The Scarlet Sisters: My Nanna's Story of Secrets and Heartache on the Banks of the River Thames
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'Oh my goodness - another girl Mrs Swain!' Clara's normal iron composure broke and she screamed,...
Death by the River
Alexandrea Weis and Lucas Astor
6.0
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Along the banks of the Bogue Falaya River, sits the abandoned St. Francis Seminary. Beneath a canopy...
Gareth von Kallenbach (971 KP) rated Side Effects (2013) in Movies
Aug 7, 2019
As its title intones, “Side Effects” is a movie about what can happen when prescription medications, such as anti-depressants, can do at their worst, leading to anyone who taking them wishing they weren’t. The movie certainly starts out looking like a propaganda-film about how Doctor’s push these drugs onto patients as they are paid by pharmaceutical representatives to test their drugs. It seems that everyone in the film is taking meds of some form or another. The cast for the film should be a recipe for success: Jude Law, Rooney Mara, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Channing Tatum. But because of this perception, the first two-thirds of the film nearly put me to sleep. And then a twist happened that the made the plot extremely complex and worth watching. In many ways, the less said about “Side Effects,” the better. This may produce a better experience for you than I had. But here’s the basic idea of the movie:
Emily Taylor, played by Rooney Mara, is introduced when she is visiting her husband Martin (Tatum), a man convicted of insider trading who is about to be released after four years behind bars. Martin’s discharge happens uneventfully, but adjusting to the new life of poverty rehashes the depression that first plagued Emily when her husband’s prison term started. This leads to Emily crashing her car head-on into the wall of the garage in her apartment building. While in the hospital, rules force her to see psychiatrist Jonathan Banks (Law).
Up until this point, I had trouble connecting with Mara’s character. While it is revealed that she had mental problems prior to this episode, you don’t really completely grasp what it is until later in the movie. Mara seemed to be very stiff, and way too much like her emotionless character from “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.” But then we enter Jude Law. Law’s character, Banks, is friendly, approachable and caring. He is what first drew me deeper into the movie. Though, you soon discover that he is a doctor who believes in the power of drugs. This character kept me interested because I couldn’t quite nail if he was going to be an antagonist or protagonist.
Of course our dear Dr. Banks prescribes some medications to Emily and she begins showing some disturbing side effects and… The side effects lead to really terrible, bloody things which ruins careers, lives, and even drive people to madness. Or does it?
State of Wonder
5.0
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SHORTLISTED FOR THE ORANGE PRIZE FOR FICTION 2012 There were people on the banks of the river. ...
Offline Map Texas, USA: City Navigator Maps
Travel and Navigation
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Texas, USA City Navigator Maps app is just a perfect map for you. I. First of all it’s very...
Offline Map Namibia: City Navigator Maps
Travel and Navigation
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Namibia City Navigator Maps app is just a perfect map for you. I. First of all it’s very easy...
The Committee to Destroy the World: Inside the Plot to Unleash a Super Crash on the Global Economy
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An updated examination of what's weakening the U.S. economy, and how to fix it The Committee to...
The Mortal Sea: Fishing the Atlantic in the Age of Sail
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Since the Viking ascendancy in the Middle Ages, the Atlantic has shaped the lives of people who...
The Bones She Buried (Detective Josie Quinn #5)
9.4
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Josie works until her arms ache, until the paramedics arrive and pull her gently away from the...
Billie Wichkan (118 KP) rated Pray for the Girl in Books
May 22, 2019
Lucy's sister, Wendy, is eager to help her adapt, almost stifling her with concern. At the local diner, Lucy is an exotic curiosity--much like the refugees who've arrived in recent years. When a fifteen-year-old Muslim girl is found murdered along the banks of the river, difficult memories of Lucy's time overseas come flooding back and she feels an automatic connection. At first glance, the tragedy looks like an honor killing. But the more Lucy learns about her old hometown, the less certain that seems.
There is menace and hostility here, clothed in neighborly smiles and a veneer of comfort. And when another teen is found dead in a cornfield, his throat slit, Lucy--who knows something about hiding secrets--must confront a truth more brutal than she could have imagined, in the last place she expected it . . .
Lucy is trying to heal from her past, so coming home is supposed to help with that.
I love the authors' description of the characters and town.
Very well developed plot with many layers to this novel.
The twist in part 2 was just a big WOW!
The ending I did not see coming at all.
Really enjoyed reading and have no trouble saying highly recommend!!
Thank you Net Galley, Kensington Books, and Joseph Souza for sending above book for review.