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ClareR (5885 KP) rated Love After Love in Books

Apr 17, 2020  
Love After Love
Love After Love
Ingrid Persaud | 2020 | Contemporary, Fiction & Poetry, LGBTQ+
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
I absolutely loved Love After Love, but I will start this review with a warning. The first chapter goes in to graphic detail about the domestic abuse that one of the main characters, Betty Ramin, suffers at the hands of her husband. It does set the scene well, and explains not only why she is such a strong character and her motivations, but also the cultural attitudes behind domestic abuse.

I really liked the characters in this novel (other than Betty’s husband, of course), particularly Betty and Mr Chetan. Mr Chetan is the glue joining Betty and her son Solo together for a time, until Solo learns a terrible secret about his mother. After this, Solo goes to live with his paternal uncle in New York. I expected to not like his uncle, but he turned out to be another lovely character, who treated Solo like his own son. Solo becomes increasingly lonely, and struggles with his mental health.

The end of this book broke my heart completely. It was so sad and unjust and again, highlighted cultural attitudes.

I loved the way this was written, and became immersed in the Trinidadian turns of phrase, made all the more immersive by the author recording themselves reading the first chapter so that we on The Pigeonhole app could hear them.

It’s a beautiful book, and I would recommend it wholeheartedly.
  
Arlington Road (1999)
Arlington Road (1999)
1999 | Drama, Mystery
Tense and thrilling
I remember watching this film many years ago and thinking it was rather good, so I was very interested in watching it again to see how it has fared, and overall it's still a very good film.

The plot of this film is a very serious one, and at the time this film was released in 1999, domestic terrorism was a big concern. It's strange to watch now as domestic terrorism has, probably rightly so, been succeeded by international terrorism and extremism, but for me this is what made the film even more interesting and tense. There are some great performances in this from Jeff Bridges and Tim Robbins - a film is automatically good whenever these two are in it. The ending was what I remember shocking me the most when I was younger, and whilst it's not quite as shocking as I'd thought, I do think how this film ended was rather great (if not very bleak and unhappy).

This film does look a little dated now, and some of the special effects probably didn't look their best even back in 1999. This is a very bleak and serious film, it probably isn't quite as relevant now as it was back then which may lessen the impact a little, but it's still a very interesting film to watch.
  
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Tale of a Tooth
Tale of a Tooth
Allie Rogers | 2018 | LGBTQ+
7
7.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
This book was a little difficult to read for a few reasons. It should come with a trigger warning since it deals with domestic abuse in a realistic manner. That said it was still a well written book. One of the things that made it hard to read was a that the voice of the story is 4 yr old Danny. Everything is told from his point of view and in the way his brain sees it. To me it also seemed Danny was on the autism spectrum so that added a different twist. It is a hard hitting book but definately worth a read.
  
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Deborah (162 KP) rated The Rival in Books

Dec 21, 2018  
TR
The Rival
6
6.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
A gripping read, but domestic violence, child abuse, incest, adultery, suicide, abduction, murder.... it did put you through the wringer a bit!

I felt it wasn't wrapped up as well as it could have been - some things left me feeling unsatisfied. A few inconsistencies - for example a character badly sprains or possibly breaks an ankle. This is a hindrance while it needs to be, but a few hours later it seems to be OK again.

If Olivia knew what she knew about her husband all along, I can't see why she didn't use it to her advantage earlier?

Gripping while it lasted, but I don't think I could read it again.