ClareR (5906 KP) rated We Are Not Like Them in Books
Mar 28, 2022
Jen (white) and Riley (black) have grown up together, and are like sisters. Colour has never been an issue between the two of them. But when Jen’s Police Officer husband is involved in the shooting of a black teenaged boy, and Riley is given the job of covering the story as a TV reporter, things become difficult and strained between them. Is their past enough to keep the friendship going? I did wonder on many occasions throughout the book.
Themes include racism, prejudice, white privilege and police brutality. It’s a pretty hard-hitting book, and could be set anywhere in the US at the moment. We have our own issues and institutional racism to deal with in the UK, and it was interesting to see how this panned out. I did think that Riley worried more about Jen. Jen was completely wrapped up in her own problems, using Riley as someone to lean on, whilst not being at all curious about Riley’s feelings on what had happened to the boy. But then, Jen has some pretty huge things going on in her life, too.
I can see this being an ideal book for a book club - so much is going on, there’s so much to unpick.
It’s a powerful novel. Recommended.
Merissa (12998 KP) rated As The Secrets Turn (My Darkest Secret #3) in Books
Mar 1, 2023
The story is woven nicely from beginning to end, although I did find certain phrases repeated throughout - for example, the colour of her skin against his. Some of the events also seemed a little hard to swallow but they fitted in with the rest of the book. Other happenings were very true to life and made me smile.
I found this book to be a fitting conclusion to Madi and Justin's story, showcasing the hardships and trials Madi has been through and showing her strength and durability, her willingness to fight for those who can't, and how, above all, she is a survivor.
Although you don't have to have read books 1 and 2, I do think it worthwhile to do so, just so you get the full benefit of the complete story arc. Recommended by me.
** same worded review will appear elsewhere **
* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and the comments here are my honest opinion. *
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Italian Lakes
Lonely Planet, Cristian Bonetto, Duncan Garwood and Belinda Dixon
Book
Discover the freedom of open roads with Lonely Planet Italian Lakes Road Trips, your passport to...
Lonely Planet Germany, Austria & Switzerland's Best Trips
Lonely Planet, Marc Di Duca, Nicola Williams and Kerry Christiani
Book
Lonely Planet: The world's leading travel guide publisher Discover the freedom of open roads while...
Lonely Planet Normandy and D-Day Beaches Road Trips
Lonely Planet, Stuart Butler, Oliver Berry and Jean-Bernard Carillet
Book
Lonely Planet: The world's leading travel guide publisher Discover the freedom of open roads with...
Lonely Planet Tuscany Road Trips
Lonely Planet, Duncan Garwood, Paula Hardy and Robert Landon
Book
Discover the freedom of open roads with Lonely Planet Tuscany Road Trips, your passport to uniquely...
Tom Stringer: A Global View
Book
Tom Stringer is a prolific and highly regarded United States based interior designer whose work...
Wildflowers of South Africa, flower identification
Reference and Education
App
"The step-by-step identification process is easier than using a coffee plunger." GETAWAY - SA's...
Kirk Bage (1775 KP) rated Alita: Battle Angel (2019) in Movies
Jan 22, 2021
Alita: Battle Angel is a similar deal. This time Yukito Kishiro’s early 90s manga creation is the inspiration. With James Cameron as producer, and the considerable talents of Christoph Waltz, Jennifer Connelly and Mahershala Ali onboard, it would have been pretty hard for even Rodriguez to mess this up entirely. Although at times he does seem to try, mostly by doing too much and making certain sections too busy and too confusingly cross-genre, like he is frantically trying to colour within the lines whilst using every felt-tip in the pack. A habit that means every now and again something great happens, but you may have missed it in all the background noise.
Compare this film, that just falls short of qualifying for my Bad Movie Triple Bill list, to Spielberg’s superior yet similarly busy Ready Player One. Both involve high concept future realities that are very tech and AI driven. Both make extensive use of CGI and vivid colour palettes. Both are frenetic and demand an audience pays attention in order to fully appreciate the storyline. The difference is that one zig-zags back and forth in tone and momentum, and one is razor sharp in moving us from one idea to the next on a perfect learning curve towards a satisfying climax and conclusion. Guess which one is which? This is why Spielberg is Spielberg and Rodriguez is… a hack.
That said, Alita as a character and concept is charming, and you do therefore find yourself at least wanting to discover her story. The action scenes are also quite electric, and the visuals are often breath-taking. But the whole is less than the sum of the parts here, and we are left with something that can only really exist in the same box as dozens of admirable sci-fi B-movies aimed at teenagers, such as The Maze Runner, Mortal Engines and The City of Ember. It also continues to prove the point alongside Ghost in the Shell and Speed Racer that Anime / Manga into live action is a very tricky business.
There is definitely an audience out there for this movie, and I dare say at some point I will be tempted to give it another watch. What is definitely worth watching however, is how James Cameron uses this as a stepping stone to perfecting virtual humans on the big screen. I am sure everyone involved learned a lot in that respect, so all is far from lost.
Cadenza: Tuner + Metronome
Music and Education
7.0
Rate It
App
We're happy to announce that, as of November 2016, more than 450,000 musicians¹ throughout the...