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A Dirty Job (Grim Reaper, #1)
A Dirty Job (Grim Reaper, #1)
Christopher Moore | 2006 | Fiction & Poetry, Humor & Comedy
7
5.5 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
MF! (0 more)
lots of cursing (0 more)
Man, the Beta Male has some problems. Charlie Asher suddenly finds himself a widower with a newborn child. If that wasn't enough change in his life, he finds out that he has a new job: Death.
A book about grief, and processing death, Moore's supernatural take on the human soul is unique.
It does drop more F-bombs then I was prepared for; although I'm not sure why since he tends to curse quite often in the other books I've read and I would do the same if I ever found myself in that position.
This book is full of humor and wit, it is also more melancholy as well.
  
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Cori June (3033 KP) rated Trickster's Girl (The Raven Duet #1) in Books

Aug 18, 2020 (Updated Aug 18, 2020)  
Trickster's Girl (The Raven Duet #1)
Trickster's Girl (The Raven Duet #1)
Hilari Bell | 2010 | Erotica, Science Fiction/Fantasy, Young Adult (YA)
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Real reactions (0 more)
So many exclamations!!!! (0 more)
A good story about a teen who recently lost her dad and copes with her grief by joining Raven the trickster of the NW US and Canada. They go on an journey to heal the lay lines of the world in the far near future.
I'd recommend it for kids that are wanting something YA but aren't ready for the mature sex and violence that is typical for most YA whose protagonist is 15 or older. Not that there isn't some hard discussions or danger. Mostly the biggest thing about it is the MC likes to think and sometimes talk in exclamations! It gets a bit tiring accurate or not.
  
The Place Between Breaths
The Place Between Breaths
An Na | 2018 | Mind, Body & Spiritual, Thriller, Young Adult (YA)
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
If you want a book that will take you on a true roller coaster ride of delirious emotions, The Place Between Breaths if for you. Told in a non-linear manner and delves into the raw complexity, horror, and grief surrounding Schizophrenia. Although all the jumping around might be off-putting to some readers, I found it intriguing - as if I were exploring the world the way a fractured mind would and I loved that, at times, I was confused. I know that's strange to say, but I enjoyed it's ambiguous tone riddled with dream and longing.

I would recommend 100%

This book was provided by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
  
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Ari Augustine (10 KP) rated Honeybee in Books

May 4, 2020  
Honeybee
Honeybee
Trista Mateer | 2014 | Fiction & Poetry, Romance
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
This is the first time I read any of Trista's poetry, but I'm so glad I did.
Sure, her poetry is not in any format most people are accustomed to, but that's actually why I loved it.
I loved the little photos/images inside the book - simple, sweet, delicate. I felt it went with the fragile and vulnerable tone of the book.

Her poems explore her own sexuality, her experiences with loss, loss, grief, and identity. It's modern poetry that reads like words tucked away, hidden on random pages of a forgotten book in the library and I loved this about it. I loved how random, thoughtful, sentimental,and raw some of the poems were.
  
    Source by Nubya Garcia

    Source by Nubya Garcia

    (0 Ratings) Rate It

    Album

    'Source' is the multi award-winning saxophonist and composer. A collection of sonic mantras to live...

Pieces of a Woman (2020)
Pieces of a Woman (2020)
2020 | Drama
5
6.7 (6 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Vanessa Kirby (1 more)
The birth scene
The script (0 more)
Pieces of a Woman stars Vanessa Kirby and Shia LaBeouf as Martha and Sean, a married couple preparing for the imminent arrival of their first child. But a heartbreaking home birth leaves Martha struggling with grief and becoming increasingly isolated from Sean and her family.

If you've heard anything about Pieces of a Woman recently, it will no doubt be in relation to the home birth scene. Coming right at the start of the movie, and following a brief introduction to our two parents to be, the birth is shot in a single 22 minute take, from the point of Martha's waters breaking in the kitchen, to the arrival of the midwife and the eventual birth of the baby. As with any childbirth, there's a lot going on, a lot of emotions as the drama moves between the various rooms of the house. And everyone involved is outstanding, particularly Vanessa Kirby who is completely convincing. With the impressive, extended intro over, we cut to black and the title of the movie appears on screen. We then move onto the aftermath.

At first, we don't know exactly what went wrong with the birth and Martha and Sean do not have all of the answers either, which is essentially where a lot of the grief and tension arise from. Martha returns to work, to the shock of her co-workers, and it's clear that both her and Sean are very quickly beginning to drift apart, dealing with their grief in very different ways. Sean resorts to drinking, sleeping with Martha's cousin and having emotional outbursts, while Martha remains quietly detached from everyone and everything, and even meets with a local university to discuss donating their baby's body to medical science. Dirty plates stack up in the kitchen, house plants become limp from lack of water and attention.

We also discover that, in among all of the grief, everyone seems determined that the midwife who delivered their baby be blamed, prosecuted and sent to jail for five years, due to negligence and manslaughter. This is something which makes absolutely no sense when you first learn of it and even less sense when we finally arrive in the courtroom towards the end.

As we limp from month to month, the writing becomes worse and the film becomes increasingly frustrating and baffling. There's an impressive supporting cast of friends and family, all delivering their melodramatic monologues with flair, but the writing holds them back and prevents the movie from delivering any of the much needed emotional impact. At times, conversations appear to be badly improvised and just as it feels like we're about to get something of significance out of a scene or character, we cut to a different setting or later period in time, and all momentum is lost.

A bold, impressive 30 minute opening and a performance from Vanessa Kirby which continues to highlight just how talented she is. But apart from that, Pieces of a Woman just feels flat.