Author: Arthur Howell

Hey everyone! As you can probably tell, I have plenty of appreciation for books, movies, and TV shows—enough that I'm willing to write up whole reviews for all of this media and spread the good (or bad) word about them to everyone else. You can find me doing the same thing over at my podcast, which is also called 2 Cents Critic, where I bring on a variety of special guests to help me do reviews and recaps of (you guessed it!) books, movies, and TV shows.

My 2 Cents on Steelstriker by Marie Lu

What’s new, everyone? If you’ve been following my reviews long enough, you know that one of my top reads of 2020 was Skyhunter by Marie Lu (Legend, The Kingdom of Back). With its eighteen-year-old heroine Talin Kanami devoting herself as a loyal Striker to her homeland of Mara’s mission of beating back the occupying regime of the … Continue reading My 2 Cents on Steelstriker by Marie Lu →

My 2 Cents on Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune

What’s new, everyone? TJ Klune (The Extraordinaries, The House in the Cerulean Sea) has just published his newest book, Under the Whispering Door. It tells the story of Wallace Price, an incredibly callous and self-absorbed lawyer who makes no effort to gain sympathy from the reader as he pitilessly lays off a paralegal in the opening chapter. … Continue reading My 2 Cents on Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune →

My 2 Cents on The Heart Principle by Helen Hoang

What’s new, everyone? The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang is one of my all-time favorite romcom reads, and her sophomore effort, The Bride Test, isn’t far behind. Now she’s come out with her third novel, The Heart Principle (notice the mathematical theme of all three names?). It follows Anna Sun, a professional violinist who, due to a viral YouTube video … Continue reading My 2 Cents on The Heart Principle by Helen Hoang →

My 2 Cents on Apple TV+’s CODA

What’s new, everyone? After premiering at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival in January, CODA, the family film written and directed by Siân Heder (Netflix’s Tallulah), not only snagged the Grand Jury Prize and the Audience Award but was also acquired by Apple for $25 million. Having been highly anticipated since then, the film has remained generally beloved … Continue reading My 2 Cents on Apple TV+’s CODA →

My 2 Cents on The Block by Ben Oliver

What’s new, folks? Last year I read The Loop, a YA dystopian novel by debut author Ben Oliver that kicked off in the future on first-person narrator Luka Kane’s sixteenth birthday. But he couldn’t really enjoy himself while behind bars in the Loop, a death-row prison that the World Government used to run experiments on and … Continue reading My 2 Cents on The Block by Ben Oliver →

My 2 Cents on Disney+’s The Mysterious Benedict Society

What’s new, folks? When the trailer dropped for the Disney+ TV adaptation of The Mysterious Benedict Society, the children’s book by Trenton Lee Stewart, it drew me in immediately with its offbeat aesthetic. This is an element that shines through in the first entry of Stewart’s series, which I read last year in preparation for the … Continue reading My 2 Cents on Disney+’s The Mysterious Benedict Society →

My 2 Cents on Black Widow

What’s new, folks? For seven films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Scarlett Johansson has played Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow, the Russian superspy who defected to S.H.I.E.L.D. and became a founding member of the superhero team known as the Avengers. However, none of those MCU entries featured her as the lead. Only until after she (spoilers) sacrificed … Continue reading My 2 Cents on Black Widow →