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Kristy H (1252 KP) rated The Blackbird Season in Books

Dec 24, 2017  
The Blackbird Season
The Blackbird Season
Kate Moretti | 2017 | Mystery, Thriller
9
9.0 (3 Ratings)
Book Rating
character-driven (2 more)
well-written
compelling
Complicated character-driven mystery
It's just another day in Mount Oanoke, Pennsylvania when the birds start to fall. Hundreds of dead starlings, dropping from the sky during a baseball game. It seems like the birds started it all, but really the secrets and lies began much earlier. Nate Winters, high school teacher and baseball coach, is beloved in the town. That is, until a reporter, in town to cover the birds, catches Nate hugging a student at a local motel. Suddenly, the birds are forgotten, and the story becomes much juicier: Nate; his student, Lucia; and their supposed affair. Lucia fuels the fire by affirming the affair and suddenly Nate and his wife, Alecia, are swept up in the story. The only who believes in Nate's innocence, even a sliver, is his friend and co-worker, Bridget. As Lucia's creative writing teacher, she has unique insight into the girl's mind. But when Lucia suddenly goes missing--with Nate as the prime suspect in her disappearance--not even Bridget may be able to save Nate. But is there more to Lucia's disappearance than an affair with her teacher?

Wow, I was really impressed by this novel. It's a complicated novel that is just as much a character-driven study as it is a mystery. It's incredibly well-written, and Moretti expertly embodies the voice of each of her characters, from beleaguered Alecia, who is worn down from mothering her autistic son, Gabe; to the cast of teenager characters; to Bridget, who lost her husband to cancer a year ago. It's so well-done that often with each chapter (which skip from various points of view -- Bridget, Kate, Lucia, Nate, etc.), I found my myself veering between whom I preferred or believed, constantly second-guessing my allegiances or what happened. This is very rare for me: typically I find my "person" in a novel and stick with them, no matter what.

But here, I was confused, wondering. Was Nate really a cad, who cheated on his wife every second he got, or was he the sweet, affable teacher and baseball coach that the whole town admired and adored? And Alecia--was she more than just a weary mom, broken down by years of staying at home with her autistic son, Gabe, unable to give to anyone beyond him? Did she push Nate away, into the arms of others? Or was the truth more complicated that all of this? I have to hand it to Moretti--she was excellent at creating confusion and doubt. In addition to different perspectives, the novel shifts in time (before the birds fell, after the birds fell, before Lucia disappeared, etc.). It's a little tough to keep track of, but it also keeps you on your toes and always wondering, as you piece various parts of the puzzle together.

For me--even more than the mystery of what exactly happened with Lucia--the strength of this novel was the writing and the characters. I felt for them, even when I was frustrated with them. Moretti captures the angst and meanness of high school extremely well, portraying the cliques of a small town quite superbly. (I was reminded of WHEN WE WERE WORTHY, which I just finished.) I loved the juxtaposition of this being a small town, so the idea is that everyone knows everyone and everything, and yet there are so many secrets, so much unknown. Being a witness to Alecia and Nate's marriage is amazing-- you see firsthand how the events affect them and how they've reached this point. It's an incredibly realistic portrayal of marriage and of motherhood.

As you probably tell, I just really liked this novel. It's very well-written, with quite compelling characters. I worked out some of the plot, but it didn't stop me from reading at all. I think some of the emphasis on character development slows the story at places, but not in any detrimental way. This one will make you think, as well as intrigue you with what happened to Lucia. Quite worth the read.
  
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LoganCrews (2861 KP) rated The House (2017) in Movies

Sep 19, 2020 (Updated Sep 19, 2020)  
The House (2017)
The House (2017)
2017 | Comedy
7
5.7 (18 Ratings)
Movie Rating Watch
Not a better movie than 𝘊𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘰, but by far a better analogy between crime-soaked gambling and the bloody baseball bat of capitalism - as unintentional as I'm sure the allusion is here. Given how much of a dead horse the target of whitebread suburbia is even well through twenty-five years ago now, I'll give this some freshness points in the way it portrays the quest for fair financial stability in lieu of absurdly-gouged education prices, big banks, etc. by the warping of the upper-middle-class into an entire demographic forced to confront their own morals when they're encouraged into private crime upon the abject failure of their own government by way of goofy dark comedy. Starts off like your routine bland improvy entry into the 'haha raunchy families' trend and progressively becomes more and more doused in blood, blunt trauma, property damage, and general chaos that throws moron policemen, corrupt officeholders, and the inherent violence of America's economic system into the fire in its wake. Plus it's brisk (for fucking once with this genre good Lord) and has a ton of laughs even though I believe it still seems generally uninterested in its own plot in addition to criminally underutilizing both Ferrell and Poehler's talents together as well. The bit with Nick Kroll at the end was fucking gut-bustingly hilarious.