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The Poet X
The Poet X
Elizabeth Acevedo | 2018 | Fiction & Poetry
8
7.8 (6 Ratings)
Book Rating
Xiomara Batista is a 15 year old Dominican American living in New York. She has a twin brother and lives with both of her parents. She's at the point in her life where boys are an interest, but her parents would never approve of her dating a boy. They are strict Catholics and Xiomara's mother tells her Jesus is the only man she needs to worry about. But Xiomara needs a way to express herself that she is unable to do with her family, so she writes poems. Her teacher thinks she is talented and encourages her to share her writing. But with her mother always on her about church, will Xiomara be able to find an outlet for her writing.

This book has been on my TBR and I have heard great things about it. This is a great road trip audio book to listen to. Since it's on 3.5 hours long, you can listen to the whole thing on a plane ride or long drive which is what I did.

I liked Xiomara character. I can understand how it feels to be a misunderstood teenager. Where you want to do the things you want to do, but also you don't want to disappoint your family. How do you live in both of those worlds? How do you please your parents and yourself? Being a teenager is tough, especially when you don't have someone who you can trust to share your problems with. Writing is a good outlet to get out the emotions that are hard to share with others.

This is the first book I've read by Elizabeth Acevedo. I look forward to reading her next book,
  
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ClareR (5674 KP) rated The Scribe in Books

Jul 8, 2019  
The Scribe
The Scribe
A A Chaudhuri | 2019 | Crime, Fiction & Poetry, Thriller
6
6.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
I’ve vacillated between 5 and 6/10, and decided on 6.

I liked this novel about a serial killer who murders female lawyers and butchers them in a most unusual way. It kept me guessing at the identity of the killer until the end, and threw some red herrings in along the way.
What I wasn’t so keen on, was the way in which DCI Jake Carver was portrayed: not very quick on the uptake, relying heavily on the brains of Madeline Kramer who went to the Bloomsbury Academy of Law with the victims. I have no problems with Maddy being involved with solving the crimes, but at the expense of Carvers ability - not so keen.
I do feel that the story was rushed, but this may have been an effect of the serialisation on The Pigeonhole (the book was split into 10 parts over 10 days). If I’d had the actual book, I would have read it in 2 or 3 sittings.
What I didn’t like at all was the general bitchiness of the female characters towards one another. Frankly, the murdered women deserved their grisly ends. Are women who work in high profile jobs in the City really like this? If they are, I’m glad I don’t work there!
In conclusion, this is a fun, quick read, a bit irreverent in places (women in their 60’s are referred to as elderly - err, I have friends in their late 50s, and they’re anything BUT elderly!), but good for a debut novel. I wish the author good luck with her next book, and many thanks to The Pigeonhole for choosing another great book.
  
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Phil Leader (619 KP) rated Timeshaft in Books

Nov 26, 2019  
Timeshaft
Timeshaft
Stewart Bint | 2013 | Science Fiction/Fantasy, Thriller
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
As technology advances mankind seems a button press away from wiping itself out. The shadowy organisation of WorldSave and their top operative, the enigmatic Ashday's Child, prevent catastrophe on a regular basis because they have access to the Timeshaft, which enables them to go to any point in time and stop events before they can cause disaster.

However, after a routine training mission hits problems, Ashday's Child must save not only himself and his companions but the fabric of time itself. With cause not necessarily occurring before effect, it may be that saving the future will heal the past.

Time travel has always been a fascination for science fiction writers as it opens up so many possibilities. Where most of these use time travel as a method of getting their characters to where they need to be, in Timeshaft it is the time travel itself that provides the story. Bint allows his imagination to construct future and past versions of earth but always the time travel aspect is to the fore, with the plot carefully constructed like a clock so that in the end all the parts fit together perfectly.

This matters because the time travel in Timeshaft is one where the time travel has always taken place; it is not like Back to the Future where Marty's antics in the past then change the future; here the future is the way it is precisely because someone has travelled back in time and changed something. It's a tricky thing to pull off yet Bint seemingly does this with ease.

If you are looking for a good science fiction story with drama and great ideas, you can't go far wrong
  
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Matthew Krueger (10051 KP) rated Home Alone (1990) in Movies

Dec 19, 2019 (Updated Dec 19, 2019)  
Home Alone (1990)
Home Alone (1990)
1990 | Comedy, Family
Trapped With Jigsaw, I Mean Kidsaw.
Home Alone- is a classic movie, but has alot of problems that people realise overtime. Like how did Kevin not wake up to the sound of the whole family, yes he was in the attic, but still he would of woke up. Like how Kevin's plane ticket mistakenly being thrown away, someone would of notice. Like how in the confusion and rush to get to the airport, coupled with no assigned ticket, Kevin is accidentally left behind, again some one would have notice. Like how Kate realizes mid-flight that Kevin was left behind, again thier would of notice. Like how Kevin rigs the house with booby traps, like he's 8 and he knows how to booby trap his whole house. So basically he is the kid version of Jigsaw.

Also how do the "Wet Bandits" , not get more injured, broken bones of even killed by some of Kevin's trap, i mean some of Kevin's traps are burtal and deadly. I mean it is a family film, but still.

Lets talk about the plot: When bratty 8-year-old Kevin McCallister (Macaulay Culkin) acts out the night before a family trip to Paris, his mother (Catherine O'Hara) makes him sleep in the attic. After the McCallisters mistakenly leave for the airport without Kevin, he awakens to an empty house and assumes his wish to have no family has come true. But his excitement sours when he realizes that two con men (Joe Pesci, Daniel Stern) plan to rob the McCallister residence, and that he alone must protect the family home.

A classic christmas movie, for the whole family to watch.
  
Prom (2011)
Prom (2011)
2011 | Comedy
4
4.0 (1 Ratings)
Movie Rating
“Prom is like the Olympics of high school; You wait four years, only like three people have a good time, and everyone else leaves with shattered hopes and dreams.” Nova Prescott had it all, class president, popularity and a bright future. What more can a teenage high school girl ask for? Well, how about a perfect prom for starters?

Prom stars Aimee Teergarden (Friday Night Lights) as Nova Prescott and Thomas McDonald (soon to portray young Barnabas Collins in Dark Shadows) as Jesse Richter. Nova is obsessed with planning the perfect prom as a final farewell to high school and a big jump to college. Her dreams are shattered after a fire has ruined all her prom decorations and she is in need of some help to get things back on track. “Walking misdemeanor” Jesse Richter is forced to help Nova fix what was lost and in the end they end up finding love. Prom includes different stories about couples who have problems of their own that all revolve around the most important night of a senior’s life: the prom

Disney’s Prom is another cheesy, lackluster high school film with awkward scenes and awkward actors. This movie is unrealistic and uneventful and may put parents at ease but leave kids wondering why they would pour their heart and soul into one specific yet anti-climactic night that most adults end up forgetting anyways. Although the film lacked humor and good writing, the most promising part is the soundtrack.

The film is too familiar and uses the same old scenarios that have been played out in other films about high school countless times and offers nothing new.
  
    Little Panda Fireman

    Little Panda Fireman

    Education and Games

    (0 Ratings) Rate It

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    Experience the pride of becoming a firefighter in a child-friendly roleplaying game. Learn...