Movie Review: Bohemian Rhapsody

Guys. Allison and I hadn't seen a movie together since April. It wasn't for lack of trying, but between 2 husbands, 4 children, 2 jobs, sicknesses, and life in general...it has been near impossible. BUT we actually both took a day off work last week to make it happen. The icing on the cake was Allison agreeing to see Bohemian Rhapsody since I've been in love with Queen for over 25 years. Great friends are the best, aren't they? {grin}

Plot: A chronicle of the years leading up to Queen's legendary performance at the Live Aid concert.

Review: Man oh man, I loved this movie! I know the story wasn't 100% accurate, but it was really entertaining, fun, heartbreaking...basically all the feels. Rami Malek was amazing as Freddie Mercury. He adopted so many of Freddie's mannerisms really well and totally deserves all the accolades and award nominations. I think Allison even enjoyed it not being a Queen fan, ha. It made me sad all over again to think about how big of a legend we lost with Freddie Mercury's passing - there really isn't a voice that can compete with his, and the whole band was just a group of geniuses who did amazing things with music. If you like music at all, you'll enjoy this - it was awesome.

Hyped Books

I'm back doing another Month of Faves prompt: 

Popular Books - Worth the Hype or Not

What I decided to do for considering a 'popular book' was either a book I heard about from several places {other blogs largely ha} or a top seller for the year, so some of these are older books that I just now heard about, ha.

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

So worth the hype. This book was really thought provoking but also a great story.

Surprise Me by Sophie Kinsella

Nope. The last few books I've read of hers have been 'meh' at best.

Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate

Yes! I got really invested in this story, and it was so heartbreaking to learn it was based on actual events during the 1950s.

The Wife Between Us by Greer Hendricks & Sarah Pekkanen

I thought this book was good, but the hype made me expect AMAZING.

So even though I enjoyed it, I would say it wasn't worth the hype. We need to stop describing every thriller as 'the next Gone Girl'!!!

The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah

I have a love/hate relationship with Kristin Hannah. The first book I read of hers was The Nightingale which was amazing, and I think everything I've read since was either 'blah' or 'good' but even good felt like a disappointment after The Nightingale. I would say this was one of the better ones that I read by her. Worth the hype? Maybe?

Educated by Tara Westover

OMG, yes. This book was worth every second of hype.

Still Me by JoJo Moyes

I felt like this series got better each book and this one was my favorite.

If you even remotely liked the first book, then yes, this was worth the hype.

Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan

I didn't like this book as much as it seemed the entire world did, but similar to Still Me, the series has gotten better, so I would say it was kind of worth the hype.

Class Mom by Laurie Gelman

I've heard about this book for years and finally read it. It lived up to what I hoped for it, so I would say it was worth it.

In the Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson

Nope. I've had numerous people tell me how much they LOVED this book, one person even said it was her favorite book of all time, so I went in with high expectations. The subject matter {being the US Ambassador to Germany in the decade before WW2} was fascinating, but the book was SO DRY.

Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Another book I heard about for years before taking the plunge on. You guys know I love futuristic, dystopian series, and I think this was pretty solid, but I could see if you didn't love YA or dystopian stories this wouldn't be.

What do you think lived up to - or didn't - the hype??