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Merissa (13961 KP) rated Hall Pass For Life in Books

Oct 16, 2018  
Hall Pass For Life
Hall Pass For Life
Dorothea Lynne | 2017 | Contemporary, Romance
6
6.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Hall Pass For Life by Dorothea Lynne
Hall Pass for Life is the first book by Dorothea Lynne I have read. This is a contemporary romance with dark theme - a young woman trapped in a loveless marriage to an older man. Although he is happy to have multiple affairs during their marriage, he is insistent upon controlling every aspect of her. This doesn't stop him from arranging for a week's getaway for her with a younger man so he can have his mistress in their home.

Thea has turned forty and has no idea where her life is going. Her husband, Malcolm, won't allow her to work, constantly criticises her, and yet isn't prepared to divorce her just yet - even though is far too old for his tastes. Liam is a singer and is 25 years old. He isn't sure what to make of the arrangement, but for the amount of money being given to a charity, he will be friendly for the week.

Both Thea and Liam get more than they bargain for, and will fight for their lives together, no matter what Malcolm throws at them.

I loved the premise of this story, although I don't particularly like first person, present tense, which is how this book is written. I found it to be quite confusing over who was speaking in places, and had to read further down to see who responded to figure it out. Personally speaking, I also found the constant nicknames and terms of endearments to be quite monotonous. Yes, it is cute occasionally, but to use them in 85% of the sentences... The only reason I can think of for the constant use was to help the reader know who was talking, which didn't work when they weren't used.

The story itself moved along at a fair pace, albeit a bit jerky in places. Some of the words and actions of various characters didn't seem quite 'real', as though the timing was off slightly. I think this is a standalone book, although the ending has possibly been left open for a follow up.

Anyway, for me, this book didn't quite hit the mark, although it was still a good story. I am absolutely positive that others will love this book, and devour every word. It just didn't work on all levels for me.

* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and the comments here are my honest opinion. *

Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
  
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Darren (1599 KP) rated 3 Days To Kill (2014) in Movies

Jun 20, 2019  
3 Days To Kill (2014)
3 Days To Kill (2014)
2014 | Mystery
6
5.3 (7 Ratings)
Movie Rating Watch
Contains spoilers, click to show
Story: 3 Days to Kill starts as we meet CIA agent Ethan Renner (Costner) who along with his team is about to take down one of the biggest threats in the world The Wolf (Sammel) by eliminating his closest associate The Albino (Lemarquis) only the mission gets compromised when Ethan’s health catches up with him as he learns he only has 3 months to live.

Released by the CIA Ethan sets out on cleaning up his own personal affairs wanting to build a relationship with daughter Zooey (Steinfeld) through his ex-wife Christine (Nielsen) after years of times apart working. With everything going badly Ethan knows that it will become difficult but when fellow agent Vivi Delay (Heard) offers him a chance to live longer Ethan comes out of retirement for one last assignment.

 

Thoughts on 3 Days to Kill

 

Story – The story for this film tries to balance a dying man’s final months with his family and his CIA life that he has meant to have walked away from. The CIA story does feel very generic of this modern day slick hitman style which is all fine. The dying man’s wish story ends up feeling like an awkward comedy in places. The story also feels very long and doesn’t seem to end up deciding if it wants to be serious or not.

Action/Thriller – The action is all very good and entertaining with the opening sequence looking like it set the tone but in the end if just turns into another slick hitman film.

Characters/Performance – I can’t find anything wrong with Costner’s performance as well as Steinfeld or Neilsen, it is the Heard performance that doesn’t make sense because she doesn’t suit the character and the character doesn’t suit the movie. The movie tries to make all the characters fit into everyday experiences but for some reason Vivi character is wildly over the top for no apparent reason.

Settings – The settings are mostly all in Paris which all works for the film which is trying to make us have a location we want to visit but showing that crime can happen there I guess.

Special Effects – The Special effects are mostly used for the action sequences and they all come off to the level you need them too.

Final Thoughts –This is an overlong action thriller that ends up getting caught up in the middle of comedy too often for its own good.

 

 

Overall: Solid action film that starts too strong for its own benefits.
  
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Guy Garvey recommended Catalpa by Jolie Holland in Music (curated)

 
Catalpa by Jolie Holland
Catalpa by Jolie Holland
2003 | Rock
(0 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"My friend Tony recommended Jolie Holland. I'd never heard it. He heard it through his girlfriend, and he said, ""This has been made in a bedroom and it's beautiful."" She even coughs in the middle of a song, she does: ""All the morning birds"", she hits a beautiful, fluty high note and then clears her throat and she just left that recording the way it was. I was so into it, much like the Chet Baker record. It's just a singular mood. You put the whole album on and drift off into her world for a bit with her. And it is literally a bedroom musing. And then I found out it was one of Tom Waits's favourite records. That was validation to my opinion, and I just loved it. Then when I came to making my solo record, very nervous but on a whim, I contacted Jolie and said: ""There is no one on earth I'd rather do a duet with, and I know you don't know me from Adam, but any chance?"" And she got back and she said, ""I'd love too"", and we recorded 'Electricity' together, which was great. We were both conducting transatlantic love affairs at the time, and I'm obsessed with the transatlantic phone cable, what it took to lay it. It's 3,000 miles, it's 10-feet thick cable, and every time it snapped they had to start again. The way they did it, it was steamships in those days, so paddle steamers in effect. Two steamers met mid-Atlantic and circled each other, while attaching their halves of the cable together. And then took off in different directions, that's how it happened. And there was a huge fuss when it was connected. Everybody celebrating. Imagine the money involved in the endeavour, because every time it snapped that it, you've lost the cable, you've got to start again. When it arrived in New York and in England, of course both sides celebrating wildly; in actual fact, it stopped working after a couple of days. These endeavours were fresh in my head at the time, so Jolie and I wrote a song called 'Electricity', which is about precisely that, conducting a love affair transatlantically. My favourite bit being I said to her at one point: ""What haven't we said that you always say on a long-distance phone call?"" And she said, ""'What are you wearing?'"" And I said, it's got to go in, but you're singing it [laughs]."

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