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Daniel Boyd (1066 KP) rated Wheelman (2017) in Movies
Oct 24, 2017 (Updated Oct 24, 2017)
Grillo is great (1 more)
Decent script
One Hell Of A Night
Wheelman is a Netflix movie that unfortunately debuted on the same date as the hotly anticipated Stephen King adaption, 1922. Though Wheelman deserves more than to be overlooked and although I didn't expect much going into it, I came away afterwards pleasantly surprised.
This movie reminds me of a bunch of others. There is some aspects of Phonebooth used here, it was also reminiscent of a Tom Hardy film called Locke that came out a couple of years ago. It is also similar to what Drive was marketed as in the trailers before it's release, (even though Drive ended up being a psychological nior drama.) The movie took a while to convince me; for the first 15 minutes nothing happened that really excited me, but once I got a bit deeper into and more invested in the story that was unfolding, I ended up being sucked into the wild ride that the protagonist was going through. I think that the film's success on that front, relies a great deal on the performance of Frank Grillo, so it's just as well he brought his A-game here. For 99% of the movie, Grillo is onscreen, so there is no hiding from the camera in terms of his performance and he nails every second of it. He really manages to make an insanely dangerous situation feel grounded and relatable. The other actors are mostly featured via their voices on the phone, which again makes their performances difficult to deliver, but they all manage it convincingly. I always knew who each person was in relation to each other and what each character's motives were, which isn't always clear in a movie where most characters are only heard on the phone.
The script is decent, but I feel that a lot of the dialogue was ad-libbed, which again adds a natural, more realistic feel to the events that are unfolding. This was a good move by the director and the direction overall is great. There are some fairly odd creative choices made, but all of them are effective and feel worthwhile. The cinematography and sound mixing are implemented effectively and add to the overall urgent tone that the movie is pursuing.
Overall, this is definitely worth a watch. To me, it is like a callback to a 70's action chase thriller, with a modern twist. There is also an element of film noir present and the intense tone will keep you engaged until the end credits. You do need to stick with the film past the fifteen minute mark though. Although the whole thing is only 82 minutes long in it's entirety, it takes while to really suck you in, but once it does, it is a really fun ride worth taking.
This movie reminds me of a bunch of others. There is some aspects of Phonebooth used here, it was also reminiscent of a Tom Hardy film called Locke that came out a couple of years ago. It is also similar to what Drive was marketed as in the trailers before it's release, (even though Drive ended up being a psychological nior drama.) The movie took a while to convince me; for the first 15 minutes nothing happened that really excited me, but once I got a bit deeper into and more invested in the story that was unfolding, I ended up being sucked into the wild ride that the protagonist was going through. I think that the film's success on that front, relies a great deal on the performance of Frank Grillo, so it's just as well he brought his A-game here. For 99% of the movie, Grillo is onscreen, so there is no hiding from the camera in terms of his performance and he nails every second of it. He really manages to make an insanely dangerous situation feel grounded and relatable. The other actors are mostly featured via their voices on the phone, which again makes their performances difficult to deliver, but they all manage it convincingly. I always knew who each person was in relation to each other and what each character's motives were, which isn't always clear in a movie where most characters are only heard on the phone.
The script is decent, but I feel that a lot of the dialogue was ad-libbed, which again adds a natural, more realistic feel to the events that are unfolding. This was a good move by the director and the direction overall is great. There are some fairly odd creative choices made, but all of them are effective and feel worthwhile. The cinematography and sound mixing are implemented effectively and add to the overall urgent tone that the movie is pursuing.
Overall, this is definitely worth a watch. To me, it is like a callback to a 70's action chase thriller, with a modern twist. There is also an element of film noir present and the intense tone will keep you engaged until the end credits. You do need to stick with the film past the fifteen minute mark though. Although the whole thing is only 82 minutes long in it's entirety, it takes while to really suck you in, but once it does, it is a really fun ride worth taking.
Lee (2222 KP) rated Happy Death Day (2017) in Movies
Oct 26, 2017
Plenty of humour (1 more)
Jessica Rothe is great
Enjoable Groundhog Day/Scream Mashup
It's not that scary, and there's no real blood or gore for die hard horror fans to enjoy, but Happy Death Day - the latest offering from Blumhouse Productions - still manages to deliver a wildly entertaining mashup of Groundhog Day and Scream.
College girl Tree Gelbman wakes up in the dorm of a boy she doesn't remember spending the night with. She has a pounding headache and can't wait to get out of there as quickly as possible. Sneering at the goth on her way out, avoiding the clipboard wielding tree hugger and blanking the less popular girl that smiles at her as she returns to her sorority house. Back in her room, her room mate has a birthday cupcake for Tree in honour of her special day, which she dumps in the bin on her way out to the class she's late for. Later on, we discover that she's sleeping with one of her college teachers, whose wife nearly catches them together. There certainly do seem to be a lot of people who have every right to be pissed at Tree. And, later that evening on her way to a party, Tree is approached by someone wearing a black hoodie and a baby mask. As the mysterious figure murders her, she wakes up, back in the boys dorm from that morning, and she finds herself having to endure her birth/death day once more.
Tree is understandably confused, as the days events begin to play out exactly as they did before, right up until the point where she's murdered again by the mask wearing killer. From there she goes through stages of anger, despair and acceptance, eventually coming to the conclusion that no matter what she does or where she hides, the Baby Faced killer is always going to find her and kill her, triggering the reset button on the day in the process. It's up to her to try and whittle down that big list of suspects, and take out the killer before they get chance to kill her. The only trouble is, each time that Tree dies the injuries she sustained leave a negative impact on her body, so she only has a limited number of days to find the killer and break the loop before she is gone forever.
So much of this movie rests on Jessica Rothe as Tree, and she just nails it, successfully moving Tree from victim to full-on bad-ass and becoming more and more likeable as she sets about changing her ways in order to get close to those potential suspects. There's a lot of humour throughout, and a pretty decent twist towards the end, just to keep you on your toes. Overall I really liked this. There's even a nice, last minute mention of Groundhog Day, the classic movie that this owes so much to.
College girl Tree Gelbman wakes up in the dorm of a boy she doesn't remember spending the night with. She has a pounding headache and can't wait to get out of there as quickly as possible. Sneering at the goth on her way out, avoiding the clipboard wielding tree hugger and blanking the less popular girl that smiles at her as she returns to her sorority house. Back in her room, her room mate has a birthday cupcake for Tree in honour of her special day, which she dumps in the bin on her way out to the class she's late for. Later on, we discover that she's sleeping with one of her college teachers, whose wife nearly catches them together. There certainly do seem to be a lot of people who have every right to be pissed at Tree. And, later that evening on her way to a party, Tree is approached by someone wearing a black hoodie and a baby mask. As the mysterious figure murders her, she wakes up, back in the boys dorm from that morning, and she finds herself having to endure her birth/death day once more.
Tree is understandably confused, as the days events begin to play out exactly as they did before, right up until the point where she's murdered again by the mask wearing killer. From there she goes through stages of anger, despair and acceptance, eventually coming to the conclusion that no matter what she does or where she hides, the Baby Faced killer is always going to find her and kill her, triggering the reset button on the day in the process. It's up to her to try and whittle down that big list of suspects, and take out the killer before they get chance to kill her. The only trouble is, each time that Tree dies the injuries she sustained leave a negative impact on her body, so she only has a limited number of days to find the killer and break the loop before she is gone forever.
So much of this movie rests on Jessica Rothe as Tree, and she just nails it, successfully moving Tree from victim to full-on bad-ass and becoming more and more likeable as she sets about changing her ways in order to get close to those potential suspects. There's a lot of humour throughout, and a pretty decent twist towards the end, just to keep you on your toes. Overall I really liked this. There's even a nice, last minute mention of Groundhog Day, the classic movie that this owes so much to.
Sensitivemuse (246 KP) rated Only Mr Darcy Will Do in Books
Dec 6, 2017
Great retelling, despite the shortfalls
I’m such a sucker for these kinds of books featuring Pride and Prejudice. There are so many different types of retellings and most of them are good. This one has its moments and it was enjoyable to read.
So in this twist, our beloved Mr Bennet dies prematurely and Elizabeth becomes a governess. This was rather interesting, and it does suit Elizabeth rather well - although back then in the day it’s a drop in the society ladder and everyone she knows makes sure she knows it.
So she meets Rosalyn which I thought at first, was an ideal friend for our dear Lizzie. She’s a bit vapid and valley girl type of character. Especially when Mr Darcy is around (can’t blame her, we all love Mr Darcy) but it’s almost to the point where she’s annoying about it. It’s not until the latter half of the novel where Rosalyn does a complete 360 and she becomes a pretty awful person (including her mother).
The plot in this one tries to stay within the main one we’re all familiar with it just diverts the path a bit and comes back to full circle. Which is nice as it tries to stay true to the original story at the same time you just get a different “what if” scenario to enjoy reading. I’d have to say I enjoy reading Hamilton (another cousin of Darcy’s) playing along with Elizabeth. It was playful banter and he sounded like the type of rogue we all love to read and fall for (albeit, foolishly). It was a bit hard to get into at first but it’s worth going through to the end as once Rosalyn does her 360 turn, everything becomes much more interesting.
The only thing I did not enjoy reading is towards the end Darcy does something completely out of character and it just did not sit well with me. He’s not the type to be outspoken even when it comes to be madly in love. Don’t make him something he’s not. It nearly ruined the entire book as it was doing so well staying close to the true nature of the characters only to have him do something he wouldn’t EVER do (nor can you picture him doing so).
Also, the ending just dragged too much for me. We get it. We all know what’s going to happen. We all know what did happen. There’s no need for extra fodder in the last few chapters of the book. It could have just ended with the proposal or wedding and done. Perhaps the last few chapters could have been made into an entirely new idea for another book to be made. It was just so unnecessary.
Overall, it was a good read for those that love Pride and Prejudice “what if” scenarios and fans. I enjoyed it despite those changes in characters that nearly caused me to grind my teeth and yelling out certain expletives.
So in this twist, our beloved Mr Bennet dies prematurely and Elizabeth becomes a governess. This was rather interesting, and it does suit Elizabeth rather well - although back then in the day it’s a drop in the society ladder and everyone she knows makes sure she knows it.
So she meets Rosalyn which I thought at first, was an ideal friend for our dear Lizzie. She’s a bit vapid and valley girl type of character. Especially when Mr Darcy is around (can’t blame her, we all love Mr Darcy) but it’s almost to the point where she’s annoying about it. It’s not until the latter half of the novel where Rosalyn does a complete 360 and she becomes a pretty awful person (including her mother).
The plot in this one tries to stay within the main one we’re all familiar with it just diverts the path a bit and comes back to full circle. Which is nice as it tries to stay true to the original story at the same time you just get a different “what if” scenario to enjoy reading. I’d have to say I enjoy reading Hamilton (another cousin of Darcy’s) playing along with Elizabeth. It was playful banter and he sounded like the type of rogue we all love to read and fall for (albeit, foolishly). It was a bit hard to get into at first but it’s worth going through to the end as once Rosalyn does her 360 turn, everything becomes much more interesting.
The only thing I did not enjoy reading is towards the end Darcy does something completely out of character and it just did not sit well with me. He’s not the type to be outspoken even when it comes to be madly in love. Don’t make him something he’s not. It nearly ruined the entire book as it was doing so well staying close to the true nature of the characters only to have him do something he wouldn’t EVER do (nor can you picture him doing so).
Also, the ending just dragged too much for me. We get it. We all know what’s going to happen. We all know what did happen. There’s no need for extra fodder in the last few chapters of the book. It could have just ended with the proposal or wedding and done. Perhaps the last few chapters could have been made into an entirely new idea for another book to be made. It was just so unnecessary.
Overall, it was a good read for those that love Pride and Prejudice “what if” scenarios and fans. I enjoyed it despite those changes in characters that nearly caused me to grind my teeth and yelling out certain expletives.
Weak characters (1 more)
Mediocre ending
A haunted house thriller that could've been more
At Spring House, it’s not just a lone ghost that haunts the property—something has awoken. Almost as if the house were alive. That’s the impression I got going into The Vines, and I thought it was a unique twist to the classic haunted house story.
The book has several narrators starting with Caitlin, an heiress whom everyone loves to hate and who is taken advantage of and cheated on by her husband. Second is Nova, an educated young black woman employed at Spring that has a real chip on her shoulder. Lastly there is Blake, a homosexual male nurse that suffers from depression after witnessing the death of his lover. All of these character’s stories come together to form the mystery around Spring House.
I had a hard time really deciding how I wanted to rate this book overall. At certain points it was thrilling, I wanted to know more about the mystery surrounding Spring House and the action scenes are written in wonderful detail. On the other hand I also found myself pretty disappointed with how one dimensional many of the characters were, particularly Caitlin and Nova. I just couldn’t find myself caring much about either one of them, which made it a little bit hard to remain interested in their respective roles in the plot.
With Caitlin she didn’t seem to be such a bad person, but the hatred and scorn from the people around her have reduced her to being a shadow of a person, not much ever comes from her character. The development of her character is seemingly dropped, she’s just there, all blind anger and rage and while it’s understandable, she has little impact on, well, anything. Which was unexpected considering the book’s synopsis was about her. What is worse is that Nova isn’t too far off from Caitlin. While there is a part of me that likes how strong willed Nova is, it is kind of annoying how she is just as blinded by her own rage and prejudice. Even she is barely relevant to the plot, if I’m to be perfectly frank. It becomes obvious that the real story is about Blake and how he faces up to the past that has been haunting him for years. This is well and good and I enjoyed his story, but then all of the other characters just become filler and this was kind of a downer.
The book just took way too long to get to that point. The focus keeps shifting before the story really starts to pick up speed and it feels like it drags a bit. I also found the ending to be a little bit cheesy, it just didn’t do it for me. Overall the book was decent, Rice has a gift for description and it was entertaining for a while. I just didn’t find this one to be particularly memorable.
The book has several narrators starting with Caitlin, an heiress whom everyone loves to hate and who is taken advantage of and cheated on by her husband. Second is Nova, an educated young black woman employed at Spring that has a real chip on her shoulder. Lastly there is Blake, a homosexual male nurse that suffers from depression after witnessing the death of his lover. All of these character’s stories come together to form the mystery around Spring House.
I had a hard time really deciding how I wanted to rate this book overall. At certain points it was thrilling, I wanted to know more about the mystery surrounding Spring House and the action scenes are written in wonderful detail. On the other hand I also found myself pretty disappointed with how one dimensional many of the characters were, particularly Caitlin and Nova. I just couldn’t find myself caring much about either one of them, which made it a little bit hard to remain interested in their respective roles in the plot.
With Caitlin she didn’t seem to be such a bad person, but the hatred and scorn from the people around her have reduced her to being a shadow of a person, not much ever comes from her character. The development of her character is seemingly dropped, she’s just there, all blind anger and rage and while it’s understandable, she has little impact on, well, anything. Which was unexpected considering the book’s synopsis was about her. What is worse is that Nova isn’t too far off from Caitlin. While there is a part of me that likes how strong willed Nova is, it is kind of annoying how she is just as blinded by her own rage and prejudice. Even she is barely relevant to the plot, if I’m to be perfectly frank. It becomes obvious that the real story is about Blake and how he faces up to the past that has been haunting him for years. This is well and good and I enjoyed his story, but then all of the other characters just become filler and this was kind of a downer.
The book just took way too long to get to that point. The focus keeps shifting before the story really starts to pick up speed and it feels like it drags a bit. I also found the ending to be a little bit cheesy, it just didn’t do it for me. Overall the book was decent, Rice has a gift for description and it was entertaining for a while. I just didn’t find this one to be particularly memorable.
Lee (2222 KP) rated Get Out (2017) in Movies
Jul 26, 2017
Amazingly, I managed to head into Get Out having not even seen the trailer. It had been appearing more and more frequently on my news feeds recently, usually accompanied by a lot of positive buzz, and usually featuring an image of lead character Chris, wide eyed and terrified, with a tear running down his cheek (note that I’ve continued this trend with my review!). Described as a racial satire/horror it just didn’t really feature high on my watch list, but I booked a ticket to go see it, wanting to see what all the buzz was about. I’m kind of glad that I went in relatively blind as to what to expect though, as I was absolutely blown away by it.
Daniel Kaluuya plays Chris, a young black man dating a white girl called Rose (Allison Williams). He’s preparing to go and meet her parents for the first time but he’s a bit unsure as to what they’re going to think about him, despite Rose assuring him that he’s got nothing to worry about. When they arrive at the huge house out in the country, her parents really are fine with Chris. And they take every opportunity during their conversations to be positive about race and to assure Chris that they’re fine with him too, to the point where Chris (and us) begin to feel a little bit uneasy. This unease isn’t helped by the fact that there are two black servants in the house, neither of whom have very much to say and both acting very strangely. At night, the housekeeper wanders quietly around the house while the groundsman sprints around outside in the dark!
Paranoia and tension continues when a large group of family friends arrives for a party and they all seem very keen to get to know Chris and bond with him. One of the guests even has a black ‘companion’ who is also acting strangely. Despite the assurances from all, things definitely are not OK…
Of the little I read about Get Out beforehand, one of the reviews that stuck with me most described it a little bit like From Dusk Til Dawn in the way that everything suddenly all goes to shit in a hugely enjoyable and unexpected twist. There are definitely no vampires or anything similar in this movie, but I felt that it was a pretty good comparison. The movie spends a long time putting you on the edge of your seat, building up the tension, providing plenty of food for thought on modern day racism and adding the odd bit of welcome comedy relief from Chris’ friend on the end of the phone trying to support him. It’s all hugely enjoyable and even though you can guess pretty early on what’s going on, it’s all still hugely satisfying when the truth finally is revealed and the violence and action take over.
Daniel Kaluuya plays Chris, a young black man dating a white girl called Rose (Allison Williams). He’s preparing to go and meet her parents for the first time but he’s a bit unsure as to what they’re going to think about him, despite Rose assuring him that he’s got nothing to worry about. When they arrive at the huge house out in the country, her parents really are fine with Chris. And they take every opportunity during their conversations to be positive about race and to assure Chris that they’re fine with him too, to the point where Chris (and us) begin to feel a little bit uneasy. This unease isn’t helped by the fact that there are two black servants in the house, neither of whom have very much to say and both acting very strangely. At night, the housekeeper wanders quietly around the house while the groundsman sprints around outside in the dark!
Paranoia and tension continues when a large group of family friends arrives for a party and they all seem very keen to get to know Chris and bond with him. One of the guests even has a black ‘companion’ who is also acting strangely. Despite the assurances from all, things definitely are not OK…
Of the little I read about Get Out beforehand, one of the reviews that stuck with me most described it a little bit like From Dusk Til Dawn in the way that everything suddenly all goes to shit in a hugely enjoyable and unexpected twist. There are definitely no vampires or anything similar in this movie, but I felt that it was a pretty good comparison. The movie spends a long time putting you on the edge of your seat, building up the tension, providing plenty of food for thought on modern day racism and adding the odd bit of welcome comedy relief from Chris’ friend on the end of the phone trying to support him. It’s all hugely enjoyable and even though you can guess pretty early on what’s going on, it’s all still hugely satisfying when the truth finally is revealed and the violence and action take over.
Merissa (12969 KP) rated Gabriel (Legacy Ranch #2) in Books
Aug 17, 2017
Gabriel (Legacy Ranch #2) by R.J. Scott
Gabriel is the second book in the Legacy Ranch series, and we find out a bit more about the young man who cried at the trial that happened in book one. His life hasn't been a good one so far, but he is broken enough that he thinks it is just fine. He lives with his pimp, Stefan, who controls every aspect of his life, and makes Gabriel pay for any misdemeanours that Stefan thinks has happened, or that he has just made up because he's not having a good day. Stefan has managed to get into Gabriel's mind and twist things around so that Gabriel is actually thankful for all that Stefan does for him.
Cam, on the other hand, appears to have it all. He runs a successful hotel, has plenty of money, and even has a bodyguard. Things must be good, right? Wrong! Cam's family, with the odd exception, are a bunch of BEEP, condescending, BEEP, know-it-alls, who think that just because Cam is losing his sight, he must be losing all of his faculties too. His father, well, enough said about him!
Cam and Gabriel end up together on a purely business level. Cam needs someone to pretend to be with him, Gabriel wants the money. However, feelings quickly become involved, and then it's anyone's guess. Six tries to tell Cam not to get involved, but Cam pays no attention. Their road is anything but smooth, but luckily the folks at Legacy Ranch are there to help... once Gabriel lets them in.
This is a dark book, with dark topics and it's not a HEA situation full of rainbows and glitter. This is hard, and horrible, and may be a trigger book for some readers. There is light at the end of the tunnel for Gabriel though, and I really hope that he will feature in the next book, just so I can see what progress he's made.
Gabriel is extremely well written, with no editing or grammatical errors that disrupted my reading flow. Like I've already said, it's not an easy book to read, but it is definitely worth it. I would also say that it isn't fully necessary to have read book one in this series, or indeed the Texas series which is where we first meet Jack and Riley. This book does stand on it's own merit, but personally I would recommend reading Kyle at the minimum, just to give you a feeling of what the Legacy Ranch series is about.
If you like your M/M Romance with angst, then I can definitely recommend this book/series. Just remember the trigger warnings!
* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and the comments here are my honest opinion. *
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Cam, on the other hand, appears to have it all. He runs a successful hotel, has plenty of money, and even has a bodyguard. Things must be good, right? Wrong! Cam's family, with the odd exception, are a bunch of BEEP, condescending, BEEP, know-it-alls, who think that just because Cam is losing his sight, he must be losing all of his faculties too. His father, well, enough said about him!
Cam and Gabriel end up together on a purely business level. Cam needs someone to pretend to be with him, Gabriel wants the money. However, feelings quickly become involved, and then it's anyone's guess. Six tries to tell Cam not to get involved, but Cam pays no attention. Their road is anything but smooth, but luckily the folks at Legacy Ranch are there to help... once Gabriel lets them in.
This is a dark book, with dark topics and it's not a HEA situation full of rainbows and glitter. This is hard, and horrible, and may be a trigger book for some readers. There is light at the end of the tunnel for Gabriel though, and I really hope that he will feature in the next book, just so I can see what progress he's made.
Gabriel is extremely well written, with no editing or grammatical errors that disrupted my reading flow. Like I've already said, it's not an easy book to read, but it is definitely worth it. I would also say that it isn't fully necessary to have read book one in this series, or indeed the Texas series which is where we first meet Jack and Riley. This book does stand on it's own merit, but personally I would recommend reading Kyle at the minimum, just to give you a feeling of what the Legacy Ranch series is about.
If you like your M/M Romance with angst, then I can definitely recommend this book/series. Just remember the trigger warnings!
* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and the comments here are my honest opinion. *
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Kristy H (1252 KP) rated The Perfect Mother in Books
May 10, 2018
Compelling and suspenseful novel that grabs you from the start
The May Mothers--a group of parents who all gave birth in May--meet regularly to discuss their parenting woes, joys, and everything in between. On the 4th of July, the group decides to go out in the evening--their first time out since their children were born. They meet at a bar, and most of the group is looking forward to an evening of drinking and dancing. But Winnie, a single mother, is reluctant to leave her son, Midas, with a babysitter for the first time. And, that evening, all goes wrong: while Winnie is out, Midas is taken from his own home while the babysitter sleeps: stolen from his crib without anyone leaving a trace. Suddenly Winnie's life is splashed across the media, who are also saying the police have done everything wrong with the investigation from the start. Three of the other mothers only want to help Winnie get Midas back--but will it come at the cost of their own privacy as well?
This is a compelling and suspenseful novel that grabs you from the beginning, when we are told that it is a year later and a woman from the Mother's group is in prison due to Midas' disappearance. From there, the story rewinds, as told from the point-of-view of several women in the group, including Francie, Colette, Nell, and Winnie. It slowly unfolds with snippets from each and turns out to be incredibly suspenseful. The characters are all entwined a bit, and there are some excellent twists and turns as plot pieces unfold.
Even better, the novel offers some excellent commentary on how women are treated wrapped up in the mystery plot. Woven into the plot twists, we see some of the harsh realities of motherhood (in the U.S., especially) related to working mothers, breastfeeding, sleeplessness, and the overall pressure placed on new moms. As Winnie is increasingly tried in the media, Molloy does a good job of weaving in TV news and commentary on how mothers are expected to behave. It's well-done and I enjoyed the dual aspect of a well-done thriller but also the social commentary aspect, too.
Overall, I really enjoyed this one. It was very exciting and very surprising. At times, there often seemed to be a frustrating character involved with something to hide and making bad decisions (secretly copying files, hacking into things, etc.), but I suppose that comes with the territory. And yes, I am a little tired of the multiple POV/surprise twist format, but it worked so well here that I'll forgive. In the end, this is a really enjoyable novel with a vast cast of characters, some excellent twists, and amazing insight into motherhood. I'm really excited that this will be turned into a movie with Kerry Washington.
I received a copy of this novel from the publisher and Edelweiss in return for an unbiased review (thank you!).
This is a compelling and suspenseful novel that grabs you from the beginning, when we are told that it is a year later and a woman from the Mother's group is in prison due to Midas' disappearance. From there, the story rewinds, as told from the point-of-view of several women in the group, including Francie, Colette, Nell, and Winnie. It slowly unfolds with snippets from each and turns out to be incredibly suspenseful. The characters are all entwined a bit, and there are some excellent twists and turns as plot pieces unfold.
Even better, the novel offers some excellent commentary on how women are treated wrapped up in the mystery plot. Woven into the plot twists, we see some of the harsh realities of motherhood (in the U.S., especially) related to working mothers, breastfeeding, sleeplessness, and the overall pressure placed on new moms. As Winnie is increasingly tried in the media, Molloy does a good job of weaving in TV news and commentary on how mothers are expected to behave. It's well-done and I enjoyed the dual aspect of a well-done thriller but also the social commentary aspect, too.
Overall, I really enjoyed this one. It was very exciting and very surprising. At times, there often seemed to be a frustrating character involved with something to hide and making bad decisions (secretly copying files, hacking into things, etc.), but I suppose that comes with the territory. And yes, I am a little tired of the multiple POV/surprise twist format, but it worked so well here that I'll forgive. In the end, this is a really enjoyable novel with a vast cast of characters, some excellent twists, and amazing insight into motherhood. I'm really excited that this will be turned into a movie with Kerry Washington.
I received a copy of this novel from the publisher and Edelweiss in return for an unbiased review (thank you!).
Rachel King (13 KP) rated The Uncoupling in Books
Feb 11, 2019
The story is told in a third-person narrative and divided into three parts. The first part focuses on the events leading up to the introduction of the play Lysistrata by the school's new drama teacher. The second part goes into detail about all of the different couples affected by the spell that the play casts over the town. The third part tells what happens in the night of the actual high-school production of the play and afterwards.
The spell of Lysistrata resembled a cold wind and only affected "women who were in some way connected sexually to men." No woman in the book was strong enough to resist the power of this mysterious wind, not even the ones newly in love and lust. Every woman affected imagined her own reasons for abstaining, and though all of the different reasons had a logical ring to them, only other women could relate. The men were simply left in the dark to react however he felt could change his twist in circumstances.
Early on, I felt that this book was a bit like a study of sex and the affects of sex -- or lack thereof -- on individuals and relationships. Even though the play Lysistrata was meant to be a catalyst for all of these private events, the high-school reenactment seemed to take a minor background role. The spell seemed to empower the women, though they did not act any happier with their new freedom and individuality. Many were just as baffled or depressed with the chastity as the men, but no couple was able to converse with each other about it, which I found strange and attributed to the effects of the spell. Ironically, because the issues of sex are such a private matter, very few couples shared their problems with anyone else in town, and so no one truly recognized the correlation between the abstinence of the females in town and the play Lysistrata. This irritated me to no end throughout the book.
On the night of the play, the spell is magically lifted by, quite appropriately, a warm wind when the men in the audience begin to protest the essence of the play itself and use that to try and win their women back. Throughout the whole book, the reader is lead to believe that this spell has no designer, that it has simply attached itself to the performance of the play from Lysistrata's origins in 411 B.C. Though I at first was suspicious of a certain person as casting the spell, I was also lulled into changing my mind about this. Without giving away the ending, I was quite surprised at the truth behind the spell's beginnings. There is much I could say about the thoughts that raced through my head while reading the last few pages and the conclusions that I drew from the revelation, but I will resist. I will say that the book is worth every page for its startling culmination.
The spell of Lysistrata resembled a cold wind and only affected "women who were in some way connected sexually to men." No woman in the book was strong enough to resist the power of this mysterious wind, not even the ones newly in love and lust. Every woman affected imagined her own reasons for abstaining, and though all of the different reasons had a logical ring to them, only other women could relate. The men were simply left in the dark to react however he felt could change his twist in circumstances.
Early on, I felt that this book was a bit like a study of sex and the affects of sex -- or lack thereof -- on individuals and relationships. Even though the play Lysistrata was meant to be a catalyst for all of these private events, the high-school reenactment seemed to take a minor background role. The spell seemed to empower the women, though they did not act any happier with their new freedom and individuality. Many were just as baffled or depressed with the chastity as the men, but no couple was able to converse with each other about it, which I found strange and attributed to the effects of the spell. Ironically, because the issues of sex are such a private matter, very few couples shared their problems with anyone else in town, and so no one truly recognized the correlation between the abstinence of the females in town and the play Lysistrata. This irritated me to no end throughout the book.
On the night of the play, the spell is magically lifted by, quite appropriately, a warm wind when the men in the audience begin to protest the essence of the play itself and use that to try and win their women back. Throughout the whole book, the reader is lead to believe that this spell has no designer, that it has simply attached itself to the performance of the play from Lysistrata's origins in 411 B.C. Though I at first was suspicious of a certain person as casting the spell, I was also lulled into changing my mind about this. Without giving away the ending, I was quite surprised at the truth behind the spell's beginnings. There is much I could say about the thoughts that raced through my head while reading the last few pages and the conclusions that I drew from the revelation, but I will resist. I will say that the book is worth every page for its startling culmination.
Kristy H (1252 KP) rated When the lights go out in Books
Mar 11, 2019
Creepy & befuddling but diminished by its ending
Jessie Sloane's mom has passed away, but before doing so, she encouraged Jessie to find herself. Jessie decides to apply to college, but the college flags her social security number. Apparently it belongs to someone who is deceased. As Jessie attempts to unravel the bureaucracy behind her application, she becomes more and more convinced that something is up with her past. Even worse, her thoughts are jumbled by the fact that she hasn't slept well since her mother's death. She's no longer able to tell what's truly happening around her. What's the story with her identity? And is she crazy or is something sinister going on in her life?
"Find yourself, Mom told me. One of two wishes she had for me before she died. Maybe she didn't mean for me to apply to college. Maybe it was far less esoteric than that. Maybe it was quite literal. Find yourself, she said, because Jessie Sloane isn't you."
Well, I'm not so sure about this one. The novel goes back in forth in time between present-day Jessie and her story and a woman named Eden, whose story mainly takes place in the 1990s. Eden's timeline varies a bit though, which makes it hard to keep track of. (At least for me.) A lot of Eden's storyline revolves around infertility, which I thought was handled very well. As someone who has struggled with that, I identified with her and probably liked the book a bit more just because of that.
As for Jessie and her tale, it was definitely creepy at times, which is something Mary Kubica can do very well. With her sleep deprivation, Jessie is the ultimate unreliable narrator, and it's very hard to tell if she's crazy or what on earth is happening. At times, it seems as if the book is leading you down a particular path, but you're never exactly sure who or what to trust.
And then, of course, there's that twist. I'd heard a lot about it, so I was expecting something, but with Kubica, it's hard to know what. I'll admit, it wasn't this. I had sort of figured out where things were leading, but it didn't diminish how cheated I felt by the ending. I've seen a lot of reviews where folks loved it and others where they didn't--I just felt letdown. I won't go further so as to avoid spoilers, but know that it did diminish my overall enjoyment of the book. And while I wasn't loving it entirely--it's sort of a jumble of confusion and weird characters--the ending deflates what I did enjoy.
Overall, this is a creepy book in many ways, with a story that befuddles but intrigues you. It's compelling but the ending diminishes a lot of the early drama and excitement.
I received a copy of this novel from the publisher and Netgalley/Edelweiss in return for an unbiased review (thank you!).
"Find yourself, Mom told me. One of two wishes she had for me before she died. Maybe she didn't mean for me to apply to college. Maybe it was far less esoteric than that. Maybe it was quite literal. Find yourself, she said, because Jessie Sloane isn't you."
Well, I'm not so sure about this one. The novel goes back in forth in time between present-day Jessie and her story and a woman named Eden, whose story mainly takes place in the 1990s. Eden's timeline varies a bit though, which makes it hard to keep track of. (At least for me.) A lot of Eden's storyline revolves around infertility, which I thought was handled very well. As someone who has struggled with that, I identified with her and probably liked the book a bit more just because of that.
As for Jessie and her tale, it was definitely creepy at times, which is something Mary Kubica can do very well. With her sleep deprivation, Jessie is the ultimate unreliable narrator, and it's very hard to tell if she's crazy or what on earth is happening. At times, it seems as if the book is leading you down a particular path, but you're never exactly sure who or what to trust.
And then, of course, there's that twist. I'd heard a lot about it, so I was expecting something, but with Kubica, it's hard to know what. I'll admit, it wasn't this. I had sort of figured out where things were leading, but it didn't diminish how cheated I felt by the ending. I've seen a lot of reviews where folks loved it and others where they didn't--I just felt letdown. I won't go further so as to avoid spoilers, but know that it did diminish my overall enjoyment of the book. And while I wasn't loving it entirely--it's sort of a jumble of confusion and weird characters--the ending deflates what I did enjoy.
Overall, this is a creepy book in many ways, with a story that befuddles but intrigues you. It's compelling but the ending diminishes a lot of the early drama and excitement.
I received a copy of this novel from the publisher and Netgalley/Edelweiss in return for an unbiased review (thank you!).
BankofMarquis (1832 KP) rated Memento (2000) in Movies
Feb 9, 2018
Heady Trip
Christopher Nolan first burst onto the scene (for me) with MEMENTO, a 2000 film about a man with a rare condition - he cannot store any short term memories - and is looking for the man that murdered his wife and hit him on the head, thus causing this condition. The twist of the film - and the "trick" that makes this film work -is that it is told backwards (the last scene is first, the 2nd to last scene is 2nd...the first scene is last) so we, the audience, have no memory of what happened just before this scene and, thus, are suffering from the same inability to access what has happened just before as the main character.
This "trick" works very well and holds the film together, we are peeling apart the onion (or, more appropriately, we are putting the peels back on the onion) as the film progresses, gaining greater knowledge as we go along and, with each new piece of "old" information, we gain a new - and in most cases different - view of the scene that we just saw, keeping the audience off-balance for the entire film.
Nolan shows a sure-handedness in his direction of this film. It is clear he had a vision that he wanted to put on the screen and with the screenplay written by Nolan and his long-time collaborator, his brother Jonathan Nolan, Christopher Nolan has a canvas to paint his off-kilter picture and play with the themes of time and memory - themes he would come back to over again.
As the man with the memory loss, Leonard, Guy Pearce solidified himself for me (at the time) as a fine actor that is worth watching (this, afterall, was just a few years after LA CONFIDENTIAL). His Leonard is earnest and straightforward and while he does have a "tick" to show that his memory is erasing (to clue us, the audience in), he marches (backward) through this film strongly.
Aiding Pearce is veteran character actor Joe Pantoliano as Teddy - a cop who is helping Leonard find his wife's killer (or is he?). "Joey Pants" (as he is known) is perfect for this type of ambiguous character, never really trusting him, but trusting him "just enough". Also jumping in is Trinity, herself, Carrie-Ann Moss - an actress that I thought was going to build on this (and the Matrix) and become quite the star. It didn't quite work out.
I enjoyed this mystery and was thinking about how well it works if you ran the scenes in chronological order - upon reflection, I realized that if you did that, holes get punched into things pretty quickly. So, don't do that, but do rent or stream or pull the old DVD of MEMENTO off your bookshelves, it is worth your time.
Letter Grade: A-
8 (out of 10) stars and you can take that to the Bank(ofMarquis)
This "trick" works very well and holds the film together, we are peeling apart the onion (or, more appropriately, we are putting the peels back on the onion) as the film progresses, gaining greater knowledge as we go along and, with each new piece of "old" information, we gain a new - and in most cases different - view of the scene that we just saw, keeping the audience off-balance for the entire film.
Nolan shows a sure-handedness in his direction of this film. It is clear he had a vision that he wanted to put on the screen and with the screenplay written by Nolan and his long-time collaborator, his brother Jonathan Nolan, Christopher Nolan has a canvas to paint his off-kilter picture and play with the themes of time and memory - themes he would come back to over again.
As the man with the memory loss, Leonard, Guy Pearce solidified himself for me (at the time) as a fine actor that is worth watching (this, afterall, was just a few years after LA CONFIDENTIAL). His Leonard is earnest and straightforward and while he does have a "tick" to show that his memory is erasing (to clue us, the audience in), he marches (backward) through this film strongly.
Aiding Pearce is veteran character actor Joe Pantoliano as Teddy - a cop who is helping Leonard find his wife's killer (or is he?). "Joey Pants" (as he is known) is perfect for this type of ambiguous character, never really trusting him, but trusting him "just enough". Also jumping in is Trinity, herself, Carrie-Ann Moss - an actress that I thought was going to build on this (and the Matrix) and become quite the star. It didn't quite work out.
I enjoyed this mystery and was thinking about how well it works if you ran the scenes in chronological order - upon reflection, I realized that if you did that, holes get punched into things pretty quickly. So, don't do that, but do rent or stream or pull the old DVD of MEMENTO off your bookshelves, it is worth your time.
Letter Grade: A-
8 (out of 10) stars and you can take that to the Bank(ofMarquis)