Sign up
Search
Advanced search settings

Search only in certain items:

Search results
All (5000)
Content
People
Apps
Books
Orbs
Movies
Music
Podcasts
Shows
Tabletop Games
Tech
TV
Video Games
YouTube Channels
Videos
40x40

Sean Farrell (9 KP) rated The Blessings in Books

Mar 15, 2018  
TB
The Blessings
Elise Juska | 2014
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
I had been hearing some positive things about this book around the library and so I decided to give it a read, not knowing what to really expect. It wound up being a very relatable and enjoyable book. There isn't really much by way of a plot, rather each chapter winds up being basically a short story about one member of a very close, extended Irish Catholic Philadelphia family over the course of several decades. They are all connected, and so answers that aren't necessarily provided during the course of one person's "story" wind up being provided during someone else's. Each character is both different enough from the others and fully fleshed-out enough to keep things interesting, and the choice to follow different people in each chapter makes it hard to guess where things may be heading next. There are certainly some surprises in store for members of the family throughout. Growing up with a large family that was very close makes many of the moments immediately resonate with me, and some of the problems faced throughout the course of the novel strike close to home as well. Still, the aforementioned lack of plot makes it feel somewhat uneventful when all is said and done. The Blessings do wind up being a great cast of characters though, and the family's unwavering love for and faith in each other no matter how much life throws at them is a joy to behold, and that alone makes this one of the better works of fiction you might run across this Summer.
  
40x40

Christine A. (965 KP) rated How To Bury Your Brother in Books

Oct 3, 2020  
How To Bury Your Brother
How To Bury Your Brother
Lindsey Rogers Cook | 2020 | Contemporary
9
9.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
I was provided with a complimentary copy of this book so I could give an honest review. The opinions are entirely my own, and any quotes are taken from the ARC and may be different in the final published copy.

How To Bury Your Brother is the debut novel of Lindsey Rogers Cook. The title drew my eye, and I thought it would have been a humorous novel. Reading the description, you quickly realize it is not. After selecting the book, because of personal reasons, it was not easy to start reading this book. However, once I started, I could not put it down.

Alice thought she would see Rob, her estranged brother, again. His funeral happened first. Years passed, and while cleaning out her parents' house, she discovers a box of letters her brother wrote to other people. Devastated he did not write a letter to her, Alice is determined to learn about the brother she lost and discover why he left by delivering the letters and meeting people who knew Rob.

Doing so forces Alice to look at the dysfunctionality of her seemingly normal family, how Rob and his abandonment shaped her life, newly discovered family secrets, and secrets she has kept from her family and friends.

The well-written story is a fast read. Cook pulls from her Georgian background to accurately portray southern families, their interactions with each other, with the community, and the stories they tell.

This 200-word review was published on Philomathinphila.com on 10/2/20.
  
    SOMA Messenger

    SOMA Messenger

    Social Networking and Lifestyle

    (0 Ratings) Rate It

    App

    SOMA Messenger is a FREE messaging app made for global communications between friends, family and...

40x40

Jesters_folly (230 KP) rated Unhinged (2020) in Movies

Jul 31, 2020  
Unhinged (2020)
Unhinged (2020)
2020 | Thriller
9
7.6 (17 Ratings)
Movie Rating Watch
Contains spoilers, click to show
After a confrontation at a set of traffic lights, Rachel finds herself in a race for the survival of her family, friends and herself.
Russell Crowe plays a man who has had enough, imagine if a film like 'Falling Down' had continued (or had a sequel) where the main character had gone completely off the rails and you'd have Crowe's character. After being honked by Rachel at a set of traffic lights the Man decides to teach her what a bad day is really like. After terrorising Rachel as she drives around the Man moves on to attacking and killing her friends and family, blaming Rachel for her actions.
There is a lot driving in Unhinged, Rachel spends most of the time in her car either avoiding the man or trying to plan what to next and the man switches between chasing Rachel or terrorising her family.
The moral of the film is that road rage is everywhere, be polite to people because you don't know who you're talking to and that you can use 'Fortnight' tactics in real life.
Once it gets going, Unhinged doesn't give up, there's violence, torture and threat interspersed with car chases that also contain threat.
Unhinged also tries to comment on society, as the man kills one of Rachel's friends, people look on, film the event or walk away but no one tries to help, some people do call the police but no one tries to stop the man.
Unhinged is fast paced, and violent, I found it a bit predictable but still enjoyable.