Good Reads and See or Flee Flicks: A Book & Movie Review

This post might contain spoilers about the novel The Last Song and the movie Duplicity. Don't say I didn't warn you :)

 So last week I brought you Dread and The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane, which I finished about three hours after the post and let me tell you...I was not disappointed with the ending.It was fabulous...

Did you see the movie or read the book?

This week I'm bringing you The Last Song by best selling author, and one of my personal favorites, Nicholas Sparks and Duplicity starring Julia Roberts and Clive Owen. (pause for squees of delight...Clive you are a cutie)

The Last Song begins with Ronnie Miller making her way to North Carolina to see her father and spend the summer with him. Well not really, it starts with Ronnie talking to her mom about something then flashes back to the trip down south. At first I HATED this book. I'd only read three chapters or so and I was not loving it, which by the third chapter of a Nicholas Sparks book I'm in serious puppy love. This one however, definitely no puppy love, heck there wasn't even lust.

It's written different than a typical Nicholas Sparks book, the beginning at least, and Ronnie is...well, if we're being frank - a bitch. Through the first half of the book I wanted to slap her because she was so insolent and rude.

Another thing was the multiple changing of point of views. All in all there were four points of view portrayed - Ronnie's, Will's - Ronnie's love interest, Marcus' - Ronnie's nemesis, and Steve's - Ronnie's father. Marcus' point of view weirded me out and I think I skimmed through his....for a Sparks book Marcus' head was too dark for me.

Then it got better towards the end. Ronnie's attitude started to go away and things were good. Then the Sparks bombshell (which if you've read enough of his books you know its going to ultimately come) which I knew was going to happen and I still cried anyway.

By this time Ronnie made a huge 360 and turned into a character I could like. The story picks back up where it left off in the very beginning and ends nicely.

All in all not my favorite Sparks book, but not totally horrid either. I'd give it a three out of five.

Duplicity came on HBO last week and I thought, "Hmm...Clive Owen (Yum!) and Julia Roberts, spy movie, sounds fun."

Boy was I wrong. This movie made no sense to me. Well that's a lie...the end made no sense and left me going, huh? I mean I got it, the movie is called Duplicity after all, but the end was just...well, it was lamespice for lack of a better term.

It goes in circles and at first your like "Oh wow, that's sheisty" but then it goes on and you're like, "Um, what the french is going on here?"

Julia and Clive are corporate spies, each one working at competing corporations and each trying to outsmart the others corporation. I can't even explain it. My recommendation? One out of five and a big fat don't waste your time...

Next week:

Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

and

Ghosts of Girlfriends Past starring Jennifer Gardner and Matthew McConaughey