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Emma @ The Movies (1786 KP) rated A Dog's Way Home (2019) in Movies

Jun 22, 2019 (Updated Sep 25, 2019)  
A Dog's Way Home (2019)
A Dog's Way Home (2019)
2019 | Adventure, Drama, Family
Being by the same author as A Dog's Purpose you basically know the sort of film you're going to be getting and it doesn't disappoint on that front.

All the real life floofs were amazing and Shelby as Bella obviously gets five stars. The CGI floofs however should probably get a minus amount of stars. You notice it right from the start but once you get to that cougar that's when you think "oh it really is that bad!" It kind of feels like they found a cartoon of a cougar instead of a photo of one to work from.

I don't know where Ashley Judd has been hiding but it was good to see her back in a film. It was a nice little role and she did well with what she was given.

Bryce Dallas Howard was the voice of Bella and she does manage to give her the right tone for all the different situations. It's exactly what you think a dog would sound like if it could talk.

Bella's script is quite fun. Snow is ice cream falling from the sky and cutting the grass is indeed taking the mower for a walk, she even dislikes playing "go to work"... so do we Bella, so do we.

This had potential to be a 3.5/4 star film if it hadn't been for the frankly awful CGI, but I don't think I could see my way clear to give it more than that. It's predictable, just from the synopsis above you can make guesses at what's going to happen... something/someone is the reason Bella is far from home, she'll run away the first chance she gets, danger and camaraderie will be the themes while she's on her journey, she will somehow make it back even though it looks like everything is lost and they'll all live happily ever after.

What you should do

There are probably a lot of classic family films to stream or you already own which do the same job so there's probably no rush to see this one at the cinema. If you do though... take tissues.

Movie thing you wish you could take home

Any amount of floofs will do me!
  
40x40

ClareR (6054 KP) rated Baby in Books

Oct 24, 2019  
Baby
Baby
Annaleese Jochems | 2019 | Fiction & Poetry, Thriller
7
7.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
A fascinating book with truly unpleasant characters!
Baby by Annaleese Jochems really intrigued me when I read the synopsis. I wasn’t under any illusions that this would be an odd read. I mean, 21 year old Cynthia runs off with her newly divorced fitness-instructor (Anahera), steals all,of her dads money from his bank account, and uses the money to buy a boat, Baby. And she takes her pug, Snot-head, along too. She thinks that she and Anahera will fall in love and live happily ever after. I don’t know whether Anahera knows this, at least not at first.

Cynthia is really not a nice person. ‘Vacuous’ would be a good word to describe her, as would ‘immature’ and ‘vindictive’. She’s shallow, and even around such natural beauty whilst on the boat, she is obsessed with social media and reality TV. Oh, and the way she looks. She thinks about what she looks like a lot, but doesn’t expect to have to do anything about it: she’s incredibly lazy, and expects Anahera to do everything for her.

Her reaction to a terrible accident involving a young boy sealed the deal for me: Cynthia thinks of no one but herself.

This all sounds really negative, as though I’m not going to like it, doesn’t it. I’ve left writing my review for a week or two, because I needed to think about it. I couldn’t actually get this book out of my head. It made me feel supremely uncomfortable whilst reading it, and I could feel myself wincing, metaphorically hiding my face behind my hands when I thought about it afterwards. But do you know what, I think I actually liked it. To make characters so thoroughly unpleasant, but to make the reader want to carry on reading, takes quite some skill. I’ve told friends about it, said they should read it, because it does say something about the world we live in and those who inhabit it. And honestly, it’s not all good.
So read this book. I’ve no doubt you’ll be wanting to throttle Cynthia as well!
  
H(
Heartless ( Enemies to Lovers 1)
6
6.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
125 of 235
Kindle
Heartless ( Enemies to Lovers 1)
By Michelle Heard
⭐️⭐️⭐️

I’m warned that Carter Hayes is heartless.

He’s part of the screw crew.
He’ll just use you and leave you.
He’s ruthless and always gets what he wants.

Just look for the trail of broken hearts and dreamy sighs, and you’ll find him.

“Hot as sin, Carter.”

I don’t have time to fall head over heels for any guy. Besides, he’d never notice someone like me. I have a three-step plan. Get through college. Get a job. Get my sister out of the hell hole I left her in. That’s all I have time for.

That’s until I hear of the betting pool the guys started. Whoever screws me first gets the money. The moment Carter looks at me, I know it’s only because of the bet.

I tell myself our first kiss is only for show.
I hate my heart for falling for his irresistible charm.

For one foolish moment, I actually want him to be my first earth-shattering love. All it takes for me to give in is a little attention, a cocky smile, and a fake promise of a happily-ever-after.

When I’m surrounded by crumpled sheets and the smell of sex, I realize I let him have me for four hundred dollars.

To save what little pride I have left, I pretend it didn’t mean anything, that he’s just one last screw before we all leave college.

I’ve spent the last four years lying to myself. When I’m ready to take the final step of my plan, and save my sister, guess who walks through my front door?

I actually ended up liking this! The first couple of chapters I thought were a bit ropey the “ Screw Crew” and yes that’s what they called the women they slept with was a bit ridiculous but then again these were boys! But as it developed I actually thought it was a good quick read. It was a sweet ending too I’m not much one for romance.
  
The Meadows (Legacy of Darkness Book 1)
The Meadows (Legacy of Darkness Book 1)
London Clarke | 2018 | Horror, Paranormal, Thriller
Spooky Plot (1 more)
Very Realistic Characters
A Chilling Read!
I loved London Clarke's first book, Wildfell, so I was definitely looking forward to her next book, The Meadows. I loved this book! It was so spooky and creepy which are my favorite types of books.

The pacing for The Meadows was perfect. Not once did I feel like this book slowed down where I was becoming bored. It is definitely a fast paced thriller, but it's not too fast paced in the sense that you have no clue what just happened.

The world building and plot are done extremely well. London Clarke does such an excellent job of describing what's going on, that I actually felt like I was staying at Asphodel House, the spooky house where all the paranormal things happen. The Meadows felt so real, I would actually stay awake a little longer after reading some of it because I was so spooked! It was easy to envision a cult like The Colony (as named in The Meadows) that believe themselves to be vampires who use willing and unwilling sacrifices. I would be more surprised if a cult like that didn't exist!

I loved all the characters in The Meadows! Each character was written exceptionally well. I loved how real and raw Scarlett was. It was nice to read about a character who was flawed. Scarlett suffered with a drug and alcohol problem in the past, and it was interesting to read about her struggle with it in present day and the choices she made. Yes, she did fall off the wagon after coming to Asphodel House, but I couldn't blame her. I'd be stressed out and scared too! Scarlett isn't perfect, and that's what I loved about her. She feels like a real human being, not some happily ever after book character. She's a little selfish, but who isn't in real life? Scarlett was such a great character. Even the supporting characters were great. I would have liked Stella, Scarlett's best friend, to be featured more, but that's only a minor thing. Stella was such a great friend to Scarlett, and I admired her loyalty to Scarlett. I loved Ryan, and it was interesting to read the back story between him and Scarlett. Hunter was also a very interesting character. I enjoyed his back story. I don't want to go into detail with him because I feel like there's a minor plot twist with that.

Trigger warnings for The Meadows include demons, the occult, cults, violence, murder, death, alcohol use, prescription pill abuse, ghosts, some swearing (although nothing too bad), and sex scenes (nothing graphic though).

Overall, The Meadows is a very chilling, dark, and spooky read. It is such a great book though. The characters, the setting, the plot were all written very well. I am definitely looking forward to the next book in the Legacy of Darkness series. I would recommend The Meadows by London Clarke to everyone aged 17+ especially if you love being creeped out. This one definitely kept me awake with how creepy it was, and if a book can do that, it is definitely a good one!
  
LU
Life Unaware
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
<b><i>I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.</i></b>
Deciding to actually read Cole Gibsen's latest new book was an extremely risky decision for me: I am, by no means, a contemporary reader (why I'm avoiding New Adult a lot), and telling Cole (or any author) that I hated her latest book is not something I would actually like to do...

I find that <i>Life Unaware</i> wasn't so daunting after all. In fact, after looking past the little peeves I have against some people in the world, Gibsen's debut contemporary is actually one of those extremely rare contemporaries that I enjoyed reading (the other one I believe is <a title="The Fault in Our Stars" href="https://bookwyrmingthoughts.com/review-the-fault-in-our-stars-by-john-green/"; target="_blank" rel="noopener">John Green's <i>The Fault in Our Stars</i></a>).

<i>Life Unaware</i> is actually written not necessarily from the person being bullied, but the bully herself getting a taste of her own medicine. For years Regan Flay has been popular at her school, looked up to and respected by her fellow peers. Little did anyone else aside from her close circle of friends that she spent her time digging up dirt about her classmates, until one day, Regan finds all of her private messages posted on the lockers at school.

For the first few chapters, I just couldn't stand Regan. She seemed stuck up, annoying, spoiled – basically just another missing part of the Mean Girls clique (that movie was highly annoying as well) – and the only thing I probably liked about Regan was the mere fact that I pitied and felt sorry for her. Underneath all her "rot," Regan was just a normal person with a mother who spent 99% of her time in politics and harping over Regan in her free time.

Basically, Regan just had a lot of extremely high expectations that I could surprisingly relate to in terms of choosing a college and a major. I didn't win on the college part (that battle now includes having to get a 30 or higher on my ACT to go to a university or I'm stuck at community college), but I did win (sort of) in choosing a major... by going the harder route, famously known as double major.

High expectations aside, enter Nolan Letner. Ex-popular, artistic, and bottom of the social ladder – a completely opposite spectrum to Regan until her private messages are revealed for the entire school to see. Nolan doesn't really play much of a role in <i>Life Unaware</i>, aside from being Regan's only "support" when her entire life flipped upside down before her eyes.

But despite the fact Nolan doesn't actually play a really huge role, he definitely brings out Regan's true side – the side that seems much more natural for Regan rather something forced from her mother over the years. Nolan also helps Regan turn her life back around, helping and encouraging her throughout several parts in the book to become a better person than she was before at the very beginning.

<i>Life Unaware</i> does eventually go for a darker turn before having a happily ever after vibe – sorry, no spoilers. While this is completely different from her other books, I do applaud Cole Gibsen for writing a well-written contemporary novel dealing with bullying and the after-effects.

<a href="https://bookwyrmingthoughts.com/blog-tour-life-unaware-by-cole-gibsen-arc-review/"; target="_blank">This review was originally posted on Bookwyrming Thoughts</a>
  
Original Review posted on <a href="http://bookwyrming-thoughts.blogspot.com/2013/01/review-twelfth-grade-kills-by-heather-brewer.html">Bookwyrming Thoughts</a>
Original Rating: 4.5

     It's been awhile since I last read the series (read: last year) so I'm pretty vague on details (I know. It's sad that my memory details are so vague. On an awesomous vampire series. But I know enough where I can at least know almost all of what's going on the last one :)) on the finale. And now that I've read the series, I think I see why my friend actually gushes over the series (imagine my poor ears after hearing it in Book Battle 24/7 last year - well, not exactly 24/7).

     I suggest you know what you're doing if you're reading Twelfth Grade Kills because you definitely don't want to end up in the sorry hole with this kid (read: me. Not that I skip books. I honestly don't. Because if I do, it's my mom's random library book choices fault). The book simply has too much going on that if you're reading from the series backwards, I'm suggesting you go back and read from Eighth Grade Bites and onward (not that anyone would read backwards in a series). Or if you're not paying attention to what you're reading, you'll be missing out on a LOT so do yourself a favor and pay attention. ^_^

     After reading Eleventh Grade Burns over the summer, I just HAD to read the last book due to it's killing cliff-hanger. But the thing is, I got thrown off at the end. I'm still going "Say What?" and pondering over what happened as I'm typing this. I mean, you don't usually see a cliff-hanger on the finale of books... do you? Chances of it happening are rare, lol (at least in my knowledge of reading. Even those with spin-offs don't seem to have it... do they?). There's always a happily ever after and so on. In this case though, there may be a happy ending, but be prepared to be thrown off.

     What I really hate though? Practically everyone dies. Which I find disappointing. Dx (No more awesome cookies and frosting fights??? ;( )

     The one thing I find epically funny is the fact vampires don't sparkle (read: be prepared for some meme(s)). Edward Cullen would disagree. On the good side though? Professor Snape agrees. So, in no offense to Twilight peeps (oh hey. Just because I'm not a fan of Twilight doesn't mean I bash it. I just found the quote funny and it well... reminded me of Twlight. Yes, I'm asking for mercy of the tomato throwing).
<img src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uTrufQilgqQ/UQHUwxlSdpI/AAAAAAAAA60/T0RB6OMYRqY/s200/Snape+Vampire+Funny.jpg"; width="290" height="180"/>
Caption: They're fairiesss O_O

     It might be a risk to my health, but I kinda agree (yes, a risk to my health... but I might be exaggerating a bit over there). So if you're looking for a series in which no one is a sparkling fairy vampire, I suggest you should check this series out. Because apparently, I think I need to grab some kleenex before the computer erupts on fire (that would be BAD). And then go gush to my friend mentioned above some day. (By the way, why another awful cliff-hanger? I only have so many hands. But at least I can get The Slayer Chronicles from the school library soon :D.)