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Kristy H (1252 KP) rated Wishful Thinking in Books
Feb 13, 2018
Jennifer is a busy single mom, struggling to keep up at work while still spending enough time with her two young boys. One day her lost smartphone shows up on her doorstep and Jennifer discovers a new app has been installed. This app, she soon comes to realize, allows her to time travel -- to basically be in two places at the same time. Suddenly Jennifer is able to keep the long hours her boss is demanding, while still picking her boys up from school and getting in quality time Mom/kid time. She is the superwoman she's always dreamed of being. But is it too good to be true?
I'll confess that a good portion of this book made me cringe. Not because it's bad. In fact, it's the opposite. It's a smartly written, captivating novel with a harried heroine who captures your heart pretty quickly. For me, the book was stressful because it hit home! A busy working mother who has demands at the office, but who also wants to spend time with her kids? That certainly describes a lot of us. Much like when I'm watching an action or horror movie for a first time, I felt myself tensing, anxiously wondering what was going to happen to Jennifer. Was she going to get caught using the app? Was the Jennifer at the office going to somehow show up with her kids? Would her co-workers find out? Her kids? Would the app make her sick? This couldn't go on forever, right?
And that's basically the premise behind Wicoff's clever novel. Of course, being in two (and over time, as Jennifer becomes dependent on the app, three places) places isn't all it's cracked up to be. Jennifer is tired, experiencing some strange sensations, potentially losing friendships, and wait, is she aging rapidly when she's living two days in the span of what should only be one?
Wicoff does a great job of showing the pressures many working parents feel. It's true - sometimes you do feel like you have to be a superwoman! Her book is also populated with fun characters -- in particular, Dr. Sexton, Jennifer's kooky neighbor, who also happens to be a genius scientist and inventor of said app.
If it all sounds a little improbable, it is, and you'll have to be prepared to suspend disbelief a bit, but Wicoff does such a great job, that it isn't really that hard. The book veers off a bit in its final quarter, turning more from the harried working mom scene, to a bit of an almost mystery/avenger plot, which is also completely improbable, and a very strange twist, but it's fun, too. You can't help but rooting for Jennifer (and Dr. Sexton, too). Overall, a crazy 3.5 star rating.
(Note, I received an advanced copy of this book in return for an unbiased review.)
I'll confess that a good portion of this book made me cringe. Not because it's bad. In fact, it's the opposite. It's a smartly written, captivating novel with a harried heroine who captures your heart pretty quickly. For me, the book was stressful because it hit home! A busy working mother who has demands at the office, but who also wants to spend time with her kids? That certainly describes a lot of us. Much like when I'm watching an action or horror movie for a first time, I felt myself tensing, anxiously wondering what was going to happen to Jennifer. Was she going to get caught using the app? Was the Jennifer at the office going to somehow show up with her kids? Would her co-workers find out? Her kids? Would the app make her sick? This couldn't go on forever, right?
And that's basically the premise behind Wicoff's clever novel. Of course, being in two (and over time, as Jennifer becomes dependent on the app, three places) places isn't all it's cracked up to be. Jennifer is tired, experiencing some strange sensations, potentially losing friendships, and wait, is she aging rapidly when she's living two days in the span of what should only be one?
Wicoff does a great job of showing the pressures many working parents feel. It's true - sometimes you do feel like you have to be a superwoman! Her book is also populated with fun characters -- in particular, Dr. Sexton, Jennifer's kooky neighbor, who also happens to be a genius scientist and inventor of said app.
If it all sounds a little improbable, it is, and you'll have to be prepared to suspend disbelief a bit, but Wicoff does such a great job, that it isn't really that hard. The book veers off a bit in its final quarter, turning more from the harried working mom scene, to a bit of an almost mystery/avenger plot, which is also completely improbable, and a very strange twist, but it's fun, too. You can't help but rooting for Jennifer (and Dr. Sexton, too). Overall, a crazy 3.5 star rating.
(Note, I received an advanced copy of this book in return for an unbiased review.)
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Sophia (Bookwyrming Thoughts) (530 KP) rated All Our Yesterdays in Books
Jan 23, 2020
I'm a little fond of <i>All Our Yesterdays</i>.
Terrill writes the book in a very weird format – it takes awhile to get into the story and get a grip of what is really going on. Marina is a self-conscious person who lets her friends dictate <em>everything</em> for her – how to win boys, how to dress, how to talk, etc. Marina just comes across as a very shallow person hoping to win over the love of her best friend, James Shaw, while trying to find out who is attempting to murder him.
Em, on the other hand, is someone completely different – she's more determined, went through more trauma... Basically, Em has been through more than Marina, and I think she's a vital asset to the story's enjoyment (Marina plays a vital role as well, but if it were just her, it would have been boring). She teams up with Finn in the hopes to shut down Cassandra, a time travel device created with the intention for good things (stopping wars and disasters, for instance) but later became more of a problem rather than for everyone's good.
But back to the whole weird format. Since I've never actually come across Terrill's format ever in another time travel book, it's completely mind-boggling. One minute it seems like both Em and Marina are the same, the next, they're completely different. The only constant variable going on throughout the entire book is James and Finn (even those two were different and the same – they were just obvious). It really just takes awhile to realize the time period is the same, but the viewpoints are different.
Quite literally, 350+ pages of <i>All Our Yesterdays</i> is dedicated to getting rid of the evil mastermind behind Cassandra, but it's so much fun seeing how <i>Terrill</i> clicked the weird format so well together.
P.S. I personally think <i>All Our Yesterdays</i> works out just fine as a stand-alone. Although I would love to see a sequel and how Terrill will take the story now that the main problem has been solved, I don't really see anything that could happen aside from a "tragic" love story.
<a href="https://bookwyrmingthoughts.com/review-all-our-yesterdays-by-cristin-terrill/"; target="_blank">This review was originally posted on Bookwyrming Thoughts</a>
Terrill writes the book in a very weird format – it takes awhile to get into the story and get a grip of what is really going on. Marina is a self-conscious person who lets her friends dictate <em>everything</em> for her – how to win boys, how to dress, how to talk, etc. Marina just comes across as a very shallow person hoping to win over the love of her best friend, James Shaw, while trying to find out who is attempting to murder him.
Em, on the other hand, is someone completely different – she's more determined, went through more trauma... Basically, Em has been through more than Marina, and I think she's a vital asset to the story's enjoyment (Marina plays a vital role as well, but if it were just her, it would have been boring). She teams up with Finn in the hopes to shut down Cassandra, a time travel device created with the intention for good things (stopping wars and disasters, for instance) but later became more of a problem rather than for everyone's good.
But back to the whole weird format. Since I've never actually come across Terrill's format ever in another time travel book, it's completely mind-boggling. One minute it seems like both Em and Marina are the same, the next, they're completely different. The only constant variable going on throughout the entire book is James and Finn (even those two were different and the same – they were just obvious). It really just takes awhile to realize the time period is the same, but the viewpoints are different.
Quite literally, 350+ pages of <i>All Our Yesterdays</i> is dedicated to getting rid of the evil mastermind behind Cassandra, but it's so much fun seeing how <i>Terrill</i> clicked the weird format so well together.
P.S. I personally think <i>All Our Yesterdays</i> works out just fine as a stand-alone. Although I would love to see a sequel and how Terrill will take the story now that the main problem has been solved, I don't really see anything that could happen aside from a "tragic" love story.
<a href="https://bookwyrmingthoughts.com/review-all-our-yesterdays-by-cristin-terrill/"; target="_blank">This review was originally posted on Bookwyrming Thoughts</a>
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Chris Sawin (602 KP) rated S. Darko: A Donnie Darko Tale (2009) in Movies
Jun 22, 2019
Samantha Darko, or Sam as she goes by, just wants to feel like a normal person. Back where she's from, Virginia, she feels like everyone knows everything about her yet that she's invisible at the same time. She'd change places with somebody if she could. Somehow start all over. Nothing has been the same for her since her brother, Donnie, died seven years ago and she is consumed with the same outlandish visions Donnie had. She decides to go on a road trip with her friend, Corey, to California in hopes of working for Corey's dad. Their car breaks down along the way and they wind up in a small town called Conejo Springs. This is where the world will end in four days, seventeen hours, twenty six minutes, and thirty one seconds.
s. Darko wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be, but that still isn't saying much. I love Donnie Darko as it seems to be a film that gets better with each viewing. When news that a sequel to the film was being made, the question that plagued me and every other person who was a fan of the first film was, "Why?" Did the original really leave much room for a sequel? Not in my eyes. The sequel does little to add to the story established in the first film. It pretty much treads the same ground. The world is going to end again. An element that is different in the film is that more than one person is having the visions this time around. While it makes sense that Sam is having these visions, it doesn't really add up why these other people are having them as well. The movie does a lot of back tracking. A lot of things are explained only to rewind and have it play out differently, which makes full use of the time travel element of the film but kind of leaves the viewer wondering if the film was nothing more than a waste of time once the ending rolls around. The film just seems to recycle most of the ingredients of the first film (time travel, Frank the Bunny...even though he's not Frank this time around, religion playing a roll in the film, black holes, etc) and is unable to establish itself as a decent sequel, let alone its own film.
The scene in Donnie Darko that has "Head Over Heels" by Tears For Fears playing in the background while we see Donnie arrive at school and the "Mad World" scene are really the first scenes that come to mind when I think of the original film. The soundtrack played a pivotal role in the film. In s. Darko, there isn't really a scene like that and the soundtrack is forgettable, which really only hurt the film in the long run.
s. Darko walks a thin line between paying homage to the original film and complete bastardization. Its plot tries to string the viewer along this intelligent and thought provoking story, but executes doing so in clumsy fashion. It resembles a circus seal waiting for its reward after playing that ensemble with its nose on the horns currently residing in front of it. It'll really only be accessible to people who were fans of the first film, which is ironic since the film will probably just wind up irritating those fans. If you can ignore the first film entirely and have no expectations for this, then you may find yourself with a direct to video release that is...pretty much just that.
s. Darko wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be, but that still isn't saying much. I love Donnie Darko as it seems to be a film that gets better with each viewing. When news that a sequel to the film was being made, the question that plagued me and every other person who was a fan of the first film was, "Why?" Did the original really leave much room for a sequel? Not in my eyes. The sequel does little to add to the story established in the first film. It pretty much treads the same ground. The world is going to end again. An element that is different in the film is that more than one person is having the visions this time around. While it makes sense that Sam is having these visions, it doesn't really add up why these other people are having them as well. The movie does a lot of back tracking. A lot of things are explained only to rewind and have it play out differently, which makes full use of the time travel element of the film but kind of leaves the viewer wondering if the film was nothing more than a waste of time once the ending rolls around. The film just seems to recycle most of the ingredients of the first film (time travel, Frank the Bunny...even though he's not Frank this time around, religion playing a roll in the film, black holes, etc) and is unable to establish itself as a decent sequel, let alone its own film.
The scene in Donnie Darko that has "Head Over Heels" by Tears For Fears playing in the background while we see Donnie arrive at school and the "Mad World" scene are really the first scenes that come to mind when I think of the original film. The soundtrack played a pivotal role in the film. In s. Darko, there isn't really a scene like that and the soundtrack is forgettable, which really only hurt the film in the long run.
s. Darko walks a thin line between paying homage to the original film and complete bastardization. Its plot tries to string the viewer along this intelligent and thought provoking story, but executes doing so in clumsy fashion. It resembles a circus seal waiting for its reward after playing that ensemble with its nose on the horns currently residing in front of it. It'll really only be accessible to people who were fans of the first film, which is ironic since the film will probably just wind up irritating those fans. If you can ignore the first film entirely and have no expectations for this, then you may find yourself with a direct to video release that is...pretty much just that.
Kevin Wilson (179 KP) rated Back to the Future Part II (1989) in Movies
Aug 8, 2018
Great cast yet again (3 more)
Funny and smart
A flying delorian!!!!!
Seeing what could have been
The greatest time travel movie of all time!
This is by far my favourite of the trilogy and that's saying something because the all the movies are fantastic.
Compared to the others though this has everything. They go everywhere. Past, present, future and alternate timelines which takes you on a fun journey.
The music is again fantastic and adds to every selcebe whether it's funny, suspenseful or just full of action.
There is a cast change with Jennifer but this ain't really distracting. Tbh I didn't even notice until later on and I'm aware of some drama behind the scenes with Crispin Glover which meant they had to use a stand in and nothing was noticeable. The actors were on top form playing different ages of themselves.
Their take on the future was an interesting 1 and nothing like what we actually have considering they went to the year 2015. Hoverboards, hologram jaws, flying cars and who would ever wear their trousers inside out haha and not an iPhone in sight. I found the past far more interesting as it's set during the first movie.
The story was great basically going into the whole thing about being seduced by the knowledge of the future to help yourself in the past. It's something we all want to do and given to the wrong person you can see how dark things can go.
Overall a fantastic, fun, charming movie which can easily be recommended and easily one of my favourite movies of all time.
Compared to the others though this has everything. They go everywhere. Past, present, future and alternate timelines which takes you on a fun journey.
The music is again fantastic and adds to every selcebe whether it's funny, suspenseful or just full of action.
There is a cast change with Jennifer but this ain't really distracting. Tbh I didn't even notice until later on and I'm aware of some drama behind the scenes with Crispin Glover which meant they had to use a stand in and nothing was noticeable. The actors were on top form playing different ages of themselves.
Their take on the future was an interesting 1 and nothing like what we actually have considering they went to the year 2015. Hoverboards, hologram jaws, flying cars and who would ever wear their trousers inside out haha and not an iPhone in sight. I found the past far more interesting as it's set during the first movie.
The story was great basically going into the whole thing about being seduced by the knowledge of the future to help yourself in the past. It's something we all want to do and given to the wrong person you can see how dark things can go.
Overall a fantastic, fun, charming movie which can easily be recommended and easily one of my favourite movies of all time.
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