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ClareR (5996 KP) rated Haven’t They Grown in Books
Jan 23, 2020
A compelling story, with an unguessable ending - well, for me, anyway!
Haven’t They Grown starts off with what can only be described as a bizarre incident. Beth decides to go and see what her rich ex-best friend’s house looks like before she drops her son off at his football match - after all, its kind-of on the way. What she is confronted with though, is unbelievable: her friend, Flora, with her two children. Her two SMALL children. Which sounds perfectly normal, but the children look exactly the same as they did 12 years ago.
Beth becomes obsessed by this conundrum, and is determined to find out what is going on. Honestly, at several points I thought I might have picked up a science fiction novel, and there was going to be some rational, clone-based explanation (of course these kinds of explanations are ALWAYS rational in my world!). But there wasn’t. There is a perfectly TWISTED reason behind all of this (and you’ll have to read it to find out!). I didn’t for one moment guess the reason behind the ageless children.
Beth is a determined woman - luckily she seems to have a husband who backs down, supports her and lets her get on with it. Her daughter seems as persistent and driven as her mother - except for when her GCSE revision is involved. Living with a teenager in his final year at school, I can empathise with Beth here - my son will do anything to avoid his revision as well! But Beth’s daughter is a good sounding board for her, and pushes her to do things and ask people questions that her character probably wouldn’t have done on her own.
I really very much enjoyed this. The big reveal at the end completely floored me, and I most definitely hadn’t seen it coming. This is a great, entertaining story, and had me gripped throughout.
Many thanks to Readers First for my copy of this book to read and honestly review.
Beth becomes obsessed by this conundrum, and is determined to find out what is going on. Honestly, at several points I thought I might have picked up a science fiction novel, and there was going to be some rational, clone-based explanation (of course these kinds of explanations are ALWAYS rational in my world!). But there wasn’t. There is a perfectly TWISTED reason behind all of this (and you’ll have to read it to find out!). I didn’t for one moment guess the reason behind the ageless children.
Beth is a determined woman - luckily she seems to have a husband who backs down, supports her and lets her get on with it. Her daughter seems as persistent and driven as her mother - except for when her GCSE revision is involved. Living with a teenager in his final year at school, I can empathise with Beth here - my son will do anything to avoid his revision as well! But Beth’s daughter is a good sounding board for her, and pushes her to do things and ask people questions that her character probably wouldn’t have done on her own.
I really very much enjoyed this. The big reveal at the end completely floored me, and I most definitely hadn’t seen it coming. This is a great, entertaining story, and had me gripped throughout.
Many thanks to Readers First for my copy of this book to read and honestly review.
Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated The Gift (2015) in Movies
Aug 6, 2019
The new film ‘The Gift’ will be the first movie released by the new company STX Entertainment.
It stars Jason Bateman as Simon, Joel Edgerton as Gordo, and Rebecca Hall as Robyn, Simons’ wife.
The story begins with Simon and Robyn just moving back to Los Angeles. He works in cyber security, and she is an interior designer trying to start her own business.
While out shopping for new home decor, Robyn is approached by a man she’s never seen, who says he is an old acquaintance of Simons.
Through a series of instances where Gordo delivers unasked for, and at least in Simons case, unwanted, gifts the story unravels into a twisty path of creepy stalking behavior with an undercurrent of as yet unrevealed plots for revenge.
While Robyn thinks that Gordo is just lonely and trying to make a friendly good impression, Simon insists that Gordo is ‘weird’ and that he has an ulterior motive due to his attraction to Robyn.
While not quite a ‘Fatal Attraction’ story as much as a ‘Revenge’ plot, this movie does keep you interested, invested and involved. It isn’t quite a ‘digging your nails into your palms’ kind of scary but more of a ‘what the HECK is he doing’, and ‘oh my gosh he can’t possibly be doing THAT’ story.
At least twice, the audience jumped and some of us yelped at at least one point.
The movie keeps you not quite sure who to feel most sorry for and not quite knowing who, if anyone, you are ‘rooting for’
The end is a twisted mess (in a good way) that had my jaw dropping and saying to myself ‘oh no no no no no no NO that’s not happening, it can’t be that way…..’, even though I had seen it coming.
I liked the movie and think people looking for a psychological thriller will really enjoy it.
I would give this movie 4 out of 5 stars.
It stars Jason Bateman as Simon, Joel Edgerton as Gordo, and Rebecca Hall as Robyn, Simons’ wife.
The story begins with Simon and Robyn just moving back to Los Angeles. He works in cyber security, and she is an interior designer trying to start her own business.
While out shopping for new home decor, Robyn is approached by a man she’s never seen, who says he is an old acquaintance of Simons.
Through a series of instances where Gordo delivers unasked for, and at least in Simons case, unwanted, gifts the story unravels into a twisty path of creepy stalking behavior with an undercurrent of as yet unrevealed plots for revenge.
While Robyn thinks that Gordo is just lonely and trying to make a friendly good impression, Simon insists that Gordo is ‘weird’ and that he has an ulterior motive due to his attraction to Robyn.
While not quite a ‘Fatal Attraction’ story as much as a ‘Revenge’ plot, this movie does keep you interested, invested and involved. It isn’t quite a ‘digging your nails into your palms’ kind of scary but more of a ‘what the HECK is he doing’, and ‘oh my gosh he can’t possibly be doing THAT’ story.
At least twice, the audience jumped and some of us yelped at at least one point.
The movie keeps you not quite sure who to feel most sorry for and not quite knowing who, if anyone, you are ‘rooting for’
The end is a twisted mess (in a good way) that had my jaw dropping and saying to myself ‘oh no no no no no no NO that’s not happening, it can’t be that way…..’, even though I had seen it coming.
I liked the movie and think people looking for a psychological thriller will really enjoy it.
I would give this movie 4 out of 5 stars.
DC
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Charlie Cobra Reviews (1840 KP) rated Neon Genesis Evangelion in TV
Jul 7, 2020
A Must See Classic Of The Time
Contains spoilers, click to show
Re-watching this anime kind of threw me for a loop. I guess I had never really seen the actual anime series and just seen parts or some of the movies. I liked how the series expanded the story of the movies and how it showed more character development and interaction between the characters than I remember. It was also kind of weird and awkward how I don't remember so much of it having to do with Shinji being at the age where he's going through puberty and interest in girls and there being a lot of context that went over my head when I was younger. That being said a lot of that held up quite well for this anime being dated. The thing I didn't like was it didn't really answer the questions I had about the Angels, where they were coming from, what were they, and what was there purpose for attacking. I remember them saying something about them having human DNA or something but that's all I remember. The giant mecha fights were just as good as I remember but with one difference, I didn't remember that they had to have a cord to be plugged in for power. That did give it a different dynamic from most other robot anime I've seen where they can operate forever or don't run out of gas/fuel. I also didn't remember Rei's character being so dull, to me she didn't really have much personality or character development. And totally didn't remember about the boys that he made friends with every came out again let alone one was chosen to pilot an Evangelion. All in all it has it's pros and cons but is definitely a must see for fans of anime and mecha, especially if they've never seen it before. So once again I give it a 7/10.
LeftSideCut (3776 KP) rated Scream 4 (2011) in Movies
Nov 12, 2020
11 years after Scream 3 "graced" cinema screens, Wes Craven returned to his meta horror series in an era where the genre had gone into full remake mode.
I'm not convinced that Scream 4 needs to exist, especially after the underwhelming way the third film closed out the original trilogy, but this entry is definitely a step up.
The Meta side of things is again a little over the top, but it's good to see Ghostface in a more modern setting. This Ghostface is brutal as well, and Scream 4 is arguably the goriest of the franchise, making it's iconic masked antagonist more intimidating than ever.
The returning cast are back again - Neve Campbell, Courtney Cox, and David Arquette - and have somehow survived all of the Scream movies - as per usual, it feels like a homecoming with them in tow. It's not often in horror you have one person make it this far, let alone three. It gives the series a uniqueness that I can appreciate.
The new characters are all written like typical cannon fodder slasher victims but they all serve there purpose well. Hayden Panittiere is a welcome addition, and it's nice to see Anthony Anderson in a pre Black-ish role.
The plot is so so. It's all ground that has been relentlessly trodden by this point, but it still works. Sidney is back in town. People start getting stabbed. Everyone is a suspect. Rinse and repeat.
The killer reveal in this one isn't too shoddy either, and makes more sense that the reveals in Scream 2 and 3, and there's a lot of direct homage to the first movie in how it's all executed (coming round full circle to the remake commentary)
All in all, Scream 4 is a bucket load of fun, even if it doesn't quite hit the heights if the original. It will be interesting to see how the upcoming sequel will turn out following Craven's death, but I have the feeling it won't quite be the same. Long live Wes Craven!
I'm not convinced that Scream 4 needs to exist, especially after the underwhelming way the third film closed out the original trilogy, but this entry is definitely a step up.
The Meta side of things is again a little over the top, but it's good to see Ghostface in a more modern setting. This Ghostface is brutal as well, and Scream 4 is arguably the goriest of the franchise, making it's iconic masked antagonist more intimidating than ever.
The returning cast are back again - Neve Campbell, Courtney Cox, and David Arquette - and have somehow survived all of the Scream movies - as per usual, it feels like a homecoming with them in tow. It's not often in horror you have one person make it this far, let alone three. It gives the series a uniqueness that I can appreciate.
The new characters are all written like typical cannon fodder slasher victims but they all serve there purpose well. Hayden Panittiere is a welcome addition, and it's nice to see Anthony Anderson in a pre Black-ish role.
The plot is so so. It's all ground that has been relentlessly trodden by this point, but it still works. Sidney is back in town. People start getting stabbed. Everyone is a suspect. Rinse and repeat.
The killer reveal in this one isn't too shoddy either, and makes more sense that the reveals in Scream 2 and 3, and there's a lot of direct homage to the first movie in how it's all executed (coming round full circle to the remake commentary)
All in all, Scream 4 is a bucket load of fun, even if it doesn't quite hit the heights if the original. It will be interesting to see how the upcoming sequel will turn out following Craven's death, but I have the feeling it won't quite be the same. Long live Wes Craven!
Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2434 KP) rated Triple Chocolate Cheesecake Murder in Books
Apr 23, 2021 (Updated Apr 23, 2021)
Murder in the Mayor’s Office
Easter is coming, and The Cookie Jar is awash in orders, keeping Hannah Swensen, her business partner Lisa, and the rest of their staff busy. But that doesn’t mean that Hannah doesn’t have time to help her sister Andrea when she calls in a panic. She’s just found Mayor Bascomb’s dead body in his office hours after having a very loud fight with him. The police wouldn’t be doing their job if they didn’t consider Andrea a suspect, so Hannah springs into action to figure out what really happened. Can she prove her sister is innocent?
I’ve been reading this long running series since the beginning, and I keep reading because I do enjoy catching up with the characters. If that is your reason for picking up the book, you’ll find they are as charming as always. I was pleased to see the soap opera of the previous few books has died down, and we see growth in a surprising direction in one character. Sadly, the love triangle is no closer to being resolved. The mystery is decent with enough suspects to keep us engaged. However, the focus is on the food. There is plenty of talk about food and how much the characters love what they are eating. With 24 new recipes for us to try, there is certainly plenty of new food to talk about. The dialogue is repetitious, an example of why realistic dialogue is better than real dialogue in a novel. While I still want to catch up with the characters, I find myself skimming the book instead of reading it closely. If you are like me and want to keep up with the characters, you’ll be glad you picked up this book. But if you haven’t started the series yet, you’ll want to go back to the beginning to find out why there are readers like me who still enjoy visiting the characters. And if you’ve given up on the series, you can safely skip this one.
I’ve been reading this long running series since the beginning, and I keep reading because I do enjoy catching up with the characters. If that is your reason for picking up the book, you’ll find they are as charming as always. I was pleased to see the soap opera of the previous few books has died down, and we see growth in a surprising direction in one character. Sadly, the love triangle is no closer to being resolved. The mystery is decent with enough suspects to keep us engaged. However, the focus is on the food. There is plenty of talk about food and how much the characters love what they are eating. With 24 new recipes for us to try, there is certainly plenty of new food to talk about. The dialogue is repetitious, an example of why realistic dialogue is better than real dialogue in a novel. While I still want to catch up with the characters, I find myself skimming the book instead of reading it closely. If you are like me and want to keep up with the characters, you’ll be glad you picked up this book. But if you haven’t started the series yet, you’ll want to go back to the beginning to find out why there are readers like me who still enjoy visiting the characters. And if you’ve given up on the series, you can safely skip this one.
