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Eleanor (1463 KP) rated The Rest of The Story in Books
Aug 12, 2019
I’ll start by saying that this book is very much not my usual area of reading choice, no mention of murder at all - shock horror!! I tend to only read YA occasionally and run for the hills at the mere hint of the word romance or self-discovery but in the name of the book club and expanding my reading outlook I dived in.
I found the writing in this very well done, despite pretty much nothing happening of note (in my opinion) for most of the book I was still quite happy to keep reading. For a 17-year-old protagonist Emma Saylor is pretty likeable and as we follow her on a summer trip to her mother’s family we get to explore a world she didn’t know she was part of. Following her mother’s drug related death Emma’s father hasn't really spoken much about North Lake and her mother’s family, so we get a character driven exploration of family, friendship and self.
The discovery of her new family, the Calavanders, and learning about the ways of “Lake people” is well; a nice read. Many of the characters felt real and many developed nicely as we got to know them better. It’s not an in your face romance book and in particular the first three quarters are pleasantly light on teenage love drama.
The book for me did fall apart for the last part, where it felt like all of a sudden stuff needed to happen and it felt forced and out of kilter with the rest of the book. I think I had got comfortable with it not being much of a book about things happening and just a pleasant read of people and relationships. Emma’s dad seemed the only character to fall totally flat for me and again this only really hit in the last part of the book. Overall pleasantly surprised, it’s not going to be a go to genre for me but wouldn’t avoid picking up another book by Dessen for a change of pace in the future.
I found the writing in this very well done, despite pretty much nothing happening of note (in my opinion) for most of the book I was still quite happy to keep reading. For a 17-year-old protagonist Emma Saylor is pretty likeable and as we follow her on a summer trip to her mother’s family we get to explore a world she didn’t know she was part of. Following her mother’s drug related death Emma’s father hasn't really spoken much about North Lake and her mother’s family, so we get a character driven exploration of family, friendship and self.
The discovery of her new family, the Calavanders, and learning about the ways of “Lake people” is well; a nice read. Many of the characters felt real and many developed nicely as we got to know them better. It’s not an in your face romance book and in particular the first three quarters are pleasantly light on teenage love drama.
The book for me did fall apart for the last part, where it felt like all of a sudden stuff needed to happen and it felt forced and out of kilter with the rest of the book. I think I had got comfortable with it not being much of a book about things happening and just a pleasant read of people and relationships. Emma’s dad seemed the only character to fall totally flat for me and again this only really hit in the last part of the book. Overall pleasantly surprised, it’s not going to be a go to genre for me but wouldn’t avoid picking up another book by Dessen for a change of pace in the future.
Sextant: A Voyage Guided by the Stars and the Men Who Mapped the World's Oceans
Book
In the tradition of Dava Sobel's 'Longitude' comes sailing expert David Barrie's compelling and...
Money - Budget & Finance
Finance and Productivity
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Get your finances on track with the gorgeous new Money! Your day-to-day finance management will no...
Chasing Darkness
9.0
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Book
Elvis Cole is Back--In a Desperate Fight to Clear his Name... It's fire season, and the hills of...
Chris Hooker (419 KP) rated After the End (After the End, #1) in Books
Jan 12, 2018
[After The End] by [Amy Plum] has a deceptive tile because it leads you to think it is an dystopian novel. Although I love those books this was a welcomed surprise. It turned into more of an action/adventure with a little coming of age thrown in for good measure.
[Plum] did an excellent job of developing a creative, fearless, intelligent character in Juneau. Although she is naive do to lack of exposure she know how to survive. Her loyalty to family even though they hurt her is endearing.
Miles, on the other hand, is a spoiled rotten brat who has had the easy life. He starts out for his own gain but what he really gains is a new insight about life and love.
This story has some supernatural aspects but over all is more of an exciting journey of discovery for two young people who have a lot to learn from each other.
[Plum] did an excellent job of developing a creative, fearless, intelligent character in Juneau. Although she is naive do to lack of exposure she know how to survive. Her loyalty to family even though they hurt her is endearing.
Miles, on the other hand, is a spoiled rotten brat who has had the easy life. He starts out for his own gain but what he really gains is a new insight about life and love.
This story has some supernatural aspects but over all is more of an exciting journey of discovery for two young people who have a lot to learn from each other.
Jenny Houle (24 KP) rated The Idiot: A Novel in Books
Jan 13, 2018
I received an ARC of this book for an honest and unbiased opinion. That being said, the best thing about this book is that it's over...and I can read pretty much anything.
Early on in the book, the main character, Selin, talks about how there are times when her mother hands her books she's read and says "Read this and tell me the point." I wish I had someone I could hand this book to and say that to.
A rambling stream of consciousness, a book of self-discovery, Selin is this 19 year old who has no idea who she is. And I remember being 19 and not having a clue. It's why I wanted to read this book. But I didn't feel like there was any sort of resolution. There were more misadventures and things that made her unhappy and feel displaced in the world. And then...more passive aggressive whining about how she didn't know what she wanted to make her happy.
Early on in the book, the main character, Selin, talks about how there are times when her mother hands her books she's read and says "Read this and tell me the point." I wish I had someone I could hand this book to and say that to.
A rambling stream of consciousness, a book of self-discovery, Selin is this 19 year old who has no idea who she is. And I remember being 19 and not having a clue. It's why I wanted to read this book. But I didn't feel like there was any sort of resolution. There were more misadventures and things that made her unhappy and feel displaced in the world. And then...more passive aggressive whining about how she didn't know what she wanted to make her happy.
Jason (7 KP) rated Wonder Woman (2017) in Movies
Jul 9, 2017
Formulaic and predictable
Maybe it's just me but every superhero film seems to follow a very similar plot - the discovery of the power, the learning how to use it, the token love interest, the token bad guy, the token big fight scene and the predictable ending.
This film did not disappoint in the predictability sense. It was a bit overblown and looked as though it wanted to yell 'girls can fight too you know'.
Unless I missed it, the was no explanation about how the love interest came into the picture in the first place but from there on in, it stuck to the rigid predictability well! Fight scenes were as you'd expect given the budget but nothing to really write home about and I was left feeling like I hadn't seen anything new.
It's a a bit of fun and it'll please those into the DC and Marvel universes but not really for me thanks.
This film did not disappoint in the predictability sense. It was a bit overblown and looked as though it wanted to yell 'girls can fight too you know'.
Unless I missed it, the was no explanation about how the love interest came into the picture in the first place but from there on in, it stuck to the rigid predictability well! Fight scenes were as you'd expect given the budget but nothing to really write home about and I was left feeling like I hadn't seen anything new.
It's a a bit of fun and it'll please those into the DC and Marvel universes but not really for me thanks.
Sasha (36 KP) rated What Happened to Monday (2017) in Movies
Jan 24, 2018
Keeps you on your Toes
This movie I really enjoyed, with my low focus on films I was nicely suprised to sit right though it and be able to keep my attention on what was happening on the screen. Nothing is the movie stayed still, things constantly kept changing. From the days themselves to the girls disappeared, to disturbingly sad flashbacks coming up. The characters were made even better by the by the fact that each of their own personalities were very differentfrom one another, it was actually main cause for Monday disappearing.
Towards the middle of the movie speed of things really picks up leaving the audience having to adapt again to the new setting, new discovery and quite a hefty loss.
All together anyone who likes Black Mirror I’m sure will enjoy this hehe
Towards the middle of the movie speed of things really picks up leaving the audience having to adapt again to the new setting, new discovery and quite a hefty loss.
All together anyone who likes Black Mirror I’m sure will enjoy this hehe
Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2346 KP) rated Circle of Influence (Zoe Chambers Mysteries, #1) in Books
Mar 9, 2018
After an especially tension filled Township Board meeting, paramedic Zoe Chambers is called to an abandoned car with a dead body in the front seat. That discovery on a cold winter night plunges Zoe and Police Chief Pete Adams into a complex mystery that hits too close to home. Where will it end?
I shouldn’t have put this debut off for so long. It’s an amazing book full of great writing. The characters are strong, and they pull us into the story quickly. There are so many twists and turns along the way, but everything makes perfect sense by the time we reach the end. Zoe and Pete share third person narrator duties, something the author uses perfectly to let us get to know the leads and build the tension in the story.
Read my full review at <a href="http://carstairsconsiders.blogspot.com/2017/07/book-review-circle-of-influence-by.html">Carstairs Considers</a>.
I shouldn’t have put this debut off for so long. It’s an amazing book full of great writing. The characters are strong, and they pull us into the story quickly. There are so many twists and turns along the way, but everything makes perfect sense by the time we reach the end. Zoe and Pete share third person narrator duties, something the author uses perfectly to let us get to know the leads and build the tension in the story.
Read my full review at <a href="http://carstairsconsiders.blogspot.com/2017/07/book-review-circle-of-influence-by.html">Carstairs Considers</a>.
David McK (3562 KP) rated Civil War II in Books
Jan 28, 2019
The original Civil War storyline - which sees Captain America and Iron Man/Tony Stark come down on different side of the ethical debate over whether Super-powered individuals should be subject to governmental oversight - was adopted for the 2016 Marvel Cinematic Universe film 'Captain America: Civil War'.
I could very easily see this being adopted for a later film, after the as-yet-unfinished 'Infinity War'. Once again, we have a split in the super-hero community, this time brought about by the discovery of a new Inhuman who appears to be able to see the future -on the one hand, we have those who believe that they have to do whatever they can to stop those visions coming true (even if it means arresting the individual before the crime: hello, 'Minority Report'!) whilst on the other we have those that believe these are only potential futures, and that, well, the crime has to come before the punishment!
I could very easily see this being adopted for a later film, after the as-yet-unfinished 'Infinity War'. Once again, we have a split in the super-hero community, this time brought about by the discovery of a new Inhuman who appears to be able to see the future -on the one hand, we have those who believe that they have to do whatever they can to stop those visions coming true (even if it means arresting the individual before the crime: hello, 'Minority Report'!) whilst on the other we have those that believe these are only potential futures, and that, well, the crime has to come before the punishment!