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101 Careers in Education

John Carlson and Richard Carlson

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This unique book features the expertise of father-and-son educators who bring together a wealth of...

Rocking Fatherhood: The Dad-to-Be's Guide to Staying Cool

Chris Kornelis and Duff McKagan

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Let me guess: your Facebook page is littered with baby studies and you're hearing "Having a baby...

Dancing with Elephants

Jaram Sawatsky

9.0 (1 Ratings) Rate It

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Want to enjoy the life you are living, even as you face major life challenges? Is your mind...

Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated The Girl on the Train (2016) in Movies

Jun 19, 2019

Rachael (Emily Blunt) is a woman who has hit rock bottom. Her downward spiral has cost her a marriage, her career, and everything else she cherished and left her a severe alcoholic. Rachael is so far gone that she rides the commuter train into New York every day secretly drinking along the way. There is some method to this madness as the train goes by her former home and this allows Rachael a look in at the woman who replaced her and the new family her ex now enjoys.

In the new film “The Girl on the Train”, based on the book of the same name by Paula Hawkins, the locale has been changed from London to New York but much of the content has been left unchanged which should thrill fans of this highly popular novel.

Rachael has become fascinated with a couple two houses down from her old home and she watches and fantasizes about the perfect life she imagines they have.

The reality is that Megan (Haley Bennett) is living in a controlling and abusive relationship and holds a dark secret of her own which she reveals to her therapist as well as her desire to run away and also take him as a lover.

When Rachael sees Megan in an embrace with someone other than her husband one day, she decides to confront Megan and express her anger over her assumed infidelity even though Rachael has never met her much less learned her name and only knows of her from being in the same workout class and seeing her on the train.

Rachael awakens one morning covered in blood and in a have and is unable to remember what has happened. To make matters worse, Megan has gone missing and her husband is the primary suspect in the disappearance.

Despite being warned away numerous times by her ex Tom (Justin Theroux) and his wife Anna (Rebecca Ferguson), Rachael continues to regain her memories of what happened that evening even though she continues to have issues differentiating reality from fantasy in a situation with high stakes and dire consequences.

What follows is a compelling thriller that kept me interested even though I was able to unravel the mystery 30 minutes or so before the conclusion of the film. I had not read the book or much on the film going in as I wanted to try to crack the mystery without any additional help, but still found it an interesting and entertaining film. There was more eroticism than one may expect at first glance but the film weaves a great story of multiple characters all with various degrees of dysfunction.

The cast is very strong and take what could at first be a routine mystery and turned it into one of the best and most entertaining Dramas of the year.

http://sknr.net/2016/10/07/the-girl-on-the-train/

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BookwormMama14 (18 KP) rated The Painter's Daughter in Books

Jan 2, 2019

When Sophie is betrayed by the man she loves, she is forced to choose between living a respectable life and living for love. Will she be able to find love and acceptance on the path she has chosen?

Sophie Dupont is not only the daughter of a painter, but an accomplished artist herself. Although, she does not see the value in her work. When Wesley Overtree sweeps in and captures Sophie's love, she is sure he will marry her. But when he leaves her in a dire predicament, she has no one to turn to. Captain Stephen Overtree has become accustomed to picking up the pieces after his brother, but will he be able to rescue Sophie? With Wesley gone, and no promise of return or marriage, Sophie accepts Captain Overtree's proposal of marriage, in name only. Although her heart longs for his brother, she is grateful for the opportunity to save her reputation and give her child a fresh start in life. Will a marriage that is based on convenience ever have a chance at true love? Or will fate intervene and prevent the chance for love to bloom at all?

I have to be completely honest, it took me quite awhile to get into this book. All of the other books that I have read by Julie Klassen have sucked me right in and I devoured them like candy. But once I got about half way through The Painter's Daughter I was really beginning to enjoy it! There is a lot (and I mean A LOT) of tension throughout the story. Sophie being married to one Overtree, but in love with another for example. I found myself holding my breath through more than one scene. There are many supporting characters that I found to be quite entertaining and endearing. The message of sin, repentance and redemption is very clear within the pages of this book. It is a good reminder to live life to the fullest, but to be careful of the path we choose. We will have to live with the consequences, whatever the choices we choose. Overall this was a very good book, not my favorite by Julie Klassen (that would be The Secret of Pembrooke Park), but still an excellent story.

I received a free digital copy of The Painter's Daughter from Bethany House Publishers through NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.