What I Read & Watched Week 5

This week contains no movies and is yet another short post because I didn’t watch or read as much as I thought I would.

The book of the week for me was Conversations with Friends by Sally Rooney. Having read Rooney’s second novel, Normal People, I had high expectations for what was Rooney’s first novel and I was not disappointed. The book exudes main character energy and the privilege and naïveté that comes with youth. There’s something that is completely captivating about reading about characters that I would definitely hate if I met them in real life. Rooney nails internal reflection perfectly, l saw parts of myself in Frances whilst also finding parts of her repulsive. Although I did want to see a bit more character development, the novel was intriguing and I promise you’ll fly through it.

Next up, I’m embarrassed to admit this but… I finished all sixteen episodes of Start-Up (Netflix) after having watched episode one last week. Either my commitment issues aren’t as bad as I thought or this show is spellbinding despite its flaws. I really enjoyed the premise of the show and it offers some strong character development. Unfortunately, I was let down by a few aspects. First of all, there are quite a few identifiable plot holes. My second gripe is that the second female lead demonstrated so much potential and could definitely have been given more screen time. The final issue that I would like to pick with the show is the ending. The ending was dull and flatter than my chest. Due to these factors, I’m not sure that I would recommend committing to this show despite the strength of its earlier episodes.

Thanks and happy valentines week friends x