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A Daring Venture (Empire State, #2)
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
When I read my first Elizabeth Camden book, I had no idea what to expect. Now...Five books later...I can say that the characters and the stories you will find on these pages are like nothing you have read before. Unique characters, settings, and plot...You will want to read all day long. And with A Daring Venture...that's exactly what I did. I listened to the audiobook while cleaning my house for 2 days straight...till I finished it. And I am only sad that I didn't get to spend more time with Rosalind and Nick.

Tensions are high when this story begins. Water purification is something that even to this day people argue and fight about. I love, Love, LOVE, all the sciencey* things that are talked about. There is SO.MUCH.HISTORY. and even a few REAL people that show up on the page. Rosalind is a woman "ahead of her time" as a biochemist in the early 1900s. THIS is the kind of history that draws me in and grabs my attention.

I adore watching the romance unfold. They have a bumpy road, but it wouldn't be realistic if it was all sunshine and roses for Rosalind and Nick. Family drama, unforgiveness, revenge, fear, scandal, secrets...Oh.yes...This is a book you must get into your hands with all urgency!

I received a complimentary copy of A Daring Venture from the publishers. I was not required to write a positive review. All opinions expressed are mine alone.
  
Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda
Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda
Becky Albertalli | 2015 | Fiction & Poetry, Gender Studies
9
9.0 (29 Ratings)
Book Rating
I got this because I saw the film was out on DVD and I like to read the books before I see the film.

So, this centres around 16 year old Simon who's in the closet, scared to come out to his friends and family. He's instead having an email conversation with someone else from his school - someone whose identity he doesn't know - sharing tales of his life while starting to fall for this someone.

I actually really enjoyed this from the first page. I was drawn into the drama as Simon is pretty much blackmailed by a fellow pupil into helping him get a date with one of Simon's friends. Things escalate and don't go great in the end and I really felt for Simon. Kids can be so cruel to each other and over stupid things that shouldn't matter.

I just fell in love with this group of friends. I loved how protective they could all be of each other and then when Simon and his crush/Blue finally got around to meeting each other...I was smiling like a lunatic. It was so cute. I fell in love with them even more. There was just something so believable about this group. Crushes, friendships, parents.

I cannot write a truly fitting review of this book but if you like young adult books with gay characters or just a sweet romance, then you really should give this book a read.

I definitely feel like I need to read more books by Becky Albertalli now, if they're anything like this one
  
Inside Out (2015)
Inside Out (2015)
2015 | Animation, Comedy, Drama
Standard Pixar affair - easy to look at, appealing to a younger audience whilst simultaneously bludgeoning adults with relatable emotional moments that make you want to curl up in a corner somewhere and weep.
Inside Out ticks all these boxes without a shadow of a doubt.

The animation is wonderful as usual and is arguably Pixar's most colourful film to date. The concept of emotions can be complex at the best of times. It's a concept that most people will struggle with for their whole lives and is something that will truly never be understood. Inside Out tackles this with aplomb, using colour coding to make it accessible to kids, and exploring just how complicated feelings can become especially as puberty begins to hit. It's very clever in its execution as well.

The majority of the story takes place in Riley's head, as her emotions Joy, Sadness, Fear, Anger, and Disgust all struggle to keep everything balanced as she starts to hit roadblocks in her life. One thing leads to another before Joy and Sadness are ejected out of the "control centre" and desperately try to find their way back, leaving the other emotions to handle the pains of growing up.
It's one part emotional family drama, and one part bonkers sci-fi adventure, and it works really well with the help of a great voice cast.

Inside Out doesn't quite hit the lofty heights of the best Pixar efforts for me, but it's still damn good and surely will appeal to everyone in some way, no matter what age your are.
  
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LoganCrews (2861 KP) rated Chappie (2015) in Movies

Sep 19, 2020 (Updated Sep 19, 2020)  
Chappie (2015)
Chappie (2015)
2015 | Action, Crime, Sci-Fi
"๐˜ ๐˜จ๐˜ถ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ด ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ ๐˜ด๐˜ค๐˜ช๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ด๐˜ต ๐˜จ๐˜ถ๐˜บ๐˜ด ๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ญ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ฌ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ˆ.๐˜. ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜จ๐˜ข๐˜ท๐˜ฆ ๐˜ค๐˜ฐ๐˜ค๐˜ข๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜”๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜Œ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜จ๐˜บ ๐˜ข ๐˜ต๐˜ณ๐˜บ." - Trevor Moore, ๐˜›๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜š๐˜ต๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜บ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜–๐˜ถ๐˜ณ ๐˜›๐˜ช๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด

Much better than ๐˜‹๐˜ช๐˜ด๐˜ต๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ค๐˜ต 9 even though it's essentially the same movie for the chief purpose that this is cleaner, more fun, and ditches the sloppy gimmick and failed heavy-handed metaphor. Those last 30 minutes are godly, just totally bananas trashy cyberpunk action glory - not only the best thing Blomkamp has ever done but some of the most fun a sci-fi movie has had in the 2010s. But otherwise a movie about robot cop Sharlto Copley hanging around Die Antwood who teach him how to be gangsta but he accidentally discovers consciousness while a deranged Hugh Jackman desperately wants to let his monster mech loose on the city should be a lot more entertaining than this was. Still sports impeccable graphics and design as always with Neill, and you know what this isn't deep on any level nor does it have a single talking point about the militarization of the police department or A.I. or big tech corporations - fine, whatever. But there's almost zero violence for the hour + twenty-five minute stretch in the middle of this where it becomes this trite, sickly sweet family drama? I mean you're practically poised to fashion this nuanced, ultraviolent story dissecting how A.I. reacts to trauma but instead they're reading bedtime stories to the thing? Still vibrant and ridiculous though, enjoyed the hell out of it - I ain't picky. Plus points for letting all these actors use their natural accents.