Rabbit Reads

I will read almost anything once.

So I'm doing nano this year.

Just short stories because poetry was too hard. So one story a day doesn't sound too bad. :P

SPOILER ALERT!

The Collector

The Collector - John Fowles

This was fun. A twisted fun. I mean this book is fucked up, in a vintage pulp fiction way. The writing was actually decent, hence the 4 star rating. Also the ending was fucked up, I will say one thing there is no happy ending, but life doesn't always have a happy ending especially in these circumstances.

writing fiction is hard

I really struggle with writing fiction. A lot actually. Most of my ideas are just themes, or the few story ideas that I did pursue no longer feel right to write more than the initial rough draft that I didn't even completely finish.

 

One story in particular, was to be an erotic coming of age story that was sort of based on my own experiences in my early twenties that honestly was not that long ago. The problem is that is something I no longer have interest in exploring. That relationship was with a narcissist and I don't want to give her more attention. Also being in no contact whatsoever for the last 2+ years has done wonders to not only my self-esteem, self-love, my marriage, etc. Not to say that I still don't have my issues about the whole relationship. One of the many things that I am working through in therapy. Dating a narcissist possibly a sociopath, who's game was not only cheating, but emotional and mental abuse and gas-lighting and other forms of mind fuckery. I wasted four years of my life in that relationship- both romantic and an attempt at friendship, and who knows how long it will take to fully process everything. *sighs* So I really don't want to write the story anymore. I have poetry for that, and deciding which poems to publish eventually is already hard enough. Where is the line between giving a narcissist indirect attention and expressing the experience? There is no obvious answer, I currently believe. Maybe one day I will be able to come to this narrative in fiction, but with a totally different angle. I don't know, all I know is that it's not right now.

 

My other fiction idea that I have been thinking of more heavily pursuing has been a serial killer horror story. My twist on it though is the narrative being heavily from the victims' perspective. So far what I've written has been vignettes with not a lot of connections to one another, but who knows, maybe it will one day work with more effort and A LOT of editing.

 

At least I still have my poetry. ^___^

Eclipse

Eclipse - Stephenie Meyer

This book made me start the fake hashtag #FreeBella2K15 because this book brought out the douchebags and fuckboys.



I used to be Bella/Jacob 4 life, but re-reading this book, really changed that for me, even for the early books. Why? Because Jacob is a fuckboy. It wasn't in the first book, but by the second book the seeds are sewn. Then we have the third book were he has bloomed into a fuckboy flower. He was so entitled and full on forcibly kissed her to the point were she broke her own hand in the process of fighting him off. Later it led to manipulative kisses in some weird bet between him and Edward.



Some people will probably be wondering why I am all for freeing Bella. I may not like the character, because she is a badly written paperboard cut-out that is used for the reader to self-insert themselves into the story. So while I dislike the character for that reason, I still feel pity for her. Even self-insert blank female characters don't deserve this shit. So yes, #FreeBella2K15.

Edward continues to be a winner by being an abusive asshat. Nothing new here.



Charlie continues to be a shitty parent, who occasionally parents but in the worst ways ever. He earns my wrath for laughing and congratulating Jacob on forcibly kissing Bella and the resulted broken hand. Remember Charlie has no idea that Jacob is a werewolf. I mean this is not how a parent should re-act to this situation especially the sheriff.



There are other things like shitty writing and slow, meandering, bloated plot-line that could lose a few hundred pages and retain all necessary information. Sloppy writing. Sloppy editing.



Web of Dreams

Web of Dreams - Andrew Neiderman, V.C. Andrews

Trigger Warning: Rape mention. Child sex abuse mention.

V.C Andrews is my ultimate guilty pleasure read (currently). I mean it's trashy tragic over-dramatic gothic-influenced horror, that I eat up with a spoon. #NoRegrets #SorryNotSorry





The author used foreshadowing with the subtlety of a sledgehammer. I saw the rape of her stepdad coming from a mile away. It was still pretty squicky, not gonna lie.



Also that doll. That freaky doll that Leigh had to pose in the nude (at 12 years old!) for her step dad to paint and later sculpt, which served as a catalyst for the rape itself. That whole plot line made my skin crawl. The whole grooming and sexual molestation was skeevy. I'm glad that the ghostwriter portrayed it as it really was, as wrong and exploitative.



I felt really bad for Leigh, because I understood how she felt, the wanting to tell people, and when you do, sometimes people call you a liar and/or slut-- sometimes the other parent. It really sucks, but it's real. I admire the bravery of survivors who reach out are believed, and have the abuser(s) get prosecuted. Let's not forget about the bravery of those who have their voice silenced either because of dissociation/repressing or threats by the abuser, and even those who make excuses and apologize the rapist. We are still brave. I didn't realize until now how much this plot-line has really affected me.



So this book took me on a whirlwind of emotions from lolz to sadz.

Bygones

Bygones - LaVyrle Spencer

Bought this book because Bess and Michael have my irl last name. :P

Read (9/7/15):

2 stars, because there was some really lolzy parts-- the retro, dated 80's references.



The pot smoking scene. Not the H/h, mind you, but their druggy son. LOLZ for dayz.



I did not like this book because of the fact they predominately blamed the heroine for the hero's cheating. The only person to blame for cheating is the cheater. No one "made" you cheat.



I don't mind the cheating plot-line, as long as people don't blame the person who got cheated on for the cheating, especially in modern day times. Also if you are gonna redeem the cheater at least make it believable.



Also the daughter who wants her parents to re-marry, what are you 5? (she's 21+ in this book). Your parents divorced for a reason, and it doesn't mean that they should get back together, lets be real.



Don't mind me, I'm a jaded child of divorced parents and for a time, a single mother. I'm tired of the worn out stereotypes of divorce and single motherhood. And the kids after a divorce-- don't get me started, especially when they are adults.



Night Film

Night Film - Marisha Pessl

Pre-Reading (5/5/15): My stepdad got me this book for my birthday last month. He told me when he was reading it, he thought I would love it. This is a reminder, to myself, to tell him that I started it today.

Read Pre-Review (8/31/15): Review to come once my thoughts stop going WTF did I just read? I would give it 5+ stars if I could. One of the best books I've read so far this year. My step-dad DOES know me well hahahahaha


This is me right now, tbh.

The Actual Review (8/31/15):

I don't even know how to review this book articulately, right now. All I can think about is the movie version of this book (if they make it, please let it be an art-house horror movie).

I will say that I was really blown away by her writing on this one; so far her writing seems to be getting better and better with each book. I eagerly await her next book.



If you want a more analytical review, read Jess's, Edwards', and Nenia's reviews because they articulate so much better than me right now. I hope they don't mind me linking their reviews here, let me know if you want me to remove it. :)

I'm just going to do a shallow movie casting, because that was one thing going through my mind while reading this book is who would be directing/acting in the movie version. I never do fancasting so this will be fun. I am not a film expert at all, so I could be making a disastrous casting. I'm curious to see others fancasting as well. Comment me yours, if you want. :D

Note: As far as I'm aware of, they are not currently making a movie adaptation. Also my choices will not be 100% accurate to the book.

Director: Kubrick. But he is dead so... Burton or Alfonso Cuarón.

Ashley Cordova: Jennifer Lawrence (if you want more mainstream) or Katharine Isabelle (if you want a more indie feel to it)





Scott McGrath: Ben Affleck. (Honestly, this character was really hard for me to cast). Honestly, I'm open to better suggestions.



Nora: Jane Levy



Stanislas Cordova: Donald Sutherland



Hopper: Freddy Rodriguez



Cleo: (Honestly one of my fave characters, her few scenes were really awesome. I don't remember if there was an ethnicity for the character but my mind sees her as an African American).

Ungela Brockman



The Spider/The Priest: Tim Curry (I know he doesn't act anymore, but let me dream, because he would be perfect for this role).



There are other characters but I couldn't think of anyone in particular to play them.

Valley of the Dolls

Valley of the Dolls - Jacqueline Susann

This review will have some serious spoilers, so this is your warning.

This book was a trashy glorious book. It does not hold back on the punches.

I wouldn't call it sexy, but I will call it tragic.



Jennifer:



Neely:



Anne:



Helen:



Watching the downward spiral of Neely and Jennifer was really sad but also entertaining. When I actually got to reading it I finished the book in 2 days. Anne didn't have a downward spiral, other than dating a lot of entitled assholes and taking downers when her husband was cheating on her with Neely. My thoughts on that will come later.



Neely was sad for me to read, especially when she started to go on her downward spiral like a nose dive. I really related to her in my own way. Her self-destruction she couldn't stop and it didn't help that everyone enabled her addictions and self-destruction. It makes me glad that I am not a celebrity. I was actually surprised that she didn't actually successfully commit suicide, and Jennifer did. Her character had such depth that it made all the other characters pale in comparison.



Helen was quite a character herself and served as a prediction to what Neely will turn into. Sparks always flew when Neely and Helen had to share a room.



Jennifer and Anne lacked a lot of depth to me. Anne was the good girl we were supposed to relate to/be. It felt like Jennifer was nothing but window dressing and a potential to have depth, so it was a little disappointing.

I was going to rate this book 5 stars, but I hated the ending. Neely cheating with Anne's husband was so out-of-character, the girls would have never done that to each other, no matter what.

I don't know how different the movie is compared to the book, but I can't wait to watch it.

The Godfather (Mario Puzo's Mafia #1)

The Godfather - Mario Puzo

This book is not for the faint of heart. It has violence, murder, and sexy times. Also cheating.



This book was great, really engaging in it's story telling. It sucked me in. The descriptions were really vivid. I felt like I was there. It was like watching a movie.



Don Vito was my favorite character.



It lived up to the hype.

I can't wait to watch the movie! :D

Body of Evidence (Kay Scarpetta #2)

Body of Evidence - Patricia Cornwell

I actually prefer the later books to the early books. I think her writing got stronger.

Mariano was so unlikeable in the early books.

Silent Treatment

Silent Treatment - Michael Palmer

This was a pretty fun medical thriller. This has been one of my favorite medical thrillers so far.



I only rated it three stars because the whole innocent person getting framed trope causes me a lot of anxiety. Not in a good way either for me a lot of the time. I don't know why. I've DNFed books for that reason alone. I understand why writers use that trope though.

The Amityville Horror

The Amityville Horror - Jay Anson

As a non-fiction book we'll just say I'm a bit skeptical.



As a fiction book it was awesomely bad. I mean that with all respect. The writing could have used a lot of polishing up. To be fair I was reading an ebook version, so that could be mostly why there were lots of typos/wrong words used.

Some of these typos/wrong words verged on awkward and took me out of the story.



It was such a pulpy book. I've read a few demon possessed houses and demon possessed people books before. Some were amazeballs. Like grade A horror right there, this one was good only because it was like reading a pulp fiction paperback. I've also read A LOT worse.



I still say I preferred the movie, but I've only seen the first one.



YES

A thunderstorm is coming our way. I can hear the thunder in the distance. It was raining most of the day yesterday. Living in SoCal this is great. Being in a severe drought and missing the rain (personally). We are under flash flood warning for our area, but i'm still excited.



I still need to review books, which I'm hoping to do soon.

The Boy and the Peddler of Death (The Tale of Onora #1)

The Boy and the Peddler of Death - Dylan Saccoccio, Falon Alexander-Brink, Virginie Carquin



If you don't get the reference, this gif is from the song by En Vogue called "Never Gonna Get it (My Lovin')". So this book is never gonna get my love.

 

ETA: The link to the review in question, the author has been banned but there is links to screen caps on page 8 of the comments. https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1299877698

Reblogged from Bark at the Ghouls:

Been there.......

On Writers

Reblogged from Derrolyn Anderson:

 

I'm probably closest to a cross between Dickens & Freud, LOL.

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