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Hello (from Here)
Hello (from Here)
Chandler Baker, Wesley King | 2021 | Young Adult (YA)
8
6.5 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
Pandemic Romance
The toilet paper incident got me into this book, what crazy times?! His poor sister had to suffer and get her revenge. I don't know how I feel about them getting kinda stalkerish but it worked out and they make a pretty cute couple. I LOVE the cover to this and I think a lot of teens can identify because they have been unable to meet people at school or basically anywhere and as and adult that has already gotten my masters with no worries about a crush... I could never imagine what it is is like for this youngsters.

My coworker read this book as well but didn't like how whiney the boy was but i think they are like a ying and yang couple where she is confident and aggressive while he is sweet and meek. In fact they would have never seen each other again if it wasn't for his sister needing more tp because of her Crohn's disease. Its funnier now that we are not actually going through a tp pandemic :/
  
A Sliver of Sunset
A Sliver of Sunset
Devon Rhodes | 2016 | LGBTQ+, Paranormal, Romance
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
This is a short but detail-filled story about a shifter who becomes ill with a human disease. Now most books will say that this is impossible, which is why it made for such interesting reading. There is everything in here that you would want or need in a novella - enough backstory so you know what's going on without drowning in it, steam between the main two, plenty of interesting and quirky secondary characters, and an overall story arc that I hope will continue as there are questions left unanswered by the end of this book.

Well-written and with a smooth pace, there were no editing or grammatical errors that I found. This was one enjoyable read from start to finish, and Devon Rhodes is definitely an author to look out for. I would like to read more from her. Recommended.

* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book; the comments here are my honest opinion. *

Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Jan 6, 2016
  
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Dianne Robbins (1738 KP) created a post in Pets!

Dec 4, 2018 (Updated Dec 4, 2018)  
Kira: sweet, sassy, and in between. I adopted her in March 2008. While my boyfriend was making a purchase at PetSmart near closing time. I wandered into the adoption area to check out the kitties. One of ours passed away 6 months before and we were heartbroken, as was that kitty's best friend and we'd been looking for a friend for her. As I walked past the cages of kittens, I stopped to open their cages to pet and talk to each one but didn't feel a connection to any of them. Then I got to the last cage. I saw a lovely tabby and unclasped the cage. She pushed the cage open with her head and immediately climbed into my arms, burying her head on my shoulder and purring loudly in my ear. My heart melted and I knew she was the one. She was 3 -1/2 years old and had lived in foster care for 3 years, spending every weekend in a cage at PetSmart. Due to the fear, loneliness, and anxiety, she experienced anorexia and had to be force-fed during the week, so she was overweight and had fatty liver disease. I wanted to take her home with me that second by the adoption agent was gone for the day so I had to wait until the next weekend to adopt her. I cried all week imagining her loneliness and stressful living condition. When I went back to adopt her, I took her on a shopping spree so she could pick out her favorite bed, toys, foods, and treats, then brought her home.

A few years after I adopted her, she had a stroke due to a cerebral hemorrhage. I heard her cry out and immediately ran to her. Her eyes could not focus and we're rolling around in her head. I scooped her up in my arms and drove her to the vet, calling them, them my boyfriend to let them know what was going on and that we were on our way there. Along with the brain bleed, she has vestibular syndrome, which makes her world look a little askew so she has a permanent head tilt, which makes her look adorable and gives her a cute walk. She had undiagnosed high blood pressure, which led to the stroke, so she takes medication to treat it. She had difficulty walking and jumping so I did physical therapy at home with her to make it easier for her. I put a wedge-shape physical therapy pillow on the floor at the foot of the bed that she could use it as a ramp so she could get on the bed whenever she wanted to snuggle.

Kira is incredibly sweet and is an absolute darling. She loves to lie in my lap and can be rather insistent about it. She's also demanding when she wants to be fed her canned food at night. There is always 3 types of Iam's dry food available for her but she loves her Fancy Feast at night. Between her fatty liver disease and vestibular disease, she develops nausea if her tummy is empty so the vet recommends keeping her well-fed. Kira approves of that advice.
  
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Carriers (2009)
Carriers (2009)
2009 | Drama, Horror, Mystery
7
6.6 (5 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Chris Pine's performance (0 more)
Doesn't really offer anything you haven't seen in films like this. (0 more)
Brian and Danny grew up as two brothers who were relatively close to one another. They cherish the memories they have of Turtle Beach, a beach their family vacationed to every summer. The abandoned motel in Turtle Beach may be their best bet of surviving the highly contagious disease that now plagues the entire country and possibly the world. Not much is known about the virus other than the victims coughing up blood and bleeding from the ears as their condition worsens. Brian actually came up with a few rules that will hopefully get him, his girlfriend Bobby, his brother Danny, and Danny's friend Kate through this disease ridden world to Turtle Beach clean. The rules include avoiding the infected at all costs, disinfecting anything they've touched in the past 24 hours, and that the infected are already dead as there is no cure. You may survive if you stick to the rules, but actually abiding by them is an entirely different story.

Right off the bat, people are probably going to compare Carriers to Zombieland because of the rules. Carriers was released a full month before Zombieland, but Paramount Vantage folded upon its initial release causing its wide release to be an extremely limited one at the last minute (I think it wound up playing at only two theaters in the country). Expectations rise unintentionally in situations such as this. "This is that horror film that was practically shelved earlier this year and is finally being released." The result is a horror film that is well worth watching, but may not be entirely what you're expecting.

Carriers is more about establishing an atmosphere than anything else. Everything is abandoned and rightfully so as most people were picked off handfuls at a time by this pandemic. The entire film is more like the first half hour of 28 Days Later where Jim wakes up in an abandoned hospital and realizes how empty the streets of London are. There aren't masses of the infected running around lusting for brains or wanting to tear humans apart in Carriers. The story follows these four friends as they journey across the country to this supposed sanctuary where they hope to tough it out until this disease runs its course. Carriers is more of a slow burn as things turn from bad to worse very slowly and snowball as the film goes on.

Chris Pine is really the drawing factor of the film. His role as Brian is kind of like a more intense version of his role as Kirk in Star Trek from earlier this year. Brian comes off as an inconsiderate prick the first half of the film and seems to only do things that benefit himself. The second half is where his character gets interesting though. The speech he gives Danny about their parents and telling Danny that he only told him what he wanted to hear is the turning point for Brian. Chris Pine shines as things begin to roll downhill for Brian as his emotions take center stage and his true demeanor is revealed.

Everything else in the film pretty much feels like routine manuevers when it comes to films revolving around viral outbreaks as some main characters contract the disease, they resort to drastic measures to survive, and begin to question their humanity along the way. The most disappointing part of the film is the ending as things just seem to kind of stop without much of a resolution. It seems like films like this either end this way or have a really depressing ending and that's its biggest flaw. Movie buffs who have seen films concerning pandemics already have a rough idea of how the film is going to end and it's about time to mix that up a bit. There's got to be a decent way to end the film that offers something a bit different that could wrap everything up until that point, but also leave enough room open for a sequel if need be.

Carriers may be a bit slow at first and doesn't really offer anything you probably haven't seen before in a film like this, but is still worth seeing for Chris Pine's performance. It's kind of a more serious take on Zombieland without actual zombies running or stumbling around with an atmosphere similar to the one established in Danny Boyle's 28 Days Later. If you're a fan of films involving a virus that has wiped out most of the human population, then this is still worth a watch.
  
The Host (Gwoemul) (2007)
The Host (Gwoemul) (2007)
2007 | Action, Horror, International
Darn formaldehyde!
Guess what happens when a scientist orders a large amount of formaldehyde dumped down the drain? It makes its way through the sewer system and into the Han River in Korea. Several years later, it is revealed the substance has caused the mutated formation of a large sea monster creature which reveals itself when it emerges and begins an onslaught of carnage.

A local family which runs a food stand near the location of the attack races to get to safety, but, unfortunately a man grabs the hand of the wrong child instead of his daughter by mistake. The creature procures the young child and escapes with her back into the water. Further chaos ensues when it is revealed the creature is not only a menace, but also the source of a horrible infectious disease now rampant among the population.

Somehow, the child survives her journey back in the sewers with the creature who deposits her in a secluded location. Her father now has to get past government quarantine and survive battling the creature in order to try and save his child.



Director Bong Joon-ho, who has also given us the fantastic Snowpiercer and the current critic favorite Parasite, crafts a well made film which has many exciting elements.

For a movie like this it is only as good as its creature and this one does the job. Despite having a modest budget, the sea creature is well developed, has an interesting personality and does not look like bad CGI. As the audience, you are trying to figure out what the creature wants, what it is doing with the children it kidnaps and stores away while also rooting for the title family to not only survive the disease and run ins with the police to eventually attempt a rescue.

There is a good amount of action including a few intense scenes with the creature and also with one of the family members who also happens to be a famed archer. There is some comedy as well which rounds out the action and provides some down time between scenes.

I really enjoyed The Host much more than I thought I would since I hadn't heard much about it beforehand. Please check it out.

  
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