Taylor Bitz
Bio
Hi!! My name is Taylor.
I'm an avid romance and fantasy reader and a newly-minted indie author!!!
Currently studying a Bachelor (BA) of Arts with majors in history and literature at Deakin University.
Stories (38/0)
My Thoughts on the Empyrean Series by Rebecca Yarros - aka Fourth Wing and Iron Flame
*note of the fanart, credit is attributed to @shauna_the_author on Instagram* Ok, so maybe the caption was a little exaggerating. To simplify it, it's basically How to Train Your Dragon meets Hunger Games meets Divergent, except the dragons actually talk. Well, they don't exactly talk, per se. They telepathically communicate with their riders, aka. their "bonded". When the first novel, Fourth Wing, opens, we meet Violet Sorrengail, the youngest daughter of General Lilith Sorrengail and sister to Mira Sorrengail, who happens to be a lieutenant. We learn that Violet is being sent to Basgaith War College against her will, in order to learn how to be a dragon rider. We also learn that Violet grew up as a scribe, like her late father, and was supposed to enter into the Scribe Quadrant, but after her father passed away, General Sorrengail decides to toss Violet to the wolves and force her into Basgaith. Might I add, Violet's basically a stick-thin kid who breaks multiple bones constantly. She's not cut out for dragon riding by any means, and Mira points that out. What follows after that is a series of dangerous tests and trials that drive Violet's body to the very limit of what she can handle... and then some. Not to mention, she has a huge target on her back for being Lilith Sorrengail's daughter, and none wants her death more than the son of the late rebel leader Fen Riorson, who rebelled against the leadership of Basgaith several decades ago. Turns out General Sorrengail was responsible for Fen Riorson's death, and now the all-powerful third-year wingleader, Xaden Riorson, is out for blood.
By Taylor Bitz4 months ago in BookClub
On the Topic of Sarah J. Maas and Why Her Books Have all of us Romantasy Gals in a Chokehold
Magic. Faeries. Badass female main characters who are smart, kind, powerful, as well as drop-dead beautiful. Gorgeous, six/seven-foot-tall men with jawlines (and the bat/angel wings, let's not forget those) that could cut butter, witty remarks, and powers that could kill you and most likely will. Captivating side characters who have their own unique backstories and personalities, who contribute their own slice of interesting to the stories they inhabit. Spicy, sizzling-with-tension love stories. Inspirational quotes and moments of soaring triumph. Emotional damage that will rip your heart out, stomp on it and tear it into a million tiny pieces and still leave you wanting more. This is Sarah J. Maas' works in a nutshell.
By Taylor Bitz5 months ago in BookClub
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (A Film Review)
WARNING: includes minor spoilers for The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (both book and film) Cast: Tom Blyth, Rachel Zegler, Peter Dinklage, Hunter Schafer, Josh Andres Rivera, Jason Schwartzman and Viola Davis
By Taylor Bitz5 months ago in Geeks
The Underworld franchise (A Series Review/Honest Thoughts)
If someone would have told me that I would actually enjoy this series a couple months ago, I would have probably laughed. That, or probably gone, "No, that looks creepy." And it kind of did. But now that I'm really into gothic horror, it's a series that's truly one of a kind. All five movies bombed at the box office to brutal reviews damning the franchise, but it gained a cult following all the same, and that's why so many were made. Oddly enough, Underworld (2003) isn't even the first one chronologically, though it was the first one released. The first film chronologically in the series is Underworld: Rise of the Lycans (2009), which follows the beginning of the war between lycans (half werewolf and half man, they can change at will between the two) and an all-powerful race of vampires who once kept lycans as slaves and bodyguards, believing them to be a threat to their kind.
By Taylor Bitz7 months ago in Geeks
Barbie (2023): A Film Review
WARNING: contains spoilers for Barbie (2023) I might just start making film reviews as "honest thoughts posts" actually. I feel they're easier to write. And that is exactly what this film review is - my honest thoughts on the recent Barbie (2023) film that just landed in cinemas. And honestly, this film is brilliant. It's funny, it hits all the right notes of a female-led film without being misandrist or ultra-radical feminist, and it's got some great star power. I've been a fan of Greta Gerwig's work since her adaptation of Little Women (2019), starring Saoirse Ronan, Emma Watson, Florence Pugh, Laura Dern and Timothee Chalamet.
By Taylor Bitz7 months ago in Geeks
Five Great Books to Read if You Are on BookTok
Stumbling onto BookTok is like discovering a new place that you never knew existed before, or like discovering said place that everyone has talked about but you've never visited before until now. Ever since the rise of Chinese short video streaming service TikTok in September 2016, creators from all over the world have merged into sub-communities, such as #foodtok, #witchtok, #cottagecore, #planttok #potatotok (yes, a whole sub-community dedicated to delicious potatoes is a thing) and #watertok (yes, a sub-community dedicated to all things water is also very much a thing). As many have risen to prominence, there is one that has very much stayed in the spotlight. And that is BookTok, or better known as #booktok. Covering everything from fantasy, dark academia, dark romance, LGBTQ stories, as well as creating a platform for up-and-coming authors to share their work and reach a wider audience globally, BookTok has become a pop culture phenomenon. And personally, it helped me discover a lot of new books to read over this new year. So I'm now here, both as an avid reader and a newbie author, to provide you with my favourite books to read if you like to tread the waters of BookTok.
By Taylor Bitz10 months ago in Fiction
My Thoughts on a Recent Rewatch of Anastasia
This isn't quite so much a film review as it is an "honest thoughts" post. In light of my recent forays into history, I felt it was time to revisit the Anastasia film. I watched it several years ago for the first time, and I loved it. It was beautiful, funny, and utterly magical. Had all the workings of the Disney Renaissance films without the Disney banner. Surprise, surprise, it was made by 20th Century Fox. Crazy, right? But now, watching it, with the knowledge of knowing what actually happened to the Romanov family, the glitz and glamour of this pretty, heartfelt story is wrapped with a thin, bittersweet layer of sadness, knowing that perhaps some version of this film is what could have been if the young Grand Duchess Anastasia Romanov had survived the terror of the Russian Revolution.
By Taylor Bitz10 months ago in Geeks
