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Ross (3284 KP) rated We Ride The Storm in Books

May 18, 2021

Great Asian-inspired twisting, back-stabbing fantasy

'We Ride the Storm' is an epic fantasy book set in an Asian-inspired world, with savage tribes, in-bred empires and age-old family rivalries.
We see the story unfold through the eyes of three characters: a princess of the Kisian empire (who is the step-daughter of the empire, so a princess in name only); an intriguing assassin and a tribal warrior forced into nomadic life. The plot revolves around a building conflict between the empire and its subjects and neighbours, largely driven by the accidental actions of the aforementioned assassin.
The princess is a well-formed character who quickly moves from plotting with her brother to take their family's rightful place at the head of the empire to siding with the crippled cruel emperor, seeking her own place. Her story is straight out of a Disney film, refused her chance to use her martial skills and forced to marry into power as her only contribution to the family's strength.
The nomadic warrior should have been intriguing, given his initial scene where he is cutting the heads off his fallen comrades and enemies, driven by a religious zeal that a person's head must be removed and properly laid to rest to release their soul. However, he quickly became flat and irritating, his zealous nature making him whiny. His story is the most exciting, though, as his tribe is forced into serving the empire (I think) and put aside their traditionally passive nature in order to secure new lands for themselves.
The final PoV character, the assassin, is by far the most original - she has an extra voice in her head (the background still a mystery), a presence who can inhabit corpses, allowing for some interesting escapes and plans. Her role is slightly comedic, dashing from one job to another across the country, often conflicting jobs, in order to try and release herself from the voice in her head.
The story involves a great amount of plotting and double-crossing, some excellent action scenes and a complex, weaving plot. The only downside for me was remembering who was who, who the empire was, their enemies etc, as different names were sometimes given and I found it hard to remember. Also, some major plot points were initially exposed in fairly throw-away style and later passages made no sense without picking up on them (specifically the voice in the assassin's head, but also aspects of the possession and other events which were easy to miss).
A great read and with a sequel already out, a series I will stick with.

I received a free copy from the publishers and netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

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Gaspar Noe recommended 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) in Movies (curated)

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

1968 | Classics, Sci-Fi

8.0

(47 Ratings)

Movie Favorite Watch

"When I was seven, my parents were living again in Buenos Aires, and they were going to watch movies all the time. Maybe that day they could not leave me at home because there was no one to take care of me, so I remember we went with my sister and my parents to see 2001. And we were on the first row of the balcony, so we were in front of the movie. And the monkey in front of the monolith, the tunnel of light at the end of the movie, the fetus floating at the end of the movie — all that happening in front of my eyes was, for me, like my very first drug experience — or transcendental experience — ever. I was blown away by the images. And maybe it’s a fake memory that I have, but I remember — during the movie, at that very early age — it seems to me that I liked it much more than my parents, because even then, when I talked about it with my parents, they didn’t really care much about 2001. And for me it became like an obsession. Every summer, or every two summers, the movie was replaying in some theater in Buenos Aires. And I would go again and again and again to watch it. Also because, for me, it was the ultimate image of what the future world could become. And I thought that when I would be maybe 30-40 I would really be living in a world in which it would be easy to go to the moon or do things like that. And to this day when I rewatch that movie, I feel it’s still representing the future in a very accurate way. Besides that, the dresses are very pop art. Since then I’ve seen it like 40, 60 times and I never ever get tired of replaying it. And sometimes even for New Year’s Eve, instead of going out partying, I want to start the year in a good mood so I just stay and put the movie on my DVD player. I know that that movie also — because it’s very tricky — I would say later in my life when I was a teenager doing mushrooms or taking acid, mostly it’s because I wanted to have the same impact in my brain that that movie had when I was a kid. And you can clearly tell that Enter the Void — it’s not an homage, but it’s a movie extremely inspired by 2001. And since then, I collect every single poster of that movie, every single lobby card. I have an obsession. I want to possess that movie, which is totally unpossessable."

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Felipe (17 KP) rated Chaplin (1992) in Movies

Dec 7, 2020

Chaplin (1992)

1992 | Drama

8.6

(5 Ratings)

Movie Rating

The story and how Chaplin is a tragic figure who falls prey to his own faults but how in the end he triumphs over his demons. (0 more)

The film focuses more on Chaplin's career after his success as a movie star. I would have liked to have seen more of his childhood. (0 more)

A modern tragedy meant to be one of the greats

Contains spoilers, click to show

Richard Attenborough delivers another masterpiece of cinematic biography and is a worthy successor to Ghandi. The structure of the film is told as a flashback while Charlie Chaplin is writing his autobiography with a fictional editor that does not exist. We see for the first time the flaws of who Chaplin is as a person and we see him confront his past in a way that is painful not unlike how it is painful when we relive moments in our lives we would rather choose to forget. However, the success of the film is how it strips the illusion of who Chaplin was and presents to us a person who is tragically flawed but who is unbale to appreciate his own genius. An example is when Chaplin's version of the invention of the Tramp is seen for what he imagined it to be an idealized moment in which the character is calling to him except for what it really was, We see the reality of the movies during this time; a hectic spur of the moment improvised invention drawn from real life. Yet we see Chaplin as the midwife to this new artform the movies and we see him develop it for what it is, the highest expression of art that stirs our imagination and makes us believe anything is possible. We even cry during Chaplin's moments of personal tragedy; the insanity and loss of his mother; repeated failed marriages; the death of his best friend, Douglas Fairbanks and finally his tragic and painful exile from America the only place he knew as home all taking place in the backdrop of the invention and evolution of cinema. However, I feel that in the end Chaplin is the one that comes out triumphant. In the last moments of the movie we see how Chaplin despairs that he feels that he has been forgotten and made irrelevant by the changing times; he feels that the weight of not only his age but the weight of the world on his shoulders and yet we see that everything he believes himself to be is completely wrong when Hollywood bestows on him the greatest honor which is not only the special Oscar but also a standing ovation. His final triumph is to be made a knight by Queen Elizabeth II, we are truly made to see that although flawed he is triumphant in the end.

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Kristy H (1252 KP) rated You Have a Match in Books

Jan 28, 2021

Abby only signs up for a DNA test to help her friend (and secret crush) Leo. But when the results come back, it's not Leo who gets a surprise, it's Abby. Apparently, she has an older sister. And not a half sister, but a full-fledged sister. A sister who just happens to be beautiful, polished, Instagram star, Savannah "Savvy" Tully, who is only a year and half older than Abby. Neither Abby or Savvy can figure out how this happened, so they hatch a plan. They'll both attend summer camp at Camp Reynolds, where they can learn more about their parents and each other. But they quickly learn that they are very different: Savvy is a rule follower who is addicted to her Instagram and follower count. Abby is more go-with-the-flow. And, of course, there's Leo, who turns up at the same camp. How on earth will Abby negotiate her newfound sister, her secret crush--oh, and the fact that her parents will soon realize she lied about going to camp?

"Normal isn't having a big, stupid, ridiculous crush on one of my best friends, especially when he most certainly doesn't have one on me."

So, this is a good book, but I have to admit that I was disappointed because it wasn't the same as TWEET CUTE. I absolutely loved that YA romance, and while this is an interesting read, it just didn't have the romantic twang of TWEET CUTE. It's probably not fair to compare the two, but I couldn't help it. MATCH focuses less on romantic chemistry and more on Abby finding her way/coming of age and meeting Savvy, her "new" sister.

I actually liked the sister piece overall. The DNA twist is different (rarely do we get full siblings!) and there's also a nice LGBTQIA relationship thrown in. But, I never felt like Abby and Leo's relationship fully gelled. It just didn't feel as fun and flirty as I wanted. And, much of the book's plot is propelled by misunderstandings. At some point, it got to be too much: if some characters had just spoken up, so much could have been avoided! There's so much going on--the sister aspect, romance, secrets, etc. At times, it feels like the plot is struggling to contain them all.

Still, there's a lot to enjoy about this story. Don't get me wrong at all. The camp setting is a lot of fun, and Abby and Savvy are both great characters. Watching Abby develop is rewarding, and there are plenty of humorous and tender scenes as the sisters get to know each other. Even though MATCH didn't meet my TWEET CUTE expectations, it's an enjoyable read. (I judge romances on whether I'll get a copy for my SIL and this one passes the test.) 3.5 stars.