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Heather Cranmer (2721 KP) rated The Sacred Lies of Minnow Bly in Books
Feb 5, 2020
After watching Sacred Lies on Facebook Watch and finding out it was based on a book, I knew I had to find a copy of the novel! I was beyond happy (and surprised) that my local library had a copy of The Sacred Lies of Minnow Bly by Stephanie Oakes lying around.
Minnow Bly has been part of the Kevinian cult since she was 5 years old. When police find her next to the badly beaten body of a teenage boy, they are shocked to learn that she has no hands. After being placed in juvenile detention, Minnow starts to learn new things about the world. After an FBI agent takes an interest in her case, Minnow must decide if she wants to tell him the truth of what really went on in the cult or if some things are better left unsaid.
The plot for The Sacred Lies of Minnow Bly was incredibly interesting. Oakes did a fantastic job of making Minnow's world come to life. I was instantly transported to the settings of The Sacred Lies of Minnow Bly quite easily each time I started reading this book. There are some really emotional scenes in this book such as some of the scenes with Minnow and Jude, Minnow's hands being chopped off, and the scene towards the end with Minnow's sister Constance. The Sacred Lies of Minnow Bly was definitely an emotional roller coaster for sure. There were plenty of plot twists throughout the book which would leave me with my mouth hanging open quite a bit. The pacing is perfect throughout this novel. All of my questions were answered by the ending of the book. However, the ending of the book is quite speculative about Minnow's future.
The characters in The Scared Lies of Minnow Bly were all very fleshed out and realistic sounding. Many times it felt as if I was reading about something that actually happened instead of a fictitious story. My heart went out to Minnow with all she had to go through, but I admired her strength and determination to not be a victim. I loved her curious nature and how she wanted to learn as much as possible. Minnow's resolve was so strong. I loved Jude so much. He was such a sweet and caring boy who had also been through more than he should. I loved how he wanted to take care of Minnow and how much he truly cared about her. I loved reading about Minnow's and Jude's relationship blossoming. Dr. Wilson was another great character. I wish there would have been a bit more back story for Dr. Wilson, but I did like how he cared about Minnow and her story and how he challenged her to think for herself. One of my favorite characters was Angel, Minnow's cellmate. She's another who challenged Minnow's beliefs and wanted to help educate Minnow. It was a nice touch to see this hardened girl really go out of her way to take care of Minnow and to make sure Minnow thrived.
Trigger warnings The Sacred Lies of Minnow Bly include profanity, violence, death, sex (though not graphic at all), and brainwashing.
Overall, The Sacred Lies of Minnow Bly was such a fascinating read. It had such a fantastic plot and a great cast of characters. It was too easy to get lost in their world. I would definitely recommend The Sacred Lies of Minnow Bly by Stephanie Oakes to everyone aged 15+ who want to get lost in a fantastically written novel! The Sacred Lies of Minnow Bly won't leave you disappointed at all.
Minnow Bly has been part of the Kevinian cult since she was 5 years old. When police find her next to the badly beaten body of a teenage boy, they are shocked to learn that she has no hands. After being placed in juvenile detention, Minnow starts to learn new things about the world. After an FBI agent takes an interest in her case, Minnow must decide if she wants to tell him the truth of what really went on in the cult or if some things are better left unsaid.
The plot for The Sacred Lies of Minnow Bly was incredibly interesting. Oakes did a fantastic job of making Minnow's world come to life. I was instantly transported to the settings of The Sacred Lies of Minnow Bly quite easily each time I started reading this book. There are some really emotional scenes in this book such as some of the scenes with Minnow and Jude, Minnow's hands being chopped off, and the scene towards the end with Minnow's sister Constance. The Sacred Lies of Minnow Bly was definitely an emotional roller coaster for sure. There were plenty of plot twists throughout the book which would leave me with my mouth hanging open quite a bit. The pacing is perfect throughout this novel. All of my questions were answered by the ending of the book. However, the ending of the book is quite speculative about Minnow's future.
The characters in The Scared Lies of Minnow Bly were all very fleshed out and realistic sounding. Many times it felt as if I was reading about something that actually happened instead of a fictitious story. My heart went out to Minnow with all she had to go through, but I admired her strength and determination to not be a victim. I loved her curious nature and how she wanted to learn as much as possible. Minnow's resolve was so strong. I loved Jude so much. He was such a sweet and caring boy who had also been through more than he should. I loved how he wanted to take care of Minnow and how much he truly cared about her. I loved reading about Minnow's and Jude's relationship blossoming. Dr. Wilson was another great character. I wish there would have been a bit more back story for Dr. Wilson, but I did like how he cared about Minnow and her story and how he challenged her to think for herself. One of my favorite characters was Angel, Minnow's cellmate. She's another who challenged Minnow's beliefs and wanted to help educate Minnow. It was a nice touch to see this hardened girl really go out of her way to take care of Minnow and to make sure Minnow thrived.
Trigger warnings The Sacred Lies of Minnow Bly include profanity, violence, death, sex (though not graphic at all), and brainwashing.
Overall, The Sacred Lies of Minnow Bly was such a fascinating read. It had such a fantastic plot and a great cast of characters. It was too easy to get lost in their world. I would definitely recommend The Sacred Lies of Minnow Bly by Stephanie Oakes to everyone aged 15+ who want to get lost in a fantastically written novel! The Sacred Lies of Minnow Bly won't leave you disappointed at all.
Night Reader Reviews (683 KP) rated Endangered Species Superheroes in Books
Jan 9, 2020
Honest Review for Free Copy of Book
Endangered Species Superheroes by Dakota Duncan is a graphic novel that was not quite what I was expecting. Going off of the title I was expecting the story to be about a group of people that used abilities of endangered animals to be superheroes. That is not quite what this book actually is about. The actual concept of the book is much more interesting than the classic superhero book.
Lindsay lives with her grandfather who owns The Smiling Sloth Wildlife Sanctuary. Lindsey loves helping out at the sanctuary and has a very close relationship with many of the animals that live there. At the sanctuary she assists in taking care of some of the animals by drawing their blood for tests, feeding them, and checking their vitals. Many of these animals at the sanctuary bave been hurt in some way by human carelessness. Lindsay and the animals at the sanctuary have a secret that doesn't come out until Lindsay is attacked by a thug hired by Mace Zogan.
Mace at one point was working with Lindsay's grandfather at the sanctuary. He was arrested at some point for poisoning a bunch of sloths on purpose. Mace breaks out of jail and decides to get his revenge on Lindsay's grandfather by going after Lindsay herself. Mace kidnaps Lindsay and takes her back to his Lab on an island. Mace admits that her was trying to chemically alter animals at his lab to make them more useful to humans. With some help from a few unlikely sources Lindsay gets rescued and Mace is arrested once again.
This book teaches readers about animals and the problems that humans are causing because of all the pollution and trash that we leave laying. At one point it talks about a beach clean-up and the importance of trying to get more people involved. While the book dose have the classic chemicals
creating superheros and bad guys pretending to be police officers it even offers helpful information during a kidnapping. Lindsay calls her grandfather and keeps her phone safely hidden in her backpack when Mace grabs her so that she is able to tell details about what is going on to her grandfather by talking to Mace.
What I liked best about this is that I was surprised to find that it was not Lindsay who had superpowers. The artwork is also bright amd simple enough that I do not think it would distract from the story yet would still be interesting to young readers. The information packed in this book was both a posititve and a negative for me. I didn't really like how the entire thing was so informative that the dialogue felt forced at times. There were multiple times when the flow of the story was disrupted by the addition of extra facts.
The target readers for this book are school aged children, mainly those in early middle school. Elementary students might enjoy this book as well but I feel like it might actually be a bit too long to hold the attention of younger elementary students. I rate this book 2 out of 4 because it felt a little too boring for a children's book with how informative the story was. At the same time some children tend to be very interested in anything that has to so with animals so it might be more interesting than I give it credit for.
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Lindsay lives with her grandfather who owns The Smiling Sloth Wildlife Sanctuary. Lindsey loves helping out at the sanctuary and has a very close relationship with many of the animals that live there. At the sanctuary she assists in taking care of some of the animals by drawing their blood for tests, feeding them, and checking their vitals. Many of these animals at the sanctuary bave been hurt in some way by human carelessness. Lindsay and the animals at the sanctuary have a secret that doesn't come out until Lindsay is attacked by a thug hired by Mace Zogan.
Mace at one point was working with Lindsay's grandfather at the sanctuary. He was arrested at some point for poisoning a bunch of sloths on purpose. Mace breaks out of jail and decides to get his revenge on Lindsay's grandfather by going after Lindsay herself. Mace kidnaps Lindsay and takes her back to his Lab on an island. Mace admits that her was trying to chemically alter animals at his lab to make them more useful to humans. With some help from a few unlikely sources Lindsay gets rescued and Mace is arrested once again.
This book teaches readers about animals and the problems that humans are causing because of all the pollution and trash that we leave laying. At one point it talks about a beach clean-up and the importance of trying to get more people involved. While the book dose have the classic chemicals
creating superheros and bad guys pretending to be police officers it even offers helpful information during a kidnapping. Lindsay calls her grandfather and keeps her phone safely hidden in her backpack when Mace grabs her so that she is able to tell details about what is going on to her grandfather by talking to Mace.
What I liked best about this is that I was surprised to find that it was not Lindsay who had superpowers. The artwork is also bright amd simple enough that I do not think it would distract from the story yet would still be interesting to young readers. The information packed in this book was both a posititve and a negative for me. I didn't really like how the entire thing was so informative that the dialogue felt forced at times. There were multiple times when the flow of the story was disrupted by the addition of extra facts.
The target readers for this book are school aged children, mainly those in early middle school. Elementary students might enjoy this book as well but I feel like it might actually be a bit too long to hold the attention of younger elementary students. I rate this book 2 out of 4 because it felt a little too boring for a children's book with how informative the story was. At the same time some children tend to be very interested in anything that has to so with animals so it might be more interesting than I give it credit for.
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Darren (1599 KP) rated The Clovehitch Killer (2018) in Movies
Aug 6, 2019
Story: The Clovehitch Killer starts as we head to a small town that has been living in the shadow of a serial killer branded Clovehitch because of his style of knot. We meet the picture-perfect family with Don (McDermott), Tyler (Plummer), Susie (Sherman) and Cindy (Mathis) who go to church every week.
When Tyler discovers a photo in his father’s car, he starts to think the killer could be closer to home than he first thought, he turns to the local Kassi (Beaty) who has been studying the killer for years to see if his father could be the town’s serial killer.
Thoughts on The Clovehitch Killer
Characters – Don is the father of the family, he has always helped his son with his boy scout assignments including knot tying, he helps around the neighbourhood too with his time in the church. He is hiding a secret that his son starts to figure out and does what he can to keep this from the rest of the world, Don is created in the same light as what we saw The Trinity Killer in Dexter. Tyler is the son that starts to think his father is the serial killer that scared the town, he tries to investigate which only makes things more difficult to one believe the truth and two keep a secret from his father. Cindy is the wife of Don, she is involved in the church believing they are living a happy life. Kassi is the estranged teenager in the town, she is considered an outsider because if her search for the Clovehitch killer, she is the one that Tyler turns to for help.
Performances – Dylan McDermott does give us a very disturbing performance which shows us just how easily a serial killer could operate in this world. Charlie Plummer gives us a strong performance as 2018 year was a fantastic year for him. Samantha Mathis is here and doesn’t get that much to do in the film, while Madisen Beaty brings the investigation figure to life well through the film.
Story – The story here follows a teenager that starts to believe his father is the town’s serial killer and starts investigating whether this is true or not. This is an interesting spin on the serial killer film, we do go down the line that Dexter had with the character which is all good because we see how one operates and manages to keep things secret from their family. The idea that the son is trying to learn the truth keeps us on edge, but seeing the action unfolding we get an intense story that manages to keep nearly everything calm through the events of the film.
Horror/Mystery – The horror follows the idea of a serial killer being in the family, it gets to show us how they can seem like they are everyday people which only makes the serial killer coming off worse. The mystery of the film follows whether he is the killer or not, well it is meant to, only for it to give away everything way to early.
Settings – The film uses the small town settings to make us believe just how the town has been in fear since the serial killer, it shows how one could operate without being looked at differently.
Special Effects – The effects in the film are very simple, we get to see just how he does the kills, only we don’t need to see anything graphic.
Scene of the Movie – The newest victim.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – It could have been slightly more mysterious or just given us that he is a killer early on, it just doesn’t commit either side.
Final Thoughts – This is a horror film that does take things in new direction which keeps us on edge even if it does miss a chance to commit to one side of the film.
Overall: Serial killer film with a twist.
When Tyler discovers a photo in his father’s car, he starts to think the killer could be closer to home than he first thought, he turns to the local Kassi (Beaty) who has been studying the killer for years to see if his father could be the town’s serial killer.
Thoughts on The Clovehitch Killer
Characters – Don is the father of the family, he has always helped his son with his boy scout assignments including knot tying, he helps around the neighbourhood too with his time in the church. He is hiding a secret that his son starts to figure out and does what he can to keep this from the rest of the world, Don is created in the same light as what we saw The Trinity Killer in Dexter. Tyler is the son that starts to think his father is the serial killer that scared the town, he tries to investigate which only makes things more difficult to one believe the truth and two keep a secret from his father. Cindy is the wife of Don, she is involved in the church believing they are living a happy life. Kassi is the estranged teenager in the town, she is considered an outsider because if her search for the Clovehitch killer, she is the one that Tyler turns to for help.
Performances – Dylan McDermott does give us a very disturbing performance which shows us just how easily a serial killer could operate in this world. Charlie Plummer gives us a strong performance as 2018 year was a fantastic year for him. Samantha Mathis is here and doesn’t get that much to do in the film, while Madisen Beaty brings the investigation figure to life well through the film.
Story – The story here follows a teenager that starts to believe his father is the town’s serial killer and starts investigating whether this is true or not. This is an interesting spin on the serial killer film, we do go down the line that Dexter had with the character which is all good because we see how one operates and manages to keep things secret from their family. The idea that the son is trying to learn the truth keeps us on edge, but seeing the action unfolding we get an intense story that manages to keep nearly everything calm through the events of the film.
Horror/Mystery – The horror follows the idea of a serial killer being in the family, it gets to show us how they can seem like they are everyday people which only makes the serial killer coming off worse. The mystery of the film follows whether he is the killer or not, well it is meant to, only for it to give away everything way to early.
Settings – The film uses the small town settings to make us believe just how the town has been in fear since the serial killer, it shows how one could operate without being looked at differently.
Special Effects – The effects in the film are very simple, we get to see just how he does the kills, only we don’t need to see anything graphic.
Scene of the Movie – The newest victim.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – It could have been slightly more mysterious or just given us that he is a killer early on, it just doesn’t commit either side.
Final Thoughts – This is a horror film that does take things in new direction which keeps us on edge even if it does miss a chance to commit to one side of the film.
Overall: Serial killer film with a twist.
Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated Scream 4 (2011) in Movies
Aug 7, 2019
Over a decade ago, director Wes Craven and writer Kevin Williamson breathed new life into what had become a very stagnant horror genre with the release of Scream. The film was a clever twist on the killer-on-the-loose theme that had dominated the genre since the 80s and scored huge with audiences who loved the twists and turns of the film as well as the characters who quoted rules for surviving a horror film. With the huge success of the film, two sequels followed. But by the time Scream 3 was released, the series had lost its momentum and was becomeing the very cliche of a horror film that the series had originally made fun of.
Now in 2011, Craven and Williamson have returned with Scream 4, which is the planned first film in a new trilogy for the series with hopes to breath new life in a genre that has once again grown stale with ghost films and the so-called torture porn of the Saw films. Scream 4 is set 10 years after the events of the first film, and with a new book to promote, Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell), has returned to Woodsboro as a best-selling author, thanks to her book on self-empowerment, a direct result of her experiences in the previous three films.
The return of Sidney is a happy moment for Sherrif Dewey Riley (David Arquette), but not so much for his wife Gale (Courtney Cox), who is facing a bad case of writer’s block and is not exactly thrilled with her fade from the spotlight and life as the wife of the sheriff in the small town. Things get shaken up when a couple of gruesome murders are discovered and before long Sidney is being targeted by a killer who seems to be repeating the pattern of killing that had haunted her in the past.
When the killer strikes again and taunts Sidney with a disturbing phone call, Gale sees the chance to regain her former glory and despite the wishes of her husband Dewey, sets out to solve the mystery of the killer before it is too late.
What follows is a twisting and turning plot that has you seeing suspects everywhere as the body count piles up.
The film introduces some new faces into the series and Hayden Panettiere and Emma Roberts make the best of their roles and actually bring some depth to their characters. Of course there are numerous horror and pop culture references in the film which not only lighten the tension but help with the plot. The killings are graphic and the mix of comedy and horror is in good balance. As usual, people are really dumb just before they get theirs and do not do things like phone for help, take a safer route, and so on, but the film is still enjoyable from a horror fan’s perspective.
There are some nice celebrity cameos in the film and while the film did drag a bit in the final act before the conclusion, the film did redeem itself in the end. While it is not in danger of being cited for a deep plot, original story, or deep characters with wide character arcs, Scream 4 knows who its target audience is and what the audience expects. Some may say the series stayed away top long and has lost its edge and simply repeats the pattern and plot lines we’ve seen in the previous films. In the end, despite some issues, Scream 4 delivers a welcome return to the franchise and paves the way for future sequels in a manner which should delight fans of the genre and franchise.
Now in 2011, Craven and Williamson have returned with Scream 4, which is the planned first film in a new trilogy for the series with hopes to breath new life in a genre that has once again grown stale with ghost films and the so-called torture porn of the Saw films. Scream 4 is set 10 years after the events of the first film, and with a new book to promote, Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell), has returned to Woodsboro as a best-selling author, thanks to her book on self-empowerment, a direct result of her experiences in the previous three films.
The return of Sidney is a happy moment for Sherrif Dewey Riley (David Arquette), but not so much for his wife Gale (Courtney Cox), who is facing a bad case of writer’s block and is not exactly thrilled with her fade from the spotlight and life as the wife of the sheriff in the small town. Things get shaken up when a couple of gruesome murders are discovered and before long Sidney is being targeted by a killer who seems to be repeating the pattern of killing that had haunted her in the past.
When the killer strikes again and taunts Sidney with a disturbing phone call, Gale sees the chance to regain her former glory and despite the wishes of her husband Dewey, sets out to solve the mystery of the killer before it is too late.
What follows is a twisting and turning plot that has you seeing suspects everywhere as the body count piles up.
The film introduces some new faces into the series and Hayden Panettiere and Emma Roberts make the best of their roles and actually bring some depth to their characters. Of course there are numerous horror and pop culture references in the film which not only lighten the tension but help with the plot. The killings are graphic and the mix of comedy and horror is in good balance. As usual, people are really dumb just before they get theirs and do not do things like phone for help, take a safer route, and so on, but the film is still enjoyable from a horror fan’s perspective.
There are some nice celebrity cameos in the film and while the film did drag a bit in the final act before the conclusion, the film did redeem itself in the end. While it is not in danger of being cited for a deep plot, original story, or deep characters with wide character arcs, Scream 4 knows who its target audience is and what the audience expects. Some may say the series stayed away top long and has lost its edge and simply repeats the pattern and plot lines we’ve seen in the previous films. In the end, despite some issues, Scream 4 delivers a welcome return to the franchise and paves the way for future sequels in a manner which should delight fans of the genre and franchise.
Emma @ The Movies (1786 KP) rated Mile 22 (2018) in Movies
Sep 25, 2019
Contains spoilers, click to show
With a run time of 1 hour 34 minutes, and such a fast flowing story line, you certainly don't feel like you're bored at any point during Mile 22. There were plenty of times where I was confused, and a couple where I was amused, but never bored.
Overall the story is a good one and I felt like the twists and turns come in just the right places. But there's no denying that this could have been a 4/5 star film for me had there been some differences.
The opening titles set about cataloging Silva's (Mark Wahlberg) personal history so that we know what sort of person he is and how he's ended up at the head of this team. While it actually worked well I'm unsure of why it was needed at all. Most of the traits that were being shown are ones that frequently pop up in movies in the stereotypical spec ops/military characters, they needed no explanation. Similarly, the back story for Alice seemed surplus to requirements and shoe-horned in so she could have something for Silva to get angry about. Although later in the film she uses the back story to manipulate a baddie when she's cornered and that was quite amusing so I'm willing to let it slide.
By far the best thing about this movie is Iko Uwais. At all times he's consistent to character and his fight scenes were incredible. So it's a little sad that they were marred by some terrible editing. Many of the scenes would flow nicely and you were just becoming engrossed in them when they would cut abruptly to another angle. The only thing it seemed to achieve was speeding up the action, which was already fast and going along very nicely on it's own in the first place. The cuts were chaotic and difficult to watch and ruined what could have been the redeeming feature of this film.
During the film you see Silva talking about the events at some kind of briefing. Although short, they felt like ramblings and didn't make much sense. Placing one "present day" scene at either end of the main events would have achieved a much better job and covered up what felt like a script that had gone awry.
The ending felt like a bit of a cop out to me. Not answering the main question that we were all looking for left me with a deeply unsatisfying feeling and some annoyance at what felt like an obvious attempt to set up for a sequel.
I was surprised to see that this was an 18 certificate. After sitting through the whole thing I feel like it could have quite happily sat at the 15 level. All it would have needed was the removal of a lot of unnecessary language and to have some of the more graphic scenes shot from a different angle/cut better to not show so much of the brutality. That being said though, I didn't find the violence particularly bad compared to other things I've seen.
As an after thought having just rewatched the trailer again before putting it into this post... it's a shame that there weren't some of the computer erasure effects from the trailer in the film. There were certainly opportunities and with the level of technology that they're using it seems to be down played at almost all points.
What should you do?
Watch it for Iko Uwais. His action sequences were so good that they hold up the rest of the film.
Movie thing you wish you could take home
I could really do with the Hand of God when I'm out and about driving.
Overall the story is a good one and I felt like the twists and turns come in just the right places. But there's no denying that this could have been a 4/5 star film for me had there been some differences.
The opening titles set about cataloging Silva's (Mark Wahlberg) personal history so that we know what sort of person he is and how he's ended up at the head of this team. While it actually worked well I'm unsure of why it was needed at all. Most of the traits that were being shown are ones that frequently pop up in movies in the stereotypical spec ops/military characters, they needed no explanation. Similarly, the back story for Alice seemed surplus to requirements and shoe-horned in so she could have something for Silva to get angry about. Although later in the film she uses the back story to manipulate a baddie when she's cornered and that was quite amusing so I'm willing to let it slide.
By far the best thing about this movie is Iko Uwais. At all times he's consistent to character and his fight scenes were incredible. So it's a little sad that they were marred by some terrible editing. Many of the scenes would flow nicely and you were just becoming engrossed in them when they would cut abruptly to another angle. The only thing it seemed to achieve was speeding up the action, which was already fast and going along very nicely on it's own in the first place. The cuts were chaotic and difficult to watch and ruined what could have been the redeeming feature of this film.
During the film you see Silva talking about the events at some kind of briefing. Although short, they felt like ramblings and didn't make much sense. Placing one "present day" scene at either end of the main events would have achieved a much better job and covered up what felt like a script that had gone awry.
The ending felt like a bit of a cop out to me. Not answering the main question that we were all looking for left me with a deeply unsatisfying feeling and some annoyance at what felt like an obvious attempt to set up for a sequel.
I was surprised to see that this was an 18 certificate. After sitting through the whole thing I feel like it could have quite happily sat at the 15 level. All it would have needed was the removal of a lot of unnecessary language and to have some of the more graphic scenes shot from a different angle/cut better to not show so much of the brutality. That being said though, I didn't find the violence particularly bad compared to other things I've seen.
As an after thought having just rewatched the trailer again before putting it into this post... it's a shame that there weren't some of the computer erasure effects from the trailer in the film. There were certainly opportunities and with the level of technology that they're using it seems to be down played at almost all points.
What should you do?
Watch it for Iko Uwais. His action sequences were so good that they hold up the rest of the film.
Movie thing you wish you could take home
I could really do with the Hand of God when I'm out and about driving.
Emma @ The Movies (1786 KP) rated Stumptown: The Case of the Girl Who Took Her Shampoo: Volume 1 in Books
May 21, 2020
After spotting in the trailer for the TV adaptation that it was based on a book I nipped off to order it straight away... I think it's great that people can see the potential in books that will make an interesting adaptation, with Stumptown I find that particularly impressive because I didn't find it that gripping. This first volume is four issues with one storyline and beyond that there are three more books which I haven't read, potentially there are things I picked up on that are resolved in later volumes. If that is the case though it's a bit of a problem for me because I don't really want to read any more of them.
I found the characters to be mostly non-descript both in the story and visually. On my first read-through I kept having to pop back a few pages and rereading when I lost track of who was who in a scene. It sadly didn't get much clearer on my second read-through.
Our main character is Dex Parios, a PI with a gambling problem. From the very beginning she isn't painted as a very likeable person, it's more than just some of the personality traits, she's been created as a gungho, mildly sex-driven, incompetent woman. At one point I put the book down because she was getting beaten up again with seemingly no real point. There's an almost leering quality to her (as well as other characters) in the illustrations and the inference from the text, as the only character that we really get to know this doesn't make compelling reading.
The storyline runs around the disappearance of a girl, her grandmother who runs the casino Dex is in debt to asks her to investigate and bring her back. That was perfectly introduced, though it took up a lot of pages, but other parts of the story don't click. As I said, I've read the book twice and still can't remember the reason for the second major part of the story... it feels very cloak and dagger which is perhaps why it wasn't very engaging.
Illustrations in comics/graphic novels are either hit or miss for me. The lettering here is pretty standard and managed to be clear and well laid out which was a great boost as sometimes it can get very chunky making it difficult to read. With the illustrations themselves you've got a nice colour palette that changes with the scenes and definitely helps move things along. Beyond that though I'm ultimately not a fan of the finished style, there's not enough differentiation between the characters and, as I mentioned above, it made for a difficult first read.
As an overall story there's something in it but it's a real challenge to like the characters, there wasn't anyone who I was looking forward to seeing again. Dex is given what feels like token bisexuality, it's not expressly pointed out but it's hinted at in a variety of ways. Her sexuality in general is quite heavy handed and I wouldn't be surprised if later down the line we find out she's slept with most of the recurring characters.
After I finished my first reading of Stumptown I messaged a friend... "It was bad and now I'm not sure I want to watch the series they made of it"... I pondered on that for a while because I was tired and maybe I was grumpy while reading it, the second reading came the next day, but even being more alert and less distracted by unfamiliar content I didn't get anything better out of this volume.
Originally posted on: https://emmaatthemovies.blogspot.com/2020/05/based-on-stumptown.html
I found the characters to be mostly non-descript both in the story and visually. On my first read-through I kept having to pop back a few pages and rereading when I lost track of who was who in a scene. It sadly didn't get much clearer on my second read-through.
Our main character is Dex Parios, a PI with a gambling problem. From the very beginning she isn't painted as a very likeable person, it's more than just some of the personality traits, she's been created as a gungho, mildly sex-driven, incompetent woman. At one point I put the book down because she was getting beaten up again with seemingly no real point. There's an almost leering quality to her (as well as other characters) in the illustrations and the inference from the text, as the only character that we really get to know this doesn't make compelling reading.
The storyline runs around the disappearance of a girl, her grandmother who runs the casino Dex is in debt to asks her to investigate and bring her back. That was perfectly introduced, though it took up a lot of pages, but other parts of the story don't click. As I said, I've read the book twice and still can't remember the reason for the second major part of the story... it feels very cloak and dagger which is perhaps why it wasn't very engaging.
Illustrations in comics/graphic novels are either hit or miss for me. The lettering here is pretty standard and managed to be clear and well laid out which was a great boost as sometimes it can get very chunky making it difficult to read. With the illustrations themselves you've got a nice colour palette that changes with the scenes and definitely helps move things along. Beyond that though I'm ultimately not a fan of the finished style, there's not enough differentiation between the characters and, as I mentioned above, it made for a difficult first read.
As an overall story there's something in it but it's a real challenge to like the characters, there wasn't anyone who I was looking forward to seeing again. Dex is given what feels like token bisexuality, it's not expressly pointed out but it's hinted at in a variety of ways. Her sexuality in general is quite heavy handed and I wouldn't be surprised if later down the line we find out she's slept with most of the recurring characters.
After I finished my first reading of Stumptown I messaged a friend... "It was bad and now I'm not sure I want to watch the series they made of it"... I pondered on that for a while because I was tired and maybe I was grumpy while reading it, the second reading came the next day, but even being more alert and less distracted by unfamiliar content I didn't get anything better out of this volume.
Originally posted on: https://emmaatthemovies.blogspot.com/2020/05/based-on-stumptown.html
Emma @ The Movies (1786 KP) rated Snowpiercer (2013) in Movies
Jun 7, 2020
You know when someone tells you you should watch something... and then someone else does... and after every new "oh my god, you haven't seen it?!" you become more stubborn about watching it? That's exactly why it has taken me so long to watch Snowpiercer.
With the world on the edge of a complete climate collapse scientists launched what they hoped was the solution to the crisis, they would cool the atmosphere and save everyone... but their solution proved to be the world's undoing. What's left of the human race now rides a purpose-built train outrunning an icy end. The people of the tail section are living a terrible life, no natural light, barely any food... they want things to change, but the rest of the train has other ideas.
There's an all star cast on board for Snowpiercer, they've definitely not scrimped in that department. Together everyone works, even with some strong character personalities.
Chris Evans plays our lead, Curtis. Evans can do a lot of different genres but this sort of science fiction didn't seem to suit him. Curtis is a flawed character by design but at no point did he feel like someone to get behind, it's possible to like a flawed leader but this one didn't have the strength to make it convincing.
Tilda Swinton pops up and gives us the much expected slightly nuts performance that only she could muster. While I enjoyed it I'm not sure what it added to the proceedings apart from a very over the top sci-fi edge.
In the confined spaces of the train you get a great sense of how they're living and the cameras are placed in such a way that it never feels claustrophobic. Even in the tail section where you'd expect that, the closeness boosts the bond between characters and the way their planning comes together.
The film has a very clear divide when it comes to life both inside and out of the train. The sweeping bright white landscape with the dark and vibrant interiors, the dull tones of the tail to the richness of the ticketed sections. There's a lot to see in all of it and I'm certainly keen to give it another watch to try and pick out more details from inside the train and what's hidden in the snow... though I have some issues believing that some of that stuff would have still been visible with the wind and weather... but anyway.
There's some movie "magic" that I have a problem with in Snowpiercer, specifically a shoot-out scene that I actively dislike because it's ridiculous. I happily suspend my logical thinking for so many things but this scene annoyed me a lot, there were so many alternative ways to do it that would have been believable... ugh... *deep breath*. I'm going to stop on that now to avoid ranting and spoilers.
It's a great idea and the original story from the graphic novel is an excellent piece to work off, and while the adaptation might not be faithful to that it does add something that's necessary for a single film format. Because of the story and the design of the set there's automatically a natural progression to everything but the film isn't entirely balanced. The beginning feels very heavy and drawn out then we get a sprint for the finish. There's a lot of opportunity for expanded story in the middle but it's not taken up, including it may have changed the tone of the film as it definitely wasn't in keeping with the rest but it would have been interesting to find out more about it. (This is one thing I'm hoping we get to see a bit more of in the TV show.)
Originally posted on: https://emmaatthemovies.blogspot.com/2020/06/snowpiercer-movie-review.html
With the world on the edge of a complete climate collapse scientists launched what they hoped was the solution to the crisis, they would cool the atmosphere and save everyone... but their solution proved to be the world's undoing. What's left of the human race now rides a purpose-built train outrunning an icy end. The people of the tail section are living a terrible life, no natural light, barely any food... they want things to change, but the rest of the train has other ideas.
There's an all star cast on board for Snowpiercer, they've definitely not scrimped in that department. Together everyone works, even with some strong character personalities.
Chris Evans plays our lead, Curtis. Evans can do a lot of different genres but this sort of science fiction didn't seem to suit him. Curtis is a flawed character by design but at no point did he feel like someone to get behind, it's possible to like a flawed leader but this one didn't have the strength to make it convincing.
Tilda Swinton pops up and gives us the much expected slightly nuts performance that only she could muster. While I enjoyed it I'm not sure what it added to the proceedings apart from a very over the top sci-fi edge.
In the confined spaces of the train you get a great sense of how they're living and the cameras are placed in such a way that it never feels claustrophobic. Even in the tail section where you'd expect that, the closeness boosts the bond between characters and the way their planning comes together.
The film has a very clear divide when it comes to life both inside and out of the train. The sweeping bright white landscape with the dark and vibrant interiors, the dull tones of the tail to the richness of the ticketed sections. There's a lot to see in all of it and I'm certainly keen to give it another watch to try and pick out more details from inside the train and what's hidden in the snow... though I have some issues believing that some of that stuff would have still been visible with the wind and weather... but anyway.
There's some movie "magic" that I have a problem with in Snowpiercer, specifically a shoot-out scene that I actively dislike because it's ridiculous. I happily suspend my logical thinking for so many things but this scene annoyed me a lot, there were so many alternative ways to do it that would have been believable... ugh... *deep breath*. I'm going to stop on that now to avoid ranting and spoilers.
It's a great idea and the original story from the graphic novel is an excellent piece to work off, and while the adaptation might not be faithful to that it does add something that's necessary for a single film format. Because of the story and the design of the set there's automatically a natural progression to everything but the film isn't entirely balanced. The beginning feels very heavy and drawn out then we get a sprint for the finish. There's a lot of opportunity for expanded story in the middle but it's not taken up, including it may have changed the tone of the film as it definitely wasn't in keeping with the rest but it would have been interesting to find out more about it. (This is one thing I'm hoping we get to see a bit more of in the TV show.)
Originally posted on: https://emmaatthemovies.blogspot.com/2020/06/snowpiercer-movie-review.html
Bob Mann (459 KP) rated The Snowman (2017) in Movies
Sep 29, 2021
“We’re trudging through the slush”.
Unlike its animated namesake, “The Snowman” is not a good film. Frustratingly it has all the right ingredients:
A story by bestselling Nordic writer Jo Nesbø;
Gorgeously photogenic snowy scenes of Oslo and Bergen;
A stellar cast (Michael Fassbender (“Alien: Covenant“); Rebecca Ferguson (“Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation“); J.K. Simmons (“Whiplash“); Toby Jones (“Dad’s Army“); Chloe Sevigny (“Love and Friendship“); Charlotte Gainsbourg (“Independence Day: Resurgence“, very sexy as Fassbender’s ex-squeeze) and even Val Kilmer (“Top Gun”, whose mother – interesting fact – is actually Swedish).
snowman2
That sinking feeling when you realise you’ve been drinking all night and its too late for bed before work.
And while these elements congeal in the snow together quite well as vignettes, the whole film jerks from vignette to vignette in a most unsatisfactory way. I haven’t read the book (which might be much better) but the inclusion in the (terrible!) trailers of key scenes that never made the final cut (where was the fire for example?, the fish? the man trap?) implied to me that the director (Tomas Alfredson, “Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy”) and screenwriting team – Peter Straughan (also “Tinker, Tailor”), Hossein Amini (“The Two Faces of January“) and Søren Sveistrup (TV’s “The Killing”) – either didn’t have (or didn’t agree on) the direction they wanted the film to go in.
Film Title: The Snowman
Arve Stop (J.K. Simmons) and Katrine (Rebecca Ferguson) having a “Weinstein moment” at the hotel.
Nesbø (and indeed most crime writers these days) litter their work with damaged cops…. you have to question whether the detective application form has a mandatory check-box with “alcoholic and borderline psycho” on it!. This film is no exception. Fassbender plays Nesbø’s master sleuth Harry Hole: an alcoholic insomniac well off the rails between homicide cases. “If only Oslo had a higher murder rate” bemoans his boss (Ronan Vibert). He joins forces with newby officer Katrine Bratt (Rebecca Ferguson), who has her fair share of mental demons to fight, in investigating a series of missing person/murder cases. The duo unearth a link between the cases – all happen when the snow starts to fall and to particular types of women, with the protagonist leaving a snowman at the scene.
snowman5
One of the cuter snowmen… they get worse… much worse.
The plot is highly formulaic – I guessed who the killer was within about 20 minutes. But what makes this movie stand out, for all the wrong reasons, is that it has one of the most stupid, vacuous, flaccid, inane, ridiculous … (add 50 other thesaurus entries)… endings imaginable. My mouth actually gaped in astonishment!
There are also a surprisingly large number of loose ends you ponder after the film ends: why the “Snowman”‘s fixation with Harry?; what was with the “Vetlesen cleaner” subplot? How is Star Trek transportation possible in Norway? (But wait… “Telemark”… “Teleport”…. coincidence????? 🙂
On the plus side, there is some lovely Norwegian drone cinematography – (by Australian Dion Beebe (“Edge of Tomorrow“) – that immediately made me put “travel by winter train from Oslo to Bergen” on my life-map. The music by Marco Beltrami (“Logan“) is also effective and suitably Hitchcockian.
If you like your films gory, this one is definitely for you, with some pretty graphic content that (for those who like to cover their eyes) is cut to so quickly by editors Thelma Schoonmaker (“The Wolf of Wall Street“) and Claire Simpson (“Far From The Madding Crowd“) that your hands won’t have time to leave your lap! I remember this being a feature of a previous Nesbø adaptation (the much better “Headhunters” from 2011) but here it goes into overdrive.
snowman1
One of my favourite actresses – Rebecca Ferguson, curiously playing much “younger” in this film than she appears in her previous hits.
Overall this was a rather disappointing effort that was heading for a FFf rating. But just because of that ending I’m knocking a whole extra Fad off!
A story by bestselling Nordic writer Jo Nesbø;
Gorgeously photogenic snowy scenes of Oslo and Bergen;
A stellar cast (Michael Fassbender (“Alien: Covenant“); Rebecca Ferguson (“Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation“); J.K. Simmons (“Whiplash“); Toby Jones (“Dad’s Army“); Chloe Sevigny (“Love and Friendship“); Charlotte Gainsbourg (“Independence Day: Resurgence“, very sexy as Fassbender’s ex-squeeze) and even Val Kilmer (“Top Gun”, whose mother – interesting fact – is actually Swedish).
snowman2
That sinking feeling when you realise you’ve been drinking all night and its too late for bed before work.
And while these elements congeal in the snow together quite well as vignettes, the whole film jerks from vignette to vignette in a most unsatisfactory way. I haven’t read the book (which might be much better) but the inclusion in the (terrible!) trailers of key scenes that never made the final cut (where was the fire for example?, the fish? the man trap?) implied to me that the director (Tomas Alfredson, “Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy”) and screenwriting team – Peter Straughan (also “Tinker, Tailor”), Hossein Amini (“The Two Faces of January“) and Søren Sveistrup (TV’s “The Killing”) – either didn’t have (or didn’t agree on) the direction they wanted the film to go in.
Film Title: The Snowman
Arve Stop (J.K. Simmons) and Katrine (Rebecca Ferguson) having a “Weinstein moment” at the hotel.
Nesbø (and indeed most crime writers these days) litter their work with damaged cops…. you have to question whether the detective application form has a mandatory check-box with “alcoholic and borderline psycho” on it!. This film is no exception. Fassbender plays Nesbø’s master sleuth Harry Hole: an alcoholic insomniac well off the rails between homicide cases. “If only Oslo had a higher murder rate” bemoans his boss (Ronan Vibert). He joins forces with newby officer Katrine Bratt (Rebecca Ferguson), who has her fair share of mental demons to fight, in investigating a series of missing person/murder cases. The duo unearth a link between the cases – all happen when the snow starts to fall and to particular types of women, with the protagonist leaving a snowman at the scene.
snowman5
One of the cuter snowmen… they get worse… much worse.
The plot is highly formulaic – I guessed who the killer was within about 20 minutes. But what makes this movie stand out, for all the wrong reasons, is that it has one of the most stupid, vacuous, flaccid, inane, ridiculous … (add 50 other thesaurus entries)… endings imaginable. My mouth actually gaped in astonishment!
There are also a surprisingly large number of loose ends you ponder after the film ends: why the “Snowman”‘s fixation with Harry?; what was with the “Vetlesen cleaner” subplot? How is Star Trek transportation possible in Norway? (But wait… “Telemark”… “Teleport”…. coincidence????? 🙂
On the plus side, there is some lovely Norwegian drone cinematography – (by Australian Dion Beebe (“Edge of Tomorrow“) – that immediately made me put “travel by winter train from Oslo to Bergen” on my life-map. The music by Marco Beltrami (“Logan“) is also effective and suitably Hitchcockian.
If you like your films gory, this one is definitely for you, with some pretty graphic content that (for those who like to cover their eyes) is cut to so quickly by editors Thelma Schoonmaker (“The Wolf of Wall Street“) and Claire Simpson (“Far From The Madding Crowd“) that your hands won’t have time to leave your lap! I remember this being a feature of a previous Nesbø adaptation (the much better “Headhunters” from 2011) but here it goes into overdrive.
snowman1
One of my favourite actresses – Rebecca Ferguson, curiously playing much “younger” in this film than she appears in her previous hits.
Overall this was a rather disappointing effort that was heading for a FFf rating. But just because of that ending I’m knocking a whole extra Fad off!
Heather Cranmer (2721 KP) rated The Girl Who Could Breathe Under Water in Books
Jan 2, 2022
I will admit that I've been in a reading slump for awhile. However, when I read the synopsis for The Girl Who Could Breathe Under Water by Erin Bartels, it sounded just like the book I need to get me out of my slump. Luckily I was right!
I thoroughly enjoyed the plot of The Girl Who Could Breathe Under Water by Erin Bartels. It was definitely interesting to see how and why writers put a little bit of truth in their books. I was very interested in trying to find out what was truth and what was fiction in Kendra's life. I wanted to know if the bad thing was really as Kendra remembered it or if it was just something she had stretched the truth about. This book does have a few plot twists, and while I did predict one, I found myself guessing incorrectly at the other twists. The author does a fantastic job at typing up any and all loose ends by the end of the book. I must say that I also very much enjoyed the writing and language Erin Bartels used. Her descriptive prose put me right into the heart of the story. I was drawn in with every word, and once I started reading, it was hard for me to stop. Even though this book does deal with some heavy subjects, Bartels did an excellent job at writing about them with much care and sensitivity. (Be sure to read the author's note at the end of the book for a bit more insight into the novel. You won't regret it.)
The characters in The Girl Who Could Breathe Under Water were written very well. I found myself really loving the character of Kendra. She seemed like the type of girl I could relate to and that I'd love to be friends with. I enjoyed getting to see a glimpse into her memories (even the horrible ones). Her back story was interesting with what she had been through. I wish we could have read more about Andreas' back story. He was a strong character, don't get me wrong, but I felt like I didn't really know him all too well. He was always shrouded in a bit of mystery. Tyler's back story was the most interesting (and a little heartbreaking). Even though I never really cared for Tyler as a person, he was still a very well written character. I wish he would have gotten in trouble for what he did, but just as in real life, not everything happens as it should. I also loved the character of Cami. Although she seems a bit selfish, what she had been through makes it a bit easier to see why she was the way she was. I'm not excusing her actions by no means, but I can see the reasoning behind it. I also loved Robert as Kendra's mentor. He was such a laid back and loving character.
Trigger warnings for The Girl Who Could Breathe Under Water include some slight bullying, sexual harassment, molestation, rape (though not graphic), child prostitution, alcohol, mentions of drug use, death, and suicide.
All in all, The Girl Who Could Breathe Under Water is a beautifully written book showing that even in the fact of tragedy and trauma, we can still rise above our circumstances. I would definitely recommend The Girl Who Could Breath Under Water by Erin Bartels to those ages 16+ who are after a book with great emotional depth.
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(A special thank you to Revell for providing me with a paperback of The Girl Who Could Breathe Under Water by Erin Bartels in exchange for a fair and honest review.)
I thoroughly enjoyed the plot of The Girl Who Could Breathe Under Water by Erin Bartels. It was definitely interesting to see how and why writers put a little bit of truth in their books. I was very interested in trying to find out what was truth and what was fiction in Kendra's life. I wanted to know if the bad thing was really as Kendra remembered it or if it was just something she had stretched the truth about. This book does have a few plot twists, and while I did predict one, I found myself guessing incorrectly at the other twists. The author does a fantastic job at typing up any and all loose ends by the end of the book. I must say that I also very much enjoyed the writing and language Erin Bartels used. Her descriptive prose put me right into the heart of the story. I was drawn in with every word, and once I started reading, it was hard for me to stop. Even though this book does deal with some heavy subjects, Bartels did an excellent job at writing about them with much care and sensitivity. (Be sure to read the author's note at the end of the book for a bit more insight into the novel. You won't regret it.)
The characters in The Girl Who Could Breathe Under Water were written very well. I found myself really loving the character of Kendra. She seemed like the type of girl I could relate to and that I'd love to be friends with. I enjoyed getting to see a glimpse into her memories (even the horrible ones). Her back story was interesting with what she had been through. I wish we could have read more about Andreas' back story. He was a strong character, don't get me wrong, but I felt like I didn't really know him all too well. He was always shrouded in a bit of mystery. Tyler's back story was the most interesting (and a little heartbreaking). Even though I never really cared for Tyler as a person, he was still a very well written character. I wish he would have gotten in trouble for what he did, but just as in real life, not everything happens as it should. I also loved the character of Cami. Although she seems a bit selfish, what she had been through makes it a bit easier to see why she was the way she was. I'm not excusing her actions by no means, but I can see the reasoning behind it. I also loved Robert as Kendra's mentor. He was such a laid back and loving character.
Trigger warnings for The Girl Who Could Breathe Under Water include some slight bullying, sexual harassment, molestation, rape (though not graphic), child prostitution, alcohol, mentions of drug use, death, and suicide.
All in all, The Girl Who Could Breathe Under Water is a beautifully written book showing that even in the fact of tragedy and trauma, we can still rise above our circumstances. I would definitely recommend The Girl Who Could Breath Under Water by Erin Bartels to those ages 16+ who are after a book with great emotional depth.
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(A special thank you to Revell for providing me with a paperback of The Girl Who Could Breathe Under Water by Erin Bartels in exchange for a fair and honest review.)
Daniel Boyd (1066 KP) rated The Sinner - Season 1 in TV
Nov 30, 2017 (Updated Nov 30, 2017)
Barely any of the characters were sympathetic or relatable (3 more)
The ending was dissatisfying
So many wasted episodes
It was only 9 episodes long, but it felt far longer
A Sin That This Wasn't Better
This show came highly recommended to me by sources that I usually trust, but it turned out to be a total let down. The show opens with a young family going to the beach. The mother who is played by Jessica Biel, suddenly walks over to another young man on the beach and stabs him to death in front of over a hundred witnesses in broad daylight. She is then arrested and the show spends the next 8 episodes clumsily trying to explain why she committed this heinous act.
I like Jessica Biel, I like Bill Pullman and I like Christopher Abbott, who plays the husband to Biel's Cora Tannetti. I like mysterious shows about crime and murder. I should have loved this, but I thought it was a train wreck from start to finish. During the first episode we see the murder occur in graphic detail, then the next couple of episodes ask why she did what she did and then you start to wonder, "how are they going to manage to drag this out for another six episodes without it getting stale?" The answer is, they aren't and it gets old fast. In this sense, the writing is a mess.
Sometimes though, a show can have messy writing, but be saved by it's cast of characters. However, that is absolutely not the case here. Cora is the main character of the show, so I think we are supposed to feel some sort of connection to her, yet she is so grossly off-putting in every way, I was actually was hoping to see her get the death sentence. At first you see her committing this atrocity, which obviously causes you to take an instant dislike to her, but you expect as the show goes on and we learn more about her, that we will eventually feel sympathetic towards her. In fact, the exact opposite is true, every new facet of information that I learned about her backstory just made me hate her more and at no point did I feel like I was on her side.
There is also a flashback subplot going on, which shows Cora as a suspiciously old looking teenager, as for some reason Jessica Biel is still playing the role of the teenage Cora. Through this we see her family life growing up, but her family are some of the most dislikeable characters I have seen in a TV show in years. Her mother is a religious nut to the point of insanity, her father is sleeping with the next door neighbour and her terminally ill sister is such a little shit that you don't feel any sympathy towards her for her illness and you end up hoping she will die sooner rather than later.
I'll try to discuss the ending without giving away any major spoilers, but for those who haven't yet seen the show, you may want to skip to the final paragraph. At around the episode 5 mark, I was very close to giving up on this show, but I had heard that the ending was amazing, so I stuck with it. What a waste of time that turned out to be. The reveal itself was a huge let down and after everything was revealed, I still felt that the murder victim didn't deserve to die and I thought that Cora pretty much getting away with murder was so dissatisfying and undeserved.
Overall, this show is pretty awful. There are so many plot threads that go nowhere, the writing thinks it is far more clever than it actually is, actors that I normally like are playing entirely dislikeable characters and the whole thing seems far longer than just nine episodes. The ending isn't worth sticking around for and really the show is just tons of wasted potential. Do yourself a favour and give this a skip, there are far better shows available to watch on Netflix.
I like Jessica Biel, I like Bill Pullman and I like Christopher Abbott, who plays the husband to Biel's Cora Tannetti. I like mysterious shows about crime and murder. I should have loved this, but I thought it was a train wreck from start to finish. During the first episode we see the murder occur in graphic detail, then the next couple of episodes ask why she did what she did and then you start to wonder, "how are they going to manage to drag this out for another six episodes without it getting stale?" The answer is, they aren't and it gets old fast. In this sense, the writing is a mess.
Sometimes though, a show can have messy writing, but be saved by it's cast of characters. However, that is absolutely not the case here. Cora is the main character of the show, so I think we are supposed to feel some sort of connection to her, yet she is so grossly off-putting in every way, I was actually was hoping to see her get the death sentence. At first you see her committing this atrocity, which obviously causes you to take an instant dislike to her, but you expect as the show goes on and we learn more about her, that we will eventually feel sympathetic towards her. In fact, the exact opposite is true, every new facet of information that I learned about her backstory just made me hate her more and at no point did I feel like I was on her side.
There is also a flashback subplot going on, which shows Cora as a suspiciously old looking teenager, as for some reason Jessica Biel is still playing the role of the teenage Cora. Through this we see her family life growing up, but her family are some of the most dislikeable characters I have seen in a TV show in years. Her mother is a religious nut to the point of insanity, her father is sleeping with the next door neighbour and her terminally ill sister is such a little shit that you don't feel any sympathy towards her for her illness and you end up hoping she will die sooner rather than later.
I'll try to discuss the ending without giving away any major spoilers, but for those who haven't yet seen the show, you may want to skip to the final paragraph. At around the episode 5 mark, I was very close to giving up on this show, but I had heard that the ending was amazing, so I stuck with it. What a waste of time that turned out to be. The reveal itself was a huge let down and after everything was revealed, I still felt that the murder victim didn't deserve to die and I thought that Cora pretty much getting away with murder was so dissatisfying and undeserved.
Overall, this show is pretty awful. There are so many plot threads that go nowhere, the writing thinks it is far more clever than it actually is, actors that I normally like are playing entirely dislikeable characters and the whole thing seems far longer than just nine episodes. The ending isn't worth sticking around for and really the show is just tons of wasted potential. Do yourself a favour and give this a skip, there are far better shows available to watch on Netflix.