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Poison by Punctuation by Kelley Kaye
Chalkboard Outlines #2
Red Adept Publishing • April 24, 2018
High school teacher Emma Lovett is finally recovering from her first year of teaching when she discovers another dead body. As if that wasn’t bad enough, this time, someone has killed a student, Kisten Hollis.
Emma and her best friend, Leslie, are desperate to solve this murder. But suspects abound. The perpetrator could be a teacher, an administrator, a member of Kisten’s zealous church community, or even another student.
Emma must juggle her teaching responsibilities, her new romance with handsome Hunter Wells, and interest from a hunky second suitor, all while searching for evidence to bring a killer to justice before someone else dies.
I try not to put too much stock in ratings. Especially when it comes to my book–I mean it’s not like I can do anything about them. I was warned from the get-go about not even attempting a follow-up, like, “Hey, can you please explain why you’re being so mean?” or, “Whaddya mean by that?” “W.T.H.?”, or my favorite, “Did you actually read this book?” ?
No, I do read them. But I don’t perseverate on them too much, not even on the guy who wrote a four page manifesto, obviously he read it and then proceeded to decimate me. But I’m over it.
I am.
Seriously.
Anyway, this guest post was inspired by some FILM reviews I read today–onea those thinking about getting outa bed but checking my phone first type things. I pulled up my Redbox app and browsed through. This movie called The Cure for Wellness has intrigued me since I first saw the trailer several months ago, so I hit the link called ‘show all reviews’.
https://youtu.be/JF1rLFCdewU – A Cure for Wellness
Looks interesting, right? Maybe scary? It’s billed as thriller/suspense.
Now, I know they say variety is the spice and all that, but I have NEVER seen a bigger difference of opinion as far as this film goes. It was either one star or five stars, people either fell asleep and said Don’t Waste Your Money, or talked about it as something artistically and dramatically compelling. I’m serious, it was night and day.
I still haven’t decided whether or not I will rent it. I do base my opinion a little bit (okay, a lot maybe) on the quality of the review. Is it incredibly snobby of me to tune right out of the first reviewer who calls it ‘discusting’? Sorry, I totally do that. The bad reviews who give specific information about why they didn’t like it, those I’ll pay attention to. If they bag on the characters as immoral or don’t pay attention to the rating or the genre and then are offended when it’s something that would fit that rating, then forgetaboutit. Do some research. Change the channel.
Only one thing stuck out about the reviews. Apparently there is an incestuous relationship in the film. Which a lot of people commented on, but only this one guy tagged the movie as “Aside from the silly eel story line, this is a beautiful story of the true love a man and his young daughter can share with each other. Absolutely inspiring and a must see!”
WTH? I can do without THAT being called ‘variety.’ This guy’s review was immediately drop-kicked into the garbage pile.
But I have to make a comparison comment on a movie I actually saw last month (finally) and that was “The Shape of Water.” If I was going to review this movie, I would concentrate more on the fairy-tale aspect of the story and the symbolism of the mute girl’s relationship with the fish, which I enjoyed and thought was really well done. I didn’t change the channel because of the violence, although I’d mention it in my review just because I had to turn my head when the REAL monster of the story stuck his finger into another guy’s bullet wound and proceeded to drag him across the ground that way. Gah. Some people might avoid the movie altogether because of that scene, which I totally get.
I’d love to hear what you think. I’ll probably watch that Cure for Wellness flick at some point, just because of all the time I’ve already invested. Plus I’m a little curious as to what eels have to do with anything. But as for my feelings about reviews, whether they’re for books I’ve written or things I’ve seen or read, I guess I’ll leave you with this: take it all with a grain of salt, and of course nothing can beat the actual research you’re doing yourself! Or the REVIEWS you’re doing yourself, because as a little plug from an Indie Author—reviews are our lifeblood. Please review books! ?
I’d love to hear your views! Until next time…Stay Mystified!
Kelley
About the Author
“Kelley Kaye” taught High School English and Drama since 1992 in California, then Colorado and now Cali again, but her love for storytelling dates back to creating captions in her high school yearbook. Maybe back to the tales she created for her Barbie and Ken—whatever the case, the love’s been around a long time. She’s married to an amazing man who cooks for her, and they have two funny and wonderful sons.
Author Links
Website – http://www.kelleykaybowles.com/
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/authorkelleykaye/
Blog – http://www.kelleykaybowles.com/kelley-s-blog2.html
Twitter – https://twitter.com/kelkay1202
BookBub – https://www.bookbub.com/authors/kelley-kaye
Amazon – https://amzn.to/2tkpMUt
GoodReads – https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1380492.Kelley_Kay_Bowles
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Kelley K
Thank you so much for being a stop on the tour, Brooke! Kelley Kaye