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Watch Me Walk Away (Walking, #1)
Jill Prand | 2013
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Watch Me Walk Away, is one fabulous love story. It's the story of Lisa and Bobby, two people who fell in love during high school only to be separated by war, and united once again.

Bobby ruined Lisa when he broke her heart and left to go fight in the war. Lisa never stopped loving Bobby, and was just left to pick up the pieces of her life. Lisa has finally moved on to Stuart and now Bobby's back and doing better than ever. Will Bobby win back Lisa's heart or will he watch her walk away with Stuart?

The story was easy to get into and easy to love. Lisa and Bobby were great characters, and Jill Prand brought them to life for me with her wonderful storytelling. I felt bad to Lisa when her heart was breaking (we've all been there right?), and I was rooting for Bobby when he came back into her life. I felt like the character's own personal cheering squad. Brad (Lisa & Bobby's high school friend), is a great character and one I could relate to all too well. Brad is in love with Lisa and they are harboring a dark secret, one that hopefully Bobby never finds out about.

I pretty much devoured this book! It took me 2 days to read, and I wish I had more story to read. I would love to see more of Brad in the future, and it would be awesome if he had a spin-off book of his own. I think he is a character that needs to have his story told. I can't wait for the sequel!
  
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Kristy H (1252 KP) rated Summerland in Books

Mar 19, 2020  
Summerland
Summerland
Elin Hilderbrand | 2012 | Romance
6
6.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
It's high school graduation on Nantucket. But this usual time of celebration turns to tragedy when--on graduation night--a terrible car crashes kills one local student, Penny Alistair, and leaves her twin brother, Hobson, in a coma. Penny's boyfriend, Jake, and her friend, Demeter, are not hurt, at least physically. But the crash shakes the island and leaves everyone wondering exactly what happened. Why was Penny driving Jake's Jeep that night? What caused her to drive so quickly and recklessly?

I enjoy every Elin Hilderbrand book I read, and I liked this one, though it wasn't one of my all-time favorites. I didn't find myself greatly attached to any one character, or really pulled deeply into the plot. Honestly, while many of Hilderbrand's books have a dark or sad side, this one was really depressing at times, even though there was a layer of hope as well. It hit very close to home, as I am a mother of twins, so maybe that was part of it. I was a little heartbroken, and my heart went out to Zoe, the mother of Penny and Alistair.

As with all Hilderbrand books, the story is interesting, and she weaves a detailed and intricate tale of island life. There's more than just an accident, with intersecting webs of characters. I liked the parallels and ties between the high school children and their parents. It was an engaging story, with a lot of serious subjects.

I'm glad I read this one, but if you're just starting out with Hilderbrand, there are other books I'd recommend first. 3+ stars.
  
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Jeff Nichols recommended Dreams (1990) in Movies (curated)

 
Dreams (1990)
Dreams (1990)
1990 | International, Drama, Sci-Fi
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Movie Favorite

"Let’s tall about Kurosawa‘s Dreams. When Bravo first came on television, they were figuring out who they were as a cable network and would just play random foreign films. This was before the travesty of reality television permeated their station. I was at home alone in high school, I think I was a junior in high school and Dreams comes on by Kurosawa. I could not separate myself from it. I didn’t know who Kurosawa was — I didn’t care. I was just a kid absorbing things that flashed on the screen in front of him. I was immediately captivated by this thing that was at once beautiful — obviously surreal — but at the same time palpable enough to actually hit home emotionally. I think not many people would probably describe scenes in my movies as surreal, but there are some. Kind of this magical realism that exists in that film. Also it feels ancient; it feels like when this boy comes home having witnessed the wedding of foxes and his mother’s there and says he can’t enter the home because he spied on the foxes and then presents a dagger to him and says, “They want you to kill yourself. Run. Run and ask for forgiveness.” It feels like an ancient story, it feels like something — I’m not sure what. It feels like something that kind of bubbled up from our beginning. I was fascinated by that. Just go watch it. It’s all skits, it’s basically short films strewn together. Get’s real weird by the end, but the first three are three of the greatest films I’ve ever seen."

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On the Waterfront (1954)
On the Waterfront (1954)
1954 | Classics, Drama, Romance

"I actually own a print of this. It’s one of those movies that was pivotal [for] me. I remember it screened in 16mm at my high school. The emotional power of that movie — it’s the first time I ever felt such intense emotion watching a film. I wasn’t that well-versed in film in high school, but I knew I was being hit by something incredibly powerful. What really struck me was Marlon Brando’s performance. And I know that’s easy to say, but that’s why I never get tired of watching the film, and why I really wanted to own a print because there’s a level of acting there that went beyond anything I had seen before. And it still ranks as maybe the best performance I’ve ever seen on film. I find it fascinating every time I watch it. Plus he’s surrounded by a brilliant cast and also the location — the way the film was shot on location — at that time, it had never been done before. All of that adds to the fact that I have a pretty lousy print of the movie but that’s what’s fun about it — it even feels more real. And then Criterion — to be completely geeked out — released it again last year, and I didn’t know it was shot in three different formats. Television was becoming popular at the time so they didn’t know if they would go widescreen with it, 1:85, or the typical way I think it was released, which I think is 1:66, but it’s fascinating to look at those versions as well. This is one of the greats."

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