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Sassy Brit (97 KP) rated The Widows in Books

Jun 5, 2019  
The Widows
The Widows
7
7.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
The Widows by Jess Montgomery is inspired by the true story of Ohio’s first female sheriff. The plot delves into how two women fought greed and violence while overcoming the loss of a loved one.

The author noted, “This is a darker and deeper style of writing, much more than my other stories. For example, I examine the Pinkerton men and the violence they used. I read multiple books that talked about how these men would shoot up the striking camps. I put in this book quote by one of the Pinkerton men, ‘A real war, and then, rule of law won’t matter. Those miners who resist, why, we’ll put ‘em down like rabid dogs.’”

The protagonists Lily and Marvena are based on the real-life historical figures of Maude Collins, the first female sheriff in Ohio, and Mother Jones, the famous activist and labor organizer. Sheriff Daniel Ross, the husband of Lily is murdered and no one knows by whom. Those powerful in the town want to pin it on a coal miner, Marvena’s brother. She has something in common with Lily since she also lost her husband, but to a coal mining accident. Because the mine owners think she will be easy to control, Lily is appointed sheriff pending the next election. But having a mind of her own and a sense of justice she partners with Marvena to find the elusive murderer and Marvena’s missing daughter.

“I wrote both Lily and Marvena as tough. Lily is sensitive but is also a protector who wants to support her community. She keeps her emotions close to her heart. Marvena is fierce and persistent, but also has a tender streak. Although both women were wary of each other at first, they have a common goal to find out what happened. They end up with a strong friendship and recognize that each is balancing their own demons.”

Readers might be curious as to what is real and what is fiction. Montgomery commented, “In real life Collins had five children, and the person who killed her husband was known. I decided it would be interesting to have Lily take the sheriff position to find out who killed her husband. The similarity is that both women lost their husbands in the line of duty, both were appointed sheriff, and both were elected. The differences: Lily is eight years younger than Maude during that time period and she had only had two children.”

Historical facts are intertwined in this novel that also has strong female characters and an intriguing mystery. Readers get a glimpse into the 1920s-coal mining town in Appalachian Ohio as the author examines women’s rights, prohibition, and the life of a coal miner.
  
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Sarah (7800 KP) rated Line of Duty - Season 1 in TV

Apr 22, 2019 (Updated Apr 22, 2019)  
Line of Duty  - Season 1
Line of Duty - Season 1
2012 | Drama
Deserving of the hype
Over the past few months, one of the shows that I kept getting told to watch is Line of Duty. Nearly everyone I know is raving about this, and despite the fact that they’re all on series 5, I decided to give this a go from the very first series. And for the most part, this is fairly deserving of the hype.

Police dramas have inundated our screens over the past few years, and it’s unusual to find ones that rise above average - Luther is one, and now I think Line of Duty is another. This has at least found a new angle on the police instead of the usual murder mystery, focusing on the Anti Corruption unit. Whilst I’m pretty sure AC isn’t anywhere nearly as interesting in real life (and indeed the real life name of Professional Standards used for the unit by most actual police forces isn’t as catchy either), Line of Duty at least makes this highly entertaining and intriguing. Corruption sounds boring, but in this it really isn’t and is full of twists and turns and reveals throughout the series. It has a great cast too that really helps and isn’t afraid to show a bit of blood and violence. As sad as I am, I also enjoyed the little nods to real police - the modern glass plated buildings and the police lanyards etc - these made this a lot more relatable.

This isn’t perfect though. I sometimes found some of the jumps in storyline confusing and I don’t feel like everything was wrapped up at the end of the series. I also found that the three main AC12 character weren’t very well developed and there could have been more done to show their backgrounds or personal lives. I don’t doubt that this will be expanded in later series, but it would’ve been nice to see it here! I am however very much looking forward to seeing the next few series.
  
WO
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Connilyn Cossette has a true gift, weaving the history and truth of the Bible with imagination. Enhancing the stories to the point that I feel like I can TASTE the manna, I can SEE the cloud, I can HEAR the shofar blow, and I can FEEL the agony of the Canaanites. A people who have been led to live life a certain way, and they know nothing else.

Allanah and Tobiah have found a place in my heart. A "Culture Clash" of massive proportions and a romance that is so sweet and tender. A Canaanite by birth, will Allanah be able to open her heart to the people who have embraced her as their own? Tobiah is full of compassion and love for his family, but when his path leads him to Allanah, his life ends up going in a direction he didn't expect.

Although Allanah and Tobiah are fictional, there are plenty of REAL people, places, and events in this story. And the truth of God's love, forgiveness, salvation, is very real. There are many challenging issues that come up, but you know what? They really happened, and are still happening today. We can not just brush these uncomfortable things under the rug. I commend Connilyn for bringing these issues to light in a heart wrenching yet very real way.

From beginning to end, Wings of the Wind had me utterly captivated. It is a rare thing for me to read a book this fast. And if it wasn't for sleep and feeding my family, I would have completed this in one sitting. Now I can't wait to go back and read the first two books in the series. I think it is safe to say that all of Connilyn's books, both past and future, will make it to my reading list. Brava Connilyn! I am officially hooked!

I received a complimentary copy of Wings of the Wind from Bethany House Publishers. I was not required to write a positive review. All opinions expressed are mine alone.
  
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Daniel Boyd (1066 KP) rated 22 July (2018) in Movies

Oct 22, 2018 (Updated Oct 22, 2018)  
22 July (2018)
22 July (2018)
2018 | Drama
7
8.3 (3 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Good Direction (1 more)
Well Acted
Lacks Purpose (0 more)
An Important, If Terrifying Recent Tragedy
22 July is a Netflix film directed by Paul Greengrass about a brutal 2011 terrorist attack in Oslo.

This film is hard to watch.

I'm a guy that loves gory action flicks and intense horror movies, but something like this is far more disturbing to me. The film is so well made on a technical level, that at some points it actually feels like you are watching the real life massacre play out, which to me felt a little bit too real. Thankfully, I have never been affected by an act of terrorism, nor has anyone that I know, but if I had, I'm not sure how I would feel about someone making a movie like this retelling the trauma that those people went through.

I appreciate that this is an important event in recent history and shouldn't be something that is easily forgotten, but the brutal realism of this film is hard to stomach at times. It really puts you in the shoes of the victims and let's you imagine the terror and crippling fear that they must have felt.

The actor that plays the perpetrator of the attack, Anders Behring Breivik, (played by Anders Danielsen Lie,) has to be commended. He was so believable in the role that I ended up getting really angry every time that he appeared in a scene. I don't even want to know what an actor has to do to get into that headspace, but he put in an absolutely sublime performance as a deplorable scumbag.

The other standout role was Jonas Strand Gravli as Viljar Hanssen, one of the victims of the attack. He is the audience's main conduit into this horrific event and he is brilliant throughout the film.

The main criticism that I have is that we are shown this horrific attack in brutal detail and the aftermath of the event, with no real purpose. I am not sure what the point of this movie was other than to retell a gut wrenching, terrifying story of a real life terrorist attack. I guess, if you were to do some reaching, you could say that the fact that the film has no point echoes the fact that this brutal act of mass violence also had no point and sometimes these horrific things just happen with no real reason.

Overall, this is a very well made movie. It is full of heavy emotions and will make you think about the nature of the human mind. This is if you can get through it though, the movie is very hard to watch and I can see a good amount of folks turning off because they can't handle it, which I can totally understand.