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Billie Wichkan (118 KP) rated Broken Wings in Books
May 22, 2019
Evening, I made my one hundred and seventy-eighth scratch on the cave wall.
Despite her humble rural beginnings, Butterfly regards herself as a sophisticated young woman. So, when offered a lucrative job in the city, she jumps at the chance.
But instead of being given work, she is trafficked and sold to Bright Black, a desperate man from a poor mountain village.
Trapped in Bright's cave home with her new "husband", she plans her escape not so easily done in this isolated and remote village where she is watched day and night.
Will her tenacity and free spirit survive, or will she be broken?
Chinas one child policy has resulted in a gender imbalance as more male children than female children were born; now young men are having difficulty finding wives. Apparently bride kidnapping has recently resurfaced in some parts of China. In many cases, women are kidnapped and sold to men in poorer regions of the country. This is what happens to Butterfly. In an afterword, the author mentions that her story is based on what happened to the daughter of a neighbour in his home village.
This was very interesting to read for me but did take some patience for me to get into though.
There's a great bunch of characters and a very strong young lady.
It is also heartbreaking to know that this story was inspired by a true account.
Recommend reading.
My thanks to ACA Publishing for an ARC via NetGalley. This is my own honest voluntary review.
Despite her humble rural beginnings, Butterfly regards herself as a sophisticated young woman. So, when offered a lucrative job in the city, she jumps at the chance.
But instead of being given work, she is trafficked and sold to Bright Black, a desperate man from a poor mountain village.
Trapped in Bright's cave home with her new "husband", she plans her escape not so easily done in this isolated and remote village where she is watched day and night.
Will her tenacity and free spirit survive, or will she be broken?
Chinas one child policy has resulted in a gender imbalance as more male children than female children were born; now young men are having difficulty finding wives. Apparently bride kidnapping has recently resurfaced in some parts of China. In many cases, women are kidnapped and sold to men in poorer regions of the country. This is what happens to Butterfly. In an afterword, the author mentions that her story is based on what happened to the daughter of a neighbour in his home village.
This was very interesting to read for me but did take some patience for me to get into though.
There's a great bunch of characters and a very strong young lady.
It is also heartbreaking to know that this story was inspired by a true account.
Recommend reading.
My thanks to ACA Publishing for an ARC via NetGalley. This is my own honest voluntary review.
ClareR (5911 KP) rated Good Me, Bad Me in Books
Jun 9, 2019
To say that this is a chilling story would be a gross understatement. I think my heart was in my mouth for the whole time I was reading this, and I really resented having to put it down.
This is the story of 15 year old Milly, and how she copes with her life after she informs the police that her mother is a serial killer. A killer of small children. She has also been horrifically abused by her mother. We follow her in to her foster family, a family where she is not completely welcomed. The teenaged daughter of her foster parents is a troubled, bullying, frankly rather horrible teenager. It's interesting to look at the similarities and differences between these two characters. How a child who has lived a terrible life seems to outwardly cope better than one who has had a loving (if rather distant) family.
Milly's inner voice, that of her mother, is a chilling reminder that she was controlled completely by this evil woman, to the extent that she finds it difficult to cope without her. The story shows the love of a child for their mother, even though they have been terribly abused by her and seen her do abhorrent things to other children.
I don't want to say too much more - I'd hate to spoil it for anyone else. I will say that this was an excellent story though, and it’s a book that I’ve recommended to a lot of friends.
This is the story of 15 year old Milly, and how she copes with her life after she informs the police that her mother is a serial killer. A killer of small children. She has also been horrifically abused by her mother. We follow her in to her foster family, a family where she is not completely welcomed. The teenaged daughter of her foster parents is a troubled, bullying, frankly rather horrible teenager. It's interesting to look at the similarities and differences between these two characters. How a child who has lived a terrible life seems to outwardly cope better than one who has had a loving (if rather distant) family.
Milly's inner voice, that of her mother, is a chilling reminder that she was controlled completely by this evil woman, to the extent that she finds it difficult to cope without her. The story shows the love of a child for their mother, even though they have been terribly abused by her and seen her do abhorrent things to other children.
I don't want to say too much more - I'd hate to spoil it for anyone else. I will say that this was an excellent story though, and it’s a book that I’ve recommended to a lot of friends.
Andy K (10823 KP) rated Mary Poppins Returns (2018) in Movies
Jun 16, 2019
Plodding...
I had heard and seen all the mediocre reviews for this, but I still wanted to give it a try for myself with my wife last night.
Basically Mary Poppins returns to the Banks household for additional assistance. The original children are grown up and now have problems of their own including unruly children and the bank trying to foreclose and repossess their house. What are they to do?
The film had some fun musical numbers like when Mary send the kids to go take a bath; however, none of the musical numbers hold a candle to the original.
It honestly felt the entire film they were trying too hard to be too close to the original story in almost every way without much variation or surprises at all. I know others had mentioned the Meryl Streep scene as being unnecessary and I completely agree. Her character brought nothing to the story and the entire film could've been like 20 - 30 minutes shorter. The middle and 3rd act dragged on incessantly and was a lot darker like the sequence where all the guys are climbing the clock near the end.
I love Emily Blunt as well, but she really seemed like she was trying to do her Julie Andrews impression instead of making the character her own. Maybe that is asking too much.
The movie had some fun cameos which were a delight, but overall not enough to save this somewhat dull and unnecessary film.
Basically Mary Poppins returns to the Banks household for additional assistance. The original children are grown up and now have problems of their own including unruly children and the bank trying to foreclose and repossess their house. What are they to do?
The film had some fun musical numbers like when Mary send the kids to go take a bath; however, none of the musical numbers hold a candle to the original.
It honestly felt the entire film they were trying too hard to be too close to the original story in almost every way without much variation or surprises at all. I know others had mentioned the Meryl Streep scene as being unnecessary and I completely agree. Her character brought nothing to the story and the entire film could've been like 20 - 30 minutes shorter. The middle and 3rd act dragged on incessantly and was a lot darker like the sequence where all the guys are climbing the clock near the end.
I love Emily Blunt as well, but she really seemed like she was trying to do her Julie Andrews impression instead of making the character her own. Maybe that is asking too much.
The movie had some fun cameos which were a delight, but overall not enough to save this somewhat dull and unnecessary film.
ClareR (5911 KP) rated Mirrorland in Books
Apr 3, 2021
Mirrorland by Carole Johnstone is a fantastic psychological thriller that will have you wondering who is telling the truth, what exactly that truth IS and what on earth could possibly happen next! I loved it.
The narrator is completely unreliable, mainly because she appears to have blocked out a huge part of her life.
Cat returns, reluctantly, to Edinburgh from California, because her sister has gone missing on her sailing boat. Cat seems unsurprised that her sister should have a boat - she and her sister spent hours as children playing in Mirrorland, pretending to be pirates, sailing the Seven Seas. But her disappearance is unexpected.
Has El been murdered? If so, by whom? Who is sending Cat on a treasure hunt and leaving written messages for her? Who is sending emails? Is El’s husband, Ross, implicated in her disappearance? And what DID happen to Cat and El when they were children?
This is such a delicious, rub-your-hands-together-with-evil-glee kind of book.
There are some pretty shocking subjects covered in this novel, so if you don’t like reading about abuse of any kind, this may not be for you. However, I was glued to it. I’m trying to think of some synonyms of ‘loved’ (I realise that i completely overuse this word when I talk about books), so: adored, enjoyed greatly, was besotted with, couldn’t get enough of. Well. You get the gist. It’s just well worth the read!
Many thanks to The Pigeonhole and to Carole Johnstone for joining in with the chat in the margins!
The narrator is completely unreliable, mainly because she appears to have blocked out a huge part of her life.
Cat returns, reluctantly, to Edinburgh from California, because her sister has gone missing on her sailing boat. Cat seems unsurprised that her sister should have a boat - she and her sister spent hours as children playing in Mirrorland, pretending to be pirates, sailing the Seven Seas. But her disappearance is unexpected.
Has El been murdered? If so, by whom? Who is sending Cat on a treasure hunt and leaving written messages for her? Who is sending emails? Is El’s husband, Ross, implicated in her disappearance? And what DID happen to Cat and El when they were children?
This is such a delicious, rub-your-hands-together-with-evil-glee kind of book.
There are some pretty shocking subjects covered in this novel, so if you don’t like reading about abuse of any kind, this may not be for you. However, I was glued to it. I’m trying to think of some synonyms of ‘loved’ (I realise that i completely overuse this word when I talk about books), so: adored, enjoyed greatly, was besotted with, couldn’t get enough of. Well. You get the gist. It’s just well worth the read!
Many thanks to The Pigeonhole and to Carole Johnstone for joining in with the chat in the margins!
Trucks and Things That Go Puzzle Game
Games and Education
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Young children are fascinated by Things That Go and these colorful puzzles of the fastest, biggest...
Captain Hippocampus Learns To Read
Education and Games
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Includes: English, German, French, Spanish, Hindi, Russian, Turkish, Polish, Danish, Swedish,...
Andy K (10823 KP) rated Us (2019) in Movies
Sep 21, 2019
I wish I would've liked it more.
A married couple decide to take a vacation at a beach house. Their relaxation bliss is soon interrupted by four strangers who actually turn out to be evil counterparts or "doppelgangers" of the family who have come to torment them.
Each counterpart goes after their "normal" version in various ways including on the used power boat they had just purchased or having a conversation while sitting in their living room. Not known is why or who they are and what are their intentions. They family tried to take refuge at their neighbors home only to discover they met with their demise courtesy of their own set of demons hunting them.
The family eventually reunites and tried to escape, but are pursued. Several confrontations ensue at the beach where some carnage is executed by the demons and the family against each other.
Then the twist, kind of. A scene at the start of the film when the mother had a traumatic experience as a child getting separated from her family and finding her way into a hall of mirrors and seeing her other self as a child is explained. Truths you thought were truths end of being a lie or a different situation than you originally thought.
In trying to figure out a type for this film it is rather difficult. It is not particularly scary or gory. I suppose suspense/thriller would suit it best, but I'm not sure that is what writer/director Jordan Peele was going for. I liked the visuals, the acting, the musical score and some of the ideas, but not really the execution or the screenplay.
It had some jokes like the "Home Alone" reference and other scenes where the parents and children are together making fun of each other which were just not funny and took away from the tension.
My main problem with the script was the fact that the characters' actions were mostly not appropriate. No one seemed to be bothered by the fact that these other human/non humans existed and when family members, even children, begin performing heinous actions, they don't even seem to blink an eye. They also have to write in the scene where they try and call the police and they are unavailable.
I feel like there was a really great film in there somewhere, they just didn't get it quite right. The middle section dragged somewhat and the ending was interesting but didn't hold water the more you thought about it. I have no issue with a vague ending as long as it leaves you thinking and drawing your own conclusions; however, this film was vague not in a good way I think just due to a mediocre screenplay or maybe bad editing.
Peele certainly had his own big shoes t fill after getting a Best Picture nomination for his first film, Get Out. The box office and critical acclaim were paramount on that one.
Hopefully, he will rebound from this film and create something truly unique and interesting for his next effort. We certainly need more great horror writer/directors out there!
Each counterpart goes after their "normal" version in various ways including on the used power boat they had just purchased or having a conversation while sitting in their living room. Not known is why or who they are and what are their intentions. They family tried to take refuge at their neighbors home only to discover they met with their demise courtesy of their own set of demons hunting them.
The family eventually reunites and tried to escape, but are pursued. Several confrontations ensue at the beach where some carnage is executed by the demons and the family against each other.
Then the twist, kind of. A scene at the start of the film when the mother had a traumatic experience as a child getting separated from her family and finding her way into a hall of mirrors and seeing her other self as a child is explained. Truths you thought were truths end of being a lie or a different situation than you originally thought.
In trying to figure out a type for this film it is rather difficult. It is not particularly scary or gory. I suppose suspense/thriller would suit it best, but I'm not sure that is what writer/director Jordan Peele was going for. I liked the visuals, the acting, the musical score and some of the ideas, but not really the execution or the screenplay.
It had some jokes like the "Home Alone" reference and other scenes where the parents and children are together making fun of each other which were just not funny and took away from the tension.
My main problem with the script was the fact that the characters' actions were mostly not appropriate. No one seemed to be bothered by the fact that these other human/non humans existed and when family members, even children, begin performing heinous actions, they don't even seem to blink an eye. They also have to write in the scene where they try and call the police and they are unavailable.
I feel like there was a really great film in there somewhere, they just didn't get it quite right. The middle section dragged somewhat and the ending was interesting but didn't hold water the more you thought about it. I have no issue with a vague ending as long as it leaves you thinking and drawing your own conclusions; however, this film was vague not in a good way I think just due to a mediocre screenplay or maybe bad editing.
Peele certainly had his own big shoes t fill after getting a Best Picture nomination for his first film, Get Out. The box office and critical acclaim were paramount on that one.
Hopefully, he will rebound from this film and create something truly unique and interesting for his next effort. We certainly need more great horror writer/directors out there!
BookInspector (124 KP) rated Follow the Snowflakes in Books
Sep 24, 2020
Previously I read some of the short romance books, and unfortunately, they kind of disappointed me, but I actually enjoyed this novella, maybe because I read it at the suitable time, or maybe because I could relate with some of the things which were mentioned in the book.
The blurb of this novella is pretty accurate, Cat accidentally meets a stranger in a car accident, and because she has a good heart, she helps him out. One thing leads to another and they spend more and more time together, but life throws in some pleasant surprises and twists for Cat. This is a sweet story, with pleasant characters and interesting twists. I enjoyed reading this novel because it was not too sweet, it had its edge in it, but at the same time, it was pleasant and romantic.
The author was born in Novosibirsk, Russian Siberia, and I did like the little details she proudly shared about her Russian heritage. Do not be fooled by the cover, even though this book is filled with pictures giving it a playful feel, it is a story for adults. I really liked the art at the end of the novel, and I think it is great if you have children, you can give it to them to colour in. Everybody wins!!!
The writing style of this novella is quite simple, with easy and understandable vocabulary. I liked the short chapters, it made this book really great one sitting read. The ending of this story rounded everything as I was suspecting, and for me, it didn’t leave any loose ends. So to conclude, it is a great read if you like Hallmark and looking for a quick, playful and Christmasy story which is pleasant, romantic and not over sweetened. Enjoy
The blurb of this novella is pretty accurate, Cat accidentally meets a stranger in a car accident, and because she has a good heart, she helps him out. One thing leads to another and they spend more and more time together, but life throws in some pleasant surprises and twists for Cat. This is a sweet story, with pleasant characters and interesting twists. I enjoyed reading this novel because it was not too sweet, it had its edge in it, but at the same time, it was pleasant and romantic.
The author was born in Novosibirsk, Russian Siberia, and I did like the little details she proudly shared about her Russian heritage. Do not be fooled by the cover, even though this book is filled with pictures giving it a playful feel, it is a story for adults. I really liked the art at the end of the novel, and I think it is great if you have children, you can give it to them to colour in. Everybody wins!!!
The writing style of this novella is quite simple, with easy and understandable vocabulary. I liked the short chapters, it made this book really great one sitting read. The ending of this story rounded everything as I was suspecting, and for me, it didn’t leave any loose ends. So to conclude, it is a great read if you like Hallmark and looking for a quick, playful and Christmasy story which is pleasant, romantic and not over sweetened. Enjoy
The Friend Zone
8.0
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He's the best man . . . and that's the problem. Kristen Petersen is perfectly fine. She has...
Patching Pirate
Medical and Games
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"Fantastic New Pirate Themed App to Assist Patching For Amblyopia" This is a world first app aimed...