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Made You Up
Made You Up
Francesca Zappia | 2015 | Contemporary, Young Adult (YA)
9
6.4 (5 Ratings)
Book Rating
I'm big into books that deal with mental illnesses. When I heard about Made You Up by Francesca Zappia, I knew it was a book that was right up my alley. I was not left feeling disappointed.

The plot and world building felt very realistic although I'm not Schizophrenic nor do I know anyone who is. I could not tell what was real and what was a delusion by Alex. Kudos to Zappia for giving us a brief glimpse into how a Schizophrenic would feel. I kept second guessing myself throughout Made You Up. Sometimes it would be obvious that Alex was hallucinating, but there were many times everything felt too real to be a hallucination. I would be wrong, and something realistic would be a hallucination. As you can imagine, there were many plot twists throughout this book. There was one major plot twist which I had predicted towards the beginning which turned out to be true thanks to subtle hints the author would throw in, so be sure to be attention to every word on the page to try to grasp what is Alex's reality and what is not. I did feel like the main storyline of Made You Up was whether or not Miles, the boy Alex met briefly when she was a young child, was actually real or not since she meets him again her senior year of high school. It was fun trying to guess if Miles was real or not and if he was the same boy Alex met as a child.

All of the characters in Made You Up had a lot of depth to them. They were all easy for me to imagine as real people instead of characters in a book. I enjoyed reading about Alex and her thought process and what all she had to go through all the time due to her Schizophrenia. Alex, like all the characters in this book, was a very likable character. Miles was interesting. I didn't really know what to make of him throughout the book (mainly because I was trying to figure out if he was real or imaginary). I did enjoy him, and I was definitely intrigued by his back story. It was great learning about him. I loved little Charlie and how much she seemed to love her big sister, Alex. Alex loved Charlie so much as well, and I loved reading about the tight sisterly bond between them.

Trigger warnings for Made You Up include some profanity, some violence, death, minor gore, some child abuse, mental illness, a minor sexual situation, bullying, references to Nazis, attempted murder, and death.

All in all, Made You Up is a very interesting read with a fantastic plot and well developed characters. It's obvious the author did her homework before writing this novel. I would definitely recommend Made You Up by Francesca Zappia to those aged 16+ who are seeking a book full of twists and turns. Just be warned that this book will have you second guessing almost everything (which isn't a bad thing).
  
The Lodge (2008)
The Lodge (2008)
2008 | Horror, Thriller
3
6.3 (4 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Good acting (2 more)
Creepy moments
The sadistic daughter
Shooting felt amateur (3 more)
85% of it was slow and boring
No shocks or twists
Didn't feel R rated
A cliche "horror" that lacks so much
First off I just want to say you can't spoil this movie. Whatever you think is going to happen, it will happen. There are no shocks or twists to the story.

They waste no time showing how creepy the caretaker is. Because of this you hoped that it was all a misdirection but sadly not. You even hoped it would possibly go into a ghost story instead but it just turned around and went right back into predictability.

The shooting of the movie felt very amateur. Every scene was out of focus and it's sad it's something you get used to.

The first half was extremely slow with drawn out scenes and about halfway through it did start to pick up some pace but sadly this ended up dragging on too long and felt too anticlimatic. It did feel like a homage to Texas chainsaw massacre which was nice but did nothing.

It was clear that this was very low budget with only 4 members of cast so there was no place to hide with the acting and I have to say it was good. They did a decent job with what was written and the characters often showed good logic which is rare in movies. For example they had reasons for alarms clocks going off randomly in the night, weird noises etc they were likable too which is a big thing for me.

The sadistic daughter was a great addition. She felt sinister but it is never explained why she is so dirty or why she is the way she is.

Sadly there is nothing new here. It felts like plenty of other movies you have already seen. For a R rated movie, it felt very tame. Like every movie they get caught but nothing terrible happens to them. You expect more violence or gore but this barely had anything and I found myself bored and excited for it to end.

I did go into this expected the worst movie ever so I was surprised that there were parts I liked but ultimately I wasn't impressed. It could have been so much more but lack too many things.
  
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Billie Wichkan (118 KP) rated Twisted in Books

May 22, 2019  
Twisted
Twisted
Steve Cavanagh | 2019 | Thriller
10
9.5 (4 Ratings)
Book Rating
BEFORE YOU READ THIS BOOK
I WANT YOU TO KNOW THREE THINGS:

1. The police are looking to charge me with murder.
2. No one knows who I am. Or how I did it.
3. If you think you've found me. I'm coming for you next.
After you've read this book, you'll know: the truth is far more twisted...

When Maria Cooper accidentally uncovers one of her husband Paul’s secrets she enlists her lover Daryl in a plot to get even.
This book is full of suspense and intrigue with lots of twists and turns.
Just when you think you've got it worked out there's another revelation that blows your theory away.
The characterization is excellent, the storytelling first class and the final reveal is kept for the very last page.
Can't wait to see what Steve Cavanagh comes up with next; definitely a book I would recommend reading.

Thanks a lot to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.