ClareR (5854 KP) rated The Other Half of Augusta Hope in Books
Sep 29, 2020
Alongside the story of Augusta, chapters are alternated with Parfait and his story. He lives in Burundi - a country torn apart by Civil War. Parfaits family is destroyed by the horrors of this war, so he and his younger brother leave for what they feel will be a better life in Spain. Life has more sadness to throw at Parfait, though - and Augusta is dealt a cruel hand as well. She finds solace in Spain, which is where Parfait and Augusta are destined to meet.
I liked the alternating chapters of Augusta and Parfait - this device really highlighted the huge differences in their lives early on. As the story progresses though, it also shows that no matter how different we may all appear, there are actually more similarities than differences. We are all human; we all experience love and loss.
This was such a good way to highlight the refugee crisis in Europe. At a couple of points in the story, Parfait announces to the Spanish town how many people had died in the Mediterranean that year in their quest to live a better life. This book is heartbreaking in more than this one way. Both characters suffer unimaginable loss, and both learn to value life, a feeling of home and belonging.
It’s a wonderful book, and one that I’d heartily recommend. Many thanks to NetGalley and The Borough Press for my ebook copy.
LeftSideCut (3776 KP) rated American Horror Story - Season 9 in TV
May 10, 2020
1984 is one big homage to 80s slasher films, in particular Friday the 13th. If you've read my any of my reviews before, you will know that I bloody love a slasher, even the shitty ones, so this premise was always going to be a winner for me.
A big change this time around is the absence of big AHS names. No Sarah Paulson, no Evan Peters, no Kathy Bates. Their presence is certainly missed in some sort of capacity, but the cast we have do a solid job at carrying the season. Emma Roberts and Billie Lourd take centre stage here, and are both great. We also see some familiar faces in Leslie Grossman, Cody Fern, John Carroll Lynch, Finn Wittrock, Leslie Jordan, Lily Rabe, and Dylan McDermott, so it still has that signature AHS feel. A couple of newcomers are introduced as well - Matthew Morrison and Gus Kenworthy are both hilarious. Zach Villa plays real life serial killer Richard Ramirez (who briefly appeared all the way back in Hotel) and the guy is genuinely menacing. If another season of Twin Peaks ever gets made - he's a dead ringer for Killer Bob.
One of the highlights is "villain" Mr. Jingles (John Carroll Lynch). He's such a finely crafted character, that he honestly deserves to stand next to the Jason and Freddy's of the slasher world.
The story is pretty fun. Mixing 80s campy horror with more familiar AHS elements (such as ghosts not being able to leave the place they died etc) and is pretty engaging for the most part. It gets a little convoluted near the end, and lacks the depth that seasons such as Asylum and Roanoke gave, but it's forgiveable considering the quality of everything else.
As a final thought - the synthwave version of the theme tune is fucking awesome.
Ali A (82 KP) rated The Extraordinaries in Books
Apr 15, 2020
This is the first book of TJ Klune that I read, and if I remember correctly, this is his first YA release - he did a good job! The Extraordinaries has a little bit of everything. LGBTQ characters, including a badass lesbian couple, we have superheroes, ADHD representation, and well rounded, unique characters.
I loved the friend dynamic of Nick, Seth, Gibby, and Jazz. They're all there to support each other no matter the topic. Which is great, because some of the things that Nick did in the book annoyed me so much. Here his friends are doing everything they can to support him and he'd be very self-centered about it... even doing something that, in all honesty, I don't see anyone doing older than ten, much less sixteen, because of how stupid it was. He remained frustratingly oblivious on a lot of things and it goes from being realistic to just plain stupidity.
The reveal is hinted nearly all the way through the book and I guessed it for the most part, which is what I think Klune was trying to do. There are quite a few twists that I wasn't expecting so that made the novel exciting.
Overall, it was a good YA debut novel. I've already got the sequel on my lists to look out for.
*Thank you BookishFirst and Tor Teen for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review
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