Smashbomb

"When I was in college, first year, I saw it and I really hadn’t been exposed to a lot of European filmmakers. It’s such a ‘film’ film. It wasn’t required viewing, it was just a film playing on campus and I hadn’t been interested in film before then. Nowadays people are deciding to get into film at age five when they’re sitting, watching the Oscars. I really didn’t come out of that culture — I was pretty much a John Wayne fan and that was it. Zabriskie Point was a time when I was in a lot of change and flux and these incredible visuals hit me like they had rearranged the organs in my body. The ending and the free-floating debris and everything is an image that burned itself in my consciousness."

Source

Kudos

Quiet Girl in a Noisy World: An Introvert's Story

Debbie Tung

10.0 (2 Ratings) Rate It

Book

Sweet, funny, and quietly poignant, Debbie Tung’s comics reveal the ups and downs of coming of age...

Introvert INFJ

Steal Like an Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative

Austin Kleon

10.0 (1 Ratings) Rate It

Book

When asked to talk to students at Broome Community College in upstate New York in the spring of...

Kristy H (1252 KP) rated Her Perfect Life in Books

Oct 14, 2021

A twisty and personal thriller

Lily Atwood is a famous television reporter known for being perfect. She has a gorgeous young daughter, Rowen, a lovely home, and multiple Emmys. But when Lily was young, her college-age sister, Cassie, just vanished. Then their grieving mother died, leaving Lily alone. Lily and her producer, Greer, have an anonymous source who has been feeding them tips that only increase Lily's popularity. But when the tips start getting personal, Lily begins to panic. Someone is ready to uncover her past and destroy all she holds dear--but why?

"At some point you have to stop looking, I told myself. But still. If she did something truly bad, how much did I want to know? How would that knowledge change my life? My career? Maybe it's better for me to pretend she never existed. But I know she did exist."

This is crazy page-turner with lots of wild plot twists. It certainly keeps you guessing. Lily has the "perfect" life and she and her producer are determined to keep it that way, so that Lily (and Greer) stay on top. It seemed a bit much that Lily's fans would drop her at the sign of one mistake, but I suppose we all understand cancel culture these days...

Neither Lily nor Greer seem particularly likable, with their desire to win at all costs, so I wasn't particularly attached to their characters. I did like Lily's young daughter Rowen. The format of the book, however, is very easy-to-read, with flashbacks to Cassie's life in college interspersed with Greer and Lily's present day narrative. Honestly, college-age Cassie may be the easiest character to root for! Ryan certainly weaves a compelling mystery.

There's a lot going on in LIFE... I can't go into all the threads due to spoilers, but there are a lot of various plot points and sometimes it all seemed like a bit much. The book ended a tad fast, too, considering all those different narratives.

Still, this is a gripping thriller that keeps you on your toes. It illustrates how life is not always perfect... but maybe it does not need to be? 3.5+ stars.

I received a copy of this book from the author's Super Reader club and Macmillan-Tor/Forge in return for an unbiased review.