Binge Watch: Q2 2021
To be honest, my binge watching game has not been that great over the last few months. I’ve been keeping up with all of my trash reality shows—90 Day Fiancé, RHOBH, The Bachelorette—as well as my weekly dramas—Chicago Med, Chicago Fire, Chicago PD, Law & Order: SVU/Organized Crime, Manifest—and haven’t really had the time to binge entire new shows like I used to. Also, I started reading again more thanks to rediscovering my love for my Kindle. So rather than spending all of my time watching TV, I’ve had my nose buried in a (digital) book. So in honor of my quarterly Binge Watch blog post, I’m going to also include what I’ve Binge Read as well. Because when it comes to consuming media, I’m nothing if not consistent in my habits.
First up: all the shows I watched from April to July 2021 + my thoughts on them.
The One
Julia and I started this Netflix original in early April and were immediately hooked. The premise of the sci-fi show is that the main character Rebecca is a DNA researcher, who discovered a way to find the perfect partner—your “one true match”—and ends up creating a new matchmaking service with the technology. So the season follows Rebecca and a couple other characters in London navigating the effects of this dating service taking over the world—from couples who are tempted to see if the person they are with is their perfect match to people meeting the one for the first time. But once a body is found in the river belonging to someone in Rebecca’s past, the dark past surrounding the origin of her successful company could ruin everything if discovered. We love a strong, morally gray leading lady and that is Rebecca to a T. She is a boss bitch who you want to root for but sometimes wonder if you should be rooting for her. And that complexity creates a great main character. The One has everything I love in a TV show between the Black Mirror-esque sci-fi technology and the season-long mystery that slowly unfolds through flashbacks each episode. Honestly, this was a great show from beginning to end and I really hope Netflix renews it for a second season since they left it open to explore so much more. Definitely go binge it if you’re looking for something to fill the void that Black Mirror has left.
Cruel Summer
I got back on my bullshit and decided to check out the new teen drama Cruel Summer which originally aired on Freeform (aka ABC Family for the OGs out there). The series centered around two girls, Kate and Jeanette, whose lives were entangled over the course of three years—1993, 1994 and 1995. Personally, I loved the 90s throwback aesthetic that the show brought to life, but the premise of the show is what ultimately drew me in. To summarize the general plot line, Kate ends up missing and we find out early that she was kidnapped/held hostage by the new principal Mr. Harris… yep, major creep. In the time she was missing, Jeanette essentially takes over her old life—becoming popular, dating Kate’s boyfriend, having all of her friends—except Jeanette has this weird connection to Kate’s disappearance and her captor. When Kate is finally rescued, she accuses Jeanette of seeing her and not helping, which spirals into a lawsuit between the two girls. The show flips back and forth between each girl’s perspective over the years slowly unfolding more secrets they each have. And I love how to distinguish the years, not only do the main characters’ physical appearances change, but the overall lighting of the scenes drastically changes (with 1993 being bright and cheerful while 1995 is super dark and moody). Anyways, I was pleasantly surprised with the show overall; it definitely had me questioning who was telling the truth or rather what the truth was somewhere in between both girls’ lies. I will say I totally called the “surprise” ending reveal. But it was still a great binge watch and highly recommended for anyone out there who also loves a good teen drama riddled with a mystery that spans the entire season. All episodes of Cruel Summer are available to stream on Hulu!
Behind Her Eyes
This one was a wild ride. I had this one on my list for a while, but only recently got around to finally watching it. Behind Her Eyes is a Netflix original series that follows Louise, a receptionist for a psychiatrist’s office in London, her new boss David and his strange wife, Adele. It’s clearly a psychological thriller, which I love, that deals with addiction, night terrors, astral projection, and a dark past shared by David and Adele. Dreams are actually a big theme of the show, with Adele helping Louise overcome her night terrors by learning how to control her dreams. One of the ways Adele talks about controlling your dreams is counting your fingers one by one because you have extra fingers when you are dreaming—which is actually something I’ve heard before (hello, Teen Wolf season 3)—and when you realize you are in a dream you can take back the control by visualizing a door and walking through it to enter the dream you want to experience. It’s such a cool concept, and since I’ve always had such vivid dreams that I remember (pro tip: start a dream journal to enhance and retain your dreams better), I ended up trying it the other night. And holy shit, it fucking worked. Usually, when I am dreaming and notice that my nails are all cracked and broken, that indicates to my dream self that this isn’t real and I can start lucid dreaming. But this time, I was in the middle of a dream when I remember saying something along the lines of, “Something feels off, it doesn’t feel like this is real,” and then I looked down at my hands and I had six fingers on one hand. Once it hit me that I was right and I was dreaming, then I immediately moved into another dream where it happened again. It was like an inception of dreams within dreams. Anyway, it was such a good show—and the ending… WOW. I honestly didn’t see it coming until right before the twist. You should definitely go watch it on Netflix if you are remotely interested in this kind of stuff.
Sex/Life
OMG. There is a reason this show has been in Netflix’s Top 10 since it came out. It’s a sexy show. Basically the main character Billie is entering some kind of midlife crisis where she can’t stop thinking about her ex-boyfriend Brad who she had the wildest, best sex of her life with—even though she’s “happily” married to nice guy Cooper and has two perfect children in rich white suburbia. As she starts reflecting on her past in her journal, her husband finds out and a messy love triangle ensues. Oh and there are a lot of sex scenes—I mean A LOT. Netflix is really leaning into this demographic ever since 365 Days (LOL) + the success of Bridgerton. Is it problematic that this show is trying to get us to pity a woman with a perfect husband and amazing life, who misses her toxic ex who was amazing in bed? Oh, definitely. I was like “girl, snap out of it, your life is literally perfect,” the entire time. But that didn’t stop me from watching the entire first season in a day. And actually, I was rooting for her to stay with Cooper the entire time. If he was an asshole or something (like most uber rich people tend to be), then I’d 100% be all for Billie leaving him for Brad. But I swore off toxic fuckboys (no matter how hot they are) and Brad definitely falls into that category. I mean a hot shot record producer who looks like that? Stay far, far away. It’s like danger is written all over him. I do love the messiness of the whole plot though. I mean it would appear that a lot of people enjoy that kind of escape. We like watching shows where the main character can change the toxic bad boy for good, but when it comes to real life, I do not need nor want a project like that. It was definitely more of a fun binge watch though. So if you need a little steamy sex scenes in your life, go for it. Oh, and major bonus: two of the main actors (Billie + Brad) are dating IRL. We love when that happens.
And now onto the books that left an impact…
Maddox Brothers Series (Beautiful Oblivion, Beautiful Redemption, Beautiful Sacrifice, Beautiful Burn & Beautiful Funeral)
By Jamie McGuire
So I discovered Jamie McGuire through one of my mom’s friends actually, who introduced me to two of her trilogies—Beautiful Series (Beautiful Disaster, Walking Disaster + A Beautiful Wedding) as well as The Providence Series (Providence, Requiem + Eden)—which if I had to guess I read almost 8 years ago near the end of high school and into college. Both series were great for my Young Adult Romance literary obsessions—one more an enemies-to-lovers while the other follows a supernatural fantasy trope. But it’s interesting that after all these years, both trilogies stayed with me as memorable reads. You know when you get that distant kind of nostalgia when you think back to a good book you read a long time ago? I get that feeling with these. So naturally, when I realized she wrote a whole additional series in the same universe as the Beautiful Series circling around each of the other Maddox brothers, I had to check them out. I was a little unsure if I would be as enthralled with the new books because I’m clearly at a different point in my life and am not reading all of the YA titles like I used to. But I loved them. I guess I still have a special place in my heart for this fictional universe. There would be too much to recap if I were to go through each book on its own, but just know that everything is interconnected in these stories—all cumulating in the final book, A Beautiful Funeral, that made me legit sob. I think my favorite book of the series would be either Beautiful Oblivion (featuring Trent and Cami) or Beautiful Sacrifice (featuring Taylor and Falyn). Something about those two stories just resonated with me a little more than the others.
The Family Upstairs
By Lisa Jewell
But I’m not going to lie, it took me a while to get into this one. I even had to re-borrow it because I couldn’t get into it at first and ran out of time on my 2 week library loan. I had to stick it out because it came highly recommended from Mama Ang. I think the shifting perspectives combined with different timelines threw me off a little at first. Or maybe it’s just the kind of story you need to give yourself time to get situated with first. But I’d say about a third of the way in, I was fully intrigued. After you get used to it, the three different narrators are an interesting way to piece together this mysterious story. It’s kind of a creepy read, with some strange family dynamics in a cult-like environment. I’m excited to read more of Lisa Jewell’s work though because I’ve heard a lot of good things about her other novels. And if her other stories are as twisted as The Family Upstairs, I’m sure I’ll love them.
November 9
By Colleen Hoover
My mom introduced me to Colleen Hoover earlier this year and immediately I became hooked to her books. I started out reading Verity, which I still think to this day is her best book. I mean I was SHOCKED by the end. Normally I can guess what will happen in those kinds of psychological thriller mysteries, but I was completely blindsided and remember my jaw literally dropping open. From there I binge read Ugly Love and It Ends With Us back to back. Needless to say, I found a new author to follow. My mom kept mentioning how much I needed to read November 9, so when I finally got a hold of a digital copy for my Kindle, my expectations were high. And I can confidently say the book met those expectations. There were some predictable moments and plot twists that I saw coming, but it was a brilliant narrative concept overall. Without giving too much away, November 9 is the date that the main character, Fallon, was involved in a tragic fire which left her physically (and emotionally) scarred. On the anniversary of the accident two years later, she meets Ben and they form an instant connection. But since she’s moving away, they make a pact to meet once a year on November 9th to catch up—and as an aspiring writer Ben vows to write about their unique love story. I won’t say any more about the plot, but I 100% would recommend reading this one if you are looking for a beautiful, complicated love story (I mean, who isn’t?). It’s so good!
Sugarlake Series (Beneath The Stars, Beneath The Stands, Beneath the Hood)
By Emily McIntire
Not going to lie, I FLEW through these books. Give me a messy romance story with some angst and I’m all in. I actually heard of the first book, Beneath the Stars on TikTok—no I’m not kidding, I’m fully on the BookTok side of TikTok, in addition to SwiftTok and AstrologyTok—and decided to give it a try. Well, I literally finished the series in a week, only needing to wait for the last book to come out earlier this month (it’s in the queue!), so needless to say the random find was worth it. Each book in the series follows a particular romance trope: soulmates in Book 1, enemies to lovers in Book 2, and a forbidden age-gap in Book 3. Don’t ask me how I suddenly got so into these epic romance books, but we’re here and not going anywhere. I really liked the break from reality I could experience when my nose was in these books because I didn’t have to think too hard and could just enjoy the love story unfolding on the pages. It’s kind of like the equivalent of watching a trashy reality TV show—my guilty pleasures in life. I definitely liked the first book featuring Alina + Chase the best because it reminded me of a Bellarke romance (aka Bellamy + Clarke from The 100, my ultimate OTP). Plus I think it was the longest story with the most backstory, so it was the one that drew me into the universe for the series. If you love a good, slightly cliché, young adult romance novel, definitely check this series out.
Apolonia
By Jamie McGuire
I reverted back into my teen sci-fi dystopian romance loving self from high school once I stumbled upon this standalone novel from Jamie McGuire (again, one of my current favs). Back in the day, I was OBSESSED with this genre. I read every dystopian teenage love story I could find—from The Hunger Games and Divergent to Delirium and The Selection. Apolonia wasn’t as overly dystopian or futuristic as some of the other stories I’ve read, but the elements of science fiction were definitely there. And of course, what dystopian teenage love story is complete without a love triangle?! But staying true to my form, I was strongly Team Benji (aka the first love interest introduced) and wasn’t as invested in the romantic drama between the characters. This was definitely a quick read for me—I mean I finished it in two nightly reading sessions—but even though I enjoyed the book, I didn’t love it as much as I remember loving these kinds of stories. Maybe that means I’ve finally grown up a little.
Summer Reading List
Beneath The Surface (Book 4) by Emily McIntire
Too Late by Colleen Hoover
The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides (A Mama Ang Recommendation)
Into The Water by Paula Hawkins
Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell
Before We Were Strangers by Renée Carlind
Tell Me Lies by Carola Lovering
The Perfect Marriage by Jeneva Rose
All The Little Lights by Jamie McGuire
Lock Every Door by Riley Sager (A Mama Ang Recommendation)