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Suswatibasu (1703 KP) rated Florida in Books

Jan 17, 2018

Florida

Lauren Groff | 2018 | Fiction & Poetry

6.7

(3 Ratings)

Book Rating

Wonderful short stories, despite disjointed flow

For those who are unfamiliar of the landscape and society of Florida, Lauren Groff's collection of stories is enticing and varied. Ranging from the usual depictions of alligators, to the atypical descriptions of those who just want to get away, Groff attempts to show the various characters found in the sweltering heat and stormy climes of southern USA.

I particularly enjoyed the story of the mother who takes her two young sons to France to escape the tropical summers and her restless life. It is detailed and you get a sense of her edginess throughout, worried that something may happen to her children or to have an unpleasant encounter with their overbearing landlord.

My only gripe would be that because each story is not clearly signposted, the flow of the stories become confusing and it takes a minute to realise you've begun a whole new chapter. It is a bit jarring, so shorter stories became completely unmemorable as a result. However, it is a pleasant read overall, I enjoyed her writing style.

Kudos

Zuky the BookBum (15 KP) rated Tampa in Books

Mar 15, 2018

Tampa

Alissa Nutting | 2013 | Fiction & Poetry

6.0

(4 Ratings)

Book Rating

This book is meant to shock! Based on the case of Florida teacher Debra Lafave, this book explores a taboo subject with a twist. Not as often do you hear of a female teacher having an affair with a student, so it's a great book that flips this subject on its head to reveal a shocking double standard that's sadly present in our society.

I was so interested in where this story was going and how it was going to end that I hardly put it down! Definitely a NSFW book with some rather graphic scenes. Don't expect this book to be anything like Lolita in the sense that Nabokov writes in a such a way that you catch yourself slipping and feeling sorry for Humbert on occasion, Nutting makes no efforts to make us feel sorry for Celeste, she's presented as a lust driven woman who will stop at nothing to fufill her desires.

By liking this book I am not condoning the actions written within, I simply found this a fascinating read. Very different to anything I've read before.

Kudos

ClareR (6067 KP) rated Florida in Books

Nov 2, 2018

Florida

Lauren Groff | 2018 | Fiction & Poetry

6.7

(3 Ratings)

Book Rating

Very enjoyable short stories!

This collection of short stories really surprised me. I'm not usually a fan of this type of story (short!), but I seem to be reading more and more of them lately, and I'm beginning to change my mind. Some of these stories are set in Florida, where the natural world seems to be a central theme: uncontrollable, untameable. Two stories are set in France, and another in Brazil. Again, the central characters appear to be in situations where they have no control.
I really enjoyed the stories 'Dogs Go Wolf' where two young girls are abandoned on an island and left to fend for themselves; 'Eyewall', where a woman decides to stay in her home during a hurricane (which I hope never to experience!); 'Above and Below' which tells the story of a young woman who fails her course at university, leaves and becomes homeless. This last story was frankly frightening, as it portrayed how easy it is to become homeless, how little support there is, and how people can become estranged from their families.
A really good collection.

Kudos

Matthew Krueger (10051 KP) rated Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992) in Movies

Dec 19, 2019 (Updated Dec 19, 2019)

Tim Curry!!!!!

Home Alone 2: Lost in New York - rinses and repeats the same formula as the first movie, but this time in New York.

The Plot: After snarky youth Kevin McCallister (Macaulay Culkin) loses track of his father at the airport, he mistakenly gets on a plane headed for New York City -- while the rest of the McCallisters fly to Florida. Now alone in the Big Apple, Kevin cons his way into a room at the Plaza Hotel and begins his usual antics. But when Kevin discovers that the Sticky Bandits (Joe Pesci, Daniel Stern) are on the loose, he struggles to stop them from robbing an elderly man's toy store just before Christmas.

Tim Curry saves this movie, Time Curry is the best part of this movie, Tim Curry is the only reason the watch this movie. He is so funny and great in this film, i love him in this movie.

A classic christmas movie, for the whole family to watch.

Dont forgot about that cameo with Trump.

Kudos

Versusyours (757 KP) Dec 19, 2019

They didn't stray far from home with this sequel.

Kudos

Jesters_folly (230 KP) rated Crawl (2019) in Movies

Jul 30, 2019

Crawl (2019)

2019 | Horror, Thriller

6.5

(38 Ratings)

Movie Rating Watch

A good simple story (0 more)

Crawl is the tale of a father and Daughter who find themselves trapped in a rapidly flooding cellar/crawl space during a hurricane in Florida, their escape is hindered by an increasing number of man eating alligators. There’s not much else to add, plot wise. Crawl is mainly a two and a half cast driven film (two humans and one yappy dog) as Haley and Dave attempt to escape the cellar and get to safety. We do see other characters but usually from a distance and only for short periods of time.

Crawl is a classic creature feature and really works, the small cast helps portray the looming danger and the combination of the alligators and rising flood waters make the threat very believable and the yappy dog is used to enhance the tension as you find yourself waiting for it to be eaten.

And that’s it, Crawl has a simple premise, a simple story and is an hour and half of tension, jump scares, people being eaten and, oh yes one yappy dog.