March Wrap Up, Part Two (Spoiler Free)

Hello Hello!

Sorry this wrap up is a few days late, I’ve been really behind on all my blogging stuff this week. We are leaving for two weeks in Mexico, in only SIX nights eek! So I have so many things I’m running around trying to get done before we leave <3 I only managed to read three books during the past two weeks, but I am confident I will do some major catching up, while I’m in Mexico next week. I am so excited, I haven’t been anywhere hot and sunny in years 🙂 I am so pale though, I’m going to be an absolute GHOST on the beach for the first few days.. and then probably a sunburned mess after that haha.

As always, here are some of my favorite things from the past two weeks <3

1.) TV Shows: This past week Netflix added a new show, that I have been SO exited about for months and months. One of my all-time favorite young adult books “13 Reasons Why” by Jay Asher, was turned into a TV Series, and it came out on Netflix on March 31st. I watched the entire thing in one evening, so I felt it made the cut into my “March Wrap Up Pt 2 Favs”. The one and only word I can think of to sum this show up is just.. WOW. They couldn’t have done a more spectacular job taking this incredible story from book to screen. The casting was perfect, the acting was spot on, and everything just worked so well.

This show is the story of a young girl named Hannah Baker who commits suicide. She leaves behind 13 audio cassette tapes, each with a different reason why she killed herself. So basically the “13 Reasons Why”. She then sets it up, so after her death, the 13 people on her “list” will all receive this box of tapes, and they will have to listen to them all, and pass the tapes on to the next person on the list.

This story is heartbreaking, shocking, and deeply un-settling and at times very hard to watch. I should mention the very serious trigger warnings for rape, suicide and self harm, that you will want to prepare yourself for, before you watch. Netflix is very good with this actually, and before the episodes with the sensitive subject matter, there is a huge warning on the screen.

I have never seen a show (especially a young-adult one) that focuses on high-school, bullying, slut-shaming, and suicide.. in such a real and raw way. This was a show I don’t think I will ever forget, and it is really something I think everyone should see. Be warned though, that the final few episodes are actually very upsetting to watch, and there are some VERY graphic scenes, that I wasn’t expecting to be quite so hard-hitting.

10/10 Rating.

(Image from Google Images)

2.) Movies: Ok so last week I went to see the new horror movie “Get Out” with the gang, and I have to say it was one of the most GENIUS horror movies I’ve seen in years… possibly ever. This movie was completely to-the-bone chilling, and it was one of the most TENSE two hours of my life. It really blends social commentary and the old school horro genre, with a slight bit of comedy.. in the best way. I don’t want to really get too much into the plot, because going in blind I think is a really good way to fully experience this one. You guys HAVE to go see this, you won’t be sorry. Just fantastic! It has a 99% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes as well which is just so un-heard of these days. The reviews have all been so amazing for this one too, and I can give it a 10/10 with complete confidence. I’m still traumatized from this one. I will never look at a teacup the same way…

10/10

(Image from Google Images)

3.) Music: Last Saturday night, my boyfriend took me to see the “Game of Thrones, Live Concert Experience”, at the big concert stadium Downtown Vancouver.. and it absolutely blew my mind. Ramin Djawadi the composer from the HBO show, along with four or five INCREDIBLE musicians who also work on the show, took the stage with a local Vancouver orchestra and choir.. and it was magic. If you are a fan of the HBO Tv Show “Game of Thrones”, you know how vital the music is to the show. It not only sets the scenes, but so many of the most pivotal moments are just taken to another level with these epic musical pieces. I mean any fan can recognize that opening song right away, and of course the show opened with this.. and the whole stadium was cheering. It was just so much fun to be surrounded by so many fellow fans, and everyone was just loving every second. My favourite part of the evening, had to be the “Wildfire” scene, where they showed the infamous scene in the church with the Wildfire (I won’t get any further into that because of Spoilers), but it was intense. There was green smoke explosions and everything.

An absolute 10/10

( Image from Google Images)

So as for the Books I read over the past two weeks.. as a part of my “2017 Reading Challenge”, I had to read

1.) “A Book Set in your Hometown or Region”

2.) “A Book With a Name in the Title”

I also read another non-fiction book about skin care and makeup stuff, which isn’t that interesting but I figured I’d throw it in here haha. It was a slow two weeks, and hey you never know if anyone reading this is into skincare <3

1.) “A Book Set in your Hometown or Region”

“That Lonely Section of Hell”

By, Lori Shenher

Non-Fiction

Set in: Vancouver

9/10

Ok, so you may remember I mentioned this book a year or so ago on my Blog! I mentioned in that old post, how I had just picked this up and couldn’t wait to read it. Well it looks like I did wait quite a bit in the end haha! I had picked it up a few times, and I ended up getting distracted and forgetting to read it.. you know how it goes. But when I saw this month’s challenge to read a book set in your “Hometown or Region”, I was so happy to re-visit this one, and finally devour it.

So for those of you who don’t remember me talking about this book.. this is a non-fiction story about a woman Lori Shenher, who is an ex-Vancouver police Detective, who worked very closely on the infamous “Robert Pickton” serial killer case.. here in Vancouver B.C. This book looks deeply into the actual case, as well as her intense struggle with PTSD, as a result of working this horrifying case. Not only that but it’s also a fascinating look into the Vancouver Police Department, and into the inner workings of a murder case.

This book was incredible. Horrifying obviously, but also incredibly interesting, and really brings to light a lot of information about the case, and the VPD in general, that I’m sure a lot of people don’t know. It deals a lot with how badly this case was handled overall, and it is a very eye-opening look into PTSD, and just how damaging it can be to a persons mental health and life. I also really found it interesting to read about how Lori got into the Police Department to begin with, and to learn all about the sexism and bullying she faced as a result of this as well.

I would recommend this to anyone who likes true crime stories, or even memoirs in general. Lori has such a powerful voice, and a really interesting and harrowing story to tell. This isn’t an easy story to take in, and there are a lot of disturbing details about the murders, that are un-veiled as well.. so just keep that in mind before going into this one.

9/10

Good-Reads Plot

An ex-police detective’s searing personal account of sexism, racism, and mishandling in the investigation of missing and murdered women.

(In That Lonely Section of Hell, police detective Lori Shenher describes her role in Vancouver’s infamous Missing and Murdered Women Investigation and her years-long struggle with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder as a result of her work on the case. From her first assignment in 1998 to explore an increase in the number of missing women to the harrowing 2002 interrogation of convicted serial killer Robert Pickton, Shenher tells a story of massive police failure—failure of the police to use the information about Pickton available to them, failure to understand the dark world of drug addiction and sex work, and failure to save more women from their killer.

That Lonely Section of Hell passionately pursues the deeper truths behind the causes of this tragedy and the myriad ways the system failed to protect vulnerable women)

2.” A Book with a Name in the Title”

“Killing Kate”

By, Alex Lake

7/10

I recently got this book in the mail, and I figured having the name “Kate” in the title was as good a reason as any to pick it for this week’s challenge.

This is the story of a young woman who comes home from a much needed vacation, after an awful breakup, and she hears a disturbing story about a serial killer, who’s been killing women nearby her town. The weird catch??? These women all look exactly like her……!

So this creepy little idea sucked me into wanting to read this, and I wasn’t disappointed. This book was a decent thriller, lots of intrigue.. and it was overall an easy “beach-type” read. I didn’t LOVE it, but I did enjoy it.

I’ve read so many amazing thrillers lately, that I think my standards are quite high at this point. That being said, I did really enjoy this one, and I tore through it in a few nights. I was curious enough to need to find out who the killer was, as fast as I could.

I think any fans of murder-mystery-romance thrillers would like this a lot, but I think fans of Gillian Flynn level thrillers.. might be left feeling a bit “meh” about the whole thing.

That being said, I’d give it a solid

7/10

Good-Reads Plot

(A serial killer is stalking your home town.

He has a type: all his victims look the same.

And they all look like you.

Kate returns from a post break-up holiday with her girlfriends to news of a serial killer in her home town – and his victims all look like her.

It could, of course, be a simple coincidence.

Or maybe not.

She becomes convinced she is being watched, followed even. Is she next? And could her mild-mannered ex-boyfriend really be a deranged murderer?

Or is the truth something far more sinister?)

3.) “Pretty Honest”

By, Sali Hughes

10/10

Ok so this obviously isn’t some literary masterpiece, but it IS an incredible handbook for anything and everything beauty/skin-care related.

I’ve been hearing major buzz about this book over the past year, and I figured I might as well learn some shit about my skin, and how to take care of it as I get older haha!

I got this for my Mom for Christmas, and she recently finished with it, and passed it on to me. I really enjoyed reading this, and Sali Hughes REALLY knows her stuff. Inside and out! She is an expert on skin, from teenagers skin to mature skin… onto makeup, waxing, nails, botox.. etc etc. Basically anything you want to know about beauty, Sali knows it.. and it’s all in this book. She is hilarious too and that really shows in her writing.

100% suggest any of my female readers check this out (men too!). It’s also the cutest pink pastel shade, and I’m liking how it looks on the shelf too.. so a real win-win over here <3

Good-Reads Plot

(A witty, wise and truthful beauty handbook for real women on what works in real life from Sali Hughes, beloved journalist and broadcaster.

“Pour yourself a drink, put on some lipstick and pull yourself together” Elizabeth Taylor

Beauty books. Exquisite coffee-table affairs featuring improbably beautiful models with wholly-unachievable-to-most women looks, product review-heavy volumes which become almost instantly outdated, or tracts of holistic mumbo jumbo, like how to make an unproven face pack from organic molasses and rough-hewn porridge oats.

Not anymore.

In Pretty Honest, Sali Hughes draws on over 20 years of wisdom, advice and expertise to show real women how to make the most of makeup’s physically and emotionally transformative powers. Covering everything from teenage skin to mature beauty, botox to bridal make-up, sickness to good health, it’s a work that is part instruction manual, part love letter to makeup – in a writing style that combines beauty editor, feminist and painfully funny best friend.)