Oh my god, I'm out of puzzles

But this last one was a real doozy! Tell me, if you heard the words "all edge pieces" puzzle, what would your reaction be? Mine was "ooh, fun!"

And it was. Mostly.

It was also, believe it or not, incredibly difficult. The pieces were very unique shapes, and with all of them looking so similar you really had to scrutinize for the most minor differences. Shout out to Yetch, though, because the differences were there! This had so many unique little details, it was a blast spotting them all. Overall, this is a solid, time-consuming perfect ten for me. And now the question is...where do I go from here?

What the duck?

How do you get your husband, who isn't really a puzzle guy, into puzzles? Maybe get him puzzles featuring things he likes? I decided to try that and got him some duck/geese puzzles.

It didn't work, he still isn't into puzzles.

But my sister helped me put together this duck puzzle!

It IS missing a piece, possibly because a piece got left out when they packaged it (not the first time that's happened to me), but equally likely, because our dog got to a piece and ate it (also not the first time that's happened). Missing piece aside, though, pretty cool puzzle. Putting together the water, the words at the top, and the names of all the ducks - fun challenge. Putting together the rest of it, most of which looks virtually identical - SO mind-numbing. 🤣

Seriously, though, while it was challenging, it was kind of fun trying to distinguish between tiny variations in color and figure out what went where. While I'm not sure I would rush back to buy more puzzles from this brand, I also truly enjoy that they use such unique puzzle shapes, and I really enjoyed seeing all the many types of duck. This was probably a 4/5 on the puzzle scale for me. Not among my ultimate favorites, but it was a good time.

The best VRBOs have puzzles

I'm not generally the person who ends up actually booking the VRBO when we go places, so I don't ever get to leave reviews after a stay. But if I did, I would bump the rating up a little if at least one good puzzle is provided. It's simply good customer service. In this VRBO case the presence of puzzle was sort of negated by the fact that they locked the AC (allegedly by accident?) so we couldn't adjust it and then they didn't have any fans in the bedrooms (for the love of god, who doesn't have at least a standing fan??). But hey, at least there was a puzzle. And a Boardwalk one, at that! Red Rock Adventure.

You may recall that I've talked about my love for Boardwalk puzzles, specifically their national park puzzles, in a previous puz post, so while this isn't a part of the national park collection, it's a similar enough vibe and it was nice to get to do another of these without having to buy it for myself. It was a 500-piece, but the pattern of the table made it a little more challenging, so I was genuinely worried that I might not finish it before we headed back home! It was a great puzzle experience, though. I continue to love Boardwalk's unique piece shapes, and this puzzle had the added fun of having little critters and easter eggs incorporated, which was a nice little treat. A solid five stars for this puzzle.

The Duomo is perfection in every form

Ooh, remember back in September when I posted my puzzle review and included my discovery that Ravensburger had a Duomo puzzle? Well, I went on a JOURNEY, y'all, and I discovered that not only do they currently manufactor a 500-piece version, they used to sell a 1000-piece version! Now, the title of that blog post was something about how good 500-piece puzzles are, so obviously I'm a fan. However, if I'm not working within a limited time frame (i.e. on vacation), I prefer a slightly more challenging option, so of course I had to go to Ebay to see if anyone was selling the 1000-piece puzzle.

And they were!

This puzzle, like the Duomo itself, is simply glorious. It was so much fun putting it together, working my way through different sections and then figuring out how they pieced together. 10/10 puzzle.

It was the worst of times, it was the best of times...

Had to reverse the descriptors in the quote to fit the puzzle order, but I still think it's a solid reference.

Anyway, we've had quite the backlog of puzzles at our house, and I decided I was going to really buckle down and knock them out. My ingenious plan was to alternate a harder one with an easier one, and that...worked out soooo well. (Sarcasm. That was sarcasm.)

This puzzle?

SO VERY HARD. Possibly one of the only times that I'll think "hmmm, those pieces that are all exactly the same color will probably be the easiest place to start." It took for. ev. er. to finish. All that said, is it weird that I kind of enjoyed it? Truly every piece that you found was a huge win, and the finished product looks so cool. Putting it all together felt like a victory.

Victory aside, after that monster of a puzzle, we needed a bit of a palette cleanser, so thank goodness it was time for an easy puzzle!

Look, I really enjoyed this puzzle - it's pretty, the pieces are funky shapes, and it was really fun to put together. However, I'm a little on the fence about this puzzle brand (Naturelish) for one reason and one reason only: the back has checkered patterns that are color-coded, so you can sort the pieces into different puzzle sections. Is that cheating? Because it feels like cheating! It did add a little fun, being able to pick a section and slowly work it all out, then fit it into the border and move on to the next section, but also isn't part of the challenge of a puzzle finding the one right piece from ALL the pieces? I know I'm overthinking this, but I can't help it. Is it cheating?! Aside from this moral quandary, I would highly recommend this puzzle brand to a friend. Some are super weird, which is fun in its own way, and others, like this one, are beautiful designs. Solid all around...except for the ethics of it all, of course. 🤣

500 piece puzzles are where it's at

Another day, another puzzle...or three? 500 piece puzzles are truly the perfect activity for a peaceful afternoon. Have a friend coming over for coffee? Chip away at a picture of Yellowstone while you chat!

Boardwalk Puzzles has a series of national park puzzles, and this is the second one I've done (shout out to Darcy for providing them! Lake Tahoe was equally enjoyable.) This one was created by Bruce Martin and is very vibrant. These puzzles are fun to put together, the pieces have really unique shapes, and overall I'm a huge fan! Truthfully, as I scroll through their website looking at all the other national park puzzles available, my biggest gripe with Boardwalk is how clunky their website is. Puzzle quality? 5/5. Website quality? 3/5. Maybe 3.5 because I think it's cool that they include some history about each national park in the puzzle description (added this after I chose the rating because the page took SO LONG to load.) I might have to add .5 to my puzzle rating too, because I'm resisting blowing all my money on the other park puzzles, they're all so good. 5.5/5? Seems fair.

Other useful moments for a quick little puzzle? Downtime during a beach vacation! Side note, does it break the immersion if I acknowledge that I'm writing this post two days after we came back from a trip to Washington in mid-June even though it's not going to be posted for a few months? Sorry if it does. Now you know what I was getting up to three months ago, that's kind of interesting. Or maybe it isn't.

There were SO many puzzles available at the condo we stayed in, and I really wanted to do them all, but I feel like I picked the two best ones, since we were short of time. (I mean, I love puzzles, but I equally love exploring ruins and hiking to a lighthouse and walking the beach and such.)

These are both Ravensburger puzzles, and oh my god, have I reviewed any other Ravensburger puzzles? I forget if I have, but they're SO GOOD. I know I have some at school, and I'm always really impressed with how well they hold together even with little kids messing with them. 

I couldn't find who created the first puzzle because inexplicably I'm being blocked from accessing their website, so someone else please try to go to the Ravensburger website and tell me if it works for you. But the second puzzle was created by Nancy Wernersbach, and both are gorgeous. The pieces are pretty standard shapes, but they're very high quality and everything holds together super well. 5/5 puzzles, for sure, and such a delight to work on whilst looking out at the ocean waves. Also, in trying to find the creators of both puzzles without access to their actual website, I've discovered that they have a puzzle featuring the Duomo in Florence, Italy, and uhhhh...I'm gonna be getting my hands on that one, for sure. These puzzles rule.

I'm a bird person now

Welcome to another episode of Puzzle Pals! Or...something else. I haven't really come up with a name for it. Anyway, this month's puzzle was State Birds of America, created by Cobble Hill Puzzle Company.

The thing about puzzles is sometimes the effort is frontloaded and sometimes it's backloaded. This is definitely a frontloaded puzzle. For starters, this was possibly the first time I've done a puzzle and thought it might have been easier starting with the center instead of the border. Except for the bottom, it was all just green, and we still had a couple of edge pieces we weren't sure what to do with when we finally thought we had it all together. I ended up just working on it and eventually figuring out where the border was wrong and fixing it WAY into the process. 

After some initial legwork, though, I thought it was a delightful puzzle. Very unique piece shape, things fit together well, and it was fun seeing all the different birds. It would have been a solid 5/5 puzzle, were it not for one heartbreaking thing, spotted on the box after we finished it. "This image was produced with the assistance of AI." That's a hard no thanks from me, so I guess I'll have to pay closer attention to where I source my puzzles going forward. Le sigh. Jazz hands for cool state birds (and a new haircut). Not so jazzy hands for using AI to create art instead of actual artists.

Visiting the ole' General Store

That's right, puzzle pals, it's time once more to piece together a work of art. This time, we assembled Country Store, manufactured by Buffalo Games & Puzzles.

Y'all...I fuckin loved this puzzle. The picture? Idyllic, beautiful sunset (or sunrise, I don't know what time it is), so many animals, just adorable. The pieces were all kinds of different shapes and stayed together pretty well. The style was fantastic, and it was challenging without making me want to headdesk and unleash a stream of profanity. Real talk? I put the border together and then started organizing the rest of the pieces, and when I did I decided to separate out the sky pieces and sign pieces to work on first. I sorted all the pieces, decided "you know, I could put some of these signs together before I go to bed," and somehow ended up accidentally doing like half the puzzle in one go. Sooooo, yeah, 5/5 for this one! Would do again.

Puzz Buds, Part Deux

Welcome back to the puzzle corner! Today's completed puzzle is very aptly called "Paris Windows," manufactured by Ceaco. 

As far as pictures go, this one was pretty fun! Still a little bit of watercolor style to it, but to less of an extreme than our previous puzzle. The pieces were much more uniquely shaped ("unique, random shaped pieces" per the box!), which keeps things fun and a little spicey. The only minor complaint I had was that the pieces didn't stay together quite as well as I would like. We started out trying to use a puzzle mat in case we needed to move the puzzle at some point, but we had to bail on that because the pieces didn't want to stay together on the felt. They did a little better on our tabletop, but even then...could have been a bit better there. All in all, though, I found this to be an enjoyable puzzle, just enough of a challenge without being headache-inducing. I'm giving this one a 4.5/5. Good times were had exploring the streets and windows of Paris.

Ahhhh, time isn't real

I really thought I had posted last week, but truly the last few weeks have run together. I can tell it's nearing the end of the school year because I am VERY tired. Could also be the lingering effects of being sick over spring break, but no...that's impossible.

Anyway, missed a post, it happens. I finished my mystery read for this month, and WHEW it was good. BUT. The whole time I thought it was a standalone, and then at the very end...I don't think it is. Or maybe it is and they wanted to leave you with an "and then..." Hold for research.

......

......

Nope, confirmed, it's the first book in a series. The age-old curse of fantasy, even realistic fantasy, everything has to be a series. Yet another book for me to decide if I read the sequel. Le sigh. I'm glad it was an enjoyable book, at least, and honestly even though it's part of a series I do feel like it was satisfying even as a standalone.

Now, related to reviews, if you can count this as a review, an announcement!

My household has recently gotten into puzzles, and I think we're going to post some puzzle reviews for funsies. So hey, if you like puzzles...keep an eye out for those.

Unearthed - Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner

My rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

From the cover:

"When Earth intercepts a message from a long-extinct alien race, it seems like the solution the planet has been waiting for. The Undying's advanced technology has the potential to undo environmental damage and turn lives around, and Gaia, their former home planet, is a treasure trove waiting to be uncovered.

For Jules Addison and his fellow scholars, the discovery of an alien culture offers unprecedented opportunity for study... as long as scavengers like Amelia Radcliffe don't loot everything first. Mia and Jules' different reasons for smuggling themselves onto Gaia put them immediately at odds, but after escaping a dangerous confrontation with other scavvers, they form a fragile alliance.

In order to penetrate the Undying temple and reach the tech and information hidden within, the two must decode the ancient race's secrets and survive their traps. But the more they learn about the Undying, the more their presence in the temple seems to be part of a grand design that could spell the end of the human race..."

Now this is how you do a gradual build-up to big reveals! Amelia and Jules end up thrown together on a strange, hostile planet, working together to navigate their way through a dangerous Undying temple to the secrets within. At first glance, the two couldn't have less in common...Amelia is an orphan who makes a living stealing, scavenging, and doing what she has to in order to survive, on the planet to steal enough alien technology to purchase her younger sister's freedom from a seedy nightclub. Jules is an Oxford-educated genius raised around the kind of opulence people like Amelia couldn't even begin to imagine, come to Gaia to study the secrets and knowledge left behind by the mysterious Undying. As they struggle their way across the planet's surface and begin to work their way past the challenges of the Undying temple, though, they begin to discover that they have more in common than first believed...and that they may have gotten themselves involved in something much more dangerous and insidious than they might first have imagined.

This story hooked me right away, and it had me dying to find out what happened next all the way up to the last page. Amelia and Jules are such easy characters to root for, I was on the edge of my seat over every danger they faced. I'm still a little in shock over the ending, and I don't know if I can wait until December for the next book. I guess it's a good thing I've got plenty of reading to keep me occupied while I wait.

Paper Towns - John Green

My rating: ⭐⭐⭐

From the cover:

"Quentin Jacobsen has spent a lifetime loving the magnificently adventurous Margo Roth Spiegelman from afar. So when she cracks open a window and climbs into his life—dressed like a ninja and summoning him for an ingenious campaign of revenge—he follows. After their all-nighter ends, and a new day breaks, Q arrives at school to discover that Margo, always an enigma, has now become a mystery. But Q soon learns that there are clues—and they're for him. Urged down a disconnected path, the closer he gets, the less Q sees the girl he thought he knew..."

So Quentin Jacobsen loves his next door neighbor from afar for most of his life, even though they stopped hanging out at a fairly young age. Then one night she drags him into an epic andventure before disappearing abruptly the next morning. Following her disappearance, Quentin, his two best friends, and Margo's best friend-turned-Quentin's-weird-friend's-girlfriend all begin trying to solve the mystery of her disappearance. At first Quentin worries that she committed suicide, but the more he finds out, the more he hopes she's still out there somewhere...waiting for him.

Mehhhhhhh I just don't know. I wasn't overly enamored with this book, but it had its good points. At times Quentin was kind of a whiny jackass, but he and his friends also had pretty good senses of humor. The thing I liked the most about the book was the emphasis on how your perception of a person =/= who that person really is. Overall, it wasn't a bad read...just not my favorite.