One night, Molly Clarke walked away from her life. The car abandoned miles from home. The note found at a nearby hotel. The shattered family that couldn’t be put back together. It happens all the time. Women disappear, desperate to leave their lives behind and start over. She doesn’t want to be found. Or at least, that’s the story. But is that what really happened to Molly Clarke?
The night Molly disappeared began with a storm, running out of gas, and a man in a truck offering her a ride to town. With him is a little girl who reminds her of the daughter she lost years ago. It feels like a sign. And Molly is overcome with the desire to be home, with her family—no matter how broken it is. She accepts the ride. But when the doors are locked shut, Molly begins to suspect she has made a terrible mistake.
When a new lead comes in after the search has ended, Molly’s daughter, Nicole, begins to wonder. Nothing about her mother’s disappearance makes sense.
Nicole returns to the small, desolate town where her mother was last seen to find the truth. The locals are kind and eager to help. The innkeeper. The bartender. Even the police. Until secrets begin to reveal themselves and she comes closer to the truth about that night—and the danger surrounding her.
Welcome to another buddy review! This time we’re once again tackling another thriller. We have found that it’s nice to be able to discuss the suspense and our theorycrafting as we read through the book simultaneously. Below we have outlined the main elements of our discussion, enjoy!
Let’s Talk Bookish is a weekly meme, hosted by Rukky @ Eternity Books & Dani @ Literary Lion, where they discuss certain topics, share their opinions, and spread the love by visiting each others’ posts.
APRIL 23: HOW READING AFFECTS MENTAL HEALTH (SUGGESTED BY KRISTIN @ LUKTEN AV TRYKKSVERTE)
Prompts: In what ways does reading affect your mental health? Does it affect your mental health positively or negatively at certain times, and why? How do you find a balance to keep up with reading while being mindful of your mental health? Do triggers, bookish controversies, and things like that affect your health a lot more than you let on?
This is such an interesting topic. I am not sure it really affects my “mental health” in the traditional sense of the word, but reading surely affects my mental state. As it should, right? To be so absorbed into a book where the feelings being elicited by the book are pretty much your own and not the character’s anymore.
I think there’s two ways to think about how it affects me (kind of similar to dreams and nightmares, to be honest): one, the book elicits a bunch of happy fuzzy feelings the same way a dream would, but then after I’m done, may leave me feeling a bit empty. On the other hand, dark and thrilling books always twist my gut and leave me (almost) anxious like a nightmare, but finishing it and waking up to reality is kind of like a refreshing relief. Anybody else know what I mean?
This always made me confused whether I preferred good or bad dreams, since the feeling of waking up and having the illusion dispelled is just a strong a feeling as having the dream in the first place. For what it’s worth, I tend to like reading mysteries and thrillers, so it seems like I value the feeling afterwards more.
Timing definitely matters a lot as well. Isn’t this the whole reason that as readers we’re not always inclined to read the same types of books all the time? There are times for the adventure, the mystery, the suspense. But at other times we also just want to chill with our favourite (possibly guilty) romance/romantic comedy novels. If you’re feeling anxious in real life, you probably aren’t going to want to increase anxiety by reading a scary psychological thriller. I think timing has always been an potent factor in determining whether a book is enjoyable.
To combat this, I think just picking books for what you feel like, and not pushing yourself too far tends to work best. There really isn’t a need to read a book when you don’t feel like it (most of the time). Yes there are probably some times where you have to power through for the sake of a deadline – but even then, pushing yourself too far is never good. Remember to be honest with yourself with how much you can take, mental health is so important to take care of.
Lastly, I think controversial topics that I read about in books do actually affect me a lot. Not to the point where it drastically alters my life or anything, but does sometimes leave me feeling cynical or jaded. While it’s not often that I actively hide such a feeling, I suppose I do not always volunteer these types of emotions either. I wouldn’t say they affect my overall mental health much, but I do admit that my mood can be heavily influenced by something I read.
I feel that in general reading books generally betters mental health though? Or at least I feel like I use books as an escape sometimes, and therefore it offers me reprieve from the harsh realities of the real world. So realistically, books shouldn’t make me feel worse, otherwise I would just not read them! What do you all think?
That’s a wrap for this week! Remember to follow Rukky and Dani on their respective blogs, which is linked above. Feel free to leave your own suggestions for LTB topics as well while you’re over there!
Hey everyone! In anticipation of the Netflix drop of Shadow and Bone tomorrow, I am reminiscing on some relatively better adaptations of YA movies or TV shows. I do say relatively, because of course it really depends on the person and how much they loved/know of the source material it was based on. So if we disagree, know that I see and hear your opinions too.
Okay, now where shall we begin?
I am not ordering this by any means since I can hardly compare a well-done dystopian to a good contemporary on important issues. But these are the ones I think of when I acknowledge that sometimes, these adaptations are as great on its own or (sacrilegiously) better than the source.
Vampire Academy
Synopsis: Rose, a half-human, half-vampire, must do whatever it takes to protect her best friend Lissa, the princess of the Moroi, from enemies both inside and outside the walls of St. Vladimir’s Academy.
I loved this??! Is that weird? But Zoey Deutch just impersonates the character of Rose Hathaway to everything I ever imagined when I read that book. She’s spunky, smart-mouthed, a spitball of energy. I think she carried this movie ‘cause otherwise it may have just been more predictably lacklustre without her. It’s just another vampire movie/story, as people would say, but there is only ever one Rose Hathaway.
Love, Simon
Synopsis: Simon Spier keeps his sexual orientation a secret from his family. However, when a blackmailer threatens to reveal it, he goes on a roller-coaster journey to come to terms with his identity.
I watched this in theatres with my friend, who is trans, when it first came out (he had already watched this twice and was willing to watch it again with me for a third time). And I wasn’t certain at first if Nick Robinson, an actor who seemed rather straight from his previous roles, could carry Simon’s character well. But I was blown away by the movie overall and the feels that came by the end of it.
The Hate U Give
Synopsis: Starr Carter, an African-American teenager, faces pressure from various communities and tries to stand up for what is right after she witnesses the shooting of her best friend by the police.
A particularly anticipated movie after the crazy success of the book, I’m sure many people had super high expectations for it. Personally, I don’t criticize adaptations too heavily because I come in with low expectations that probably wouldn’t live up to the source material (it wouldn’t have been optioned for a film if it hadn’t been good in some way). But I thought this movie did a great job at carrying the message it needed to carry, and I’m stoked it was able to reach people who don’t normally have the time to read a book.
Before I Fall
Synopsis: Samantha Kingston seems to have it all: popularity, a loving boyfriend and a seemingly perfect future. Everything changes in the blink of an eye when she dies in a car crash but then magically wakes up to find herself reliving the same day over and over again.
Okay, yes, this is another movie starring Zoey Deutch. I love her, okay? I think that is already evident. But while the book was nice enough in my mind, especially showcasing the consequences of a mean girl who has to relive her last day over and over again, the movie I think does an even better job of it. All the emotions that are present in the book are just amplified in the movie as we get to see the scenes where Sam hurts people through her choices and learning how her insecurities should not equate to putting down others.
Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children
Synopsis: A young boy named Jake discovers a house full of children with supernatural powers run by Miss Peregrine. Soon, he must help protect their home from terrifying enemies called Hollowgasts.
I watched this one in theatres as well. I am going to honest and say I didn’t pick up Ransom Rigg’s books much because a) those photographs inside are just kinda creepy and b) how many of them are continuing to come out? But as far as adaptations go, I think this one held the nice balance of fun and intriguing as we learn more about this hidden world in the real world we know. Even if people hadn’t read the book before watching (guilty), I’m sure many kids and families enjoyed it as a standalone and I think that’s always an excellent marker for adaptations. It should hopefully excite fans, but also draw in new fans too.
I Am Number Four
Synopsis: John Smith, an otherwise ordinary teenager, has astonishing powers. He has to move from one town to another along with his guardian in order to avoid the beings from another planet who want to kill him and others like him.
Oh boy, this was a longgggg time ago when I watched it but my goodness, Alex Pettyfer was hot, okay? I find a lot of action, fantasy/dystopian YA adaptations don’t do so great. First, there are so many elements to the world building that either don’t get picked up by the adaptation (especially in movies which are time-limited) and second, the important scenes in the books are written over or skipped completely for “new direction” by the producers/writers. However, I think this was a really enjoyable action movie that taught enough of the world building (obviously not all of it) while making it exciting in movie format.
To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before
Synopsis: A teenage girl’s secret love letters are exposed and wreak havoc on her love life.
This one’s a no brainer but I think many fans were pleasantly pleased with the production of this Netflix film. The chemistry between leads was there while the culture of the Song-Covey family was still highlighted and explored. I think this was an example for others what a good adaptation that gives respect to its source material looks like, and they continued to do so with the following movies in the series.
What do you all think? I know, we may not agree on all of them, but let me know what adaptations you think were done well (or even better than the source)! I’d love to check them out.
Down the Rabbit Hole 