Search

Search only in certain items:

The Nowhere Girls
The Nowhere Girls
Amy Reed | 2017 | Children
10
9.8 (4 Ratings)
Book Rating
Positive feminist book. (0 more)
Excellent book with an important theme.
The blurb;

Who are the Nowhere Girls? They’re every girl. But they start with just three:

Grace, the preacher’s daughter who unwittingly moved into the old house of a victim whose pain adorns the walls.

Bold Rosina, whose heart has become hardened by all of the straight girls who broke it.

And misunderstood Erin, the girl who finds more solace in science and order than she does in people.

They are brought together by the idea of changing the narrative of a girl they had never met, Lucy Moynihan, the victim of a sexual assault who was victimised further by people who found it easier to believe she had cried wolf than to confront what had really happened to her. A girl who, through the course of one evening, went from an excited teenager who felt wanted by a boy for the first time, to someone else entirely, with ‘a voice in the darkness, giving her a new name: Slut’.

Together, they form the Nowhere Girls, and decide to avenge the
rape of a girl none of them knew.

                          ~


I’m going to jump straight in with wow! This book packs a powerful punch.

The Nowhere Girls tackles rape culture, sexual assault, misogyny and victim blaming, and does it well.

At times it’s uncomfortable reading, but it’s realistic, the empowering feminist message is never patronising, and it does not take an All men are bad stance.

I love the diversity of the 3 main characters. Rosina is Mexican, and gay, Grace’s mum is a church pastor, run out her former church because of her outspoken, liberal views, and Erin has Aspergers, which I felt – as someone with two children with Autism- was well observed! Erin was my favourite character.

The Nowhere Girls shows what can happen when girls get together and support each other, even when they have different views on things. It shows, and gives hope, that by speaking up, by standing together, by raising one another up, we can begin to bring about change.

Amy Reed writes, at the end of the book, how the story was partly inspired by events in her town, owners of a coffee shop were called out by the people in the town, on their misogynistic behaviour, which included a graphic list of sexual conquests – including local women, posted online. They eventually left town in disgrace.

The excerpts from the (fictional) blog in the book, The real men of Prescott were difficult to read, mostly because there really are people who think this way.

This is taken from the blog….

Girls want to be taken; it’s in their natures, so sometimes they put up a fight hoping you’ll get a little rough. The truth is, sometimes no doesn’t mean no. Of course, the feminazis will never admit this, but I’ll bet you a hundred bucks most of those chicks like it rough.
We really do need to talk about rape culture, every girl needs to know that they can say no, at any point, that even if they are too drunk to consent it’s not their fault, it’s still rape, that even if they didn’t have the strength to fight it’s not their fault, it’s still rape, boys need to know this too.

There needs to be a change within society, rape culture is real, it’s happening, and it needs to stop. Any book that can start a conversation about this is a good thing, in my opinion, and with its raw honesty The Nowhere Girls is an emotional, hard hitting, important book.

Buzzfeed says the Nowhere Girls is

‘Empowering, brutally honest, and realistically complex’
  
Fierce Kingdom
Fierce Kingdom
Gin Phillips | 2017 | Fiction & Poetry
6
7.2 (5 Ratings)
Book Rating
Joan and her son Lincoln are enjoying an afternoon in the zoo. As closing time approaches and they are gathering their things to leave, shots ring out. As Joan finds a place to seek refuge and try to keep Lincoln calm and quiet, she's never sure if the sounds she hears are nature or the shooters. Hiding out in an empty porcupine exhibit seems like the perfect idea, until the darkness comes and Lincoln has to eat. He's only four years old and trying to hold off the hunger for too long is nearly impossible. Spanning three grueling hours, Joan and Lincoln try to survive and make it out alive.

I have heard a lot of rave reviews about this book. For me, it was just alright. Even though I made it through the book quickly, I felt myself skipping over parts and then having to go back and read it again.

I don't know what I would do if I was out with my kids and gunfire broke out. Which, unfortunately in this day and age, can happen at any time and anywhere. Whether it be a movie theater, church, a concert, your school, or with your kids at the zoo.

While Joan and Lincoln are hiding, Joan thinks of all things past and present that have gotten her to this exact moment in time. These thoughts help Joan to stay calm during this dire situation. She even sees the gunmen and is able to text her husband that there are two of them to share with the police. But when the hiding place has to be abandoned so that Joan can feed Lincoln in order to keep him quiet, the excitement starts and it's a fight for survival. And the consequences of each action are apparent. Join Joan and Lincoln on their journey to survive when survival seems next to impossible.
  
The Mothers: A Novel
The Mothers: A Novel
Brit Bennett | 2016 | Fiction & Poetry
8
6.8 (5 Ratings)
Book Rating
Nadia Turner, Aubrey Evans, and Luke Sheppard are young adults living in Oceanside, CA. They are each going through their lives trying to overcome their individual struggles. One summer they are all joined together by unforeseen events and these events will help to mold them into the people they will be for the rest of their lives.

We all have people in our lives who know everything think that is going on in our lives or think they do whether we want them to or not. In this book, a few ladies at Upper Room Church fill this spot. They narrate the scene for most of the chapters in this book and give their honest opinion on how the story will unfold. They have known these young people most of their lives and have been in their position many years before.

I have been looking forward to reading this book or a long time. I will say that even though I read this book rather quickly it wasn't quite what I was expecting. I would have liked to seen more of a voice from "The Mothers". Other than that, this was an enjoyable read for me.

Nadia, Aubrey and Luke are all around the same age and live in Oceanside. Luke and Nadia date briefly the summer before she leaves for college. Then Luke suddenly cuts her out of his life like a bad habit. She takes a job working as the First Lady's assistant at Upper Room. There she meets Aubrey. Aubrey is quiet and shy, but is instantly drawn to Nadia. Both of them having lost their mothers, although in very different ways, have a connection that no one would have seen. The story follows the trio as they move through life and deal with their pasts in order to move forward with their futures.

This was a very good debut novel and I look forward to more books by Brit Bennett.
  
The Happening (2008)
The Happening (2008)
2008 | Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi
Back in 2009, when I first saw this, I wrote a review on Flixter which read "Simple question: What the hell was Happening???? More to the point… What was the point???? This movie was so diabolically pointless, self-serving and self-indulgent that words could never do it justice. Such a fall from grace from the man who brought us The Sixth Sense and Unbreakable…"

In many ways, that sums this film up perfectly. On a second viewing, an almost three years later, I feel that I have just a little more to say, but none of which is particularly good, except for the fact that I have increased my original one star/candle review to three out the maximum of ten! Shyamalan was a rising talent and now he has fallen far from grace, especially after the flop that was The Last Airbender. In this film he managed, whether by some misguided design or just by poor direction, to get some of the most amateurish performances out his cast imaginable.

I mean, I know that I'm hardly Mark Wahlberg's greatest advocate but he's still miles better than this, as is his counterpart, Zooey Deschanel, who both put in embarrassingly poor performances, but not just bad, but something that I would expect to see in a church hall! This was amateur all the way, with the only saving grace being the otherwise precise Shyamalan direction. But that's not to say that it wasn't boring or that he was directing a pointless narrative. The concept was slightly interesting but handled in such a ridiculously cack-handed and misjudged manner that I doubt anyone would dare suggest this idea again, let alone finance of film it.

I won't give away the "Twist", if you would call it that, but it is original, I grant you that, but interesting enough to support a movie? No way. Nor was anything else about this film.
  
Fierce Kingdom
Fierce Kingdom
Gin Phillips | 2017 | Fiction & Poetry
6
7.3 (3 Ratings)
Book Rating
Joan and her son Lincoln are enjoying an afternoon in the zoo. As closing time approaches and they are gathering their things to leave, shots ring out. As Joan finds a place to seek refuge and try to keep Lincoln calm and quiet, she's never sure if the sounds she hears are nature or the shooters. Hiding out in an empty porcupine exhibit seems like the perfect idea, until the darkness comes and Lincoln has to eat. He's only four years old and trying to hold off the hunger for too long is nearly impossible. Spanning three grueling hours, Joan and Lincoln try to survive and make it out alive.

I have heard a lot of rave reviews about this book. For me, it was just alright. Even though I made it through the book quickly, I felt myself skipping over parts and then having to go back and read it again.

I don't know what I would do if I was out with my kids and gunfire broke out. Which, unfortunately in this day and age, can happen at any time and anywhere. Whether it be a movie theater, church, a concert, your school, or with your kids at the zoo.

While Joan and Lincoln are hiding, Joan thinks of all things past and present that have gotten her to this exact moment in time. These thoughts help Joan to stay calm during this dire situation. She even sees the gunmen and is able to text her husband that there are two of them to share with the police. But when the hiding place has to be abandoned so that Joan can feed Lincoln in order to keep him quiet, the excitement starts and it's a fight for survival. And the consequences of each action are apparent. Join Joan and Lincoln on their journey to survive when survival seems next to impossible.
  
CO
Coming of Age at the End of Days
4
4.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Anna is a depressed teenager living with her parents in a conventional California suburb. One day, she finds herself pulled out of her "melancholia" by meeting Lars, another teen who moves into her neighborhood, and his parents. Lars and his family introduce Anna to the world of his "church," which is more of religious cult that has a forceful prophecy about the upcoming end of days.

As Anna becomes more and more drawn into this religious world, she finds herself beset by visions and otherwise withdrawing from life around her, including her parents, who are confused and upset by her religious fervor. Anna's only other real contacts are her neighbor, Jim, a mid-20-something who has returned home to live with his parents after a string of disgraces, and Jim's crush/sweetheart, Clara, who also teaches chemistry at Anna's high school.

I'll be honest - I just didn't like this book. It wasn't what I was expecting from this author, or even the description of the novel. I loved LaPlante's "Turn of Mind," but this was nothing like that novel. The plot was odd, disjointed, and really seemed to make no sense. Anna is not a sympathetic character to me -- I completely empathized with her bewildered parents. There really seems to be no reason why Anna would become so drawn into this religion (which perhaps may be the point, but if so, it's not really made well). There are odd plot twists and turns that seem just to pop up out of nowhere, for no reason, including the oddly inserted ending and epilogue. Even's Anna's visions aren't really explained well.

I don't know; I was disappointed by this read. Perhaps I just missed a greater point this book was trying to make, but it didn't do it for me.

(Note I received an ARC of this book from Negalley in return for an unbiased review.)
  
Overlord (2018)
Overlord (2018)
2018 | Action, Mystery, Sci-Fi
Action (2 more)
Great Acting
Intense
F******* Insane
Holy crap, this movie was amazing in IMAX, so you have the chance go see it there. On to the review. From the begin of this movie it was absolutely amazing. The film opens with the paratroops in the the plane getting ready to jump out in France to knock out a radio tower to let the planes know when to make their bombing run. This opening scene was done so well. It made you feel like you were in the plane being shot at and trying to get blown out of the sky. The soldiers getting ready to jump, you could really feel their fear and not wanting to die. It was edge of your seat fun wait to see what was going to happen.

Once they hit the ground the action did not stop, you had Germans shoot at you and explosions and wondering who was going to survive. This really did start like every other war movies, except for some reason I felt more invested the characters and not knowing what was going to happen. Once they arrived to the small town to take out the radio tower you just knew something strange was going on. There was a curfew and if you were out after dark you got taken to the church.

Now this was a really good plot about the Nazis and the crazy science experiments that Hitler was known for working on during the war. Now Nazi-zombies aren't necessarily new but I was a good take. This movie really had the feel of the video game Wolfenstein which was really cool.

Overall the action and scare factor was there on display, props to the crew for making this a great movie. If you are a fan of war and horror and not know what is going to happen. Get out there and enjoy the show.
  
The Pillars of the Earth
The Pillars of the Earth
Ken Follett | 2014 | Fiction & Poetry
8
7.6 (13 Ratings)
Book Rating
Unique concept and well developed characters. (0 more)
A true epic
Ken Follett excelled in his development of this novel. Pillars of Earth is based around the building of a fictional cathedral in Kingsbridge (which is also fictional). Although the concept behind the story was not one that originally grabbed me as being interesting, as the story emerges, as readers, we realise the the cathedral is really just the vehicle that brings the main characters together and takes them forwards through time.

Follett uses this novel to address some of the key inequalities in society during the Middle Ages and demonstrates some of the extremes people went to in order to survive. Issues such as religion and crime are prevalent throughout the novel, as well as unjust treatment of both women and lower class men. Follett also shows an understanding of the struggles between church and crown during this period and demonstrates how each side tries to maintain what control they have, whilst seeking more.

The characters within the story are well thought out and believable. All of the characters felt hardships as well as successes throughout the story. At times, I did feel that Follett romanticed the ease of social movement around this period of history, some of the characters seem to bounce back incredibly quickly from a period of economic hardship.

I expected this story to have a rags to riches approach for the main characters when I first started reading, however, despite there being some elements of this, it was only there in a subtle undertone. I was also impressed with how much actual history that Follett was able to bring into the story without forcing it into the plot (for example the murder of Thomas Beckett).

Despite the size of this novel, it was a pleasantly easy read, which I often felt I needed to read just one more page before I put it down for the night.
  
A Walk to Remember (2002)
A Walk to Remember (2002)
2002 | Drama, Romance
8
7.7 (10 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Story: Whenever you get opposites collide you will see sparks fly in a love story. This has a good message for the teenage audience who believe being popular can make you different when it is the people around you that you ignore that make the difference in people’s lives. The story shows how powerful love is and once you first feel it, it can be so hard to stop the feeling. (8/10)

 

Actor Review: Shane West – Landon the bad boy of the school who falls for the outsider. Shane is a good in the lead role showing how letting someone you’re your life can change you forever. (8/10)

 landon

Actor Review: Mandy Moore – Jamie the outsider who goes to church and everything Landon dislikes. Good performance playing the role trying to avoid a romance but in the end it becomes the best thing to ever happen to her. (8/10)

moore

Director Review: Adam Shankman – Good direction showing all the emotional levels very well. (8/10)

 

Drama: Very good drama showed how people will deal with such a head part of life. (8/10)

Romance: Great romances showing how when you find that one person you will do everything to make sure they are you’re everything. (9/10)

Chemistry: Great chemistry between Landon and Jamie. (9/10)

Believability: This sort of heart breaking situation does happen. (8/10)

Chances of Tears: Pretty high chance. (7/10)

Suggestion: This is something I would suggest to someone lost for ideas for date night, it is full of heart break but they story is so very touching. (Date Night)

 

Best Part: Landon and Jamie’s first date.

Favourite Quote: Landon ‘Our love is like the wind, I can’t see it but I sure can feel it.’

Trivia: Shane West bought the car he uses in the film.

Oscar Chances: No

Chances of Sequel: No

 

Overall: A tragic love story that will pull some heart strings, bring the tissues.

https://moviesreview101.com/2014/02/16/a-walk-to-remember-2002/