Bria Lou Reviews

  I have read Beth O'Leary's two books before this one, and I liked them both. Overall I preferred 'The Flatshare' to 'The Switch', but they were light, entertaining stories that I enjoyed, so I was excited to read this one. Addie and her sister are driving to a wedding when their car gets rear-ended. The driver of the other car? Addie's ex-boyfriend Dylan, also travelling to the wedding. Dylan and his best friend have totalled their car, so Addie offers them a ride. Suddenly the car is full... of luggage and secrets, and Addie and Dylan are forced to confront the end of their relationship. But is it really the end? I didn't love this book. There were things that I liked, but mostly it was just okay. I went back and forth on my opinions of the main characters, Dylan and Addie. To start with Dylan, he is a poet, and this is show in his unrealistic speech patterns. I felt like at times it was a bit too on-the-nose - we didn't needed to be reminded that

  This film came out on Netflix recently, and I didn't know much about it. But what attracted me to it was that it sounded a bit like the film 'The Call', starring Halle Berry, which I really liked. Plus I'm a huge fan of Jake Gyllenhaal, so that was another reason to watch it. A former police detective, recently demoted to 911 operator, receives a harrowing phone call and attempts to save the woman at the end of the line. I really liked this film. For a start, the beginning of the film is a great introduction to this character. We don't find out a lot about him (which is in-keeping with the rest of the film), but it's enough for us to understand what type of person he is. It's also a great intro into the life of an emergency services operator. The film was gripping from start to finish - there were moments when I didn't even want to look away from the screen. Even though this entire film is Jake Gyllenhaal surrounded by various voices, there is an amazi

This was one of my most highly anticipated movies of the last year - seriously. I have loved the last few King Kong movies I've seen and am a big fan of them. I'm less up-to-date with Godzilla, but the idea of these two worlds colliding was, for some reason, really exciting to me. After Godzilla resurfaces, experts bring King Kong out of his containment zone to subdue the monster. I liked this movie. However, you have to go into this movie expecting it to be exactly what it is - a film about two fictional monsters fighting each other. Otherwise, like me, you might have some questions. For a start, I don't think the reason for bringing King Kong out of his home was good enough. I didn't understand why Kong was the sole threat to Godzilla, or how it would be a fair fight.  But I loved the fight scenes - to be honest, if you're watching this movie, you're watching it for the fight(s), and these scenes were done really well. I liked the connection to previous films,

  I heard so much about this book before I started reading it. I had never read a book by Matt Haig before,  but the premise was so interesting to me that I had to buy it. There will be a few spoilers in this review.  Nora Seed wants to die. But instead, she finds herself between life and death - in the Midnight Library. There, Nora has the option to change her old life, to see what would have happened if she chose one of the infinite paths within her grasp. But is there a life that Nora truly wants to live? And can this life stop her from dying? I have mixed feelings about this book. I did enjoy it, but I didn't find it as uplifting or enchanting as it's described. I really liked the way Nora's depression is described at the beginning of the novel. The writing got across exactly how Nora felt, as we saw the way each event slowly chips away pieces of her life. You completely understand why she wants to die. As I said, the concept of the book is a really interesting way to e

I saw the first 'A Quiet Place' movie when it came out and I absolutely loved it - you can read my review here . However, I was never particularly excited about this sequel because I didn't think the first film needed a follow-up. But I was interested to see where it would go. Following the events of the first film, the Abbott family must leave their home as they fight for their survival. But can their silence save them from the terrors awaiting them? I didn't enjoy this film as much as the first one, for a number of reasons. Having said that, I really did enjoy the first scene. In fact I enjoyed the first scene so much that I want to watch a prequel. I actually found this idea much more interesting than what the rest of the film was about. I felt a lot less connected to the characters this time around. This is probably because we had a lot more time to get to know the characters in the first film, and this one only focused on the story. However, I didn't really fee

  This is a Netflix movie that came out a few weeks ago. I had set up a reminder for it weeks before it actually came out because I really liked the premise. It didn't give much away, but I liked the idea of it. Soon after moving into a new town, Meera (Freda Pinto) and Henry's (Logan Marshall-Green) home is broken into. Traumatised by this, Meera tries to find answers. But soon she discovers that she is in more danger than she ever realised. This isn't a particularly good movie. I understand where the filmmakers were going with it, but it ended up being a bit unengaging, and very predictable. At the start of the film, I really liked the two main characters. Even though the audience didn't get to find out too much about them, I felt like we got to know them, and I enjoyed getting to know them. For maybe the first 50 minutes, the film is intriguing enough to keep you watching. There are many obvious and less-obvious routes that it could take, and you are interested to fi

  I've had this book for quite a while and was always intrigued by the premise. Plus I've heard great things about Holly Bourne as a writer. Amelie is in love with Reese. But is love supposed to hurt like this? Is Reese supposed to make her cry this much? Now Amelie wants to look back at her relationship - and to do this, she will visit all the places that Reese made her cry. Because if she can remember where things went wrong, she might finally start to get over him. I went back and forth with this book. I started off not really liking it, then I really warmed to it, then I started skimming it because I felt it was dragging a bit, but then I enjoyed the ending. So it was a mix of feelings for me. The first thing that threw me off about this book was the age of the characters. I didn't go into this knowing that it was YA, and I was excited to read about the breakdown of an adult relationship. So the fact that the characters are teenagers took me a little while to get used t

I had been really looking forward to this film before it came out. I haven't seen the stage show, so I only knew the basic premise, but I couldn't wait to see it. Jamie New (Max Harwood) wants to be a Drag Queen - but can he overcome the bullying of his peers, the discrimination of his school, and his estranged father to step into the spotlight? I didn't love this film as much as I wanted to, but I did still enjoy it. The beginning of the film felt a bit cheesy, which is definitely not a bad thing in a musical. But because I had no experience of this musical, it took me a little while to get into it because it didn't feel real to me at first. I love the story, and the fact that this was even made into a musical in the first place. The story (as opposed to the film) is perfect in a musical setting, and I completely understand why the stage musical is so popular. This story is empowering and heartbreaking at the same time. The balance of emotions is created really well. M

  I absolutely loved the first Wonder Woman movie, so I've been waiting for the sequel for a long time. I had read mixed reviews but wanted to come to my own conclusion. In the year 1984, Diana Prince (Gal Gadot) comes across an artefact that grants wishes, which leads her to two enemies that she must defeat. But when a familiar face returns, Diana's fight becomes harder than ever. I am so disappointed with this film. I didn't really know much about it going in, but I feel like there were so many ways that it could have been better. The opening scene felt really long and unnecessary. It didn't really connect to the rest of the film, and I felt like the filmmakers only included it so that the audience didn't forget about Themyscira. The film would have been better without it. And this theme of scenes being too long continued throughout the film. It kind of felt like every single scene was drawn out with almost no purpose. This film didn't need to be so long. I lo