Thendral's Take: January 2022
Home by Penny Parkes
Overall
I found this to be a pretty slow-moving read that required a considerable investment of time and patience. The premise is great but the book just didn't have to be this long. It’s more of a character study and so for a book titled "Home", it didn't feel like a sufficient exploration of the title and promise, it was more about finding one's self and the influence of the people we have around us rather than exploring the notion of home. I really liked the best friend character though, everyone deserves to have someone like her in their lives. All I can say is, if you have the patience, you can try and you will find some truly insightful moments in this book. Otherwise, I would recommend other books if you’re looking for a similar vibe. The characters and ambience left me as soon as I closed the book.
This Time Next Year by Sophie Cousens
My Thoughts
I just wanted to read it all over again when I was done!! I really liked the vibes of the book and just wanted to stay in it. It was cute, it was funny, it was wholesome. I was either giggling or smiling for most of the book. It's not the most original plot out there but sometimes it's not about the plot, it's about how well a regular plot was executed. And that’s how this book shines! Two things I really liked about the plot were: 1. One of the sub-plots was a friendship forming between two "older" women where they bond over anxiety and gardening. Which I found so, so sweet. 2. I'm a complete sucker for plots where the lead's life is totally different in a year. It's exactly the kind of thing that keeps me going; the belief that this year could be different (because I think I would lose my mind otherwise) and I like to surround myself with such materials too!
Other things I liked were:
- quirky characters who were sometimes selfish, sometimes stupid, it just made them feel more real and human.
- a host of different names to imply the characters are of different backgrounds rather than just Anglocentric names throughout.
- the New Year's theme and a plot that alternates between past and present timelines.
If I want to complain, it's just in the spirit of diversity, the author referred to it as "naan bread" (just naan would do) and "tuk-tuks" (they're only tuk-tuks in Thailand, it's literally a Thai word, you can't point at everything that looks like it and call it that too. When you're in India, they're auto-rickshaws or autos). But that's just IF I had to complain.
Overall
This was perfect escapist material for me, especially in current times. If chick flicks/ rom coms are your thing (especially if you're a Sophie Kinsella fan) make this your next read! I'm sure you will love it, it's a knockout debut from the author! She has another book out already, it's not available in the local library yet but I've been checking the page every other day to see if it's here! That's how much I enjoyed this!!
Eight Perfect Hours by Lia Louis
Overall
I didn’t really enjoy this one. It felt like a miss for me. I didn't sense much of a chemistry between any of the characters. And sometimes there’s finding a relatable read that feels like it’s a chapter out of your own life, and then there’s just reading your own life so much that you don’t want to hear it anymore. I think that’s how this book felt for me. There were too many overlaps between the lead’s life and mine and yet, I just didn’t enjoy it. There was a place where the book should have ended but it didn’t, instead continuing on to a short chapter after. It should have ended there, after that but nope, YET another short chapter. Could have also ended there but no, wait for it, there was an epilogue. The constant links to the traumatic events that are seemingly affecting both leads to this day felt like grasping at threads and there were too many sub-plots. It was a very difficult read and I ended up skipping multiple paragraphs just to get to the end. I wouldn't recommend it.
Overall
I think it was an okay movie. It makes for an easy watch when you want something simple. I would give it major points for: 1. its modern take to suit the current era of dating apps. 2. updates to the classic tropes. 3. some truly sweet and clever moments. Buttttt that's about it. I didn't sense much of a chemistry between the leads even though they played their individual roles very well. There wasn't something unique to the movie that makes me want to say watch this for this reason. Like, it's supposed to be different yet it feels like every other holiday movie ever. The first 20 minutes were ripe with cliches and forced dialogues to seem current but it gets better after that. If you ask me this movie could have been a lot better, then again, it easily could have been a lot worse too. Watch it after a LONG day at work if you don't want to binge the same series for the fifty-second time but also don't want to start a whole new thing because you don't feel like you have the capacity for it!
Overall
It’s funny, it’s warm (visually and story-wise) and the visuals are breathtaking - I mean Disney’s animation is just *chef’s kiss. I liked that there were no “villains” to battle, instead choosing to focus on inner growth and that overall, the movie was more metaphorical and up to individual interpretations rather than a cohesive and a straight forward story. I’m generally in favour of this shift that Disney has been making over the years with Frozen, Moana, Raya and the Last Dragon. So, I quite liked how unlike previous Disney movies this was - just a heads-up in case you’re looking for the classic Disney vibes. Huge points for the diversity in representation and having a lead with glasses! It had more of a musical vibe to it rather than a movie with songs which I also found enjoyable. But there was something not quite memorable about this film. It didn’t stay with me after it ended and I felt like they didn’t NAIL the Disney movie expectations we all have. For some reason, the movie felt a little tame, I don’t know how else to describe it. It felt like a good 20 minutes or so of plot had been removed. There just wasn’t that “punch” and so I didn’t come out of the movie feeling energised and inspired like I had hoped to, it was more of a “Meh, I guess I’ll go back to my life where it’s pressure like a drip, drip, drip that'll never stop.”
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