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Chloe (778 KP) rated The Dream Defenders in Books

Apr 14, 2020

The Dream Defenders

Neal Denhartog | 2019 | Young Adult (YA)

7.0

(2 Ratings)

Book Rating

Imaginative (3 more)

Clever

Interesting

Good concept

Further development (1 more)

Lacking characters

The title "Dream Defenders" explains the content of the book. Basically the Dream Institute works to protect dreamers through powers they have learned/been taught. Dreamers are recruited when they show a particular acumen for managing their dreams.

The concept is very clever because it is something that could happen in real life, that we are not aware of. It's a very imaginative story with some quite funny bits in places. Love the Sandman name, very clever little note.

The characters and bad guys are well thought out but could have further development e.g. Marshall seems to only like books and that's all I can really say about him. Aeryn is supposedly trained in dream weaving but shows very limited skill. The story felt rushed and I definitely think the concept could do with some embellishment.

I'm not sure whether this is young adult, I felt like it was for children perhaps a similar age to goosebumps. Ocassionally the humour felt forced and in the wrong place. There often seemed to be unnecessary words for example, one sentence states "Nolan's stomach twisted, this time not from the Wispe travel". The events of the previous sentence clearly states what caused the stomach twisting.

Just a note, I think on Page 254 the word dream stream is used when it should be death stream.

I obtained a free copy from Voracious Readers Only!

Kudos

Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated Annie (2014) in Movies

Aug 6, 2019

Annie (2014)

2014 | Drama, Family, Musical

6.0

(6 Ratings)

Movie Rating

The 2014 re-make of Annie, starring Jamie Foxx as Will Stacks, Quvenzhané Wallis as
Annie, Rose Byrne as Grace, Bobby Cannavale as Guy and Cameron Diaz as Miss Hannigan
is a musical that is fun and caused me to sing along.

The story was cute, and obviously at least somewhat predictable if you are older
than 30-ish.

Parts of it were a very tiny bit scary for my son (6), mostly centered around Annie
being swept off by 'bad guys'.

Cameron Diaz does a pretty good job as Miss Hannigan and sings fairly well. She
doesn't 'copy' Carol Burnetts role as Miss Hannigan, but rather makes it her own,
modern version.

Jamie Foxx is great as Will Stacks and has a great voice. He portrays gruff and
unapproachable very well, and I liked him in the role.

The show stealer was Quvenzhané Wallis as Annie. Her performance was great and she
sang her little heart out. I connected with her emotionally and found her to be very
believable as a kid trying to find her place in the world.

I liked the film, and feel it is a good re-make. It isn't one hundred percent like
the original, but a new, modern twist on it.

My son liked it, and my husband liked it more than he thought he would.

We would be happy to see it again in the theatre.

I would give this over 3.5 out of 5 stars.