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Death by Bubble Tea
Death by Bubble Tea
Jennifer J. Chow | 2022 | Mystery
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Deadly Drink in the Dark
Yale Yee is not thrilled that her cousin, Celine, is coming for a visit and even less thrilled when her father suggests the two of them work together to represent his restaurant at the new night market in her neighborhood of L.A. However, she is will to admit by the end of the first night that things went well. That’s before she finds a dead body on her way back to her apartment. The young woman is lying next to one of the distinctive glasses that Yale and Celine served their drinks in, so the police zero in on them as their prime suspects. Can Yale figure out what really happened?

Like many firsts in series, this one has to do a juggling act of introducing characters and setting while also getting the story going. It does a good job, especially since some of the things introduced early on do come into play later. The pacing did lag a little in the middle before we reached the logical solution. The characters did a few things that felt like they were more plot driven than coming from real characterizations. On the other hand, I really did like the characters and their relationships kept me reading. I found Yale’s aversion to technology interesting and fitting her character. Naturally, we get a couple recipes at the end of the book. I’m looking forward to visiting these characters again when the second book comes out.
  
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Wentworth Miller recommended Carrie (1976) in Movies (curated)

 
Carrie (1976)
Carrie (1976)
1976 | Horror

"The Shining. I’m a huge horror fan, classic horror specifically, and there’s just something about them. Carrie, The Shining, Rosemary’s Baby. They’re horrifying, and they’re definitely frightening, but they’re also elegant, and they also show patience. And they’re also discreet in certain ways. When the horror comes, they’ve set it up so that there’s more of a payoff, because what’s come before has been executed in such a way that it doesn’t feel like… You know, you watch a horror movie that’s produced today, and they’re trying to scare you or freak you out, or they’ve got cats jumping out of the cupboards in the first five minutes. There’s no gradual build-up; it’s as though they don’t trust that the audience is going to hang in there and wait for the impact coming sixty or ninety minutes into the movie. They want to give it to you in the first ten minutes, which I think is kind of shoddy storytelling, and disrespectful to the audience."

Source
  
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Wentworth Miller recommended The Shining (1980) in Movies (curated)

 
The Shining (1980)
The Shining (1980)
1980 | Horror

"The Shining. I’m a huge horror fan, classic horror specifically, and there’s just something about them. Carrie, The Shining, Rosemary’s Baby. They’re horrifying, and they’re definitely frightening, but they’re also elegant, and they also show patience. And they’re also discreet in certain ways. When the horror comes, they’ve set it up so that there’s more of a payoff, because what’s come before has been executed in such a way that it doesn’t feel like… You know, you watch a horror movie that’s produced today, and they’re trying to scare you or freak you out, or they’ve got cats jumping out of the cupboards in the first five minutes. There’s no gradual build-up; it’s as though they don’t trust that the audience is going to hang in there and wait for the impact coming sixty or ninety minutes into the movie. They want to give it to you in the first ten minutes, which I think is kind of shoddy storytelling, and disrespectful to the audience."

Source
  
The 5th Wave: Book 1
The 5th Wave: Book 1
Rick Yancey | 2013 | Children
4
8.0 (42 Ratings)
Book Rating
Sci-fi is not one of my favourite genres, unless it has a good, solid romance in it. This one didn't.

But I have this thing where if I have the paperback and the movie version is coming out soon that I have to read it first. This is probably something I'd enjoy more as a film than simply reading about because the continual changing of viewpoints without being told whose viewpoint it was got annoying after a while. The first time was a real head spinner since you had no warning but further on when it starts going between three or four people and you have to read so far in to figure it out...nightmare!

One thing I will say for the author though, is that he can write some really good action/fight scenes.

This really wasn't my sort of read but if you like alien invasions, then this'll be right up your street.