Amy C. Shaw

A Few Thoughts on Agents of SHIELD Season 1 Finale “The Beginning of the End”

May 29, 2014 • 4 Comments

Alright, so I’ve gotten behind on things, as I really wanted to discuss the last three episodes of SHIELD and I simply got busy and by this point I’ve forgotten details, but I remember that they were AWESOME. Especially the finale, which I did rewatch (while multitasking, which generally results in me not actually absorbing as much of it as I would have liked, but I have a weird thing about rewatching TV episodes I’ve seen before when I’m home alone where I always feel like I have to do something else at the same time, I don’t know why!). But I wanted to share a few of my thoughts.

* WARNING – SPOILERS! *

– It was basically perfect. I thought the storylines that needed to wrap up did so nicely and without getting too tropey. Ward wasn’t redeemed and is still an antagonist in the eyes of the team. Garrett was killed in the most awesome way. But of course, there were things planted to make way for new storylines in season two (and there is going to be a season two, yay!).

– Fitz + Simmons = OMG FEELS. Look, I know I’ve been kind of obsessed with the Fitz-Simmons development lately, but seriously, the chemistry! These two will break your heart.

So my prediction for these two in season two, with Fitz being alive but possibly not quite the same, is that he’s going to lose some of his memory and forget that he admitted to Simmons that he had feelings. He may even forget that he started to develop feelings for her. Meanwhile, Simmons will have to grapple with knowing while still trying to figure out if she feels the same way.

Elizabeth Henstridge has been quoted as saying that “Fitz is going to be her main priority. 100%” in season two. So yeah, I’m dying. I NEED SEASON TWO NOW.

– Nick Fury tells Coulson it’s his job to rebuild SHIELD, and to do it right. I’m sure this will be a big part of Season 2. And I’m hoping that in doing this, by Avengers 2 he can finally let the Avenger crew know that HE’S ALIVE!

– AGENT KOEING LIVES! Sort of… So at the end of the episode we’re introduced to Agent Billy Koeing in a new secret facility of SHIELD, twin brother of Eric Koeing perhaps? And by twin brother, I mostly mean clone, because I’m thinking there must be several Koeing clones in these secret bases. I mean, he says the same exact things! It seems a bit unethical but… I’m game to have Patton Oswalt back on the show.

The show did start off slow, but there was a point where it really started to pick up and would deliver week after week, often times getting better week by week. I finally grew to love and care about the characters, there was a lot of action, some fun cameos and references, and some back-stabbery. Now that SHIELD has found its footing, I really can’t wait for season two, and especially with Agent Carter being picked up alongside it! I love Haley Atwell as Agent Carter and I’m really looking forward to how they translate her character for TV.

Share your thoughts on the season finale of Agents of SHIELD, as well as your thoughts on the show overall and what you’d like to see in season two!

The Top 10 Books I Might Not Have Discovered Without Blogging

May 27, 2014 • 18 Comments

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This week’s topic is a freebie!

Before I started this blog, I found some YA book blogs that I would run across when searching for what to read after The Hunger Games, which is how I came across The Selection, Matched, and Divergent. I wasn’t religiously following these blogs yet though, and I still didn’t know what it was like to see hype surround a book at its release as I do now. Needless to say, I’ve learned a lot from blogging, and I’m thankful to the community for introducing me to some great reads that I might have otherwise not found! This week’s list is in order of my absolute favorite book discovery from the blogsphere to well, I’m still really glad I found this!

Note: These aren’t necessarily my absolute favorites that I’ve read since blogging, but what I don’t think I would have read on my own. Some of my favorites I found on my own or I know I could have because of my awareness of something that would have directed me to it (like my awareness of Brandon Sanderson from his podcast would have still potentially led me to Steelheart).

1. The Lunar Chronicles

I highly doubt I would have ever picked up a story about a cyborg Cinderella had I not read so much hype about it on various blogs. And it was rightly earned! I thoroughly enjoyed Cinder and Scarlet, and then Cress was just so near perfection… I just love this series, so much. I love the characters and just… everything!

2. The Book Thief

I might have had more feels about this book after reading it than I did while reading it. It’s just when I think of Liesel and Rudy I can hardly handle it! Their story is so poignant and I’m so glad I discovered it from blog hype.

3. Across a Star-Swept Sea

acrossastarswept I decided to separate this one from its previous book, instead of lumping it together like The Lunar Chronicles because… it’s my blog and I’ll do what I want to! Or I guess because they stand on their own a little better. I ADORE THIS BOOK. I can’t imagine this still not being in my Top 3 for the year at the end of the year, and that might be a bold statement to make in May, but it had everything I want and love in a book. I NEED MORE IN THIS UNIVERSE, DIANA PETERFREUND.

4. For Darkness Shows the Stars

The day I found out that Jane Austen retelling + genetic engineering existed in a book was a glorious day indeed.

5 (tie). The 5th Wave

Again, there was a lot of hype around this one that piqued my interest. Alien apocalypse? Hmmm… could be interesting. I really enjoyed it and am glad I checked it out!

5 (tie). Shadow and Bone (Grisha trilogy)

I just finished Shadow and Bone last week and I am definitely intrigued by this world and its characters. I’m hoping that the trilogy will end strong, and it seems everyone also enjoyed Siege and Storm, so I’m looking forward to getting it and reading it soon so I can truly be on the bandwagon.

7. Code Name Verity

Even if I had discovered this one outside of blogging, I most likely would have dumped it because I would not have been so sure it would all turn out to be so interesting. (OK, so I have DNF’d one highly revered book after blogging, but I just couldn’t go on. I could get through this.) Even though I didn’t experience all the feels like some, I do have a great appreciation for this story.

8. Pivot Point

My first recommendation for this book was actually from a non-blogger friend, but it was via Goodreads and I didn’t know what Goodreads before I started blogging so… there you go. And what really prompted me to read it was its rave reviews (oh, and the e-book was on sale! That’s actually the case with many on this list; take note, publishers!) But seriously, I love the sci-fi paranormal meets contemporary twist. I still need to read more Kasie West!

9. The Scorpio Races

Pretty prose and a unique world.

10. Ready Player One

I do think I could have discovered this one without blogging, especially since I remember it being reviewed on Epbot a while back, but I read it for my book club that I’m part of with some fellow bloggers, so that was what really got me to read it. It’s certainly one of the most unique books I’ve read.

What are some of your favorite books you may have never discovered without blogging?

Review: The Distant Hours

May 9, 2014 • 8 Comments

I would have never picked up The Distant Hours on my own, but when someone loaned it to me, I thought I should give it a shot. Thankfully, it was a pleasant surprise.

Note: It’s been long enough ago since I read this that I am not sure if I can remember enough to write a full-fledged review, so I will just be elaborating upon the notes I jotted down shortly after finishing the book.

– Incredibly layered and rich in story-telling: This book is like Code Name Verity on crack in terms of layers. I’m really impressed with all the storylines and characters Morton had to keep straight in order to successfully weave everything together so seamlessly!

– Several fascinating mysteries, secrets, and connections: This is really just a further elaboration of the first point. There is so much going on, in the past, in the story’s present, interweaving between events and characters and secrets that get revealed at various points in the story to various characters.

– Loved the castle setting: When I started this book, I was in the mood for reading something with a fantasy or fairy-tale feel, which I wasn’t expecting to get from this, but the castle setting that part of this book takes place at gave some of that feel without it being completely otherworldly.

– Usually enjoyed going back and forth between the past and present narratives: The fun thing about this book is we get two narratives in one really, one from the past and one of the “present” (it’s the early 1990s, but it is the present for the narrator). However, at some point I did get a little tired of so much back and forth, especially when the narrative shifted just as something really exciting was happening in the current narrative.

– (Sorta vaguely spoilery) So incredibly tragic for the sisters – thankfully there is more hope for Edie and her mom: This story doesn’t end happily for everyone, but there is some hope in the end.

– Never felt super connected to the characters: I can’t complain about the characters. They were all incredibly distinct, three-dimensional, and interesting, but I think in part because of how much “book time” is spread out among them, I never felt a real connection with any one of them. Just when I was relating with Edie or Saffie, I was switched to another character, and then I didn’t necessarily get the feeling back when I returned to that other character.

– Felt too long at times: This book is 562 pages long, and I honestly felt it. As someone who reads YA fiction primarily, I don’t read many books over 400 pages, and when I do, the pacing is usually fast and helps me get through the book quickly. It took me a long time to read this book and after a while, it started to wear on me a little. I was interested in everything going on, but couldn’t it just go a little faster? Thankfully, when it did start to feel a little draggy to me, something would usually spark my interest again for a little while longer.

– Raymond Blythe was a terrible father: Seriously. This is a case of someone trying but failing miserably.

– Never really understood what “the distant hours” means: There were several references to some song or poem that Edie’s mom told her about that mentioned “the distant hours,” and it gets mentioned in reference to the castle, but I never understood what the heck it actually meant. (If anyone can explain it, I would appreciate it.)

Overall, it was a very good read that I would recommend to those who enjoy stories with mysteries, secrets, and who have an interest in how the past and present can be linked.

Advisory content: Some sexual content and references (nothing graphic) and some mild language.

Have you read The Distant Hours? What are your thoughts?

The Wheels Fell Off My Bus But I Don’t Mind

May 1, 2014 • 6 Comments

April is over, and I failed to meet my word goal for Camp NaNoWriMo, even though I lowered it 10,000 words from my original goal of 20,000. But it didn’t just slip past me. I simply stopped writing new material after the first week and a half and I knew what I was doing. My April was filled with a lot of things going on in my life, and I quite frankly wasn’t inspired to write any story other than my November NaNo project.

Now, I do understand that I need to write even when life is crazy and I’m not inspired, but I think you can take a break sometimes, so after about a week and a half or forcing myself to write in April, I just stopped, minus a little editing for my other project and a couple of other odds and ends added to older story ideas (I have well over a dozen story documents that have been started but are no where near fleshed out, but that’s another post for another time, I suppose). I was busy, but I had chances to make the time, and I knew it.

But over the next month or two, I believe I will have the chance to refocus. May is already shaping up to look like an interesting month, but a good one. So after my failed attempt at Camp NaNoWriMo, I do intend to reevaluate how I spend my time writing, and trying to construct a more workable schedule for me. I don’t intend to always allow the busy nature of life to delay my dreams. I need to keep writing, and keep practicing, and slowing down on this blog has been helpful. Thanks to everyone for their patience. Having friends who are rooting for me seriously helps me.

My Thoughts on Agents of SHIELD Since Winter Soldier

April 25, 2014 • 7 Comments

This probably goes without saying, but just to be safe, this post is filled with spoilers from all released episodes of Agents of SHIELD.

As I mentioned in my review of Captain America 2: The Winter Soldier, the show Agents of SHIELD was clearly building up to the movie. And it was obvious after the movie that the repercussions of what happened there was going to bleed onto the show. It all started just days after the movie released, with the episode Turn, Turn, Turn.

The whole episode is fashioned in such a way that we are constantly questioning who is loyal to SHIELD and who is loyal to Hydra, as well as make you wonder and guess and re-guess who “The Clairvoyant” is. Needless to say, I really did not see it coming that it would be Agent Garrett!

Triplett: “But hey, if we get questioned, let me talk. You’re a surprisingly bad liar.”

Simmons: “I know. But I’m getting better at it.”

This episode was jam-packed with action and misleadings, and also many character moments. Coulson still doesn’t trust May completely, even though she is an “ally.” Fitz is crazy worried about Simmons. Ward tells Skye that he has feelings for her and they share a kiss. And of course, we learn the truth about Garrett. And then at the end, we see Ward kill Agent Hand and nod towards Garrett. But then he seems distant as Garrett starts telling stories of his grand escapades of the past. What’s going on with Ward? Surely he’s a double or triple agent, right? We never heard him say, “Hail Hydra!” and besides, it doesn’t seem to fit that he would be bad.

Next was Providence, in which everyone starts to question what’s next as SHIELD has obviously shattered. Coulson makes an impassioned plea to his team that they are Agents of SHIELD, not Agents of Nothing, and they must continue to fight for what they know is right. And meanwhile, Ward and Garrett go to the Fridge to spring out those being kept there, and to grab anything that can be beneficial to the cause of Hydra.

Raina: “So you’re a liar. You’re a fraud.”

Garrett: “An artist. A con artist, perhaps, but an artist all the same.”

From the coordinates that light up on his SHIELD badge, Coulson is able to find a secret SHIELD facility called Providence where ~~Remy the rat~~ ~~Adam Goldberg~~ ~~Patton Oswalt~~ Agent Koenig is waiting for them (or at least for Coulson). He tells the team that Fury is dead, though reveals to Coulson in private that Fury is actually alive, but only a few people can know, and that the rest of the team will have to pass a lie detector before they are trusted.

I have to say I loved Agent Koenig so much in this episode and the next, and I’m so sad we won’t get to see more of him! This episode also solidified, at least in my mind, that Ward is really working with Garrett, at the very least, and he is allegiant to him first and foremost. It will be interesting to see if anything happens with that allegiance if Garrett dies or if he makes Ward choose between him and Skye. At the end of the episode, Garrett sends Ward off to get Skye’s hard drive encrypted, and of course poor Skye has no idea who Ward truly is when he reunites with the team at the end.

Ever since the episode “FZZT,” I’ve been all aboard the Fitz-Simmons ship. Fitz has a couple of moments where you can see that his feelings for Simmons have truly gone past those of a brotherly/sisterly nature and have turned into more of a romantic love for her. But of course, Simmons is clueless.

Simmons: “Did you mean what you said earlier? About Coulson?”

Fitz: “I don’t know know, Jemma. I want to believe that Coulson knows what he’s doing but…”

Simmons: “Well, we still have each other.”

Fitz: “Yeah. Good. Cause the last thing I want is for things to change.”

Simmons: “It’s too late for that.”

This week’s episode was The Only Light in the Darkness, in which any previous caring I had for Ward before is absolutely gone by everything he does, May leaves, we finally meet Coulson’s lovely cellist, and the Fitz-Simmons feels only grow. It starts off with everyone going through the lie detector test Koenig mentioned to Coulson in the previous episode.

The lie detector sequence was great because it provided even more insight into each character. When asked, “Why are you here?,” May decidedly says Coulson. Simmons admits she’s not sure. When asked if they were stranded on a deserted island with a box, what’s in the box, most people have practical answers, but Simmons declares she wants the TARDIS, and after asking for the variables of the box and being told to say what first comes to mind, Fitz finally says that Simmons would be in his box. (*FEELS!!!*)

When Ward has his test, his readings are all over the place. Koenig starts to suspect him. But then Ward is able to work around it through half truths, convincing Koenig at least temporarily that he’s a good guy. Unfortunately, Koenig pays for that mistake and Skye finds a dead Koenig and with this, the truth about Ward. And though she has her freak-out moment, she is able to pull herself together enough to think and act. I’m really glad Skye is wise to the truth now and I’m interested in seeing how she handles herself in the next episode as she is off with Ward.

I loved Amy Acker in her role as Audrey Nathan, AKA, the cellist. Her plot involves a villain of the week who Garrett released from prison, obviously to keep Coulson busy in chasing after him to protect Audrey. But it was all so sad that Coulson had to just watch her from a distance. And then when he kissed her on the forehead and told her he was there and then ran off before she woke… ACK! FEELS!

“Why don’t you tell her the truth? That you’re still alive? … It’s just – the way she talks about you, it sounds like the two of you had something nice… So it’s not because you’re afraid to talk to her?” – Fitz

Yes, more Fitz pining at the end, with more clueless Simmons. My heart is breaking for Fitz. TELL HER HOW YOU FEEL, MAN!

And then the episode ended with May and… Mama May!

May doesn’t know who to trust , other than her mom, and is on the hunt for Maria Hill, who will be in next week’s episode. I’m intrigued by all this.

In short: I’m enjoying the direction of the show and how it keeps bringing its A game. I love Fitz-Simmons. I’m so over Ward, though I am somewhat interested in his backstory. I loved Koenig (RIP!). I continue to love Coulson. I’m curious to see what happens with May, Skye, and Triplett too. And the finale, I have a feeling, is going to leave us with a brutal cliffhanger.

What are your thoughts on these last few episodes of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.?