Thanks for stopping by! I’m pretty proud of myself for still being able to accomplish all three parts of my One Per Week goal this week. I’m actually a book and a half ahead of schedule right now!
Below are my reviews:
Album: The Loneliest Time by Carly Rae Jepsen
2.5/5 stars
In 2015, I decided to listen to all of “The 50 Best Albums of 2015” as ranked by Pitchfork. Well, I listened to most albums, at least all the ones that I could find on Spotify. Why did I do this? I don’t know.
I didn’t write down my thoughts on the 50ish albums I listened to that year, but I still remember which ones I liked, and Emotion by Carly Rae Jepsen was one of them. I don’t listen to the whole album much anymore, but the songs I liked the most do show up every now and then when I shuffle my music, and I always enjoy them.
Pitchfork ranked Carly Rae Jepsen’s Emotion 34th on their list in 2015. First of all, I was surprised to see her album on the list at all. At that point, I only knew her as the “Call Me Maybe” one-hit wonder artist and for that one cheesy song she did with Owl City. I always thought Pitchfork was run by hipster snobs who thought all pop music was bad, but as it turns out, Jepsen is a darling among music nerds! Since 2015, I’ve learned that Anthony Fantano from The Needle Drop on YouTube has always thought highly of her music. Recently I even watched a video on YouTube about this exact topic:
It’s an interesting … phenomenon?
Anyway! I decided to listen to her newest album, The Loneliest Time, because apparently she released it on the same day as Midnights by Taylor Swift on October 21st, 2022. I can’t say if that was a wise choice or not. Out of the two, Jepsen is definitely an underdog, so I wanted to listen to her album and give her a bit of love.
Sadly, I wasn’t impressed overall. The Loneliest Time is a good pop album, but it’s mostly forgettable. I know I wasn’t a huge fan of Midnights, but that album at least had a clear theme. The Loneliest Time doesn’t feel very cohesive. Neither the album title nor the cover art really convey to me what the album is supposed to be. Most of the songs are very pop-like, but “Western Wind” and “Go Find Yourself or Whatever” for instance are nice, slower ballads. “The Loneliest Time” (featuring Rufus Wainwright) is a groovy disco-like song, and it’s definitely a good closing song.
My top songs: “Talking to Yourself,” “Beach House” (I know some might hate this one though), “Western Wind”, and “The Loneliest Time.”
Again, the album is overall mostly fine, but nothing super memorable. I also don’t always love Jepsen’s vocals (they can be too pitchy at points). Do give it a listen though and let me know if you agree or disagree with me!
Book: Cloche and Dagger by Jenn McKinlay
2.5/5 stars
I don’t think I mentioned this in my previous posts, but I don’t always read read books; I mostly listen to the audiobook version of books. I used to have an Audible subscription, but I think it’s silly to pay for a subscription when you can get most audiobooks for free through the library, either by using Hoopla or Libby/OverDrive.
Growing up I would read a lot for pleasure and was influenced by my dad’s love for mystery books, like Agatha Christie’s books. Actually, the first book I ever checked out from a library and read on my own in English was a book from the Cam Jansen children’s mystery series.
As I got older, I started reading the “classics” because I felt like I had to read them to be a well-read person. Then in college, I had to read some tough books for my classes. When I graduated, I found it difficult to read anything without feeling like it had to be an “important” book and like I had to analyze it to death. I decided I needed to change the way I thought about reading. Yes, reading can be for learning new things, opening up your mind and all, but it can also be just for the heck of it. What a concept huh?
Nowadays, I read whatever I want. I’ve had to also teach myself to abandon books if I’m not enjoying them at all. I will also let myself read more than one book at a time.
In 2019 I found out that I’m a sucker for cozy mysteries (cozies) because they’re exactly what the name implies. If you’re not familiar with this genre, basically they’re cute, low-stakes mystery novels. They’re mentally stimulating, but not stressful or gruesome. You can almost always tell a book will be a cozy mystery based on the cover art:
Most of the time the cover art has a cute animal, and the titles for these books are usually bad puns. They remind me a lot of Hallmark movies. The protagonist either moves to or has always lived in a small town, owns or works at a small shop, they have an animal companion and a best friend, there’s a love interest, and for some reason they find themselves having to solve mysteries all of the time.
This year I was looking for a new cozy mystery series, and I decided to try the first book from Jenn McKinlay’s “London Hat Shops Mysteries” series. Unfortunately, I don’t think this series is for me. The protagonist is incredibly annoying and she doesn’t really do much to solve the mystery in the novel. Things just kind of happen to her or around her. Maybe it’s shallow of me, but I also couldn’t stand the voice actor’s voice. The audiobook version is about 8 hours long, and it annoyed me that it took about 2 hours for the murder to actually take place. Maybe if I had actually liked the protagonist I wouldn’t have minded all of the set-up and backstory.
Even though I didn’t like the main character, there were some other parts of the story and other characters that were charming. I’m not completely opposed to reading (listening) to the rest of the books in the series that are available on Hoopla, but so far it’s not as good as other cozy mystery series I have read.
If you want to give cozies a try, I recommend any book by Julie Anne Lindsey or Eva Gates instead!
Movie: Jennifer’s Body – Directed by Karyn Kusama; Written by Diablo Cody
4.5/5 stars
Mom, dad, aunties – please don’t watch this movie.
With that out of the way …
I never saw Jennifer’s Body growing up. There’s many articles, interviews, and YouTube videos out there that talk about why this movie flopped and why I as a teenage girl would not have seen this movie when it came out. The gist of it is that the movie was marketed for men because Megan Fox is hot, but this is really a movie for women.
I hate myself for hating Megan Fox as I was growing up, but I blame it on internalized misogyny. Nowadays I’m happy for her for making a comeback, but I’m also still not a huge fan. Mainly, I’m put off by her cringy relationship with Machine Gun Kelley and their oftentimes insensitive social media posts. (I’m thinking specifically of their choices for Halloween costumes this past October. Again, mom, dad, aunties – please don’t look these up if you’re reading this!)
Back to the movie!
One reason I loved this book is because of the nostalgia. Oh the emo days. But really, I loved this movie because of a particular scene that made me cry, seemingly out of nowhere.
SPOILERS AHEAD –
During the final battle between Needy and Jennifer, Needy rips Jennifer’s best friend necklace off her neck. That’s the moment that made me cry. Why? Because I know what it’s like to have to break ties with a best friend. It really hit me like a ton of bricks.
Despite everything else going on in the surface, I think the core message of this movie is really about growing up and learning to let go.
Final Thoughts: This movie really is a modern cult classic. If like me, you have avoided watching this movie for one reason or another, give it a try!
One Per Week 
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