Guys, it's time for a recap on the last few weeks. I don't really want to reveal too much, as I am a little superstitious about things like that and don't wanna jinx anything, but rumor has it, that some big changes are awaiting me in the foreseeable future. But when decisions have been made, I'll let you know.
Besides that, nothing much happened. actually. There were fantasies about going to several summer festivals such as the austrian STUCK! which I had already mentioned in another post, or the DOCKVILLE Festival in Hamburg, but travelling to Hamburg turned out to be even more expensive than the tickets for the event. But I was lucky to finally witness a live show by the lovely Other Lives, who made quite an impression. What a passionate and professional bunch of people they are, who immediately make you want to join a band, too!
So let's just quickly move on to the book and movie reviews.
THE BOOKS I HAVE READ:
BEAUTIFUL DISASTER by JAMIE McGUIRE
Ok, by this time, I arrived in the romance department of the young adult genre but I don't care if anyone thinks that's too gooey and all cliché. When you don't have a romance yourself, you'll just have to find yourself a substitute, right? And here we have a bad-boy-meets-innocent-girl-who-turns-out-to-be-not-so-innocent-after-all-story. All in all I can say that something was there that kept me excited about it, but inbetween there where some decisions made by both protagonists who just seemed somewhat inexplicable to me. But as I had no expectations at all to this book, I still felt positively entertained. (3/5)
BEFORE I FALL by LAUREN OLIVER
Contrary to Beautiful Disaster, here I HAD big expectations, having read Lauren Oliver's DELIRIUM before. This is her debut novel and it is highly praised in the YA-scene. We get to know 15 year old Samantha Kingston. And we get to know her on the day she dies. Until then, Sam is an obnoxious little bitch, and not knowing what to expect as the book continues, I had big problems in the beginning with the dullness of all the characters including the protagonist. I simply didn't think it could live up to DELIRIUM when I had read the first 50 pages. Nevertheless I kept on reading and by the time I finished this book Lauren Oliver had turned my point of view to 180 degrees. That alone made me decide to give this book the highest rating. But not only my POV changed, but of course the protagonist evolves during a very brief amount of time, due to that fact, the author makes her live through the exact same day over and over again. (5/5)
FORBIDDEN by TABITHA SUZUMA
There is a good reason why the cover of this book is black. The whole story is just so desperate. But although this book might leave you sobbing at the very end, it is so very well written to be enjoyable nevertheless. Ms. Suzuma makes you love her protagonists right from the beginning. I think it takes a lot to write a story about incestuous love and make the readers review their mindset about this taboo topic. It also reminded me a lot of the recently watched "Fish Tank" because of the whole catastrophic family situation in which two young teenagers are forced to take responsibility at a very young age and need to deal with the lapse of a careless mother. (5/5)
HUNTING AND GATHERING by ANNA GAVALDA
I liked this book a lot because of its great mixture of humor and desperation. Four very different lonesome personalities come together and find their peace of mind when they decide to live together in a shared appartment. I also watched the movie adaption right away, and will write more about it in the movie section. (4/5)
BREAKING BEAUTIFUL by JENNIFER SHAW WOLF
Another rather disturbing topic is focused in this book. 17 year old Allie looses her boyfriend in a carcrash, she herself survived it concisely with disfiguring scars on her face. She lost all her memory about the accident but has the feeling the death of her boyfriend is more of a relief than a loss. Further on in the book the reader finds out more about their forerun relationship in several memory flashbacks and why Allie not only has a scarred face but also a scarred soul. For me the book was really interesting but at some point you just want to shake the protagonist awake to reveal the truth about her dead boyfriend. (3/5)
THE MOVIES I HAVE WATCHED:
THE SQUID AND THE WHALE
One Word: Ewwwww! There are some disgusting scenes in that movie. But nevertheless I thought it's worth watching. This is a story about a seperation, dealing with it and having to choose sides. Making mistakes, regretting and forgiving. (6/10)
2 DAYS IN NEW YORK
Quite nice but unfortunately not as hilarious as the previous one 2 DAYS IN PARIS. Most of the jokes seemed very forced and it didn't really seem to have a bigger message. (6/10)
ADVENTURELAND
I had kind of a thing for Jesse Eisenberg this month, huh? Adventureland is a solid mixture of a teenage comedy and drama, nothing less nothing more. One point more for Eisenbergs adorableness..(does that word exist?) (7/10)
SOME BOYS DON'T LEAVE
Brevity is the soul of wit. (Yes I just looked that proverb up) This short movie was way better than a lot of the other full-length movies I watched this month. We have only two protagonists, ex-boy and girlfriend. And he literally just can't leave the once shared flat because he is unable to emotionally move on, which I think is a nicely interpreted methaphor. (8/10)
IN TIME
I thought the concept of the movie was really interesting (is there a book on which the film was based, haha, I'm already assuming this, since screenwriters seem to run out of ideas for a while now) but..uhm..I was very tired while watching the movie and it was really hard to keep myself awake, which says a lot about the tension of it, right? (5/10)
ALIEN
This movie is a great example that people are able to create a suspenseful atmosphere with much less possibilities than moviemakers have nowadays. I was sitting there with my hands in front of my eyes because I couldn't pretend what was coming next. On the other hand, of course, some effects appeared to be somewhat ridiculous but that only added more fun to it, I guess. (8/10)
THE OTHER WOMAN
A movie about a young woman, who – sort of – crushes the marriage of her boss when he falls in love with her and chooses to live with her instead. Having just lost her newborn child, she tries to focus on her stepson from her husbands former marriage, but she is struggling with this rather difficult child and his real mother who constantly gives her the feeling that she is a verdant, useless person. Although the story seems quite interesting there was something about the movie that made it hard to enjoy. (5/10)
ENSEMBLE C'EST TOUT (HUNTING AND GATHERING)
I challenged myself to watch this adaption of the previously read book in it's original language, and it worked quite well. As I mentioned, I thought the movie was a good implementation of the book. Audrey Tatou seemed perfect for the main role, and all the other characters where just as adorable. (7/10)
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE'S ROMEO AND JULIET
This was a rewatch resulting out of nostalgia. And I still think this was a really great interpretation of Shakespeare's classic. DiCaprio is just gorgeous in here. (8/10)
