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When We Collided
When We Collided
Emery Lord | 2016 | Contemporary, Fiction & Poetry, Romance
6
7.3 (3 Ratings)
Book Rating
* I received a copy of this book from Netgalley and the publishers in exchange for an honest review*

Vivi arrives at Verona Cove for the summer holidays with her mum, after a few days of being in this little town she manages to snag herself a cushy little job in a pottery shop. Vivi is an extrovert, she will speak to anyone and everyone wants to be around her, she has this infectious personality and she certainly makes no exceptions when Jonah walks into the shop with his little sister. Jonah is 17 and a permanent resident at Verona Cove, however his life has been tipped upside down in the last 6 months and has become a responsible guardian to his three younger siblings while his mother is suffering from depression. Vivi and Jonah start hanging out together and become more than just friends. Vivi shows Jonah how to live like a teenager again with her wild antics and enthusiasm for life, however Jonah knows that Vivi has suffered, he has seen the scars.

This book was ok, I had problems with it though. I didn’t like Vivi whatsoever she was too flouncy, her personality was too much and the crap she came out with, such as Jonah used to be a pirate in his past life just had me rolling my eyes. There is also a serious case of insta – love in this book, as soon as Vivi sets eyes on Jonah she has to have him! urgh! There was no build up or tension between the two of them and the romance seemed a little forced and too heavy on Vivi’s side.

The mental health issues in this book were depicted really well, you could definitely tell through Vivi’s character that she was suffering and it was told in such an honest and respectful way. Even when Jonah is trying to come to terms that his mother is suffering from Depression or Ellie when she talks about her brothers stay in the psychiatric ward and recovery.

Jonah is one of six children in his household, for the past 6 months him and his two older siblings have been looking after ‘the littles’ (his 3 younger siblings) whilst his mother is battling depression. He is also trying to work his shifts at the restaurant and continue his dad’s legacy. He has no time to be a teenager, like playing baseball or worrying about homework. I love that he is a foodie, I want him to cook for me everyday as the food sounded divine.

When we collided is told in dual POV alternating from Vivi and Jonah, I would have like some other point of views in this like Vivi’s mum and Jonah’s siblings. The writing was good and even poetic in some parts. I think this book was a really good for people wanting to read about mental illness but I feel the romance wasn’t really necessary.

I recommend this book if you are interested in YA with mental health.

Overall I rated this 3 out of 5 stars
  
Videodrome (1983)
Videodrome (1983)
1983 | Horror, Sci-Fi
Max Renn is the president of Civic TV channel 83, a channel known for showcasing the most erotic and violent programming that anyone has ever come across. As you can imagine, the channel has a specific audience and Max takes it upon himself to find the next big thing for the network. Everything he comes across is too tame until Max gets ahold of Harlan. Harlan is an employee who specializes in pirate video broadcasts. It's through Harlan that Max is first exposed to Videodrome, an hour program that centralizes on torture and murder. Max becomes obsessed with Videodrome and realizes it may be the next step for channel 83. He does everything within his power to find out more about Videodrome ranging from where it's originally broadcast to tracking down the original supplier and even watching countless hours of bootleg videotapes. In addition to his obsession, Max begins hallucinating. Through his investigations, he finds out Videodrome transmissions cause tumors in the brain of whoever is able to actually watch it and therefore alter reality through hallucination. As Max begins to lose touch with reality, the people behind Videodrome have bigger plans for Max. Much bigger.

Videodrome is an interesting sci-fi horror film. It's the type of film that gets better with each viewing. It's also got some pretty amazing make-up effects by the incredible Rick Baker (An American Werewolf in London, The Frighteners). So while the film does show its age at times (mainly during the segment where Max is having his hallucination recorded by Spectacular Optacle owner, Barry Convex), the majority of the special effects hold up incredibly well after 26 years. It also boasts one of the most original and intriguing death scenes (Barry Convex's) of any horror film.

The David Cronenberg helmed psycological thriller is more than just great special effects. In all honesty, it's spectacularly odd. The hallucinations alone will leave some viewers scratching their heads, but there is a clever and intelligent story beneath all the weirdness. The story focuses on TV, which is a source of entertainment that everyone relies on and it takes aim at sex and violence. The two themes people are attracted to the most, but the consequences the film comes up with for watching a program that uses these themes to the extreme is truly one of its defining moments. So while whipping a TV set may seem like an illogical idea to most, Videodrome's superb writing makes it seem almost logical. The fact that the film concentrates on something like television that everyone can relate to while creating an intelligent reasoning for it makes the entire experience more believable.

Videodrome is a cult classic for a good reason. While it may seem odd at first, it's actually an intelligent and well-made sci-fi horror film. That old layer of skin may look and feel like a film that is too weird for most audiences that's outdated and doesn't make any sense, but beneath that old flesh is the new flesh. In this case, the new flesh is actually a superb film with a quick witted script, a terrific story, special effects that hold up to this day, and just a worthwhile experience overall. It's a cult classic that's worthy of being added to any horror or sci-fi fan's collection. Long live the new flesh.
  
Timothy Mean and the Time Machine
Timothy Mean and the Time Machine
William A. E. Ford | 2019 | Children
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
What I liked most was the fun rhymes and locations (0 more)
If I absolutely had to pick something I did not like it would have to be the few lines that did not rhyme as they almost upset the flow of the passage (0 more)
Honest Review for Free Copy of Book
Contains spoilers, click to show
Timothy Mean and the Time Machine by William A. E. Ford was a wonderful little children's book. Marcelo Simonetti also created some amazing artwork for the book. The rhymes on just about every line would hold a child's attention and the interesting locations would inspire their imagination. The book is very short, with only about ten pages with text on them. This makes it great to prevent young readers from being intimidated by the size of the book. The book also goes through the days of the week, helping to teach children the names of the days in a fun way.

     Being bored one day, a young boy by the name of Timothy Mean decides to build a time machine. He visits Vikings and Pirates on their ships, causing them trouble. He visits his parents while they are children and in school themselves. At one point he even pulls the pants down on am astronaut. No trip in time would be complete without a trip into the future so that is exactly what he does. Timothy also likes playing pranks and being a trouble-maker at each location he visits.
 
     The locations visited and Timothy's pranks open up chances for discussion with parents and slightly older children. Parents could ask their children all kinds of things about the book. They could ask about if their child would want to walk on the moon, or what they think the future will be like. Parents could ask about what their child would do if they were a pirate or maybe what they think life was like in mid-evil times. Almost any children's book that encourages children to think and use their imagination is a good one.

     I loved the book. What I liked most were the fun rhymes and locations. If I absolutely had to pick something I did not like it would have to be the few lines that did not rhyme as they almost upset the flow of the passage. Though in all honesty, it is not a big issue and for a children's book writers are somewhat limited on their options to ensure a child would understand.

  Target readers for this book are anyone. As a mother, I would feel comfortable reading this book to my children no matter how young. I also feel like this would be a good book for a beginning reader, maybe a page a dag. For even more fun and value, parents could have their new readers read the page that goes with the current weekday. Slightly older children and more experienced readers could sit down and read the entire book on their own.

     I rate this book 4 out of 4 and plan on getting a physical copy for my own children (I reviewed a digital copy of the book). The book was wonderful and I hope it gains enough popularly that William A. E. Ford creates an entire line of rhyming Timothy Mean books

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