Book Review: In Sunlight and In Shadow by Mark Helprin


 

I just finished reading Mark Helprin's In Sunlight and In Shadow, a chunky book of 700 pages. A love story, a war story, a story of wealth, a story of New York after WWII.  

"Of the widest scope – from the air over Sicily to the heat-and-color-saturated Sacramento Valley; the Bay of Biscay to the sea off Maine; the steel mills of Gary, Indiana to the beaches of Amagansett; London in the blitz; the invasion of Normandy; and a single shell gliding across an American lake in August; from the luminous houses of the wealthy to the pounding of the boards beneath a Broadway chorus line – this is yet, first, and foremost a love story, but also a hymn to New York of the period when one great age elided into the other that we call our own. Rich in language and classical allusion, it is true to the mottoes at its outset: the Dantean “Amor mi mosse, che me fa parlare,” “Love moved me, and made me speak,” and to the lines of Lucretius that describe Catherine’s extraordinary representation of the powers, beauties, and graces of womanhood – “Nothing comes forth into the shores of light, or is glad or lovely without you.”

I am so mad right now. No happily ever after. No riding into the sunset. No walking hand in hand with the love of his life for the rest of his life. Harry chose and he chose wrong. It reminded me of the Suitable Boy in which the girl chose the wrong boy and I wanted to throw the book across the room.

I invested in the story, in the characters, in the setting, in the words so elegant and lengthy. I loved the descriptions, the discussions, the points to ponder. Then got thrown under the bus. I ranted and raved to my husband who reminded of a horrible book he bought me once that was supposedly a love story but told the history of every single character and every single place as it was introduced and even included the history of golf. An inside joke us since hubby is very verbose. Why explain it simply when you can tell the history of golf. And the dang book had it. But I read it because he bought it for me.

But I defended In Sunlight and In Shadow because I loved the writing. I loved A Winter’s Tale. I loved The Soldier of the Great War. I was sure I’d love ISaiS.  

Call it arrogance, ignorance, ego, sacrifice, a miscarriage of justice, pride, or whatever, but when Harry refuses to accept any assistance whatsoever in saving his business and decides to take on the mafia problem himself, he became a selfish fool. He let the mafia drive his business into the ground. He wasn’t a stupid man, yet he was. He made his choice and choose that over Catherine. Yeah for Catherine finally getting what she wanted and realizing she'd been seen, she'd been heard, and she could have a great singing career,  but she would have to do it without Harry. 

** for failing to live up to my expectations. 

February Reading Wrap Up


 

February was a great reading month.  Slowed down a bit and even though I read thirteen books this month and cleared 6 more dusty books off my shelves and the remaining were ebooks, added 5 more. My buying ban was suspended for one day on account our Mom/son trip to Barnes & Noble during the Superbowl.  Plus he kept handing me books – this looks good mom!  Since this is the Chinese new year and it’s the year of the dragon,  we got The Bone Ships by R.J. Barker, as well as the latest in the Bishop/Special Crimes Unit series – Curse of Salem by Kay Hooper and Kristin Hannah’s The Women, John Scalzi’s Redshirts, and Ernest Cline’s Armada.  

And I admit I cheated while listening to an audible book of Jenny Colgan's Cafe by the Sea. I was enjoying the story so much, had to get the kindle version to finish since I wouldn't be able to listen to the rest of the story as much as I wanted.
  
Our 52 Books author of the month was Ben Aaronovitch and I completed three more books in the Rivers of London series which is about Peter Grant, a mixed race detective, for the London Metropolitan Police who works for Detective Chief Inspector Nightingale, the head of a magical and supernatural Special Operations Unit.  A combination mystery, fantasy, and police procedural, the series is both serious and hilarious.

I alternated between  Ben Aaronovitch's Rivers of London series and rereading Elizabeth Hunter's Irin Chronicles while on the treadmill this month. 

Ben Aaronovitch - Moon over Soho #2 Rivers of London:  **** Someone is killing jazz musicians, (396, e)

Ben Aaronovitch - Whispers Underground #3 Rivers of London:  ****A murder in the underground leads Peter to a hidden community, the art scene, and the Faceless Man (429, e)

Ben Aaronovitch - Broken Homes #4 Rivers of London:  ****Chasing the Faceless man, Peter runs across weird happenings at an condemned housing estate in which everyone is a suspect, as well as some prickly river spirits. (320, e)

Sharon Bolton - Now You See Me #1 Lancey Flint: **** A London, police procedural which is full of twists and turns, red herrings, and a jack the ripper look alike, (400)

Jenny Colgan - Cafe by the Sea #1 Mure: **** Paralegal Flora left Scotland years before and swore she wouldn't go back. When her boss and secret crush requested she return as part of her job, she learns what family and life are really about. (416, e and audible)

Justin Cronin - The Ferryman: *****  Real life or a dystopian world, the future or the past, a dream or reality, upper class versus the working class, fantasy or deceit, lies or truths. This story is so complex, it leaves you breathless, especially with the twists and turns. (Dystopian, alternate world, 560)

John Grisham - Theodore Boone: Kid Lawyer:  ****Thirteen year old Theo, the son of two lawyers provides advice to his school mates while getting involved in a murder mystery and murder trial in which he's the only one who knows the truth and has to figure out what to do. 

Elizabeth Hunter Irin Chronicles is a paranormal romance with fallen angels, the children of angels, and the Irina battling for rule in Istanbul.  ****The Scribe #1 (292, e), The Singer #2 (330, e), and The Secret #3 (373, e), about Ava and Malachi incredible love story and search for the truth. 

Iain Pears - Giotti's Hand #5 Jonathan Argyll: ***An art history mystery in which the twists and turns and cover ups on all sides about how far will the police go to resolve a cold case. (Italy, police procedural, 278)

Paola Peritti - The Distance Between Me and the Cherry Tree:  ****Nine year old Mafalda eyesight is failing and she'll be blind within 6 months and she's determine to do all the things kids do before she can no longer see. She measures her sight by the distance she can see to the cherry tree at school.  Her story is full of angst, stubbornness, friendship, acceptance, and grief. ( 219)

Mark Pryor - The Book Artist #8 Hugo Marston :  **** A murder mystery set in Paris in which a book artist is killed and it seems like everyone is guilty, including Hugo and his girlfriend. (Paris, murder mystery, American embassy security, dusty, 272)

One Five Star read and the rest four stars with one DNF as Peter Robinson's No Cure for Love just couldn't hold my interest. 

Currently in progress :

Two chunky books:  Mark Helprin's  romance and historical fiction story about a socialite and a soldier In Sunlight and in Shadow (705), and David Brin's environmental science fiction fantasy about the world going extinct - Earth (704)  

Audible books:  Mark Weir's The Martian with James. In the car -  V.E. Schwab's Fragile Threads of Power. 

Ebook: Alternating between Ben Aaronovitch's Rivers of London #5 Foxglove Summer and The Gilded Ones by Namina Forna.


My rating system is a mishmash of goodreads and others.  

5 star - Loved the author, and will read anything they publish. Loved the story line, loved the characters.  Couldn't put it down. Made me think. Will read it again. 

4 star - Liked the story, liked the characters, but not necessarily rereadable

3 star - Good but....

2 star - Failed to live up to my expectations 

1 star - DNF - Not my cup of tea at all and didn't want to continue.  

January Reading Wrap Up

 



Since my buying ban  is in effect, I read 11 physical books and 9 ebooks for a total of 7690 pages which equals 248 pages a day.  I read during breakfast, lunch, while on the treadmill, and after dinner. We don't watch much television and reading is as necessary as breathing to me.  

The longest book was Aeronaut's Windlass and the shortest was the novella The Pale Dreamer.  My rating system is a mishmash of goodreads and others.  

5 star - Loved the author, and will read anything they publish. Loved the story line, loved the characters.  Couldn't put it down. Made me think. Will read it again. 

4 star - Liked the story.  Liked the characters. Reread 

3 star - Okay story. 

2 star - Meh - disappointed or irritated by characters, storyline, or author's writing. 

1 star - DNF - Not my cup of tea at all, didn't want to continue reading, waste of my time. 


Lyssa Kay Adams - Undercover Bromance  ***  Characters were juvenile for their age. (Men read romance, sexual harassment, justice, 348, e)

Sara Nisha Adams - The Reading List  **** New to me author and look forward to reading more. A story about friendship and grief. A teenage girl working in library for the summer and an elderly gentleman form a friendship over books. Someone, to be revealed later, left a list of books where three different people found them with the note “Just in case you need it” and each book turned out to relate to their life and help them, somehow, someway for the better. Although I’ve already read some of the books, now I want to read them all, keeping in mind the life lessons learned by the characters in the story. A goal for this year, or maybe next. We’ll see how it goes.  (Books, friendship, grief, 373)

Sarah Addison Allen - Other Birds  ***  Coming off of Garden Spells, Other Birds didn't tug on my emotion strings as much as the Waverley's. The characters were poignant, all experiencing abandonment or other issues which affected their lives. As they work through invisible pigeons, ghosts, neglect, grief, and loss, the characters come together to form a family. I'll have to read it again when I can appreciate the story and not compare it to another book.     (Magical realism, South Carolina, Grief, romance, birds, 290)

Marie Brennan - Tropic of Serpents #2 Lady Trent *****  Lady Trent is fascinating and enjoyed the world building and the science and her efforts to discover all she could about dragons. Whether she is navigating the male centric Victorian society to learning from the Moulish natives of Eriga, she puts her all into it. From assimilating into the culture of the palace to living with the native Indians in the swamp land of Green Hell. I love how the Moulish force her to face herself when they make her go through a purification right when she has a string of bad luck and how the guardian of the eggs puts her to the test. And her strength and ingenuity in her test to prove to Yeyuama she could be trusted to protect the dragon eggs. She is continually learning and may stumble, but she'll get right back up again, and forge onward. (Historical Fantasy, Victorian, Dragons, Green Hell, Natives, 331)

Brendan Slocumb - Violin Conspiracy ****  A mystery thriller set in New York and Europe centered around the theft of Ray's Stradivarius. Ray grieves the loss of his violin and possibly the end of his music career, his life and struggles to get where he is presently is revealed in flashbacks of his greedy family, the racism he experiences, his joy of classical music, and the competitive nature of musicians.  (334, e)

R.F. Kuang - Babel: An Arcane History *****  Once I started reading, couldn't put it down. The etymology discussions, how the characters related to the world around them, how the characters grew in knowledge, the choices they made, some good, some bad, the heart wrenching decisions. All of it combined to create a story that made me think and how it related to today's world and why people do the things they do.  (Historical Fantasy, dystopian, oxford, etymology, racism, theme of the week - cliffhanger, 544, e)

Samantha Shannon - The Bone Season #1 / The Pale Dreamer novella  ****  A dystopian world in which magic thrives behind the scenes, but is persecuted by the world. Aliens has taken over an alternative oxford, allowed by the government as a deterrent to an even greater threat. The aliens serve as prison keepers for the magically inclined.  Dark despair pervades the entire story.  (Aliens, magic vs non magic, alternative Oxford, theme of the week  - dystopian, 480, e)

Jenny Colgan - The Bookshop on the Corner **** Charming story about a young woman who takes on the adventure of moving to a new place and starting a book mobile. (Scotland, UK, 368, e)

Ashley Poston  - The Dead Romantics  ****  Another charming story about a ghostwriter who falls in love with a ghost. (Books, ghostwriter, grief, crows, 368)

J.D. Robb - Random in Death #58 In Death series  *****  (Futuristic thriller, murder, police procedural, 368)

J.T. Ellison - Lie to Me *****  Finally dove into the story which lead to me reading every spare minute. Fast paced, psychological thriller and would have never guessed who caused Sutton's and Ethan's marriage to implode. They were both to blame, yet there was someone else hiding in the shadows pulling all their strings. Thrill ride of a story with so many twists and turns, it will make you dizzy.  (Psychological thriller, lots of twists and turns, 413)

Emily St. John Mandel - Sea of Tranquility  **  Unlike any time travel book I’ve read in which it seemed all nonsensical and flat.    (Post apocalyptic, time travel, Writer, covid, 272) 

Evie Woods - The Lost Bookshop  **** four characters, dual timelines, how the past affects the present, abusive relationships, what is real and what is not, learning to trust again.  (Magical realism, dual timelines historical and present, books, England, Ireland, USA,  444, e)

Sulari Gentill - The Woman in the Library ****  A mystery within a mystery set in Boston with so many twists and turns , the characters don't know who to trust. (Mystery thriller, Boston, murder, deceit, books, 292)

Haruki Murakami - Sputnik Sweetheart  *****  I love Murakami and he always leaves me with something to think about. This one more so than others. The same themes rewritten in a different way: Cats, music, love, loss, life. The ending isn't quite so clear cut or is it?    (Author of the month, magical realism, Japan, love lost, 224, e)

Rereads 

Jim Butcher - Aeronauts Windlass #1 Cinder Spires **** Reread before start Olympian Affair. Just as good the second time around. An epic fantasy involving magic and technology combined, airship battles, talking cats, strange characters, and etheric forces.  (Dusty reread, 781)

Jenna Black  - Dark Descendant ***  Reread while on treadmill involving demi gods, immortality, private eyes, and good versus evil.  Don't think I'll reread the rest of the series again. (336, e)

Karen Rose - Count to Ten  *** * Reread of a mystery thriller revolving around an arson investigator and a police detective.  (Mystery thriller, Chicago, Illinois, romance, murder, Theme of the week - Fire, 563)

Dean Koontz - Odd Thomas ****  Odd Thomas is a quirky character who sees dead people and tries to stop the bad guys.  (Supernatural thriller, 435, e)


2023 Reading Wrap Up

 



Well, this has been an interesting reading year.  According to Goodreads I completed 127 books but I know I read more than that but unfortunately lost track somewhere along the way.  The first six months I stuck to my TBR pile working my way through the books on my physical and virtual shelves.  The latter half of the year I dove into new to me authors and romance novels big time from contemporary romance to romantic suspense to multicultural romances. I also spent plenty of time enjoying comfort reads and revisiting older series written by Nora Roberts, Carrie Vaughn, Devon Monk, and Keri Arthur.  

Fantasy and science fiction stories took a close second, as well as a smattering of mystery, suspense, thrillers, literary, young adult novels, and non fiction. 

Discovered new authors along the way who tickled my reading funny bone such as Lucy Score with her humor and sensuality in her Knockmeout and Blue Moon series, or touched my heart such as Rebecca Yarros in the Last Letter with it's roller coaster of emotions. 

Made me think such as Akwaeke Emizi's You Made a Fool Out of Me With Your Beauty with it's rawness, angst, sorrow, love, and choices as well as Jodi Picoult's Mad Honey take on family, grief, love, and how it all relates to bees. 

Casey Blair's the Tea Princess Chronicles introduced me to a magical new fantasy world and the politics of princesses and dragons. 

Elliot Ackerman and Admiral James Stavridis geopolitical thriller 2034 about the possibility of world war III and how technology plays a role. 

Haruki Murakami’s Novelist as a Vocation in which the man seriously doesn’t think he is a good writer, but shared his stories, his process, and so much more.

And the book that made me want to throw it across the room?  Claire North's The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August about a time traveler who committed suicide to move on to his next life. 

Stats wise, I read 

Romance 52 
Fantasy  22
Non Fiction 11
Young Adult 8
Historical 7
Series 8 
Mystery 7
Literary 4 
Science Fiction 4 
Steampunk/Gaslamp  4

Ebooks 82
Physical 48 

The majority of books I rated on goodreads were 4 stars with 17 five star reads and a few three stars.  I don't know why I didn't keep track of why I loved the book or why I rated it the way I did and resolve to do better in 2024 both here on my blog and on Goodreads. 

As for 2024, my shelves are full of both new to me authors and comfort reads to revisit, so my buying ban has officially started. I vow not to add any more new books, except for Nora Roberts and J.D. Robb Preorders to my physical stacks or download any freebies or kindle ebooks to my virtual shelf until the end of May.  I'll be tackling some of the chunky books that have been calling my name for a while now such as Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged.  Plus I'm looking forward to completing my own 52 Books Bingo and Bookish Bookology.  

James M's super IDW Sonic review









 


















I'M BACK and I have a lot of catch-up to do now that I got issue 67 of IDW Sonic. I'm not gonna get into spoiler specifics, but issues 65-67 and the Halloween Special are amazingly good. I love the characterizations in each story, both stories provide so much fun, and the writing is excellent. IDW Sonic offers some fun stories to tell in the Sonic universe. And, while I kinda don't approve of SEGA making IDW canon, the comic is still fun. The Halloween issue is fitting for the season, even the ongoing arc has me intrigued silently. Mimic is a fun villain and seeing certain characters interact always provides for a good story. 9.8/10 to both. And that does it for my little review. See ya.

Book Review: Will It Be Allan Guillory

 



One of my neighbors wrote a book and we are all about supporting each other on our court so snapped up a copy as soon as I heard.  This is the book that spurred me to get up off my butt after becoming a couch potato due to breaking my ribs some time ago.  I'd put on weight, my blood pressure had crept up to the danger zone and I needed to do something about it.  

Filled with anecdotes of his own life, Allan makes you think:

"The only way that true growth occurs in your life is when you do something that you want to do. This is not unique to you, whenever anyone wants to change a belief that they have or action that they’re doing or not doing, it only becomes part of them when they genuinely want to do it."

One, you want to have to do it. Two if you do it often enough it becomes a habit.  It's all about thought patterns and perspective. Why you do what you do.  

"I am going to ask you to listen to your self-talk. I think self-talk is particularly important. The famous quote “if you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re right” says it all. I want you to look at the “results” of your actions and not just the “process” of your actions."

So he encourages the reader to pick two or three things to work on which I did - the most important.  My health, specifically my blood pressure and my weight.  And I wanted to be able to keep up with my 93 year old father who is still actively involved in his community, still does 10,000 steps a day and has the bones of a forty year old. Which his doctor couldn't believe. 

"I didn’t say “do what you enjoy” I said, “enjoy what you’re doing”. Do you see the difference? I’m also not saying only do things that you enjoy. What I am saying is look at the “things you must do” and hate them a little less. If you need to do a task on a regular basis that you really don’t like, does not liking it help you accomplish it? I don’t think so, what’s your thought? Of the many things that you do every day put more things on your “enjoy list”. This might be a great time to put some notes in your notebook, what do you think?"


Instead of reading my phone while making breakfast, I started pretending I was cross county skiing, moving my arms, working off that upper arm flab. I began doing the treadmill every day, twice a day,  until I worked up to 3.5 miles a day.  Reading a book on my Ipad made the time fly by.  I added in yoga and two pound dumbbell weights to exercise my arms.

My weight and my blood pressure began to creep down. I didn't snack as much and my energy crept up.  

Okay, back to Allan's book.  Section one covers a wide variety of ideas from words and their meaning to health, wealthy, happiness, lifelong learning, and personal actions.  Section Two covers family and friends, marriage, and children. Section Three covers the world from racism to government control, to decriminalization of drugs and prostitution, to world population, to family planning.   

Section three is where he unfortunately lost me with ideas of reducing 75 percent of the world population, fishing, freshwater use, fossil fuel use among other things.  

The first half of the book is really helpful in getting you off your butt and involved in your own life and community.  The second half you have to take with a grain of salt. 

James M's review of IDW Sonic #63-64, the 900th Adventure and Amy's 30th Anniversary


I'M BACK! With a super review of the latest main IDW Sonic issues, the 900th special and Amy's 30th anniversary.

Starting with issues 63 and 64, all you need to know is that Mimic's infiltration of the Restoration as Duo has gone off almost without a hitch, but during a training mission, while Silver winds up in a life-threatening situation thanks to the shapeshifter, the time-traveling hedgehog sees Mimic flash his true eye color, then talks to Whisper about it, but their efforts to expose the sneaky traitor go awry with Silver pretty much booted from the Restoration. Meanwhile, Blaze is having a vacation on Sonic's world and hangs out with Sonic, then she meets up with Silver after she and Sonic visit a Sonic Unleashed location.

Hoping to the 900th Adventure, lets discuss what is going on, this special issue is a celebration of how there have been over 900 English Sonic comics (counting the late Archie Sonic series and its spin-offs) over three decades since the 1st Sonic game hit shelves. As for the plot of this, it involves a McGuffin we haven't seen in ages. Remember the Warp Topaz that Doctor Starline had until near the end of the Metal Virus arc? Its back and Sonic has to get rid of it before bad stuff happens. And since this is the 900th Sonic comic, you'd almost expect multiverse shenanigans with past Sonic comic characters returning. Nope, its all set within the world the comic takes place in. And by the way, one of the writers for the story is legendary Sonic The Comic writer Nigel Kitching. Yup! HE'S BACK! 

As for Amy's comic? This year marks 30 years since Sonic CD dropped and Amy made her appearance... in the games, she actually debuted in a Sonic manga before CD was made. And what does the special have in store for her, it's set in the Classic era and she has an adventure where she saves Sonic and some of his friends.

Both IDW Sonic comics have been quite alright, Ian Flynn, Evan Stanley and the other writers have done well and SEGA puts out real good Sonic content. The blue blur is truly back on top of the world with no signs of faltering again and I guess we have Sonic Team's heavy involvement with these projects, especially the comics, and the success of the Sonic movies to thank for that. 63 and 64 get solid scores of 8.9/10 and 9.5/10. Amy's issue gets a 9.9 and the 900th special... gets a 7. I don't hate it, but it was good and it could have been bigger, y'know.

See ya next time, folks.

-CVGWJames










James M's review of IDW Sonic issue 62

 


Real late, but here we are, IDW Sonic the Hedgehog issue 62. I was so busy. But here's my review of the issue. First, a summary.

Following the events of Urban Warfare, Amy Rose travels to Angel Island to give Knuckles an echidna statue that Rouge found in Eggman's city, nice to see two of the "core four" Sonic characters interacting. And meanwhile, Clutch the Possum recruits Mimic the Octopus and comes up with a plan that involves him infiltrating the Restoration and the new Diamond Cutters that Tangle formed during the Urban Warfare story arc.

What is my opinion of this issue?

It wasn't bad at all, it was quite alright. Amy and Knuckles have really good chemistry and are great friends, just as Sonic, Tails and Knuckles are great friends, seeing Angel Island now and then is good and its great to see and know that Knuckles' job of guarding the Master Emerald is still relevant. The art style from the drawing and colors in this issue is still fantastic & captures the Sonic-y feel well. I like the two plot threads going on, a bit of a light-hearted breather on Amy and Knuckles' end while we have shadiness and intensity with the plot of Mimic infiltrating the Restoration. Writing with this issue is very decent and the dialogue is always interesting to read.

9.9/10. Another hats off to IDW and SEGA/Sonic Team for working well together to deliver this issue.

See you next time for the next IDW Sonic review, fellow fans.








James M's review of IDW Sonic issues 59 - 61












 






KA BOOM! 

Finally, we're back in IDW Sonic territory, reviewing the last three issues in the "Urban Warfare" arc. And they are good, stunning art, fine writing from Evan Stanley, and epic action all around. And with great writing comes great characterization, Shadow the Hedgehog is one of the highlights as he is little less of what he was in his prior IDW Sonic appearances. 

And, oh man, when Eggman has the Shadow Androids come down, the ultimate life form does not hold back. 

And the conflict was up the wall, especially with the battle scenes and how things were playing out with Eggman's city using those fake Chaos Emeralds. And Tangle, Whisper and Lanolin were in trouble with the mad doctor using a machine to imprison them at one point. And during the final battle, Shadow the Hedgehog had a moment to shine as he used Chaos Control to warp away the fake emeralds while Eggman's city went down for good.

IDW Sonic the Hedgehog comics are on the mark, telling good stories and having supervision from the Japanese team doesn't hurt. The story has come a long way since it started five years ago and there is an upcoming story about Amy visiting Angel Island. 

Evan, you and Ian deserve a 9.5/10 for this arc. Thank you, IDW. See you next time, folks.

-James M


James M's quick review of Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (2022)





 




Welcome, folks. A few years ago, we sat down to review the long-awaited Sonic the Hedgehog movie. And now, we finally discuss the sequel, released no less than two years after the first film's debut, at a time when Sonic's popularity is soaring high once again thanks to the success of the first movie and its sequel.

For those who wonder what the story is, I will give you the rundown: After the first film, Sonic is living in Green Hills with Tom and Maddie Wachowski. However, after the hedgehog's adopted family go off to Hawaii to attend the wedding of Maddie's sister Rachel and her fiancƩe Randall, the evil Doctor Robotnik (played by Jim Carrey) returns with a foe to be reckoned with; Knuckles the Echidna. Sonic soon meets Tails and they embark on a quest to get the Master Emerald, a great source of power, before Robotnik and Knuckles do.

This movie is just as epic as the first film with more action and more Easter Eggs to the franchise's long history, making it another love letter to the Sonic brand, from the games to the cartoons and comics. And there is a treat for the Sonic fans at the end of the film during a mid-credits scene, and that treat is the appearance of Shadow the Hedgehog.

Oh yes, Shadow is in the Sonic Cinematic Universe and will have a major role in Sonic 3 (2024), let us hope he has character development and certain powers are hands off with how he is handled. The movie did well at the box office despite mixed reviews, just like the first film, and a Knuckles spin-off show is in development for Amazon Prime's Paramount Plus streaming service. Sonic 2 is an energetic and engaging film all the way to the end, deserving of a ten out of ten. Hats off to Jeff Fowler, Tim Miller and Tobey Ascher for their hard work. Thank you, good filmmakers and SEGA/Sonic Team.

And with this short review done, I take my leave. Adieu, folks.

-James M