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offyourface - Single by Sophia Messa
offyourface - Single by Sophia Messa
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Album Rating
Sophia Messa is a 19-year-old singer-songwriter from Manhattan, New York. Not too long ago, she released a rhythmic pop tune, entitled, “offyourface”.

“Something has changed. How I feel right now (2x). Used to talk 7 days. Had to take that down (2x). And if you had it your way, I’d be on a plane right now. But we’re heading south. Just tryna keep you safe. Keep you on the ground.” – lyrics

‘offyourface’ tells an interesting tale of a young woman who is seeing a guy who is head-over-heels in love with her.

She realizes that he’s addicted to her love, therefore, she recommends that they should take their time and not rush things.
Later, she admits that he’s the last one that she wants to hurt, but the tears running down his face tells a completely different story. She ends up leaving him with high hopes, and now he’s going psycho.

‘offyourface’ contains a relatable storyline, pleasing vocals, and rhythmic instrumentation scented with a danceable pop fragrance.

“‘offyourface’ is about jumping into a relationship, maybe a bit too quickly. But it also celebrates going with your gut when entering new relationships and the idea of going after what you want. Most importantly, I want my fans to tie the song into their own lives, and interpret it for whatever it means to them.” – Sophia Messa

Sophia Messa is a first generation American, born to self-made immigrant parents. Also, she is a dual citizen of Brazil and the United States.

She attended The Professional Performing Arts School (home to Alicia Keys) for middle and high school, where she was classically trained in vocal performance and opera.

Inspired by the world around her, she began writing original music in high school and recorded demos at a studio across the street from her apartment.

During her senior year, she was accepted into The Berklee College of Music. At just three weeks in, she signed a record deal and headed back to New York to launch her career.

https://www.bongminesentertainment.com/sophia-messa-offyourface/
  
Ghosted
Ghosted
Leslie Margolis | 2018 | Children
5
5.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Mean Girl Gets Scrooged
Ellie Charles rules Lincoln Heights Middle School. Everyone wants to be her friend and everyone wants to please her. She's top of the class academically, president of the student body, and chairperson of every committee that matters. Maybe she rules with an iron fist, but no one seems to mind - at least as best Ellie can tell.

The book opens the day of the winter dance. Naturally, Ellie is chair of the dance committee, and it is going to be awesome! However, when Ellie falls off a ladder, she finds herself having a freaky out of body experience. Suddenly, she's back five years ago when her best friend, Marley, and Marley's two dads lived across the street. Back before her father left her and her mother right before Christmas. Why is she witnessing these events again? And who is the Girl in Black who seems to be following Ellie on this trip down memory lane?

Being a big fan of A Christmas Carol, I had to give this modern middle grade take on the classic a try. While I enjoyed aspects of it, including a few clever nods to the original, I felt the book was lacking overall. Ellie is just so mean it is hard to root for her. The book spends much of the time in the past, and Ellie's sad past doesn't help things. The expected ending seems abrupt and short, so we don't get as big a pay off as we would like after our trip with Ellie. Then again, it might just be that I'm not the target audience. Either way, this won't be making my list of beloved spins on the Dicken's classic.
  
The Secret Place
The Secret Place
Tana French | 2015 | Fiction & Poetry
6
6.7 (3 Ratings)
Book Rating
The fifth installment in Tana French's Dublin Murder Squad series reintroduces some familiar faces, notably Holly Mackey, Frank Mackey, and Stephen Moran from French's [b:Faithful Place|7093952|Faithful Place (Dublin Murder Squad, #3)|Tana French|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1291165900s/7093952.jpg|7350661]. Detective Moran is toiling away in Cold Cases, dreaming of joining the Murder Squad, when Holly shows up. She holds in her hand a card reading "I know who killed him," featuring a photo of Chris Harper, a handsome boy from a private school who was killed a year ago. Suddenly, Stephen finds himself inserted into the middle of St. Kilda's School, Holly's private all-girls' school, the neighborhood school to Chris', and the place where his body was found. Stephen joins up with the Murder Squad's Detective Antoinette Conway, one of the original leads on Chris' case, to find out what happened. But Stephen quickly realizes that Antoinette isn't a popular figure in the Squad, and that the girls of St. Kilda's are a tight-knit, complicated bunch whose interconnected relationships present Conway and Moran many obstacles in finding Chris' killer. Can they find the killer before the girls close ranks for good?

This was a typical Tana French mystery in many ways. This novel is compelling, as always, featuring thoughtful and reflective characters and a detailed, well-plotted mystery. The story is told in alternating chapters by Stephen (in the present-day) and then flashes back to various sections told by the girls of St. Kilda's, who are telling bits of the story leading up to Chris' death. It's an excellent technique because Stephen's portion covers basically 24 hours, as he and Antoinette rush to solve the crime before the girls can cover their tracks once and for all. But by going into the past, French effectively builds suspense and allows us to meet the various teens in her tale (about eight in all, which is a lot at times).

Overall, she does an good job of capturing teen culture: particularly, I'm sure, the culture of British teens in boarding school (shockingly, something I'm not too familiar with). While the descriptions of the girls gets a little tedious (a lot of blond, straightened hair), their personalities are clear and develop easily over the course of the novel. The commentary on the bonds of teen friendship is excellent. For me, Stephen wasn't one of my all-time favorite French protagonists, but I enjoyed the dynamic between him and Conway and how the window into their lives is basically less than 24 hours.

The mystery portion was a little less enjoyable for me than some of French's other novels and a bit of a let down at the end, but it was still a great read. One of my favorite things about French's books is how they easily transport you into another world while reading--you find yourself lost in the characters and their world--and this one was no exception. 3.5 strong stars. I'm looking forward to her next novel, which is supposed to feature Conway again.

<a href="http://justacatandabookatherside.blogspot.com/">My Blog</a> ~ <a href="https://www.facebook.com/justacatandabook/">Facebook</a>; ~ <a href="https://twitter.com/justacatandbook">Twitter</a>;
  
JM
Jerry's Mystery
W.W. Rowe | 2016
6
6.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Jerry's Mystery by W.W. Rowe is the 3rd book in the series. The book is about Jerry, who is now in 7th grade. This year there is a new kid in the school who is from France. The girls go crazy over his accent and good looks. Jerry has to deal with jealousy and revenge. Jerry's friend, Wilcox, helps him through the difficult time with meditation and looking for the Higher Self. Jerry soon realizes that not everything needs to be dealt with and to always be his better self.

A wonderful book for those in the middle grades having to deal with not being the popular kid anymore, or just dealing the jealousy. This book also helps to teach compassion, even when it is thought it should be given.

In this novel, jealousy, deception, revenge and betrayal are explored in this novel.. Advice is given that helps Jerry come to grips with his feelings. There is also more exposure to what the soul is. This story gives one the opportunity for the reader to think about what to do if in the situations that Jerry has.
  
Fantasy Island (2020)
Fantasy Island (2020)
2020 | Comedy, Horror, Mystery
Much like the recent adaptation of the Banana Splits Hour, Blumhouse's Fantasy Island took a show from my childhood and added horror elements to the premise. Five strangers land on an island where their fantasy is granted. The island is overseen by a mysterious Latino named Mr. Roarke, played by master monologuist Michael Pena. As you may have seen in the trailer, two are given everything that they want (money, sex, a mansion), one plays soldier, one is given a fresh start, and one gets revenge on a middle-school bully. However, a fantasy can easily become a nightmare and the island does not distinguish. As the five strangers are slowly brought back together, they learn that the island did not randomly select them. Someone else has their own nightmarish fantasy to live. I will not spoil the secret, but the mysterious person behind it all makes precious little sense unless he or she had a traumatic brain injury before and during the plot of the movie. Some scenes were very good and it could have been a good horror movie if it had just left the storylines separate like the tv show managed to do.