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Laura Doe (1350 KP) rated The Switch in Books

Jul 31, 2021  
The Switch
The Switch
Beth O'Leary | 2020 | Contemporary
10
9.1 (7 Ratings)
Book Rating
This book had me giggling from the start, much like The Flat Share. I know a lot of the time when you’ve loved an author’s first book so much that their second doesn’t always live up to the expectations, but this one really exceeded them.
The book is split between chapters for Leena and Eileen, a granddaughter and grandmother who are grieving the loss of Leena’s sister. Leena threw herself into work in London while Eileen threw herself into looking after her daughter and Leena’s mother, Marian. After Leena is told by her boss that she must take a two month sabbatical, her and Eileen decide to swap lives for the two months. Leena moving to a tiny, sleepy village in Yorkshire, full of nosey old people and Neighbourhood Watch meetings, while Eileen moves to a tiny little flat in West London and tries online dating whilst making friends with everyone she comes across (whether they want to or not).
Beth O’Leary’s humour is brilliant, and so many situations had me giggling and rereading them multiple times and starting to giggle all over again (my favourite being when asked how a dog ended up in someone’s garden). It is so ridiculous, but not far fetched, and so you can actually imagine the events that make you laugh actually unfolding.
This book has just continued my love for Beth O’Leary and I will definitely be continuing to read her work and looking forward to new releases of hers in the future.
  
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Uptown Oracle (24 KP) rated Clockwork Prince in Books

Jun 30, 2017  
Clockwork Prince
Clockwork Prince
Cassandra Clare | 2011 | Fiction & Poetry
9
8.6 (24 Ratings)
Book Rating
A surprisingly wonderful middle book for a trilogy
Clockwork Prince is the 2nd book in the Infernal Devices Trilogy. The Shadowhunters and Tessa are searching for Mortmain before he unleashes a demon/automaton army.

Clockwork Prince avoids the middle book slump that a lot of trilogies endure. The first book was good but this book was definitely better in my eyes. One of the main reasons must be because of the amount of backstory. It really felt like Clare had thought out every single little detail. Such as what happened to Will as a child, or what is Tessa really?

Clare also didn't make the mistake of reiterating her previous TMI books. Often writers have a set formula for their books, but Clare has branched out and added extra layers. There's some deceit, secrets and mystery woven within the plot.

I personally enjoyed all the information shown about the Clave and politics. We learn how heads of institutes are chosen, and that it can be challenged. We also learn about how Shadowhunters do cooperate with mundanes to a degree. There's involvements in the monarchies and governments of the time. These may be throwaway lines but I enjoy the world building it brings.

I also enjoyed the travel of England a bit. Clockwork Prince visited Yorkshire. There was also a throwaway comment about Grantham which is in my home county of Lincolnshire. Although it wasn't explored as a location, I enjoyed the reference since I did grow up 20 minutes away.

Overall I enjoyed Clockwork Prince. I hope the third book lives up to expectations.
  
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Sarah (7798 KP) created a post

Feb 21, 2019  
Last night I went to watch a stage version of The Full Monty at Manchester’s Opera House. The film is fantastic, so I was interested to see how well they pulled the stage version off.

The play was great, and such a lot of fun. It was really funny although maybe a little too foul mouthed in parts (I’m sure people from Sheffield don’t swear that much!), but highly entertaining. They used all of the songs and scenes from the original film, and some extra backing music that fit in with the rest. The plot was identical to the film so they haven’t really changed much, and the set design was quite good. They’ve pulled off a steel works well, however the only issue is that because of the steel works design, there wasn’t a lot of moveable set pieces and while they tried their best, some of the switches to none steel works scenes didn’t work as well. Cast wise, this is the first play I’ve seen where I actually recognised the majority of the main actors. Admittedly they weren’t Hollywood stars, but in the UK at least they’re fairly recognisable faces if you’ve ever seen soaps or sitcoms - Gary Lucy (Hollyoaks, Footballers Wives) , James Redmond (Hollyoaks), Louis Emerick (Brookside), Andrew Dunn (Dinnerladies) and Kai Owen (Torchwood) made it all the more enjoyable to watch. They all performed well too, although my only criticism is that there were some very dodgy Yorkshire accents from some. Maybe not something everyone would notice.

In all though this is hilarious and highly entertaining play, and a really fun night out. Definitely worth seeing if you liked the film 9/10
      
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Andy K (10821 KP) Feb 23, 2019

Wish I could see this!