really just covering up things for politicians and sucking up to their superiors? I’d like to hope it’s not like that at all and it’s all just dramatization.

I have to say, though, I absolutely loved this drama. Lee Dong Wook and Wi Ha Joon are amazing together! From the very first moment K shows up, hilarity ensues. His very first appearance involves beating Soo Yeol in a bathhouse. That towel must have been on there really well 😉

It becomes apparent pretty quickly what K is and why he is there. Soo Yeol has allowed himself to become corrupt, to do just about anything to get his next promotion. He’ll brown nose and suck up to whoever he needs to for his own gain. Honestly, in the beginning, Soo Yeol is a complete sleaze. At first, I didn’t like him as a character, even though I like Lee Dong Wook as an actor. It was great to watch him learn and change, all while getting his ass handed to him by K.

Although there were many great scenes in this show, one in particular stands out. Soo Yeol and K get trapped in a very small space while investigating and what ensues is pretty funny. I don’t want to spoil anything there, but I honestly wonder how much of that scene was actually scripted.

Endings to Kdramas can sometimes be hit or miss, but in this case, I think it was a hit. Although it is bittersweet, I understand why it ended the way it did and overall it was satisfying.

My rating for Bad and Crazy is 4.5 out of 5 stars. I’m taking away .5 because there were a few little inconsistencies that I noticed, but nothing major. I’d recommend this show to anyone looking for an action thriller with a good mystery and humor.

As always, thanks for reading!

Tale of the Nine Tailed – Kdrama Review

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Title: Tale of the Nine Tailed

Language: Korean

Genres: Thriller, Horror, Romance, Fantasy

Synopsis (from MyDramaList): The mythical nine-tailed fox, or gumiho, Lee Yeon had to settle in the city many centuries ago. Able to transform into human form, he eradicates supernatural beings that threaten the mortal world. His real aim is to find the reincarnation of his lost first love. The talented television producer Nam Ji A works on a show that features urban myths. In the past, her parents were involved in a mysterious car accident and disappeared, and she suspects that Lee Yeon might be connected with this accident. The half-brother to Lee Yeon is the captivating Lee Rang. Despite being half-human himself, he harbors a deep-seated contempt for all people. For sport, he will unleash his seductive prowess upon his human-du-jour by promising to grant them their wishes, only to trick them into paying a hefty price for their earthly desires.

My Review

I always love a good fantasy story, especially when it’s inspired by folklore or mythology from other countries. The different tales about Nine-tailed foxes have always been of interest to me too.

My personal opinion is that Lee Dong Wook did an excellent job in his role as Lee Yeon, the nine-tailed fox. He really nailed the arrogance of an immoral entity that knows he is powerful as well as handsome. At the same time, he was also a hopeless romantic who spend 600 years waiting for his first love to be reborn.

Lee Dong Wook and Jo Bo Ah have amazing chemistry together and their hardships had me in tears more than once. Kim Bum was also fantastic as Lee Rang, Yeon younger half brother. He played a villainous role to a T, while also being vulnerable and caring, like how he can’t ignore the cries of a dog being abused.

There’s a scene that sticks out in my mind where Yeon and Ji-a are walking in the rain sharing an umbrella when Yeon tells Ji-a that he doesn’t like to get wet because “it messes up my fur.” I don’t know why this stuck in my mind so much, but it did. I was hoping that there would be a scene where he would go full fox mode but sadly that didn’t happen.

There was also a thing or two that I don’t think the writers really thought all the way through. I don’t want to mention what exactly they were as they would be major spoilers. The ending also left me with a lot of questions. Thankfully there are sequel series so maybe I will get answers there.

Overall, I think the Tale of the Nine-Tailed was a solid 4 out of 5 stars. I really enjoyed it and I’d recommend it to those who like romance with a good dash of fantasy and mystery thrown in.

Thanks for reading!

Rhapsody: Child of Blood – Symphony of the Ages #1 by Elizabeth Haydon

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Rhapsody: Child of Blood Symphony of Ages #1 by Elizabeth Haydon

Title: Rhapsody: Child of Blood

Author: Elizabeth Haydon

Series: Symphony of Ages

Sexual Content: Descriptive

Objectional Content: Violence, Sexual violence, violence against children

Synopsis (from Goodreads): Rhapsody is a woman, a Singer of some talent, who is swept up into events of world-shattering import. On the run from an old romantic interest who won’t take no for an answer, Rhapsody literally bumps into a couple of shady characters: half-breeds who come to her rescue in the nick of time. Only the rescue turns into an abduction, and Rhapsody soon finds herself dragged along on an epic voyage, one that spans centuries and ranges across a wonder-filled fantasy world– a world so real you can hear the sweet music of Rhapsody’s aubade and smell the smoldering forges deep within the Cauldron.

My Review

Rhapsody is a book I first read several years ago. At the time, the entire series hadn’t yet been published. After what feels like forever, I’m finally rereading the entire series so I can read the last two books.

It has been so long since I first read Rhapsody that, although I remember a few key things, it was like reading it for the first time again. I think I enjoyed it more than I did the first time around. Truly, I loved this book.

The trio of main characters, Rhapsody, Achmed and Grunthor, could not be more different from one another. However, the bond they form is more than I’ve seen in most books, especially without it somehow turning romantic. Elizabeth Haydon has an amazing ability to keep the reader engaged even during some scenes that could be considered boring or tedious. I felt invested in these characters from the very beginning.

Rhapsody, especially, is a complex and intriguing character. She has lived through some very traumatic experiences and yet still manages to smile and have a positive outlook. Where some people would become bitter and withdraw into themselves, Rhapsody’s experiences make her want to help people even more, but especially children. She may be small in stature, but she is ferocious when she needs to be.

I always have any objectional content listed at the top of my reviews, but in this case, I feel the need to reiterate that there is some graphic violence involving children, some of it sexual in nature. These things are meant to disgust the reader and portray the level of evil of the antagonists. It all has it’s place in the story. However, if child violence is something that is just not for you, or may be triggering for any reason, this may not be the book for you.

My rating for Rhapsody is 5 out of 5 stars. I was honestly never bored reading this. I would recommend this book to fans of high fantasy looking for an exciting new adventure!

Thanks for reading!

2024: A Year in Review

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2024 has officially come to a close and 2025 has arrived. I’d love to say it was an amazing year where I read so many books that I lost count, but that would be a lie. How many did I read? 15. I had set a goal of 52, so one book a week, but did not come anywhere close to that. I’ve set my goal for 2025 lower at 25. I was in quite the reading slump for awhile and was slowly getting out of it this past year. I have higher hopes for this year.

Favorite Book of 2024

There wasn’t one singular book that I read last year that I would say really stuck out in my mind. However, the Walker Papers series was definitely the best series I read. I also read the Chronicles of the Cheysuli and The Griffin Mage trilogy. Both of those were alright but not anything I would rave about or recommend to a lot of people.

TBR for 2025

For the past few years I’ve been reading books from this Goodreads list. These are books I own that the series they are part of are complete. While I plan to continue reading from this list, I have started this year by rereading series that weren’t complete when I first read them. The last two or three books are on the list, I just need to reread the previous books first. This year, I’m starting with the Symphony of Ages by Elizabeth Haydon.

The other series I’m hoping to reread is the Realm of the Elderlings by Robin Hobb. More specifically the books focusing on Fitz as the main character so I can read The Fitz and the Fool trilogy. It’s been a long time since I read any books in that series and I’m looking forward to revisiting that world.

What are your reading goals for 2025? Are there any books on my list you think I should read first? Let me know in the comments.