Book Review: Home Before Dark by Riley Sager

For some extremely strange reason, I did not read Riley Sager’s latest novel, Home Before Dark, the day it came out in June! What’s wrong with me?! I guess it’s better late than never. Just like all of his other efforts, this thriller was very satisfying. There were so many twists! Right when I thought I had something pegged, Sager went ahead and flipped the story on its head, but in a way that seemed completely plausible.

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Book Review: Our Chemical Hearts by Krystal Sutherland

A couple days ago I finished reading the debut young adult novel Our Chemical Hearts written by Krystal Sutherland. Having watched the film adaptation a few weeks ago and being rather disappointed with how cringe-worthy it was, you’d think I’d be nervous about reading the source material, but I wasn’t! In fact, more than half way through the film both my friend and I agreed that this book was probably infinitely better, and it was!

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Poetry Review: Crush by Richard Siken

It’s been a little while since I’ve cracked open a book of poetry, but Richard Siken’s Crush just so happened to randomly enter my orbit, and I’m so glad it did! This is not your typical collection of poems, it’s essentially broken the rules to deliver something that is at times gut-wrenching and at others beautiful. It’s things like these that always keep my love of reading and writing poetry alive.

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Book Review: Words on Bathroom Walls by Julia Walton

It’s only been a few weeks since I first ventured out to theaters, and Words on Bathroom Walls was the first film I decided to see. This decision was made solely based on the trailer I randomly stumbled across on Youtube one day. With that being said, it came as a bit of a surprise to me when I saw this movie was an adaptation of the book of the same name written by Julia Walton. Naturally, when I got home I immediately ordered the book since I was so fond of the film. In my head, I assumed that not much had changed from text to screen, so I didn’t even give it second thought.

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Book Review: Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell

Since I’ve read several novels by Rainbow Rowell, it seemed like an easy decision to read one of her most popular entries, Eleanor & Park. This one also happens to have been optioned to be adapted into a film! I love that kind of thing (obviously)! Overall this was a very easy read, being that it’s young adult and just over the 300 page threshold, but it was still very entertaining.

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Book Review: Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng

Yes, I’ve finally jumped onto the hype wagon and decided to read Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng. And yes, part of this had to do with the adaptation on Hulu and the fact that it racked up some Emmy nominations. I haven’t learned my lesson from The Alienist though, and decided to read the book before watching. I’m sure there will be disappointments, but hopefully not that much has changed in this adaptation.

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Book Review: The Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris

I’ve finally taken my own advice again and read a book AFTER I’ve watched the movie it’s based on. Although in this instance, I don’t believe it really would have mattered. That’s because The Silence of the Lambs was filmed so long ago, that I feel like directors and writers took source material more seriously. I’ll get into that shortly. It struck me that since I’ve watched Hannibal, read Red Dragon, and watched The Silence of the Lambs that it only makes sense that I should read the book that film is based on. So I did!

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Book Review: Normal People by Sally Rooney

Since Normal People had been published a few years ago, I had seen it reviewed extensively in the most praising and positive light. After finally giving it a read because of the overwhelming reception the Hulu series adaptation received, I have been swayed by it’s intensity. I am gearing up to watch the show very soon, and I can only imagine what it’s going to be like. With twelve episodes, though, I believe it will capture many nuances and details that were woven throughout Sally Rooney’s pages.

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