A Magical World of Words

I'm saying goodbye to this blog and launching a new website dedicated to movies and TV shows. I’ve been a book blogger for 5 years, and for a while now I’ve recognised my need to make a change. Instead, I’m moving to a new website, where I’ll be reviewing movies, chatting about TV shows, and sharing my own personal screenwriting. It’s because of blogging, other bloggers like you, and books, that these last 5 years have been the best years of my life.

And now Rusty knows he's protected, he's never going to leave the big man's side. Action thrillers are one of my favourite genres to read, and I've enjoyed Lee Child's Jack Reacher novels in the past. His larger-than-life hero always saves the day, there's always some poor underdog in need of rescue or a corrupt organisation in need of exposing, and there's something quite cinematic about Child's stylised action scenes. It's confusing, tedious, and everything takes too long to get going - the only slightly entertaining part is towards the end, but that ends up being rushed and it also deescalates too quickly.

Next came the discovery of a grisly crime scene deep underground in Johannesburg, somehow connected to a second woman found dead in the Jukskei River where it ran through Alexandra. When the body of a third woman is pulled out of the Vaal River, south of Joburg, Captain Reshma Patel starts to wonder if a serial killer is at work - or if the mutilated corpses have anything to do with the spate of cash-in-transit heists Nechama's writing and plot are rich with authentic South African culture (or more accurately, a blend of our diverse cultures), offering slang and personal touches that likely only a South African would appreciate. I wasn't gripped, and the ending climax is underwhelming, too - I was expecting lots of action, excitement, and confrontation, but instead it was understated and ended before I realised it had even started.

Lily James can't carry a lead role; her acting is repetitive and uninspired, and she doesn't have the screen presence. The weak script also makes it hard to suspend disbelief and actually buy into the main couple's whirlwind romance - never mind the ridiculous narrative that gets more melodramatic and contrived as the story goes on. Although the romance is insipid, and the leads have little chemistry, there is a kind of giddy energy and it whisks you away into the world of softly-spoken dialogue, a dreamy setting, and soothing colour palette. But once the couple leave Monte Carlo and arrive at Manderley, the glossy visuals and stunning cinematography do nothing to disguise the poor writing and characterisation (these characters are one-dimensional, and the actors do nothing with the script to try and remedy that).