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A Deep Dark Secret
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
It's a terrible thing when children are abused. It's more terrible when they are abused by a family member. The worst is when that family member is a parent. The person you are supposed to trust the most with your life.
Jillian Mitchell was 7 years old when her step-father started to molest her. It was one of the happiest and saddest days of her life. The day her baby sister, Layla, was born.
The abuse continued for 5 years. Starting with touching and escalating to oral sex and naked pictures. Byron, her step-father told her that if she told anyone, they wouldn't believe her and that they would blame her. And that if she wasn't going to do it, then he would get her little sister(who is now 5) to do it.
Jillian lived with this secret and never told anyone, not even her closest friend. When an incident at school, leads Jillian to find out she is not the only one in this situation, she finds the courage to stand up to her step-father (who she thought of as her real father from the beginning) and get him out of her life for good!
This is a great book and helps us understand that effects that abuse can have on children and their life as adults. Everyone handles it differently and more need to know that it is alright to speak out about it. I believe that if more children were not afraid to tell the secret, then we would have a lot less abuse out there and the cycles of teenage pregnancy and suicide would decrease.
  
Daredevil (2003)
Daredevil (2003)
2003 | Action, Sci-Fi
"𝘠𝘰𝘢 𝘬π˜ͺ𝘭𝘭𝘦π˜₯ 𝘡𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘡𝘸𝘰 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘐'𝘷𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦π˜₯, 𝘸𝘩𝘺?"
"π˜‰π˜Άπ˜΄π˜ͺ𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴..."

*Director's cut*
Old proverb states: can a movie *truly* be bad with a Colin Farrell performance this fuckin' gonzo? Just as hokey as you remember, that playground fight is one of the worst things to make it through to pass in any superhero movie - and it's hilarious. Really funny when it tries to be, too though - for that matter. Overstuffed and contrived for sure but not too much more or less cartoonish than most of the stuff in the Raimi 𝘚𝘱π˜ͺπ˜₯𝘦𝘳-π˜”π˜’π˜― movies, and this at least endearing market-tested clumsiness is - at the very least - twenty times more palatable than the intolerable formula market-testing in most of the Phase One/Three MCU flicks. This at least tries to have some fun, good humor, comic book replication, varied story beats, and a palpable edge beyond just its superficial emo-ness. I just can't help but smirk at the moon physics fight sequences or corny needledrops ("All this time I can't believe I couldn't see" with a lingering cut to Matt's eyes, come on man lmao). There's also a pretty rock solid backdrop in here about how most of the characters - good or bad - are motivated by greed or self-interest, so ultimately what we have to judge in the end is what's left when that wealth, pride, and/or power is unceremoniously stripped away from them. That final fight/scene with Kingpin is epic. Comes out much more sorta dorkily awkward as opposed to corporately sinister than it did in its day, because of what this has been replaced with and how immeasurably worse it is.
  
40x40

Kristy H (1252 KP) rated Dead Woman Walking in Books

Nov 5, 2020 (Updated Nov 8, 2020)  
Dead Woman Walking
Dead Woman Walking
Sharon J. Bolton | 2017 | Crime, Fiction & Poetry, Mystery
8
8.0 (3 Ratings)
Book Rating
Jessica Lane treats her sister, Isabel (known to most as Sister Mary Magdalena, as her sister has been serving in a convent for many years) to a hot air balloon ride for her 40th birthday. But things go awry when Jessica--from the balloon--sees a man murder a young woman. From the ground, he spots her face clearly. Then the balloon crashes, and there is only one survivor. The man knows she can identify him, and he won't stop until the threat to his safety is eliminated. So Jessica runs, unsure of who she can trust, or where she can go, all the while knowing that her beloved sister is dead.

Wow, what a book. I don't want to say more about the plot for risk of spoilers or ruining any of the awesome "whoa" moments you encounter while reading this one. The story flashes back and forth in time as Jessica tells us about the day of the accident and then various pieces of the past. It's a combination of suspenseful, confusing, and spellbinding that will grip you from the very beginning. You're immediately roped in as the balloon crashes and then left wondering about the sisters' past, which is only unveiled in small nuggets.

I found this book to be extremely tense. As in, my body was actually tight while reading. I was rigidly turning pages, wondering what was going to happen next and if Jessica was going to get to safety. Bolton made me suspicious of everything and everyone--I felt like our protagonist: I could trust no one.

One of the best parts of this novel is that in addition to our "Fugitive"-esque plot, we have a fascinating police case weaved in. This really keeps the book moving as the plot continues to thicken. Not only is Jessica being pursued, but we're learning more and more about the case she was researching in the years and months before the crash. In addition, the final layer is the snippets about the sisters and their tangled family past. Somehow, Bolton twists them all together nearly effortlessly. You have to be able to keep track of when everything occurs (the chapters are just marked as "XX amount of time before" the crash), but you get used to it.

I totally guessed one of the big shocking aspects of the novel early on, but I was still second guessing myself the whole time, and it didn't diminish my enjoyment of it whatsoever, plus there was still so much that completely surprised me. To the extent that I wish I had time to go back and read it again and figure out how I missed so many things! Seriously. This book made me go "wow!" multiple times. It captivated me the entire time I was reading it. There was one final twist too many for complete plausibility at the end to get 10 stars, but I still highly recommend this one. A wonderful, spellbinding thriller that cements for me how much I love Bolton's work.

I received a copy of this novel from the publisher and Netgalley (thank you!) in return for an unbiased review.
  
Fatal Affair (2020)
Fatal Affair (2020)
2020 | Drama, Thriller
6
6.0 (1 Ratings)
Movie Rating
After a night of passion, a woman finds her partner dead in the bath and an unknown stranger grabs her starting the beginning of the movie. Forward to present day and a married couple are moving into that same home to start a new life, from the get go you can see this couple are struggling as they face away from each other in bed.
Ellie goes to work the next day and meets a new male colleague David, whom she went to college with, he's charming and there's a lot of flirting between them. Ellie gives him her number and asks him to call her anytime. She invites him out for drinks with her and her friend, but when her friend can't make it, her and David take the time to catch up with plenty more flirting back and forth, they start kissing in the toilets but before it got too far Ellie backs off and goes home, telling David that she is sorry.
Ellie thinks that's the end of it, but we soon discover David isn't that charming man she thought he was, he keeps texting her, turning up wherever she goes and watches her at home, he even turns up at her house as a plus one with Ellies friend just to be close to her.
I can't say this is a one of a kind movie, as there are a few like it and all very similar, it's still enjoyable but unlike the movie 'obssessed', it's not one I could watch over and over.
  
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