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MaryAnn (14 KP) rated Shine the Light in Books

Nov 4, 2019  
Shine the Light
Shine the Light
April McGowan | 2019
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Shannon is out to save the world one caring act at a time. She’s stood by her best friend, Amber, through their whole lives especially when Amber lost her sight. She has an active outreach ministry to the homeless and disenfranchised. And she’s even let down her guard long enough to let a boyfriend, Justin, into her life.



Her life has settled into a pleasing routine of teaching, freelance photography work, quiet dinners with Justin, and taking Amber on treks to find new subjects for her visionary paintings. But when a man from her past shows up, her secure world crumbles into triggered PTSD episodes that threaten everything she relies on. Will she be able to overcome these old memories, or will her past crush any hopes she had for a future?



My Thoughts: This is a book that touches the heart. A book that deals with many concerns. It deals with homelessness, physical disabilities, and PTSD. The author has spun a story expertly around these topics. It is a story of love, friendship, healing, and forgiveness.


This was a novel that the reader can become engrossed in, finding it hard to put down. The characters are easy to relate to, and the reader can come to know and love. It brings empathy toward the homeless and their plight. It is a compelling read and I enjoyed this and I know that the author has put much time into research for this novel.
  
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Andrea (28 KP) rated Mockingjay in Books

Aug 18, 2017  
Mockingjay
Mockingjay
Suzanne Collins | 2012 | Young Adult (YA)
10
8.1 (174 Ratings)
Book Rating
Takes the first two novels to a new level (1 more)
Interesting take on PTSD and mental illness
Ending is deeper than what you see at first glance (0 more)
Needs more than one reading
This is a story about a traumatized girl suffering from PTSD as much as it is about war. She isn't the only one who suffer that diagnosis though as we see several aspects of the illness in various characters. All of it is handled fairly well and doesn't romanticize the distress.

Perhaps my favorite part of this book (and even through the series) is that we see "villains" who aren't wholly evil and "heros" who make inexcusable choices. Both do so because they feel they are doing the best thing for their cause, even if it ends up with a significant cost.


The ending is something that many hate, and I must admit that I didn't like it the first time either. I didn't feel happy or satisfied. It wasn't until I realized I wasn't SUPPOSED to feel happy and satisfied with the story's ending that I started to understand the depth. This isn't a pretty picture where people live happily ever after. Even when they get some happiness, if they get some happiness, there are scares that don't go away. This is the cost of war and drastic change. Sometimes all we can hope for is the ability to move on and find little joys in what comes next each and every day while we try to distance ourselves from the horrors of our past.
  
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Suswatibasu (1701 KP) rated Blood on the Tracks: Sydney Rose Parnell Series, Book 1 in Books

Jul 27, 2017  
Blood on the Tracks: Sydney Rose Parnell Series, Book 1
Blood on the Tracks: Sydney Rose Parnell Series, Book 1
Barbara Nickless | 2016 | Fiction & Poetry
7
7.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Slightly overrated in terms of previous reviews
The idea of PTSD of war veterans is an important topic, and I understand that the author attempted to raise the issue, but the constant appearance of ghosts with not much impact on the narrator seems to trivialise the effect of trauma. She seems to have learnt to live with them.

The story itself felt too much of a mishmash of several themes from the far right to soldiers of war. It would have been better to stick to one area. I would have been more interested in hearing about Iraq and how it is more clearly linked with the current crime. It just seems to fall short in developing the major themes.
  
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David McK (3425 KP) rated Iron Man 3 (2013) in Movies

Aug 27, 2021  
Iron Man 3 (2013)
Iron Man 3 (2013)
2013 | Action, Sci-Fi
6
7.1 (64 Ratings)
Movie Rating Watch
The last of Robert Downey Jr's solo outings as the titular Iron Man / Tony Stark, this is also one of the earlier - perhaps even the earliest - entries in the MCUs 'phase 2', i.e. those movies set after 'Avengers Assemble' but before 'age of Ultron' (which ends that phase).

It's also perhaps best remembered for the 'bait and switch' technique it pulled with regards to The Mandarin, the supposed villain of the piece.

Personally, I find it to be one of the weaker entries in the MCU: Tony's issues with PTSD brought about by surviving the wormhole in Avengers Assemble, the Christmassy setting (which marks this as a Shane Black movie), and the kid engineer subplot just didn't really gel all that much with me.