The Book Forums

I found Hotel Beau Séjour while searching for something to watch on Netflix, the premise sounded interesting so I gave it a watch! The plot is very straight forward— it’s a murder mystery. The main character, Kato, had died and is now a ghost trying to help solve her own murder. This is nothing revolutionary but since Kato seems like genuinely caring person, you really get invested in her story and her search for the truth. This leads to the viewer suspecting many of the seemingly random characters who can see Kato as a ghost. The mystery itself was fine, I didn’t really suspect the actual killer, but things lined up once they were revealed. One question I’m still left with is why only specific people can see Kato? Early in the series she makes the connection that they were some of the last people to see her before she died. But later she says something about them being guilty for her death. If that is the case, then what is Charlie guilty about? It’s an interesting thing to ...

Lately I've been seeing a lot of sources saying 13 Reasons Why is bad for teens and it's getting me fired up...   There is one important thing you must know about me, if someone insults something I'm passionate about, I will fight you. I am a strong advocate for not censoring material because the topic is sensitive or mature. If you find the topic too much or triggering, DON'T WATCH IT, I completely understand that, but you have no right to tell me what I should watch. I began getting fired up about this topic a few days ago and took to twitter… I know a few people who said they won't watch 13 Reasons Why due to personal reasons; that's great, please don't watch it if it will be detrimental to your mental health. But a show you find triggering, others might get uplifting messages from. I have been a fan of 13 Reasons Why since I read the book freshman year. I, ironically, find the novel's ending uplifting. The message I have always tak...

I had to sit and think about this one for a day, but I’ve come to the conclusion that it did the book justice. I’m just going to say it now, if you want a 100% faithful adaptation, this is not the one for you. Honestly, a lot is different, but that is not always a bad thing. The main difference is the time line and how that affects certain aspects of the story. The novel takes place over the course of one night with Clay listening to the tapes rather quickly, the movie takes place in at least a week and Clay listens to the tapes really slowly. This extended timeline allows the viewer to see Clay actually interacting with other people on the tapes. It also gives the viewer a chance to see how the tapes are affecting Clay long term. About halfway through the show, Clay looks rough so you really understand what the tapes are doing to him. But the great thing is that you also get insight into how the tapes have affected everyone else on them, since the POV often switches from fo...

So, as you may have noticed, I have been absent from my social media for the past months. No, this isn’t because I have retreated to a cabin in the woods to live a life of solitude, but rather my life has been taken over by color guard, school, and college applications. I haven’t even had much time to watch Netflix which, is super depressing when considering that fact that I still haven’t seen season one of Luke Cage , season four of Arrow , season eleven of Supernatural , or season five of Once Upon a Time . I promise I am working on getting caught up with all that, starting with Supernatural , but it is taking some time. The reading side of my life is practically none existent, at the moment. I’m supposed to be reading A Tale of Two Cities for English class, but I just have no time ! I’ve also been sporadically listening to Lady Midnight on Audiobook, but I’m nowhere near done with that… sorry. But I am LOVING Mark so far and I think Julian is beginning to get some developmen...

Well I was going to be productive yesterday… but then I started watching Stranger Things and watched the entire season in a day. I had been hearing things about Stranger Things for the past few days but I hadn’t really payed attention until yesterday when I finally just decided to check it out and I’m really glad I did! The tone and feel of Stranger Things really reminded me of the movie Super 8 (does anyone remember that movie? XD) because it has a big focus on these kids and them getting in over their head while trying to find their friend.  The focus on children gives the show a very adventurous feel and adds a more lighthearted tone to be contrasted with the suspense. Stranger Things actually has a lot of suspense but it is never too scary. I can see a lot of people enjoying the show due to its adventurous tone and ability to still get serious and suspenseful when necessary. Many people like to say that child actors are not usually good but the child actors ar...

Now I’m almost caught up on this series! If you don’t know, I have spent the past two weeks watching Seasons nine and ten of Supernatural on Netflix. I had originally watched up until season nine a few years ago but I stopped watching when Season nine aired. I had kept up with the show a little bit over the past year but hadn’t watched it, so it was interesting coming back to the show after all this time. The most interesting thing about coming back to Supernatural was seeing how my preferences changed. I used to not like the one off episodes and basically always skip the vampire episodes, but watching seasons nine and ten I really loved the one off ghost episodes and I felt some of the vampire episodes brought new ideas to favorite characters. I believe this change happened since I wasn’t as invested in the overall plot of the season. I just didn’t care that much about the angels and their drama from season nine and the issues with Dean in season ten were definitely inte...

This show was surprisingly enjoyable and addictive.   I gave MTV’s Scream a shot for two reasons— I needed something to watch, and Sean Grandillo is on it. You may not know but I am a HUGE fan of Deaf West Spring Awakening so when I found out Grandillo was in Scream, I had to give it a shot (sadly he doesn’t come in until season two). I went into the show not expecting much but I actually found the show very entertaining and addicting. The good thing about doing a slasher in a TV format is that the writers are able to give more depth to the characters and allow the audience to feel for them before they start dying. I did start to get attached to some of these characters as the season progressed, but not to the point of crying if anything happened to them… I’d only be mildly upset. I also didn’t care much throughout the season about who the killer was. I got the feeling that I was supposed to be trying to figure it out myself, but I simply didn’t care that much. With that s...

My Netflix saga continues with a show that took me a while to find! I actually had to watch it on Amazon because Amazon Prime exclusives (blabla legal stuffs) and of course it took me forever to realize that it was an Amazon Prime exclusive, but I’ve seen it know and I’m here to discuss seasons one and two of Orphan Black ! I had heard a few things about Orphan Black before I decided to check it out but I mostly went in blind and without many expectations. I was hooked from the first episode, and could not stop watching. Orphan Black does not waste time with pointless scenes of exposition about character backgrounds but instead throws the audience into the story and lets them figure things out as the story progresses. Viewers are introduced to Sarah’s character and history through dialogue between characters in early episodes. Through these early interactions in early episodes viewers can also pick up a things about Beth’s character and the people in her life. Both of these ...

Hello! Welcome to the next stop on my Netflix movie watching adventure! If you don’t know what I’m talking about then click HERE and find out! This weekend I watched two very different movies, The Bourne Identity and 2001: A Space Odyssey . I actually only finished watching The Bourne Identity this weekend since I had started it the weekend before; I really enjoyed it! The action was great and intense and the story was interesting and immersive. I knew basis of the story going in so it makes me wonder how my viewing experience would have been different if I hadn’t known about the Bourne character going in. Overall, I recommend for everyone; especially fans of action, or someone who wants to watch a more grounded spy movie. I had been eyeing this one on Netflix for a week or two just out of curiosity and because it’s directed by Kubrick. This was my first Kubrick movie and I actually enjoyed it! I was worried going in that I would have trouble picking up on the plo...

Netflix is a magical thing— most people will agree with that! At the moment I’m using Netflix to catch up many movies that I haven’t seen before and want to watch now (whether it be because I was too young when it came out, or I just missed it in theaters). With that said you can be expecting some shorter movie reviews for these movies that I’m watching on Netflix. Below will be reviews for the movies that I have already watched on Netflix up to now. I have seen a few of M. Night Shyamalan’s later movies but I had never seen The Sixth Sense so I decided that it was time! I highly enjoyed the movie which was full of suspense and shock. I recommend it for EVERYONE! I watched this movie immediately after The Sixth Sense and it was everything I expected and more! It was full of intense action, with commentary mixed in throughout. I was on the edge of my seat the entire time since I actually grew to love some of these characters. I recommend Snowpiercer for EVERYONE (...