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Boom, Bust, Exodus: The Rust Belt, the Maquilas, and a Tale of Two Cities
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In 2002, the town of Galesburg, a slowly declining Rustbelt city of 33,000 in western Illinois,...
Heather Cranmer (2721 KP) rated The Companion in Books
Jan 8, 2021
I've been a fan of Katie Alender's since I first read her book Bad Girls Don't Die. I haven't read a bad book from her yet, and reading Alender's latest book, The Companion, was no different. I enjoyed reading it.
After losing her parents and two younger sisters in a car accident, Margot is sent to the state institution as she has no other family. There, she has vivid nightmares that leave her screaming at night. The other orphans at the institution call her lucky although Margot isn't sure she'd consider herself lucky. When she is chosen by a rich family to come live with them at their large and gorgeous home, Margot's luck may be changing. However, it doesn't seem like it's for the better. Strange things are happening at Margot's new home. Plus, she's meant to play companion for the sick and mute Agatha. On the plus side, her nightmares have seemed to stop but at what price?
The plot of The Companion was a very strong one and had quite the creepy vibe to it which I thoroughly enjoyed. Everything about about the plot was solid and flowed smoothly. The pacing was superb, and I found myself dying to know what would happen next. In fact, I felt like I was actually part of the narrative the whole time. There are a few plot twists although I felt that most were easy to figure out long before they were revealed. While the majority of The Companion was a great read, the last 100 or so pages let this book down. Margot, the protagonist of the story, seems to lose her brain and common sense towards the ending of the novel. She does some really dumb things that put her life in danger. I had a hard time believing that anyone could be that dumb. Other than that, the rest of the story is really great! Loose ends are tied up by the end of the book. However, I would have liked to know how the flowers grew so quickly by a certain grave, but that's probably just a me thing.
All of the characters in The Companion were fleshed out enough to feel realistic. The only exception was Margot towards the end of the book as stated earlier. She started out so strong and smart, it was kind of a shock to see her dumbed down towards the ending. I had really enjoyed her character and her hunger to find out what was really going on when it came to Agatha as well as what happened to Lily. Agatha was definitely my favorite character. I loved how helpful and strong she tried to be despite what was going on with her. I liked Barrett, but I just wish he would have fought a bit harder to try to help Margot instead of just giving in all the time to his mom. Laura was definitely an interesting character for sure. I enjoyed trying to figure out her story alongside Margot. I felt that Laura was the best written character in The Companion.
Trigger warnings for The Companion include minor violence, death, murder, attempted murder, some heavy kissing, drugging, and gaslighting.
Although the last hundred pages do take away from the book a little, The Companion is still a worthwhile read. It does have an interesting plot and characters and will have you hooked from the very first page. I would recommend The Companion by Katie Alender to those aged 13+ who love a suspenseful story.
After losing her parents and two younger sisters in a car accident, Margot is sent to the state institution as she has no other family. There, she has vivid nightmares that leave her screaming at night. The other orphans at the institution call her lucky although Margot isn't sure she'd consider herself lucky. When she is chosen by a rich family to come live with them at their large and gorgeous home, Margot's luck may be changing. However, it doesn't seem like it's for the better. Strange things are happening at Margot's new home. Plus, she's meant to play companion for the sick and mute Agatha. On the plus side, her nightmares have seemed to stop but at what price?
The plot of The Companion was a very strong one and had quite the creepy vibe to it which I thoroughly enjoyed. Everything about about the plot was solid and flowed smoothly. The pacing was superb, and I found myself dying to know what would happen next. In fact, I felt like I was actually part of the narrative the whole time. There are a few plot twists although I felt that most were easy to figure out long before they were revealed. While the majority of The Companion was a great read, the last 100 or so pages let this book down. Margot, the protagonist of the story, seems to lose her brain and common sense towards the ending of the novel. She does some really dumb things that put her life in danger. I had a hard time believing that anyone could be that dumb. Other than that, the rest of the story is really great! Loose ends are tied up by the end of the book. However, I would have liked to know how the flowers grew so quickly by a certain grave, but that's probably just a me thing.
All of the characters in The Companion were fleshed out enough to feel realistic. The only exception was Margot towards the end of the book as stated earlier. She started out so strong and smart, it was kind of a shock to see her dumbed down towards the ending. I had really enjoyed her character and her hunger to find out what was really going on when it came to Agatha as well as what happened to Lily. Agatha was definitely my favorite character. I loved how helpful and strong she tried to be despite what was going on with her. I liked Barrett, but I just wish he would have fought a bit harder to try to help Margot instead of just giving in all the time to his mom. Laura was definitely an interesting character for sure. I enjoyed trying to figure out her story alongside Margot. I felt that Laura was the best written character in The Companion.
Trigger warnings for The Companion include minor violence, death, murder, attempted murder, some heavy kissing, drugging, and gaslighting.
Although the last hundred pages do take away from the book a little, The Companion is still a worthwhile read. It does have an interesting plot and characters and will have you hooked from the very first page. I would recommend The Companion by Katie Alender to those aged 13+ who love a suspenseful story.
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Ivana A. | Diary of Difference (1171 KP) rated The Seven Deaths Of Evelyn Hardcastle in Books
Sep 14, 2018
www.diaryofdiffference.com
Mind blowing and unputdownable, this is one of those mystery thrillers that will keep you up at night until you see how it ends!
How do you stop a murder that’s already happened?
The Hardcastle family is hosting a masquerade at their home, and their daughter Evelyn Hardcastle will die. She will die every day until Aiden Bishop is able identify her killer and break the cycle.
But every time the day begins again, Aiden wakes up each day in a different body as one of the guests.
Aiden’s only escape is to solve Evelyn Hardcastle’s murder and conquer the shadows of an enemy he struggles to even comprehend. But nothing and no one are quite what they seem.
Honestly, the first couple of pages, I didn’t know where this book was going and whether I am going to enjoy it at all. But as you go through the chapters and get familiar with the story, you realise how clever this book is, and you enjoy it like you have never enjoyed any other book before.
As a debut novel, Stuart Turton did an incredible job with this book. It starts slowly, and grows into a great story. We follow the main character Aiden through many bodies, day by day. The book is set into one place, one town, one house and its surroundings, and sometimes moves backwards and forwards in time.
If you love mysteries and closed escape room books, you will enjoy this book so much!
I have always admired Aiden. Even though all the bodies he was in tried to make him forget about who he really is, he would always fight so his character can flow on the surface! I loved the sacrifices he makes towards Anna, and their relationship.
The ending, the last 30 pages are so smart, amazing and perfectly wrapped up that I couldn’t believe I never noticed those clues.
I am giving it 4 stars, because, even though I really, really enjoyed it, it was extremely hard for me to follow the times and bodies, and I couldn’t get along with the stories and solve the mystery together with Aiden - I always felt like I was falling behind, that put me under stress.
If you haven’t had the chance to read it yet, please grab a copy as soon as you can. This is the escape room mystery that we have all been waiting for!
I want to thank NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for providing me an advanced reader e-copy of this book, in exchange for my honest review.
Mind blowing and unputdownable, this is one of those mystery thrillers that will keep you up at night until you see how it ends!
How do you stop a murder that’s already happened?
The Hardcastle family is hosting a masquerade at their home, and their daughter Evelyn Hardcastle will die. She will die every day until Aiden Bishop is able identify her killer and break the cycle.
But every time the day begins again, Aiden wakes up each day in a different body as one of the guests.
Aiden’s only escape is to solve Evelyn Hardcastle’s murder and conquer the shadows of an enemy he struggles to even comprehend. But nothing and no one are quite what they seem.
Honestly, the first couple of pages, I didn’t know where this book was going and whether I am going to enjoy it at all. But as you go through the chapters and get familiar with the story, you realise how clever this book is, and you enjoy it like you have never enjoyed any other book before.
As a debut novel, Stuart Turton did an incredible job with this book. It starts slowly, and grows into a great story. We follow the main character Aiden through many bodies, day by day. The book is set into one place, one town, one house and its surroundings, and sometimes moves backwards and forwards in time.
If you love mysteries and closed escape room books, you will enjoy this book so much!
I have always admired Aiden. Even though all the bodies he was in tried to make him forget about who he really is, he would always fight so his character can flow on the surface! I loved the sacrifices he makes towards Anna, and their relationship.
The ending, the last 30 pages are so smart, amazing and perfectly wrapped up that I couldn’t believe I never noticed those clues.
I am giving it 4 stars, because, even though I really, really enjoyed it, it was extremely hard for me to follow the times and bodies, and I couldn’t get along with the stories and solve the mystery together with Aiden - I always felt like I was falling behind, that put me under stress.
If you haven’t had the chance to read it yet, please grab a copy as soon as you can. This is the escape room mystery that we have all been waiting for!
I want to thank NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for providing me an advanced reader e-copy of this book, in exchange for my honest review.
Gareth von Kallenbach (971 KP) rated Bad Moms (2016) in Movies
Aug 6, 2019 (Updated Aug 6, 2019)
When moms get tired of being perfect, not being appreciated and decide to give their spoiled children a lesson and just enjoy every minute of their day instead – that’s when the movie Bad Moms happens.
Amy Mitchell (Mila Kunis) is a 32-year-old modern mom, who has a seemingly perfect life: a great marriage, over-achieving kids, a beautiful home and a career. However, she is over-worked and so exhausted that she’s reached the point where she is about to snap. Her life has been reduced to spending a lot of time driving her kids to their extracurricular activities and trying to be just in time for everything. Her perfect life is just a smoke screen, her husband Mike (David Walton) has been unemployed for a while, doesn’t care about helping with anything house- or kids-related, and enjoys a little bit too much online entertainment. In addition to being spoiled, her daughter Jane (Oona Laurence) has some anxiety issues and her son Dylan (Emjay Anthony) has never done his own homework. To make it even more interesting, Amy has to deal with the judgement of PTA Queen, Bee Gwendolyn, (Christina Applegate) and her minions Stacy (Jada Pinkett Smith) and Vicky (Annie Mumolo).
After one hectic day, all Amy can do is stop at a bar and grab a glass of whiskey. There she meets two other underappreciated moms, Kiki (Kristen Bell) and Carla (Kathryn Hahn). Over drinks they vent and declare that they’re tired of living up to expectations and not being appreciated for all their hard work. So they decide to be bad moms.
I love seeing Christina Applegate as the villain; she is smart, evil and pulls all the strings, driving everyone to the edge but nobody can say anything because they’re terrified of her. But the one that dominates the comedy is Kathryn Hann. You would think you might be tired of seeing her in just about every movie released in the last 10 years, but oh boy is this woman hilarious! She plays the divorced working mother whose every line, good or bad, makes the audience ask again and again “Did she just say that?”
I really enjoyed this movie. It is the perfect summer comedy that all audiences can enjoy, especially moms who can really relate. This is The Hangover for moms. I assure you will laugh nonstop because it has a wild drunk trip to the grocery store, a memorable show-and-tell demonstration and a really funny lecture about unflattering bras. I promise you will leave the theater with a smile.
Amy Mitchell (Mila Kunis) is a 32-year-old modern mom, who has a seemingly perfect life: a great marriage, over-achieving kids, a beautiful home and a career. However, she is over-worked and so exhausted that she’s reached the point where she is about to snap. Her life has been reduced to spending a lot of time driving her kids to their extracurricular activities and trying to be just in time for everything. Her perfect life is just a smoke screen, her husband Mike (David Walton) has been unemployed for a while, doesn’t care about helping with anything house- or kids-related, and enjoys a little bit too much online entertainment. In addition to being spoiled, her daughter Jane (Oona Laurence) has some anxiety issues and her son Dylan (Emjay Anthony) has never done his own homework. To make it even more interesting, Amy has to deal with the judgement of PTA Queen, Bee Gwendolyn, (Christina Applegate) and her minions Stacy (Jada Pinkett Smith) and Vicky (Annie Mumolo).
After one hectic day, all Amy can do is stop at a bar and grab a glass of whiskey. There she meets two other underappreciated moms, Kiki (Kristen Bell) and Carla (Kathryn Hahn). Over drinks they vent and declare that they’re tired of living up to expectations and not being appreciated for all their hard work. So they decide to be bad moms.
I love seeing Christina Applegate as the villain; she is smart, evil and pulls all the strings, driving everyone to the edge but nobody can say anything because they’re terrified of her. But the one that dominates the comedy is Kathryn Hann. You would think you might be tired of seeing her in just about every movie released in the last 10 years, but oh boy is this woman hilarious! She plays the divorced working mother whose every line, good or bad, makes the audience ask again and again “Did she just say that?”
I really enjoyed this movie. It is the perfect summer comedy that all audiences can enjoy, especially moms who can really relate. This is The Hangover for moms. I assure you will laugh nonstop because it has a wild drunk trip to the grocery store, a memorable show-and-tell demonstration and a really funny lecture about unflattering bras. I promise you will leave the theater with a smile.
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