Sign up
Search
Advanced search settings

Search only in certain items:

Search results
All (994)
Content
People
Apps
Books
Orbs
Movies
Music
Podcasts
Shows
Tabletop Games
Tech
TV
Video Games
YouTube Channels
Videos
40x40

Sam (74 KP) rated All That She Can See in Books

Mar 27, 2019  
All That She Can See
All That She Can See
Carrie Hope Fletcher | 2019
9
7.7 (3 Ratings)
Book Rating
Cherry has a bakery. She knows exactly what people need and serves them something to cheer them up. What her customers don’t understand is that she bakes magic into everything to defeat their problems.

Cherry sees Meddlums – creatures that personify people’s problems. They are everywhere, following people around and never leaving them alone. That is until people go into her bakery, and Meddlums are stuck outside, slowly disappearing as Cherry solves everyone’s problems through food.

All That She Can See reminded me a lot of a Disney story, which isn’t surprising coming from Carrie. Lots of the reviews over on Goodreads slate this for being too Disney and pink and fluffy but I loved it. It makes a great change from the books I’ve been reading lately and it’s nice to read something that’s soft and an easy read.

It does have an abstract focus on mental health, showing how everyone has their own problems. It also raises the question of whether you can ever fully fix someone’s emotions. Cherry does everything to make people where she is happy, but in Plymouth, where this book is set, the happiness becomes too much and raises its own issues. It just goes to show that no matter what you do and how hard you work, people will always have their own issues.

I loved the way that Cherry sees bad feelings as monsters and Chase sees good ones as monsters. It shows their different personalities and how a generally happy person will easily see the bad things and a generally sad person will always see the good things happening to other people.

This is an absolutely brilliant read and I need a sequel!
  
40x40

Sam (74 KP) rated The Dead Fathers Club in Books

Mar 27, 2019  
The Dead Fathers Club
The Dead Fathers Club
Matt Haig | 2019 | Fiction & Poetry
7
6.5 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
Philip’s father has just died in a car crash, but he doesn’t think it was an accident. His father’s ghost comes back and tells him that he must have been murdered because he is part of the Dead Fathers Club – just for murdered fathers. He tells Philip that it must have been his Uncle Alan who murdered him, and tells him that he must get revenge.

In an odd take on Hamlet, The Dead Fathers Club follows Philips hunt for revenge for the death of his father.

It’s definitely a disturbing read. Philip is a young boy whose father has just died unexpectantly, and now he sees his father’s ghost, telling him to do awful things, to the point where he is listing ways he could kill his uncle.

The novel is written like it was Philips diary, so the childish grammar with the disturbing thoughts that Philip is experiencing work together to create a definitely troubling novel.

I was definitely questioning Philip’s mental health throughout the novel and wondering whether his father’s ghost was all in his imagination or it was actually happening.

Philip is a misfit with no friends, a girlfriend in part of the novel (which I’m not too sure what that did to the plot) and he’s bullied constantly. He found comfort in the fact that he had the chance to change his own life. He knew he could kill his uncle if he tried, and he saw that as the only way ahead. In killing his uncle, he would get revenge for his father’s death and stop his father from suffering and finally send him to heaven. He could get everything he needed and at the same time feel like he had a friend in his father’s ghost.

It was definitely a good read, but a big change to Matt Haig’s usual writing style.
  
40x40

ClareR (5542 KP) rated Queenie in Books

Apr 10, 2019  
Queenie
Queenie
Candice Carty-Williams | 2019 | Contemporary, Fiction & Poetry
8
7.0 (3 Ratings)
Book Rating
It’s not often that we’re given the chance to read a book set in the UK from a black protagonists perspective, and here is a great book to do just that. I’d also like to say though, that although this book was lauded as a cross between Bridget Jones and Americanah, I’m relieved that I’ve read a book that was wholly it’s own story. It’s not a comedy, although there are parts that were funny, and it’s not a story of immigration, because Queenie is second generation British-Jamaican. However, it does hold up to us issues surrounding race - how when a white person thinks they’re being accepting of other cultures, many of them aren’t - and mental health.
Queenie has a breakdown after she splits up with her (white) boyfriend, and suffers so badly with anxiety. Her family believe that the ‘cure’ is to pull herself together, and can’t understand the need for counselling. I’m glad she does it though, because her actions after the split had involved risky sexual behaviour, and her life (personal and work) was unravelling. This is just what happens to some people with anxiety. And Queenie’s childhood has been far from ideal.
Queenie is a great character though: she’s funny, intelligent, outspoken, sensitive and independent. She has some great friends, and her family, even though they have their faults (and whose family doesn’t?!), are there for her - and they’re all fascinating characters.
I really, really enjoyed this. It’s not some cute and fluffy read, and it can be quite raw at times.
For those who appreciate trigger warnings, there may well be some in this book, but it’s a book that reflects Queenie’s life.
Candice Carty-Williams will definitely be a name that I watch out for in future!
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my copy of this book.
  
    Med Mnemonics

    Med Mnemonics

    Medical and Reference

    (0 Ratings) Rate It

    App

    mnemonic, noun: a short rhyme, phrase, or other mental technique for making information easier to...

    Disturbed Paranormal

    Disturbed Paranormal

    (0 Ratings) Rate It

    Podcast

    Listen Live every Tuesday at 9pm pacific and 12am eastern time.Disturbed Paranormal is a place to...