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Amanda (96 KP) rated Little Fires Everywhere in Books
Mar 21, 2019
I was so close to putting this book on my DNF list. The beginning of it was SO slow that I found myself spacing out and then remembering that I was listening to a book.
Obviously, I'm writing a review on it, so of course, I DID NOT put it on my DNF list. It took quite a few chapters (roughly five I think) to really get into the story and by then, I was completely hooked.
There are several stories going on.
The Richardsons rent out a house to a single mother, Mia Warren with her daughter Pearl. The Richardsons are friends with another family who are in the process of adopting a Chinese-American baby, but the process is paused when the mother comes forward wanting her daughter back. The husband, Mr. Richardson, is a lawyer representing the family who want to keep the baby and Mrs. Richardson basically tries to do some investigating of her own, including finding out things about her tenants past and what she has done to cause this drama for her best friends.
The theme of it all centers around a baby. Not just one baby, but that's the whole premise of the story.
One family wants to adopt the Chinese baby they renamed Mirabelle (I'm sorry, but I really don't like that name, or the reason WHY they changed it) and then the mother coming forward wanting her baby back. Now, the mother left her baby at a fire house cause she was not the right state to take care of her. If someone hadn't tipped her off as to where her baby was, then maybe this whole thing could have been avoided.
I struggled with not yelling at when the woman says the family is stealing her baby. No, they are not. They adopted her when she was left at a fire house. That is a thing that women in her state CAN do. If they cannot afford resources available (cost wise) they can leave their baby with a hospital or a fire house no questions asked. That also means that you give up parental rights. Granted, there should be some sort of grace period, but you cannot say this family stole your baby, because they didn't!
One teenager in the story finds out she's pregnant from her boyfriend and I just cannot fathom her snobby naivete attitude. She swoons over Mirabelle because she's so cute. I'll give you that, babies are cute. But then she starts to fantasize that her and her also teenage boyfriend could work it out and their parents would take care of the baby while at college. Yeah, okay! Reality does hit her hard though, but I won't say how, but it does and I almost feel bad for her, but not quite.
Then there's someone who agreed to be a surrogate and winds up stealing the baby before it was born. Now, technically, that woman did steal a baby. Granted, it's biologically yours, but she agreed, verbally and legally, to be this couple's surrogate. I'm not entirely sure I could do it, cause I really don't want to go through the whole pregnancy, but I can't speak for other women who go into the surrogacy and then start to regret it later. I don't know.
I'm now just babbling. Despite the slow beginning, I can definitely see why this book had as much hype as it did when it was published. It really gets you thinking about different perspectives of motherhood, biological or not. The story is told as if someone was indeed telling a story to a group of people. Almost like when someone is narrating a play and you're watching it as it unfolds before your eyes.
I do look forward to seeing about Celeste Ng's previous novels. This story may be sensitive to some people who have gone through any of these scenarios because I think some things that happen later, could very well get emotional. The story is great, but also keep that in mind if you are at all familiar with these kinds of stories.
Obviously, I'm writing a review on it, so of course, I DID NOT put it on my DNF list. It took quite a few chapters (roughly five I think) to really get into the story and by then, I was completely hooked.
There are several stories going on.
The Richardsons rent out a house to a single mother, Mia Warren with her daughter Pearl. The Richardsons are friends with another family who are in the process of adopting a Chinese-American baby, but the process is paused when the mother comes forward wanting her daughter back. The husband, Mr. Richardson, is a lawyer representing the family who want to keep the baby and Mrs. Richardson basically tries to do some investigating of her own, including finding out things about her tenants past and what she has done to cause this drama for her best friends.
The theme of it all centers around a baby. Not just one baby, but that's the whole premise of the story.
One family wants to adopt the Chinese baby they renamed Mirabelle (I'm sorry, but I really don't like that name, or the reason WHY they changed it) and then the mother coming forward wanting her baby back. Now, the mother left her baby at a fire house cause she was not the right state to take care of her. If someone hadn't tipped her off as to where her baby was, then maybe this whole thing could have been avoided.
I struggled with not yelling at when the woman says the family is stealing her baby. No, they are not. They adopted her when she was left at a fire house. That is a thing that women in her state CAN do. If they cannot afford resources available (cost wise) they can leave their baby with a hospital or a fire house no questions asked. That also means that you give up parental rights. Granted, there should be some sort of grace period, but you cannot say this family stole your baby, because they didn't!
One teenager in the story finds out she's pregnant from her boyfriend and I just cannot fathom her snobby naivete attitude. She swoons over Mirabelle because she's so cute. I'll give you that, babies are cute. But then she starts to fantasize that her and her also teenage boyfriend could work it out and their parents would take care of the baby while at college. Yeah, okay! Reality does hit her hard though, but I won't say how, but it does and I almost feel bad for her, but not quite.
Then there's someone who agreed to be a surrogate and winds up stealing the baby before it was born. Now, technically, that woman did steal a baby. Granted, it's biologically yours, but she agreed, verbally and legally, to be this couple's surrogate. I'm not entirely sure I could do it, cause I really don't want to go through the whole pregnancy, but I can't speak for other women who go into the surrogacy and then start to regret it later. I don't know.
I'm now just babbling. Despite the slow beginning, I can definitely see why this book had as much hype as it did when it was published. It really gets you thinking about different perspectives of motherhood, biological or not. The story is told as if someone was indeed telling a story to a group of people. Almost like when someone is narrating a play and you're watching it as it unfolds before your eyes.
I do look forward to seeing about Celeste Ng's previous novels. This story may be sensitive to some people who have gone through any of these scenarios because I think some things that happen later, could very well get emotional. The story is great, but also keep that in mind if you are at all familiar with these kinds of stories.
ames_morgan (8 KP) rated Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017) in Movies
Jun 19, 2018
Doug Liman recommended Bringing Up Baby (1938) in Movies (curated)
Veronica Pena (690 KP) rated Criminal Minds - Season 1 in TV
Mar 30, 2020
It's so weird to rewatch this series and have seen all these episodes before, but now, watching as a college student, studying criminal justice, history, and political science, along with legal studies and American studies, everything just clicks a little more.
It's so fun to see all the baby characters, the original team, the various plot lines that they pursued. I think this will always be one of my favorite seasons to watch and I don't think there's anything I don't like about the show. Other than the small inaccuracy they had when Haley first gave birth. They called her a girl in the first episode the baby is in and most everyone knows that Hotch ends up having a son named Jack. Small story discrepancies really get me like nothing else.
Other than that, great season. Baby Reid is so cute.
It's so fun to see all the baby characters, the original team, the various plot lines that they pursued. I think this will always be one of my favorite seasons to watch and I don't think there's anything I don't like about the show. Other than the small inaccuracy they had when Haley first gave birth. They called her a girl in the first episode the baby is in and most everyone knows that Hotch ends up having a son named Jack. Small story discrepancies really get me like nothing else.
Other than that, great season. Baby Reid is so cute.
Regina Cook (1 KP) rated Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017) in Movies
Jan 9, 2018
Wow
Contains spoilers, click to show
I was hooked from the beginning love the plot was devastated at the end couldn't quite believe it but sat there with a huge smile when everyone showed for his send off
Keegan McHargue recommended Sweet Movie (1974) in Movies (curated)
Movie Critics (823 KP) rated The Boss Baby (2017) in Movies
Apr 14, 2017
Cutesy but boring
Critic review by Tom Huddleston - Timeout
Read full review: https://www.timeout.com/london/film/the-boss-baby
‘The Boss Baby’ is one of those snarky, post ‘Shrek’ cartoons that desperately wants to appeal to parents as well as kids, but its snappy, pop-culture-referencing script feels workshopped to death (there’s a running joke about Gandalf that’s bafflingly unfunny). Undemanding kids might get a kick out of its jazzy, restless visual style and poo jokes, but grown-ups may well find themselves taking some impromptu nap time.
Read full review: https://www.timeout.com/london/film/the-boss-baby
‘The Boss Baby’ is one of those snarky, post ‘Shrek’ cartoons that desperately wants to appeal to parents as well as kids, but its snappy, pop-culture-referencing script feels workshopped to death (there’s a running joke about Gandalf that’s bafflingly unfunny). Undemanding kids might get a kick out of its jazzy, restless visual style and poo jokes, but grown-ups may well find themselves taking some impromptu nap time.
Amberlee Brooks (0 KP) rated a video of Bears vs Babies in Tabletop Games
May 30, 2018
First of all...why would you want to eat babies? Thats strange. Secondly, this games seems to have a lot of rules or maybe Im just confused. What happens If you deal the cards out at first and forever reason there were a lot of baby cards? So now on your turn there are like say 10 baby cards in the pile. Do you flip over all of them and the babies are that strong? How are you supposed to beat them if there are so many?
Mark Halpern (153 KP) rated The Babysitter (2017) in Movies
Dec 31, 2017
