I have finally been able to watch the whole season, and what an experience it was. It’s good. It’s different, and refreshing. And it’s left me wanting more.
Cookie is the hero here. I love her character so much. She has the street smarts. And you can tell that when people come around her, they respect that. Her one liners make the show though. “WHAT DO YOU DO YOKO?!” and “Boo Boo Kitty!!!” and basically anything against Anika. Oh and the most important- “THIS IS MY COMPANY”. She’s done 17 years to get them to that point, and you would think she would be entitled to it all.
But Lucius has other ideas. To be honest I completely did not see episode 11 come at all. I was like wooooooooooooaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh. I couldn’t believe that he wasn’t actually dying. Like complete game changer. Lucius is so shady though. I still don’t get how he could just kill Bucky like that. Wow. As his friend Martin or whatever (sorry, Vernon) said, he could have just paid him off.
So much happened in this season far out.
Dre though. I totally did not pick up that Dre was short for Andre until this show. Anyway, I did not see his whole storyline coming. From the bipolar diagnosis to the near suicide, that poor guy. Lucius wouldn’t even see him at the hospital, trying to pretend that everything’s alright. Cookie did the best she could there. And his wife is absolutely incredible. Extremely determined and strong and her own life and ambitions. I loved the way she stood up to Lucius and basically told him where to go when he was implying that because she’s white she’s not the right person for Dre. When she accidentally killed Vernon- that was intense. I have no idea what’s going to come out of that.
HAKEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEM!!!! WHAT EVEN THO. BRUH. Now if there’s anything that completely floored me watching this season, it was Hakeem with flipping Anika. What the actual even occurred for this to be like what why my eyes. And Lucius SAW that?! Hakeem. Wow. Hakeem makes me laugh though. He’s this kid with way too much money and power that he has no idea he even has. He goes and makes the most knee-jerk decisions in this innocent way, which is so fun to watch, but you can’t help but shake your head at the shenanigans he gets himself into. From what I can gather, he was into Tiana, but then he had Naomi Campbell on the side too. I didn’t think he was serious about that until she was gone and he was all sad about it. Much confuse. I guess he’s young. Basically I could never take Hakeem seriously, but he’s a sweet enough little brother. I’m excited to see where his character goes, and also where the direction of his music will be going.
And then there’s Jamal. Seeing the flashbacks to him as a kid and seeing how Lucius blatantly rejected him was pretty tough to watch at times, but you could see how Jamal had got a genuine strength from it. It was very interesting to see how determined Jamal was- in some cases to prove that he can do what his Dad wants, but it did seem weird for some reason. I guess Jamal was being a bit more clued on about the whole thing and seeing the opportunity because he is serious about the music. I just don’t see Lucius truly being on board with Jamal. There’s gotta be an ulterior motive somewhere- or the simple fact that there was no one else left.
I feel bad for comparing, but this show certainly is filling my Glee void- there are some similarities, but this is way more… real? Or rather, more raw and I guess topical. It’s incredibly important to have a show that has the opportunity to talk about the African American climate, because things are happening, and the music game is changing, so it’s interesting to be able to see it being played out for public access in a way that is relevant.
The music is pretty fly too. Listening to it now actually. “No Apologies” is one of the songs which is very great, and the subplot that went with that had so much win.
I do feel like the show is touching the surface on the heavy stuff, so I think season 2 will really make or break the whole thing, but I’m really enjoying it so far.
For those who haven’t seen it, it’s a biopic about the N.W.A, a hip hop group of the late 80’s and 90’s.
Honestly initially I was freaking out thinking the movie was going to draw some sort of rowdy crowd (particularly the area the theatre was), but it was all cool.
Once I found out the movie was going to be a thing, I did a bit of research (well, on Wikipedia), which turns out to be kind of a bad thing because I knew the whole plot of the movie. My sister on the other hand, who I always assumed knew everything about hip hop, didn’t know the full story, so I think she got more out of it than I did.
They did very well in relating what occurred back in the late 80’s to what was happening today. The N.W.A put Compton on the map, and also were showing the relationship between the police and people form that area, particularly blacks. Seeing how the police would try to silence or subdue them for doing absolutely nothing, and then being surprised when they decided to stand up for themselves and ignored their demands was extremely reminiscent of what has been occurring in the US today. You could see the way they made the movie that the producers were very conscious to show how not much has actually changed. It was quite sad to watch actually. Not being from the US, it is a bit hard to relate to the idea that the police may not always have your best interests at the forefront. That because of your skin colour you become a target. Literally the same day I watched this movie I found out about James Blake, the former US tennis player, who was detained by a police officer for literally standing waiting for a taxi in the middle of the day.
The song “F--- the Police” is incredibly powerful. It was interesting seeing how they told the story of the police trying to sensor them and how true the song is. The media were questioning their intentions of the song, and they were straight up in saying that they were speaking the truth. They can’t sensor what’s actually happening to them. There’s something to admire about that.
I liked hearing the story of Ice Cube and Dr Dre. It’s incredible to think that now Beats by Dr Dre is a worldwide brand, but he started from the most humble of beginnings in Compton. He started the careers of Tupac, Eminem and Snoop Dogg (and it was pretty cool seeing their younger forms), and due to his intelligence about his craft he managed to stay on top of the game through the adversity. One of the best scenes is early on when Easy E is giving his first attempt at rapping and he’s recording the first sentence. While it’s funny seeing his attempts, it also dawned on me at the end of the scene how the tech Dre had was searched that he could only record like 8 or so seconds at a time to create a song. That amount of dedication to the craft is one of many reasons why he is set apart from others.
It’s so weird to me to see Ice Cube as a rapper. The first time I ever heard of the guy was from “Are we there yet?” I loved the movies at the time, so to sort of unlearn that side and to recognise the rap angle and what a profound influence he’s had on the culture is very strange. It was so cool that his son got to play him, and so meta how later in the movie Ice Cube has his wife and kids and he’s playing his dad and then the kid’s playing him. It was interesting to see that it was Cube who figured out Jerry’s plan and who decided to not sign in the first place. You can see the fruits of that decision today.
Incredibly unfortunately for Easy E, his life took a different turn. That ending is so heartbreaking. They’re right at the point of reconciliation, and then his life is cut short. He didn’t live comfortably at all those last years, feeling the result of Jerry’s bad management. The way Easy fired Jerry was also such a sad moment. You truly saw the highs and lows of fame through Easy.
The music itself was power. They gave their hood a voice in a way they could never imagine. It also brought to my attention how much our music today has digressed. I really like Ice Cube’s flow. His lyrics are direct and clever. Dr Dre’s spins are genius. Easy’s voice is distinct. I’m no expert at all, but I like what I was hearing sonically and how strongly they were able to express their reality. They really are N.W.A.
I think Kendrick’s repping Compton incredibly well now, and of course you’ve got the Williams sisters too.
Some stuff I wasn’t too much of a fan of in the movie: the girls. I get it is a hood movie so I get why, but it doesn’t mean I have to like it. There was a ton of nudity and I’m not about that so yeah. That being said, the funniest moment was the Felicia scene. The levels to that was amazing.
I also found myself a tad bored at times watching the film. I think I misunderstood how much of a biopic it was going to be, so that was more on me having unrealistic expectations. I completely appreciate this film for what it is. It’s not drama 100% of the time which is completely understandable.
Out of 10? 7.5? I think it was a solid biopic and now I have a greater appreciation for what the N.W.A have contributed to hip hop and perception of black people and their relationship with the police.
I do wonder what happened to Jerry, and where Ice Cube and Dr Dre’s friendship status is at. I think it would be awesome to hear another N.W.A song about the police brutality occurring today. I guess that is a bit of wishful thinking though.
I saw this movie 3 days ago but because of procrastination I’m posting this now.
I loved this movie. It was what is was supposed to be but that little bit more. I can’t say that it was better than the book, but I think it was on par. I think this movie is incredibly important. Much like the fault in our stars, it did fall into that contemporary genre, but it challenged many of the clichés that surrounds it. If you were expecting a typical love story, you may be very surprised with how this movie turns out.
For those who have read the book, I think it is a very faithful adaptation. Yes they did make changes and cut scenes, but the flow of the movie is very nice and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It’s a coming-of-age story and I think the creators did a great job in the way they presented it.
For those who have seen The Fault in Our Stars and were possibly expecting this to be similar- it really isn’t. The style of movie is definitely similar, obviously having the same people making it, and I found in the first half hour there were some quirks they use that are quite similar to TFIOS, but once the story really kicks in it is very different.
As a summary, it follows the story of Quentin (whose name I’ve been pronouncing wrong this whole time), and his final few weeks of high school. It’s also about an old friend Margo, and how after many years of not hanging out, they come together and go on an adventure of sorts.
The best thing about this movie is the characterisation and the genuineness of it. This is one of the first movies that I could see myself in it. The characters didn’t feel like stereotypes, which was incredibly refreshing to see. It was nice to be able to get a snapshot of these peoples lives and see how they dealt with situations and related to one another in a way that was authentic and different to what we’ve seen before.
The soundtrack was AWESOME for the movie. I had been listening to the songs beforehand, and I had to stop myself from singing aloud. It struck me how much our music landscape has changed though. In this sort of movies you expect a certain type of genre to be in a scene, but now EDM in all of its variations is now incredibly mainstream and I like it. Search Party is a great track in particular.
The costuming was also on fleek. There was an overcoat or something Q was wearing that I couldn’t stop starting at. It’s probably the most basic overcoat made but it looked so warm. I bought a warm jacket straight after watching the movie haha.
I feel like that’s all I can really say about it. Out of 10, I would probably give it an 8.5. I really did enjoy it, and as it is my favourite John Green book, I feel as though they did it justice and then some. GO SEE IT!!! Also YAAAAAAAAY for being an Aussie and getting this movie a week in advance. I couldn’t see it on release day and I still saw it before so HA!
Spoilers Below!!!
“What a treacherous thing to believe that a person is more than a person”. If you truly want to summarise the film, it is in this quote. This is what makes Paper Towns my favourite John Green book.
I was thinking about how much Cara Delavigne has impacted the press surrounding the movie. She’s the current “it” girl and I’m definitely on the bandwagon. It just hit me though watching the movie that if people were expecting the Cara show, they would be pretty disappointed, because the movie and the book was about the mystery of Margo rather than Margo herself.
Margo wasn’t anything special, but “she sure was something”. Margo was unique sure, but she was a fallible human being with her own problems. Her view of the world seemed profound, but you realise by the end that it’s her view, but it doesn’t make it definitive. Her view of her existence was that she was from a fake place in which people weren’t truly questioning the purpose of their life and wanting to explore and see more of the world. But that wasn’t Q’s reality. When they are at the top of the town in the building, he sees the beauty of it and how lucky he is to be standing there with the girl of his dreams, but at the end of the movie we find that Margo was thinking about how boring her environment was.
The reaction of her parents was concerning at first, but when you get to the end you see how they would come to that point of resignation and nonchalance. “She’s not missing, she’s gone”. You also realise Margo’s selfishness through Lacey, who questions whether Margo would have done the same for her, and she assumed a lot of Lacey rather than trusting someone who was supposed to be her best friend. I liked that Ben was never a huge fan of the mission altogether. I think it’s more evident in the books, but I liked that his friends were reasonable in their assessment of the situation, and also reminded Q of the importance of being young and enjoying their time together rather than chasing what turned out to be a fantasy.
I found it really interesting the end where Q tells Margo to call her sister, and she replies saying that she talks to her every day. I felt so bad and kind of embarrassed for Q for coming all of that way only to discover that he had read the situation wrong, and the realisation that Margo didn’t care about him that much. The lights were dimming and weren’t directly in your face anymore, and you could now clearly see that they hadn’t really spoken in 9 years. Of course she was going to have moved on. You could feel in the cinema how awkward the whole scene was.
The movie made me realise how mean Margo’s actions were. In the book it seemed more positive, and although she didn’t expect him to be there, it didn’t feel so deflated and selfish as it does in the film. I think that was the best message from this book. That you have to see things as they truly are, and live for yourself and not through others. You have to accept that life is what you make it and not others.
It was good that while Q was disappointed Margo wasn’t who he thought she was, she still gave him a great end of high school experience and taught him to be more confident and take more risks. I do like that he did return to his normal life and continue on his path, because being a doctor is no easy feat and something worth aspiring to become. It showed that yes, they do have to grow up and discover themselves at some point, but that doesn’t mean taking the safe, expected path or being a product of your environment is necessarily a bad thing. In order for Margo to find herself, she had to push her boundaries and go to somewhere that doesn’t exist to find who she actually was and not the illusion her environment had built about her. But this truth isn’t the same for everyone.
Oh and do Q and Margo kiss in the book? I don’t remember this happening!!! Anyways, that was there. To be honest that was pretty awkward too.
Agloe!!! Every time I hear it I thought “algae”. Anyways, that was cool. The whole paper towns idea for maps is so cool.
It hit me when Q said: “for many people they were doing things for the last time, but for me, it was the first”. Being a kid who never missed a day of school, and went as far as to cut family holidays short just because I wanted to start school on time, I kinda felt that pang of “what if I did break the rules, even for one day?” I like that Q took that opportunity. I love how Q misses a test and the teach is like “dude it’s okay, you can still be a doctor”. There are times in life where you just have to do that unexpected thing “just because”, and still come back to who you are. Sometimes we need that moment where we experiment or question. I’m not trying to endose full blown reckless behaviour or drugs here, I just think that we shouldn’t be scared to do something outside of our comfort zone occasionally, knowing your life can continue on its true path. I also just realised we don’t have pop quizzes in Australia, and if we did, people would riot about how unfair it would be to have a test on something you haven’t had the chance to revise or something :P My marks would have been pitiful.
I loved that we had characters who gave a crap about school, were intelligent and kind-of outcasts but not in a way that was unattractive? Watching it felt like a group I could easily fit into in all of its awkwardness but genuineness. The scene with Q going “sing the first song that comes into your head” and Ben starts singing the Pokemon theme song. Hilarious. It was a tad awkward in the cinema when people didn’t seem to pick up what the song was until they sang “Pokemon”. Such a hipster is I. Kidding. I think it made me realise that not every spends every second on the internet, which, good on them.
Ben was very well done. Kudos to that guy. At first I was a bit scared of how Ben would be portrayed, but then he brought the character to life in a way that wasn’t too goofy or far-fetched. Ben is a weird dude, but the actor made it authentic. One of the funniest parts of the book I think is when they’re talking online, and Ben’s DM is “ITWASAKIDNEYINFECTION”. Was crying of laughter when I read that.
Justice aka Radar was sah good too! When I saw he was gonna play Radar, at first I was like “oh I did imagine a more Jimmy Jamal from Angela Anaconda type (who knows why?), but then I saw a picture of him with the black Santas and I was sold. I remember when I hadn’t read the book and everyone was going on about black Santas during Christmas time in nerdfighter groups and I would be so confused, but now I get it and find it the most brilliant thing in the world. Anyway, Radar’s character is awesome in that he is a very introverted dude who has to be truthful all the time, and I think that’s cool.
I almost don’t want to do this, but this one of the things I noticed and really appreciated about the movie, but it was the representation of black people (or “people of colour” if that’s how you roll). When I read Radar I was kinda like “oh cool, that black friend who’s just Q’s friend and I don’t think much else of it”, but seeing the movie made me realise how stereotypical black characters are, and I loved how normal and relatable Radar and Angela were to me, being African myself. There’s this one scene on the road trip where they pick up random shirts for clean clothes, and Q happens to give Radar a shirt with a confederate flag on it. They just crack up laughing at the irony, and Radar wears it back to front. That was the main nod to their difference in the whole story, but the way it was handled is how I feel like it isn’t always presented in the media and I think it was really refreshing and awesome. It was just nice to see black characters you can actually relate to, rather than those bound by the stereotypes and letting those prejudices weigh them down. That’s not to say that we shouldn’t talk about black issues, but the oppression and disparity doesn’t loom so heavy on every black person’s head on a day to day basis. I don’t know if John meant to do this when he wrote these characters, but I am so glad he did, and the producers brought it to life in the most perfect way.
Okay let’s move on.
I should talk about Radar’s actual character. I liked that he was right onto his phone whenever the situation warranted it. Definitely a sign of the times. I loved how honest he was. Confessing to Angela about going to a party and just holding a beer but feeling so guilty about it. I loved the way they portrayed Angela too. It’s kind of meta, but in the movie Angela calls Radar out, asking him why he always hides her from his friends. I don’t remember it happening like that in the movie, but I think it was Angela talking to John Green and asking why Angela wasn’t more involved :P Anyways, it was great that she was part of the journey too.
I liked Lacey a lot too. How she talks about wanting to be seen for her intelligence more than her beauty. Again, intelligence being celebrated! It’s good to like learning and not wanting to settle for average. I liked how the bullies weren’t also made out to be these huge overbearing presences in their lives, but just not-great people who would make questionable decisions. I liked that Q and Lacey could be friends without all the other crap that seems to come with girl-guy friendships stereotypically.
I’ve talked a bit about Q already, but I wanted to highlight how great Nat plays awkwardness. Q is an incredibly awkward character, and it was just so well done. Like when some asked him “you love her (Margo) don’t you?” and he’s just like awkwardly twitching and looking around, stuttering before he comes out with it. I was really impressed. Again, there was an authenticity to it that made it perfect. Huge props.
Okay the best part of the movie hands down was the scene in the petrol station (or gas station if you’re ‘Murican). OH MY GOODNESS MY BODY WAS NOT PREPARED I CANT EVEN I LOVE YOU DIRECTORS.
(IF YOU HAVENT SEEN THE MOVIE AND ARE READING ALL THIS FIRST OF ALL WHY AND THEN LOOK AWAY NOW BECAUSE THIS WAS AWESOME AND SO MUCH BETTER WHEN YOU WATCH IT).
I COULDN’T BELIEVE MY EYES WHEN I SAW ANSEL JUST STANDING THERE. LIKE LITERALLY RUBBING MY EYES IN DISBELIEF. WHAT EVEN?! SO MUCH WIN. I couldn’t even concentrate on what was happening I was so shocked. That was really awesome by all involved. I’m still scratching my head. I’m so glad that I didn’t get spoiled about that too.
The ultimate question is: WHERE WAS JOHN GREEN IN THIS MOVIE?!?! I didn’t see it at all! Was it in the shops??? Noooo!!!!
I think that’s the most of it. Such a great movie.
I do need to talk about the cover before going on about the story because I’m all about covers. It’s pretty, fresh, and having read it, 100% perfect. It’s nice to know that people know what they’re doing in making the cover. Nothing’s more annoying than when you have a certain expectation of a book looking at the cover, and then being bitterly disappointed and straight up confused when the cover has nothing to do with the story. It’s a book you want to have on your bookshelf aesthetically. Kudos publishers.
Risk follows the story of Taylor and her best friend Sierra. They’re messing around online one night, and start talking to a mystery person in a chat room. There’s a bit of tension in their friendship, and the story explores a bit of that, mixed with the reality the risk of talking to people online brings.
This book is incredibly important, particularly reading the news and regularly hearing about teens going missing due to talking to people online. It’s clear that the cybercrime message either isn’t being heard, or is possibly outdated. I remember being in primary school, and they would tell you to not put all your details in your email address name, which is why so many of us have ridiculous emails. They also told us to not talk to anyone you don’t know online and to pretty much avoid chatrooms. I was a careful kid so I never even had MSN until Facebook became a thing, so I don’t think I’ve ever used a chat room. These days in the wake of social media, it’s a bit of an unreasonable message to expect people to not talk to strangers online. Personally I’ve talked to massive communities of people I don’t know in real life, and have gone as far as to meet some of them. It’s all been completely legitimate and I’ve enjoyed this new age we’re in.
It doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t be careful though. Reading this book reminded me why the TV show and movie Catfish is so important (even though it does get a bit melodramatic at times), and how much the cyber game has changed. While there are legitimate people online, there are others who prey on the vulnerable and do cause mischief. When push comes to shove, you can never be sure of who you’re talking to online, and the consequences can be disastrous. This story tells a particular angle of that.
I really liked reading Risk. I do think it is aimed for the high school age group, but I would recommend it to anyone who is new to being online and using social media. I think being a little bit older, the story wasn’t quite as possibly shocking or flooring to me, as I had had that experience with other books and media I had been exposed to when I was in high school, but for young adults coming up today this is a great read.
I had a ton of fun reading this as well. I was writing notes while reading, and within the first 10 pages I’m thinking fanfiction ideas. I loved the characters and I found them believable, something I really look for when reading contempories, and I believed their relationships and their reactions to the situations they got into.
I also love reading Australian books because I ACTUALLY GET THE REFERENCES. It was weird because I was reading that the characters were in the canteen, and I subconsciously read it as a cafeteria. I read it again and was like- oh yeah. I canteen is a place you buy food at lunch. Yes. Thank you.
Song Association:
This is a little bit lame, but when I read a book, I try to come up with a song that would be associated with it. I think in this case, it could only come from Taylor Swift. She has a few songs that could fit for different reasons, but I’m going to go with Fifteen. The main characters are fifteen years old, and the song does describe the struggles you experience at that age. I think the song may have come out when I was fifteen, and I have to say that it didn’t probably resonate that much, as I was a bit more introverted, but for the characters in the book it certainly does apply and make sense.
Similar texts:
If you’re a bit older and you enjoyed this book, watch the telemovie Cyberbully. If you think this book was a wake-up call, wait until you watch that. Dude. An incredibly clever piece that definitely woke me up a bit and made me think twice before posting things online again.
The book I read in high school that reminded me of Risk was Destroying Avalon by Kate McCaffery. This is more about cyberbullying than cybercrime, but this book woke. me. up. It’s compulsory reading as far as I’m concerned. I think after reading Risk and Destroying Avalon, you’ll never touch social media again :P
Outta 10?
I’m not sure how much of Risk to give away!!! It’s very fast paced, so within the first chapter you’ve got a good hold on the environment of the story, and you do get drawn along for the ride.
I shall give Risk a 7/10. Had I been younger, this book would have got a better score from me, but it is a very well done book. If you’re someone who wants a good book that possibly challenges the way you see your world, I would highly recommend this one. If you’re in high school, read this. I’m talking year 7 through to year 12. Even year 6. Straight out of school? Just do it.
Spoilers ahead!
SPOILERS:
To the fun part- pulling this thing apart!
My initial thought when I heard Taylor Wolfe was Taylor Lautner. Reading on for two more sentences I realised- oh wait. This is Taylor Swift. Cool. Later I was like “why did I go to Taylor Lautner?” and I think it’s the whole werewolf thing. Anyways, then a character called Callum comes into the mix and I’m thinking Calum from 5 seconds of summer. I have a bad imagination so this sort of association helps me out. Even though Sierra is the one who looks like Taylor Swift, Taylor gets the Tay Tay nickname. Then the Jacob who they’re speaking to online goes “No, I’m not Jacob from Twilight” and I’m done. The story has come full circle and we are 8 pages in.
Later on in the story, Calum from 5SOS turns into Calvin Harris, and he and Tay Tay become the ship of the century.
So that’s my story.
About 50ish pages in, I’ve written a summary about what’s happened:
So Sierra is missing.
Callum is now Calvin Harris and this is T-Swizzle fan fiction right here.
Riley is the voice of reason.
Joel is irrelevant.
By page 74, I’ve just got this emoji drawn: -_-
I look at the page and it’s when Taylor finally tells Sierra’s mum Rachel that she’s gone missing.
The book then gets to its horrible climax, and while I was open to that idea, ultimately the reality did shock me. Incredibly sad. As this was barely halfway into the book, I did wonder how the story was going to deal with what happened next.
Taylor comes up with the brilliant idea of the Risk website. And I think to myself “this should be a real thing”. I think it could actually be pretty cool. I know when I was younger I was all about ABC kids chatrooms, so I could see this sort of site fitting in well on that sort of platform, educating and creating conversations about the online world in a safe environment.
And then there is trouble in paradise with Tay Tay and Calvin. He’s randomly upset at her, and even I’m like “bro, you’ve been reasonable this whole story, what’s going on?” and then he brings up the assembly and how Taylor says that she was initially in love with Jacob Jones and Callum doesn’t know his place. Which is 100% fair enough.
But they sort it out like they always do and it’s just all very cute.
In my notes, I’ve written my complete frustration in the girls giving out basic info like their email, and the school they go to, and their Instagram links, and them not picking up a generic picture of a “hot guy”. I mean 90% of the guys on your Facebook wall aint all that. Some common sense please. There was also a point in the book where he says he likes Guy Sebastian, and don’t get me wrong, go Guy, but I was like “as if Jacob Jones loves Guy Sebastian”. That kind of comment would have alerted me straight away :P It was kind of funny getting annoyed at how freely they were giving info without realising, but then I becomes scary knowing that this does happen on the daily.
I have to say that my favourite character is Riley. She says it like it is. We don’t get the full story of her going to counselling and things, but I found that good how we were shown the different ways in which people deal with grief. I liked that she disapproved of Sierra and was happy to say so. I appreciate and like people around who are honest. At the same time, as we find out through the book, it’s easy to judge a book by its cover, and not to stop and consider why they are how they are. I think it’s important in general to remember that everyone has their own struggle that presents itself in a variety of ways.
Callum is great. I like reading boy characters because I would love to see what it’s like inside a guy’s head, and male characters seem to be the closest thing I can get to that. At one point I was screaming at the book asking why Taylor never went over his house, but I loved reading him. I hope they make the distance, both in Risk, and in real life. I can see it now: Bad Blood (Calvin Harris remix).
As I said before, Joel is pretty irrelevant. And clueless at reading girl code. Riley’s probably better off without him.
I feel so bad for Rachel. It’s the worst situation, and I never knew what to think. I did remember screaming at the book for her to lay off Taylor, but I can totally understand her actions as well. It was nice at the end that they could reconcile.
And the twist with finding the predator. Taylor did such a good job. The Fliss thing was bothering me, so it was good that a resolution was found. Scary, scary stuff.
Taylor’s mum is such a legend. I love their relationship. They’re so comfortable with each other, and I guess it comes with sad experience, but they knew how to look out for each other which was nice to see.
So yeah! That’s pretty much it! I guess the question now remains- are you online-invisible or risk?
For some reason I kept forgetting the title of this book. That and Between the Lines.
Off the Page is the sequel to between the lines, a book written by Jodi Picoult and her daughter, Samatha van Leer. It’s a fractured fairy tale with a twist. Actually I don’t know how it’s fractured when the fairy tale is a made up one but whatever. I’ll talk around its blurb, which talks about the fantasy world coming into meeting with the real world and how that would look like. You need to read Between the Lines before reading this one to get the foundations of this book, although it does explain it enough to be able to fill the holes.
It follows the adventures of Delilah, a girl who finds a fairytale book and falls in love with the characters and the story. In the first book, she is able to communicate with Oliver, the main character in the book. Off the Page is a continuation of their adventures together.
I think Off the Page could be slightly better than Between the Lines. It really does take off where it left off and allows you to get drawn right in. The book is unpredictable. I was writing notes while reading and what predicted was completely off the pace, which was great because then it was an interesting and slightly more thoughtful read. I would also argue that this book is heavier in some of its themes than the first.
I love the design of the book. Much better than the first one I had. I wish they had it in a hard cover version though. There might be one out there. I also love the colour in this book. The text is in different colours depending on what character it is, which is great so that you don’t get too lost in remembering whos perspective it’s from. The artistry is also absolutely divine, much like the first book.
At times, the romance side of the book got a bit much for me personally, but it is a fairy tale so it is to be expected. I do also think that throughout this book, some of the sceranios became far-fetched, in comparison to the first one, where things were explained much more clearly. The first book did a good job of justifying why certain things were happening in the book, but in the second book I think they stretched me a bit trying to believe some of the scenarios.
Song Association:
Hilary Duff- What Dreams are Made Of. When you finish the book, put on this song like I did. I was dancing around in my room listening to it. The nostalgia was real, but also it does fit in pretty well with the mood of the book, and potentially Delilah’s thought process. I was listening to a couple of reviews that did mention this story would make the perfect Disney Channel movie, and I do agree.
Book recommendations:
If you enjoyed this book, then I highly suggest that you read Meg Cabot’s Airhead series. It is different, but it does follow that “what if X happened. How would you react?” Think Freaky Friday. Off the Page is a pretty unique book, but if I was going to think of a similar book to recommend, go for that series. I particularly love the first 2 books of the trilogy.
Out of 10?
6.5. It’s actually a really good book, but it is very simple and an easy read. Compared to like the best books ever, this is all I could give it. Sorry! Out of the fractured fairytale type of books I’ve read, I would easily give this a 9. It’s just that my scale includes a whole variety of books. If you love reading fairy tales but you’re slightly older, this book is a great option. I was never really into fairy tales, and while some bits had me rolling my eyes or cringing at the lovey-doveyness, 95% of the time it read as a great contemporary. It’s a series that’s a lot of fun, stretched your imagination a bit, and not to be taken too seriously.
Spoilers below!
SPOILERS!!!!
Okay so at about page 50 my loyalties were divided between Edgar, Oliver and Delilah. The poor dude was trapped in the stupid book thanks to Delilah’s selfishness and wants to go home. But initially I was angry at Edgar for not liking his surroundings when he was kind of part of the encouragement. Now having read the book I just feel really bad for him, but at the time I was annoyed that he was ungrateful for having his dreams of being part of a video game sort-of come true.
I didn’t really enjoy reading about the fairytale world as much in this book. I think Oliver as a character is really powerful, and so I feel that because the way the story pans out, we don’t get the voice we need in those fairytale scenes. Edgar’s voice in there seemed to annoy me a lot, and I was rushing through his chapters initially.
The love between Delilah and Oliver got too much sometimes. I think while it is cute, it’s one of those things where you want it to happen but you don’t want to see it. Especially if you have read the first book, you will be happy with some of the events, but yeah, I kind of skim read those bits. I was scared of catching cooties or something. Actually, this is such a me type of negative comment. It wasn’t even bad, I’m just prudish.
The biggest problem I have with this book is the ending, and the unresolved fate of Edgar and Jules’ relationship. While it is great that Edgar did end up saving his mother’s life by living in the story with her, I simply could not buy that he would not miss being a human and experiencing life and love, potentially with Jules. It was a scenario we had seen before. To some degree I guess it does leave an opening for a third book, where maybe Edgar’s mother is able to move out of the book again because the book has effectively healed her, and then Edgar can live as a human again and live with Jules and live happily ever after. That would be a real fairytale ending.
I think a little more recap as to what happened in the previous book may have been beneficial because it had been around about a year since I had written the last book.
I loved reading about Oliver at school. That was my favourite part about the book. Seeing how an outsider views the school system and adjusts to the social norms. You could understand Delilah though. While she does have this dreamy, perfect boyfriend, compared to her (at least in her mind), it would be a bit of a mismatch. She’s trying to reconcile the fact that he’s the hottest thing in the school, while she wants none of the attention. We didn’t get a whole lot of resolution except “I love you” and some making out.
It was pretty stupid of Oliver to actually kiss Allie. Speaking of, I did find it weird that she ended up with Chris. I was kind of hoping him and Jules could rekindle something but I guess that ship had sailed. Allie was an annoying, irrelevant character to me. Actually, having a third book that explores her character would probably be fascinating.
It was also hilarious when Oliver drew dragons on Edgar’s SAT’s and he ended up getting a score for Harvard. That literally made me lol.
The little blemish I have on Edgar’s name was when he kissed Delilah to make Jules jealous. That’s never okay dude. It was extremely bad considering everyone bar Chris knew what was going on. I really don’t know what Edgar was thinking at that point. It was kind of interesting to read about Edgar trying to figure out how school life was, especially with Oliver joining every club imaginable.
The dog (Rufus???) arc was incredibly sad. I honestly thought he would come back, and when he didn’t I couldn’t believe it. That was just cruel really. Seraphina did well considering the circumstances. It was kinda random when Humphrey was in the story being annoying and saying random dog things but whatever.
Seraphina’s character development surprised me. In the first book I couldn’t stand her, but in this book by the end I really admired her and saw her in a completely different light. I couldn’t stand it when she was in the real world- I found it pretty unreasonable that Delilah’s mum wouldn’t question why some girl from Iceland was randomly at her house. The mall scene also frustrated me. At the end however, when she still had jeans on and when she wanted to go exploring, I found that amicable. I almost wanted to ship Edgar and Seraphina, but I really like Jules and Edgar together.
I think logistically it would be impossible for Jessamyn to just get replaced by Queen Maureen. Like don’t they bleed ink? If the situation came where they need a doctor or something, what happens? DNA samples? Again, I do have to just roll with it with this book, but there were many variables such as that one that I was considering when I read the ending. I just want them all to go back to where they belong in the story okay?
I’m sure I have more thoughts but I’ll leave it here. Even though I had some gripes with the book, overall it was a nice read and I’m glad I randomly picked up the first book at the library :D
The Cyberbully is a telemovie about a girl who is online, talking to her friends, until all of a sudden everything changes.
Anything more than that is a spoiler.
I will say that this was such compelling and relevant viewing. What was so good was the way Maisie portrayed her character. I mean she’s still young herself, so a lot of the things addressed in this film is probably what she’s seeing day to day, even more than me, and I’m not that much older. But I loved how relevant this was. Crazy things are happening these days as a result of technology, and I think some of the older messages are outdated. This was very powerful. It’s almost a modern horror story. I don’t watch any horror, but this was stuff of nightmares.
I give it a 9/10. I couldn’t look away.
Okay so we have a stranger hack Casey’s laptop, and threaten her that if she doesn't do what they command, they’re going to upload nude pictures of her. That in itself is frightening. It was almost too late at that point though. The mere fact that someone has access to those photos is enough. They have all the power. What is truly scary is that at any time, someone can hack into what’s yours, and while there may be laws against it, there’s nothing you can do to prevent it except not posting anything in the first place. The problem is that everyone has a camera these days, so even if you were to go so far as to not having any social media accounts, someone else could just take your picture without your knowledge and run with it. I mean just think of the people who get memes made of them. They’re almost never intentional, but they have to deal with the fact that their picture is used by anyone with any tagline attached.
Anyway, Casey had a difficult decision to make. Either overdose on her medication, or her nude pictures would be leaked. In the end, she does choose to shut down her computer, and let whatever happen, happen. But you could understand how scary that would be. I think that’s a key take home message there- don’t take nudes if you’re not comfortable with everyone on the planet seeing them. I think the right choice was made though. As horrible as that decision is, people do forget. It won’t ever be erased from the internet, but people move on.
What was incredibly sad was Jessica’s story. That was another great point that shone through. You don’t know what the person you are picking on is going through. It’s something that’s scared me about being online and being part of social groups online. You just don’t truly know who you’re talking to and how they’ll react to things. You have to be so careful about what you say, positive or negative, to ensure that you tread carefully and truly understand the power of your words. I've never written anything truly nasty about a video that I don’t like or that I think is bad, I just leave it be. I think for that video, that’s all Casey needed to do. Sure it was bad, and if anything she could have told Jessica to her face how she felt, rather than cowering behind anonymity. Saying that I just realised only 2 weeks ago, this sort of thing happened to someone in my school. Someone posted something really hurtful anonymously. It got taken to the top, but just remembering that happened reminded me that this isn't necessarily an issue just for youngins. It happens to everyone.
What I loved the most about this film was the way they had the social queues of youngins down. Like when Casey was talking about Jessica’s last video and commenting on how long it is and how typical the song choice was, I found it really clever. Casey was queued on too. Like she was suspicious about who she was talking to from the outset, but nothing could have prepared her for what happened afterwards. Even the way she would call her best friend horrible names, because that’s just what we do these days. I am pretty glad social media became as big as it is when I was on the right side of my teens otherwise I may have struggled. Or thrived. I like to think that I’m good with my written word. I could have helped some people out.
Arguably the best message out of this is the fact that Casey was pinned as the bully rather than the victim. In many ways she was a bully, but the fact a random hacked her was truly messed up. But you could see the experience showed Casey how truly not nice she is, and how hurtful the things she said were. And they were recorded.
All in all, a very important film. I thought the ending was kinda weird, but other than that I thought it was incredibly well done.
In the Company of Strangers by Liz Byrski: Book Review
So, to the second book about older people that I’ve read at the book club. But I really enjoyed this one. Basically it follows the story of many people who come together in Margaret River and have to work out what to do with the property that their late boss and friend has left for them.
This was a very easy read. I highly enjoyed about reading about their lives and how they were able to work through their issues, but also be there for one another. I also liked the description of the landscape they were in. I could see what was happening, and at times felt like I was staying in one of the cottages, observing what was going on. This is a nice summer read. You don’t have to think too much while reading this one. A strong 7/10 for me.
(Major spoilers below).
I found Alice’s story pretty heartbreaking. I can’t even begin to imagine the amount of grief her family must have gone through. It was a split second decision that cost her so much. But at the same time, in reality, it was years and years of making that bad decision of alcoholism. But then you can see why she ended up drinking in the first place, with her parents, and then the struggle of her husband. And to think she spent five years in jail paying for that decision. Ruby did well for Alice by setting her up basically for life, and giving her a new purpose in life. Declan also helped a lot, but I guess ultimately she helped herself. I liked that she could at least have a relationship with her granddaughter at the end. Truly heartbreaking though.
Declan had an interesting ride. I don’t quite know what his trade was before Catherine’s business, but he seemed to go through quite a hard life generally, losing both of his parents to depression, and turning to substances. But Catherine, and later Alice, saw his true worth and how caring he is as a person. I liked his level of self-discipline, especially when Lesley was trying to get him to drink when he made it clear he didn’t want to. I think she was to a degree, bring him down with her, so she would be able to excuse her behaviour in a sense, to not feel like the hopeless one in the situation perhaps. It was great that at the end, he could offer Todd a new lease in life, a father figure to look out for him. I’m not sure if it was just how I was reading it, but was something going on between him and Alice? No? Okay. I didn’t want it to, but there was some weird thing there. Does he see her as a mother figure or just a friend? I don’t know!
Anyway, Lesley’s story was quite interesting indeed. It scared me too. The idea of cheating is something that really concerns me, and it seems that is quite a common occurrence. I mean here are two people who have been together for 30 odd years, and then she decides to sleep with someone else to figure out what’s going on with her? The idea scared me. Sometime in the future I hope to probably be married or have a partner or whatever, and I don’t want to even think about the possibility that somewhere on that journey cheating would occur. #forever alone. I’m glad that she did come to her senses and actually talk to her husband about the issues they were having. Seriously, half of the world’s problems would be solved if we just talked to each other honestly. He character overall annoyed me, but she was less annoying when she did the right thing.
I felt bad for Gordon. He had no idea what was going on. Thanks to Lesley. It’s all in the communication. If someone is annoying you, you have to tell them or else they won’t know. He was just doing what she thought he wanted her to do, and then she ups and leaves. Gah. At the same time though, he did cheat all those years ago. I was a bit confused by his reasoning, but that still wasn’t cool. It was good that he was able to rediscover what he truly loved as well. Did something happen with the dog though? The book club were talking about that, but I hadn’t reached that point so I wasn’t sure. Anyway, it worked out so yay I guess.
Todd’s story was pretty sad, but also incredibly hopeful. At times, he didn’t quite sound like a 15 year old, but overall I enjoyed reading about him and his ambitions to better himself. What a tough ride. His Mum literally ditched him, forgot his birthday, and left him to fend for himself. It was incredibly precious for the other characters to come around him and help him; become his family. It was unfortunate that Catherine wasn’t around to see him grow, but it was good that he was such a resilient kid. I think everyone, including the readers, wanted him to be okay. Everyone banded together to create a better life for the guy, and it was nice to read about. I found it interesting how even though Paula didn’t like him, he still in a way liked or even loved her, because ultimately she was family, and deep down she wouldn’t want anything bad to happen to him.
Paula’s story was interesting. I stopped reading the book literally 2 pages before it happens, and when I picked it back up a week later, I was so shocked. I couldn’t believe what I was reading. But that’s how it can be like. You can never predict how someone is going to react from hearing certain news or what they’re really going through. I understood that guilt that everyone around had about what happened, and it’s a situation where you truly don’t know what to do or think. They didn’t know. Reading things like this reminds me that I have to keep both eyes open, and make sure that the people around me are okay. Before those last pages, I was so annoyed at Paula’s character. I couldn’t understand what her motivation was. But once you find out about her needing medication, you can understand her behaviours. It’s just no one knew about it. We need to talk to each other more, and consider a variety of angles when dealing with some of these issues.
Ruby had probably the most interesting story. She was the unofficial main character, obviously with the story starting and ending with her, and initially I wasn’t a huge fan of her attitude towards Catherine. She had grown up with her, and she had passed away without her even visiting. Then you hear about Ruby being a Dame and the work she had done for struggling mums and women, and then you hear how she’s treating her late friend. That is until you find out what drove them apart. And then you join team Ruby 100%. Wow. It was such a plot twist. Like wow Catherine, way to destroy you and your non-blood sister’s relationship forever? Why would you do that?! And the husband wasn’t too good to be honest. Wow. Shaking my head. I couldn’t believe it. But good on Ruby for being a good person and making something of herself. It was interesting to read about how they got sent to Australia and how her Mum wasn’t even dead and reading about her struggle with that. I wasn’t aware that this happened, so this was eye opening to read. But Ruby found peace and love in the end, so that was great.
Overall, a feel-good book, that did make you consider some heavy issues, but in a tangible way. It was a fast read, and I genuinely enjoyed it.
After being pretty disappointed with the Scorch Trials, I was a very intrigued as to how James Dashner would wrap up his series. 300 pages in, and I was thinking “this would make a brilliant movie, but it makes a crappy as book” (harsh whoops sorry). We got past that though, and things started to take shape. Overall… well done. I liked the ending. I think it was appropriate for the story and made sense.
I really hope that they make something out of the Scorch trials so that Death Cure gets a movie. Please don’t split it either. Like what are you going to drag out of that?! Thanks so much Harry Potter. Far out. Next Twilight, Hunger Games (10/10 don’t mind though), and possibly Divergent (if it even gets a third movie), and now potentially this. Gah. The story can and should be finished in 3 movies. Gah money!!!
Anyway, this book is incredibly action packed. It doesn’t take a backwards step from the Scorch trials in that department. There are some parts that can be pretty emotional throughout the book. I didn’t find the subplot of the love triangle very believable at all. It was getting in the way really. But there are some clever plots within the book, and so I did enjoy it more than the Scorch Trials, because I knew it was going somewhere. I’m just glad to know that the series didn’t waste my time :)
I think Thomas is not the sharpest tool in the shed though. I still don’t understand why he wouldn’t want any of his memories back? If you knew the whole story, maybe you would be able to manipulate WICKED more effectively but nope, you’d rather go and face the enemy blind. His complacency at the end kinda annoyed me. I just wanted to know why all of this was happening you know? But at the end he just accepts wherever he ends up. I guess they’ll question where they are in the world, and Brenda may explain her role in everything, but for that moment, I can’t accept that he “doesn’t want to think about anything”. In my head, I was thinking “is this another trial?” but I guess being out in the real world, and seeing Newt die and Teresa die and things, you would want to just accept the sanctuary that they found themselves in.
I assume that the Kill Order will answer some of my questions regarding their memories, because nothing was answered here. I feel like if Thomas had gotten his memory, we would have had a much more interesting story to be honest. Even if he had decided to reject the memories and follow on his course, it would have been a fascinating read. What I didn’t realise was that WICKED didn’t know that he had memories of his past. He just mentioned it all of a sudden, and it made me think of everything differently.
Go Commander Paige though. The whole time I was thinking “Brenda said to trust Commander Paige. And like Thomas, I trust Brenda”, so I knew that she would be involved in the end. I thought she would be able to escape with them, but ultimately she saved humanity, so she’s the real MVP here. Even at the very end I thought it might be another trial, but that epilogue was probably the best one I’ve ever read, just in terms of truly tying the story up in a bow. Especially the last line: “WICKED is good”. There’s something chilling but incredible about that statement, reading it in the end.
The most heartbreaking bit of the book was Newt’s note and finding out that Thomas hadn’t given Newt his final request. It was kinda weird that Newt popped up again, and Thomas was able to fulfil it, but at the start it was so sad. For some reason I wasn’t that emotional with the whole Minho-Newt-Thomas friendship. I think because Thomas didn’t know them for that long, I didn’t really note it as anything real, but obviously I was mistaken.
The final battle was pretty comical to be honest. Like come on. Janson v Thomas? Oh yeah and Teresa conveniently dying at the end so Thomas and Brenda could be together? I never shipped those two, and now I’m stuck with it. It was all a bit cliché, but it will look good in cinemas.
Oh yeah, there was a thing in the Scorch Trials where they mention how sad it was that they were all dead, but like, in this story they weren’t at all? Did I completely misread that? I actually need an explanation or that one, because the way I interpreted it was that in their past life, Thomas and Teresa were part of setting up the maze, but they had to go in because the tests were failing, but the subjects were somehow all dead? Like Minho and Newt? And I was thinking it was some weird clone thing where they had duplicated people to make a new experiment, and I was just generally confused. So obviously I read something wrong.
Aaaanyway, thanks James Dashner. I think the Maze Runner was easily the standout in the series, but this conclusion was very good in my opinion. I’m glad I’ve finished the series, but I think I’ll have to read the Kill Order to really finish it all off. I’m excited to find out the background of everything J Well, thanks for reading shucks. Chalater! (that’s my way of saying “see ya later”).
Oh yeah I give this a 6.5/10. Better than Scorch Trials, but the Maze Runner reigns supreme.
