Thendral's Take: March 2021
The Flatshare by Beth O'Leary
Plot
Tiffy is broke and needs an apartment ASAP when she chances upon a weird arrangement - a male nurse (Leon) who works night shifts is willing to share his apartment (which is primarily a bedroom) in exchange for a very small rent. The deal is they will never bump into each other because of their working hours and Leon visits family over the weekend - during which Tiffy can have the apartment to herself. As roommates, they start to leave little notes for each other which eventually grows into them meeting!
My Thoughts
This was so cute and was the embodiment of this emoji: 🥺 ! Both protagonists have their own lives and own growth to do individually and as a couple. And I loved their individual personalities! They are the kind of couple who I imagine would work in real life. Them getting together is a very slow process and one that's very wholesome and fluffy and makes you feel like a marshmallow. Despite that, the book tackles a lot of serious themes. The characters stayed with me a long time, and I think I would be remembering this book for a long time as well. Honestly, I wish I had more to say but I'm stumped and can only go "I loved ittttt 🥺🥺🥺!"
The only thing I needed some time to warm up was the male character's point of view as the book alternates between the two main characters' points of view!
Overall
Those of you who know me know I LOVE Sophie Kinsella and if you do as well, or are looking for your next chick flick, make it this one! I don't know what else to say other than the whole story read like something that could have happened to me or a friend I know - it's so realistic which gives you a bit of wishful thinking. Perfect for people like me who like to see the world through rose-tinted glasses!
The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides
Plot
I can't do this without spoilers so I'm not going to.
My Thoughts
READ THIS. It took me all of 3 hours as it's impossible to put down. It moves fast, I gasped at the first twist and dropped the book at the second. It's been soooo long since I read SUCH a good thriller and I absolutely LOVED this. I feel like I have to read it again to pick up on the clues that were scattered along. And EVERYTHING just seems different knowing what I know now. The only thing I can think of to point in terms of similarity in tone and setting is the movie Get Out.
My only point of contention is it's been SO long since I read a book by a male author and I forgot how... different the writing could be from a female author (think Three Hours by Rosamund Lupton). But this is purely a personal preference and does not detract from the appeal of the book in any way.
Overall
If you love a good thriller or are just looking for the next book to read, LET IT BE THIS ONE! You won't regret it! This book was a work of art, guys. A true work of art. I'm going to watch this author very closely for his next book.
One to Watch by Kate Stayman-London
Plot
On a drunk night, plus-size fashion blogger, Bea (Beatrice) accidentally writes a scathing blog post taking down reality TV dating shows for showing people as Barbies and Kens and publishes it. Sometime later, she is contacted by the producers of the very show, asking her to be "the bachelorette" for the next season. She accepts and finds herself among 25 men all vying for her attention, something she's never used to. And oh, she's still kinda hung up on someone else. She thought by joining the show she could present the notion that plus-sized people can find love too, boost her own blog and enjoy all those trips and places the show will whisk you away for dates. Except, reality is far more complicated than that.
My Thoughts
The main character was self-aware, gets called out for her poor behaviour when she's acting so, and has a healthy amount of confidence that gets chipped away at times but finds her footing nonetheless (I don't know about you but I think people who are confident ALL the time are inhuman. I'm both afraid and in awe of such people. I just find it easier to relate to people who have some self-confidence issues). Listen, anyone who says they've never dated someone or at least had a crush on someone so clearly wrong for them and was hung up on them for a while is lying - this book explores that but in a unique way.
I loved the representation and all of these diverse people were more than that - their race or physical appearances and the stereotypes attached to them. One thing that surprised me about this book is that it features an asexual character. I don't know about you but I've never come across a book with asexual/ aromantic representation, no less one in a book about dating! I thought that was very cool!
I cannot think of something I didn't like - many things in this book were too close to home, and at times, too close for comfort, provoking suppressed memories. So reading this book was like watching myself living through an alternate dimension and actually making it out okay. Which is just ❤️ The book also has many modes of text throughout - online articles, blogposts, podcast transcripts, which made for a very interesting read and it's what made me get sucked into the whole thing, kinda like how you get sucked into a reality TV show. And for a book centred around on reality TV, I think it really showed the reality of people and social media.
Overall
I felt hurt for Bea, angry, happy and loads of things - like I always say, if you love Sophie Kinsella as much as I do, I think you're going to love this book too! It's a very smart and funny take on reality dating TV shows! I loved the message it went for and that it ended on a Happily Ever After ending just to keep me happy (although if you ask me, this ending can be completely taken as "optional") and I had a really good time!
I think of all the Disney Princess movies and the themes they have presented so far, this one fits our current political climate the BEST. It's funny, you have the best sidekicks of course and it is everything you want to see in a Disney movie. I'm impressed they pulled this together during the lockdown period because these characters could actually be in hair commercials and nail commercials! Nail like fingernail!! The way animation has EVOLVED right before our eyes is fantastical and frankly a little terrifying as well! The last Disney princess movie that was out was Frozen 2 (we will not speak of the live action Mulan remake here) and I find it interesting that both Frozen 2 and Raya delve into deeper, darker themes. If this is the tone Disney is going to adopt moving forward, it's very cool because it encourages conversation with kids and a bit more awareness around such issues as well.
But I do have some points of concern with representation: Other than Raya Herself, most of the main characters were voiced by people of East Asian descent and not South East Asian. There are 5 tribes in the movie and I thought I would see 5 distinct Southeast Asian countries or cultures represented. But they fused it all into one. And while you can go "Look Vietnamese spring rolls!" or "That looks like Thai Tom Yum soup" and "Oh this is Indonesia's Wayang Kulit (shadow puppetry)", they are not distinct to each tribe presented. They all overlap and fuse into 1. Which felt a littleeee, just a little reductive. I don't know if Disney did this because with Moana, people felt the representation was there but not up to par.
I loved Raya the princess herself. She's strong, smart, badass and she's got grit. Her adversary Namaari is just as cool too. But the stakes Raya had, the growth that Raya had to experience didn't exactly resonate with me. Because 1. In the sense that, "you just have to trust even your enemies to work together" works wonders in theory but in a world where we are seeing the re-emergence of racial supremacists, I don't know how that transfers practically. And this is coming from me - 2. Someone who has an issue with naively trusting people to begin with already.
But here's the thing. There were quite a number of kids under 10 in the theatre and they were LAUGHING away, they were clearly very involved in the movie. And I think that's what matters? Maybe the current sociopolitical climate is not something our generation can solve but maybe it will be the ones after us? Children don't come into this world hating and if that is this movie's message and it manages to transfer to them, then I'm choosing to hope for a better tomorrow.
Overall
I don't know if it's because they did this during a pandemic, but it felt like it was lacking just a little something. Like they could have pushed everything just a little more. But it's a great Disney movie nonetheless, it's NOT one to skip out on. I think ticket prices are different from country to country so if it's cheaper for you to go to the theatres, go to the theatres. If it's cheaper for you to watch via Disney's Premier Access, do that. If you want to wait until it's available on Disney under regular subscription, that's fine too! Just don't miss out on it!
I need you to understand there's no way I can talk about this show objectively. My heart BREAKS for Wanda. She has so much love to give, but no one to share it with. Wanda was dubbed the strongest avenger by the Russo Brothers and it was incredible to FINALLY see what makes her so. Within the MCU movies, her character goes through SO MUCH yet it always feels like she was sidelined. She could have taken out Thanos by herself and she was on-screen for like what? Barely 30 mins of ALL the movies so far? So it was amazing to finally see her have the screen time and attention she deserves. We don't even need to talk about Elizabeth Olsen's powerhouse performance. Oh, and her new costume is EVERYTHING.
Let's talk about some of the other things about the TV series. Like the dialogue, which made me cry BUCKETS. Why can't they just give us something happier and nicer after Endgame? What is this ASSAULT they have decided to wage on my heart?? The script was very, very unique - firstly, in the way they did the whole thing as a sitcom with commercials and secondly, with Wanda's character arc. Hers is unlike any other MCU characters we have seen so far - emotionally and in terms of her powers. I wished there was a bit more of action sequences but honestly, it wouldn't have added any value to the plot. This is purely a personal preference and something I expected to see based on MCU movies and Agents of SHIELD.
We also get to meet Monica Rambeau. We still don't know how her power works but I guess they're setting her up for future movies so that's fine. I hope she has more interactions with Jimmy Woo. Also, I don't know how this sounds but I can't help but wish I had an hourglass figure like her. There are mid-credits scenes in most of the episodes and the last episode has a post-credits scene as well. It's not lost on me that the way this post-credits scene was set up is fairly similar to a MCU character we've seen before. My jaw dropped and so in other words, I need more of Wanda like right now and Phase 4 can't get here fast enough.
Overall
If you've kept up with the MCU so far, WATCH IT. I finished the whole thing back to back in like 5 hours. I might watch the whole thing again to pick up on the clues that were planted throughout the show for the grand finale.
I think what makes WandaVision so special during a time like this is that Wanda decided to shove her grief deep, deep down and escape into an alternate, false reality with laugh tracks. Which is not dissimilar to many of us right now or at least me - where I try to escape reality and find rosier, happier things through Netflix and Disney+ and books. Because it's just easier. Of course the extent of Wanda's grief, loss and trauma is very, very different to mine but I just thought this is a very interesting time to release this miniseries. Watching it was a very cathartic experience (which explains all the crying) which is also why I said, I can't talk about this objectively. This show beat my heart.
I absolutely loved the portrayal of different girls - races, transgender girls, immigrant gitls - because if feminism is only serving white women/ first world women, it is not feminism, right? I wish the movie would have pushed everything a bit more - if you're going for the "teen girl discovers feminism" angle, I expected a bit more. Especially more on the diverse experiences of all these girls they showed. Instead there were plenty of side plots I found unnecessary and a wasted opportunity. So it felt like it was missing a bit of punch. And like these side characters' stories were slightly glossed over.
It's the POV of a white teen which definitely will give you some mismatch in experiences - like talking back to your mum. But it's still so relatable. Which is so sad when you think about it! - that you're nodding along and eyerolling at the issues teenagers are facing - and you wonder "aren't they too young to deal with this??"" And then you realise you YOURSELF were too young to be dealing with all this when you did!
Overall
I think it's a timely movie and easy to like. I think kids these days are a lot bolder than I was at that age and they're ready to fight for change. So I hope this movie gives them the push they need or encourages them that they're are on the right path.
Coming of age movies are generally not my thing - they were hardly my thing when I was that age eas well! But nonetheless, I enjoyed this movie. It made me wish there was social media and a revolution when I was in school at that age. Watch it if you want a slightly easy-breezy watch if you have some time to kill!
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