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Love Letters to the Dead
Love Letters to the Dead
Ava Dellaira | 2014 | Young Adult (YA)
7
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.
  
Never Mind The Bollocks, Here's The Sex Pistols by The Sex Pistols
Never Mind The Bollocks, Here's The Sex Pistols by The Sex Pistols
1977 | Punk
8.9 (15 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"Of all the people who were a direct influence on Oasis, the line goes back to the Sex Pistols, whether that’s Joy Division/New Order, The Smiths, The Stone Roses or Factory Records, and if they hadn’t played those two gigs in Manchester who knows what would have happened? And on that album you’ve got Lydon or Johnny Rotten with that voice going on about the Royal Family and boredom and the rest while you’ve got Steve Jones just hammering it out like a pub rocker or like someone who’s into Slade or The Small Faces rather than punk rock, and between those two things you’ve got it. Every time I listen to it I think that if it came out tomorrow it would fit right in, it wouldn’t feel dated. Way back at the start of Oasis we did a radio session for Mark Radcliffe and during ‘Cigarettes and Alcohol’ Liam out of nowhere sang ‘Sunshi-i-ine’, you know, with about ten extra syllables and when it went out on the radio I remember thinking, ‘Fuck me, that sounds great.’ And when we came to record I was like, ‘Sing it like you did on Radcliffe again, like Lydon.’ It was his idea, I just pushed him toward it."

Source
  
Withdrawals by Tom MacDonald
Withdrawals by Tom MacDonald
2021 | Rap
melody (3 more)
production
flow
video
A Beautiful, Sobering Song (Pun Intended)
Tom MacDonald is known for being controversial. And while I'm not a huge rap fan (because I don't like to hear about drugs, violences, or "hoes"), I tend to like most of his songs.

But his newest song "Withdrawals" transcends everything else he has done. It is an honest, sobering, haunting song about going through withdrawals from alcohol or drugs, and you can tell that Tom has really lived through it.

Combining fantastic rap bars with a melodic hook, the song manages to stretch across genres and speak to anyone who has experienced the pain and trauma of trying to kick a bad habit.

The hook/chorus shows the duality present in an addict's mind where he really wants to stop making bad choices, but at the same time he really enjoys using chemicals to numb his mind:

"Deleted all the numbers from my phone, I'm staying home
Really wish that I was drunk with all my friends
I'll either beat it or I won't, and overdose
Really wish that I was high with all my friends."

What a great song, with a powerful message to help others overcome addiction. I love it.
  
The Umbrella Academy - Season 2
The Umbrella Academy - Season 2
2020 | Drama, Fantasy, Sci-Fi
Contains spoilers, click to show
Following on from the end of season 1, the family escape the Apocalypse only to find themselves scattered throughout the early 60's. The time line is wrong and another Apocalypses looms as an unknown event leads to nuclear obliteration by the Russians. Can they stop this apocalypse and find out the connection between the Kennedy assassination and their father?
As the family struggle to find one another the are faced with the reality of the 1960's, conspiracy, racism/segregation and homophobia.
As with the first season music plays a big part, both with the sound track and the story.
One of the good thing that seems to have come from services like Netflix producing/ordering series is that they don't have to follow the normal 13 episode format that standard television uses, this means that there are less 'filler' episodes which helps the story flow.
Season one had to spend some time introducing the main characters and in season season two we get to find out more about some of the characters, including the handler and Sir Reginald Hargreeves, although, where Reginald is involved I don't think you take anything at face value.
Season two does have similar themes to the the first including drug and Alcohol use which are character appropriate.