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Seriously Messed Up
“Thriller of the year” according to Observer; it makes you wonder what all the other thrillers were like. Gone Girl is a contemporary crime thriller by American author Gillian Flynn. Likable “Cool Girl” Amy Dunne is missing; the police think her husband has something to do with it, but what really happened?
Flynn begins the novel with an epigraph: “Love is the world’s infinite mutability; lies, hatred, murder even, are all knit up in it; it is the inevitable blossoming of its opposites, a magnificent rose smelling faintly of blood.” – Tony Kushner, The Illusion. This implies that love and hate, and perhaps murder, will be the main issues within the novel. It hints that relationships may not be all that they first appear, which becomes evident as you read deeper into the book.
Split into three parts, the first section alternates between a first person account from Nick Dunne, the husband, of what is occurring on the day in which Amy disappears and the following days when both he and the police are attempting to determine the truth about what has happened and trying to find out where Amy is; and diary entries from Amy dating as far back as 2005.
To begin with I did not think much of the story and did not particularly like Amy, despite her being portrayed as a likable character; however I soon got into the story siding with Nick and wanting him to be innocent even though evidence and suspicion were mounting against him.
Initially I assumed that the truth would not be revealed until the end of the story rather than on the first page of part two. For the remainder of the book Nick’s narrative remains the same, progressing from where it left off at the end of part one; whereas Amy, instead of diary entries, she is telling the reader the truth about what happened on the 5th July – the day she went missing – and the subsequent days and weeks. At this point I became a bit bored with the story; as the reader we know the truth and it is frustrating that the police are getting it wrong. However part three contained more suspense than the rest of the novel.
So, why only three stars? As I already mentioned it did not seem that great at the beginning and to be honest I did not feel satisfied with the ending either. One of the main things that bothered me was the use of swear words. I understand that many people swear and so it is inevitable that these words would end up in novels; however in my opinion there is swearing and then there is swearing. This was beginning to border on the latter. Yes some of the characters were angry but I thought the use of expletives was slightly overdone.
Despite these misgivings it was a well-written piece of fiction that I think others may enjoy – the ratings on Goodreads certainly suggest that; but for me it was not anything special.
Flynn begins the novel with an epigraph: “Love is the world’s infinite mutability; lies, hatred, murder even, are all knit up in it; it is the inevitable blossoming of its opposites, a magnificent rose smelling faintly of blood.” – Tony Kushner, The Illusion. This implies that love and hate, and perhaps murder, will be the main issues within the novel. It hints that relationships may not be all that they first appear, which becomes evident as you read deeper into the book.
Split into three parts, the first section alternates between a first person account from Nick Dunne, the husband, of what is occurring on the day in which Amy disappears and the following days when both he and the police are attempting to determine the truth about what has happened and trying to find out where Amy is; and diary entries from Amy dating as far back as 2005.
To begin with I did not think much of the story and did not particularly like Amy, despite her being portrayed as a likable character; however I soon got into the story siding with Nick and wanting him to be innocent even though evidence and suspicion were mounting against him.
Initially I assumed that the truth would not be revealed until the end of the story rather than on the first page of part two. For the remainder of the book Nick’s narrative remains the same, progressing from where it left off at the end of part one; whereas Amy, instead of diary entries, she is telling the reader the truth about what happened on the 5th July – the day she went missing – and the subsequent days and weeks. At this point I became a bit bored with the story; as the reader we know the truth and it is frustrating that the police are getting it wrong. However part three contained more suspense than the rest of the novel.
So, why only three stars? As I already mentioned it did not seem that great at the beginning and to be honest I did not feel satisfied with the ending either. One of the main things that bothered me was the use of swear words. I understand that many people swear and so it is inevitable that these words would end up in novels; however in my opinion there is swearing and then there is swearing. This was beginning to border on the latter. Yes some of the characters were angry but I thought the use of expletives was slightly overdone.
Despite these misgivings it was a well-written piece of fiction that I think others may enjoy – the ratings on Goodreads certainly suggest that; but for me it was not anything special.
“Thriller of the year” according to <i>Observer</i>; it makes you wonder what all the other thrillers were like. <i>Gone Girl</i> is a contemporary crime thriller by American author Gillian Flynn. Likable “Cool Girl” Amy Dunne is missing; the police think her husband has something to do with it, but what really happened?
Flynn begins the novel with an epigraph: “Love is the world’s infinite mutability; lies, hatred, murder even, are all knit up in it; it is the inevitable blossoming of its opposites, a magnificent rose smelling faintly of blood.” – Tony Kushner, <i>The Illusion</i>. This implies that love and hate, and perhaps murder, will be the main issues within the novel. It hints that relationships may not be all that they first appear, which becomes evident as you read deeper into the book.
Split into three parts, the first section alternates between a first person account from Nick Dunne, the husband, of what is occurring on the day in which Amy disappears and the following days when both he and the police are attempting to determine the truth about what has happened and trying to find out where Amy is; and diary entries from Amy dating as far back as 2005.
To begin with I did not think much of the story and did not particularly like Amy, despite her being portrayed as a likable character; however I soon got into the story siding with Nick and wanting him to be innocent even though evidence and suspicion were mounting against him.
Initially I assumed that the truth would not be revealed until the end of the story rather than on the first page of part two. For the remainder of the book Nick’s narrative remains the same, progressing from where it left off at the end of part one; whereas Amy, instead of diary entries, she is telling the reader the truth about what happened on the 5th July – the day she went missing – and the subsequent days and weeks. At this point I became a bit bored with the story; as the reader we know the truth and it is frustrating that the police are getting it wrong. However part three contained more suspense than the rest of the novel.
So, why only three stars? As I already mentioned it did not seem that great at the beginning and to be honest I did not feel satisfied with the ending either. One of the main things that bothered me was the use of swear words. I understand that many people swear and so it is inevitable that these words would end up in novels; however in my opinion there is swearing and then there is <i>swearing</i>. This was beginning to border on the latter. Yes some of the characters were angry but I thought the use of expletives was slightly overdone.
Despite these misgivings it was a well-written piece of fiction that I think others may enjoy – the ratings on <i>Goodreads</i> certainly suggest that; but for me it was not anything special.
Flynn begins the novel with an epigraph: “Love is the world’s infinite mutability; lies, hatred, murder even, are all knit up in it; it is the inevitable blossoming of its opposites, a magnificent rose smelling faintly of blood.” – Tony Kushner, <i>The Illusion</i>. This implies that love and hate, and perhaps murder, will be the main issues within the novel. It hints that relationships may not be all that they first appear, which becomes evident as you read deeper into the book.
Split into three parts, the first section alternates between a first person account from Nick Dunne, the husband, of what is occurring on the day in which Amy disappears and the following days when both he and the police are attempting to determine the truth about what has happened and trying to find out where Amy is; and diary entries from Amy dating as far back as 2005.
To begin with I did not think much of the story and did not particularly like Amy, despite her being portrayed as a likable character; however I soon got into the story siding with Nick and wanting him to be innocent even though evidence and suspicion were mounting against him.
Initially I assumed that the truth would not be revealed until the end of the story rather than on the first page of part two. For the remainder of the book Nick’s narrative remains the same, progressing from where it left off at the end of part one; whereas Amy, instead of diary entries, she is telling the reader the truth about what happened on the 5th July – the day she went missing – and the subsequent days and weeks. At this point I became a bit bored with the story; as the reader we know the truth and it is frustrating that the police are getting it wrong. However part three contained more suspense than the rest of the novel.
So, why only three stars? As I already mentioned it did not seem that great at the beginning and to be honest I did not feel satisfied with the ending either. One of the main things that bothered me was the use of swear words. I understand that many people swear and so it is inevitable that these words would end up in novels; however in my opinion there is swearing and then there is <i>swearing</i>. This was beginning to border on the latter. Yes some of the characters were angry but I thought the use of expletives was slightly overdone.
Despite these misgivings it was a well-written piece of fiction that I think others may enjoy – the ratings on <i>Goodreads</i> certainly suggest that; but for me it was not anything special.
The Spanish Dude Podcast (Audio)
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If you’ve always wanted to learn Spanish, but didn’t think it was possible because you were...
TravelersWife4Life (31 KP) rated Dawn of Vengeance (Droseran Saga, #2) in Books
Feb 24, 2021
<b>I AM IN RECOVERY. PLEASE EXCUSE MY LACK OF COHERENTNESS. </b>
Have you read Brand of Light? Well, let me warn you. If you do (and I highly encourage you to read it) you will want to have Dawn of Vengeance already on your nightstand ready to read unlike the rest of us mortals who had to wait A YEAR to find out what the heck HAPPENED after the spectacular mic drop ending Ronie Kendig devised to keep us all engaged and going through a gauntlet of emotions.
I honestly was not sure where Ronie Kendig would take us in this new story as the ending of the last one (have I mentioned that enough yet?) was spectacular. I was a little confused in the first book by all the different names, new places, and character personality switches that seemed to go on, however, the storyline was bar none. So, needless to say, Dawn of Vengeance had a lot to live up to and boy did it. I was hooked again by the character interactions, the storyline, and the outta this world adventures.
I give this book 5 out of 5 stars for the great story, the oh so good character turns, and for leaving me wanting more. Thank you Ronie Kendig for continuing to expand my imagination.
*I volunteered to read this book in return for my honest feedback. The thoughts and opinions expressed within are my own.
Have you read Brand of Light? Well, let me warn you. If you do (and I highly encourage you to read it) you will want to have Dawn of Vengeance already on your nightstand ready to read unlike the rest of us mortals who had to wait A YEAR to find out what the heck HAPPENED after the spectacular mic drop ending Ronie Kendig devised to keep us all engaged and going through a gauntlet of emotions.
I honestly was not sure where Ronie Kendig would take us in this new story as the ending of the last one (have I mentioned that enough yet?) was spectacular. I was a little confused in the first book by all the different names, new places, and character personality switches that seemed to go on, however, the storyline was bar none. So, needless to say, Dawn of Vengeance had a lot to live up to and boy did it. I was hooked again by the character interactions, the storyline, and the outta this world adventures.
I give this book 5 out of 5 stars for the great story, the oh so good character turns, and for leaving me wanting more. Thank you Ronie Kendig for continuing to expand my imagination.
*I volunteered to read this book in return for my honest feedback. The thoughts and opinions expressed within are my own.
Jason (7 KP) rated The Light Between Oceans in Books
Jul 9, 2017
Better Than The Film
Yes, yes, I know this has been made into a film. I'm always a little disappointed when a good book becomes a film. With the book, the characters look how you think they should and the locations look how you think they should and so on . . .
With the film, you have the directors vision not yours and I always seem to think the director has it wrong. I even felt this with the Harry Potters. In my head, everything was how I imagined it and the films were not.
Anyways, nothing exists to serve my point as much as this book. I read it a long time before the film came out and it made me feel things more than the subsequent film did.
If you didn't know, this is the story of a man who comes back from the First World War and seeks solitude manning a lighthouse on a lonely island.
He meets the love of his life and they marry and co-exist on the island very happily. They try to have a family but sadly it is not to be as his wife suffers miscarriages.
One day, a boat washes up with a dead man and a live baby inside. What follows is nothing short of heart rending. I won't go into too much detail as you need to read this yourself and please, I implore you to avoid the film until you have read the book.
It's an emotional read, but worth it.
With the film, you have the directors vision not yours and I always seem to think the director has it wrong. I even felt this with the Harry Potters. In my head, everything was how I imagined it and the films were not.
Anyways, nothing exists to serve my point as much as this book. I read it a long time before the film came out and it made me feel things more than the subsequent film did.
If you didn't know, this is the story of a man who comes back from the First World War and seeks solitude manning a lighthouse on a lonely island.
He meets the love of his life and they marry and co-exist on the island very happily. They try to have a family but sadly it is not to be as his wife suffers miscarriages.
One day, a boat washes up with a dead man and a live baby inside. What follows is nothing short of heart rending. I won't go into too much detail as you need to read this yourself and please, I implore you to avoid the film until you have read the book.
It's an emotional read, but worth it.
Artemis is a story about a woman called Jazz Bashara. She's a porter who lives on the moon and smuggles contraband into the city before taking on a job that endangers not only her, but everyone in Artemis.
What did I think to it? It was okay. It was readable. It had a certain charm. Was it amazing? Unfortunately, for me, it fell a little flat and that's difficult for me to say as I love reading Andy's work.
I don't know whether it's because I'm a woman myself but it was quite clear that she'd been written by a man. There were certain elements about her which were reminiscent of Mark Watney and for me it didn't quite work.
That's not to say that I didn't enjoy the book, but it was slow-paced and didn't really pick up until half way through. It's not likely to be one I'd read again. It had big shoes to fill after The Martian, which remains a steady favorite for me.
I hope Andy isn't too discouraged by my review. I did like reading Artemis, it just wasn't groundbreaking for me. Still, I remain a fan of his work and hope he continues to write more novels.
Update: I read somewhere that Andy said Jazz was more like himself and had more of his personality than Mark did. Andy, if this is true please promise me (if you do this) to stop saying things like "Let's bang." 😛
What did I think to it? It was okay. It was readable. It had a certain charm. Was it amazing? Unfortunately, for me, it fell a little flat and that's difficult for me to say as I love reading Andy's work.
I don't know whether it's because I'm a woman myself but it was quite clear that she'd been written by a man. There were certain elements about her which were reminiscent of Mark Watney and for me it didn't quite work.
That's not to say that I didn't enjoy the book, but it was slow-paced and didn't really pick up until half way through. It's not likely to be one I'd read again. It had big shoes to fill after The Martian, which remains a steady favorite for me.
I hope Andy isn't too discouraged by my review. I did like reading Artemis, it just wasn't groundbreaking for me. Still, I remain a fan of his work and hope he continues to write more novels.
Update: I read somewhere that Andy said Jazz was more like himself and had more of his personality than Mark did. Andy, if this is true please promise me (if you do this) to stop saying things like "Let's bang." 😛
Mel Rodriguez recommended Bicycle Thieves (1948) in Movies (curated)
Colin Campbell (25 KP) rated Braveheart (1995) in Movies
Apr 28, 2019
Action (2 more)
Swordplay
Freedom
Historically inaccurate (1 more)
Gibson's accent
Hold... Hold... HOOOLLLLDDDD!
Contains spoilers, click to show
As a story this is a great film, unfortunately people who have limited or no knowledge of Scottish History take this film as a portrayal of all things Scottish around this time.
So to save some confusion:
Longshanks died well after Wallace
The French Princess did not exist
The Bruce wasn't a traitor
Wallace wasn't the leader until after Stirling Bridge
Woad hadn't been worn for about 1000 years
It didn't start with the death of his wife
So now I have this off my chest, to the film itself. It is an epic and one of the films that you must see before you die, just like Shawshank, High Noon and Inside Out.
The story of the one group persecuting another, and a man coming back to his village after spending time abroad learning taking revenge on the death of his secret wife cumulating in open rebellion and war is a common story told many times in cinema history. What makes this is the scenery and the cinematography.
The fight scenes show the brutality and barbarity of war in this era in history. This does it expertly!
If you want something more historically accurate look at Rob Roy with Liam Neeson, if you want a chill film this is the one for you.
So to save some confusion:
Longshanks died well after Wallace
The French Princess did not exist
The Bruce wasn't a traitor
Wallace wasn't the leader until after Stirling Bridge
Woad hadn't been worn for about 1000 years
It didn't start with the death of his wife
So now I have this off my chest, to the film itself. It is an epic and one of the films that you must see before you die, just like Shawshank, High Noon and Inside Out.
The story of the one group persecuting another, and a man coming back to his village after spending time abroad learning taking revenge on the death of his secret wife cumulating in open rebellion and war is a common story told many times in cinema history. What makes this is the scenery and the cinematography.
The fight scenes show the brutality and barbarity of war in this era in history. This does it expertly!
If you want something more historically accurate look at Rob Roy with Liam Neeson, if you want a chill film this is the one for you.
HLD (99 KP) rated Samsung Galaxy S9 in Tech
Jun 13, 2018
Screen resolution is top notch - just remember to change it from the factory default (4 more)
Curved screen took a while to get used to, but is lovely and useful
The camera is sublime
Finger print scanner is in a great position
The sound quality is quite good. The dolby surround sound option makes playing games on it really fun
Battery life could be improved. But I run everything I can on normal/high settings (2 more)
Going from a larger phone to the standard S9 is taking some getting used to. Constant mistyping plagues my conversations
Bixby button - Why?!
An absolute beaut of a phone
The phone I had before was the oneplus 3T, which I was thoroughly happy with. I only upgraded because I got a discount through my work. Although, I am glad I did. It's faster, smoother, the quality of the display is superb, and most functionality that you aren't happy with you can change!
You will curse that Bixby button, however. I suggest downloading a third party app that either disables the button, or enables you to change the functionality.
If you enjoy gaming on your phone, the S9 will run anything nicely. The S9 plus does have more RAM, bigger screen, and second camera, so if that's what you're interested in, then maybe shell out the few extra bucks for the larger phone.
You will curse that Bixby button, however. I suggest downloading a third party app that either disables the button, or enables you to change the functionality.
If you enjoy gaming on your phone, the S9 will run anything nicely. The S9 plus does have more RAM, bigger screen, and second camera, so if that's what you're interested in, then maybe shell out the few extra bucks for the larger phone.
Erika (17788 KP) rated Bombshell (2019) in Movies
Jan 19, 2020
I had zero expectation going into this film. I like Charlize Theron, so that was the main reason I watched it. Her prosthetics did make her look exactly like Megyn Kelly.
My biggest issue was the subject matter. My parents are super conservative, so Fox News is what I grew up watching (and always questioned). It's obvious everyone in Hollywood (aside from a few), hate Fox News so much that it's palpable. Personally, I can detect bias and think for myself, so I think all news channels are terrible. I want to know where the Harvey Weinstein movie is.... I believe the saying is, people who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones.
Anyway, that was my biggest hitching point. I am so glad that they just talked about the harassment, and did not show most of it. I believe instead of using the fake, made up character of 'Kayla' was unnecessary. I would have preferred the use of someone who had actually been harassed. Kate McKinnon was annoying as ever, and she added absolutely nothing to the film.
Honestly, it held my attention, even though it was semi-eye roll inducing. Personally, I know why Megyn Kelly did not speak up until years later, because I've been harassed at 2 different employments. You just block it out and get through the day. I did think the trouser thing was hilarious, not allowing the females to wear them. I had an employer tell me that once, and my response was to tell them to go suck an egg.
So, I guess in summation, the aspects I liked of it were situations I could relate to. The hype for this film is not justified, in my eyes.
My biggest issue was the subject matter. My parents are super conservative, so Fox News is what I grew up watching (and always questioned). It's obvious everyone in Hollywood (aside from a few), hate Fox News so much that it's palpable. Personally, I can detect bias and think for myself, so I think all news channels are terrible. I want to know where the Harvey Weinstein movie is.... I believe the saying is, people who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones.
Anyway, that was my biggest hitching point. I am so glad that they just talked about the harassment, and did not show most of it. I believe instead of using the fake, made up character of 'Kayla' was unnecessary. I would have preferred the use of someone who had actually been harassed. Kate McKinnon was annoying as ever, and she added absolutely nothing to the film.
Honestly, it held my attention, even though it was semi-eye roll inducing. Personally, I know why Megyn Kelly did not speak up until years later, because I've been harassed at 2 different employments. You just block it out and get through the day. I did think the trouser thing was hilarious, not allowing the females to wear them. I had an employer tell me that once, and my response was to tell them to go suck an egg.
So, I guess in summation, the aspects I liked of it were situations I could relate to. The hype for this film is not justified, in my eyes.
Hazel (1853 KP) Jun 13, 2017
Suswatibasu (1701 KP) Aug 21, 2017