Smashbomb

Search

Search results

All (3189)

Content

Things I Wish My Mother Had Told Me: Lessons in Grace and Elegance

Lucia Van der Post

(0 Ratings) Rate It

Book

Packed full of golden rules from one of Britain's most stylish women, Things I Wish My Mother Had...

Hazel (1853 KP) rated Nine Ways to Die in Books

Jan 24, 2021

Nine Ways to Die

Jordan Elizabeth Mierek | 2021 | Paranormal, Young Adult (YA)

7.0

(1 Ratings)

Book Rating

Fifteen-year-old January "Jan" hates the new town she has moved to but loves her new boyfriend, Jean. Her parents are never home, and her sister is in hospital, so she spends the summer days with her new friends. The only people she meets are around her age, and she never comes across any adults. The buildings are decrepit and old, almost like a ghost town. The more time Jan spends with her friends, the more peculiar the town, Memoir Falls feels.

Nine Ways to Die is a short story by versatile writer, Jordan Elizabeth. The details about Jan's past gradually emerge until Jan, along with the reader, discovers the truth about the strange town and its inhabitants. There are clues everywhere, but like Jan, readers fail to notice them until they come together in a sudden climax.

Through Jan's eyes, readers experience the town as though they are also new inhabitants. Although it is a short story, there is so much on offer: suspense, romance, thrills, and the supernatural. For those familiar with Jordan Elizabeth's work, this is a welcome addition to her vast collection of books. For newbie readers, this is a tempting taste of the author's full potential.

Kudos

Suswatibasu (1703 KP) rated 20th Century Women (2017) in Movies

Oct 15, 2017 (Updated Oct 15, 2017)

20th Century Women (2017)

2017 | Comedy, Drama

6.8

(5 Ratings)

Movie Rating

A solid drama with beautiful cinematography

I began watching this thinking it would be like Little Miss Sunshine aka dark humour but good comedy. But it's not at all - it's pure drama, but still good nevertheless.

Annette Bening plays a lonely 54 year old mother living with her teenage son, and various lodgers in 1979. There's a massive generational divide, Bening was born in the 1920's and feels overwhelmed with her son in this era where punk rock is all the rage and there's general apathy at the world.

At this point she asks for help from her lodger, a young feminist photographer in remission from cervical cancer and a much older hippy mechanic. Instead they seem to confuse the situation further due to a gap in understanding about one another's circumstances, causing mother and son to further drift apart.

It's a different style of coming-of-age film because it shows how the mother's role is also changing and adapting to a new age of politics and societal pressures. A poignant, beautifully shot drama.

Kudos

Chris Hooker (419 KP) rated The Polaris Uprising (Polaris, #1) in Books

Jan 12, 2018

[The Polaris Uprising] has a similar plot line of many teen dystopian novels. It seems that the author [Jennifer Ibarra] borrowed the best parts of many and created her own. This is not a bad thing. In fact it helps to get YA readers to try new books.

The plot is set after a war in which the current leadership came to power and had promised to keep the people from want. Although the leader is called a president he is not democratically elected, in fact it represents a monarchy as he is prepping his youngest daughter to take his place when she come of age. His oldest daughter is a doctor who has just come of age and will marry her 'match'.

In this novel the idea that the state takes care of everything including your decisions is a driving force. It has let to the uprising as people want some freedom back. The sisters get entangled in this conflict. The question is what side will they take?