Hot Chocolate & Books: TV show

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Big Littles Lies ended last night and it was an amazing show. It has been adapted from the book Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty. For those who do not know what it talks about, here is a little sum up.

During an event at a public school in Monterey, an awful murder occurred. We know neither the name of the victim or of the killer. Through the witnesses testimonies, we go back through time to focus more on three women who are highly suspected in this murder: Madeline, Celeste and Jane.

Jane is a single mother who just moved to Monterey with her son Ziggy. On the first day of school, she hit it off with Madeline whose daughter is the same age as Ziggy. Madeline introduces Jane to Celeste who also has twin boys of the same age.

All three of them may seem to have a perfect life but it is only a facade. Madeline is on edge since her older daughter asked to live with her ex-husband and his new wife. Celeste is physically abused by her husband, Perry, who is much younger than her. Jane is a young woman who was raped and assaulted by the man who is Ziggy's father. After the first day, Ziggy is accused by a classmate of assault and bullying.

As months pass, the three women become closer and closer and they start opening more and more about their lives but they also get more and more ennemies...

/!\ SPOILERS ALERT /!\

This miniseries was so nice! I loved how it started with a murder but we have no information on who was killed and who killed him/her. Witnesses bring some small parts of stories but we understand very quickly that they are biased when it comes to share information about everyone in Monterey. Monterey is actually like a village where everyone knows each other and you cannot help but talk about people on their backs. We only have their outsiders' point of view on Madeline, Celeste, Jane, Renata and Bonnie's lives. In Monterey, everyone seems nice but don't pay attention to what it may look like. Real life is not beautiful! The only thing that is nice is the houses. I do not know where they shoot the series but I want to live on one of these houses. They are just MIND-BLOWING!

You could say straight away that this series was directed by Jean-Marc Vallée. There is such a beautiful, well-thought aesthetic used behind every shot. All these idyllic sceneries actually hide the worst nightmares of 21st century women. All these strong women have a breaking point. Rape, physical abuse, cheating, divorce, lies... All these themes have been covered without descending into cheap pathos.

Nicole Kidman was just fabulous. She showed how sensitive and strong she could be as Celeste. Everyone envies her and yet, her life ain't perfect at all! Her relationship with Perry - her husband - is probably the most heart-wrenching point in this miniseries. We watch them tear each other apart. Perry keeps beating her every day and we feel Celeste being torn between what she should do and what she wants to do. She knows that for her safety and her children's she needs to leave but she also loves her husband. He was there when she needed him.

Alexander Skarsgard was perfect as Perry. He embodied a very complex character. He managed so well to play the role of a psychotic husband who loves his wife and yet, who is not able to control his impulses.

Anyway, it is a most-watch!!!

BONUS > the soundtrack ;)

As some of you may know, 13 Reasons Why has been adapted into a show by Netflix. I had already heard about the story when the book was released a couple of years ago. I bought it but I haven't read it yet. I think it is the kind of story you need to read when you are in a certain state of mind: not too happy, not too sad, not too angry... And I felt like it was never the right time.

When I heard about the series, I wanted to give it a try though. The trailer made the story pretty interesting and I really wanted to see how the scenarists put it all up together.

/!\ SPOILERS ALERT /!\

I heard that many people were disappointed by this series. I also know that some of them read the book and they didn't think the series was good enough for it. As I haven't read the book yet, I have no point of comparison, which I guess makes more encline to like this series.

Sum up:

Clay Jensen is a just normal teenager who goes through high school unnoticed. He is shy, clumsy but above all, he doesn't care what other people think of him.

One day when he came home from school, he found a package waiting on his doorstep. Inside of it was thirteen tapes recorded by Hannah Baker - one of his classmates and lover - who killed herself a few days ago. Each tape points out one person who was directly linked to her suicide and Clay is one of the reasons why she ended her life...

Opinion:

I finished this Netflix series in 24 hours and let me tell you, it is quite intense. I do not think you can possibly come out of this series without feeling anything. It gives us a true glimpse of high school life. It is all centered around one girl committing a suicide and yet, it was so much more than that.

Bullying, assault, rapes, depression, body shaming, guilt, sex, alcohol, drugs, false rumors, homosexuality, stalking... There are so many topics covered in this series. Topics that we hear from time to time on the news but that we never truly talk about.

Sure, in this series you have high school cheerleaders, popular kids, normal kids and the outsiders who do not fit anywhere. But it was so much more than just the typical American high school clichés. It makes us face the fact that high school is the moment when you start understanding and taking responsibilities for what you do or do not do. You start to differentiate what is right and what is wrong. But taking responsibilities isn't always easy and it's damn right scary!

It all started with a girl who committed suicide for no apparent reason. Everyone kept blaming her saying that if she really wanted to kill herself, no one could have done anything to change her mind, or that she is a drama queen looking for attention. But what is striking in this show is that, through Hannah's voice and Clay's discovery of all the reasons why she killed herself, we have a gripping and alarming dark drawing of life in high school.

The tapes all start with reasons that are ranked from minor to major reasons why she killed herself. At the beginning, the series uses suspens to keep people watching. We are just too curious to know what happened exactly and when Clay's name will appear in these tapes. When you see him, you just feel like he is a nice guy who wouldn't hurt anyone. Yet, he was one of the reasons why.

I have to admit that the four last episodes were intense and very disturbing and I am not ashamed to say I may have shed some tears.

This series is a huge emotional roller-coaster. You feel the guilt of some characters, you feel the anger, you feel the pain, you feel Hannah being desperate to hold on to something or someone... And you are just here thinking "It could have been avoided". This series strips you of your feelings to basically leave you naked when you watch this. We witness Hannah's and Clay's parents wondering if they ever truly know/knew their children. This series makes you wonder if it is possible to truly know someone.

I liked that they addressed all these high school problems as if they were talking to young adults and not just teenagers. It may also be interesting for older adults to watch this series.

13 Reasons Why you should watch this show:

The story is heartbreakingly intense, amazing and disturbing
The actors were really good
It has been adapted from a book that had quite some success
It will remind you of your high school period (yeah... maybe it's not really a good reason actually)
Because at some point we have all known what it was like to be either stalked, bullied, assaulted, uncomfortable, lost... (please don't tell me I was the only one in this case!)
Because you understand that things and people need to change
This series talks about everything and knows no taboo
It is not because it talks about teenagers that it is necessarily a teenager series. Trust me, I think adults should also watch it!
Because we have all done things at some point that we were not proud of but we didn't take responsibility for it
We should all understand that sometimes "just" saying mean things - even if we don't mean them - could have a greater impact than we thought
Because rapes are still not considered seriously in our society
We all heard rumors in middle schools, high schools or colleges and sometimes we didn't try to look further for what truly happened.
It has been produced by Selena Gomez (could be reason enough for some people ^^)

P.S: I would not advise "sensitive" people to watch this series as there are some scenes that are really graphic and hard to watch.

Who watched the final episode of the final season of Vampire Diaries and cried rivers? I did.

/!\ SPOILERS ALERT /!\

I have to admit that after season 5 it became harder for me to catch up with every episode because the intrigue did not appeal to me anymore.

The characters did not always evolve: Damon got sloppy always mourning for Elena, Stefan reminded me of a puppy that would repeatedly get kicked by his brother, the whole story seemed to continuously be centered around Elena, the new villains were not truly villains anymore, the humanities being swtiched-on and off... If you followed the TV series, you probably understand what I mean.

When I learned that season 8 would be the final season, I knew I had to catch up. I basically grew up with this TV series through high school and more. I got attached to the characters over time. So basically, I watched season 7 and 8 in a matter of a week. I liked the beginning of seasons 7 and 8 but then it would always go back to things scenarists had already done. For me it was a big NO.

At least, season 8 was slightly more interesting than season 7 with the intervention of the sirens and the comeback of previous characters.

Characters and couples:

I was fond of some characters and couples that got together these last two seasons. I know that many people disliked Stefan and Caroline together. But I really liked them together. For me it was meant to be. I felt like the character of Caroline was the only one who actually evolved throughout the TV series. She was the brat cheerleader who wanted to be the most popular of high school. Now she is a mom and a soon-to-be wife. She grew up so much!

Damon with Elena... that's another story! He lost his interest when he got (apparently) madly in love with her. Everything revolved around her and it is just like he stopped thinking on his own. Remember when he was the big villain in season 1? Yup, completely forgot that he could be mean and interesting.

Bonnie and Enzo... I just fell in love with them over and over again with every episode. Enzo was such an a** in the previous seasons. Who could have known that he had a deep romantic soul? Bonnie became stronger with him and I was so happy that she finally got the chance to taste some happiness after everything she went through.

The ending:

So if you watched the final episode, you know that Stefan dies, leaving his new bride by herself. Jeez! I was so sad for Caroline. Stefan was reunited with Lexie. I couldn't help but squeal when I saw her. I missed her so much! Anyway, Caroline went through so much and now, she lost her love. She is also the last remaining vampire in Mystic Falls. It makes me sad to think that she will watch all of her friends grow old and die, including her children. At least the opening with Klaus' letter cheered me up a bit.

Bonnie is now traveling the world with Enzo whispering in her ear. She cannot hear him but he is watching over her. This broke me. I mean, Stefan killed him. He killed the only true love of Bonnie. She also went through so much in eight seasons and she only got a half happy ending. She deserved so much more. I mean, she looked happy but I wanted her to be happy with Enzo.

Elena and Damon are now finally back together and they are both humans. They are free to live the lives they want and Elena becomes a nurse. At the really end of the episode, Elena and Damon are reunited with their relatives. Elena joins her family and her aunt Jenna. Damon goes back to his house where Stefan is waiting for him. The final "Hello, brother" was just the perfect way to end this season and this series. It started like that and it finishes the same way. It was just perfection!

Let's not forget all the previous characters who come back: Jenna, Vicki, Tyler, Jo, Elena's parents, John, Kai, Katherine, Jeremy... I was so glad the scenarists managed to gather all the previous characters for this final episode. It made it just perfect!

What did you think of this final episode?

Sum up (Goodreads):

Auburn Reed has her entire life mapped out. Her goals are in sight and there’s no room for mistakes. But when she walks into a Dallas art studio in search of a job, she doesn’t expect to find a deep attraction to the enigmatic artist who works there, Owen Gentry.

For once, Auburn takes a risk and puts her heart in control, only to discover Owen is keeping major secrets from coming out. The magnitude of his past threatens to destroy everything important to Auburn, and the only way to get her life back on track is to cut Owen out of it.

The last thing Owen wants is to lose Auburn, but he can’t seem to convince her that truth is sometimes as subjective as art. All he would have to do to save their relationship is confess. But in this case, the confession could be much more destructive than the actual sin…

Plot:

Auburn is a young woman who fell in love at a very young age. She fell in love with a boy named Adam and for whom she would have given the world. But he died and Auburn was left by herself in a world she did not understand fully yet.

A few years later, Auburn left Portland where she grew up for Texas. She only came once to Texas and it was to bid her farewell to Adam. Now she is looking for another chance at life. She needs to hire a lawyer to help her with a situation that has been dragging for four years. But lawyers do not come with cheap price. Because of that, Auburn will have to look for a second job and this is actually when her life will take an unexpected turn.

I pause and look into the glass window of one of the buildings to check for smeared mascara. I take in my reflection and don’t like what I see.

A girl who hates the choices she’s made in her life.

A girl who hates her career.

A girl who misses Portland.

A girl who desperately needs a second job, and now a girl who is reading the HELP WANTED sign she just noticed in the window.

See, this place is called Confess and basically, people write everyday confessions about the lies they told and the suffering they caused when it actually is a painting studio. Its owner - Owen Gentry (who is ridiculously hot) - is desperately looking for help and Auburn is also desperately looking for help.

Owen promises her $200 if he helps her out for his showing. Auburn is quickly fascinated by his masterpieces painted from strangers' confessions and by him.

Owen hasn't had an easy life. He lost his brother and his mother and since then, he alternated between real world and jail. But most of all, when Auburn seems to come out of nowhere, he never admitted that he knew her from the past.

They are the past and this is the present, and Auburn is... somehow both. She would be shocked if she knew how much of her past has affected my present, which is why I won't be sharing the truth with her. Some secrets should never turn into confessions.

And the problem is that both characters have huge secrets suffocating their lives. They know about survival but they do not remember what it is to live life at its fullest until they meet. Being together could be their saving and their loss.

Opinion:

I just finished this book and wow! it was quite a ride. I have to admit that when I started this book I really did not expect this. I thought it would be just some normal YA story and yet, it turned out to be completely different.

I have to admit that I was slightly taken aback with their young age. They are supposed to be respectively 20 and 21 years old and yet, they had such maturity and bad experiences in their lives that I imagined more around 24-25 years old but it did not stop me from loving the story.

I just felt overwhelmed with all the emotions the author was pouring in this story: the story of two teenagers who are adults in more ways than just one. This story was completely unpredictable. The more we go into the story, the more the characters are revealing secrets the readers could not have expected.

From time to time, I hated that Auburn would bring herself down like that and would accept everything from people. But at least at the end she stood up for herself.

This book is about so much more a YA story. It is about sacrifice, the extend you can go to in order to help someone you care about without jeopardizing your life, love, confessions, lies and secrets...

I strongly recommend this book!

Excerpts:

"Your initials are really OMG?” I bite the inside of my cheek, forcing back the smile I don’t want him to see.

"What’s your cat’s name?”

Owen reaches over and runs his fingers through the cat’s mane. “Owen.”

I immediately laugh at his joke, but his expression remains calm. I pause for a few seconds, waiting for him to laugh, but he doesn’t.

“You named your cat after yourself? Seriously?”

He looks at me and I can see the slightest smile playing at the corner of his mouth. He shrugs, almost bashfully. “She reminded me of myself.”
I laugh again. “She? You named a girl cat Owen?”
He looks down at Owen-Cat and continues to pet her as I hold her. “Shh,” he says quietly. “She can understand you. Don’t give her a complex."

I’ve never felt stronger than I feel when I’m with her. I’ve never felt like I had a purpose like I feel when I’m with her. I think about the first words I said to her when she showed up at my door. “Are you here to save me?”