Cate Le Bon recommended Third/Sister Lovers by Big Star in Music (curated)
Snap & Translate
Utilities and Reference
App
Snap & Translate makes translation faster and easier than ever before! All you have to do is take a...
Translator with Voice
Travel and Education
App
This application is designed to be a translator for all languages with voice support. This...
Text Translator for Me
Reference and Productivity
App
Text Translator is the leading translation and dictionary app. Easily translate text, websites, or...
Active Voice : Speech-To-Text
Social Networking and Productivity
App
* * Join over a Million people around the globe using Active Voice on a daily basis!! Download it...
Last Exit To Brooklyn
Book
Few novels have caused as much debate as Hubert Selby Jr.'s notorious masterpiece, Last Exit to...
Duolingo
Education and Social Networking
App
Duolingo is Apple's iPhone App of the Year! Duolingo is the world's most popular way to learn...
Foreign language
Hazel (2934 KP) rated The Last House on the Cliff [Audiobook] in Books
Sep 11, 2022
Lowri hasn't had the happiest lives so far and when she returns to Anglesey on the death of her beloved aunt, Gwyn, she thinks this might be the start of a better life for her and her daughter, Ruby. Little does she know what nightmare awaits.
The location and setting of this story is genius; the author captures the small island village and the ever present dangerous cliffs together with the dark and creepy atmosphere of the house perfectly and I was transported there by her excellent and vivid descriptions.
There are quite a few characters and it did take me a while to get a grasp on them all but they are an interesting and eclectic bunch and not all of them are particularly likeable but all fit in and have their place in the story.
The story itself is a complex one of historical family trauma that spans generations. There is a pervading sense of the creepy and the unsettling from the start with some great twists culminating in a very satisfying ending that brought everything together.
The narrator was excellent; her voice was absolutely perfect for the story and I actually think I enjoyed it more because of her narration. Would I have enjoyed it had I read it rather than listened? I think so but I would definitely have had trouble with pronouncing the Welsh words!
Overall, a great audio book to keep you company whilst driving, cleaning or doing just about anything that doesn't need a lot of thought and many thanks to HarperCollins UK Audio and NetGalley for enabling me to listen to and share my thoughts on The Last House on the Cliff.
Sarah (7798 KP) rated Dolittle (2020) in Movies
Feb 26, 2020 (Updated Feb 26, 2020)
Right from the opening scene, its obvious this film has been made solely for children. The plot is basic and predictable and a lot of the action and gags are very childish and puerile. Even Emma Thompson's narration made me feel like I was watching a kids educational show. I appreciate it's difficult to make a film suitable for kids and adults alike, but Disney and Pixar have proved it's possible without being infantile - sadly Dolittle doesn't. There are a few moments that I did have a small giggle at, but most of the gags I found either too obvious or childish to be funny. Weirdly enough I found Kevin the squirrel and his logs hilarious.
The cast themselves I found underused, or rather odd choices - some of the voice actors of the animals to me seemed a little out of place. That probably wasn't helped by how distractingly odd the animals looked when they were talking, and with the CGI ranging from pretty good to decidedly dodgy. Antonio Banderas was wasted as King Rassouli and Michael Sheen was hamming it up to the extremes, but it's Robert Downey Jnr that deserves a notable mention... for how terrible his accent is. I love RDJ, but his Welsh accent ranges from ok to downright horrendous. I couldn't even tell from the trailer what sort of accent he was doing it was that bad. And the problem with this is the accent took away all of the fun and charisma you'd expect from his performance.
The one benefit of this film is that it's fairly short, so it doesnt drag too much. Your kids will love it, but as an adult I wouldn't expect much.