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The 5th Wave: Book 1
The 5th Wave: Book 1
Rick Yancey | 2013 | Children
10
8.0 (42 Ratings)
Book Rating
This is the first book in the series. A teenage Cassie was living a normal life with her mom, dad and her little brother Sammy until the alien spaceship showed up above Earth. The waves start hitting the Earth and Cassie’s life turns upside down. She gets separated from her little brother Sammy and makes him a promise that she will find him. Along the way to find Sammy she meets this perfect man, Evan Walker but is he really so perfect, or is he hiding something? Will Cassie find Sammy? What else she will find along the way? Oh, You will have to read it to figure that out. :p

If you read “Divergent” or “Maze runner” you will definitely enjoy this book as well. The main character – Cassie is a very strong and ambitious teenager and hardly takes NO for an answer. Her main focus in this book was Sammy, which I found sometimes quite annoying. Yes, I understood that Sammy is your priority but why do you need to remind me that in every second page? :S Other characters are really strong and interesting as well. If there would be team Ben (another boy Cassie fancies) and team Evan I would definitely be in the second one. I found his character very mysterious, charming and would’ve liked to read more about things from his perspective.

The plot of this book is really catching. It is very fast-paced and has lots of action going on in there. I really enjoyed the way the book was written, giving the view of the story from different angles. One chapter talks about what Cassie is up to, another chapter tells you what’s going on in the camp. I really enjoyed that characters had their say in the book and it wasn’t just a one-way story. It is really easy to read this book, it sucks you in and keeps you in the world of aliens and doubt. To conclude, this is a great book if you are a Young Adult series fan, it is filled with action and teenage romance, surrounded with love for the family and grief.
  
Into The Forest (2016)
Into The Forest (2016)
2016 | Drama, International, Sci-Fi
Characters/Performance – Nell is the elder sister that doesn’t want to stay waiting for everything to blow over but must take responsibility once her father dies, she fills the big sister role needing to keep everything together even when she has a chance to leave. Eva is the younger sister and once promising dancer, she wants to continue her dancing even without the power but must learn to be more responsible. The male characters all offer different visions on the good and bad in life when a power outage would happen.

Performance wise, I feel one of the big problem here is that Ellen Page and Evan Rachel Wood are nearly ten years older than the characters they are playing, this does make it harder to see the teenage nativity needed in the role but sadly this takes away the strength in the performance needed.

Story – The story does focus on what could happen if the world stopped have power, this could also help show us how the world could fall apart and not cope like it once did. This also doesn’t just give us the undead being a threat which is important as it is mostly about the struggle of what is meant to be two teenage girls through this sudden change. I think the story is refreshing even if it is slightly slow.

Sci-Fi/Thriller – The power is go and now the end of the world that creates us the sci-fi side of the story well, we also deal with wondering just what will be thrown at the girls next for the thrilling side of things.

Settings – The film is set mostly in and around the home in the forest which gives us the isolation needed for a potential end of the world type of problems the girls must work through.

Final Thoughts – This is a good watch even if it is slightly slow in places, we do struggle to get the most out of the deeper side of things but we are kept interested in where things could go next.

 

Overall: Slow but strong thriller.
  
Hellions (2015)
Hellions (2015)
2015 | Horror
6
6.0 (1 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Characters/Performance – Nell is the elder sister that doesn’t want to stay waiting for everything to blow over but must take responsibility once her father dies, she fills the big sister role needing to keep everything together even when she has a chance to leave. Eva is the younger sister and once promising dancer, she wants to continue her dancing even without the power but must learn to be more responsible. The male characters all offer different visions on the good and bad in life when a power outage would happen.

Performance wise, I feel one of the big problem here is that Ellen Page and Evan Rachel Wood are nearly ten years older than the characters they are playing, this does make it harder to see the teenage nativity needed in the role but sadly this takes away the strength in the performance needed.

Story – The story does focus on what could happen if the world stopped have power, this could also help show us how the world could fall apart and not cope like it once did. This also doesn’t just give us the undead being a threat which is important as it is mostly about the struggle of what is meant to be two teenage girls through this sudden change. I think the story is refreshing even if it is slightly slow.

Sci-Fi/Thriller – The power is go and now the end of the world that creates us the sci-fi side of the story well, we also deal with wondering just what will be thrown at the girls next for the thrilling side of things.

Settings – The film is set mostly in and around the home in the forest which gives us the isolation needed for a potential end of the world type of problems the girls must work through.

Final Thoughts – This is a good watch even if it is slightly slow in places, we do struggle to get the most out of the deeper side of things but we are kept interested in where things could go next.

 

Overall: Slow but strong thriller.
  
Sing, Unburied, Sing
Sing, Unburied, Sing
Jesmyn Ward | 2017 | Fiction & Poetry
9
8.5 (6 Ratings)
Book Rating
A Toni Morrison novel updated for modern times
This is no doubt a modern day version of reading a Toni Morrison novel. From the magical realism aspect to social issues affecting African Americans, this novel is both haunting and almost poetic.

The story follows a family on their way to a prison, in which the children's white father is due to be released. The teenage boy and his three year old sister are mostly dependent on one another as well as their grandparents Pop and Mam. The mother Leonie is absent, and rather aloof in their upbringing, forcing her son, Jojo to bring up his kid sister. In between are disturbing stories featured in flashbacks and ghostly apparitions, The novel explores interracial relationships, police brutality and even post traumatic stress disorder to a degree.

While it can seem haphazard, going back and forth in time, and random narratives appearing throughout, it leaves the reader with a sense of unease and despair at the violent nature of society. A truly intriguing read.
  
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Suswatibasu (1701 KP) rated 20th Century Women (2017) in Movies

Oct 15, 2017 (Updated Oct 15, 2017)  
20th Century Women (2017)
20th Century Women (2017)
2017 | Comedy, Drama
8
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.
  
Matched (Matched #1)
Matched (Matched #1)
Ally Condie | 2010 | Young Adult (YA)
10
8.0 (35 Ratings)
Book Rating
I loved, LOVED this book! I've had it sitting in my "to read" pile for quite awhile now & decided it was time to read it. Now I'm pissed off at myself that I waited so long!!!
The book was engaging. I didn't want to put it down. It was an easy, quick read. Kind of a mixture between the Twilight books & the Hunger Games series...but don't take that as being it is the same. Some of elements of those great series show up in this one, but it is by NO means a copy.
Cassia, Ky, & Xander are all very well developed, easy to like characters. They add a great depth to the story which is, in some ways a typical teenage love triangle story, but different from the usual too.
I am very much looking forward to jumping into the 2nd book in the series to find out what happens to all 3 of them. It left me feeling the need to say, "Do not go gentle into that good night." ;)
  
Before I Fall (2017)
Before I Fall (2017)
2017 | Drama
5
6.6 (5 Ratings)
Movie Rating
It kept to the premise of book (0 more)
The mystery of character's was given away to early (0 more)
Mystery fail due to film media
Sometimes book to film adaptations work sometimes there a disaster this fell in the in-between. Whilst the film followed the story premise it wasn't that captivating and I think the reasons because it it doesn't work as well in the film medium. In the book the first accident is heightened and where all left guessing the events but are that much more involved because we know what she shouts before the accident we wonder why she shouts it int he film they cant do that because you would see what responsible. I dont think it was the film makers fault just that the suspense that made the book just doesn't transfer over. I mean as a teenager chick flick its okay but the books is deep powerful and meaningful and enraptures you in this mystery of teenage life and leaves you wondering the meaning why she yell what she does. The film doesn't
  
The Great Alone
The Great Alone
Kristin Hannah | 2018 | Fiction & Poetry, Romance
10
8.5 (13 Ratings)
Book Rating
Extremely well written. (1 more)
It's Kristin Hannah
Repetitive (0 more)
Phenomenal
As always Kristin Hannah does it again. I swear I can not read one of her books without becoming a blubbering baby. Ugh Why??????

Anyway. I love The Great Alone. The story of a family moving to rugged Alaska. The father, Ernt, a flakey, unpredictable, POW. The Mother Cora timid, loving, and clueless. Then Lenora. The teenage girl who throughout the story is tried and tested. She has to navigate not only the rugged world of Alaska. Also the tumultuous home and family life. You will love all the character's. Reading this book will have you googling Alaska. Dreaming of trips to the Kenai Peninsula.

You really can't go wrong with anything Kristin Hannah. I can't seem to get enough. The worst part is waiting for the next one. Please not so long this time Ms. Hannah. I know you are busy. But writing like yours doesn't come along very often. Your books transcend time and place. They transport us into the world you create. Please just never stop writing.
  
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Sam (74 KP) rated Kill The Boyband in Books

Mar 27, 2019  
Kill The Boyband
Kill The Boyband
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
I’ve never read a book with dark humour quite like this. It was brilliant. The jokes are definitely inappropriate, and that’s why I loved them so much. It’s unusual to get humour like this in YA so it was definitely worth it. The only bit of humour I wasn’t completely on board with were the sexual harassment jokes, but it did fit the theme of teenage fantasies so I’m not going to complain too much about that.

It is definitely written for the boy band generation, which I somehow sort of managed to avoid. I say ‘sort of’ because I’ve still gone through that phase of obsessing over a band. I just love the way it portrays crazy fan girls.

It could easily be One Direction fanfiction with how bizarre it is, but I’m not complaining about that! It just made it even more funny and painfully relatable.

I started this book expecting not to like it, and I finished loving it! I just wish it had a nicer cover!