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Heather Cranmer (2721 KP) rated The Cutting Room Floor in Books

Jun 7, 2018

The Cutting Room Floor

Dawn Klehr | 2013 | Mystery, Young Adult (YA)

7.0

(2 Ratings)

Book Rating

(This review can be found on my blog <a href="http://themisadventuresofatwentysomething.blogspot.com/">The (Mis)Adventures of a Twenty-Something Year Old Girl</a>).

When I read the synopsis of this book, I was definitely intrigued. When the opportunity arrived to review this book, I decided I'd take a chance on it. While I wasn't overly impressed with the book, it was still an alright read.

The title suits the book well. The chapters titles are written like a script and sometimes include blocking directions. (If you're not familiar with drama terms, you may want to look that up). The main characters are drama geeks as well.

I do like the cover! It's definitely eye catching, and it made me want to pick this book up.

I didn't really have a problem with the world building. I felt like the world building was done rather well except I didn't like how Riley seemed to find every girl she came across as hot. That just doesn't happen in real life, yet it happened to Riley in this book.

I felt like the pacing was a bit slow in this book. At times I was debating with whether or not I should carry on. However, there are some parts of this book where the pacing does pick up, especially towards the end., so not all hope is lost.

I found the plot line to be interesting enough. I was a drama geek in school, so the plot suited me. There was the whole muder mystery thing with Riley's favorite teacher, Riley's confusion about her sexuality, and Dez's stalker crush on Riley going on. I definitely wanted to know how things would play out.

I thought the characters were written fairly well. As I've said before, I didn't like how the author made it seem like Riley was hot for every girl she came across. Saying that, I did like Riley though. Everything about her (minus liking every girl) felt real, and her confusion was very realistic. I didn't like Dez. I felt he was way too controlling when it came for Riley and that he was super selfish. In fact, I'd even go as far as calling him scary. He was always there for Riley but only because he was a stalker. There's not one thing I liked about Dez.

The dialogue flowed smoothly, and all interactions between characters felt realistic. There is some swearing in this book, but it's not over the top.

Overall, The Cutting Room Floor is a decent read. The pacing could do with some work as it does come across as a bit dull some of the time. However, the plot itself is interesting.

I'd recommend this book to those aged 14+ who want a book to read to help them pass the time.

<b>I'd give The Cutting Room Floor by Dawn Klehr a 3.5 out of 5.</b>

(I was provided with a free paperback of this title from the author in exchange for a fair and honest review).

Kudos

Chevening: A Seat of Diplomacy

Julius Bryant

(0 Ratings) Rate It

Book

Chevening stands in a magnifi cent park below the wooded escarpment of the North Downs in Kent. It...

JT (287 KP) rated Paranormal Activity 3 (2011) in Movies

Mar 10, 2020

Paranormal Activity 3 (2011)

2011 | Horror, Mystery

5.6

(16 Ratings)

Movie Rating

If it’s not broke, then don’t fix it. Seems a pretty good mantra and one that new directors Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman have stuck to.

The pair are behind the camera for the third terrifying instalment of the ever-popular franchise that proves you don’t need a massive budget to make a shit load of money. The film had the biggest opening weekend of any other horror film grossing $54m, and at the same time satisfying those that love it when things go bump in the night.

We’re still with Katie and Kristi, the sisters who were on the wrong end of a pissed off entity for the original and the sequel, or should we say prequel in this case. This time, after a brief cameo from the older girls Katie Featherston and Sprague Grayden, we are transported back to 1988 and the home of VHS, with the siblings now much younger.

The plot follows a different path as we get closer to discovering why this entity has targeted this suburban family in the first place.

Things start to turn sinister from the outset after Dennis (Nicholas Smith), a wedding videographer discovers a figure silhouetted on camera. Desperate to discover what it is, and against the wishes of his partner Julie (Lauren Bittner), he sets up the good old handheld cameras in the bedrooms hoping for it to reappear, it doesn’t take long.

The focus on this is the relationship that Kristi has with the invisible entity who she has aptly named Toby and runs about playfully with until it is clear that Toby gets slightly annoyed when things don’t go his way. The film is full of jumps and jolts that will have you leaping out of your seat or ducking down behind it.

From the old fashioned white-sheeted ghost to making you never want to see a Teddy Ruxpin again as long as you live. Joost and Schulman find new and unique ways to scare the living daylights out of you. To reveal too much more would, of course, ruin it, but suffice to say they are all brilliantly executed.

Being 1988 CCTV was all but redundant for the most part and perhaps one of the biggest payoffs was Dennis’s makeshift camera that was set up in the living room downstairs. Made out of a desk fan the camera pans slowly from one end of the room to the other and is very much the main focus for several horrific scenes, including a homage to the exploding cupboards in PA2.

The film is also injected with a strong sense of light-heartedness and humour, used almost like a comforter that the audience will embrace, that is until Joost and Schulman smack them across the face with another scare. The plot follows a different path as we get closer to discovering why this entity has targeted this suburban family in the first place.

It’s a reveal that may or may not is appreciated, but one thing is for sure you’ll have a great time getting there.

One important thing to note is that the trailer below contains scenes that aren’t included in the film at all, I for one am happy with this as it means that cinema goers can still go in fresh. Although you do feel a little cheated that you missed something important.