Search
Search results
Princess Olga, a Wild and Barefoot Romanov
Book
This is very much a human interest story, told with humour by a down to earth woman struggling to...
Kara Skinner (332 KP) rated Eleanor & Park in Books
Jun 11, 2019
Eleanor and Park: First Love At Its Finest
Contains spoilers, click to show
I did this book for a reading vlog without knowing anything about it and that turned out to be a mistake. This book was a lot heavier than I anticipated. Trigger warnings for domestic violence and child abuse for those who want to read it.
Together, Eleanor and Park are excellent. They have witty dialogue full of 80’s references and general high school silliness. The two of them together made me nostalgic for high school with their cuteness.
That was definitely needed because the rest of the book was really dark.
From the start, Eleanor isn’t doing well. As the new kid in school, she is an easy target for bullies and has no friends to turn to (at least until Park). But her home life is even worse. After living off a neighbor’s couch for a year, Eleanor was finally allowed to move back into her mom’s house, where her mom and siblings live under the tyrannical rule of Ritchie, a violent and abusive alcoholic.
In Eleanor’s house, the feeling of danger and unease is always there, heightened by nightly fights between Ritchie and the mother and having no bathroom door. Eleanor only really feels safe in the house when Ritchie isn’t there.
Her escape becomes Park, the quiet boy on the bus who let her sit next to him and lets her read comic books over his shoulder. Slowly they develop a reluctant friendship which turns into love.
I really like Eleanor. I think she’s really smart and witty and very relatable. She’s insecure about her body and the abuse definitely took a toll on her emotional state. But in general, she’s just a normal teenager.
Park is a typical teenager as well. He’s frustratingly insecure and angsty, which makes him act like a jerk to Eleanor sometimes, especially in the beginning. But despite that, he’s usually a really nice guy who cares deeply for Eleanor. He’s pretty understanding about her home life and is patient with her, which I really like. He does a lot of things that he thinks are small, like lending Eleanor comics and making her mixtapes, but they mean the world to Eleanor, and it’s really sweet.
The only time I didn’t like him was when he found out someone was writing dirty messages on Eleanor’s textbook and he accused her of writing the messages herself. That was really out-of-character for him and was pretty horrible. Aside from that, though, he was nice. He was, in general, a normal, realistic teenage boy.
My biggest problem with the book was the ending. It wasn’t satisfying for me because it ends abruptly and I didn’t get enough closure about Eleanor’s family. It’s hinted at that they move out of the toxic house but it’s never confirmed. So because of that, it’s only 4 out of 5 stars, but still definitely worth reading.
Together, Eleanor and Park are excellent. They have witty dialogue full of 80’s references and general high school silliness. The two of them together made me nostalgic for high school with their cuteness.
That was definitely needed because the rest of the book was really dark.
From the start, Eleanor isn’t doing well. As the new kid in school, she is an easy target for bullies and has no friends to turn to (at least until Park). But her home life is even worse. After living off a neighbor’s couch for a year, Eleanor was finally allowed to move back into her mom’s house, where her mom and siblings live under the tyrannical rule of Ritchie, a violent and abusive alcoholic.
In Eleanor’s house, the feeling of danger and unease is always there, heightened by nightly fights between Ritchie and the mother and having no bathroom door. Eleanor only really feels safe in the house when Ritchie isn’t there.
Her escape becomes Park, the quiet boy on the bus who let her sit next to him and lets her read comic books over his shoulder. Slowly they develop a reluctant friendship which turns into love.
I really like Eleanor. I think she’s really smart and witty and very relatable. She’s insecure about her body and the abuse definitely took a toll on her emotional state. But in general, she’s just a normal teenager.
Park is a typical teenager as well. He’s frustratingly insecure and angsty, which makes him act like a jerk to Eleanor sometimes, especially in the beginning. But despite that, he’s usually a really nice guy who cares deeply for Eleanor. He’s pretty understanding about her home life and is patient with her, which I really like. He does a lot of things that he thinks are small, like lending Eleanor comics and making her mixtapes, but they mean the world to Eleanor, and it’s really sweet.
The only time I didn’t like him was when he found out someone was writing dirty messages on Eleanor’s textbook and he accused her of writing the messages herself. That was really out-of-character for him and was pretty horrible. Aside from that, though, he was nice. He was, in general, a normal, realistic teenage boy.
My biggest problem with the book was the ending. It wasn’t satisfying for me because it ends abruptly and I didn’t get enough closure about Eleanor’s family. It’s hinted at that they move out of the toxic house but it’s never confirmed. So because of that, it’s only 4 out of 5 stars, but still definitely worth reading.
MaryAnn (14 KP) rated Stalking Willow (Amazing Grace, #1) in Books
Mar 5, 2019
Synopsis:
Bitterness, stalking, and a neighbor to die for
What's a girl to do?
Trailed by a stalker in New York City, Willow Thomas, a young ad executive, scurries back to her small North Carolina hometown and the lake house where ten years earlier a scandal revealed her entire life had been a lie, and a seed of bitterness took root in her soul. The cocoon of safety Willow feels upon her arrival home soon unravels when she meets opposition from her family, faces the man she left behind, and the stalker reveals he is close on her heels. Can Willow learn to trust God to tear out her roots of resentment, reunite her family, ferret out a deadly stalker, and to rekindle the love she left behind?
My Thoughts: This novel grasps the reader's attention from the first sentence. Full of action and suspense the reader won't want to put it down.
Willow's family had been keeping secrets from her for years, she had a mother who didn't want her and a stalker on the loose.
The story of forgiveness, of a family that finally comes together. It's a story of how a family can overcome jealousy and bitterness toward one another.
This was an interesting story-line and full of action. I enjoyed reading this book and I have to say my favorite character had to be granny. With her faith in God, her prayers and her notes that she left behind really made the story and brought the family together.
I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review and the opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
Bitterness, stalking, and a neighbor to die for
What's a girl to do?
Trailed by a stalker in New York City, Willow Thomas, a young ad executive, scurries back to her small North Carolina hometown and the lake house where ten years earlier a scandal revealed her entire life had been a lie, and a seed of bitterness took root in her soul. The cocoon of safety Willow feels upon her arrival home soon unravels when she meets opposition from her family, faces the man she left behind, and the stalker reveals he is close on her heels. Can Willow learn to trust God to tear out her roots of resentment, reunite her family, ferret out a deadly stalker, and to rekindle the love she left behind?
My Thoughts: This novel grasps the reader's attention from the first sentence. Full of action and suspense the reader won't want to put it down.
Willow's family had been keeping secrets from her for years, she had a mother who didn't want her and a stalker on the loose.
The story of forgiveness, of a family that finally comes together. It's a story of how a family can overcome jealousy and bitterness toward one another.
This was an interesting story-line and full of action. I enjoyed reading this book and I have to say my favorite character had to be granny. With her faith in God, her prayers and her notes that she left behind really made the story and brought the family together.
I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review and the opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
Baby's First Puzzle with Funny Sounds - Baby App by Happy-Touch®
Games and Book
App
Well done! The elephant matches in the right place - this is your first puzzle! Now it is time to...
TutoPLAY Best TutoTOONS Games
Games and Education
9.0
Rate It
App
TutoPLAY is an all-in-one app pack of most wanted TutoTOONS games. We hand-selected and added the...
Animation Express
Entertainment and Games
App
You Can Create Great Animations! Paint • Draw • Animate • Add Sound! This Free version of...
Sassy Brit (97 KP) rated The Beguiled in Books
Jun 5, 2019
“A classic slice of Southern Gothic, shot through with psychological suspense, which is the basis for Sofia Coppola’s (winner of Best Director at Cannes) 2017 film of the same name starring Nicola Kidman, Colin Farrell and Kirsten Dunst”. Source: wiki/The_Beguiled_(2017_film).
The book was originally written with the title A Painted Devil and some of you eagle-eyed readers and film fanatics may also remember this was a film starring Clint Eastwood and Geraldine Page in the ’70s. The maid in the latter film and this 1966 novel, was black and there was also another bi-racial character, too. However, in the new film, mentioned above, this bi-racial character was played by Kirsten Dunst. This totally ruined the whole point of the book that the black woman was really a slave in their household and the bi-racial woman (who was a free woman) could not seem to see that she herself was not truly white. And that, dear readers, is a very relevant part of the original book, why change it? (Rolls eyes). Is it so wrong to portray this black woman exactly how the author intended her to be? The way I see it, what she did in that house was her way of surviving. It’s an integral part of the story. Why hide it?
After all, if you look at the underage sex and the way the main male character acts by taking advantage of his position in a household full of young girls who are basically shut away from society, should he also be seen as wrong? These young girls are easy prey, but some, are also very willing to learn… Incidentally, I must say the heat and sexual tension within the book is superbly done.
I found parts of the way this was written to be a little repetitive and confusing in style, despite this, it was still a great story. It’s only told from the girls’ perspective, which in many ways adds to this atmospheric, hothouse of lies and deceit the further into the story you delve.
The Beguiled is chock full with a Gothic sense of foreboding and unease, set against a backdrop of the Civil War, which made for some serious, ghostly tension. Who is this injured solider who turns up on their doorstep? How can these girls protect themselves from this seductive man when they have no idea what life is like outside the four walls of the house they live in?
If you read right to the end you’ll find out the brilliant twist of fate this story has in store for you. A devious surprise!
The book was originally written with the title A Painted Devil and some of you eagle-eyed readers and film fanatics may also remember this was a film starring Clint Eastwood and Geraldine Page in the ’70s. The maid in the latter film and this 1966 novel, was black and there was also another bi-racial character, too. However, in the new film, mentioned above, this bi-racial character was played by Kirsten Dunst. This totally ruined the whole point of the book that the black woman was really a slave in their household and the bi-racial woman (who was a free woman) could not seem to see that she herself was not truly white. And that, dear readers, is a very relevant part of the original book, why change it? (Rolls eyes). Is it so wrong to portray this black woman exactly how the author intended her to be? The way I see it, what she did in that house was her way of surviving. It’s an integral part of the story. Why hide it?
After all, if you look at the underage sex and the way the main male character acts by taking advantage of his position in a household full of young girls who are basically shut away from society, should he also be seen as wrong? These young girls are easy prey, but some, are also very willing to learn… Incidentally, I must say the heat and sexual tension within the book is superbly done.
I found parts of the way this was written to be a little repetitive and confusing in style, despite this, it was still a great story. It’s only told from the girls’ perspective, which in many ways adds to this atmospheric, hothouse of lies and deceit the further into the story you delve.
The Beguiled is chock full with a Gothic sense of foreboding and unease, set against a backdrop of the Civil War, which made for some serious, ghostly tension. Who is this injured solider who turns up on their doorstep? How can these girls protect themselves from this seductive man when they have no idea what life is like outside the four walls of the house they live in?
If you read right to the end you’ll find out the brilliant twist of fate this story has in store for you. A devious surprise!
The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt
Book
This classic biography is the story of seven men--a naturalist, a writer, a lover, a hunter, a...
Awix (3310 KP) rated Mother! (2017) in Movies
Feb 10, 2018 (Updated Feb 10, 2018)
Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em
Palpably insane fantasy psycho-horror from Darren Aronofsky that seems intentionally designed to alienate and repel mainstream audiences. The presence of Jennifer Lawrence and Javier Bardem seems calculated to lure in innocent passersby for this unhinged tale of... of...
Well, look, Lawrence and Bardem live in a lovely house in the countryside; he is a noted poet, she is his wife, and to begin with all is well. Then mysterious strangers start appearing and dark events threaten to disrupt their idyll. Things get extreme. At points they get extremely extreme.
If this movie was your pet it would attack your furniture and howl at the moon, then fetch you your slippers with a 'who, me?' look on its face. If you're a stickler for things like naturalism and coherence, then it is probably not for you; but Aronofsky creates the fractured sense of living through an unfolding nightmare, with all the non-logic that suggests, rather well, and the stars are all on full power. It's still very nearly the proverbial movie with something to offend everyone, but you can't fault the technical expertise with which it has been made, or the director's success in realising his (highly peculiar) vision for the film.
Well, look, Lawrence and Bardem live in a lovely house in the countryside; he is a noted poet, she is his wife, and to begin with all is well. Then mysterious strangers start appearing and dark events threaten to disrupt their idyll. Things get extreme. At points they get extremely extreme.
If this movie was your pet it would attack your furniture and howl at the moon, then fetch you your slippers with a 'who, me?' look on its face. If you're a stickler for things like naturalism and coherence, then it is probably not for you; but Aronofsky creates the fractured sense of living through an unfolding nightmare, with all the non-logic that suggests, rather well, and the stars are all on full power. It's still very nearly the proverbial movie with something to offend everyone, but you can't fault the technical expertise with which it has been made, or the director's success in realising his (highly peculiar) vision for the film.
