Reviews by Kyle Ellis

I worked at Borders for more than a year and I worked the boring ass registers, usually at night whic was always slow. I leaned there with my chin in my hand staring at the shelves actually wishing that I could help customers in their purchases. It's purely insane, but I think that's what happens anytime you place someone in any kind of confinement. The thing is that if I wasn't a register girl, I would have constant actual contact with the books themselves.

All lunacy aside, one book that I stared at the entire time was this one, cuz it was literally on the number one shelf in the front of the store for a good two years or so. It sounded interesting and got good critical reviews despite its sucess with the bookish Oprah-watching housewife types. So, I REALLY didn't wanna jump on the bandwagon and read it. But at the same time I would open it and try. But I just didn't get into it.

Last week or so, I was reading a friend's blog and she talked about reading the book and how it was so affecting that she found herself driving to work in complete tears. From then on an invisible seed had been planted. I went to the library the other day to pay my fines ($2.75! Man.) and suddenly remembered the book.

I read it in three nights. Sebold's voice is entirely unique. Never seen it before ever. I think that being allowed into the vision and point of view of another person is probably one of the awesomest feelings ever. I think that's what it is to be in love, actually. Get in someone's skin, sit in a recliner in a little theatre located behind their eye sockets, and just watch. Not judge, not worry, not affect. Just experience someone who is so not you.

Sebold allows this on two levels. She sets you up in the front row seat right next to Susie the murdered and raped 14 year old while she watches her former world from Heaven. But she also delivers this language that is new, original, totally fresh and yet entirely accessible. At 3am. In bed. From a free city library borrow.

Her characters are completely amazing individuals, but not unreal or impossible. The way she wrote the book, from Suzie's viewpoint, was definitely some work on her part. And she pulls it off. What I really enjoyed is the way she would sneak in these little pieces of info - I call them " 'omg, are you serious?' mystery info nuggets". She would just be writing a scene, and at an unsuspecting moment she'd just add in a little sentence. And ofcourse, since the story revolves around the grief of the family and the Susie's unsolved case, their are moment of utter thrill as the reader joins the characters in their search for understanding, motive and the killer himself. The sentences feel like when you've been looking for something non-urgent for a while, and it's not really a big deal to find it now or later, but when you do find it your like, 'Man, now I can do this, and this and that, cuz I finally found this thing that I've been inactively searching for for a while'. So, the nuggets definitely keep you reading and sometimes they even make you say, 'omg' out loud.

As always, if you read the first few pages and hate it, then don't force the feeling. Just cuz I thought it was a total modern classic, don't mean anything if it really ain't your thing. Either way, truly a great story, even if your mom thinks so too.

& I was left... STUNNED! Just, just, stunned. Incredibly, this one is the one to top when it comes to adventure & history and pace & ingenuity.

I've recently noticed how much history is revered (rightfully) by the modern authors. This is a different type of historical immersion. This is about bringing it to the forefront... something in the past is incredibly relevant, vital, to the present.

Everyone but me had read this, & after Da Vinci Code--that bitch of an overrated heathen--I thought Brown was a phony (in company of Nicholas Sparks, among others). Not so. This is a MASTERPIECE indeed.

I read this in like two sittings. All 710 pages of oversized print.

I was soooo hooked I recalled many other lesser books that have riveted me. This one is so incredibly put together, it is no wonder Brown has been heralded by the general readership, ingrained in the zeitgeist.

The awesomeness of this work lies in the battle between science and religion, perhaps one of the most seminal works about that topic. It explores this duality literally, symbolically... every which way. That they are married, both science and religion, is the thesis. Brown proves this with the precision of a skilled scientist. & with the heart of a devout... historian.

I'm a big lover of Agatha Christie, she has written some fantastic murder mysteries and her stories never get tiring. But this is the one that just comes out on top every time.

It partly, and quite amusingly, reminds me of that old American murder mystery in Sunset Beach. Basically, they're the only ones on this island and someone is killing them off one by one in accordance with the Ten Little Indians rhyme . And I swear I never saw it coming, and I'm usually very good at it. It's just a very clever novel, full of mystery and suspense and easily quite frightening at times.

I like how Agatha Christie doesn't have to write a 500 page novel with a massive back story, her mysteries are very simply put together but always clever and hard to decipher. I would recommend this book to everyone.

I was forced into watching Mockingjay: Part II this weekend. To clarify, I watched the second part of the last Hunger Games movie without having read any of the books, without having watched any of the movies.

Needless to say, I was confused as fuck.

So many questions and thoughts ran through my mind as I watched the movie. Why is Peeta so thin? Did that huge-ass bruise really disappear from her neck the next day? Is Katniss supposed to look like she's about to burst into tears at any given moment, or is that just Jennifer Lawrence? Woody Harrelson is in this movie? Hey, it's Margaery from Game of Thrones! Who's President Snow? What's a Mockingjay? Lesser Hemsworth is pretty hot.

Well, you get the point. I know how the book ended and I still have no idea who anyone is, and neither do I know their names, with the exception of Peeta, Gale, President Snow, that Coin woman, and Katniss. Of course, knowing how the book ended means I probably should read the first book, so here I am, the last person on earth to read The Hunger Games.

And it was good. It was really good. My sister was right (she usually is).

What else can I say that hasn't already been said? I loved it. The world building was interesting (although it helps that I've seen what it looks like on the big screen), and Katniss is awesome. One of the things my sister didn't like about the first movie is that the on-screen Katniss was different from her portrayal in the first book. I haven't watched that movie, but I kind of see how the screen portrayal of Katniss might have bothered her. Book-Katniss is strong, kick-ass without being a Mary Sue. She has a fierce love for her sister, and she is manipulative and cunning. She uses the prospect of romance to protect herself, she has no qualms about using people, and I love that about her.

As much as I like this film, I actually consider Planes, Trains and Automobiles John Hughes' best film. Ferris Bueller's Day Off is immensely fun and likable as both a comedy and a film. It is marred slightly by some of the sentimentality, but the story is engaging and the script is smart and funny. Hughes does a very admirable job directing, and the film also boasts some lovely cinematography and a catchy soundtrack. Then there is the acting, I liked all the performances in this movie. Matthew Broderick indeed plays an arrogant, spoiled and bratty sort of character, but he actually manages to give him some likability too. Alan Ruck is also excellent as his melancholy friend, and Mia Sara is gorgeous as his girlfriend. But it is Jeffrey Jones who almost steals the show as he suffers all those humiliations he goes through. In conclusion, I like it a lot and it is one of Hughes' best. 9/10 Bethany Cox