Book - The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty

"My darling Cecilia, if you’re reading this, then I’ve died..."

The first book I've read by this author was What Alice Forgot and I enjoyed it, so I decided to read another one. 

This book focus on the lives of 3 different Australian women. Cecilia and Rachel both live in Sydney and Tess lives in Melbourne. Cecilia is a 40-something happily married mom of 3 young daughters. Tess is a slightly younger woman from Melbourne whose husband's said he's in love with her best friend, who happens to be her cousin. After learning this, Tess moves to Sydney with her son to be closer to her mother. Rachel is a school secretary in her 60's and her daughter, Janie, was murdered in the 80's by an unknown killer. She lives everyday in deep pain and becomes obsessed with the thought that a school teacher, who was the last one to be seen with Janie, killed her.

One of Cecilia's daughters has an obsession with the Berlin Wall, and she told her daughter she had a piece of the Wall in the attic, from when she was there many years ago. She went to the attic to get it and instead she found a letter in a envelope from her husband who wrote to only open it at the event of his death. She later confronted him and he begged her not to open. She couldn't resist her curiosity and she did it. What she found a very shocking and life changing fact for the 3 women and the others evolved.

I really liked this story. Although the mystery of the letter is revealed not so far ahead in the book, the big revelations are not made until the very end, and the final part was bittersweet. I feel it all was well put together, except the events and all the details concerning Tess, which I think it had little to do with the main focus of the story. I could connect with the indecisions and doubts of the characters. It explores love, loss, guilt, revenge and ethic behavior. 
 
Have you read it? If you have read and enjoyed more books like this one, tell me in the comments. :)
Rate: 4.5/5 

Book - Where'd You Go, Bernardette by Maria Semple

"Just because it's complicated, just because you think you can't ever know everything about another person, it doesn't mean you can't try."

Where'd You Go, Bernardette was very popular when it came out in 2012 and a movie adaptation is coming this March. I loved the book's cover and I enjoy chick-lit and light reads, so I decided to read this on kindle.

Bernardette Fox is a woman in her early 50's who lives in Seattle with her husband Elgin, who works at Microsoft, her daughter Bee, a 15 year old school prodigy, and their dog. The book starts with Bee asking her parents to take her on a Christmas trip to Antarctica and them promising her they'd go. 

Bernardette is a wacky character who doesn't like social interaction and is despised by the parents of her daughter's school (a group of upper class moms she calls gnats who desperately want to be the perfect parents) because she doesn't contribute to school activities. She avoids talking to people so much she hired a personal assistant from India to help her with her basic needs. Nonetheless she gets along with her daughter very well, who is portrayed in a very childlike manner, although she is a teenager.

The storytelling is unconventional, being entirely told in the form of letters, e-mails, notes, and occasionally from Bee's perspective. I feel like apart from Bernardette, all of the characters were undeveloped and some of the writings came from people completely unfamiliar, which made it harder for me to empathize with them. 

When I started reading this book I didn't think it'd take so long to get to the main point: Bernardette's disappearance. More than half of the story is an explanation of why she acted like she did, her loss of control, her reckless behavior and conflicts with the people surrounding her. 

The ending part was abrupt, predictable, full of unnecessary information (which got me bored), and obviously unrealistic, but I get the book is a satire of an outcast in an upper class neighborhood and is not supposed to be believable. It also has references to the Seattle area and Microsoft that I didn't get. I did like the writing style, although some of the letters were too big.

The first part was entertaining and I kept reading because I was curious to discover more about Bernardette and what would happen to her, but after I knew where she was it became completely dull. I was disappointed.

Rate: 3/5

Movie - Mid90's from Jonah Hill

*spoilers*

This movie follows Stevie, a 13 year old who lives in what I think it's the suburbs of LA with his single mother and older brother. Tired of his family environment and of being bullied by his brother, he wants an escape. When he spots a group of older teenagers skating in front of a skate store, he approaches them and starts hanging out with them. 

Desperately wanting to fit in with the cooler kids, he learns how to skate and starts doing things he wasn't familiar and comfortable with. The group enjoys being with him and they form an unlikely friendship, which is obviously not approved by Stevie's mother and his brother. 

The movie reflects on growing up, the future and having goals. It also shows what alcohol and drugs can do to a young person. I think the main character looked younger than 13, and I found it hard to believe he was actually accepted in a group where only one person was around his age, and the others 17 or so.

The bedroom scene with the older girl was cringe-worthy, and when his mother goes to the store to yell at the other kids saying Stevie was never going to see them again, he just came back the next day like nothing happened. 

There are movies with similar plots, so it brings nothing new. On a positive note I liked the visuals, the movie looked like it was actually filmed in the 90's. The acting was very natural. It's not a long movie and I didn't get bored, but I feel like it's very forgettable.

Rate: 3/5

Book - Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens

                                           

This is the first book I've read in my new Kindle, and my last read of 2018. It takes place in the 50's and 60's and follows the story of Kya, a girl who lives in the outskirts of a small town in North Carolina, in the marsh. She was abandoned by her siblings and mother, who left to escape an abusive father. Her father ended up leaving Kya as well so she is left on her own from a young age and soon learned to survive alone, selling mussels to the owner of a local store.  The residents spread rumors about her because of her lifestyle and school was proved to be a terrible experience. Nonetheless she was a smart girl with great talent. The book goes back and forth between when she's growing up, her experiences with love and loss, her passion for the wildlife of the marsh and when she's being charged with the murder of a man she knew. I loved everything about this book! It has beautiful descriptions of nature, and it explores loneliness and prejudice. I imagined beautiful scenarios in my head and felt an emotional attachment to Kya. The writing style is beautiful too.  Rate: 5/5

Movie - Le Gran Bain from Gilles Lellouche

                                         

Yesterday me and my boyfriend went to the cinema to watch a French movie, Le Grand Bain (Sink or Swim). It was featured in Cannes Film Festival but it was screened out of competition. I've watched some French movies, some from the Nouvelle Vague period and some comedies, which are generally quite funny. 

This one is different from the comedies I'm used to, since it's more dramatic.   Le Grand Bain is about a man, Bertrand, who is in his 40's, has been unemployed for 2 years and is depressed about it. Instead of continuing to spend his days  doing nothing, he decides to join the all-male synchronized swimming team at his local pool. 

There, he is trained by a woman and meets other men dealing with their own problems. Together they are understanding and helpful with each other, while trying to find meaning in their lives. They're teased for doing something associated with women, but they're able to stay focused towards their goal.

I really enjoyed the movie, the visuals and angles were great. I loved the music and the dancing parts were funny. I liked what the movie was about, it caught my attention because the theme is unique and creative. 

It had its silly parts, but overall it was money well spent. I recommend it!

Here's the trailer. I don't watch trailers except in the cinema...It tells almost the entire story!

Rate: 4/5

Book - First Review - The Flavours of Love by Dorothy Koomson

                                                               

           

So, this is my first review in the blog. I published this in my Goodreads account yesterday. (https://www.goodreads.com/mariainesmbd).

*spoilers*

I read this book recently, and it was a quick reading. I read it in 3 or 4 days. 
It's entertaining, but unrealistic. The flirt between Saffron and her daughter's teacher made no sense, due to the circumstances in which they met. And later, the love triangle between her, the teacher and Fynn felt forced as well, considering her husband was Fynn's best friend, was murdered not so long ago and the case was still unresolved. Very cliché.
 
Basically, I think the book was too long and full of information that wasn't really relevant to the story (e.g Saffron's eating disorder). I feel that Saffron was taking everything that was happening too lightly, specially regarding her daughter's pregnancy. She keeps avoiding the situation and speaks to her like nothing has happened, even though it's a big deal and she's just fourteen.

What happened with Imogen's husband and Phoebe didn't made much sense as well since the baby's father was Curtis after all. It was irritating how Saffron treated her daughter like she was a grown-up, even when she had information about Joel's death.

I didn't like the first-person narration, it had too many long unnecessary descriptions. I think Aunt Betty was the only likable character, but the reason she came to Saffron's place was just stupid. The thriller part was pretty much the only interesting part because although it is revealed in the beginning who killed Joel, it was difficult to predict if the murderer would eventually get caught by Saffron while spying her and it was what kept me going.
 
I wouldn't recommend this book. I have read other books by this author, My Best Friend's Girl and Marshmallows for Breakfast and they're better.
Rate: 2/5