Bria Lou Reviews

I had been looking forward to reading this book for quite a while. It was a recommendation from Carrie Hope Fletcher, and I thought that the premise sounded really interesting. Plus I loved Acton's first book, The Shelf, so much that I definitely wanted to read this one. In a world where being in a couple is out of the ordinary (because who would rely on someone else for their own happiness?), Millie is happily single and focused on her career. In fact, she can't imagine ever being in a couple. So when she is tasked with working on the world's first antidote to falling in love, she sees the antidote as a chance for her to get the promotion of her dreams. That is, until she starts working with Ben, and finds herself strangely drawn to him. Will Millie sacrifice everything she believes in, and has worked so hard for, for love? I felt a bit disappointed with this book all in all. I loved the characters of Millie and Ben went they are first introduced. I didn't really '...

I have been a huge fan of Marvel, and the MCU, for quite a while. However, after Avengers: Endgame came out, I haven't seen any of the following movies as quickly as I've wanted to. However, thanks to Disney+, I can finally catch up! Years after Shang-Chi (Simu Liu) left his past behind, he is forced to return to China, where he is drawn back into the Ten Rings organisation. I really liked this movie. I took an instant liking to the character of Shang-Chi. I loved the way he was portrayed by Simu Liu, and I loved the way the film told his story. I loved the fight scenes. It's nice to see a different fighting style than the MCU is used to. The choreography of these scenes is so beautiful that the fights are almost like dances. It feels like a lot happens in a really short space of time, particularly at the beginning of the film when we don't really know the characters. I felt like I needed more time to get to know them. The story is a really interesting one in its own ri...

If you watch Booktubers (or the TikTok equivalent), then you've probably heard about this book. I don't think I've heard any book mentioned as much as this one. It has amazing reviews, so I wanted to make it one of my first reads of 2021, to see if I agreed with the hype. Former Hollywood actress and icon Evelyn Hugo is ready to tell the story of her life, her success, and her seven husbands. When she requests that her biography be written by unknown journalist Monique Grant, no one is more surprised than Monique herself. But when Monique starts to listen to Evelyn's incredible story, she realises that more connects them than she ever thought possible. Believe the hype. I loved the opening of the story, the fact that we are introduced to Monique right away, we are in her head, and Evelyn is being kept at arm's length. I loved Monique instantly, and I kind of felt the same way about Evelyn as she did - Evelyn was an enigma that we felt like we knew, while also knowin...

I had heard a bit about this film before actually seeing it. The response has been really positive, which only made me want to see it more.  A college professor (Olivia Colman) becomes obsessed with a woman and her daughter while on holiday, leading her to confront painful memories. This is the kind of film that I can acknowledge is good, without personally loving it. There is an underlying tension throughout this story that makes every scene feel a bit uncomfortable. As the viewer, you are always on edge. Leda (Colman) is such an interesting character. At first, she just seems a bit odd, and maybe a bit nosy. But as time goes on and we see the flashbacks of her life, we truly understand just how complicated Leda is. She's not a likeable character by any means (actually, there might not be one likeable character in the film), but it felt important that she wasn't. The story in itself is so intriguing. You don't want to miss a single frame from beginning to end. The other ac...

I had seen quite a few people talking about this film, in both a really negative and really positive way, before seeing it. I didn't know much about it before watching, but all of the varying opinions really made me want to see it. Two astronomers, Randall Mindy (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Kate Dibiasky (Jennifer Lawrence) go on a media tour to warn the world about the incoming comet that will destroy Earth. I have mixed feelings about this film. I certainly didn't dislike it, and I understood what it was going for, but it wasn't as effective as it could have been. I really liked the concept, particularly at the beginning of the film. I wasn't quite sure where it was going to go and was interested to find out more. It was a lot funnier than I expected it to be. I think it's really interesting when extremely dramatic movies inject elements of humour, and this does that successfully. A lot of the comedy is satirical rather than laugh-out-loud, and it worked for me. The fi...

Every time I review a Karen M. McManus book I say how much I love her as an author. I pre-ordered this book as soon as it was announced (almost a year in advance) because I love her writing and stories so much. Ivy, Mateo and Cal used to be best friends. When they run into each other after not speaking for years, they decide to ditch school and hang out like old times. But the trio soon discovers that another classmate is skipping school, and follow him to the scene of a murder. Can they discover their connections to the victim before their own secrets are revealed? This wasn't my favourite of McManus's stories. However, as always, I do love her writing. This is the fifth book of hers that I've read, and the writing style is so familiar that it's almost comforting. It takes a little too long to actually get into the story - particularly because the book is quite short. There's a lot of time spent on the background of the characters, as opposed to just letting us fig...

Knowing nothing of this story, I had wanted to see it for a while, purely based on my love of musicals. But once I actually read what it was about, I was only more intrigued to see it. Jonathan Larson (Andrew Garfield) is an aspiring musical theatre composer living in New York in the 1990s. Ahead of his 30th birthday, Jon becomes disillusioned with his chosen career path, whilst also navigating friendship and love. I loved this film. I really liked the way that the story is told - through the music, the performance(s) and the narration. Not only is it interesting, but it feels unique. It's also a really fun way to watch a story being told.  The story in and of itself is really interesting - mainly because the character of Jon is such an interesting one. But all of the characters who make up this story are well-written, interesting, and integral to Jon's life. It's not hard to become invested in the characters.  The ideas that this film explores are universal, whether you wo...