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Kristy H (1252 KP) rated Moxie: A Novel in Books

Apr 4, 2019

Moxie: A Novel

Jennifer Mathieu | 2017 | Gender Studies, Young Adult (YA)

8.8

(5 Ratings)

Book Rating

This book has been on my shelf for a little while; I'd bought it as I'd heard good things. I'm working on my self-imposed #readwhatyouown challenge this year, and once I heard that Amy Poehler was going to direct an adaption of this one at Netflix, I figured it was a good time to pick it up.

MOXIE was a slow starter, but turned into a really rousing, empowering read, and I'm excited to see how it translates to the screen. It's incredibly timely and also very terrifying. The more I read it, the more horrified I was that this was reality for females in high school. So much of what Mathieu describes you know happens, but as a parent of two young girls, it's just awful to read about all these kids endure.

There's almost two plot lines in this one--the feminist saga of Moxie and a romance featuring Vivian and another boy at school. I've seen some complaints that the romance detracted from the overall plot, but I actually enjoyed it. Vivian even worries that she is distracting herself from Moxie, at times, because of her relationship. The romance also provides some comedic moments and humanizes Vivian, making her seem more like a real teen. She's a great character, and I really like her.

Overall, even though this was a little slow to begin, I really enjoyed it. It's very YA, if that makes any sense--it's a great book to have on the shelves of all high schools. I would rate it as a 3.5-star read, but I'm bumping it up to 4-stars, because it makes you laugh, cheer, and nearly cry. You'll also fall for the characters, especially Vivian and her friends. I'm looking forward to see how Poehler and crew bring this to Netflix.

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Charlie Cobra Reviews (1840 KP) rated Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (2019) in Movies

Jul 7, 2020

A New Take On Classic Story Horror

Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark is a 2019 horror movie directed by Andre Ovredal, with screenplay adapted by Dan and Kevin Hageman, from a screen story by producer Guillermo Del Toro, Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunstan. It's based on the children's book series by Alvin Schwartz and produced by CBS Films, Entertainment One, 1212 Entertainment, Double Dare You Productions and Sean Daniel Company, and distributed by Lionsgate. The film stars Zoe Colletti, Michael Garza, Gabriel Rush, Austin Zajur and Natalie Ganzhorn.

Three teenagers in the small town of Mill Valley, Pennsylvania, Stella (Zoe Colletti), Auggie (Gabriel Rush) and Chuck (Austin Zajur) incur the wrath of school bully Tommy Millner after playing a prank. They are chased by him and saved by a drifter named Ramon (Michael Garza) who let's them into his car. The group including Ramon explore a haunted house belonging to the Bellows, founders of the town, Inside of a secret room belonging to the Bellows' daughter Sarah, they find a book of scary stories written by her. After taking the book with them, they start to believe that there is more to the rumors about the house being haunted when stories in the book appear to happen in real life.

This movie was actually pretty good. I thought it could have been scarier but I think it was done well for being rated PG-13. Of course, I'm old enough to remember the books and they were really creepy, especially the illustrations. The movie was good at building suspense, and being creepy. I really liked the characters and felt that they were likeable and had a little something for everyone in how they were relatable. The character development could have been better for sure but the creature effects were spot on. The Monsters were definitely awesome and I like the way the made it an anthology movie without it actually being an anthology. It was pretty unique in that way and I can see how a sequel could work if it's financially successful enough to warrant one. I give this movie a 7/10.