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Leanne Crabtree (480 KP) rated Sapphire Flames (Hidden Legacy, #4) in Books
Jan 7, 2021
I read the original trilogy with Nevada and Connor "Mad Dog" Rogan a few years ago now but I loved it, so the chance to continue the series with the two younger sisters was a big YES!
It's been three years since Nevada and Connor got married in Diamond Fire and now Catalina is the head of House Baylor. She gets a visit from Augustine - who runs a large PI type firm - and is asked to help talk a fifteen year old down from a hospital ledge after the death of his mum and sister and she immediately agrees. What follows draws Catalina into helping her friend find out who killed their family and she finds her teenage crush, Alessandro, is somehow involved in it.
I really enjoyed this, as I have the previous books in this series. The action barely stops throughout, there's always something happening keeping you hooked.
It was a complicated web for the team to unravel with trying to find out the murderer of Runa and Ragnar's mum and sister and I was drawn into that mystery.
And then the romance. God, I don't know who to slap first. Catalina for not telling Alessandro how she felt, or Alessandro for leaving in the end, though we very clearly see in that epilogue that he doesn't particularly want to leave.
I cannot wait for Emerald Blaze to released in August so I can see these two meet again and hopefully work it out!
It's been three years since Nevada and Connor got married in Diamond Fire and now Catalina is the head of House Baylor. She gets a visit from Augustine - who runs a large PI type firm - and is asked to help talk a fifteen year old down from a hospital ledge after the death of his mum and sister and she immediately agrees. What follows draws Catalina into helping her friend find out who killed their family and she finds her teenage crush, Alessandro, is somehow involved in it.
I really enjoyed this, as I have the previous books in this series. The action barely stops throughout, there's always something happening keeping you hooked.
It was a complicated web for the team to unravel with trying to find out the murderer of Runa and Ragnar's mum and sister and I was drawn into that mystery.
And then the romance. God, I don't know who to slap first. Catalina for not telling Alessandro how she felt, or Alessandro for leaving in the end, though we very clearly see in that epilogue that he doesn't particularly want to leave.
I cannot wait for Emerald Blaze to released in August so I can see these two meet again and hopefully work it out!
Heather Cranmer (2721 KP) rated The Revenge of Praying Mantis (Hattori Hachi, #1) in Books
Jun 7, 2018
(As featured on my blog <a href="http://themisadventuresofatwentysomething.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/review-of-revenge-of-praying-mantis.html">The (Mis)Adventures of a Twenty-Something Year Old Girl</a> )
I've never read a book about ninjas or anything ninja related before. It never really interested me. However, I am glad I came across Revenge of Praying Mantis by Jane Prowse. I found it to be extremely interesting, and not once did my attention waver!
Revenge of the Praying Mantis is the first book in the series of Hattori Hachi, a fifteen year old girl whose mother goes missing under suspicious circumstances. Hattie must learn ninjutsu if she wishes to find out what happened to her mother. She also must learn who to trust.
I loved loved loved the characters in Revenge. I felt they were all very well developed especially those of Hattie, Mad Dog, and Yazuki. I loved the fact that finally a mixed race person was the main character of a book as you don't often see that. I also loved the fact that Hattie could hold her own. She didn't act like a damsel in distress either. She was a kick butt girl!! I found Mad Dog to be a perfect gentlemen. He didn't try to overshadow Hattie at all, and he was always willing to do his own thing. I also loved the fact that he was always willing to risk his life for Hattie. Yazuki was definitely my favourite character. I found her to be a very strong character throughout the book. She says and does some very funny things, but she is very wise. Yazuki becomes Hattie's mentor and friend. I'm really hoping Yazuki will be featured in all of the books because she feels like part of my family for some reason.
Throughout the book, I felt like I was being taught ninjutsu as well. It is very obvious throughout the book that Ms Prowse has definitely done her research in ninjutsu. I loved how each chapter started out with a saying about ninjutsu.
I found the pacing to be absolutely perfect. It wasn't too fast that I didn't understand what was going on, nor was it too slow where I got bored. Every chapter held my interest, and I was desperate to know what would happen in the next chapter.
The dialogue is very easy to understand especially as this is a YA book. It's not condescending either. I felt it used the right dialogue that would appeal to pre-teens, teens and adults alike.
Okay, I have to mention the cover now. I love it, and I find it very appealing! The cover definitely matches the story of the book especially with the shadow on the front. I like the fact that the cover is very simple yet beautiful. It's not cluttered like a lot of covers sometimes are.
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I believe it appeals to both boys and girls, young and old. I'd definitely recommend this book to anyone and everyone even if martial arts aren't your thing as there's so much more going on in this book!!
The Revenge of Praying Mantis (Hattori Hachi #1) by Jane Prowse gets a 5 out of 5 from me.
I've never read a book about ninjas or anything ninja related before. It never really interested me. However, I am glad I came across Revenge of Praying Mantis by Jane Prowse. I found it to be extremely interesting, and not once did my attention waver!
Revenge of the Praying Mantis is the first book in the series of Hattori Hachi, a fifteen year old girl whose mother goes missing under suspicious circumstances. Hattie must learn ninjutsu if she wishes to find out what happened to her mother. She also must learn who to trust.
I loved loved loved the characters in Revenge. I felt they were all very well developed especially those of Hattie, Mad Dog, and Yazuki. I loved the fact that finally a mixed race person was the main character of a book as you don't often see that. I also loved the fact that Hattie could hold her own. She didn't act like a damsel in distress either. She was a kick butt girl!! I found Mad Dog to be a perfect gentlemen. He didn't try to overshadow Hattie at all, and he was always willing to do his own thing. I also loved the fact that he was always willing to risk his life for Hattie. Yazuki was definitely my favourite character. I found her to be a very strong character throughout the book. She says and does some very funny things, but she is very wise. Yazuki becomes Hattie's mentor and friend. I'm really hoping Yazuki will be featured in all of the books because she feels like part of my family for some reason.
Throughout the book, I felt like I was being taught ninjutsu as well. It is very obvious throughout the book that Ms Prowse has definitely done her research in ninjutsu. I loved how each chapter started out with a saying about ninjutsu.
I found the pacing to be absolutely perfect. It wasn't too fast that I didn't understand what was going on, nor was it too slow where I got bored. Every chapter held my interest, and I was desperate to know what would happen in the next chapter.
The dialogue is very easy to understand especially as this is a YA book. It's not condescending either. I felt it used the right dialogue that would appeal to pre-teens, teens and adults alike.
Okay, I have to mention the cover now. I love it, and I find it very appealing! The cover definitely matches the story of the book especially with the shadow on the front. I like the fact that the cover is very simple yet beautiful. It's not cluttered like a lot of covers sometimes are.
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I believe it appeals to both boys and girls, young and old. I'd definitely recommend this book to anyone and everyone even if martial arts aren't your thing as there's so much more going on in this book!!
The Revenge of Praying Mantis (Hattori Hachi #1) by Jane Prowse gets a 5 out of 5 from me.
Tales from a Young Vet: Mad Cows, Crazy Kittens, and All Creatures Big and Small
Jo Hardy and Caro Handley
Book
The funny, touching and entertaining story of how Jo Hardy, the star of BBC2's Young Vets, gets to...
Joe Goodhart (27 KP) rated Doctor Who: Christmas on a Rational Planet in Books
Nov 30, 2020
I first read this book once, back in 1999. I had not revisited again until two weeks ago. This review is based upon my re-reading it.
First, let me just write that this is clearly one of the more effed up New Adventures you will ever read. The things I witnessed within were horrible and chilling in a number of ways, far more so than I recall them being when I first read the book!
For those not aware, this was Lawrence Miles' (or, as some like to refer to him as, "Mad Larry") first published DW work. The seeds are planted, offering us glimpses at ideas, like Grandfather Paradox, which will be elaborated on further in his Eighth Doctor Adventures ALIEN BODIES and INTERFERENCE BOOKS 1 & 2.
Yes, as many have commented, his writing is not as polished or focused as it would be later in his career. However, that is not to say that it's rubbish or worthy of being snubbed. There are some damned good ideas here, both abstract and otherwise. The book requires a lot of focus, but it was worth it in the end.
I miss the writing that DOCTOR WHO used to have. Nothing in the 2005-onward NuWHO stories can hold a candle to this! And at least the Doctor's companions weren't all following him with lust-filled, puppy dog eyes like they were in the current stories!
If you are looking for something WHO-related, with a bit more bite and a whole lot more to tickle your brain, look no further than CHRISTMAS ON A RATIONAL PLANET!
First, let me just write that this is clearly one of the more effed up New Adventures you will ever read. The things I witnessed within were horrible and chilling in a number of ways, far more so than I recall them being when I first read the book!
For those not aware, this was Lawrence Miles' (or, as some like to refer to him as, "Mad Larry") first published DW work. The seeds are planted, offering us glimpses at ideas, like Grandfather Paradox, which will be elaborated on further in his Eighth Doctor Adventures ALIEN BODIES and INTERFERENCE BOOKS 1 & 2.
Yes, as many have commented, his writing is not as polished or focused as it would be later in his career. However, that is not to say that it's rubbish or worthy of being snubbed. There are some damned good ideas here, both abstract and otherwise. The book requires a lot of focus, but it was worth it in the end.
I miss the writing that DOCTOR WHO used to have. Nothing in the 2005-onward NuWHO stories can hold a candle to this! And at least the Doctor's companions weren't all following him with lust-filled, puppy dog eyes like they were in the current stories!
If you are looking for something WHO-related, with a bit more bite and a whole lot more to tickle your brain, look no further than CHRISTMAS ON A RATIONAL PLANET!
Bob Mann (459 KP) rated The Mitchells vs The Machines (2021) in Movies
May 16, 2021
Brilliantly original animation (1 more)
Fantastic laugh-out-loud gags throughout, many with a movie nerd bias
Dog-Pig-Dog-Pig-Loaf of Bread… KERBOOM!
Katie Mitchell (voiced by Abbi Jacobson) dreams of being a great film director (joining her icons on her version of Mount Rushmore!). She's about to travel to a west-coast film college when her dad Rick (Danny Mcbride) decides to cancel her air ticket and try to re-engage with her through one last epic road trip. Together with wife Linda (Maya Rudolph), dinosaur-mad son Aaron (director Michael Rianda) and cross-eyed pug Monchi (Doug the Pug!) they set off on their journey.
But the world is set to change forever, as sentient operating system PAL (Olivia Colman) and her army of robots take over the world and prepare to launch human-kind into deep dark space. The Mitchell's, as the world's unlikeliest Avengers, appear to be the only ones available to prevent the evil plan!
Positives:
- In my review of the lamentable "Thunder Force", I commented that it failed my "six laughs test" for a comedy. I only laughed 3 times in the whole film. In contrast, this movie hammered home guffaw-generating lines and scenes about six times a minute! It's hilarious. It's one of those films (like the best Pixar ones) with so much hidden detail buried in every shot. You could watch it a dozen times and still find new hidden gags.
- This is a movie that is the perfect family film. A film that kids will love for the knockabout comedy and a film that adults will also fall in love with. This comes from three different angles:
-- Excellent character development of the whole family. Katie feels like a fully rounded stroppy teen: she seems to be struggling with her identity (lesbian? - "It took me a while to figure myself out"); and she is struggling towards her personal goals despite the well-intentioned but destructive doubts that her rough-and-ready father keeps sowing. This feels like a journey that the family is on towards enlightenment, before it's too late.
-- This is also a film with considerable emotional heft. It channels at times some of the best elements of the Toy Story films (most notably "Toy Story 3" with Andy's departure for college). (Any parents who have never experienced that joyous yet dreadful day when you drive your chicks to university or college for the first time: brace yourselves!)
-- It's a dream for film fans. Like "Ready Player One", it's populated with lots of fun movie easter-eggs scattered throughout. Katie's 'Mount Rushmore' by the way has Greta Gerwig, Céline Sciamma (from "Portrait of a Lady on Fire"), Lynne Ramsey and Hal Ashby as her directorial inspirations.
- And finally, it's a film for adults appreciative of some truly great satirical one-liners, including some razor-sharp zingers at 'big tech'. For example:
"It's almost like stealing people's data and giving it to a hyper-intelligent AI as part of an unregulated tech monopoly was a bad thing"
Negatives:
- My only minor criticism - and its a debatable one - might be the running time of 113 minutes. It might be a little too long for younger kids' attention spans. A 90 minute, more condensed, movie might have ticked the 'perfection' box.
Summary Thoughts: I don't normally "go" for animated films much. But this one is a different breed. An instant classic. It knocks you round the chops and forces your respect by being like no animated feature you've seen before. Witty, irreverent, gloriously entertaining it's a no-brainer that this gets 5-stars from me.
I said in my review of "Nomadland" that although that wasn't a 5* film for me, I could see why its brave and different slant at film-making earned it the Best Film Oscar. Well, almost regardless of what epically beautiful production Pixar might bring out before the end of the year, if the Academy doesn't vote this Best Animated Feature at next year's Oscars, then some sort of crime might have been committed.
(For the full graphical review, please check out the One Mann's Movies review here - https://bob-the-movie-man.com/2021/05/16/the-mitchells-vs-the-machines-dog-pig-dog-pig-loaf-of-bread-kerboom/. Thanks.)
But the world is set to change forever, as sentient operating system PAL (Olivia Colman) and her army of robots take over the world and prepare to launch human-kind into deep dark space. The Mitchell's, as the world's unlikeliest Avengers, appear to be the only ones available to prevent the evil plan!
Positives:
- In my review of the lamentable "Thunder Force", I commented that it failed my "six laughs test" for a comedy. I only laughed 3 times in the whole film. In contrast, this movie hammered home guffaw-generating lines and scenes about six times a minute! It's hilarious. It's one of those films (like the best Pixar ones) with so much hidden detail buried in every shot. You could watch it a dozen times and still find new hidden gags.
- This is a movie that is the perfect family film. A film that kids will love for the knockabout comedy and a film that adults will also fall in love with. This comes from three different angles:
-- Excellent character development of the whole family. Katie feels like a fully rounded stroppy teen: she seems to be struggling with her identity (lesbian? - "It took me a while to figure myself out"); and she is struggling towards her personal goals despite the well-intentioned but destructive doubts that her rough-and-ready father keeps sowing. This feels like a journey that the family is on towards enlightenment, before it's too late.
-- This is also a film with considerable emotional heft. It channels at times some of the best elements of the Toy Story films (most notably "Toy Story 3" with Andy's departure for college). (Any parents who have never experienced that joyous yet dreadful day when you drive your chicks to university or college for the first time: brace yourselves!)
-- It's a dream for film fans. Like "Ready Player One", it's populated with lots of fun movie easter-eggs scattered throughout. Katie's 'Mount Rushmore' by the way has Greta Gerwig, Céline Sciamma (from "Portrait of a Lady on Fire"), Lynne Ramsey and Hal Ashby as her directorial inspirations.
- And finally, it's a film for adults appreciative of some truly great satirical one-liners, including some razor-sharp zingers at 'big tech'. For example:
"It's almost like stealing people's data and giving it to a hyper-intelligent AI as part of an unregulated tech monopoly was a bad thing"
Negatives:
- My only minor criticism - and its a debatable one - might be the running time of 113 minutes. It might be a little too long for younger kids' attention spans. A 90 minute, more condensed, movie might have ticked the 'perfection' box.
Summary Thoughts: I don't normally "go" for animated films much. But this one is a different breed. An instant classic. It knocks you round the chops and forces your respect by being like no animated feature you've seen before. Witty, irreverent, gloriously entertaining it's a no-brainer that this gets 5-stars from me.
I said in my review of "Nomadland" that although that wasn't a 5* film for me, I could see why its brave and different slant at film-making earned it the Best Film Oscar. Well, almost regardless of what epically beautiful production Pixar might bring out before the end of the year, if the Academy doesn't vote this Best Animated Feature at next year's Oscars, then some sort of crime might have been committed.
(For the full graphical review, please check out the One Mann's Movies review here - https://bob-the-movie-man.com/2021/05/16/the-mitchells-vs-the-machines-dog-pig-dog-pig-loaf-of-bread-kerboom/. Thanks.)
OctoPie - a Game Shakers App
Games
App
How fast can you slingshot pizza-pies to a diva, a bear, and a sumo wrestler? Can you avoid a...
Andy K (10821 KP) rated Back to the Future Part III (1990) in Movies
Apr 14, 2019
By the time you get to Back to the Future 3, you have seen Marty go "Back to the Future" twice, and Doc and Marty save us from the world of Biff Tannen the casino boss, Lorraine's very large breasts, and Marty's family going down a tumultuous bad trail to a life of disappointments.
Marty discovers Doc will be murdered within a week of him receiving a letter from his friend in 1885 and decides it is worth the risk to go "back" one more time to save him.
Marty finds more relatives in the Old West, as well as that time's version of Biff, now called "Mad Dog" Tannen before eventually reuniting with Doc.
Unlike Back to the Future 2, this film really takes its time and slows the pace down. This element really let's the relationship between lifelong friends develop as well as introduce Doc to the one mystery he has yet to conquer in the universe, Women! Mary Steenburgen was a welcome addition to the cast, although I wish Lea Thompson would have been in this one more.
The climactic scene with the steam locomotive trying to push the DeLorean up to 88 mph to get the duo back to their own time is one of my favorite endings of all time. It is executed with precision and great music and editing to achieve the desired effect.
It is funny, when I was listening to the audio commentary after viewing the film, director Robert Zemeckis said when they finished shooting the film, the land owners who let them use the property while filming asked if they could leave the western town they had built as an homage to the production an filmmakers agreed. Years later they found out the entire town had been destroyed when it had been struck by lightning during a storm.
I thought that was a good end to the story.
Marty discovers Doc will be murdered within a week of him receiving a letter from his friend in 1885 and decides it is worth the risk to go "back" one more time to save him.
Marty finds more relatives in the Old West, as well as that time's version of Biff, now called "Mad Dog" Tannen before eventually reuniting with Doc.
Unlike Back to the Future 2, this film really takes its time and slows the pace down. This element really let's the relationship between lifelong friends develop as well as introduce Doc to the one mystery he has yet to conquer in the universe, Women! Mary Steenburgen was a welcome addition to the cast, although I wish Lea Thompson would have been in this one more.
The climactic scene with the steam locomotive trying to push the DeLorean up to 88 mph to get the duo back to their own time is one of my favorite endings of all time. It is executed with precision and great music and editing to achieve the desired effect.
It is funny, when I was listening to the audio commentary after viewing the film, director Robert Zemeckis said when they finished shooting the film, the land owners who let them use the property while filming asked if they could leave the western town they had built as an homage to the production an filmmakers agreed. Years later they found out the entire town had been destroyed when it had been struck by lightning during a storm.
I thought that was a good end to the story.
Kim Pook (101 KP) rated Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (2019) in Movies
Oct 27, 2021
Contains spoilers, click to show
The movie starts Halloween in the 1960s, and a group of teens are planning a trick or treat prank on the jocks in their school. It's just the classic poo in a bag but the jocks get mad and chase them in to a drive in movie, where the teens jump into a young lads car to hide. This lad tells the jocks to basically do one and saves the teens from being pulverised.
As a thank you, the teens invite the young lad to a haunted house with them. They have a look around and start to see strange things, such as an old lady and a dog. After a terrifying ordeal the teens escape and go home. One of them, Stella, had found a book of scary stories in the house which she takes home with her. Stella begins to read the book, and as she reads the scene moves to Tommy (one of jocks) and shows that what she is reading is coming true. When Stella realises this, she takes the book back to the haunted House, however it is not that easy as the book reappears in her bedroom and begins writing another story, only this time it's about her friend August.
The teens decide they must find a way to stop it before the book takes the rest of the group.
I found the start of the movie very slow paced, but once the book comes into it, it moves at a more decent pace and I started to enjoy it, I even looked forward to sei g who the book took next and how.
Word of warning, if you don't like spiders you won't like Ruth's story, I had to look away a lot during that scene. Chucks story started creepy until it showed what was after him, and it just looked ridiculous, I honestly couldn't help but laugh! And Ramones story was also pretty laughable, it made me wonder if it was meant to be a comedy. Sadly from that point I couldn't take it seriously any more.
As a thank you, the teens invite the young lad to a haunted house with them. They have a look around and start to see strange things, such as an old lady and a dog. After a terrifying ordeal the teens escape and go home. One of them, Stella, had found a book of scary stories in the house which she takes home with her. Stella begins to read the book, and as she reads the scene moves to Tommy (one of jocks) and shows that what she is reading is coming true. When Stella realises this, she takes the book back to the haunted House, however it is not that easy as the book reappears in her bedroom and begins writing another story, only this time it's about her friend August.
The teens decide they must find a way to stop it before the book takes the rest of the group.
I found the start of the movie very slow paced, but once the book comes into it, it moves at a more decent pace and I started to enjoy it, I even looked forward to sei g who the book took next and how.
Word of warning, if you don't like spiders you won't like Ruth's story, I had to look away a lot during that scene. Chucks story started creepy until it showed what was after him, and it just looked ridiculous, I honestly couldn't help but laugh! And Ramones story was also pretty laughable, it made me wonder if it was meant to be a comedy. Sadly from that point I couldn't take it seriously any more.
JT (287 KP) rated The Raid (2011) in Movies
Mar 10, 2020
As a big fan of action I always look for a film that really holds your attention as well as capture the imagination.We all know that there is a sense of unbelievability that is needed for some action films, and The Raid will certainly check those two points off the list.
The film follows Rama (Uwais) a rookie cop who is part of a S.W.A.T team sent into a tower block to bring down drug lord Tama (Sahetapy), who is holed up surrounded by a army of psychopathic knife wielding maniacs. This is a man that is not to be messed with as we see him viciously execute five men at close range. When he runs out of bullets on the last man we think he’ll let him go. Not so, as he goes to the desk draw, in it are a couple of bullets and a hammer….he takes the hammer.
Meanwhile as the team arrive at the building it’s clear that they are not going to get it all their own way as the majority of them are picked off one by one leaving only a few survivors trapped on the seventh floor. With seemingly nowhere to go, the small band of brothers agree to finish what they started, and go get Tama. The action is explosive, right from the moment the cops set foot inside the carnage begins and doesn’t really let itself catch breath for the 90 minutes.
The fight scenes in-particular are brilliantly choreographed, the climatic fight at the end just seems to keep going and going. A lot of work has gone into getting them just right, in fact the character Mad Dog who is played by Yayan Ruhian had a big part to play in orchestrating them.
There might be the risk that seeing one Indonesian getting the shit kicked out of them one after another may become boring, but that is not the case. Director Gareth Evans has immersed us fully in the action, with wide angled shots giving us a a beautiful picture to look at.
It’s a fully enjoyable film that will have you wincing in pleasure, there must be something about the tower block that attracts, but Evans has taken the action genre to great heights with this one.
The film follows Rama (Uwais) a rookie cop who is part of a S.W.A.T team sent into a tower block to bring down drug lord Tama (Sahetapy), who is holed up surrounded by a army of psychopathic knife wielding maniacs. This is a man that is not to be messed with as we see him viciously execute five men at close range. When he runs out of bullets on the last man we think he’ll let him go. Not so, as he goes to the desk draw, in it are a couple of bullets and a hammer….he takes the hammer.
Meanwhile as the team arrive at the building it’s clear that they are not going to get it all their own way as the majority of them are picked off one by one leaving only a few survivors trapped on the seventh floor. With seemingly nowhere to go, the small band of brothers agree to finish what they started, and go get Tama. The action is explosive, right from the moment the cops set foot inside the carnage begins and doesn’t really let itself catch breath for the 90 minutes.
The fight scenes in-particular are brilliantly choreographed, the climatic fight at the end just seems to keep going and going. A lot of work has gone into getting them just right, in fact the character Mad Dog who is played by Yayan Ruhian had a big part to play in orchestrating them.
There might be the risk that seeing one Indonesian getting the shit kicked out of them one after another may become boring, but that is not the case. Director Gareth Evans has immersed us fully in the action, with wide angled shots giving us a a beautiful picture to look at.
It’s a fully enjoyable film that will have you wincing in pleasure, there must be something about the tower block that attracts, but Evans has taken the action genre to great heights with this one.
Hadley (567 KP) rated The Other Mrs. in Books
Apr 4, 2020
Mental illness done correctly (1 more)
Addictive
Mental illness.
I've read a lot of horror books that cover this subject, watched horror movies covering this subject, listened to music covering this subject, but none of them have covered mental illness as well and correctly as Mary Kubica's "The Other Mrs.."
So, with that said, if you have any type of PTSD, this book may be hard for you to read. Otherwise, this novel is very addicting, filled with so many twists and turns that you won't be able to set it down for long. For me, someone who deals with C-PTSD, 'The Other Mrs.' by Mary Kubica has been a heartache to read, but also very fulfilling to finish.
Kubica is known for her best-selling novel 'the Good Girl' - - - a thriller following a mother and a detective in search of the the former's missing daughter that leads them down a twisted tale of family secrets. From highly acclaimed critics, 'the Other Mrs.' has out-done 'the Good Girl' as Kubica's best novel so far. Kubica sticks with her psychological thriller writing that she is known for in this newest novel. She keeps the reader guessing at what will happen next, and she plays out mental illnesses in a way that most who suffer can relate while winding in a mystery well enough that the reader won't be able to guess everything before the ending.
I can't give such a heavy review on this book because, to do so, would give away a lot of the ending, so I'll stick to talking about noteworthy characters that make up the novel. The main character is a woman named Sadie, whose family is being uprooted from Chicago and moved to a small island in Maine after her husband's sister dies, which leaves them with not only a house in the will, but a sixteen-year-old niece named Imogen.
Sadie is already a mother of two sons, both younger than sixteen, when she suddenly finds herself in-charge of the stereo-typical edgy teenager, Imogen. Sadie describes her the first time she sees Imogen: " But there she stands, a morose figure dressed in black. Black jeans, a black shirt, bare feet. Her hair is black, long with bangs that slant sideways across her face. Her eyes are outlined in a thick slash of black eyeliner. Everything black, aside from the white lettering on her shirt, which reads, I want to die. The septum of her nose is pierced. Her skin, in contrast to everything else, is white, pallid, ghostlike. She's thin. "
Early one morning when Sadie is heading off to work, she finds a word spelled on her car window. The word reads: "Die." Sadie, as most readers, quickly assumes that Imogen is responsibly for this, as she tries to explain: "I've tried to be understanding because of how awful the situation must be for her. Her life has been upended. She lost her mother and now must share her home with people she doesn't know. But that doesn't justify threatening me. Because Imogen doesn't mince words. She means just what she said. She wants me to die."
The next character that makes up a big part of this story is a confident, self-centered woman, whose name is Camille,and is also the 'other woman' in this story. Camille is a woman who gets what and who she wants, and won't let anyone get in her way, including Sadie, whose husband is someone Camille wants. I can't go much into the things that Camille's character does because it would give away a lot of the surprises in this novel - - - I can say though that there is murder and mystery throughout; the book will leave most readers guessing until the very end.
One other character who deserves mentioning is a little girl- - - with the nickname 'Mouse' - - - who finds herself suddenly dealing with a horrific stepmother, who abuses her physically and mentally unbeknownst to Mouse's father. One time, in which Mouse shows how smart she is to her the stepmother while being in front of her father (who Mouse likes to call 'Fake Mom'), later that night, when Mouse's father isn't looking, Fake Mom lets Mouse know how she felt about that:
" But later that night, when he father wasn't looking, Fake Mom got down into Mouse's face and told her if she ever made her look stupid again in front of her father, there would be hell to pay. Fake Mom's face got all red. She bared her teeth like a dog does when it's mad. A vein stuck out of her forehead. It throbbed. Fake Mom spit when she spoke, like she was so mad she couldn't stop herself from spitting. Like she was spitting mad. She spit on Mouse's face but Mouse didn't dare raise a hand to wipe it away."
Mental and physical abuse make up all that The Other Mrs. is about. So far, this is the best story I have read in a long time. My only problem with it is it's written like a YA novel, where it seems Kubica tried to keep that from happening by throwing in some heavy syllable words to make it more fitting for adults. But, luckily, she left out most of the wishy-washy elements that make up YA novels, so I believe most adults will enjoy this. I highly recommend this book to people who love murder mysteries!
I've read a lot of horror books that cover this subject, watched horror movies covering this subject, listened to music covering this subject, but none of them have covered mental illness as well and correctly as Mary Kubica's "The Other Mrs.."
So, with that said, if you have any type of PTSD, this book may be hard for you to read. Otherwise, this novel is very addicting, filled with so many twists and turns that you won't be able to set it down for long. For me, someone who deals with C-PTSD, 'The Other Mrs.' by Mary Kubica has been a heartache to read, but also very fulfilling to finish.
Kubica is known for her best-selling novel 'the Good Girl' - - - a thriller following a mother and a detective in search of the the former's missing daughter that leads them down a twisted tale of family secrets. From highly acclaimed critics, 'the Other Mrs.' has out-done 'the Good Girl' as Kubica's best novel so far. Kubica sticks with her psychological thriller writing that she is known for in this newest novel. She keeps the reader guessing at what will happen next, and she plays out mental illnesses in a way that most who suffer can relate while winding in a mystery well enough that the reader won't be able to guess everything before the ending.
I can't give such a heavy review on this book because, to do so, would give away a lot of the ending, so I'll stick to talking about noteworthy characters that make up the novel. The main character is a woman named Sadie, whose family is being uprooted from Chicago and moved to a small island in Maine after her husband's sister dies, which leaves them with not only a house in the will, but a sixteen-year-old niece named Imogen.
Sadie is already a mother of two sons, both younger than sixteen, when she suddenly finds herself in-charge of the stereo-typical edgy teenager, Imogen. Sadie describes her the first time she sees Imogen: " But there she stands, a morose figure dressed in black. Black jeans, a black shirt, bare feet. Her hair is black, long with bangs that slant sideways across her face. Her eyes are outlined in a thick slash of black eyeliner. Everything black, aside from the white lettering on her shirt, which reads, I want to die. The septum of her nose is pierced. Her skin, in contrast to everything else, is white, pallid, ghostlike. She's thin. "
Early one morning when Sadie is heading off to work, she finds a word spelled on her car window. The word reads: "Die." Sadie, as most readers, quickly assumes that Imogen is responsibly for this, as she tries to explain: "I've tried to be understanding because of how awful the situation must be for her. Her life has been upended. She lost her mother and now must share her home with people she doesn't know. But that doesn't justify threatening me. Because Imogen doesn't mince words. She means just what she said. She wants me to die."
The next character that makes up a big part of this story is a confident, self-centered woman, whose name is Camille,and is also the 'other woman' in this story. Camille is a woman who gets what and who she wants, and won't let anyone get in her way, including Sadie, whose husband is someone Camille wants. I can't go much into the things that Camille's character does because it would give away a lot of the surprises in this novel - - - I can say though that there is murder and mystery throughout; the book will leave most readers guessing until the very end.
One other character who deserves mentioning is a little girl- - - with the nickname 'Mouse' - - - who finds herself suddenly dealing with a horrific stepmother, who abuses her physically and mentally unbeknownst to Mouse's father. One time, in which Mouse shows how smart she is to her the stepmother while being in front of her father (who Mouse likes to call 'Fake Mom'), later that night, when Mouse's father isn't looking, Fake Mom lets Mouse know how she felt about that:
" But later that night, when he father wasn't looking, Fake Mom got down into Mouse's face and told her if she ever made her look stupid again in front of her father, there would be hell to pay. Fake Mom's face got all red. She bared her teeth like a dog does when it's mad. A vein stuck out of her forehead. It throbbed. Fake Mom spit when she spoke, like she was so mad she couldn't stop herself from spitting. Like she was spitting mad. She spit on Mouse's face but Mouse didn't dare raise a hand to wipe it away."
Mental and physical abuse make up all that The Other Mrs. is about. So far, this is the best story I have read in a long time. My only problem with it is it's written like a YA novel, where it seems Kubica tried to keep that from happening by throwing in some heavy syllable words to make it more fitting for adults. But, luckily, she left out most of the wishy-washy elements that make up YA novels, so I believe most adults will enjoy this. I highly recommend this book to people who love murder mysteries!