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ClareR (5885 KP) rated The Sisters Grimm in Books
Feb 25, 2020
The Sisters Grimm sounds like it’s going to be a fairytale, doesn’t it? But it isn’t in the childish sense of the word. If you’ve ever read any of the original Grimm’s fairytales, they’re rather more macabre - and people don’t always get their happy endings.
Sisters Grimm don’t actually know that that’s what they are. They may have vague memories (pre-puberty - and this is important) of playing in a fairytale wood, where they can do magical, amazing things, but they put it down to dreams later. That is until they approach their 18th birthdays, and some of these dream-like abilities start to manifest themselves.
This story is based around four girls who first met at 8 years old in the fairytale dream-world, Everwhere, forget one another after their 13th birthdays, and begin to remember closer to their impending 18th birthdays. They all have a different mother, but the same father who they will meet in Everwhere on the evening of their birthday. And it’s really important that they find one another again prior to this confrontation - where they will discover the truth about themselves.
I really enjoyed this. It says on Goodreads that it’s a Young Adult novel, and whilst it’s immaterial whether I agree with this or not, I do agree that it’s about reaching an age where you are finding out more about yourself and your impending independence, and that can’t be a bad thing for young people to read about.
I liked the darkness in this book - it’s no twee fairytale. There’s death, murder in fact, as a pretty major theme. And people aren’t necessarily nice. They lie, they’re selfish and they keep secrets that are best known.
The only negative I can think of, is that I really thought that this was going to be set up for the first part of a series. The end seemed quite rushed to me, and I’d love to know more about what happens afterwards. Well, that’s not really a negative, is it? That’ll be why I gave it top marks, to be honest - it’s a great book!
Many thanks to The Pigeonhole for serialising this book - another great choice!
Sisters Grimm don’t actually know that that’s what they are. They may have vague memories (pre-puberty - and this is important) of playing in a fairytale wood, where they can do magical, amazing things, but they put it down to dreams later. That is until they approach their 18th birthdays, and some of these dream-like abilities start to manifest themselves.
This story is based around four girls who first met at 8 years old in the fairytale dream-world, Everwhere, forget one another after their 13th birthdays, and begin to remember closer to their impending 18th birthdays. They all have a different mother, but the same father who they will meet in Everwhere on the evening of their birthday. And it’s really important that they find one another again prior to this confrontation - where they will discover the truth about themselves.
I really enjoyed this. It says on Goodreads that it’s a Young Adult novel, and whilst it’s immaterial whether I agree with this or not, I do agree that it’s about reaching an age where you are finding out more about yourself and your impending independence, and that can’t be a bad thing for young people to read about.
I liked the darkness in this book - it’s no twee fairytale. There’s death, murder in fact, as a pretty major theme. And people aren’t necessarily nice. They lie, they’re selfish and they keep secrets that are best known.
The only negative I can think of, is that I really thought that this was going to be set up for the first part of a series. The end seemed quite rushed to me, and I’d love to know more about what happens afterwards. Well, that’s not really a negative, is it? That’ll be why I gave it top marks, to be honest - it’s a great book!
Many thanks to The Pigeonhole for serialising this book - another great choice!
Talk for Writing Across the Curriculum: How to Teach Non-Fiction Writing 5-12 Years
Book
"This is a vibrantly practical and engaging book with a solid foundation in research. This book will...
Daniel Boyd (1066 KP) rated Killing Eve in TV
Oct 22, 2018 (Updated Oct 22, 2018)
Good script (1 more)
Great cast
A Solid Spy Thriller With Laughs
Killing Eve is a BBC series based on the novel, 'Codename: Villianelle.' It stars Sandra Oh as Eve and Jodie Comer as Villianelle. Both are brilliant in their respective roles and are the main players in driving the show forward. They are supported by a very strong supporting cast as well, with everyone selling their character convincingly.
There are a few twists and turns that keep you guessing, but there are also a lot of spy story clichés present in the series. These aren't too offensive though, as I don't think that the show's main focus is to break the mould when it comes to spy thrillers, but instead to take its audience in an exciting espionage story while giving us some laughs along the way.
Speaking of which, the humour in this show doesn't take away from the gripping narrative, but instead adds to the show's charm. I will admit that it took me a while to get fully on-board with the show's off-kilter tone and quirky humour, but thankfully more of it lands than misses.
I am not familiar with the source material, so I am not sure how accurately it has been adapted. I don't even know if the novel contains the same odd tone or humour. It has intrigued me enough to go and read the book though, which is always a good sign.
Overall, this is a fun spy thriller. It is not going to break the rules of the genre, but it will keep you engaged throughout and give you a couple of laughs for good measure.
There are a few twists and turns that keep you guessing, but there are also a lot of spy story clichés present in the series. These aren't too offensive though, as I don't think that the show's main focus is to break the mould when it comes to spy thrillers, but instead to take its audience in an exciting espionage story while giving us some laughs along the way.
Speaking of which, the humour in this show doesn't take away from the gripping narrative, but instead adds to the show's charm. I will admit that it took me a while to get fully on-board with the show's off-kilter tone and quirky humour, but thankfully more of it lands than misses.
I am not familiar with the source material, so I am not sure how accurately it has been adapted. I don't even know if the novel contains the same odd tone or humour. It has intrigued me enough to go and read the book though, which is always a good sign.
Overall, this is a fun spy thriller. It is not going to break the rules of the genre, but it will keep you engaged throughout and give you a couple of laughs for good measure.
No Two Alike
Book
The author of the controversial book The Nurture Assumption tackles the biggest mystery in all of...
Foundation Website Creation with HTML5, CSS3, and JavaScript
Joe Lewis, Jonathan Lane, Meitar Moscovitz and Tom Barker
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Foundation Website Creation with HTML5, CSS3, and JavaScript shows the entire process of building a...
Psychedelic 60s (2 more)
Wacky and surreal
Innovative
Wacky, "failed experiment" in Gonzo Journalism
This is one of my all-time favourite books, written by one of my all-time favourite people and authors. It is a surreal and somewhat insane story based on the real life adventures of Hunter S. Thompson, on his journey to Las Vegas in search of the "American Dream." It is a wacky, drug-fuelled, stream-of-consciousness narrative that is among one of the innovative titles in a form of New Journalism called Gonzo Journalism, accredited to Thompson. It is quite a surreal read, strange and weird but completely thrilling!
Thompson regarded it as a "failed experiment"' in Gonzo Journalism due to the fact it was edited several times before publication. Typically, a Gonzo work would be written by and about the author in the present, sent away without being edited, resulting in a stream-of-consciousness narrative and more personality. Gonzo works are far more revealing, fiction-like and personal than typical works of journalism. Despite the fact it was edited, however, I feel F&L still emulates everything Thompson wanted in a true Gonzo way. He holds nothing back, reveals everything and created a story than could be fiction. It is a drug-fuelled look at the failure of the American Dream, an astute analysis of Thompson's society and a weird book that will stay with you forever.
Thompson regarded it as a "failed experiment"' in Gonzo Journalism due to the fact it was edited several times before publication. Typically, a Gonzo work would be written by and about the author in the present, sent away without being edited, resulting in a stream-of-consciousness narrative and more personality. Gonzo works are far more revealing, fiction-like and personal than typical works of journalism. Despite the fact it was edited, however, I feel F&L still emulates everything Thompson wanted in a true Gonzo way. He holds nothing back, reveals everything and created a story than could be fiction. It is a drug-fuelled look at the failure of the American Dream, an astute analysis of Thompson's society and a weird book that will stay with you forever.
Engineering a Safer World: Systems Thinking Applied to Safety
Book
Engineering has experienced a technological revolution, but the basic engineering techniques applied...
Beyond Mindfulness: The Direct Approach to Lasting Peace, Happiness, and Love
Book
Written by best-selling author, meditation expert, psychotherapist, and spiritual teacher Stephan...
Prayerful Warrior Mom
Book
⭐️ 2024 Eric Hoffer Grand Prize Award Finalist Unlock the secrets to living a balanced,...
Emma @ The Movies (1786 KP) rated A Simple Favor (2018) in Movies
Sep 25, 2019
Fair warning, if you see this film you will want Blake Lively to be your lover by the end of the it.
There's no denying that this is an entertaining film. There's also no denying that it's predictable. Even without knowing the plot you can basically guess the way it's going to progress.
Blake Lively is amazing though. I honestly thought I'd never seen her in anything, but of course she's been in Green Lantern and Accepted. The latter being a favourite and the former... well, I thought Deadpool had taken care of that one for us... oh well. She does a great job of her role in this one. You can see her devious nature in the way she interacts with everyone and she really does improve the scenes she's in.
I love Anna Kendrick, she's funny and very talented but I wasn't overly keen on her character in this. While I understand that Stephanie takes a major character shift when she realises what has happened, I didn't enjoy the way they did that on the screen. There were some baby steps followed by some huge leaps. At one point I was convinced that they'd gone... "Anna Kendrick always sings... we should get some of that in there." I don't feel like it added anything to the film at all. I'd be interested to see how her character unfolds in the book.
The humour in it is entertaining but the side story of the other "mums" and particularly their inclusion in the summing up of the story feels out of place and more comedy than was right for this film.
Rating this one is tricky. Apart from those odd bits I didn't hate the film and none of it was badly dont... but I don't think I enjoyed it either. I took the evening to think it over and honestly I'm still not sure so therefore it's sitting at the three and a half mark. There's an outside possibility that I'll watch it again to see if I can figure it out, but I don't think it'll be any time soon unless I'm really at a loose end.
Based on the book A Simple Favour by Darcey Bell.
What should you do?
I personally wouldn't recommend watching this until it's streaming. But plenty of other people would disagree with me on that.
Movie thing you wish you could take home
Emily and Sean's house. Although I'm baffled as to why the kitchen is so small so I'd probably expand into the living room space.
There's no denying that this is an entertaining film. There's also no denying that it's predictable. Even without knowing the plot you can basically guess the way it's going to progress.
Blake Lively is amazing though. I honestly thought I'd never seen her in anything, but of course she's been in Green Lantern and Accepted. The latter being a favourite and the former... well, I thought Deadpool had taken care of that one for us... oh well. She does a great job of her role in this one. You can see her devious nature in the way she interacts with everyone and she really does improve the scenes she's in.
I love Anna Kendrick, she's funny and very talented but I wasn't overly keen on her character in this. While I understand that Stephanie takes a major character shift when she realises what has happened, I didn't enjoy the way they did that on the screen. There were some baby steps followed by some huge leaps. At one point I was convinced that they'd gone... "Anna Kendrick always sings... we should get some of that in there." I don't feel like it added anything to the film at all. I'd be interested to see how her character unfolds in the book.
The humour in it is entertaining but the side story of the other "mums" and particularly their inclusion in the summing up of the story feels out of place and more comedy than was right for this film.
Rating this one is tricky. Apart from those odd bits I didn't hate the film and none of it was badly dont... but I don't think I enjoyed it either. I took the evening to think it over and honestly I'm still not sure so therefore it's sitting at the three and a half mark. There's an outside possibility that I'll watch it again to see if I can figure it out, but I don't think it'll be any time soon unless I'm really at a loose end.
Based on the book A Simple Favour by Darcey Bell.
What should you do?
I personally wouldn't recommend watching this until it's streaming. But plenty of other people would disagree with me on that.
Movie thing you wish you could take home
Emily and Sean's house. Although I'm baffled as to why the kitchen is so small so I'd probably expand into the living room space.