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Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2346 KP) rated The Library Game in Books

Apr 18, 2025 (Updated Apr 18, 2025)  
The Library Game
The Library Game
Gigi Pandian | 2025 | Mystery
9
9.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Murder Strolls into a Library
Tempest Raj and the rest of the team are working on turning a house into a new library in Hidden Creek, this one focused on classic mysteries. While the library isn’t ready to open yet, they are participating in the Summer Stroll program that kicks off in a few days. Their contribution will be an escape room and an interactive mystery play that Tempest wrote with her best friend, Ivy. Naturally, Tempest is there for a dress rehearsal. Unfortunately, it goes horribly wrong with one of the actors turning up dead after a scripted power outage. However, by the time they call the police, the body is gone. Is he really dead? If so, who moved the body?

The case is even more impossible than I was able to work into my teaser, and I had fun watching Tempest lead us to the logical solution. The pacing might have lagged a bit in the middle, but that might be me. It was fantastic to spend time with all the regulars again, and I’m curious where some of the relationships will go from here. The suspects were good, too. We get a delicious sounding recipe for Blackberry Crumble Cobbler and more references to classic mysteries. I really need to find a time to read some of them. This book will work well as an intro/standalone if you haven’t read the earlier books in the series yet. But you’ll want to go back to read them after the fun you’ll have here. Fans will be glad they picked up this book.
  
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Steph Freeman (26 KP) rated The Shape of Water (2017) in Movies

Mar 5, 2018  
The Shape of Water (2017)
The Shape of Water (2017)
2017 | Drama, Fantasy
8
7.6 (107 Ratings)
Movie Rating Watch
Cinematography was excellent. (1 more)
Character development was perfect, not a lot of detail but enough to fall into their lives.
Tried a little too hard to be unique. (0 more)
The Shape of Water - Visually Stunning
The Shape of Water, as discussed in other reviews, follows Eliza Esposito through a snapshot of her life. She has a clear love of water from the beginning, bordering on a fetish, and she connects with few people due to her mutism. The people around her are flawed. Her neighbor is fighting through a new advertising world that no longer values true artwork, her coworker Zelda has a painful home life with a husband that won't participate. Even the characters that are not part of Eliza's life have their struggles depicted within this movie. We see snapshots, just enough to understand these people are flawed, their lives are flawed, their relationships are flawed. Everyone in this movie is struggling towards a goal, though Eliza is the clear focus.

The cinematography reflects the 60's, from the lighting, to the sets and even how the cameras move with the characters. It's a world that engulfs the viewer, suspension of disbelief is a guarantee. The majority of the film is shot in drab, dark colors to reflect the loneliness of the characters, and the fear of the era. It's extremely effective at creating the unspoken sense of unease the country would have felt during the height of the communist scare.


As the movie moves towards the conclusion it becomes more fairy tale than reality. It was still beautiful, and the story still riveting, however, the transition to the more fantastic style was abrupt and could have been handled with more grace. I did appreciate the open ended conclusion, it's rare in American cinema to see, as most American film-goers prefer the ending tied up in a pretty bow.