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The Westing Game
The Westing Game
Ellen Raskin | 2004 | Fiction & Poetry, Mystery, Young Adult (YA)
10
8.1 (7 Ratings)
Book Rating
The Westing Game enthralled me from the very first page and I had a hard time putting the book down from that point on. Full of atmosphere, Ms. Raskin wrote a smart, clever, and intriguing story that had my mind striving to figure out the mystery within. A short book (my copy was 182 pages), the author nevertheless managed to capture the characters, the settings, and everything really, with a skillful ease. Written for children, I think I'd be bereft in mentioning that it is much more mature than a typical "kid's book" and I imagine many adults would enjoy this if they're into well-executed mysteries. I appreciated the "epilogue," of sorts, although felt a few things were too pat, but overall it was a near perfect story. Though I never quite unraveled the whole puzzle, the journey alone was worth the enjoyment I got out of this book.
4.5 stars
  
The Perfect Mother
The Perfect Mother
Aimee Molloy | 2018 | Fiction & Poetry, Thriller
8
8.0 (8 Ratings)
Book Rating
I honestly wasn’t sure how much I would like this one since I am not yet a mother, so I can’t relate to all the things these new mothers are going through. However, once I started reading it was pretty difficult to stop! There are a lot of real issues that new mothers go through from wanting to appear perfect to feeling like they aren’t good enough. Then there’s a baby that goes missing, a baby from a mommy group the main characters are a part of, and there’s a ton of whodunnit, crime blog searching, amateur detective work going on. You don’t know who is telling the truth or even whose perspective you are reading from. I thought I knew what was going on and thought I was so smart having figured it all out but I was definitely wrong (about pretty much everything!). This was a good, quick read and actually had an ending that is satisfying and doesn’t feel rushed.
  
40x40

Awix (3310 KP) rated Moxie (2021) in Movies

Mar 28, 2021  
Moxie (2021)
Moxie (2021)
2021 | Comedy, Drama, Music
8
8.5 (2 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Superior Netflix high-school comedy-drama. A teenage girl is provoked into starting a feminist club at her high school and resist the double-standards she sees everywhere. (There are jokes, too.)

Sounds like another crashingly didactic piece of post-Weinstein agitprop, but director Amy Poehler is smart enough to mix a little more grit and nuance into the formula. There are still things about the movie which grate slightly - the female principal of the school is almost comically indifferent, there's a rather-too-glib piece of plotting about a rape, and the demonisation of white men is surely problematic - but this is subtle and funny and occasionally sweet and tender, and you do care about the characters and their situations. The film is insightful enough to imply that even if an injustice is brazen and obvious, it doesn't necessarily follow that the solution to it is straightforward. This is an openly feminist film with an axe to grind, but still an accessible piece of entertainment.
  
Lash (The Skulls, #1)
Lash (The Skulls, #1)
2
2.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
DNF @27%

Yeah, I've decided I don't like MC (motocycle club) books too much. I don't get the concept of them and some of their rules just pee me off.

What the hell's up with this one?

A guy who--in her own words--says 'she didn't realise he had ever noticed her' suddenly goes all dark and brooding on her one night, drags her upstairs and starts kissing/touching her and she just lets him? When she's a virgin? Really? Cos I'm not buying it.

He then orders her to come to terms with his interest in her and that she's now his and she just rolls with it?

If I'm going to read and enjoy a MC book I need a kick arse, smart-alec who gives as good as she gets and I'm sorry but--I can't even remember the main characters name :/--she wasn't that for me.

Will not be reading the next books.
  
The Whisper Man
The Whisper Man
Alex North | 2019 | Crime, Thriller
10
7.6 (8 Ratings)
Book Rating
This novel was told from multiple perspectives, but the main characters in this book were Jake and his dad Tom. They move to a new town after Tom’s wife dies. The town is quite ordinary, except for the fact that they moved to a house locally called “the scary house”, and that a child disappeared and was found murdered, and then Jake starts to hear the whispers just outside his window… 😮

I really enjoyed this book and the story. The characters chosen for this novel are quite ordinary, but at the same time incredibly mysterious. I really enjoy reading multiple perspectives, and especially when the murderer’s thoughts are incorporated as well, and this book didn’t disappoint me with that. I really liked how the author delivered the characters, he concentrated on the important ones, and I was able to find out more about them. My favourite character has to be Jake, he is smart, sweet, interesting, and he truly shines in this book. I really enjoyed the variety of characters as well.

The narrative of this novel is very creatively crafted, it has plenty of twists and surprises, and I really liked the way Alex North was building up the suspense throughout this novel. This book had not only chills and thrills, but also some very deep and insightful monologues as well. The characters discussed such topics as loss and how they are dealing with it, how fathers influence their sons, alcoholism and it’s consequences, single parent struggles, and many more. Even though there are female characters in this novel, the author concentrates more on Father-Son bond and relationships, and it feels quite masculine at times, and I really liked reading about it.

I enjoyed the writing style of this book, the book was very well composed and delivered. The chapters are short, so it was very hard to put it down. There are some very disturbing scenes in this book related to dead seven-year-old children, so it is not for faint-hearted readers. Even though this story is very gripping, I was expecting something more from the culmination, it was good, but it could’ve been even better. I liked how this book ended, I think it rounded the story very nicely. There is not much information about the author himself, but I believe it was his debut novel, and I truly hope that there will be more coming in the near future. 🙂

So, to conclude, it was a true page turner for me, that left me scared at night. I loved the complex characters, unexpected discoveries, and always lingering fear and creepiness. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and I strongly recommend it to all mystery and thriller fans. There are rumours that there will be a film, and I absolutely can’t wait to see, how it will be adapted to the big screen.