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Hazel (2934 KP) rated Taken in Books

Oct 18, 2020

Taken

Lisa Stone | 2020 | Crime, Thriller

6.0

(1 Ratings)

Book Rating

Having previously read and enjoyed "Stalker" by Lisa Stone, I certainly wasn't going to pass the opportunity to read this one and I wasn't disappointed.

What we have in "Taken" is a complex and gripping story of the abduction of 8 year Leila whose life is far from perfect being the daughter of a mother (Kelsey) prostituting herself and fighting addiction who has already had her older children taken from her.

Told from multiple points of view, we get a real insight into all the main characters which is not as confusing as it sounds believe me ... it works really well and, I believe, it makes the characters more believable and memorable.

The pace is perfect, the plot is absorbing, despite it being a little unrealistic in parts, and I did get the twist fairly early on but it was such that I continued to question myself until it was revealed.

Overall, a thought-provoking and enjoyable read which deals with some difficult subjects that, sadly, are prevalent within today's society but without the usual gratuitous violence which made a refreshing change.

Thank you to HarperCollins UK / HarperFiction and NetGalley for my copy in return for an unbiased review.

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Judd Apatow recommended Terms of Endearment (1983) in Movies (curated)

Terms of Endearment (1983)

1983 | Comedy, Drama, Romance

8.4

(5 Ratings)

Movie Favorite Watch

"Terms of Endearment is always a touchstone movie for me. That’s one of the best acted comedy-dramas that has ever been made. I can never get enough of Terms of Endearment. I find myself watching it over and over again. It does everything that I want a movie to do. I fall in love with the characters. I care about their journeys. It never does anything easy to make me like the characters. It doesn’t sell out the characters for likeability. They all do things that are awful to each other. The relationships are very complicated. Yet, you root for all of them when you watch the movie. A large portion of the movie is also about cancer. It’s treated realistically and it is also hilarious in some of those moments. It’s not a maudlin movie. There are moments in that movie that I think about all the time that haunt me. The moment when Shirley MacLaine is yelling at the nurse to give her daughter more medicine… As you get older, you find yourself in those situations. It may be my favorite film of all time."

Source

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Awix (3310 KP) rated The Farewell (2019) in Movies

Oct 2, 2019

The Farewell (2019)

2019 | Comedy, Drama

8.9

(7 Ratings)

Movie Rating

Faintly oddball comedy-drama successfully pulls off that trick of looking like being about one thing but actually covering lots of ground. Chinese matriarch is found to have terminal cancer; in accordance with local tradition the family keep her in the dark about this but organise a fake wedding as an excuse to get together one last time. New York-based scion of the family Awkwafina, grand-daughter of the dying woman, is very doubtful of the ethicality of this.

You expect a film about grief, and to some extent this is one, although it's really a chronicle of grief foretold, as the characters anticipate a loss to come. It's also about cultural differences, family life, and the way in which people routinely tell lies to each other every single day simply in order to keep life livable. The film skates along over the top of all this and treats it all with a light and delicate touch. Not an absolute tear-jerker, I thought, but there are some very touching moments (then again, I may be emotionally atrophied, who knows). Not a huge amount actually happens but the film has clearly been made with intelligence and skill.

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Heather Cranmer (2721 KP) created a post

Jul 28, 2020

Sneak a peek at the autobiography/memoir LANDING IN MY PRESENT by Mary Clark, Traveler on my blog, watch the book trailer, and enter the giveaway to win a signed copy of the book, a $25 Amazon gift card or a $15 Amazon gift card - three winners!

https://alltheupsandowns.blogspot.com/2020/07/book-blog-tour-and-giveaway-landing-in.html

**BOOK SYNOPSIS**
Mary Walker Clark barely knew her father. When he died, he left not only the obvious void every teen would experience, but took with him scores of Indiana Jones-style tales about flying the Hump, a treacherous series of US missions that transported supplies over the Himalayas to China during World War II.

It would take a chance interview with a pilot who had flown with her father in the war to launch a series of extraordinary journeys—into a shrouded past and halfway around the globe to India and China—for Clark to finally come to know the father whose absence had haunted her for decades.

Landing in My Present chronicles the adventures of a daughter who chose to pry open a painful past while enlarging her view of an adventurous father long thought lost.

Kudos Comment

Kristy H (1252 KP) rated Something She's Not Telling Us in Books

Jun 11, 2020

Something She's Not Telling Us

Darcey Bell | 2020 | Fiction & Poetry, Thriller

7.0

(1 Ratings)

Book Rating

Charlotte is a doting mom who adores her five-year-old daughter, Daisy. She's also extremely overprotective and anxious, watching and worrying over Daisy's every move. Charlotte and her brother, Rocco, had a tough childhood. Rocco reacts by dating a variety of troubled women. But it seems like he's finally found someone special in his latest girlfriend, Ruth. Ruth really seems to love Rocco--and Daisy. But Charlotte rankles at how much Ruth likes Daisy and vice versa. Then Daisy is kidnapped from school, and Charlotte is convinced that Ruth took her. Is she right, or is it just Charlotte's fears rearing up again?

This was a twisty read that kept me guessing the entire time. It makes you work a bit to keep up, going back and forth between different perspectives and time periods, but it is interesting, dark, and compelling, with several good surprises thrown in. I was constantly switching my allegiances between Charlotte and Ruth, wondering which one (if either) I should trust. The ending felt a little abrupt and quick, but I would certainly read Bell's other work. 3.5 stars.

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Jackjack (877 KP) rated The Final Girls (2015) in Movies

Apr 15, 2020

The Final Girls (2015)

2015 | Comedy, Horror

6.9

(14 Ratings)

Movie Rating

I love it

So me my sister and fiancé have been watching alot of films, I have seen this one a few times on Netflix and ordered it the other day, it finally came through and we all sat down to watch, my sister and fiancé said how shit they thought it was, me on the other hand loved it, everyone knows I love a budget comedy horror.

Sad opening when a mother is put down because she stared in a cheesy 80s slasher, now older and wiser she has a daughter max, you see there bond and relationship very fast and you see how it was taken away in one quick car crash, on the anniversary of Max's mums death she goes to the cinema to watch the film her mother was in, a fire breaks out and in a swift exit behind the screen a handful end up within the film. It's a comical fight to live and it pulls on plenty of heart strings as max is reunited with her late mother. I personally thought it was a brilliant cheesy, funny film and definitely worth the watch!!!