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Briannabrown1019 (799 KP) rated Love Letters to the Dead in Books

Nov 9, 2020

Love Letters to the Dead

Ava Dellaira | 2014 | Young Adult (YA)

6.8

(6 Ratings)

Book Rating

Great for fans of Perks of Being a Wallflower!

Contains spoilers, click to show

Trigger warning. This book deals with some deep stuff.

This was a super interesting idea. The story was deep, and it was the first book I've ever come across that told its story through letters to dead celebrities. So bonus points there for sure!
The overall story reminded me a lot of Perks of Being a Wallflower, which is one of my all time favorites.

I did not LOVE the POV/writing of the book but that wasn't because the author didn't do well. In fact I'd say that means she did amazing given the book is told from the POV of a teenage girl. She's young, and the writing reflects that. So while it wasn't my personal cup of tea, it made sense for the book. Bear that in mind when going into this one.

We follow Laurel venting to dead celebrities about her life and the loss of her sister. How did she die? Why does Laurel feel guilty? Why isn't her mom around anymore? Through letters to her idols she reminisces and vents, and we get to see her navigate life and relationships without her big sister.

*Potential trigger warnings for domestic abuse, rape, molestation, drug/alcohol use, and suicide.

Kudos

Charlotte (184 KP) rated Three Divisions (Crescentwood #1) in Books

Feb 15, 2021

Three Divisions (Crescentwood #1)

R.A. Smyth | 2020 | Contemporary, Romance

10.0

(1 Ratings)

Book Rating

Holy fluff balls, what an amazing start to this series!

Although based around seventeen year old Sophie this is anything but a typical teen book. This is most definitely an adult read with some hard hitting topics like abuse, suicide and bullying to name a few.
Nothing phases Sophie for long, she's an awesome character, with a strong survival instinct, a smart mouth and feisty kick ass personality. She has a kind of sex appeal that calls like a siren song to not one but four men (a girl can dream!!)

The four men all have an outward persona that isn't endearing but beneath the surface lies a hot mess......They go from mean and moody to a girl's wet dream and back again. Like Sophie they all have a hard past driving them, things that bleed into their current lives, each fighting their own demons.

There isn't anything that I don't like as the bits that make me uncomfortable are crucial foundations for the story. They add depth to the characters and create a more three dimensional look at all the key players.

A good strong start to what promises to be an amazing, gripping series....... **Taps fingers impatiently waiting for the next book**

Kudos

Lev Kalman recommended Twin Peaks - Fire Walk with Me (1992) in Movies (curated)

Twin Peaks - Fire Walk with Me (1992)

1992 | Drama, Mystery, Documentary

8.6

(5 Ratings)

Movie Favorite

"There are a few different ways to experience the Twin Peaks franchise. One is as pure vibes—as Brenda Walsh puts it, “it’s not hippie witch, it’s Twin Peaks and it’s very in.” That’s easy to dismiss, but honestly it’s often what gets me to watch. Another way, and this seems to have gotten increasingly dominant lately, is as a puzzle-box mystery-mythology, a more arcane Lost. And that’s wonderful, if only because it encourages a communal conversation to untangle it. But Twin Peaks is also about a teenage girl who was repeatedly raped and ultimately murdered by her father. About how the ongoing abuse shaped her whole world, creating desires and addictions that terrified and excited her, and drawing in a circle of men fascinated by the prospects of saving and/or exploiting her. About how the tortured energy she exuded made the other girls, even her best friend, jealous. It’s a scenario so human and awful that those people—or a viewer—might need a whole fantastic mythical framework just to be able to take it in. Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me foregrounds this last aspect. And that’s why, to me, it’s the beating heart of the series."

Source

Kudos

Sean Astin recommended Gandhi (1982) in Movies (curated)

Gandhi (1982)

1982 | Biography, Drama, History

8.3

(12 Ratings)

Movie Favorite Watch

"I tell people that my favorite film is Gandhi, but my actual favorite film is Patton. Well, you know, there’s so many ideas in the two of them. You know, Patton says, “God help me; I love it so,” with regard to war, and Gandhi is willing to die and to encourage a lot of other people to be willing to die in service of a peaceful civil disobedience. So both things have to do with creating change. So, with Gandhi, I think Ben Kingsley’s portrait — just physically, how he looks, and the way he sounds when he’s delivering that sentient dialogue — and then Attenborough’s canvas — the visual canvas of India, the trains and all that stuff — and then, just my knowledge of the history of people pushing back against colonialism; all of those things just lift you up. They lift you up. The idea of Martin Sheen reporting back to America about what he’s seeing and the obvious lessons that are learned from these people who are willing to walk into abuse in order to make the point that they should be free — I love it because it’s like, “What can we learn from places and people around the world?” I love that. I love the international richness of it, the cultural richness."

Source

Kudos

LoganCrews (2861 KP) rated Magic in the Moonlight (2014) in Movies

Sep 20, 2020

Magic in the Moonlight (2014)

2014 | Comedy, Drama

4.5

(2 Ratings)

Movie Rating

𝘐𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘔𝘢𝘯. A movie that has no reason for existing, does virtually nothing more except over-explain the movie to you - leaving nothing else behind to chew on. Not just slight but good *Lord* is it ever drab. Yet another Woody Allen film where Stone falls for an unlikable, pompous asshole who thinks he's genius because he tells everyone else they're stupid and recites the same misanthropic bullshit you can find on those awful pre-commentary videos on YouTube from 2013 - except in this one he never perks up and the plot forgets to happen. And that's all not to mention how this is easily nu-Allen's crummiest looking movie. Has a few good moments, Stone is dependably sterling, and it's got a hell of a twist/reveal - but can this guy quit taking beyond excellent premises and spinning them into mostly wack fluff? Granted this is the first of his films I've disliked, but he's toed the line more times than once. The Firth dialogue is near as insufferable and amateurish as Allen has been - real thesaurus abuse going on. Starts off agreeable but soon after becomes a hell of a bore, pretty sure I checked out of 18 of the last 20 minutes.