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Litte Fires Everywhere
Litte Fires Everywhere
2020 | Drama
Very strong cast (2 more)
Story progression
The soundtrack
Fantastic, but not an easy watch
Not knowing anything about this show except that it kept pestering me to watch it on Prime, I thought I'd give it a go, for some reason not expecting it to be as heavy as it was.

It started quite slowly, and I almost gave up on it after the first episode, which, as with all of the episodes felt a lot longer than it was.

However, I persevered, and am glad I did.

The story progressed at quite a slow speed but it was a pace that suited it, the ups and downs of all of the characters and the changes to their lives are handled in a way to draw you into their lives without feeling rushed...

The two leading ladies Kerry Washington and Reese Witherspoon are fantastic, playing the two mothers in such a way that you never know which person is in the right or wrong, and who to side with, both win you over at different points of the story and their backstory flashbacks are equally well handled by the actresses who played their younger versions and give you a real sense of how they became what they are now.

The supporting cast are equally strong from Joshua Jackson as Witherspoon's husband, to the five children of the main characters there isn't a weak performance.

A powerful and moving story examining relationships, lies, sexuality, and loyalties there is a lot to take in, it's not an easy series to binge watch quickly, I had to do it only a couple of episodes at a time, but I highly recommend watching it, just don't expect laughs and an easy time...

It also has a great soundtrack which is also a bonus...
  
Good Me, Bad Me
Good Me, Bad Me
Ali Land | 2017 | Fiction & Poetry
8
8.0 (21 Ratings)
Book Rating
The description above kind of explains what the books was about, but my description would be something as follows: After the incidents at home, when Milly’s mother got arrested, she lives with new foster family. New mom, dad and sister, but there is the problem there. Her new foster sister hates her and starts bullying her in every way possible. New foster parents have no idea about what is going on under their roof. How Milly is going to deal with all the things which are getting thrown at her? Let me start by saying that it is outstanding psychological thriller, where every chapter breathes of suspense and anticipation of what is going to happen next. I really enjoyed the way this book was written, like a letter to character’s evil mum. At the same time it was laying this story so beautifully, it was real pleasure for me to read it. The language used in the book is really understandable and easy to read, so you can put away the dictionary, will not need it here.

I found the characters very diverse and really disturbed in this publication. All of them had some sort of problem they were suffering from and that made them really interesting. I believe here is where author’s life experience came in. She worked with a lot of disturbed people, children and grownups, so that knowledge where greatly used in this novel. In my opinion, children where the strong characters in this book and not the grownups. Those revenge parts were like honey to sore throat, unexpected and so satisfying, after all the anger caused to me by bullying scenes. There was one thing that didn’t make me very happy, I needed more information about the murders. There were more murders, but only one discussed thoroughly. I am extremely curious how others died. Also I needed to know more about what mom used to do to Annie, I didn’t find given information sufficient. I think more information would’ve helped to understand the main character better. The ending of the book was like a crown on the queen’s head, applause for it! So to conclude, this is a gripping psychological thriller with a lot of twists and turns and I do strongly recommend it. Is there going to be a film? I would not be surprised if there would be.
  
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Lindsay (1807 KP) rated Horizon in Books

Sep 7, 2017  
Horizon
Horizon
Tabitha Lord | 2015 | Science Fiction/Fantasy
9
9.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Caeli is one member that has a few unique skills. There is a commander in trouble with his spaceship. Will he survive? Caeli is part of the few survivors of her world. She is taken from her home and put with someone that being dictator.
 
Tabitha is a good author and she brings it all to life. What will happen on Horizon. Will the commander and Caeli get together and help save the crew, and find love in each other? She happy to work on the ship in where she loves working.
 
We go on adventures through inner space and what life is like on Horizon. Will they all survive or not? I enjoyed this book from the first page to the last page. I cannot wait to start the second book that I do have in this series. The author has done wonderfully with it. There are surprises throughout the book and some romance as well.

I believe this book is good for though science fiction but also I would suggest teens read it from the age of 14 and up. The parent has the right to decide. It being rated PG 13 so it would be okay for 13 years old if you the parent this your child or children are mature enough for the book. That is up to you.
  
The Lion in Winter (1968)
The Lion in Winter (1968)
1968 | Biography, Drama, History
7.5 (4 Ratings)
Movie Favorite

"Personal favorite, this is. It may not be a favorite of a lot of people, and I have loads more favorites, but for more the banter and the performance I would have to say it would be the original version of The Lion in Winter with Peter O’Toole and Katharine Hepburn. Just to see the two of them go picnicking on each other. There are other wonderful performances in it and [it was] shot in Ardmore Studios in Ireland. Of course, to have some of the back splash story as well, because I’ve heard from people there O’Toole wouldn’t turn up for hours, and then he’d turn up with a case of champagne. He was always sort of rooting for Katharine Hepburn, who was of course incredibly stiff and elegant and posed about it all. Of course, I worked with Anthony Hopkins as well, who told me a bunch of stories about it. If O’Toole didn’t turn up, Hopkins used to play O’Toole’s part off camera lines. But Hopkins was so good at it [laughing]. I wonder if O’Toole caught him!. Terrible — it was like — that was the film where, at the end of the film, Katharine Hepburn turned around to Peter O’Toole and said, “When I first went into this business, my agent told me never to work with children or animals, and you, Peter, are both.”"

Source
  
    GoOut - Best Events Anywhere

    GoOut - Best Events Anywhere

    Entertainment, Events and Lifestyle

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    GoOut is the first step on your way to having a great time out, your personal cultural guide that...

Every Last Lie
Every Last Lie
Mary Kubica | 2017 | Fiction & Poetry
6
7.0 (5 Ratings)
Book Rating
Irritating characters (1 more)
Letdown of an ending
A bit of a letdown
Clara Solberg's new son, Felix, is just days old when her husband, Nick, and four-year-old daughter, Maisie are in a terrible car crash. They are heading home from Maisie's ballet class when Nick takes a curve too fast and the car slams into a tree--Maisie is amazingly uninjured, but Nick is killed. Devastated, Clara finds herself unable to sleep or eat and soon, Maisie begins having nightmares, telling her mother a bad man is after her and showing fear about a particular kind of car. Clara begins to wonder if her husband's death was really an accident. As she investigates, she also starts to ponder if she knew Nick at all.

Kubica's latest is told in alternating perspectives: Clara, as she deals with the aftermath of her husband's untimely death, and Nick, in the months leading up to the car crash. It should be an effective format, causing things to unfurl slowly and build tension and suspense. Unfortunately, in this case, it also creates a layer of stress. Maybe I just caught this book at a bad time--I was busy with work and could only pick it up in bits and pieces for a while--but the first 2/3 or so just stressed me out. I found myself almost dreading picking it back up and finding out what Clara was up to. While we should have sympathy for Clara, as her husband is dead and she's left alone with two small children, I often found her annoying and, honestly, a borderline terrible parent.

As such, her parenting decisions and overall bad judgment left me unable to enjoy or even fathom huge portions of the novel. Maybe she's clouded by grief and fatigue, but I'm not sure I'd immediately go from my child having one nightmare to thinking my husband had been killed. Nor would I leave my children in the (hot) car alone everywhere I went, chasing down leads on this supposed murder. Good grief. Her unhinged behavior was hard to stomach after awhile.

Nick's portions were almost easier to read, even if he too is an unsympathetic character: a man who just needed to not lie constantly to his wife. (Why, why must characters just lie incessantly in some of these novels?)

The one redeeming facet for this novel was the last third--and again, I have to say that maybe I just found the book at a bad time, because when I finally found a little time to read it uninterrupted (e.g., stay up too late the night before my children started school--a decision I'm still regretting), it did pick up. I read the last third in one setting, because the dramatic tension was finally affecting me, and I needed to know what happened.

Still, even in the end, I felt let down by it all. Why did I read this? What was the point? I have read two other of Kubica's novels and enjoyed them, particularly Pretty Baby, but this one just didn't do it for me.

Overall: stressful, lacked the appropriate tension for most of the novel, belabored by annoying/irritating characters, and a letdown of an ending. Before writing this review, I was thinking 3 stars, but as I'm writing, I realized this was a 2.5 star read for me. Hopefully you will enjoy it more than me. I will definitely read whatever Kubica writes (and I still have The Good Girl waiting on my Kindle app), but I'm disappointed by this one.

More at http://justacatandabookatherside.blogspot.com/.