Author: E.A. Hoffmann

MOVIE REVIEW: The Golem

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461856-the-golem-0-230-0-345-cropTitle: The Golem

Year: 2018

Genre: Horror

My Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars

Watch Time: 95 minutes

Platform: Netflix

Date Watched: July 1, 2019

Recognized Actors: I did not recognize any of the actors.

Brief Summary of Plot from Letterboxd: AN ANCIENT LEGEND REBORN. A re-imagining of the old mystical folklore that follows a woman and a tight-knit Jewish community that is besieged by foreign invaders. She conjures a dangerous creature to protect them but it may be more evil than she ever imagined.

My Review: After the first 15 minutes: The movie opens with the story of the Golem, whereby a rabbi cannot control the monster and it ends up killing everyone. A young girl witnesses these events and runs from the temple. The movie then progresses into the future, to 1673 Lithuania where a couple (Hannah and Ben) is trying to conceive. It has been 7 years without any baby. They live in an isolated Jewish village, which is soon besieged by their Christian neighbors.

Overall impressions: This movie is full of themes of loss and regret — the couple I mentioned before lost their only son in a tragic accident. Hannah is severely depressed, and cannot imagine ever having a child again — she studies the Torah day and night to find a reason why God has taken their son from them. Que the Christian invaders, who blame the Jewish villagers for the plague. Their leader brings his dying daughter and threatens the villagers with death if she dies. The village healer takes the girl in an effort to heal here.

Amidst all this, Hannah awakens a Golem to save the town, but his awakening is a double edged sword which brings more than just salvation.

This movie is not scary, although a horror film. I read a lot of reviews of people who didn’t like this movie because the golem was a boy child instead of some gross, gigantic mud monster. For me though, the fact that the golem was a child, really tied into the loss of Hannah of her own child, and added to the movie.

I think that it is worth the watch.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

MOVIE REVIEW: The 3rd Eye

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410955-the-3rd-eye-0-230-0-345-cropTitle: The Third Eye

Year: 2017

Genre: Horror, Thriller

My Rating: 3 out of 5 Stars

Watch Time: 107 minutes

Platform: Netflix

Date Watched: June 24, 2019

Recognized Actors: This was an Indonesian movie, so I did not recognize any actors.

Brief Summary of Plot from Letterboxd: BELIEVING IS SEEING. When her little sister claims she sees the dead, Alia consults a psychic, who opens her own eyes to the vengeful ghosts haunting their childhood home.

My Review: After the first 15 minutes: The movie starts in the year 2005 and within the first few minutes the little girl already sees the first ghost. It is also a bit strange because the actress playing the sister (Alia) seems to be the same age as the parents. The story then jumps to 2017, where we learn that the parents were only 30 in 2005, which means I guess that they had the oldest daughter at 15. Maybe this is normal, but it was honestly my first observation of the movie. After the death of their parents, the sisters return to their childhood home (they had moved since the ghostly events).

Overall impressions: The movie had really bad computer graphics. Why were the ghosts always bloody? Does this automatically mean that they are “scary”? Because it didn’t feel that way. I wasn’t scared. The blood did not seem to have any relation to the way that they died and just seemed like a cheap trick.

This movie was just as hokey as the Evil Dead, but wasn’t as good. I’ve seen a lot of Asian horror movies, and this definitely was not the best; however, I watched it on the plane back to the States from Austria, and it was at least entertaining (since I was laughing at the really horrible CG). I gave it 3 stars because I didn’t dislike the movie per se, I just didn’t think it was great.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

MOVIE REVIEW: Murder on the Orient Express

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iBlfxlw8qwtUS0R8YjIU7JtM6LM-0-230-0-345-cropTitle: Murder on the Orient Express

Year: 2017

Genre: Mystery, Drama, Crime

My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Watch Time: 114 minutes

Platform: Lufthansa

Date Watched: June 24, 2019

Recognized Actors: This movie has a star studded cast, which includes Penelope Cruz, Willem Dafoe, Judi Dench, Johnny Depp, and Michelle Pfeiffer.

Brief Summary of Plot from Letterboxd: EVERYONE IS A SUSPECT. Genius Belgian detective Hercule Poirot investigates the murder of an American tycoon aboard the Orient Express train.

My Review: This movie is based on the book by Agatha Christie. I have never read the book though, so I can’t make any comments on the comparison between the two. Poirot is like the Belgian version of Sherlock Holmes, finding clues in the most innocent / ordinary of details. As the title of the movie suggests, there was a murder on the Orient Express (Johnny Depp), and Poirot (who is supposedly the greatest detective in the world), must figure out who did it.

I watched this movie on the plane back to the States from Austria and it kept my attention. This movie is smart, and very well done and I would definitely recommend to watch it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

BOOK REVIEW: The Raven King by Maggie Stiefvater

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17378527Title: The Raven King

Author: Maggie Stiefvater

Book Length (Audiobook): 11 hours 34 mins

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Genre: Fiction, Fantasy, Young Adult

Read Start Date: June 4, 2019

Read Finish Date: June 16, 2019

Brief Summary of the Plot from Goodreads:
All her life, Blue has been warned that she will cause her true love’s death. She doesn’t believe in true love and never thought this would be a problem, but as her life becomes caught up in the strange and sinister world of the Raven Boys, she’s not so sure anymore.

My Review: This is the fourth and last book in The Raven Cycle series. My review of the first book, The Raven Boys is here, my review of the second book, The Dream Thieves, is here and my review of the third book, Blue Lily, Lily Blue is here.

Once again, I am giving a rating of 3 out of 5 stars. Am I the only person on the planet who is not in love with this series? I mean, my overall opinion is WTF did I just read? There were things in this book that hit me like a mac truck, and that I did not understand, because there was NOTHING in the previous books to indicate that this would happen.

On the other hand, all the magic and stuff is fun (which is why I gave 3 instead of 2 stars), but at the end of the day, it just does not save the series.

And the dialogue. Don’t get me started. I am sure the author meant it to be “funny”, but sometimes I had to turn the audiobook off because the dialogue got so dumb, that I could not stand it anymore and needed a break. Especially Gwenllian — the author tries to portray her as “crazy” I guess, but her rants are just SO STUPID and annoying. She is my least favorite character.

And the ending, ugh the ending. I am left wondering, what was the point of this series? We spend FOUR books on a search for Glendower and then…pointless!! I won’t give anything away here other than that.

Maybe I am the only person in life who is not crying over the last page, but I am not ashamed to say that I am just glad this ride is over.

 

 

 

 

 

 

BOOK REVIEW: Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater

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17378508Title: Blue Lily, Lily Blue

Author: Maggie Stiefvater

Book Length (Audiobook): 10 hours 3 mins

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Genre: Fiction, Fantasy, Young Adult

Read Start Date: May 27, 2019

Read Finish Date: June 4, 2019

Brief Summary of the Plot from Goodreads:
Blue Sargent has found things. For the first time in her life, she has friends she can trust, a group to which she can belong. The Raven Boys have taken her in as one of their own. Their problems have become hers, and her problems have become theirs. The trick with found things, though, is how easily they can be lost. Friends can betray. Mothers can disappear. Visions can mislead. Certainties can unravel.

My Review: This is the third book in The Raven Cycle series. My review of the first book, The Raven Boys is here, and my review of the second book, The Dream Thieves, is here. I am giving it a rating of 3 out of 5 stars. Although this book was certainly better than the second book, I still overall find this series lacking as a whole. I like that the story gets back on track, and the pace is a bit faster — but at times the plot really drags on. Sometimes I wonder whether 4 books were really necessary.

It is really hard to write a review of this story because there are so many twists and turns to the plot, that sometimes I get a little lost. I wonder whether all of this detail is really necessary? What is this series actually about? Sometimes it all just seems so pointless.

Sure a few themes run through out, the search for Glendower, and that Blue will kill her true love with a kiss — but that is where it ends. Each book seems to be its own creature, and with only thin strings attaching each to the other. And some of the characters are just plain annoying, don’t add anything to the story, and the dialogue in places surrounding these characters are just plain stupid. I can’t really say much more without giving away the plot, so I won’t.

I am curious how this series will wrap up.

 

 

 

 

BOOK REVIEW: I’ll Be OK, It’s Just a Hole in My Head by Mimi Hayes

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41032261Title: I’ll Be OK, It’s Just a Hole in My Head

Author: Mimi Hayes

Book Length: 280 pages

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Genre: Autobiography, Memoir, Nonfiction

Read Start Date: May 8, 2019

Read Finish Date: May 31, 2019

Brief Summary of the Plot from Goodreads: I’ll be OK, it’s Just a Hole in My Head: A Memoir on Heartache and Head Injury is a humorous and thoughtful cross between Jill Bolte Taylor’s My Stroke of Insight and Jenny Lawson’s Furiously Happy. Shocking and funny, Hayes’ memoir shares the true story of a sudden brain hemorrhage at the age of twenty-two – and the heartache and strength that it took to overcome it. At first Hayes uses a blanket of comedy to cloak herself from her new reality—after all, sending out funny tweets is far easier than admitting to the world that she’s lost basic motor functions like walking and talking. Humbled by the pain, she must admit to herself that that she is no longer the carefree, 20-something planning to marry her high school sweetheart. With this realization, a brave young woman forces herself to confront her new normal—and to quit cracking jokes about catheters.

My Review: I got this book as an ARC from Netgalley. Honestly, I chose to read it as much for the description as the fact that the cover had pretty colors. I wasn’t expecting too much (I’ve read some pretty terrible memoirs on Netgalley recently), and was therefore pleasantly surprised to find that this book rocked! The author, even though she went through a horrendous experience, was funny, and talked about her experience with aplomb.

For example, after her bad breakup with her long term boyfriend, James, she goes out on another date. Hayes writes “our first kiss happened on the second date. We continued to walk around parks and drink coffee, which gave me plenty of opportunity to make a fool of myself. I wore heels on one date and had to take them off because my feet hurt so badly. But what did I say to explain this behavior? ‘Sorry, I need to air out my fee.'” — Ouch (and I am not only talking about feet).

Other times Hayes let us know exactly what she was thinking, and she didn’t let a little thing like being on the toilet stop her! “About eight o’clock that night, I went to the bathroom to sit on the toilet and think about my life choices. And also to take a poop, as one does.” She writes that in these moments, when she had time to contemplate and to think about her life, she was scared. She “had a google-able disease”, and she writes, “this time I could be dying. On a toilet. My last moments could be spent going poop. I was embarrassed. And I was really, really scared. I’d just found out I’d be having brain surgery on Friday. What if my brain and I didn’t have a second date? Was I going to die then? Or what if I die now, three days from the finish line and shitting on this toilet?”

Putting being on the toilet aside, I cannot imagine how scary having a brain tumor must be.

Hayes was brave. Super brave. And I think she was even more brave for having written this story about her experience afterward, and deciding to publish it for people like me to read.

If you decide to give this book a try, you will not regret it.

10 Book Reviews

Professional Reader

 

 

 

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Netgalley. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.

BOOK REVIEW: The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater

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17347389Title: The Dream Thieves

Author: Maggie Stiefvater

Book Length (Audiobook): 12 hours 45 mins

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Genre: Fiction, Fantasy, Young Adult

Read Start Date: May 19, 2019

Read Finish Date: May 27, 2019

Brief Summary of the Plot from Goodreads: Now that the ley lines around Cabeswater have been woken, nothing for Ronan, Gansey, Blue, and Adam will be the same. Ronan, for one, is falling more and more deeply into his dreams, and his dreams are intruding more and more into waking life. Meanwhile, some very sinister people are looking for some of the same pieces of the Cabeswater puzzle that Gansey is after…

My Review: This book has been on my TBR list since 2012. It is the 2nd book in the Raven Cycle Series. You can find the review of the 1st book here. I am not sure whether I really liked this book or not; what is for sure, is that I liked it less than the first book. I read a lot of review of people who L.O.V.E.D. this book, and I am personally scratching my head and wondering why. Did I miss something here? Why am I not getting that this book is like the best thing since sliced bread? I even read one review who basically said she liked how the author dumbed down the conversations between the characters so that it would resemble what a teenager would say. The review didn’t say it in those precise words, but that was the jist.

Here’s why this book, for me, was only “meh”:

A lot happens in the book, but nothing happens at the same time. It’s like being busy all day at work, but feeling at the end of the day that you have accomplished actually nothing. The Goodreads summary of the plot is a bit vague, but essentially this book is all about Ronan, and his ability to pull things from his dreams.

Apparently, there is another boy in town who can do the same thing, and there are long and boring sequences of the book where Ronan and this boy have what can only be described as pissing contests to see who can pull things out of the dream better. There is also some weird platonic love triangle going on between Blue, Gansey, and Adam. A character is introduced, the Gray man, who goes around town telling people he is a “hit man”. And everyone goes, oh, okay, like that’s normal or something. I mean, huh? No one recoils in fear, no one calls the cops, and Blue’s Mom even starts dating him…

After nearly 13 hours of listening, only the last few minutes actually progresses the story, which I can’t tell you about because it will ruin the story. Sigh.

Lastly, I really hated the audiobook narration. Most of the book it was okay, but the narrator’s impression of a character who was supposed to be Eastern European sounded like he was some Italian thug straight outta the Sopranos. It’s like, if you take the time to change your accent for ONLY ONE character in the WHOLE book, make sure you do it correctly!

What I did like:

Okay, so maybe there was some character development happening (but did we need 13 hours of it?). I will wait and see how this development brings the plot forward in the 3rd book, which I am reading now.

Stay tuned for my next review of this series!

 

 

 

TV SHOW REVIEW: Delhi Crime, Season 1

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MV5BODg1MTYyZjYtMzJhZi00ZjI3LWI3MTItZTFhZDNhZmYwMjYwXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyODE5NzE3OTE@._V1_UX182_CR0,0,182,268_AL_Title: Delhi Crime

Year: 2019

Genre: Crime, Drama, History

My Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars

Platform: Netflix

Date Watched: May 17, 2019 to May 18, 2019

Brief Summary of Plot from IMDb: Based on the Nirbhaya case, Delhi Crime follows the Delhi Police investigation into the finding of the men who perpetrated this crime.

Episode Name Episode # Date Watched
Episode 1 1 17-May-19
Episode 2 2 17-May-19
Episode 3 3 17-May-19
Episode 4 4 17-May-19
Episode 5 5 18-May-19
Episode 6 6 18-May-19
Episode 7 7 18-May-19

My Review: In the first few minutes of the episode, we are introduced to a very vicious and heinous crime: two people are found on the side of the road in a ditch in Delhi, naked and sexually abused. The man has been beaten with an iron rod, and the woman has been gang raped, beaten, and penetrated with the same iron road. What’s worse, and far more gruesome, is the fact that her intestines have been ripped out through her vagina, and parts of it are missing. Worse still — this show is based upon a real story. The series follows the investigation and the tireless efforts of the police to find the perpetrators.

I have been to India 4 times for work, and was watching this show on the plane back from Kolkata. I have to say that this show was really well done, especially because of the gruesome and stomach twisting subject matter. The acting was superb. For example, the actor who plays the ring leader did a very good job at displaying the apathy, callousness, and evilness of the man who did this to the young girl. It was chilling, because it seemed like he just did not care — or that the woman deserved it. He showed no remorse at all. Additionally, the actress playing the lead detective also did a fantastic job.

In the background of the investigation to find the suspects, the political scene in Delhi is exploding. People are sick and tired of the crime in Delhi and take to the streets to protest the understaffed, underpaid, and overworked police — as if crime were the fault of the police. It paints a picture of a city, a country, in turmoil, where the rich keep getting richer, the poor getting poorer, and tensions rising.

Although this show was disturbing, I found it to be really well done, and interesting, because you get to see how policing is done in India. For an American like me, several things / differences caught my attention, i.e., the prisoners were not handcuffed. Rather the policeman would hold the criminals hand; and hitting prisoners to get confessions seemed to be normal and accepted. This made the show fascinating to watch. I am usually a big fan of crime dramas, and this had all the elements: terrible crime, suspects in the wind, pressure from the boss, dedicated officers willing to do anything it takes, and political tension.

A brilliant binge worthy show that is definitely worth the watch!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

BOOK REVIEW: The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin

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30288282Title: The Immortalists

Author: Chloe Benjamin

Book Length (Audiobook): 11 hours 30 mins

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Genre: Fiction, Fantasy

Read Start Date: May 10, 2019

Read Finish Date: May 19, 2019

Brief Summary of the Plot from Goodreads: If you knew the date of your death, how would you live your life?

It’s 1969 in New York City’s Lower East Side, and word has spread of the arrival of a mystical woman, a traveling psychic who claims to be able to tell anyone the day they will die. The Gold children—four adolescents on the cusp of self-awareness—sneak out to hear their fortunes.

The prophecies inform their next five decades. Golden-boy Simon escapes to the West Coast, searching for love in ’80s San Francisco; dreamy Klara becomes a Las Vegas magician, obsessed with blurring reality and fantasy; eldest son Daniel seeks security as an army doctor post-9/11; and bookish Varya throws herself into longevity research, where she tests the boundary between science and immortality.

A sweeping novel of remarkable ambition and depth, The Immortalists probes the line between destiny and choice, reality and illusion, this world and the next. It is a deeply moving testament to the power of story, the nature of belief, and the unrelenting pull of familial bonds.

My Review: Each of the Gold children is given their date of death from the psychic woman. This knowledge changes each of them in turn, and each struggles to live their life in the wake of such an enormous burden. Although everyone has the fundamental knowledge that someday death will come calling, having the foreknowledge of the exact date could potentially catastrophically alter the course of one’s life. This is the reality facing the Gold children.

Each part of the book tells the story of one of the children, going in order from the first to last to die. Through each chapter, we learn not only how each of the children lives with the knowledge of their death date, but how their life has been affected by it. If you knew when you would die, how would this affect your life? Would you still make the same choices if you knew you would die at 30? at 21? at 88?

I liked this book, although the plot was a bit dull at times. Some of the stories moved along very slowly, while others were very interesting. The book was well written, and the characters very well developed. The lives of the first children to die were a bit more interesting, and in the last part, I just felt overwhelmingly sad. I wondered whether people actually chose to live this way? It is hard to really write much of a review without giving away too many of the details that should remain unknown before reading the book.

So, I will conclude by saying, that if you do not mind a heavy subject, this would make a good read.

 

It’s Monday What are you Reading? May 20, 2019

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I’m joining the Book Date It’s Monday What Are You Reading?

WHAT I READ LAST WEEK:

The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin. I have not yet written a review about this book.

I was unable to finish any other books last week because I was on a business trip to India and just didn’t have time.

30288282

WHAT I AM CURRENTLY READING:

Sleeping Beauties by Stephen King. I’ve been reading this book (paperback) since February 25, 2019, and I am currently on page 364. I originally bought this book for my trip to Japan and China in late February, early March. I guess that I have set this book aside in favor of some other books, but I should get back into it. So far I like it, but I guess it is not as stimulating as I thought, if I still haven’t finished it almost 2 months after starting it. I started reading it again last week in India, but made only about 80 pages of progress since April 22, 2019.

Year One by Nora Roberts. I’ve been reading this book (kindle) since February 10, 2019. I rented this book from the library several times to date, and sometimes the loan expires so I have to renew (and wait on a waiting list). This book is a little slow, so I am not really so enthusiastic about it. I have not picked up this book since my Monday posting on April 22, 2019.

The Iliad by Gareth Hinds. I’ve been reading this graphic novel (PDF) since April 6, 2019. I received this graphic novel as an ARC from Netgalley. I can only read this novel on my computer (it doesn’t look right on my kindle). Since I normally do most of my reading while in bed (or via audiobook), it is taking me a lot longer to finish this novel (even though it is rather short). I also have not picked up this book since April 22, 2019.

The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater. This is the 2nd book in the series, coming after The Raven Boys. This was on my “What’s Coming Up Next” list from my posting of April 22, 2019 and is the audiobook that I am currently reading. I just started today. I have had this book on my TBR list since 2012, so it is about time that I read it.

The Girl Without Skin by Mads Peder Nordbo. I have been reading this ARC book since May 1, 2019. I put it down for the next book I started reading (see below).

I’ll Be Okay, It’s Just a Hole in My Head by Mimi Hayes. I started reading this ARC book on May 8, 2019, and I really like it! I am excited to share the review with you soon. I am about 80% finished with it.

WHAT IS COMING UP NEXT:

Wizard and Glass: The Dark Tower IV by Stephen King. This will be the next paperback book that I read after finishing Sleeping Beauties. I saw this book in a used book store in Amsterdam and knew that I had to have it. I have already read the first three books in the series, but the library did not have the audiobook of the 4th book.

Blink of an Eye by John H.K. Fisher. This will be the next kindle book that I will read. I received this book as an ARC from Netgalley.

Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater. This is the 3rd book in the Raven Boys series, coming after The Raven Boys and The Dream Thieves. It has been on my TBR list since March 22, 2016. This will be my next audiobook.