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HLD (99 KP) rated Thirteen Reasons Why: (TV Tie-in) in Books

Jun 26, 2018

It's engaging (1 more)

As a show - without the b.s. of pretending they care about suicide prevention, it is actually quite good

Nothing to do with suicide prevention or awareness. It is a TV show, the main goal of which is to attract viewers (0 more)

Mixed feelings about it

As someone who has struggled with suicidal thoughts for over a decade, I cannot say that this show brings any kind of awareness. It is a show; nothing more, nothing less. Don't omit this as the holy grail of mental health advertising, because it isn't.
It is an interesting show with an interesting plot. Too many viewers, and those involved with production, felt the need to blow the meaning of '13 reasons why' out of proportion.
It is not going to shine a light on those in your family that want to take their own life. I would also argue it is not going to influence someone to take their own life.
Not everybody is the same, I know. But I was engaged until the very end, and the urge I have had to end my life was no greater and no lesser after having watched the show.

Kudos

Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2204 KP) rated Room for Doubt in Books

Aug 21, 2018

Suicide or a Serial Killer?

A body has been found hanging from the Hollywood sign, and radio reporter Carol Childs is sent to the scene. The police have ruled it a suicide, but Carol thinks something else is going on. Before the weekend is over, Carol is contacted by a PI who shares her belief that there is more to this death. Then a caller to Carol’s new late Sunday show all but confesses. What is really going on?

From this intriguing premise, we get another fun mystery filled with plenty of suspense. I did have some issues with some moral issues brought up in this book, which is funny because I am on the opposite side of things on some TV shows I watch. A psychic we met in the first book is back, but I was happy that her “ability” only played a small part in the book. In fact, I enjoyed seeing her again since she is a fun foil for Carol. I really liked the cast of characters as well. There were some timeline issues in the middle of the book, but overall, they were a minor annoyance.

Kudos

Erika (17788 KP) rated Birds of Prey (And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) (2020) in Movies

Feb 9, 2020

Better than Suicide Squad (0 more)

First, this film is better than Suicide Squad (I rated that film a 2); it wasn't a hard bar to pass though.
A more apt title for the film would be Harley Quinn and the Birds of Prey. I'm definitely a fan of Birds of Prey, and not really a Harley Quinn fan. I find Harley Quinn kind of annoying, and the storytelling structure was headache inducing at times.
The positives: The fight choreography, that was basically it's saving grace. Ewan McGregor didn't have a lot of story to work with, it was all on the surface. I did think it was hilarious when he joined the dance number for 'Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend', that just made me want to go and watch Moulin Rouge again. He also reused his general American accent from Men Who Stare at Goats, which marks the second movie I thought about watching while I was in this film.

The overall plot was basic and it was very predictable. What made this film even worse was that I did a double-feature and saw Ford v Ferrari afterwards, and there's simply no comparison.

Kudos

Phil Maxwell (25 KP) rated Birds of Prey (And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) (2020) in Movies

Apr 5, 2020

Margot Robbie (0 more)

Everything else (0 more)

Fantabulously Disappointing

Having seen trailers for this film quite a while ago I had high hopes for Birds Of Prey. Unfortunately, this is one of those movies that cram packs all the decent and semi decent action sequences into 3-4 minute trailers to try and entice people into watching. So sad.
While Suicide Squad had left me feeling rather lukewarm, there were enough good points in it so that I hadn't left the cinema feeling like I'd completely wasted my money. Birds Of Prey on the other hand... My God!
It seemed more akin to a comic book version of Thelma And Louise (with a couple more tag alongs thrown in to try and simulate the girl power vibe) than anything vaguely resembling how Harley had been portrayed in Suicide Squad- or in the graphic novels for that matter.
It truly is a shame as I think Margot Robbie is quite good an actress, but I think when she'd been handed this script by her agent she should have just chucked it in the bin without a second thought.

Kudos

The Cuckoo's Calling

J.K. Rowling

(0 Ratings) Rate It

Book

The Cuckoo's Calling is a 2013 crime fiction novel by J. K. Rowling, published under the pseudonym...

Kristina (502 KP) rated Be the Girl in Books

Dec 7, 2020

Contains spoilers, click to show

The meaning behind this story is an important one, it's just unfortunate that it didn't hit very hard until the last 100 pages or less. I continued to read because I knew something big was coming, something shocking and interesting, and I was right: the whole time, I assumed Aria had attempted suicide and was trying to forget her past, so it was definitely a surprise to discover she was escaping from a mistake she made that actually led to a former student committing suicide. The first 85% of the story I wasn't bored, necessarily, just waiting expectantly for "more". But, boy, that last percentage really packed a punch. It goes to show how bullying can go wrong, how there are literally life and death consequences to such actions. It also highlights some of the differences in those with autism, which is nice, because I feel like that topic is shied away from by many. I love K. A. Tucker and I hate to say that, while the moral of the story was an important one, 'Be the Girl' wasn't one of my favorites.