Sign up
Search
Advanced search settings

Search only in certain items:

Search results
All (3342)
Content
People
Apps
Books
Orbs
Movies
Music
Podcasts
Shows
Tabletop Games
Tech
TV
Video Games
YouTube Channels
Videos
40x40

Kristy H (1252 KP) rated The Fifth Letter in Books

Feb 13, 2018  
The Fifth Letter
The Fifth Letter
Nicola Moriarty | 2017 | Fiction & Poetry, Mystery
4
4.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Joni, Eden, Deb, and Trina have been friends since high school, when a teacher grouped them together by their last names. However, as they age, it seems the women are growing apart. Desperate to keep her friends together, Joni books a vacation house for them by the ocean. It's been a yearly tradition for the group, and she's insistent they all keep it up. However, it becomes clear that the women are a little reluctant to gather together: three of them are mothers now, and many are busy with their careers and other worries. So they come up with an idea: they'll write anonymous letters on an old computer at the beach cottage, and read one a night during their vacation. But the game turns dark quickly, as the women struggle to guess who wrote what letter. Even worse, Joni discovers a "fifth letter" in the fireplace; partially burned, it appears to be filled with hate toward one of the women in the group (from another). The foursome is supposed to be the best of friends, but it appears it isn't so. Can they recover from this vacation? And who in the group wrote that awful letter?

I feel terrible, as I really enjoy the other Moriarty sisters ([a:Liane Moriarty|322069|Liane Moriarty|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1459827224p2/322069.jpg] and [a:Jaclyn Moriarty|47290|Jaclyn Moriarty|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1199066598p2/47290.jpg]), but I just didn't care for this book at all. Throughout the entire novel, I never found myself able to care for these four women or their problems whatsoever. The premise of the book seemed utterly ridiculous: why on earth would a group of grown women write a bunch of letters like children and if they were such good friends, how could they know so little about each other? It was painful to read. Furthermore, the book itself was difficult to read. The book was set up in various ways: we had the current day thread at the beach cottage; we had threads in the past with the girls at school. Then, there's a thread where Joni is telling a priest (via confession) about what had happened at the cottage. Then we get pieces of the letters. Then we get snippets from the fifth letter. It was so utterly confusing that for parts of it, I couldn't tell who was talking, or what the dialogue related to, and it drove me insane.

Pieces of the women's problems were resolved far too easily, while others were blown far too out of proportion. Others were incredibly serious and just - ugh. When the big "reveal" happened, it made me cringe. I feel awful, but it almost felt like a bad imitation of Liane's book, [b:Truly Madly Guilty|26247008|Truly Madly Guilty|Liane Moriarty|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1467061262s/26247008.jpg|49997474]. A bunch of angst leading to a big "reveal," which sort of leaves you feeling let down.

Overall, I have high admiration for the Moriarty sisters, and I truly feel bad that I didn't enjoy this book more. I just couldn't find any sympathy with the characters, and the way the novel was laid out irked me. I kept comparing it with another book where the women escape for a girls getaway: [b:Girls' Weekend|28280644|Girls' Weekend|Cara Sue Achterberg|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1453684219s/28280644.jpg|48328656], which was such a more nuanced and enjoyable portrayal of some similar subjects. I would recommend picking up Achterberg's book instead.

I received a copy of this novel from the publisher and Edelweiss (thank you!) in return for an unbiased review; it is available everywhere as of 01/24/2017.
  
    SING to READ

    SING to READ

    Education and Music

    (0 Ratings) Rate It

    App

    “Educational, great fun and simply the best way to help adults and children understand the choices...

    SpellTower

    SpellTower

    Games

    (0 Ratings) Rate It

    App

    - Originally written about in The New York Times, featured in Apple Stores, heard about on NPR, and...

40x40

Darren (1599 KP) rated ABCs of Death 2 (2014) in Movies

Jun 20, 2019  
ABCs of Death 2 (2014)
ABCs of Death 2 (2014)
2014 | Horror
7
6.7 (3 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Favourite Letters – A – Amateur I liked this because it pokes fun at the slick nature people believe hitmen going through vents can be showing the truth about what you will find.
D – Deloused this is a delightfully twists animated tale that is everything from disturbing to disgusting.
L – Legacy, I liked this one because it is bold, bloody and entertaining.
N – Nexus, this is a well built up moment where we follow all the people involved before the final moment.
O – Ochlocracy, this short gives us a fresh look at the zombie genre.
S – Split, this is a story that could be run of the mill but clearly has the best twist of any of the short stories here.
T- Torture Porn, this is one that went in a direction you didn’t see coming which adds shock value to it.
U – Utopia, this sums up modern society nicely for shocking effect.
Y – Youth, this is plain weird but also feels heart breaking throughout the story.
Z – Zygote, well this is a short story that is seriously twisted and delightful ending to these horror tales.


Hardest to Watch – H – Head Games, I think this is because it is bigger than expected because you could read into it the most.
K – Knell, I have this one here because I didn’t understand the end it at all.


Worst Letters – G – Grandad, this one just didn’t click and felt like filler.
P – P-P-P-P – Scary, this just felt like it was part comedy to full weird and not the type I like.

Biggest Disappointments – B – Badger, most because this felt like there was still five minutes to go which could have been the blood bath we got teased for.
I – Invincible, this is here much like B as it is a film you would like to have seen more from.


Ones That I Would Like to See a Full Feature – F – Falling, this story feels like it could be a brilliant thriller that over a 90 minute could build characters up nicely for the climax.
Q – Questionnaire, this is an interesting one and could be turned into a very interesting horror film.


That Moment That Annoyed Me – V – Vacation, one because it is shot badly and two because the guys assholes.


Final Thoughts – In all fairness this has a lot of good chapters which are fun, bloody, gore and everything you like, if you like short horror stories go and enjoy.

 

Overall: Full fun horror chapter.

https://moviesreview101.com/2018/10/01/a-z-halloween-horror-a-abcs-of-death-2-2014/