Down a Dark Hall (2018)
Movie Watch
Five emotionally fragile teens are committed to Blackwood, a mysterious school for gifted girls....
Almost Famous (2000)
Movie Watch
Set in 1973, it chronicles the funny and often poignant coming of age of 15-year-old William, an...
Matthew Krueger (10051 KP) rated Breakdown (1997) in Movies
Feb 20, 2021
The plot: On their cross-country drive, a married couple, Jeff (Kurt Russell) and Amy Taylor (Kathleen Quinlan), experience car trouble after an accident. Stranded in the New Mexico desert, the two catch a break when a passing truck driver, Red Barr (J.T. Walsh), offers to drive Amy to a nearby café to call for help. Meanwhile, Jeff is able to fix the car and make his way to the café, only to find his wife missing and Barr claiming ignorance. Jeff then begins a frenzied search for Amy.
I would recordmend watching this film.
Ingrid Goes West (2017)
Movie Watch
Ingrid Thorburn (Aubrey Plaza) is an unhinged social media stalker with a history of confusing...
Lost in Space
TV Show Watch
The year is 2046. A Mother Ship containing a number of Jupiter Class Colony Ships are on their way...
Science fiction
Only The Brave (2017)
Movie Watch
All men are created equal… then, a few become firefighters. Only the Brave, based on the true...
The Nothing Girl (Frogmorton Farm #1)
Book
Getting a life isn't always easy. And hanging on to it is even harder... Jodi Taylor brings all...
Fiction
Kristy H (1252 KP) rated My Dark Vanessa in Books
Mar 19, 2020
"'I'm going to ruin you.' He says it with obvious torment, a glimpse into how much he's thought about it, wrestled with it."
This book...wow. I was absolutely captivated by Vanessa's story. She tells her tale in two parts: her adolescence, as she meets Jacob Strane at school and they begin their relationship; and then the present, as Taylor Birch's story hits the press and Vanessa must deal with the fact that her love for Jacob Strane is being portrayed as abuse and assault.
"It's strange to know that whenever I remember myself at fifteen, I'll think of this."
For a book with such dark subject matter, it's really beautiful. Russell is a wonderful writer, and this story unfolds almost lyrically. It's so well-done and completely mesmerizing. The sections featuring young Vanessa capture that early adolescent yearning and longing so perfectly--that deep desire to feel needed and wanted. To Vanessa, this is a love story, a romantic tale of a man needing and loving her. She blocks out and overlooks the parts of the story that don't fit. Understanding that some victims don't see abuse as abuse is key to the story, and Russell portrays the dynamic between Strane and Vanessa so well.
"'It's just my luck,' he said, 'that when I finally find my soul mate, she's fifteen years old.'"
As a result, we get a very thoughtful look at abuse, rape, and assault. And, yes, the sections of older Vanessa's story touch across the #metoo movement, as Taylor Birch and others want so desperately for Vanessa to join their side, to share her story. For them or for Vanessa, it's hard to say. This book is so dark, yet so insightful. Vanessa's inner struggle--basically she's having to re-look at the entire foundation upon which her life is built--is one of the most profoundly written and moving journeys I've seen in literature in quite some time. It's not easy to read about, certainly, and it's not always easy to understand her actions, of course. The story can make you uncomfortable; it can feel problematic. But it's an important read, and it's so beautifully and poetically written. I highly recommend it (taking into account the obvious trigger warnings, of course). 4.5+ stars.
Hiding from Reality: My Story of Love, Loss, and Finding the Courage Within
Book
"The terrible truth is that I felt lost without the control that Russell had imposed on me for the...