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Isaac and the Egg
10.0
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This is the story of Isaac and the Egg, a grieving young man and his unforgettable new friend, who...
Trigger Warning: suicide (but not carried out)
All About Evie
10.0
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1972. Ten years on from the events of The Miseducation of Evie Epworth and Evie is settled in London...
Feminism 1970’s
The Peacemaker (Mifflin County Mystery #2)
9.0
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An Unresolved Mystery Holds an Amish Community in Limbo In book two of A Mifflin County Mystery...
Amish Fiction Christian Fiction Romance Mystery
Death Of A Princess (Empire of Shadows #3)
Book
Summer 1880. Lipetsk, a spa town in Russia. The elderly and cantankerous Princess Belskaya...
Russia Historical Crime Mystery Series
TI
This is Gail
Book
A national bestseller, this is an inspiring story of one woman's journey through heartbreaking loss...
BookInspector (124 KP) rated The Push in Books
Jul 1, 2021
The protagonist in this book is a nameless woman, a daughter, a wife, a mother, and this story is told from her perspective, kind of. The woman is telling us her life story: how she met her husband, about her pregnancy and her troubles with her daughter Violet, and other events that traumatise her for life. The characters in this book are quite disturbed, intense and very complex. For some strange reason, I could really relate to the protagonist. I understood her and her thoughts resonated with mine sometimes.
At the beginning of the book, I was not very impressed, I had no idea what it was about. But the more I got into it, the more absorbed I became. The narrative has several different lines and is telling the story of women from three generations. The protagonist is sharing the deepest and scariest thoughts of her life, and it got very intense for me sometimes. I really enjoyed the suspense, turns and twists. The topics discussed in this book are marriage, pregnancies, lack of motherhood instinct, mother-daughter relationship, children behavioural issues, grief, depression, trauma and many more.
The book is set somewhere American sounding (might be Canada), the atmosphere of this book is pretty dark and shrouded with mystery. I really liked the writing style of this novel, it is very honest, detailed and the mystery was kept perfectly. The chapters are pretty short, so this book was a true page-turner for me. I really loved the ending, because I was pretty confused with some stuff happening in the book, but the ending kind of clarified it for me. I have to throw in a warning, that this book has triggers when it comes to pregnancies, cheating, death of children, grief, psychotic behaviour.
So, to conclude, this book is a very intense life story, filled with very well crafted characters, that are intriguing, absorbing and the plot that is layered, complex and brutally honest.
At the beginning of the book, I was not very impressed, I had no idea what it was about. But the more I got into it, the more absorbed I became. The narrative has several different lines and is telling the story of women from three generations. The protagonist is sharing the deepest and scariest thoughts of her life, and it got very intense for me sometimes. I really enjoyed the suspense, turns and twists. The topics discussed in this book are marriage, pregnancies, lack of motherhood instinct, mother-daughter relationship, children behavioural issues, grief, depression, trauma and many more.
The book is set somewhere American sounding (might be Canada), the atmosphere of this book is pretty dark and shrouded with mystery. I really liked the writing style of this novel, it is very honest, detailed and the mystery was kept perfectly. The chapters are pretty short, so this book was a true page-turner for me. I really loved the ending, because I was pretty confused with some stuff happening in the book, but the ending kind of clarified it for me. I have to throw in a warning, that this book has triggers when it comes to pregnancies, cheating, death of children, grief, psychotic behaviour.
So, to conclude, this book is a very intense life story, filled with very well crafted characters, that are intriguing, absorbing and the plot that is layered, complex and brutally honest.
Sarah (7800 KP) rated Collateral Beauty (2016) in Movies
Jan 3, 2018
Tackles a difficult subject fairly well
A film about grief and the death of a child is never going to be a pleasant watch, but I felt like Collateral Beauty manages fairly well.
The premise is interesting (although obviously not something you can imagine happening in real life) and it has a fantastic cast. Will Smith does okay although I'm not sure if he was quite as good as id expected. Whenever he isn't on screen, the film almost takes on a lighthearted feel which is good as otherwise it'd be too overwhelmingly depressing. I found the ending a little odd though and I'm not sure the reveal had quite the impact that was intended. I'm also not too keen on the phrase "collateral beauty" - it doesn't quite roll off your tongue and because of this when it's featured in the film itself, to me it didn't come across as meaningful as intended.
The premise is interesting (although obviously not something you can imagine happening in real life) and it has a fantastic cast. Will Smith does okay although I'm not sure if he was quite as good as id expected. Whenever he isn't on screen, the film almost takes on a lighthearted feel which is good as otherwise it'd be too overwhelmingly depressing. I found the ending a little odd though and I'm not sure the reveal had quite the impact that was intended. I'm also not too keen on the phrase "collateral beauty" - it doesn't quite roll off your tongue and because of this when it's featured in the film itself, to me it didn't come across as meaningful as intended.
Suswatibasu (1703 KP) rated Lincoln in the Bardo in Books
Jul 24, 2017
Epic modern Shakespearean tragedy
Listened on Audible.co.uk.
George Saunder's epic historical and existential tragedy seems to resonate on many levels with a variety of readers. Taking the real life account of the death of Abraham Lincoln's son, exploring his grief and creating a magical realistic theatrical piece is a true wonder.
It's a listening experience for all the senses, with the beautiful music and sounds of the Civil War, as well as a host of well known voices - it's haunting in many aspects. The language is rich and variable mixing Shakespearean dialogue with modern slang.
Where it falls short are the constant breaks in the novel through footnotes describing the actual factual account of that time. It is jarring and ruins the experience - it should be left to the end and is only valid when reading. In this case Saunders sounds timid, having to constantly back up his claims. It would have been five stars, but it happened too often.
George Saunder's epic historical and existential tragedy seems to resonate on many levels with a variety of readers. Taking the real life account of the death of Abraham Lincoln's son, exploring his grief and creating a magical realistic theatrical piece is a true wonder.
It's a listening experience for all the senses, with the beautiful music and sounds of the Civil War, as well as a host of well known voices - it's haunting in many aspects. The language is rich and variable mixing Shakespearean dialogue with modern slang.
Where it falls short are the constant breaks in the novel through footnotes describing the actual factual account of that time. It is jarring and ruins the experience - it should be left to the end and is only valid when reading. In this case Saunders sounds timid, having to constantly back up his claims. It would have been five stars, but it happened too often.
BobbiesDustyPages (1259 KP) rated A Monster Calls in Books
Sep 5, 2017
Beautiful story (2 more)
Relateable characters
Absolutely gorgeous illistrations
No matter your age this book will affect you in some way.
A Monster Calls is one of those books that really stuck with me after reading it and I can really see it sticking with me for years to come because at its bare bones it is a book about grief and just how unfair life can seem to be.
I will admit that this book did make me cry like a freaking baby even though I was reading it on the train on the way home from work, and the thing was that it wasn't really the ending( I pretty much figured where the story was going from the beginning) but it was that it brought up so many not only memories but the feelings I went through under a similar event.
Even though this book is listed as a children's book it really is a book for a person of any age.
I will admit that this book did make me cry like a freaking baby even though I was reading it on the train on the way home from work, and the thing was that it wasn't really the ending( I pretty much figured where the story was going from the beginning) but it was that it brought up so many not only memories but the feelings I went through under a similar event.
Even though this book is listed as a children's book it really is a book for a person of any age.
Awix (3310 KP) rated Pet Sematary (2019) in Movies
Apr 9, 2019 (Updated Apr 9, 2019)
Stephen King adaptation is a serviceable tale warning against meddling with the primal forces of life and death; also about the importance of correct spelling. Starts with the usual horror film trope of a nice family moving to the peaceful countryside and having horrible experiences; this time they concern an ancient burial ground out the back of the house with the power to reanimate corpses buried there - sounds great for when the family pet gets run over, but is it really such a good idea?
Benefits greatly from a strong performance from Jason Clarke as one of King's Everyman protagonists, driven into very bad choices; John Lithgow is also good value as the neighbourhood's Creepy Exposition Yokel. The pacing is a bit skewed, but the film digs profitably into ideas of grief and madness, although some may find it tough to watch in a not-very-fun way due to some of the subject matter. A competent and enjoyable piece of high-class schlock.
Benefits greatly from a strong performance from Jason Clarke as one of King's Everyman protagonists, driven into very bad choices; John Lithgow is also good value as the neighbourhood's Creepy Exposition Yokel. The pacing is a bit skewed, but the film digs profitably into ideas of grief and madness, although some may find it tough to watch in a not-very-fun way due to some of the subject matter. A competent and enjoyable piece of high-class schlock.