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Christine A. (965 KP) rated Before She Was Helen in Books

Sep 9, 2020

I was provided with a complimentary copy of this book so I could give an honest review. The opinions are entirely my own, and any quotes are taken from the ARC and may be different in the final published copy.

Having read Caroline B. Cooney's Janie Johnson series, which many people call The Face on the Milk Carton series, I was thrilled to read her latest novel, Before She Was Helen.

While Cooney is well-known for her YA novels, Before She Was Helen, is not categorized as young adult, but as adult fiction. Her main character is Clemmie, a still-working but living in a retirement community teacher, who intentionally built a bland and quiet life for herself. Everything changes when she does a wellness check on her next-door neighbor. She photographs a stunning and beautiful object. Thinking her family would enjoy it, she shares the photo with them. The picture quickly makes its rounds on the internet, and Clemmie's life changes in a blink, and all her carefully kept secrets are threatened.

For anyone who has read Cooney, you can identify her writing style. Her words word flow in an easy and distinct manner. It is as if she writes how she talks and does not change her vernacular or style. Reading Before She Was Helen was like reading a familiar book that I never read before.

Goodreads does not list any other books set for publication as of yet.

This 200-word review was published on Philomathinphila.com on 9/8/20.

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LoganCrews (2861 KP) rated Project Almanac (2015) in Movies

Sep 20, 2020

Project Almanac (2015)

2015 | Mystery, Sci-Fi

6.7

(7 Ratings)

Movie Rating

Dumb-as-nails but unpretentious CW teen soap opera reimagining of a time travel film - in which the machine itself is built using parts from an Xbox 360 and there are prominent slo-mo shots of Red Bull cans flying through the air. And what's the most noteworthy thing they do with the power of time travel right at their fingertips? Go to an Imagine Dragons concert, of course! Seems like it hates its own existence, no question about it - this was only made to sell tickets and that's it. But there's something really stupidly fun about it - maybe it's the neurotic nature of each element (from the acting to the camerawork to the cutting to the writing etc), or the fact that people record a good chunk of this pointlessly (but thankfully) found footage Chronicle ripoff with their smartphones yet they still make the clunky old camera sounds? And when they *do* record with the 10+ year old camcorder (which still takes tape btw) it's somehow pristine HD quality? I also really have to appreciate that so much of this is dedicated to the actual anxiety of making the machine itself, too - rather than jumping right into the travel stuff. Kind of falls off when this becomes another lame YA romance deal but even then it's still so confidently dumb and committed to its daft premise that I had to admire it somewhat. Also whenever they turn the machine on and everything starts floating and spinning that shit is cool as fuck and you know it.

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Eleanor (1463 KP) rated Inkheart in Books

Jul 10, 2019

Inkheart

Cornelia Funke | 2003 | Children

7.6

(38 Ratings)

Book Rating

A bit too drawn out children's fantasy.

I don’t read a lot of YA but if there's one thing that’s sure to get me to pick one up it’s…… bookclub pressure! I haven’t read a lot of fantasy recently so I did go into this looking forward to a change of pace and I certainly got that.

The premise for the book is interesting with the crossover of fictional characters into our world being enabled by those able to read them out. However the fact that this was something that was stated in the blurb but didn’t really get covered until well into the book I think speaks to the drawn out nature of this book. I really think it would of been better if it had been condensed. When a character gets captured for a second time I was all “oh no not this again” rather than feeling tension and excitement.

Perhaps a function of this being a translated work, I never really felt I got into the flow of this book. I didn’t like Meggie the 12 year old protagonist, although that may just be a dislike of stubborn annoying 12-year olds in general. I did however love the Elinor character (and not just for the solid name choice!) She’s a no nonsense full on book nerd. I did however find the books general and constant attitude of people that love books are far superior to everyone else to be a bit patronising.

I’m sure I would have enjoyed this a lot more when I was 12.

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Kaz (232 KP) Jul 10, 2019

I totally agree with you about the pacing of this book. It was so drawn out that it lacked any drive. I didn't mind Meggie, she came across as a typical teenager. Great review!

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Christine A. (965 KP) rated Before She Was Helen in Books

Sep 9, 2020

LoganCrews (2861 KP) rated Project Almanac (2015) in Movies

Sep 20, 2020

Eleanor (1463 KP) rated Inkheart in Books

Jul 10, 2019

Kaz (232 KP) Jul 10, 2019

Emma (519 KP) Jul 11, 2019

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