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Hazel (1853 KP) rated Hostage Three in Books

Dec 17, 2018

I received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads.

Hostage Three is the second literary thriller by Carnegie Shortlisted Nick Lake. I must admit that I was a little apprehensive about reading this book after having read Lake’s first literary thriller, In Darkness, which, although well written, was rather hard going and, at times, boring. However I really enjoyed Hostage Three. Maybe it helped having a narrator I could relate to more, or maybe it was because the narrative was not shared between two major different time periods as In Darkness was. Whatever the reason, it was good.

The narrative jumps straight in to something happening in 2008 on the coast of Eyl, Puntland, Somalia. Seventeen-year-old Amy Fields is on a yacht, there are pirates; it appears someone is about to be killed. End of part one. What has happened? What is going to happen? Begin part two, three and a half months earlier. From this moment on Amy narrates what has happened in the lead up to the initial insight given and what happened afterwards. The reader learns more about Amy, her father and his wife, Sarah, who Amy constantly refers to as ‘the stepmother’, which gives an indication of their tense relationship. Throughout the book there are also flashbacks to what happened to Amy’s real mother, a sufferer of severe OCD, and the events that caused Amy to become the rebellious teenager she is portrayed as at the beginning of the novel.

Amy and her family end up travelling the world on a private yacht only to get taken hostage by pirates in the Indian Ocean. To begin with it is clear that the Fields family and yacht crew are the goodies and the pirates the baddies, however Amy begins to develop a complicated, secret relationship with one of the pirates, Farouz. The reader discovers the pirates’ motives, well at least Farouz’s motives, behind the hostage situation. Things begin to look less black and white, less good versus bad. And everything, of course, becomes more complex once romance is thrown into the mix.

Hostage Three is well worth a read. Lake writes really well and keeps the reader engaged. It is as if Amy is talking to the reader the entire time. Once you get used to the unconventional use of punctuation (no speech marks) it will become fast paced and you will be torn between wanting to read it all in one go and wanting to slow down to prevent it from ending too soon!

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Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated Aladdin (2019) in Movies

Jul 2, 2019

Aladdin (2019)

2019 | Adventure, Family, Fantasy, Musical

7.2

(157 Ratings)

Movie Rating Watch

Guy Ritchie’s live action remake really was a hit for me. Not much of the story has changed which is fine. I went into this film excited but with a few weary doubts. I was for sure that nothing could compare to the 1992 two dimensional Genie I grew to adore. I then however convinced myself to treat the film as its own entity and not as a comparison. I mean come on, nothing can compare to a cartoon version of anything. You can animate just about anything but trying to flip the story to live-action and expecting the same results can be risky. In the remake it worked out well for the most part. Anytime Genie was his big blue self that’s when the CG that was used was extremely noticeable. I just have never been a fan of CG use on actors, it used to freak me out as a kid. I know it sounds strange but I quickly got over it and was able to really enjoy the film.

When the film was being discussed and or planned the stipulation at least for the two leads (Mena Massaud and Naomi Scott) was, they of course had to be of Indian or Middle Eastern descent, they had to be able to sing and dance and they had to be newcomers. I thought they were perfectly cast and had great chemistry. They also were both able to stand their ground and their performances certainly didn’t get lost playing along side Will Smith. Though he is incomparable to Robin Williams he did do an outstanding job at Genie and I think Williams would be proud of his rendition.

One of my favorite things Disney films have always delivered in any of their films has been the atmosphere and sets. The colors of Agraba are vibrant and inviting. You can almost smell the spices and feel the warm breeze flowing through the city. I am also pleased that Alan Mankin has returned to compose the music for the film. All songs have been kept the same with the addition of a few new songs so be sure to at least sing along with them.

In my honest opinion this live-action remake of Disney’s Aladdin has been my favorite of the live-action Disney remade films so far. It is a two hour nostalgic film filled wth laughs, action, lots of parkour and good life lessons. Money or power can’t always buy happiness.

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Keyboard Sinhala

Education and Productivity

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App

The following Sinhala Keyboard is a Keyboard application that is aimed to accommodate even the...

Black Origami by Jlin

9.0 (1 Ratings) Rate It

Album Watch

Planet Mu are very excited to announce Jlin's long awaited second album Black Origami . A...

dance electronic

Sri Rama Lila Ramayana

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Podcast

This is the story of the Lord’s descent on earth as Rama, the seventh incarnation of Lord Vishnu,...

Shirley Manson recommended Scream by Siouxsie & The Banshees in Music (curated)

"This one is down to my best friend, my dearest friend from when I was three years old – we met at nursery school and we grew up together. We grew through our teens and went through puberty together, starting to experiment with alcohol and cigarettes and boys. She had very lenient parents whereas my parents were really old-school and sort of conventional; she had a very unconventional family life. She and I used to be able to just do whatever we wanted, whenever we wanted, up in her attic bedroom.    Because I'd been caught smoking by my parents, I didn't have any pocket money but my best friend Sarah did. She was able to buy records that I couldn't get my hands on – she bought The Scream – I'm not entirely sure why she bought The Scream, but she played it in her bedroom and I can still remember her putting the needle on the vinyl and just that record beginning, starting: I was mesmerised. I just was like, 'What the fuck is this? And who is this? And what is it?'    We just became quickly obsessed. We finally saw them on Top Of The Pops and I just fell madly and obsessively in love with Siouxsie and the whole band for that matter: I just loved how they looked like nothing I'd ever laid eyes on before.    Up until that point I'd only been exposed to very conforming women in music. I'd never seen someone who identified as a female but looked somewhat androgynous and referenced Native American Indian culture, which excited me for whatever reason. She had this incredible, strange style that seemed very confrontational and rebellious. She just excited me visually and musically.    I've been obsessed with her ever since and my love for her has never waned at all. She's another artist who's never, ever let me down. I still go back to those records over and over again because there's a certain power in Siouxsie's delivery that's very hard to find amongst most female-identifying artists. She still sounds unique, and she still sounds like she can wipe the floor with any of us.    I was starting to experiment with what my version of what adulthood meant and I think I was 13 or 14; I became obsessed with 'Suburban Relapse' and 'Nicotine'. 'Suburban Relapse' had such a strong narrative: I just could see everything in detail through her lyrics. She was very erudite and I was just so mesmerised by her."

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