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BookCritics (259 KP) rated The Identicals in Books
Jun 12, 2017
ideal summer read. There’s juicy scandal, gossip, family dysfunction, decadent and mouthwatering food descriptions, rich characterization and a vivid setting. To me, nothing is more purely entertaining than one of her books
Critic- Amy Novel Gossip
Original Score: 5 out of 5
Read Review:https://novelgossip.com/
Original Score: 5 out of 5
Read Review:https://novelgossip.com/
April Rose Mossow (93 KP) rated Sadie in Books
May 20, 2019
When Sadie’s sister Maddie is found dead, it sets off a series of events: A road trip, uncovering secrets, but also, asking more questions than it answers. I really enjoyed this book, slowly the adrenaline just kicks you into gear and you’re rushing through the book to finish. It’s a murder-mystery, tangled with lies, family dysfunction, and vengeance. Told between podcasts and the perspective of its main character, it’s a different style of writing, written especially for this generation’s teens. You feel so deeply for Sadie, and the people she meets along the way. The story is fast-paced and keeps you thoroughly engaged. (I didn’t want to put it down!) Sadie is a well written, real character you root for through the entirety of the book. It’s such a sad chain of events, you don’t really know what to expect, but you hope against all hope that Sadie makes it out alive.
Awix (3310 KP) rated Hereditary (2018) in Movies
Jun 16, 2018 (Updated Jun 16, 2018)
Never-knowingly-underwrought horror movie (looks like one of those post-horror movies for a bit; but no, it's a horror movie after all). Screwed up but nicely affluent family contends with aftermath of bereavement; is the mother right in her belief that supernatural forces are at work around them, or just a bit nuts?
First half is a horribly intense and rather oppressive study of grief and emotional dysfunction; not actually what you'd call scary, though. Second half is a much more traditional horror movie with spooky seances, severed heads a go go, waking nightmares, embroidered doormats and many other clichés - but still not actually what you'd call scary in any but the most superficial way. Plot is all over the place; all the bits that will make you jump are in the trailer, pretty much. Very possibly worth watching for a brilliant performance by Toni Collette, but this is the equivalent of a really good stereo in a car with a cruddy engine. The movie is atmospheric and the director shows promise, but if this is what counts as a great horror movie nowadays the genre is in serious trouble.
First half is a horribly intense and rather oppressive study of grief and emotional dysfunction; not actually what you'd call scary, though. Second half is a much more traditional horror movie with spooky seances, severed heads a go go, waking nightmares, embroidered doormats and many other clichés - but still not actually what you'd call scary in any but the most superficial way. Plot is all over the place; all the bits that will make you jump are in the trailer, pretty much. Very possibly worth watching for a brilliant performance by Toni Collette, but this is the equivalent of a really good stereo in a car with a cruddy engine. The movie is atmospheric and the director shows promise, but if this is what counts as a great horror movie nowadays the genre is in serious trouble.
Whatchareadin (174 KP) rated Playmates in Books
Apr 9, 2019
Tania and Trevor Wilde are twins. They live in a small lake town with their parents. Every night their parents have "wine time" where they hurl bottles and insults at each other. Tania and Trevor spend "wine time" in their room wishing they could be anywhere else and making a plan to get away. The Wilde family is the definition of a dysfunctional family. Mom is abusive towards Tania and Trevor feels helpless to stop it. Then she invites strange men into the home while dad is away working. The next day, though, she will have bible study with some of her friends. Dad, is not exempt from the dysfunction. He is a professor at the local community college and brings home co-eds to the basement.
Tania frequently thinks about death and often coaxes Trevor to the dark side. She doesn't have many friends so she counts on her brother to fill that void. Then an unfortunate incident takes place and makes them both a lot darker.
Playmates, is a psychological thriller about killer kids. While this book did not have me on the edge of my seat, it held and captured my attention. I wanted to know what was going to happen next. I look forward to the next titles in the Wilde series. Bedmates and Soulmates.
Tania frequently thinks about death and often coaxes Trevor to the dark side. She doesn't have many friends so she counts on her brother to fill that void. Then an unfortunate incident takes place and makes them both a lot darker.
Playmates, is a psychological thriller about killer kids. While this book did not have me on the edge of my seat, it held and captured my attention. I wanted to know what was going to happen next. I look forward to the next titles in the Wilde series. Bedmates and Soulmates.
Christine A. (965 KP) rated Sex in the Name of God in Books
Dec 9, 2018
Covers very difficult and sometimes volatile topic (1 more)
Humorous yet repectful
Explains sex in the Bible in a humorous way
I was provided with a complimentary copy of this book so I could give an honest review. Sex and God are not normally two words uttered in the same discussion and rarely in the same sentence. This book, "Sex in the Name of God" by Wilfred Knight discusses both together throughout the 199 page book. The books covers very difficult and sometimes volatile topics. It starts with "Nudity and Incest: Forbidden Fruit" (chapter 1), continues with "Prositution: Whorer Stories" (chapter 7) and "Rape: What a Dick!" (Chaper 9) and ends with "Sex in Heaven" (chapter 17).
The book is not one that I was able to read in one or two sittings. I read a chapter at a time with long breaks in between as I usually read short stories.
Each topic covered is done with humor. Yet, the author is able to do so while being respectful. It is a very thin line and he walks it carefully. I would not recommend this book to anyone who is extremely religious or anyone who does not think religion should be discussed in a humorous way. For all others, this is worth checking out. My favorite idea discussed is "the only upside is the knowledge that family dysfunction is an intended norm." (page 6). Good to know. We're normal!
The book is not one that I was able to read in one or two sittings. I read a chapter at a time with long breaks in between as I usually read short stories.
Each topic covered is done with humor. Yet, the author is able to do so while being respectful. It is a very thin line and he walks it carefully. I would not recommend this book to anyone who is extremely religious or anyone who does not think religion should be discussed in a humorous way. For all others, this is worth checking out. My favorite idea discussed is "the only upside is the knowledge that family dysfunction is an intended norm." (page 6). Good to know. We're normal!
graveyardgremlin (7194 KP) rated All About Evie (Chameleon Chronicles, #1) in Books
Feb 15, 2019
Not totally romance, not exactly chick-lit, not altogether a mystery, so what is it? A bit of all of the above really. ALL ABOUT EVIE is a fluffy read that's fairly quick and utterly harmless. Evie, at 41, is a nice change from the 23-year-olds that run rampant in lighter fiction. Yes, her age does come into play since she's an old geezer in the world of show business, but it never became overbearing or unnecessary and added another dimension to her character. Evie narrates in first person, while when it cuts to another character it is written in third person, a bit jarring at first, but I didn't have any problems with it. The plot was fine, as was the pace, there's not much to rave or quibble about, the book was just nice. I think the most irritating thing about the book was the excessive mentioning of Evie's TMJ (temporomandibular joint, which should actually really be called TMD - temporomandibular joint disorder/dysfunction), I really got sick of her bringing it up and then confusing it with lockjaw. We got it, you have a problem with your jaw, move on. But on the whole, I wouldn't say there was anything earth-shattering about the book but it's a perfectly good beach read. One thing, this is the first of three books (not sure if they'll be more), so it's not a standalone, which was unfortunate for me. At this time I'm not sure if I'll be on the look-out for the other two.
Dave Navarro recommended Ordinary People (1980) in Movies (curated)
Kristy H (1252 KP) rated Invisible Girl in Books
Oct 29, 2020
A dark, creepy read full of surprises
Owen Pick, a teacher in his thirties, has never had a relationship with a women. He's barely even had a successful date. He's teased by the young female students at the college where he works. He lives in a flat owned by his elderly aunt and recently has found solace on incel forums. Across the street from Owen lives the Fours family. They, frankly, find Owen creepy, especially mom Cate and her teenage daughter. Dad, Roan, a child psychologist, is too busy with work to care that much, while their teenage son is basically the only one Cate doesn't need to worry about. And then there's Saffyre Maddox. Now seventeen, Saffyre, was once a patient of Roan's. She misses their connection and seeks to maintain it by following him. Then, one night, Saffyre disappears, and it seems like Owen was the last person to see her. What truly happened to Saffyre?
After a bit of a slump with thrillers, I'm on a roll (though what's with ambiguous endings lately?). This was a creepy and ominous read! There is a lot going on here--Saffyre and her childhood issues; Owen and his many problems with women; and the complete dysfunction of the Fours family--but Jewell does a good job weaving them all together. The result is a tense and dark novel that keeps you guessing the entire time.
"I have a dark past, and I have dark thoughts." ~Saffyre
This is an engaging read, with Saffyre, Cate, and Owen turning into dynamic and unique voices. It's also ominous, with the overriding sense that something bad is going to happen. Secrets are the name of the game here, and Jewell turns the sexual predator theme on its head a bit. There's also plenty of revenge and strong women, which is great.
I wasn't a fan of the ending, which leaves things up in the end, but this is still a twisty ride with interesting characters and a different plot. 4 stars.
After a bit of a slump with thrillers, I'm on a roll (though what's with ambiguous endings lately?). This was a creepy and ominous read! There is a lot going on here--Saffyre and her childhood issues; Owen and his many problems with women; and the complete dysfunction of the Fours family--but Jewell does a good job weaving them all together. The result is a tense and dark novel that keeps you guessing the entire time.
"I have a dark past, and I have dark thoughts." ~Saffyre
This is an engaging read, with Saffyre, Cate, and Owen turning into dynamic and unique voices. It's also ominous, with the overriding sense that something bad is going to happen. Secrets are the name of the game here, and Jewell turns the sexual predator theme on its head a bit. There's also plenty of revenge and strong women, which is great.
I wasn't a fan of the ending, which leaves things up in the end, but this is still a twisty ride with interesting characters and a different plot. 4 stars.
Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated The Girl on the Train (2016) in Movies
Jun 19, 2019
Rachael (Emily Blunt) is a woman who has hit rock bottom. Her downward spiral has cost her a marriage, her career, and everything else she cherished and left her a severe alcoholic. Rachael is so far gone that she rides the commuter train into New York every day secretly drinking along the way. There is some method to this madness as the train goes by her former home and this allows Rachael a look in at the woman who replaced her and the new family her ex now enjoys.
In the new film “The Girl on the Train”, based on the book of the same name by Paula Hawkins, the locale has been changed from London to New York but much of the content has been left unchanged which should thrill fans of this highly popular novel.
Rachael has become fascinated with a couple two houses down from her old home and she watches and fantasizes about the perfect life she imagines they have.
The reality is that Megan (Haley Bennett) is living in a controlling and abusive relationship and holds a dark secret of her own which she reveals to her therapist as well as her desire to run away and also take him as a lover.
When Rachael sees Megan in an embrace with someone other than her husband one day, she decides to confront Megan and express her anger over her assumed infidelity even though Rachael has never met her much less learned her name and only knows of her from being in the same workout class and seeing her on the train.
Rachael awakens one morning covered in blood and in a have and is unable to remember what has happened. To make matters worse, Megan has gone missing and her husband is the primary suspect in the disappearance.
Despite being warned away numerous times by her ex Tom (Justin Theroux) and his wife Anna (Rebecca Ferguson), Rachael continues to regain her memories of what happened that evening even though she continues to have issues differentiating reality from fantasy in a situation with high stakes and dire consequences.
What follows is a compelling thriller that kept me interested even though I was able to unravel the mystery 30 minutes or so before the conclusion of the film. I had not read the book or much on the film going in as I wanted to try to crack the mystery without any additional help, but still found it an interesting and entertaining film. There was more eroticism than one may expect at first glance but the film weaves a great story of multiple characters all with various degrees of dysfunction.
The cast is very strong and take what could at first be a routine mystery and turned it into one of the best and most entertaining Dramas of the year.
http://sknr.net/2016/10/07/the-girl-on-the-train/
In the new film “The Girl on the Train”, based on the book of the same name by Paula Hawkins, the locale has been changed from London to New York but much of the content has been left unchanged which should thrill fans of this highly popular novel.
Rachael has become fascinated with a couple two houses down from her old home and she watches and fantasizes about the perfect life she imagines they have.
The reality is that Megan (Haley Bennett) is living in a controlling and abusive relationship and holds a dark secret of her own which she reveals to her therapist as well as her desire to run away and also take him as a lover.
When Rachael sees Megan in an embrace with someone other than her husband one day, she decides to confront Megan and express her anger over her assumed infidelity even though Rachael has never met her much less learned her name and only knows of her from being in the same workout class and seeing her on the train.
Rachael awakens one morning covered in blood and in a have and is unable to remember what has happened. To make matters worse, Megan has gone missing and her husband is the primary suspect in the disappearance.
Despite being warned away numerous times by her ex Tom (Justin Theroux) and his wife Anna (Rebecca Ferguson), Rachael continues to regain her memories of what happened that evening even though she continues to have issues differentiating reality from fantasy in a situation with high stakes and dire consequences.
What follows is a compelling thriller that kept me interested even though I was able to unravel the mystery 30 minutes or so before the conclusion of the film. I had not read the book or much on the film going in as I wanted to try to crack the mystery without any additional help, but still found it an interesting and entertaining film. There was more eroticism than one may expect at first glance but the film weaves a great story of multiple characters all with various degrees of dysfunction.
The cast is very strong and take what could at first be a routine mystery and turned it into one of the best and most entertaining Dramas of the year.
http://sknr.net/2016/10/07/the-girl-on-the-train/
I've been picking up books on Autism since we realized my husband was on the spectrum, in hopes of finding tools to help us manage daily life. He's too busy with school and work to do much reading these days, so I've been doing the research and bringing it to him to discuss. It's led to some enlightening conversations and we've both learned a lot about each other. Cynthia Kim's blog was one I pored over and read parts of to him, and I finally got her book from my library.
One of the things I noticed most was she details social rules in ways I never would have thought to do - she has a list of seven very specific rules for eye contact, for example. As an allistic person, most of those rules are things I do instinctively, without even really knowing the reason for them. Like, in conversation, looking up or to the side means you're thinking, looking down means you're done talking. I read that to my husband and he jumped in, surprised, with "so THAT'S why I get interrupted so much!" I never would have thought to codify that into words, but it's something I naturally do.
She talks about meltdowns vs shutdowns, which are things we've already learned the difference between with my husband, but we're both eager for strategies to avoid, mitigate, and recover from them. She gave some strategies as places to start, but that's hard to give general advice on as every autistic is so very different in that regard.
The chapter on alexithymia was really interesting. Alexithymia being an impairment in identifying and describing emotions. It leads to a lot of "Hey, are you okay?" "I don't know." "Well, how do you feel?" "I DON'T KNOW!" We'd already been introduced to this concept through her blog, but she expands on it in the book.
Another interesting (and applicable!) chapter was the one on executive dysfunction. (We joke that I am my husband's personal assistant - I keep his calendar and remind him of important dates/events/homework due dates, and sometimes nudge him to do things if it seems he's having trouble getting started.)
Kim uses the term Asperger's in her writing (as well as autism), but Asperger's has been rolled into the greater Autism Spectrum Disorder since 2013. Very recently there's been some debate about the Asperger name, as it's been revealed that Hans Asperger at least cooperated with the Nazis, and possibly was one himself. It's still used commonly, though, and there is a large community built around being Aspies. Personally, I think using the Asperger term is a little too divisive - it's basically the same as "high-functioning." But. I'm allistic and my opinion on the matter isn't the important one, so. We use autistic for my husband. (His choice, and when I asked his thoughts, he also thinks the Asperger term is divisive and not useful.) There's a number of Twitter threads and articles on the subject of using or not using the Asperger term, and what it means to the community.
Overall, this was a really great book for learning about how autism affects day-to-day life, and gave us lots of talking points and words for things we didn't have the vocabulary for. I'm looking forward to tackling the rest of my Autism Reading List.
You can find all my reviews at http://goddessinthestacks.wordpress.com
One of the things I noticed most was she details social rules in ways I never would have thought to do - she has a list of seven very specific rules for eye contact, for example. As an allistic person, most of those rules are things I do instinctively, without even really knowing the reason for them. Like, in conversation, looking up or to the side means you're thinking, looking down means you're done talking. I read that to my husband and he jumped in, surprised, with "so THAT'S why I get interrupted so much!" I never would have thought to codify that into words, but it's something I naturally do.
She talks about meltdowns vs shutdowns, which are things we've already learned the difference between with my husband, but we're both eager for strategies to avoid, mitigate, and recover from them. She gave some strategies as places to start, but that's hard to give general advice on as every autistic is so very different in that regard.
The chapter on alexithymia was really interesting. Alexithymia being an impairment in identifying and describing emotions. It leads to a lot of "Hey, are you okay?" "I don't know." "Well, how do you feel?" "I DON'T KNOW!" We'd already been introduced to this concept through her blog, but she expands on it in the book.
Another interesting (and applicable!) chapter was the one on executive dysfunction. (We joke that I am my husband's personal assistant - I keep his calendar and remind him of important dates/events/homework due dates, and sometimes nudge him to do things if it seems he's having trouble getting started.)
Kim uses the term Asperger's in her writing (as well as autism), but Asperger's has been rolled into the greater Autism Spectrum Disorder since 2013. Very recently there's been some debate about the Asperger name, as it's been revealed that Hans Asperger at least cooperated with the Nazis, and possibly was one himself. It's still used commonly, though, and there is a large community built around being Aspies. Personally, I think using the Asperger term is a little too divisive - it's basically the same as "high-functioning." But. I'm allistic and my opinion on the matter isn't the important one, so. We use autistic for my husband. (His choice, and when I asked his thoughts, he also thinks the Asperger term is divisive and not useful.) There's a number of Twitter threads and articles on the subject of using or not using the Asperger term, and what it means to the community.
Overall, this was a really great book for learning about how autism affects day-to-day life, and gave us lots of talking points and words for things we didn't have the vocabulary for. I'm looking forward to tackling the rest of my Autism Reading List.
You can find all my reviews at http://goddessinthestacks.wordpress.com