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Death by the River
Death by the River
Alexandrea Weis, Lucas Astor | 2018 | Thriller, Young Adult (YA)
2
6.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
<b><i>I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.</i></b>
What the fuck did I read.

SERIOUSLY. What the fuck did I read. And why the fuck did I suffer for more pages than necessary?
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<h2><strong>Contrary to all the raving reviews and praise for this book, <i>Death by the River</i> is boring as fuck (at least at the beginning). If any death occurred at the river, it was yours truly from pure boredom. &#x1f634;</strong></h2>
Beau Deveraux is the catch of a lifetime on the outside with his good looks and reputation. But on the inside, he's a psychopath, becoming obsessed with his girlfriend Dawn's twin sister, Leslie. She wants no association with Beau and warns Dawn to do the same.

<h2><strong>Good god, there is so much repetition.&#x1f644;</strong></h2>
The book nails this fact into our heads repeatedly, chapter after the chapter, and it's one of the main reasons why I couldn't stand <i>Death by the River</i>. I get it - Beau is nice and chummy but secretly evil and Leslie sees right through the facade. Everyone else is a lamb, all nice and innocent to Beau's ways.
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<h2><strong>Then there's pacing plus the repetition. &#x1f623;</strong></h2>
It was slowwwww. Maybe it's the writing style, but gosh, I made it to 52% and nothing really happened except:
~ Beau's obsession with Leslie
~ Leslie's uninterest in Beau
~ Everyone's awe of Beau
~ PARTAYYYYYYYY
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And two sexual assaults with no death actually happening except for the death of the victim's reputation, which is expected, considering the book <i>is</i> about sexual assault.

But ultimately, <i>Death by the River</i> fell flatter than a green onion pancake for me.

Just a side note, but green onion pancakes are delicious. I think I insulted them greatly. Green onion pancakes do not deserve this comparison.

<a href="https://bookwyrmingthoughts.com/death-by-the-river-by-alexandrea-weis-and-lucas-astor/"; target="_blank">This review was originally posted on Bookwyrming Thoughts</a>
  
Royals
Royals
8
9.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
Delightful romance.
So I’ll admit. The only reason I picked this book up is because the second book in the series, Her Royal Highness, looks like an adorable lesbian romance and I thought I should start at the beginning of the series. I’m glad I did, because Royals is a delight. Daisy is a spirited, no-nonsense teenager who doesn’t get the appeal of all this “royal” stuff, and she’s not one to mince words for the sake of appearances. As you can imagine, that ruffles a LOT of royal feathers! Add in a posse of noble ne’er-do-wells trying to get in trouble, and you’re in for some fun.

Interestingly, I’m torn now on whether to read the second book! Rachel Hawkins is a fantastic writer, so I have no doubt she’ll write a great second book, but the love interest in the next book, Princess Flora, did not make a great impression on me in this book. I was glad she only made a short appearance. It doesn’t sound like the next book is told from her point of view, though, so maybe it will be okay. The series definitely has a lot of potential, as there’s still several members of the Prince’s posse to tell stories about!

I do enjoy a good royal romance, and these are interesting in that they’re contemporary, so the royals are concerned with their reputation, and treated like massive celebrities, but have lost a lot of their intimidation factor and power when it comes to normal people. Daisy sees it more as an inconvenience than anything else, it seems.

One content warning – there was a scene with an unasked-for kiss that could have been called sexual assault if Daisy had been less charitable about it. It wasn’t malicious. But it was questionable. So beware if that’s something you want to avoid.
  
Not That Bad: Dispatches from Rape Culture
Not That Bad: Dispatches from Rape Culture
Roxane Gay | 2018 | Gender Studies, Philosophy, Psychology & Social Sciences
10
9.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
This is an important book.
This is such an important book. Most of the contributions are from women who have experienced sexual assault, but there are contributions from men, and trans women as well. Some are terrible, life changing stories, some are stories of numerous occurrences that chip away at the writers self confidence and feelings of safety. Actually, the upshot is that a vast majority of women do not feel safe anymore.
As I began reading this, I thought that I was one of the lucky that had never experienced any of these things, but as I read on, I realised that I actually had. I think that the cat-calling, touching and looks are something that we don't so much expect as that we are just used to them. The fact that in my younger years I was very outspoken and told someone who touched me to keep their hands to themselves, or told a commenter to keep their mouths shut, probably meant that I was more lucky than effective when they backed down or apologised. And I also think that British culture was very different 20 years ago, as was I.
What saddens me, is that the people who should really read this probably won't. And if they do, they'll probably brush it off as women who exaggerate or are out to attack men, are men haters. But these are all genuine experiences. This isn't fiction. It's heart breaking, raw and something that shouldn't have any place in our modern world. I've never understood the need of some people to control, manipulate and hurt others, but I think I'm probably naive. Or hopeful, perhaps. Somehow, we need to stop this cycle of abuse and hurt, and until then, stories like this will continue.
  
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After-all-this-time? (11 KP) rated 13 Reasons Why - Season 1 in TV

Dec 30, 2018 (Updated Dec 30, 2018)  
13 Reasons Why  - Season 1
13 Reasons Why - Season 1
2017 | Drama
Very gripping (3 more)
Thought provoking
Emotional
Relatable cast
Contains spoilers, click to show
I was gripped from episode 1 of 13 Reasons. The cast of young actors and actresses are brilliant, and they made it a really gripping show.

The show not only touches upon, but runs head long into some very serious, hard hitting subjects, including sexual assault and rape, bullying, sexuality, drink driving, peer pressure and, of course, mental health and suicide. So, definitely not one for the easily upset. It portrays all of them in a very honest, very graphic way. It can definitely be upsetting, but is very thought provoking and helps you see things from several different perspectives. It was great seeing mental health finally being spoken about and highlighted in such a mainstream way, without it being belittled.

The storyline follows Clay, a teenage boy, who has recently suffered a bereavement in the form if the suicide of his friend and love interest, Hannah. Some time after Hannah's death, a package containing several tapes is delivered to Clay's house, with instructions for him to listen to them. Every side of each tape describes how each of the 13 people the tapes are intended for contributed to Hannah feeling as she did. Not only does she explain her feelings and why she committed suicide, but also how their actions have had repercussions for other people. They reveal, deep, dark and dangerous secrets about a large number of peoole at their High School, and the revelation of the tapes to the public has the potential to destroy multiple lives, and sees multiple people getting hurt, physically and emotionally.


How far will Clay listen? Can he change things to make things right for others? Can he get restitution for Hannah? And what dark secrets is he going to reveal along the way? Hit play, and find out! You won't regret it.
  
Black Christmas (2019)
Black Christmas (2019)
2019 | Horror
Not Black Christmas (0 more)
Why
So the main question of this film is..."why does this movie exist"? Cause of $, thats why. "Who decided it was a good i idea to re-remake Black Christmas"? Blumhouse. I like Blumhouse, but not one asked for a Black Christmas remake. In the year of remakes of 2019, Black Christmas came out. And no one saw it, and no one liked it. This is not even a Black Christmas movie. The only reason its called Black Christmas because of $ and Blumhouse decided "lets remake Black Christmas", cause we can.

The plot: Hawthorne College is quieting down for the holidays as students travel home to spend time with their families. But as Riley and her sorority sisters prepare to deck the halls with seasonal parties, a mysterious cloaked figure starts to leave a bloody trail throughout the campus. Refusing to become hapless victims, Riley and her friends decide to band together and fight back against the psychotic Christmas killer.

Unlike the previous two version of Black Christmas, the remake was rated PG-13 by the MPAA, a rating Takal sought in hopes of making it accessible to new audiences, especially young women who were interested in horror, and opening up discussions on major issues like sexual assault, although she was ready to fully commit to utilizing the higher R rating if the ratings board would not grant it. However, she would not use the PG-13 rating to water down the film's violence to a large degree, making it only slightly less violent than the original film.

This film should of never been made or existed. Cause their was no reason to remake Black Christmas, and $$$$$ was the answer.
  
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TacoDave (3640 KP) Dec 31, 2020

I saw it in the theater and ended up walking out after about 20 minutes due to the fake wokeness of the characters. It was horrible.

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Matthew Krueger (10051 KP) Dec 31, 2020

I think the only time i walked out of the theater was Fate of the Furious. Than i walk back into the theater. I almost walked out of "Phantom Thread".

Audience/ Reading Level: 18+

Interests: Kidnapping, Sexual Assault, Heartbreak, Depression, and Murder.

Point of View: Third Person

Insights: When I first picked this eBook up, I was surprised by the style of read this was. It honestly wasn’t anything like I expected it to be. I was expecting a more romance/erotica feel of things, but this read more as a thriller. There were quite a few grammatical errors and the overall story was alright, but I wouldn’t reread it again and actually deleted it off my kindle once I finished it. It was fast-paced for me, almost too fast-paced. Causing parts of this series to be written in a very juvenile way and in turn, that made it just plain hard to read.

Will I reread? No. But that’s just because it wasn’t an appealing storyline worth a reread. Do I recommend? I mean, if you like cheesy written thriller’s that are just average. Then sure, read it.

Favorite Quotes: “He was supposed to shoot for the stars, not me…”

“Have you ever felt so carefree about something that you just forget that time affects your every action and you feel okay with losing all of it.”

○ interested in its physical book
○/● a continuous read / page-turner
○ diverse in any way
● something’s lacking
○ took me a long time to finish
○ an LMAO read
○ I laughed more than a few times
● it’s j u s t awkward
○ gave me goosebumps
○ one of the best books I’ve read
○ painful & sad
○ tear-jerker
○ a roller-coaster of emotions
○ thrilling
● confusing
○ sooo relatable
● it is kind of annoying
○ it has a lot of flashbacks
○ it moved me
○ would recommend!
○ great even for a reread
○ definitely a YAY
○ I’m sorry it’s a NAY
● it’s between YAY and NAY