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Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2165 KP) rated The Victory Garden in Books

Feb 13, 2019

The Victory Garden

Rhys Bowen | 2019 | Fiction & Poetry

5.0

(1 Ratings)

Book Rating

I Was the Wrong Audience for this Book

Emily Bryce is about to turn twenty-one, and she is ready to start doing something to help with the war effort. Her parents have kept her at home with her mom hoping to find someone from the aristocracy to marry her off to, but Emily is determined to find her own path. Then Emily meets Robbie, an Australian pilot recovering from an injury at a hospital in the area. Even though her parents forbid it, she keeps seeing him behind their back. She also soon joins up with the Women’s Land Army, helping to keep the farms in England running to provide food for everyone. Will her parents ever accept her choices?

I’ve been a fan of Rhys’s mysteries for years, so I decided to give this book a try. As I suspected going in, this is not a mystery, but more of a coming of age story set in the England of 100 years ago. Unfortunately, I don’t think I was the target audience since I had trouble getting into it. There is a lot happening, and that was part of the problem. The story takes place over a year, and to get the entire time frame and the all Emily goes through into the story, at times I think we were cheated out of watching Emily deal with everything happening. That resulted in some things we were told about and not shown. On the other hand, Emily is a wonderful main character, and I was definitely rooting for her to succeed. I did tear up a time or two. And I felt we got a clear picture of what life was like in 1918 England for those who didn’t fight during the war – something that is often overlooked when we think about the cost of a war.

Kudos

Neon's Nerd Nexus (360 KP) rated Cargo (2017) in Movies

May 14, 2019

Cargo (2017)

2017 | Drama, Horror, Thriller

7.3

(18 Ratings)

Movie Rating

Dead good

#netflix #cargo is in my opinion is the first great #netflixfilm ive seen yet. Cargo is an #Australian film about a family struggling to survive in a #zombie infected world & has been adapted from a short film of the same name. From the get go a #creepy unnerving yet strangely calm & peaceful atmosphere is established (this is done brilliantly with gorgeous establishing shots & slow camera movements accompanied by a beautifully depressing score). It looks fantastic too & its set locations not only add to the tension but are a treat to explore visually. Slow paced but never boring the #film never treats the viewer like an idiot with subtle information about whats happened & how people #survive in this world littered everywhere. Theres an overall theme about #family & protection ie planning for their future safety & how people in this horrific situation cope/stay strong & if what we do to survive sometimes borderlines on being inhumane. Tension is very well done throughout & keeping things mostly off camera was a smart move as it gives the film an more #anxious sense of dread. Acting is top notch & watching as characters constantly think about the #future, worry for each others safety & try to stay strong is genuinely heartbreaking at times. Effects are great especially the practical ones making the film far more believable. All in all cargo is well worth your time, its a great interesting character study & a refreshing/intelligent change of pace in a genre thats become so over done & cliche. Thought provoking, powerful & #bleak this film left me wondering how i would react & what i would do if someone i loved or if myself even were about to fall victim to the #virus. #martinfreeman #horror #scary #postapocalyptic #apocalypse #walkingdead #sunday #cinifile #moviecritic #netflixoriginal #SimoneLanders #love #dead