Sneha Jaiswal's Blog, page 252

Cry, Heart, but Never Break – Quick Book Review

‘Cry, Heart, but Never Break’ is an illustrated children’s book by Glenn Ringtved & Charlotte Pardi. If you have a kid in the family or are just looking to gift a book to a child, it would make a great pick for 7-9 year olds. Especially if you think they need earn about death.

Through this simple & quick read, the author tries to explain the inevitability of death to children. Death is symbolized as an ominous black-cloaked scythe wielding man, but is said to be kind & warm-hearted. He visits a house, where a bunch of kids are taken care of their grandmother. But her time is up.

The kids try to delay death from visiting their beloved grandma, so death himself patiently explains then why they cannot avert it. The story within story trope works pretty well in this children’s book.

An interesting pick to explain death to the little ones. It’s a 4/5 from me. Not recommended for adults at all.

‘Here The Whole Time’ Review – Easy Breezy

If one manages to finish a novel in a day, it has to be breezily engaging – like ‘Here The Whole Time’ by Vitor Martins. It’s a sweet romantic story that strongly implants the idea of ‘love yourself for who you are’.

The protagonist is 17-year-old Felipe, who is gay, but with a loving accepting mom, that’s not a problem at all. However, he is excessively shy, prone to anxiety, has low self-esteem, is bullied at school and is seeing a therapist. A lot of these problems are rooted in the fact that Felipe is constantly fat-shamed by peers at school. So when he finds out his hot neighbour/childhood crush Caio is going to be staying at his house for 15 days, there are new fears & challenges to face.

While the novel is set in Brazil, most of the story unfolds in Felipe’s flat, and the descriptions are quite limited, which works for me, but for readers who prefer expansive details of the ambiance, they will have to heavily rely on their own imagination. I loved the subtle emphasis on mental health and how Felipe’s mother encourages him to see a therapist, explaining that nothing has to be “wrong” with someone to seek out a mental-health professional. He shares a health, loving relationship with his mother and things with Caio move at a reasonable pace too.

Vitor Martin’s novel is easy to read, with linear story-telling that’s sprinkled with simple relatable moments. The author captures the exhilaration & confusion of first love charmingly, with just a tinge of drama. The Half my day went by in a blink! Can see it being turned into a cute feel-good limited TV series.

Crooked House – Quick Book Review

“Crooked House” is a murder mystery by Agatha Christie that was first published in 1949. It just happens to be a co-incidence, that just like my last Christie read, this novel too doesn’t have the famous detective Hercules Poirot or Mrs Marple leading the investigations, and yet, it was a fun gripping read.

The story begins with a man called Charles Hayward, who falls in love with Sophia Leonides and hopes to marry her. However, their plans to marry meets a hurdle when Sophia’s wealthy grandfather Aristide Leonides is murdered and almost everybody in his joint-family becomes a suspect, because all of them monetarily benefit from the death.

Just like classic Christie, everybody does have enough motive to bump the old man off. The Leonides family makes for an interesting bunch, there are two married sons, one of who is Sophie’s father, the other son doesn’t have any kids. Aristide married a second time, so he had a wife who was almost 50 years his junior. The strongest suspicion falls on her, since she would have the most to rejoice, if one considers things on the surface.

Hayward gets an opportunity to take part in the investigation, and each suspect spills their side of the story. Funnily enough, everybody points at the young wife and yet also convey that she might not be the murderer. Like a character says, each one is ruthless in their own way and it could’ve been anybody. The family dynamics makes for an interesting read, while everybody in the ‘crooked house’ isn’t particularly very fond of each other, they are too dependent on the familiarity of staying together. A tight bunch, held on a leash by a wily patriarch, who loved them, and controlled them.

What makes ‘Crooked House’ an enjoyable read is the fact that everything is limited to just one family, and yet, the Leonides are a very peculiar bunch. Once we get to the climax, it’s quite evident who the murderer is. Gripping and quite the page-turner. It’s a 4/5 from me.

A Classic Horror Story – Quick Review

First thing you notice about the 2021 Netflix film ‘A Classic Horror Story’ is the annoying intro music, a retro Italian number that just doesn’t blend well with a bloody scene it opens with. Full points for starting off with gore – a petrified woman covered in blood is tied up on a wooden slab, like a lamb waiting to be slaughtered.

Directed by Roberto De Feo, Paolo Strippoli, this Italian film is about how a group of strangers car-pooling together wake up in the middle of the woods after an accident. A creepy cottage makes it evident that they are trapped in an area inhabited by a weird cult that does human sacrifices, so they need to find a way out of the place before the cultists kill them off.

Like the title of the film, the makers use the usual tropes, so for those who have seen enough of the genre will be able to second-guess pretty much everything that’s going to happen. The makers subtly poke fun of the genre through the course of the film and virtually admit to borrowing ideas from cult hits. Had they aimed for horror-comedy, with more witticism and humor, instead of the serious tone, it could’ve been a lot more fun. But instead, ‘A Classic Horror Story’ is a boring mash of ideas, and a talented bunch of actors does little to uplift the movie.

There was on stand-out murder shot towards the climax that was quite applaud-worthy, but except for that one scene, everything else is pretty forgettable about this production.

It’s a 4.5/10 from me.

Duck, Death & The Tulip – Quick Review

“Duck, Death & The Tulip” by Wolf Erlbruch is an illustrated book that’s dark in an uplifting way. The children’s book and would be best suited to kids aged 7-10. Or even younger.

It took me less than 10 minutes to finish this simple, sweet story of how a duck meets Death, who looks like an adorably drawn child’s version of the grim reaper. The two spend some hours together, pondering upon some interesting questions, the Duck wonders if it will become an flying angel floating on a cloud after it dies. There’s a subtle witticism and morbidity to the plot that doesn’t make it juvenile for adult readers.

The illustrations are bare and stark. It would make a good gift for a kid in the family. The hardback is quite lovely & will make a nice addition to my shelf. It’s a 4/5 from me. Although I wouldn’t recommend it to adult readers, unless they are specifically looking for a children’s book to read.

‘Hereditary’ Review – Starts Strong & Steadily Disintegrates

Is it ever too late to watch a movie and then review it? The 2018 horror film ‘Hereditary’ has been on my watch-list for a while. And since the Netflix algorithm, which has long since become familiar with my fondness for the macabre, kept ‘recommending’ it to me, I finally streamed the critically acclaimed production a few days ago.

Honestly, the film does start strong. Directed by Ari Aster, the plot revolves around the Graham family. It all begins with a funeral service. Annie Graham (Toni Collette) has lost her mother Ellen, whith whom she had quite a strained relationship. After that death, weird things start happening, almost as if Ellen is still around.

Annie is forced to experience one tragedy after another, with her own fragile mental health collapsing slowly. The viewer is made to believe that there is some sinister family secret that’s the root of all evil troubling them. The suspense, small jump scares and violent twists in the first half of the film is cleverly done and has you on the edge of your seat. But for me that’s where the problem lied – after a strong start, the plot gets harebrained in the second-half.

Annie & clan go through so much shit, that at one point you feel like – “c’mon, one family cannot be so terribly unfortunate!”. It feels a little too much and basically sets up a very high-expectation for the climax. As a viewer you feel like it has to be something explosive to explain all the calamities. But man, the ending just sucked! Like sucked. That’s the only way to put it.

Toni Collette really shines in her performance as a neurotic miniaturist, whose own kids don’t trust her. Gabriel Byrne who plays her husband Steve Graham manages to garner the viewer’s sympathy as a man whose marriage seems to have brought him nothing but anxiety and trouble. Millie Shapiro and Alex Wolff as the socially awkward Graham kids were also impressive in their parts. Wolff looke like a lamb brought to the slaughter in some scenes. The emotional trauma & psychological damage suffered by these characters is so devastating that the climax really does no justice to it. For me it was all a little too simple, even if bizarre – the great Graham secret to why they are doomed.

I really just want to give away the climax, to articulate why I felt the ending was a load of crap. But a good review must be spoiler-free, so no plot twists are going to be revealed here. You may or may not like the ending. For me, “Hereditary” was a disappointing mess by the time the credits rolled in. It’s a 5/10 from me.

Memetic – Horror Comic Review

For the first time ever, the kindle store recommended me a horror comic I’d appreciate! Memetic by James Tynion IV, Eryk Donovan is a brilliant bizarre metaphorical horror story about how the end of the world is brought about by a Sloth meme.

There is something so oddly creepy and cute about a sloth, that it perfectly blends into the role of a lifeless villain in a comic. In ‘Memetic’, people look at a meme featuring a smiling sloth goes viral because those viewers experience an inexplicable euphoria while staring at it. But after about 12 hours of first looking at it, people lose their mind, become murderous psychopaths and start killing those around them. Pretty much zombie territory, but the folks aren’t dead.

The twist & artwork towards the climax reminded me of Japanese Manga master Junji Ito, who is like the emperor of horror manga. So it’s like Japan’s Junji Ito meets American Dystopian horror. The primary protagonist is a young gay college kid who has trouble looking at colors, so is not affected by the meme. Will humans be able to save them from this horrifying mess they’ve gotten into? That’s the rest of the comic.

Those who enjoy post-apocalyptic fiction would definitely like this new take on the genre – where a silly meme triggers world-wide destruction. The story-building is interesting for most part. I was slightly disappointed with the abrupt ending, but it made for an absolutely entertaining read otherwise. It’s a 4/5 from me.

‘Why Didn’t They Ask Evans?’ – Book Review

When you are disappointed by a large fiction novel, it’s best to pick a murder mystery next, especially by a reliable author, so that you can avoid back-to-back disappointment. And who better to pick than the queen of crime? So I went with ‘Why Didn’t They Ask Evans?’, which is an engaging whodunit By Agatha Christie. Funnily enough, the timing couldn’t have been better, because it’s getting adapted into a three-part series soon.

The title of this murder mystery happens to be the last uttered sentence of the victim. It’s significance only revealed towards the end, which was almost exaggeratedly comical & absurd. But apart from that, this Christie mystery was a fun read, with two friends doing their own private digging into the murder of a stranger. One is an eyewitness Bobbie & the other is his wealthy friend Lady Frances.

While playing a game of golf with a doctor, Bobbie hears a cry and wonders if the ball hit someone close-by. As the two look around, they find a man fatally injured by the cliff-edge. What is first declared as an ‘accident’, seems to sound suspicious after Bobbie has a near death escape days later, after his beer is poisoned with an opioid. He teams up with his affluent friend Frankie (Lady Frances) and they slowly find themselves thrust into a story that had already been hurtling at a dangerous speed.

Think I enjoyed this a lot more than the ones with Poirot, because the investigators are amateurs and have a lot of interesting adventures along the way. Frankie was a plucky protagonist, without any cliches attached to her. A lot of the incidents that help them in unraveling the case are incredible co-incidences and sheer luck, but that’s what fun fiction is all about. The usual Christie plot tricks are there, where the reader is constantly thrown off the scent of the main culprit. Although, this one was a little more convincing than some of the other Poirot novels I have read.

‘Why Didn’t They Ask Evans?’ was completely entertaining, and since we do not have an aging Poirot or Marple heading the probe, there aren’t any fuddy-duddy jokes or outdated sentiments unintentionally sprinkled over the pages. It was largely breezy and gripping. And yes, you will keep wondering till the last few chapters – “Just who the hell is Evans?!”.

Stardust – Quick Book Review

So I ended up reading Stardust by Neil Gaiman, with a LOT of pages skipped in between. While the story starts off interesting, it was hard to be invested in the tale after the first few chapters. It’s about how a bunch of people are looking for a fallen star, all for different reasons. Our protagonist is looking for it because he foolishly promises the girl he loves that a fallen star won’t be hard to get.

While I first attributed my lack of enthusiasm to the fact that maybe fantasy-fiction is not my genre, a 1-star review for the book by a Goodreads reader who loves the genre made me realize I had the same problems with this book as them. Stardust is basically a children’s tale, but with adult elements, so there is a generous sprinkling of sex, violence and gore. It’s not like the book is meant for children, it’s supposedly target at adult fantasy-fiction readers and yet the plot is largely child-like, so the explicit scenes don’t blend well.

Stardust is basically an awkward mash of children-adult themes that ends up being a tedious read. You have evil witches, fairies, greedy kings and an innocent lovelorn protagonist at the middle of it all. Apparently the movie adaptation of the novel is a 100 times better, but after reading the book, I have very little interest in the film. It’s a 2/5 from me.

15 Horror Films You Might Want To Skip

Hello horror fans!

Episode 39 of Abstract AF’s podcast is up, where we quickly list 15 horror films that came out after 2010 that didn’t live up to viewer expectations or the hype surrounding them.

Some unpopular opinions in there. Listen in!