Women by Charles Bukowski

My rating: 3/5 stars

“Pain is strong. A cat killing a bird, a car accident, a fire… Pain arrives. BANG, and there it is , it sits on you. It’s real. And to anybody watching, you look foolish. Like you’ve suddenly become an idiot. There’s no cure for it unless you know somebody who understands how you feel, and knows how to help.”

Warning: despite the beautiful paragraph quoted above, do not be fooled. This book is overflowing with blatant misogyny, however, it’s totally reflective of the time period it was written in (the 70s). So if you can get past that, you’ll find that Women is actually a pretty interesting, dare I say, even hilarious story. But if you can’t get past the misogyny, then I’m afraid you will be very irritated by this book and probably won’t even make it past the first ten chapters lol. 

Fortunately for me, it was a little easier to get past all that because I’m currently in the middle of binge-watching Mad Men on Netflix; which coincidentally has many similar characteristics to Bukowski’s ‘Women’. Set in roughly the same time period, misogynystic characters, constant sex, alcohol and a casual sprinkle of racism here and there. It’s actually so crazy what people could so openly get away with back then. 

‘Women’ is ultimately a fictional diary about a fifty year old man’s sexcapades. The blurb of this book describes Henry Chaniski’s character as “running three hundred hangovers a year, and maintaining a sex life that would cripple Casanova.” & that is truly the summary of the entire story.

More Than Words by Jill Santopolo

My rating: 3/5 stars

More Than Words is a well told story about the struggles of the heart. 

Nina and Tim have been best friends since forever, literally since the day she was born and so it made sense that they would end up together at some point. However, Nina starts to question her future with Tim when she develops unexplainable feelings for her boss Rafael. When Nina’s father passes away, this further makes her realize that she has been hiding a huge part of herself all these years. 

I think the most interesting part of this book is gradually seeing the way things unfold between Nina and her love interests; and the life changes that ensue after her father’s death. The romance in this book didn’t really connect with me and the supporting characters in this book felt a little vague? Overall though, it was a good story, it just felt like something was missing, I can’t really explain it.

Batgirl, Volume 1: Beyond Burnside by Hope Larson

My rating: 3/5 stars

Haven’t read a comic in monthssss and it feels good returning to my favourite girl. 

In Volume 1, Beyond Burnside, Barbara decides to escape the craziness and chaos of her life as Batgirl by leaving Burnside and going on vacation to Japan. But of course, Superheroes don’t get a vacation and sure enough trouble somehow follows Barbara across the ocean. 

This volume was a little over the place in some aspects, some storylines that just seemed to be lacking something. We do however, get to see Batgirl unlock a new level to her already impressive photographic memory which was pretty cool. The volume ends with Barbara’s return to Burnside and sets up a mysterious possible villain for Volume 2. 

Batgirl, Volume 2: Son of Penguin by Hope Larson

My rating: 4/5 stars

I’d like to start of by saying Barbara Gordon has the most interesting dating life lol. In this volume, we see Barbara take a chance on Ethan Cobblepot (the estranged son of the Penguin). He wins are over with his charm and wit but it’s no surprise when he turns out to be an evil mastermind just like his father.

This volume was much more interesting than Volume 1. I also loved that we got to see Batgirl & Supergirl briefly team up and LOVED that there was an appearance by my fave, Dick Grayson 🙂

Batgirl, Volume 3: Summer of Lies by Hope Larson

My rating: 4/5 stars

This is the content I’m here for! Both team ups in this issue were fantastic. Batgirl & Cat woman, & Batgirl & Nightwing. 

I’ll focus on the latter because it takes up a greater chunk of this issue.

Batgirl & Nightwing team up to take down a mysterious drug dealer and we are reminded of just how strong a bond these two share. Their mission to take down the Red Queen is told in alternating story lines between the present day and the past; when our heroes were young teenagers. I loved re-living the birth of this friendship/occasional romantic relationship. Babs & Dick will always make me happy. 

“I’ll always be here for you Babs. Forever. No matter what.” *inaudible sobbing*. My heart.