This past weekend I had the pleasure of attending the 2022 Children’s Books Ireland International Conference that took place in the Light House Cinema. Before I go any further I’d like to say a huge thank you to everyone who played a part in making the conference happen and run smoothly. Needless to say events like this are often filled with lots of planning, work, and stress behind-the-scenes, but everyone’s hard work paid off because it was a brilliant event. Thank you again to everyone involved.
The theme of this year’s conference was the idea of home. The conference was titled All The Way Home, so over the entire weekend, conference goers like myself had the opportunity to listen to authors, poets, and illustrators talk about this idea of home and what the word home means. Home can mean different things to different people. Home can be where we are from. Home can be the house we grew up in. Home can be our family. Home can be our friends. Home can be found and created with another person. Home can be a place that we create. During the heights of the pandemic, home may have been a place we wanted to get away from because suddenly when you cannot leave a place, that place does not seem so comforting anymore. Home can be places that are lost in an instant.We can have more than one home. It may seem dull to some, but the idea of home is an idea that can be explored in many, many different ways.
There is a reason why so many children’s stories focus on this idea of home. It is a place (or several places) that evokes many feelings in readers and so it is interesting to think about why the idea of home is often promoted in children’s stories. Many children’s stories feature a protagonist who must leave home and go on an adventure. On this adventure, the protagonist will face challenges and make new friends along the way, but the story usually always ends with the protagonist returning home, and bringing their newfound skills and knowledge with them. The journey home in children’s literature aligns quite closely with the quest narrative as in order for a story to be a quest, there must be a goal to be achieved and a journey to make in order to achieve that goal although adult quests can be more complex and perhaps darker, whereas child protagonists will often face age appropriate fears. Having a child protagonist face and overcome a certain fear allows child readers to experience fear in a safe and controlled way, and then when the book protagonist overcomes their fear, this shows the child reader that fears can be overcome so it is quite an empowering moment in the children’s story and this moment usually happens towards the end.
I recently watched Disney’s The Haunted Mansion (2003), and a great example of what I am talking about can be found in this movie. The movie follows the Evers family as they must learn how to escape the curse of Gracey Manor. Michael Evers is the youngest member of the Evers family and we learn in the beginning of the movie that he is deathly afraid of spiders. When Michael sees a spider, he is so afraid that he is unable to move. The cursed haunted mansion is a place where fears can be exploited and just before we move into the final act of the movie, Michael must face his fear and open a door that is covered in spiders to save his dad and his sister who are trapped behind the door. Michael does face his fear, he opens the door, and he learns that he can do things even though he may sometimes be scared of doing them.
There are so many movies that focus on this idea of getting home and wanting to get home above all else. Another iconic example is The Wizard of Oz.
This past weekend lead me to think about several examples, and I started thinking about all of the books that I loved when I was a child and I started to really examine what home means to me.
There were so many incredibly talented authors, poets, and illustrators at this event. I was pinching myself and I will be for quite a while to come, but Hannah Lee, the wonderful author of My Hair said something during her talk that really stuck with me. Hannah spoke about how she loved the story The Twelve Dancing Princesses by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm when she was a little girl, and she spoke about how even though there have been many books that she read as an adult and loved, nothing stuck with her quite like how The Twelve Dancing Princesses did.
This point really resonated with me because I think that the entire reason I do what I do has stemmed from my love of reading as a child. I was a bookworm. I was a movie lover. I still am a movie lover. I’ve written before about how I love returning to books with adult eyes, because sometimes the book can mean so much more now that I am an adult. Sometimes I like to return to a childhood book because I want that wonderful wave of nostalgia to hit me.
Home can also be found in stories. Stories can make us feel safe and understood. Stories can speak to us in a way that no-one else can because stories, while they are meant to be shared, can also be a very personal thing. I love Charles Dickens. I love Oscar Wilde. I love Shakespeare. I love Emily Dickinson. I love all of the canonical classical authors that we are told we must learn about, but whenever I think about my favourite stories, I almost always think of fairy tales.
I think of Cinderella and Beauty and the Beast. I think about Matilda and The Wind in the Willows.
I think about Peter Pan and Alice in Wonderland. I think about the works of Lemony Snicket.
These are the stories that I was enamoured by when I was little. These are the stories that I still love now. Some may be imperfect, some may be outdated, but I love them all the same. I still think they are extremely important. I think about the person that I am today, and without sounding too dramatic, I really do owe a lot to the books I read as a child. Today I consider myself a huge advocate for fairy tales, an advocate for encouraging a sense of curiosity and wonder in children because being curious and being wonderstruck leads to questions. Questioning leads to learning more because we want the answers, and a thirst for knowledge means that the world is open. The more you learn, the more you know, and I think that the more you understand different things, the better experiences you have.
A love of reading can open up so many doors. I loved reading and I loved watching movies so then I went to drama class. In drama class I learned that I love poetry and prose so I decided I wanted to study English Literature and that is what I did. I worked hard because I wanted to get into my course, and now I’m doing my masters in a specialised area of English Literature and getting the opportunities to do things such as review books for Children’s Books Ireland and attend international conferences where I get to listen to Carson Ellis speak. Carson Ellis has done illustrations for Lemony Snicket. I mentioned above that I adored the work of Lemony Snicket.
Ten year old me would have been over the moon if she knew that someday she’d get to listen to Carson Ellis talk about her journey and her career.
I’ve been rather self-indulgent, speaking about myself and it won’t be something that I do very often, but it felt important to me that I attempt to explain, as succinctly as possible, why children’s literature means so much to me. Children’s literature has had a huge impact on my life as the love for reading I had as a child lead me down the path to the work I do today, to the career I wish to have. I know so many others who say the exact same thing so it is crucial that we do not dismiss the importance of reading in childhood. It is crucial that we encourage young people to read and to fall in love with reading. Their curiosity should be cheered on and their enthusiasm should never be dampened. It is crucial that all young people are given the opportunity to fall in love with reading because you never know where that childhood passion may take them. Children need to have access to good quality books and the fact that some schools do not have any library services is just unacceptable. When things need to be cut due to financial reasons, the arts are often the first to go because there is still sadly an attitude that the arts are disposable, or not as important as other subjects. This simply is not true. This attitude needs to be forgotten. So many children thrive creatively. So many children find solace in English class or music class or art class and if you tell a child that their passions don’t matter, that their passions are not important anyways, you are ignoring and crushing potential.
At the conference, the idea of decoding was discussed a lot. This idea that books are something to be “decoded” saddens me because it just feels like the point of literature is being completely missed. Yes you can analyse a text and study it in detail. You can discuss the themes and decide what you think the author is trying to say. You can spend time figuring out what your interpretation of a piece is, but the idea that a text can be “decoded” in a classroom, the idea that it must have one meaning that is the same to everyone misses the point entirely and defeats the purpose of opening up ideas in the classroom. This kind of thinking leads to children and young people having no interest in their English classes because it is becoming another rigid subject.
The joy of English Literature is that there is no right or wrong. There is no rigid set meaning that one must commit to memory. You should have the freedom to figure out your own interpretation and then use the text to back up your opinion. It should be fun, it should be exciting. Sharing different ideas and having discussions is all part of the fun. The sharing and expressing of different creative ideas is key and if we lose that then we lose the joy of studying English.
We cannot be afraid to have creativity in our classrooms. We must let children be curious and excited. We must let them express their thoughts and ideas and this all begins with ensuring that they have books.
I adore the work that Children’s Books Ireland does. I’ve written an article about why I love the work of this organisation so much which you can read by clicking the link below.
I’m also going to provide a link to the official Children’s Books Ireland website so you can go and explore the work that they do and learn more about this fantastic organisation by clicking the link below.
I have quite a few book and movie reviews coming soon here on katelovesliterature.com along with some exciting news that I can hopefully share soon so keep an eye out for updates. Remember you can follow me on Instagram @katelovesliterature. I do a lot on my stories. You can now also find me on TikTok so I’d appreciate it if you’d follow me there too. As always my handle is @katelovesliterature.
Is there a book that you loved as a child that still sticks with you to this day? What book is it? I’d love to know. I’d also love to hear some different opinions on the idea of home so feel free to comment below.
I read every comment and every message and I do my best to respond to every single one as they are very much appreciated, and I do love hearing other people’s thoughts. If you’ve engaged with me here or on Instagram by commenting or sending me a message, you know who you are, and thank you so much for your interest and support.
Banned Books Week is coming to an end. Over the past few days, I’ve been thinking about why talking about books that have been banned, and talking about the reasons why they have been banned is so important to me. The aim of Banned Books Week is to celebrate the freedom to read, the freedom to express ideas and thoughts, and it is extremely important that we acknowledge how crucial it is that we are able to access information.
If one looks back through different time periods, it is clear that banning and challenging books has always been an issue that the literary world has to contend with. In 2022, the banning and challenging of books, particularly in schools, is happening at a disappointingly high rate.
I am conducting research currently while working on my MA thesis, and within the broad scope of reading that I am doing, I found a list of books that have been banned or challenged recently and this list details the reasons why. I’ve also been examining some of the books that I studied in detail while I was doing my BA because many of the books on that course have been banned at one point in time. This is a fact that baffles me because after studying some of these texts, I would argue in detail why each one of them needs a place on academic curriculums.
It is very interesting when you read about why certain books have been banned or challenged.
After reading several lists of books that have been challenged and the reasons why, I’ve quickly put together three categories that I’m affectionately calling “Banning Bingo” categories.
In no particular order, it has become clear that a book will likely face banning and challenging issues if it contains any of the following:
Sex/Sexuality
If a book contains any content regarding sex or a character’s sexuality, the questionisng of one’s sexuality, exploring, experimenting, intimacy etc. then the book is likely to face some challenges.
In my opinion, when a book talks about sex/sexuality, the complaints about the book get divided into two sections.
There are people who feel that teens in school should not be reading anything about sex or sexuality at all, because the information is not age appropriate, or they feel that the classroom is not an appropriate place to access this information and see it as a parent’s job to educate their own children about sex. This complaint seems to be about sex in general.
There are other people who very specifically have a problem if a book explores what it is like to be a member of the LGBTQ+ community. So if a character is questioning their sexuality, wondering if they are gay or bi for example, if a character is thinking about their gender identity as well, or sadly even if a book focuses on a same sex couple or same sex parents then this book is unfortunately likely to face challenges. This complaint is due to some people believing that anything besides heteronormative is somehow “wrong” or “inappropriate”.
It is 2022. Many children have same sex parents, and many people explore their sexuality and their identity and it is a shame that some people have the opinion that someone else’s family structure is “wrong” just because it is different to their family structure and I really hope that as a society, we get to a place where if someone challenges a book and their reason for challenging that book is because they have an issue with same sex relationships for example, then that complaint should be dismissed. Focusing on anyone who is not heteronormative is not a valid reason to ban or challenge a book.
I would put forward the question: is there truly any reason to ban a book?
This is an entirely different, and very complex conversation as many people will have many opinions on this, but I don’t believe in banning books or limiting somebody’s education or their ability to access different information about everything that goes on in this world.
Flaws & Failings of Society: Critiquing social issues, flaws, & failings. .
If a book explores issues and failures in our society then this book will likely face challenges.
Many books have been challenged or banned if they discuss racism. Books such as To Kill a Mockingbird, The Colour Purple, Roll of Thunder, Hear Me Cry have all been challenged or banned at one point in time, they are still challenged today. If books discuss how a system can be inherently and implicitly flawed, if they make readers look inwards and force readers to confront their own biases, if they open conversations about diversity and injustice in the classroom then these books will face challenges because some people just do not want to discuss those things.
Another point is that some books contain very racist and hurtful language and stereotypes and people have challenged these books because of that derogatory language.
Literature reflects society, the good, the bad, the things we wish never happened.
History cannot be erased. Horrible things were said and done. Books written in a certain time period will reflect the language and attitudes that were prevalent at that time. You can’t read a Mark Twain book for example, and pretend that the racist language and racist attitudes illustrated in his works did not happen. You read Huckleberry Finn and the purpose of reading this book is to reflect upon the abysmal actions that happened in this book, and discuss how wrong those actions were. You read the book and should be appalled that certain attitudes were just the norm and the book teaches us that this kind of prejudice against other people is unacceptable, and as a society, we have to learn from history so that society changes, so that history does not repeat itself.
Banning these kinds of books from the classroom is actively banning people’s history and that is wrong. Suffering occurred, suffering is still occurring, and to ban someone’s ability to speak about their suffering or the suffering of their ancestors is just wrong. It should not be allowed to happen. Some people should not be able to decide that they simply don’t want to hear about or know about another’s person’s experiences just because those experiences are difficult to hear about.
Racism is just one topic that causes some people to want to challenge a book, other topics such as climate change, class differences, bodily autonomy and the right to make decisions about one’s own body, inequality in many forms, and consent are all topics that cause some people to want to challenge a book.
The reasons for wanting to challenge these topics, again fall to the opinion of some that consent for example, is a topic that should be taught at home.
This is a conversation that needs to be more nuanced, because there is a way to deliver information in an age appropriate way, and some kids handle things earlier than others, some kids mature later than others and so they may need more time before they learn about certain topics, but there is a huge difference between wanting to make sure your own child is ready to hear certain information vs feeling that kids in school just should not be taught about certain things.
Some people want to have the right to teach their own kids about topics in their own homes, but then they do not have those crucial conversations and then we have eighteen year olds who are leaving secondary school and high school and they’re going off into the world without a proper understanding of consent and personal boundaries etc.
There is also the point that education is meant to be broad. You are supposed to learn about different people, different places, different cultures, different ideas, different beliefs, and some of the things you learn about may be different to what you personally think, but that does not mean that education should be hindered.
Violence
Violence of any kind in books will usually be challenged. Violence in movies will be challenged.
People will always question whether or not a book or film is too violent for kids to read/watch.
If a book containing violence is to be taught in schools, people will question if the book is too violent for a classroom.
This type of questioning happens in other mediums too. People question whether or not people should play violent games. People question if violence in the media glorifies and encourages violence etc. Violence will most likely always be challenged.
I think it is important to give readers, particularly younger readers more credit. People are not just passive viewers or passive readers, you can watch a movie or read a book that contains violence without automatically going and doing something violent yourself. If anything, many narratives promote the message that violence is wrong and it is shocking that this violence happens. To say that violent content automatically makes viewers and readers behave violently severely insults the viewer/reader because we are not mindlessly consuming content. We can still make our own decisions about our actions. Violence and how the violence shown is contextualised is very important, and I do believe that it is a subject that should be handled with care, tact, nuance, and respect but I don’t think violent content should be challenged automatically because it is violent.
I also think that no matter what the topic is, if a book is about relationships, or racism, or inequality, or about coming of age, it does not matter what the topic is, the topic should always be handled with care, tact, nuance, proper research, and respect.
So those are, in my opinion, the three main areas of topics that will lead to a book facing challenges. Sex/Sexuality, Flaws and Failings in Society, and Violence are headings that contain a very broad, very layered, very nuanced range of topics and ideas that tend to face challenges for the reasons I have discussed above, and many more.
Other Areas.
There are also two other areas that tend to cause issues as well, and those areas are magic and the idea that animals may be equal to humans. Alice in Wonderland was challenged because of the nonsense in the book, and because Carroll placed animals in the text as being equal to Alice. Books that contain magic are challenged in so many ways, as like fairy tales, people question are they unrealistic? Do they promote unrealistic life expectations? Do they tell children magic is real and should they? Books that contain magic can also face criticism based upon religious objections and others question if the magic being done is promoting bad behaviour, encouraging pranks etc.
So it is clear that there are many different reasons as to why someone might want to challenge or more extremely, ban a book, and as I’ve discussed, there are certain topics that tend to face these challenges very often. I think it is so important that we study why books get challenged because to take a book out of a classroom or a library, to not allow someone to read or watch something, it may seem like not a big deal to some, because people think that what a kid does not know won’t hurt them, but to block access in any way to a topic, is actively hindering somebody’s growth. If a topic is not allowed to be explored, education is being limited. If a person cannot learn wholly about the world, then their knowledge of the world and how to handle the world is being limited, their ability to grow emotionally is being limited, their ability to develop their own opinions, and their own critical thinking skills is being limited, and a message is being presented that if your experiences and thoughts and ideas don’t fit certain boxes then your ability to express yourself will be limited, censored, and silenced. So book banning is not a casual thing, and the fact that some people will discuss removing a book so flippantly is a problem. Banning, challenging, censoring, is a very serious thing and it has serious repercussions and so a much bigger conversation needs to be had. That is why Banned Books Week is so important, the right to access ideas and express ideas is so fundamental, and the right to access information should always be acknowledged as highly significant, and the right to express oneself and read about anything and everything should be celebrated.
Cited Below are articles of interest that I have reread many times during this week.
I don’t think there is anything more nostalgic than sitting down with a book I enjoyed when I was little and reading it now with adult eyes. My studies have allowed me to dive into the world of children’s literature, and I’ve found that I have a new appreciation for all of the books that I read as a child. I’ve always been one to encourage reading in childhood as having a love for literature can open so many doors and benefit us in ways we may not even realise.
Lately I’ve fallen down a bit of a fairy tale rabbit hole, as you will have noticed if you keep up with me on Instagram. If you haven’t already, you can follow me @katelovesliterature.
Fairy tales always provoke very interesting conversations in my opinion, and I think that classic fairy tales are often treated unfairly in today’s media. Literature will always reflect the time that it was written in, that is in many ways the role of literature, to shine a light on all aspects of society, the good, the bad, and the things we wish didn’t happen. I will admit, many fairy tales are imperfect. There are aspects of some older fairy tales that would likely not be included if they were written today by a modern writer. I find it interesting that fairy tales are readapted and reimagined so often, because new adaptations tend to bring out critics who enjoy tearing the original to pieces. I’ve found that sometimes in an effort to correct some outdated ideas that an original story may present, the adaptations in question can sometimes swing too far the other way and present a different idea that is not exactly ideal either, however that is a much broader conversation and one that I will share another time in a different discussion.
I will give a very brief example of what I mean, and I just want to be clear that in this example, I’m not referring to any story in particular, instead I’m speaking generally about an idea that I’ve seen in various different pieces.
I’m an advocate for female empowerment and female agency in stories.
I love seeing female characters who know their own mind, and speak confidently about their own desires and interests. I understand the idea behind wanting to show young children stories about women who are well-rounded, complex, dimensional characters. This is great. For a long time female characters were subjects of the male gaze and I think it is fantastic that there seems to be a shift and finally we are getting to see female characters exist and function beyond how they’re viewed by men. I always like to say that there is nothing wrong with being a love interest, but you shouldn’t only be a love interest. That should not be a female character’s only purpose, however I dislike the trend of calling the heroines in original fairy tales nothing more than “damsels in distress who do nothing but wait to be saved.”
The heroines in older Disney movies face this kind of criticism as well, and I think it is very unfair. In my opinion it is too simplistic. That kind of critique completely ignores the fact that these stories were written in a very different time. It is the same with period pieces, people complain if female characters don’t act in a way that perhaps a modern woman would, but this critique again ignores the fact that many period pieces take place in times when women were at the mercy of the men in their lives. If you didn’t have access to any money, if you didn’t have anywhere to go, if you didn’t have any kind of education depending on one’s status, if you didn’t have any say in who you married, then it is almost impossible to just up and leave. I still think it is inappropriate to say that today in 2022, because the truth is that we cannot know everybody’s private circumstances and to say “just leave” is ignorant and dismissive. I will not scoff at original heroines. I will not call them passive, helpless, and I will not say that they did nothing but wait for a Prince. If you actually read the original fairy tales properly, you will see that many of the original heroines did their best despite being in dire circumstances that were beyond their control. I also don’t like the idea of promoting a narrative that says accepting any kind of help means you’re weak. I think there needs to be a balance. It is important to have complex, realistic, layered female characters who know they can speak their mind, assert boundaries, and take control of their lives the way a male protagonist would without question, but I think one must also acknowledge that it is okay to have friends, it is okay to accept help, it is okay to cry and be vulnerable sometimes, and it is okay to need people and have romantic desires.
I’ve noticed that female characters shutting out love because “they’re perfectly fine on their own” has become a bit of a trend. The idea behind this is wanting to show a character who doesn’t need a romantic relationship to be happy. That is great, but the idea is often undermined by the fact that she will almost always end up in a romantic relationship anyways, often with the man that she’s been shutting out for the entire story. I think this is a bit contradictory and reductive. Plenty of people are happily single and plenty of people genuinely don’t want a romantic partner and that is perfectly fine, but I’d rather see a character who is happily single throughout instead of seeing a woman actively shut down any romantic feelings or desires because she feels she has to, because she feels that allowing herself to be romantic somehow makes her weaker. Again, in my opinion, it is a question of balance. All independence should not be lost because you are in a relationship and these characters should still be able to function independently and chase their dreams and thrive at work even if they do admit that they really like someone else. Independence is very important. I think it is vital to be able to be alone and enjoy one’s own company, however I don’t think it is reasonable to expect anyone to be alone all of the time. These types of narratives tend to involve characters learning that it is okay to let people in, and it is okay to share feelings and be vulnerable, and it is okay to want someone or people in your life – these discoveries don’t always have to be romantic, they can come from relationships with friends, families, and mentors too, and all of that is great, but I’m a bit tired of that being the lesson.
To sum up this point, the gist of what I’m saying is that of course I do want female characters to be well-rounded and dynamic and to be more than just a love interest, however I also don’t want to venture into a territory that says emotions or accepting help or being in love automatically equal a loss of strength and/or independence.
This is a topic that I want to explore/write about in much broader detail with fleshed out examples so stay tuned for more discussions like this if this is a topic that interests you.
My book review of Kenneth Grahame’s The Wind in the Willows is coming soon.
If you’re a fan of Jim Steinman & Meat Loaf then Bat Out Of Hell – The Musical is a show you don’t want to miss. Bat Out Of Hell – The Musical is an electric show that is filled with incredible rock anthems.
I always look forward to a #theatretrip & this time was no different. I decided to buy tickets for opening night in the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre. I never have a bad night at the theatre, however it is unusual for me to know almost nothing about the show that I’m going to see.
I knew that Bat Out Of Hell – The Musical existed, but I had never seen the show before & I didn’t know anything about the plot. Usually if I don’t know much about a show I will look it up & read about it so I know what I’m going into, but this time I decided to go in with no knowledge at all. I wanted to go in with completely fresh eyes so I could take it all in.
The show was incredible. I went on Tuesday night. I’m still buzzing. The songs are stuck in my head & I’ve been trying to pin down a moment that was my favourite.
Bat Out Of Hell – The Musical brings the love story of Strat & Raven to the stage. Strat is the leader of ‘The Lost’ gang & Raven is the daughter of Falco. Falco rules the city & his family. He is overbearingly protective of Raven. He never lets her leave the house, but despite his rule, she & Strat meet & fall in love.
It is a classic forbidden love story that has a Peter Pan style twist to it, as Strat & the rest of the ‘The Lost’ are frozen at the age of eighteen. Raven has just turned eighteen, but she will continue to age as normal. This is a problem that the couple will have to face, that is if they can get together at all, because Raven’s father is determined to keep them apart.
This story is accompanied by the music of Jim Steinman & Meat Loaf & the staging is spectacular from start to finish. The best word I can use to describe this show is electric.
It was absolutely brilliant. Every single cast member was fantastic & each one drew me in.
I love seeing a cast that clearly loves the show that they’re doing. It is also brilliant when the chemistry on the stage is so obvious. There was an energy in the air & I was fully invested in every character & their stories.
I have to give a special mention to Sharon Sexton. I might be a little biassed because I love seeing Irish actors thrive onstage, but Sharon Sexton is utterly brilliant. I saw her during the tour of Mamma Mia! The show came to Dublin & I got the chance to see her playing Donna. She was brilliant then & when I found out that she would be playing Sloane, I couldn’t wait to see her again. Her voice is just amazing. I love hearing her belt out those iconic songs. She just owns the role of Sloane & she’s got this brilliant, slick energy in every scene that she is in. Sloane is a fantastic character. I think that she might be my favourite character in the show. The pairing of Sharon Sexton & Rob Fowler as Sloane & Falco is a perfect match. The two play off of each other so well & Rob Fowler was incredibly engaging as the strict, overbearing, powerful ruler of his domain. These two singing Paradise By the Dashboard Light was one of the best moments in the show.
Glenn Adamson & Martha Kirby played the forbidden lovers Strat & Raven. They were amazing. I’ve heard the show be described as an ensemble piece because it really is a group effort & while I would agree with that assessment, I think it is so important that we, the audience, feel connected to Start & Raven, because we need to root for them in order for the plot to work.
I would call the show an ensemble piece, but I definitely would class Strat as a leader. He is the leader of ‘The Lost’, he looks out for all of his friends, the gang look to him for guidance etc. I felt that Glenn Adamson really commanded the stage, especially in his romantic scenes with Raven. I believed every bit of his passion & Martha Kirby as Raven complimented his Strat perfectly. Kirby’s voice is stunning. She is powerful, but she also has some softer moments & the light & shade of her voice was really beautiful.
I could honestly go through each cast member & talk about them one by one because everyone was fantastic. The vocal skills displayed were exceptional. These are not easy songs, there are some really difficult notes in this score & the actors made it seem so easy. I’m so impressed that I’m almost jealous. I wish I had that amount of power in my voice. I just love seeing talent & passion bursting on a stage. The sets, staging, & lighting just adds to the buzzing atmosphere that this show creates. You can feel it in the audience. It is hot. It is compelling. It is powerful. It is charged. That is something that really stood out. Everyone gave a very charged, passionate performance.
It is a fun show that brings an element of rock’n’roll to the theatre, but within all of this fun, there is a really engaging & at times, very poignant plot. The characters are compelling & they command attention. Each character goes on their own journey. Sloane in particular has a very compelling character arc, as does Falco.
I had the most fantastic night & I would 100% see this show again.
Have you seen Bat Out Of Hell – The Musical? If you haven’t & you get the chance to, don’t miss it.
My two top moments – Paradise By the Dashboard Light & You Took the Words Right Out of My Mouth (Hot Summer Night).
Here’s to another fantastic #theatretrip.
Kate xo.
The latest addition to my programme collection xo.
The 2021 film Last Night in Soho has been on my “must watch” list since I saw the trailer.
Having missed seeing the film in cinemas, I’ve been very eager to see it for the longest time.
I’m happy to say that I have crossed the film off my “must see” list at last, however I must admit that I did not adore this film the way I thought it would.
If you’ve read my previous film discussions on Katelovesliterature.com then you’ll know that usually I follow a certain formula. I discuss the plot, the setting, the themes, and the structure of a film. I’m changing things up and I’m going to discuss this film in a less formulaic way.
Edgar Wright directed Last Night in Soho. Wright being the film’s director was a big reason as to why I was so eager to see this film. I’m a fan of Wright’s style of directing. I would say that a technique that makes his directing style quite notable is his use of rather jarring cuts. When reading about Wright and the way he directs films, another notable feature of his directing style that gets mentioned often is when editing, Wright is very creative when it comes to transitions.
Both of these things are very clear in Last Night in Soho.
Another film that I love that was directed by Wright is Hot Fuzz. You can read my discussion about this film if you click the link below.
I love films that follow through. What I mean by this, is that I love when a film sets up an idea and follows through with it. This is something that I discuss in more detail in my discussion about Die Hard, which you can also read by clicking on the link below. https://katelovesliterature.com/2021/12/06/die-hard-yes-its-a-chri
These are two films that I love because every single thing that takes place in these two films happens for a reason. Every single idea that has been set up at the beginning comes full circle by the end of the film.
I think that Edgar Wright is quite a meticulous director. He pays attention to details. This is really noticeable when you watch Hot Fuzz. Every time I watch Hot Fuzz I catch another little detail. He lays the foundation and then he follows through. Nothing happens just because. Everything has a purpose. This is why I thought I would absolutely love Last Night in Soho. I expected the same level of acute attention to detail and unfortunately, I was a bit disappointed because I felt that the film started off so strong but became messy as it went on. I will elaborate on this point further along in this discussion.
I have to be fair and more importantly, I have to be honest. I did really enjoy this film, in fact I would even say that I loved it. If you follow me on Instagram @katelovesliterature then you will have seen that my immediate initial reaction to this film was that I really enjoyed it.
I shared on my Instagram stories that I would give it 10/10, that I loved the cast, that I loved the directing style. I said that I particularly loved the use of lighting in the film. I loved the music in the film, and all of these things are still true, however upon further reflection and taking more time to think about the film, there are things that I felt fell apart once you spend more than five minutes thinking about them. If I was to summarise my thoughts I would say “brilliant concept, messy execution.”
Let me explain. Before I talk about the things I didn’t love, let’s discuss the plot because I really did like the idea of this film. I thought it was a really creative and intriguing premise.
If you have not already seen this film, please be aware that this discussion will contain spoilers.
The film follows aspiring fashion designer Ellie as she moves from Cornwall to London to study at the London College of Fashion. Ellie, who is massively inspired by the music and fashion of the sixties, struggles to adapt to the bustling London life as it is so different to her sheltered, rural upbringing with her Nan. Ellie’s mother died when she was a young girl and Ellie can still see her in mirrors. This is the first sign that this movie will contain some supernatural elements.
Ellie does not feel comfortable staying in the college dorms as she is struggling to make friends, so she decides to move to a women’s only bedsit that is owned by a woman named Mrs Collins.
Ellie feels much more comfortable in this bedsit and while living there, she has a series of dreams that transport her back to the 60s. In her dreams, she observes a glamorous, confident, aspiring singer named Sandie. At first, Ellie is excited by Sandie’s life and she uses these dreams about Sandie to inspire her own fashion and her work in school. She dyes her hair blonde to match Sandie’s and in class, she starts designing the dress that Sandie is wearing in her dreams. This new confidence that Sandie has inspired impresses Ellie’s teachers and makes other classmates jealous. However all is not as glamorous as it appears because as each night passes, Ellie’s dreams about Sandie become more and more disturbing. Sandie is not living the high life of a singer in fancy bars, instead she is being mercilessly pimped out by her manager/boyfriend Jack. The man who had promised her stardom and success is pimping her out to his business associates. The dreams that once had Ellie rushing to go to sleep have quickly become inescapable nightmares. Ellie wants to avoid sleep, but the figures of her dreams start to haunt her daily life. Ellie gets more and more afraid as the movie goes on because she keeps seeing disturbing visions of Jack, and the other men who misused Sandie.
The disturbing dreams take a turn for the worst when Ellie dreams about Jack murdering Sandie.
Ellie becomes obsessed with the idea that she must avenge Sandie’s death in order to escape these dreams and be able to sleep. This idea consumes her and she begins looking up newspaper articles about the murder and she attempts to track down Jack to confront him.
I want to pause here before I discuss the film’s twist because I want to talk about what I had hoped this plot would be. Based on the trailer, I thought that this film would be about Ellie trying to solve Sandie’s murder. I was fascinated by the idea of a young girl being plagued with dreams about a cold case and naturally, the only way to get the dreams to stop is to get justice for Sandie and solve her murder because the impression that the beginning of this film gives is that Jack got away with it. This idea is fuelled by the ominous appearings of an old man. Ellie gets a job in a pub, and an old man who we don’t know the name of frequents this pub. This unnamed man has a few odd conversations with Ellie, particularly after she dyes her hair blonde. The film very much gives audiences the impression that this old man is Jack. He seems to recognise Ellie, but only because her newly blonde hair reminds him of Sandie. He’s a strange character.
He is a red herring and I will elaborate more on this point as I go on but first I want to mention one other direction that I thought this film would go in.
I mentioned in a point above that I would summarise this discussion by saying “brilliant concept, messy execution”, and now I am going to give an example of this. I also felt that this movie didn’t follow through with certain ideas and this point is also an example of that.
Ellie’s first dream about the 60s is a glamorous one. She is in a bar in Soho. London is bustling.
One point I will make is that despite all of its flaws, this film is beautifully crafted. There are some absolutely stunning visuals and the vibe of London in the 60s was captured in such an electric way onscreen.
In her first dream, Ellie watches Sandie check her reflection in the mirror before entering the bar. She is determined to figure out a way to become a singer. She is going to be the next Cilla Black. Sandie is flirty, confident, and slick. She’s a force to be watched, she draws you in. She is directed by the bartender to speak to Jack. She’s told he’s Cilla’s manager. Sandie introduces herself to Jack and he is clearly quite taken with her. The couple dance together and this is a brilliant scene.
I have to give credit to Anya Taylor-Joy and Matt Smith. The pair are fabulous as Jack and Sandie. They are slick, they are sexy, they have brilliant chemistry and they capture that electric, swinging vibe of the sixties perfectly. The dance scene is brilliant because it flawlessly cuts between Sandie and Ellie dancing with Jack and I must also praise Thomasin McKenzie as Ellie too because all three actors were fantastic in this scene. There was a lot of brilliant and practical mirror work done in this scene. There were shots where Sandie would look in the mirror and Ellie would be looking back at her instead of her own reflection. This very much gives the impression that Ellie is living the night through Sandie’s perspective. The dance is particularly slick because Jack will spin Sandie out and it will be Ellie who spins back in or he’ll dip Ellie but Sandie will come back up. I believe this scene was done practically as the transitions are so smooth. It very well could have been filmed with both women doing the dance individually and then the scenes were edited together, but it is done so smoothly at times that I suspect it was done practically. This would involve a lot of very precise choreography, but this precision is something that I would associate with Wright. The dvd I bought does have a behind-the-scenes documentary that I plan on watching so I do hope they include how they shot this scene.
I’m not just talking about this back and forth between Sandie and Ellie for no reason, I brought up this point because it is one of the first instances where I feel the movie sets up something that could have been a really cool concept but then does not follow through.
Sandie and Jack end up in a lift. The pair kiss and Jack gives Sandie a hickey on her neck.
When Ellie wakes up in the morning, she has a hickey on her neck in the exact spot that Jack left it on Sandie in her dream so this presents the idea that Ellie physically experiences what happens to Sandie in her dreams.
I thought this was really interesting and I was disappointed when this did not come up again.
This moment also led me to think about what I thought may happen. An idea that I would have been really intrigued by, is the idea that whatever happens to Sandie in the dreams, physically impacts Ellie. So Sandie gets a hickey, Ellie wakes up with a hickey. If Sandie got a bruise, Ellie should have woken up with the same bruise just like she did with the hickey. I wondered if this plot would become about how Ellie would have to somehow stop Sandie from being murdered, because if what happens to Sandie physically impacts Ellie, then surely Sandie being murdered would put Ellie in danger. This did not happen. That was not the plot.
Ellie also did not have to figure out who murdered Sandie. This was not the plot.
I am going to talk about the twist, and then I am going to explain why I did not like the twist.
Jack did not kill Sandie. Jack threatened Sandie with a knife and then she fought back and killed him. Sandie went on to kill the men who came back to her room with the intent of using her for sex. She killed several “Johns” and hid their bodies in the floorboards and walls of her bedsit.
It turns out that Mrs Collins is Sandie. She has managed to keep her secrets for all of these years and now that Ellie has discovered the truth, she panics. In order to keep her secret safe, because she refuses to go to prison, she intends to drug Ellie. All of Sandie’s plans go awry when Ellie’s only friend John knocks on the door to check on her. Mrs Collins stabs him. In Ellie’s room, the room that Sandie committed all the murders in, Ellie is seeing the figures of all the men who Sandie killed. They are crying out to Ellie, begging for help, and begging her to kill Sandie but she won’t. Ellie refuses to kill Sandie and she stops the woman from killing herself with a knife. Ellie is struggling after being drugged, the spirits are shouting, John is bleeding at the bottom of the stairs, and the entire building is burning as a fire has broken out. Mrs Collins/Sandie tells Ellie to get out and escape with John while she stays sitting on the bed as the room becomes engulfed in flames.
Thankfully John recovers – I was so happy about this as he was a really good friend to Ellie throughout the entire film. He is a sweet character and he did not deserve to die. Ellie also recovers and goes back to fashion college. The ending feels far too neat, but I’ll talk about that shortly.
I want to talk about the twist. I did not like it. There are a few reasons as to why I did not like it.
The first being that we watched Jack kill Sandie. In one of Ellie’s dreams, he kills her.
This is where the plot becomes messy. The movie never clarifies whether or not Ellie is having dreams or visions. The things she sees when she goes to sleep are treated as facts.
Ellie sees Jack and Sandie in the flirting stage of the relationship. She watches as Sandie wows him with her voice and her dancing. She is excited when Sandie supposedly gets her first gig, her big break, and then she is horrified to discover that she is not a star at all. Sandie is an overworked backup dancer who is doing a lot more than dancing at night. Ellie wakes up screaming when she dreams about the various men who abuse Sandie in the bedroom. They menacingly unbuckle their belts and laugh at her fear as they stalk towards her. This leads me to this question, if everything up until Sandie’s murder was treated as fact, why did this change when Sandie was allegedly murdered?
Why and how did Ellie see Sandie being murdered if this didn’t actually happen?
Everything else up until this point was portrayed as the accurate unfolding of events in order.
Sandie’s world falling apart and becoming filled with fear as her hopes and dreams are dashed as she is pimped out is a realistic storyline. It is a tragic one. The beginning of the film makes you sympathise with Sandie. She was a wide eyed girl with a beautiful voice and she’s been lured into the world of prostituion and there is no way out because Jack has her under his control. This is believable. So if everything else in Ellie’s dreams was simply an unfolding of events, how did Ellie see a murder that did not actually happen?
Another problem that I have with this is that Ellie is so haunted by Sandie’s murder that she starts to see Sandie in her day to day life. She is haunted by the image of Sandie walking around Soho in her gorgeous pink dress, but the beautiful image is ruined when you glance up and see her slit throat.
Here’s what I think happened. I think that the image of a beautiful Sandie walking around Soho with a slit throat is a very powerful, very disturbing image. It is haunting. It is jarring, and as I mentioned earlier, I think Wright notably uses jarring shots. I can understand why any director would want such a shot in their film, however I feel like wanting this imagery may have overshadowed some plot details.
I would also put forward the idea that the film suggests that Ellie sees things from Sandie’s perspective. She is inspired by Sandie, and then she is concerned about Sandie’s safety, so perhaps when Ellie dreams about Jack threatening Sandie with a knife, she assumes that Jack kills her. She may assume this because up until this point, Jack has had all the control in their relationship, and if he is pimping her out and emotionally abusing her, it makes sense that Ellie would assume that him taking a knife to her resulted in her death. I put forward that idea, but the problem with this is that I’m the one putting forward the idea. That is my interpretation as to why Ellie saw Sandie being murdered. The film does not explain why. The film never makes Ellie out to be an unreliable narrator. The film never alludes to the fact that Ellie’s dreams may be biassed or only reflective of one point of view. As I said, the film treats Ellie’s dreams as a window into the past, and through these dreams, we see Sandie’s life play out so that is why it does not make sense that Ellie saw Sandie being murdered if that did not actually happen. To go against my own point, I would ask if we were to say that Ellie is seeing things through Sandie’s eyes then wouldn’t that mean we would have seen what actually happened? If we are seeing things through Sandie’s eyes, then wouldn’t we have seen her murder Jack?
I wish we hadn’t seen Jack murder Sandie. I wish we had seen a knife fight. I wish we had seen a struggle. I wish that instead of seeing visions of Sandie with her throat slit, that we had seen visions of her covered in blood. This would have been more vague. We don’t see Jack again after the murder dream. We only see the older man, the one the movie lets us assume is Jack.
If we had seen Sandie covered in blood, it would have been easier to wrongly assume that Jack killed her and got away with it. This would make sense. Ellie has been seeing Sandie’s struggles all this time. She has formed a connection with Sandie. Ellie feels sorry for her. If Ellie had dreamt about a knife struggle but woke up before anyone was killed, and then saw images of a bloody Sandie walking around Soho, it would be fair for naive and out of her depth in London Ellie to assume that Jack is the one who killed Sandie. The fact that this is not left elusive, the fact that we see Jack slitting her throat makes this twist really redactive. It was not really a twist in my opinion. We saw him kill her and then a while later, the movie tells us “actually he didn’t kill her, she killed him. Surprise!”
It feels messy.
I also don’t like this twist because I don’t like what the end of this film does to Sandie.
I will say that talking about a fictional murder is extremly different to talking about a real life murder. Fictonal murders are different because depending on the genre of film, murder can very easily become an act that is easier to understand.
Let’s look at Sandie’s character.
She is a young girl who lives alone. There is no mention of her family. She wants to be a singer. She’s talented. She can sing, she can dance, she is charming. She is told to speak to Jack. She does. He is the ultimate teddy boy. He is charming, he’s a smooth talker. He promises her the world and he seems to be opening doors for her. He tells her he loves her, and in the beginning at least, he defends her from sleazy grips and prying eyes. She feels safe with him. “I’m with Jack,” she says. The job turns out to be a backup dancing gig at a gentlemen’s club. The girls are expected to perform onstage and offstage, the dressing rooms are filled with girls who are forced to perform sexual acts and it is clear that some of the girls are not well at all, so clearly noone really cares too much about their wellbeing. Sandie does not have a way out. The men know where she lives, Jack knows where she lives and there is no way he is letting her out. He feels a sense of ownership over her. He is not going to let her just walk away. He is controlling and he is violent, he proves this by pulling out a knife. He just did not expect her to fight back and turn the tables on him.
The idea of an abused girl fighting back and killing her pimp in self defence is one that I can’t say I disagree with. I can’t say that I blame Sandie for killing Jack. Ellie even tells Sandie that she doesn’t blame her, that she understands why she did what she did. The film also presents all of the other men as terrifying figures throughout the film. The images of them following Ellie down the streets and to school are really unsettling. The scenes where shadowy hands are reaching out to grab her feel really uncomfortable to watch, especially as a young woman, so when the film pulls the switch and suddenly has all of these dead “Johns” crying out to Ellie for help, it feels off.
Sandie is then presented as a serial killer because she killed the many men who came back to her room and wanted to pay her for sex. The film presents this idea that she is getting revenge on all of those “Johns” who use and abuse her by killing them. This is another point that caused me to have conflicting opinions and I actually struggled to gather my thoughts articulately because killing that many people is wrong and being able to kill that many people has to have a profound impact on a person. In the fight with Jack, it was self defence, she did not go out that day knowing she would kill Jack that night. There does come a point though, where it is intentional. She knows that when she takes these other men back to her room that she is going to kill them one by one. She feels they deserve it.
Do they deserve it? That is an interesting question. The film does not make these men sympathetic whatsoever. They are portrayed as sleazy, predatory, arrogant figures who love to watch the girls dance and then get a private show later. The men who interact with Sandie act like they’re entitled to do whatever they like with her and to her. The audition scene is particularly seedy in hindsight. At first it seems as though Jack and the owner of the bar are in awe of her voice. The two men share a look. Upon reflection, it becomes clear that the owner was not impressed by her singing, there was never any intention of making Sandie a star, the only intention was to turn her into a prostitute and they succeeded. It’s hard not to still sympathise with Sandie. She says herself that she died in that room a hundred times, and in a way she did. The innocent Sandie died in that room. The Sandie who didn’t know violence died in that room. The Sandie who just wanted to be a singer died in that room. The old man who we think is Jack, who I will talk about properly in my next point, has a line about how he used to know all of the pretty girls. He talks to Ellie about the pretty girls, the pretty blonde girls. He says he doesn’t remember them all because “they all look the same on the slab.” It is a horrible line. It is a line that stood out. It is cold, it is callous. I think it is hard to think of Sandie as a cold killer when the film tells us that these men simply used young girls for their pleasure. They didn’t care about them as people. They didn’t care about their safety or their wellbeing. They would not care if they found out that one of those girls ended up dead.
Historically we know that if a female prostitute wound up dead, the crime was not taken all that seriously because the victim was viewed as someone who deserved it or a prostitute’s life wasn’t considered that important anyways. I have talked about this in my discussion of Jekyll & Hyde the musical as it is a very prominent plot point. You can read this discussion by clicking the link below https://katelovesliterature.com/2021/10/22/jekyll-hyde-the-musical/
The film Lost Girls is based on a tragic true story and this film demonstrates how some people, even those investigating the crime, often lack any emphty for the victims because of the fact that they were prostitutes. You can read my review of this film by clicking the link below.
I am aware that I am linking several of my other reviews in this discussion. I am doing so because the points I am making relate to points I have made in more detail when discussing other pieces that contain similar themes and if you’re interested in exploring these points further and reading about how these points were portrayed in other stories, then you can go ahead and read some of my other discussions if you haven’t already.
If Sandie had have been murdered, it is fair to assume that her death wouldn’t have been taken all that seriously based on the fact that she was a prostitute in the 60s. Lost Girls is not a period piece and the film demonstrates how even in this day and age, certain victims will be dismissed because of the lives they lead so it is fair to assume that had Sandie died, some would have had the attitude that she got what was coming to her. Last Night in Soho is a film that deomonstartes how easy it is for a young girl to end up working as a prostitute so is it fair to say that any prostitute deserves to be murdered? I don’t think so. I think that seeing every step of Sandie’s struggles made it really difficult to condemn her actions even though they did change from self defence to intentional. The reason for this is that the film presents the men as very predatory figures who abuse young girls, so as an audience member, it is hard to sympathise when these men cry out for help. Sandie cried out for help. Sandie cried out in fear. They laughed at her.
The film then goes a step too far with Sandie because while I can say that killing that many people is wrong but I can understand Sandie’s motive behind doing so, when Sadie stabs Ellie’s friend John there is no turning back. To an extent, I can understand why she drugged Ellie. She has lived her whole life with her secrets and she does not want to go to prison and now because of Ellie, she may be caught. So she panics. She drugs Ellie so that her secret won’t get out. It is an act of desperation. Was it wrong? Yes. Do I understand it? Yes. Why do I understand it? I understand it because it is in character. It aligns with everything she has done so far. Every ounce of understanding goes away when she stabs Ellie’s friend John. There was no need. There is no justification for it. Ellie swore she wouldn’t tell anyone the truth she has learned, and I believe that she wouldn’t have. She still felt sorry for Sandie. She understood why Sandie committed those murders. As a viewer, I believed that Ellie would have taken that secret to her grave, but Sandie couldn’t trust that so she drugged her. Stabbing John was unnecessary. He was completely innocent. He knocked on the door to make sure Ellie was okay. Sandie could have said she was sick. She did not need to stab him. Sandie even makes it a point to say she is not going to kill Ellie with a knife because she would not do that to her, she does not deserve it. The only reason Sandie is planning to kill Ellie is because she wants her secret to die with Ellie. She does not believe that Ellie deserves to die violently the way the “Johns” did. Sandie drugged Ellie’s tea and planned for her to fall asleep and die peacefully so this demonstrates that Sandie does not just ruthlessly brandish her knife, but then she stabs John. She uses her knife on someone completely innocent when she really didn’t have to and this action cannot be justified.
Sandie is a very flawed character, and while murder is objectively wrong, there was at least a clear motive from Sandie’s point of view and while you can disagree with her actions, at least you can see why she did what she did, you can see why she wanted revenge. She’s complicated. She’s layered. Her actions and the reasons behind those actions invite audiences to think about morals and how complex the morally right thing can be. I think having her stab a completely innocent boy ruins that, because in my opinion, that is a point that can’t be overlooked.
I’ve been thinking a lot about this film in preparation of writing this review and every time I think about it, I think why did she have to do that to John? Everything else, I could see the motive behind it, but hurting John has no defence and I think that really hurts her character.
I mentioned in a point above how I felt that the imagery of Sandie walking around Soho with a slit throat was a very powerful visual and I felt the want for this jarring visual overtook some plot points making sense. I think that this happened again when it came to Sandie’s final scene.
I think that the idea of having Sandie die on that bed, in that room, as the room becomes engulfed in flames is a very poignant idea. The visuals were stunning. Scary, heartbreaking, but stunning. Again, despite all of the flaws, this film was beautifully crafted. I think the idea that Sandie metaphorically died in that room a hundred times and now she will literally die in that room is a very, very poignant idea. I think that having Sandie sit on that bed in that room as it became engulfed in flames was a visual that was really wanted, but a reason was needed for it, which is why the choice was made to turn Sandie into this serial killer who was desperate to keep her secret. In order to have this powerful scene on the bed, the film needed to provide a reason as to why Sandie would do that. So the film has Sandie decide to die on her own terms. She refuses to be caught by the police. Ellie stops her from using the knife on herself, but she still won’t allow herself to be caught so she tells Ellie to run and she dies on her own terms, on her own bed.
I will also take a moment to say that all of the thoughts that I have expressed in this review are entirely my own. People can feel free to disagree. People can love this film, and feel that the twist was brilliant. People can enjoy the fact that it became somewhat of a slasher film.
I am not saying that what I think is right. Film is subjective and films are always open to interpretation. Personally, I was so excited to watch this film, but based on the trailers I thought it would be completely different. I loved the idea and loved many things within the film such as the music, the costumes, the use of lighting, I did feel that while this film is beautifully crafted, the plot gets messy. Too many things don’t add up in my opinion. Too many things were brilliant concepts but they were let down by the execution. I also think that certain plot points were overlooked and allowed to be messy because certain visuals were wanted. I love powerful imagery. I am in favour of getting really interesting, dynamic, and startling shots, but they need to make sense.
I want to talk about the old man before I talk about the film’s ending. The old man is a red herring. There are many times in the film where we see Jack and then in the present day, we see the old man. So the film allows audiences to assume that he is Jack. There were a few moments where I was unsure, because the film doesn’t clarify who this man actually is until the third act. When it was revealed that the old man who had spoken to Ellie in such an ominous way about the past was actually a retired undercover detective who had once tried to help Sandie, again I just couldn’t help but feel that this was a messy twist.
The old man’s real name is Lindsey and when Ellie thinks back through her dreams, she does recall one night when a man tried to help Sandie. It turns out that this man was Lindsey.
Ellie confronts Lindsey before she learns his true identity. She thinks he is Jack. She attempts to get him to confess to killing Sandie. This results in an argument and Lindsey leaves the pub angry, only to be killed when he is hit by a car. It is only when he is dead that Ellie is told who this man actually is, and she is horrified to learn that she wasn’t questioning Jack after all.
This moment disappoints me because it just feels a bit pointless. Lindsey’s death feels really unnecessary, as does John’s stabbing. I think the problem is that the film doesn’t allow audiences to feel connected to Lindsey as a character. The film allows us to assume he is Jack for a very long time, and Lindsey isn’t exactly the nicest character. He’s guarded. He seems very suspicious of Ellie. He is not exactly kind. At one point he even asks Ellie if he scares her, and he seems to smirk at the idea that he does, taking pleasure in her discomfort instead of easing her mind.
In my opinion, we don’t see him enough in Ellie’s dreams of the past. There is a brilliant yet devastating montage of Sandie being forced to dance by Jack. She dances to get the attention of men. These men buy her a drink, ask her for her name, they tell her she has a lovely name, and then they proceed to use her for their pleasure. It happens over, and over, and over again. The point being that these “Johns” are all the same. The same club, the same approach, the same drink, the same question, the same answer, and then the same result at the end of the night. Sandie gets more and more delirious as she answers the same questions over, and over because she knows exactly how her night is going to play out. It plays out the same way every time.
Lindsey is in this montage. He’s at the table with her, arguing with her about how she is better than this, but Sandie knows she is being watched intently by Jack so she feels too trapped to accept his help. When the film reveals that Lindsey was actually a detective, there’s this idea presented that he was a good guy all along and it is a shame that he died. It is a shame that he died, he didn’t need to, but the devastation of everyone else in the pub feels misplaced because they don’t connect with him throughout the film. He is never once presented as a great man who everyone loves and respects, he is always presented as a lone figure, who is silently observing Ellie and the way he stares at her sometimes is borderline uncomfortable. I think the film made him behave this way so that audiences would not trust him, so that we would believe he is Jack, so that the reveal that he is not Jack would feel like a shocking twist, but doing that hurts this twist because he was not a particularly nice old man, and there were not enough scenes with him from the past.
I would argue that if we had seen him more in the past, if we had seen him actively trying to help Sandie, actively trying to get her away from Jack, if we had been given the opportunity to get to know his character then this twist and his death would have felt much more poignant. If he had been a reserved old man who refused to talk about the past because it was too upsetting instead of an ominous figure, then this moment would have had more impact. It would have been a different character if he had done all he could to help Sandie but couldn’t, and didn’t want to talk about the past because that time and those memories bring him pain, and then for him to tragically get hit by a car after all of that, that would have hit harder. I could also argue that this would be somewhat melodramatic to have this person who tried his very best fail, be haunted by that failure, and then tragically die. I’m not saying that this would have been the perfect solution. The point I’m trying to make is that I feel that in order for that twist and his death to work, we needed to feel more connected to Lindsey as a character. I feel we didn’t know Lindsey at all, so that entire scene just felt sloppy.
I think the main reason I didn’t love Last Night in Soho as much as I expected to is because within this plot, I feel that there were some really brilliant concepts, but as I talk about moments that I found to be quite messy, and when I try to think about how I would have liked those moments to make more sense, I find that I’m almost creating a different film.
I’m not a screenwriter, and I’m not a director, but I just see so many threads that if you pull on them enough, the plot slowly unravels. This is a shame because the premise is really creative and intriguing, but I think the decision to make it an almost slasher film was a mistake.
I like the idea of Ellie dreaming about a cold case and in order to escape the nightmares, she attempts to prove that Sandie was murdered. Lindsey could have been a reserved, retired, jaded detective who finally agrees to work with her because he couldn’t prove Sandie was murdered at the time. This would have been a different film.
If the film wanted to keep the twist that Sandie killed Jack, okay then maybe Lindsey found out and kept her secret all these years because he felt that Jack was a cruel man and Sandie fought back in self defence. Ellie poking around and questioning the past would threaten Lindsey and Sandie in modern day because the crime they covered up would be at risk of being revealed and they would get caught. This would have been a different film.
I really loved the idea that Ellie is physically impacted by what happened to Sandie in her dreams. So I would have loved for this to have continued rather than just stopping after the hickey. It was a really cool idea that happened once and not ever again. Why? Why did it only happen once? How did she get the hickey but no other physical proof of what happened in her dreams? If Ellie is physically impacted then Sandie being murdered puts her in physical danger and she would have to somehow figure out how to save Sandie and save herself and that is where the horror comes in. With every dream, she takes one step closer to being murdered. Again, this would have been a different film.
There were so many different and interesting concepts within this film. I think the original premise lends itself to going in many different directions, all of which would have been creative, compelling, and rather poignant. The film could have kept its horror elements even if they had gone in a different direction and I think it is disappointing that the direction that was chosen led to messy storylines and messy executions of really cool ideas.
The film’s ending feels far too neatly wrapped up. Ellie returns to fashion college and thrives. Her former bullies tell her she is so brave after all she has been through. There were three bullies in this film, the classic Mean Girls set up where we meet the head bully and her two minions. Jocasta is the leader of the pack. She dislikes Ellie immediately. She makes fun of Ellie for making her own clothes, she thinks Ellie is boring and weird, she’s also jealous when Ellie gets positive feedback from a teacher. Throughout the course of the film, Ellie is getting more and more paranoid in her real life because she keeps seeing disturbing figures from her dreams and she fears that the men and Jack are after her. There is a very disturbing scene in the library where Ellie is terrified that she is being chased by attackers so she grabs a pair of scissors to defend herself. Her only friend John grabs a hold of her and stops her right in time because when Ellie comes to, she realises that that figure she was about to stab is actually Jocasta. The pair of scissors is dangerously close to Jocasta’s face and she is rightfully angry over what has happened. Ellie can’t explain her actions as she feels no one will believe her. She is afraid people will think she is mad. This incident is never mentioned again. Ellie runs from the library. John follows as he is desperately trying to figure out what is wrong and what has happened.
At the end of the film when Ellie is back in college, Jocasta is never mentioned again. The two girls who used to laugh at Ellie with Jocasta tell her that she is so brave. They are suddenly being kind to her. Jocasta is alone in the background of the shot. She is not smiling, but she does not look angry, she is just sort of there and it just feels off. She was nearly stabbed in the face with a pair of scissors but there was absolutely no mention of how this issue got resolved. After everything Ellie just goes back to college and John and her Nan watch happily from the audience as she does very well at an end of year fashion show. It is a happy ending and I like happy endings, but this felt bizarrely wrapped up in a bow and it didn’t fit the tone of the rest of the film.
Overall I am delighted that I got to watch Last Night in Soho at last. I would watch the film again, and despite being let down by the plot twists and feeling that the plot became messy, I would recommend it to anyone who has not seen it because the cast is brilliant and there are some really fantastic moments in the film that I did enjoy. The music was fantastic. The way the film captured the setting of the 60s was wonderful. The way the energy shifts from flirty and glamorous to seedy and terrifying is done brilliantly. There are moments in the film that are so unsettling, and this feeling is achieved from the creative use of lighting and sound. I also really love the practical shots and the mirror acting. It is a very creative shot that you don’t see all that often. If you’re a fashion or makeup buff, then I think you’ll love the costumes. The 60s looks, particularly Sandie’s, are gorgeous. I’ve said it a few times in this discussion but it is worth repeating because it is true, the film is visually stunning. It is a well made film that just has a messy plot. I would love for a few things to have been different, so that the overall plot could have made more sense, but even with all of the things that I wish were different, I can’t deny that I enjoyed this film. I plan to watch the behind-the-scenes documentary as I believe it will be fascinating and I look forward to seeing how certain things were done.
Have you seen Last Night in Soho? What are your thoughts? Love it? Hate it? Agree with me? Disagree with me? I’d love to know.
Do you have a movie that you think is really well made despite being full of things that just don’t make sense when you think about it? What movie is it?
Tonight is the night. Tonight, we find out once and for all who killed Bunny.
I’ve been reviewing the episodes in pairs and so my review of episodes 9 & 10 will be published later this week, but I thought that I would save my review of episodes 7 & 8 until today.
I can confirm, I finally have guesses.
I’ve said it before, but I will say it again, I felt season two had a more intriguing mystery.
It took me longer to form guesses about who the killer could be.
I think season one was better at adding certain details. Season two involved some doubling back over nights we’ve already seen and adding more things. A clear example of this was the show telling audiences that Lucy was actually in the hidden passage the night Bunny was killed.
I liked the detail although it felt a little backtracked. This is just my opinion of course.
Let’s dive into episode 7, Flipping the Pieces.
This episode gives audiences an insight into Mabel’s personal life. We learn about her father and this window into her past allows us to have a better understanding of how Mabel handles things now that she is an adult.
I like the idea of everything being like a puzzle piece in Mabel’s mind. It might be a little on the nose, as far as metaphors go, but Mabel only remembers pieces of the night of Bunny’s murder. She needs them to all come together to form a clear image, this is the only way she can fully know what happened that night.
I like that the episode showcased Mabel examining herself and trying to remember that night more clearly, because Mabel is obviously struggling with the fact that she does not fully remember. It has shaken her confidence and it has shaken her belief in herself. She knows she didn’t do it. She believes she never would do it, but the fact that some things are a blur throws her off. She questions could she do that? Is she capable of something like that?
She even says it is something that she would do. She would grab a knitting needle or anything that she could defend herself with if she came home to find a stranger in her apartment.
In a show that is very satirical, and very self-aware, this episode’s storyline felt really realistic.
If you’re being accused of murder and you don’t fully remember what happened, I think it’s really plausible that you would question yourself and fear the worst.
This episode also brought us the unlikely pairing of Mabel and Theo.
I really enjoyed their scenes. I like that Mabel and Theo found some common ground.
Theo is the one who helped Mabel and got her home safely after the subway incident.
The two try to communicate in the best way possible and I really liked the fact that this episode highlighted some of Theo’s struggles. Mabel does not know American sign language and as the episode goes on (and in the following episode) she attempts to start learning it so she can communicate with Theo properly. The two share the same fear. Theo thinks back to the night of the party very often. He asks himself over and over, did she fall? Did I push her?
It must be awful to be haunted by such dark memories and questions.
We get to see some brilliant Steve Martin and Martin Short scenes. They truly are a dream team.
Charles and Oliver are very worried about Mabel as they don’t know where she is, and two fumble when they are faced with questions from Detective Williams.
I love Detective Williams. Da’Vine Joy Randolph is wonderful. Detective Williams is no nonsense. She’s direct. She does not take any messing, but she’s kind. She’s understanding, and she is possibly the only one in the NYPD who is on the side of our trio.
Theo and Mabel find themselves at Coney Island, and here they start flipping the pieces. Mabel sees the man who was on the subway, the man who got away from their trap. Glitter guy. The killer, or the person who is most likely the killer.
The episode ends with Mabel having a breakthrough. She didn’t stab Bunny. She found Bunny in her apartment. Bunny was bleeding. Bunny came to Mabel, needing help, which is how Mabel became covered in her blood. Mabel can finally breathe easier knowing that she did not do it.
The episode ends with our trio in the diner. Charles and Oliver are thrilled to see Mabel, and she is delighted to see them. Theo is looking in from the outside. He is happy for Mabel. Theo was a standout for me in this episode. I really enjoyed the fact that he and Mabel bonded and hopefully, the pair can become friendlier since they’ve discovered that they share common ground.
The end of episode 7 sets us up perfectly for episode 8. Charles is on the phone to Lucy, who is in his apartment alone when the call dies due to a blackout. Charles is very concerned about Lucy as she is now all alone in his apartment in the dark and Mabel found pictures of Lucy in the possible killer’s bag, suggesting that she could be in a lot of danger.
Episode 8 is going to be a blackout episode. We know this now, and this intrigues me because things are about to be done in the dark. Now, I’m not sure who originally said this, but I’m a fan of the saying that things done in the dark eventually come out in the light so we’re getting so much closer to finding the killer.
Let’s jump into episode 8.
Episode 8 introduces audiences properly to Marv. Marv is a fan of the trio and their podcast. He also has his own theories about who killed Bunny. Marv’s narration tells us about the “sixth avenue slasher”. Marv thinks that this mysterious killer could be the one who killed Bunny as this killer was never caught. He brings his theory to the trio, but their main concern at the moment is getting to Lucy and making sure she is safe.
This episode is a strange mix of funny, a little bizarre, yet also quite touching.
Marv’s narration is interesting, if at times a little grating. This is a personal opinion. I like Marv as a character, I just didn’t love his style of storytelling, however he did make some great statements. One statement that always rings true is that nothing brings people together like a crisis. Everyone in the city is dealing with the blackout. Everyone is frustrated. The fact that this episode shows everyone in crisis mode meant that we got to see snippets into other lives in the building.
There are two sub-plots in this episode. Howard has a crush on a new resident, Johnathan, the handsome Broadway performer. He’s getting his flirting game going in the dark. What is a better pick up line than asking whether or not someone has any batteries for a torch? Clearly his new neighbour has similar conversation starter ideas as he asks Howard for the exact same thing. The pair ditch the battery ideas and decide to light some candles and get to know each other. It’s cute.
The pair also start an apartment-wide sing-song of The Sound of Silence. It is a little bit far fetched, but I do like the idea of everyone being there for each other so I’ll give it a pass. They sang it well so good for them.
We also get to see Nina again. She is exhausted and trying to get her newborn baby to sleep. While it was not really a crucial plot point, I felt that this little snippet with Nina and Lester the doorman was really important. Nina is very rude to Lester at first. She makes the older man who has been the doorman at the apartment building climb many, many stairs with her packages because the blackout means no elevators. I understand that she is an exhausted new mother who just wants to get her baby to sleep, but the baby swing could have waited until the elevators were working again. Just a thought. Their chat was very sweet though as Nina talks about how much Bunny taught her. She wishes that Bunny’s killer would be found as she’s devastated at the thought of someone hurting Bunny. Nina is a modern woman. She is a thinker. She wants to improve everything, however after talking with Lester and at last apologising for being rude, she does admit that while moving forward is important, it is also important that we don’t lose human connection. This little snippet was very poignant in fact, as Lester tells Nina that he thinks about Bunny a lot. Something that haunts him is the idea that on the night of Bunny’s murder, he most likely opened the door for the killer and let him walk right passed him. This moment was a really endearing little snippet. I also thought it was very clever writing. It can be so easy to skim over people or assume that things don’t impact them for whatever reason, but Lester’s story reminds audiences that everyone is going through their own stories and things impact everyone in different ways.
The key plot of this episode is Lucy is in danger. The killer bangs on the door of Charles’ apartment and a terrified Lucy flees to the hidden passages. The killer is not deterred. He’s after her, and our trio is climbing the stairs as fast as they can.
Everyone playing an important role in their own way is a theme of this episode. Marv overhears that Charles is worried about Lucy so he does what he can to help. He also goes to the passageways and by doing so, he scares the killer away.
A blackout must end with the lights coming back on. I don’t make the rules, that’s just how it is. Watch your sit-coms, pay attention, enjoy the shenanigans in the dark and then take a deep breath with the characters when the lights come back on at just the right moment.
The episode ends with Detective Kreps showing up. Oh Detective Kreps, arrogant, cocky, mannerless Detective Kreps. As he is chatting to Mabel, it becomes obvious that there is glitter on his neck… he is glitter guy!! Is Detective Kreps our killer? Mabel thinks so. Her eyes widen as she sees the glitter too and this discovery leads us straight to episode 9.
I enjoyed this episode. I also like the idea that perhaps Detective Kreps is crooked.
Here’s my initial thoughts. I think it could be a little too obvious if Detective Kreps is the killer. He has always disliked our trio. He’s brash and he definitely gives off the vibe that he abuses his authority. He’s involved. The glitter proves that he’s the one who ran away from the glitter bomb, but I think he’s a little too close to home if he is the killer.
I know from watching a lot of crime shows, both true and fictional, that sometimes those who commit crimes return to the scene, however Kreps strikes me as the type of guy who would brag about it. The fact he did it and got away with it would give him a gigantic ego boost and mannerless Kreps would have to gloat that he’s the smartest. He’s involved, but is he the mastermind? Let’s see.
I am so excited to watch episode 10 later tonight.
If you follow me on Instagram @katelovesliterature, then you’ll see my #watchtvwithme updates.
I do have guesses. These guesses formed more solidly after I watched episode 9.
I will talk about this more in my next review as I will be finishing the season by discussing episodes 9 & 10 together. I’m planning to write my next review tomorrow, immediately after viewing the finale so stay tuned because my final discussion should be published very soon as I am so excited.
Have you been watching Only Murders in the Building?
Did you prefer season one or season two? Do we think there will be a season three?
Let me know, and if you’re watching the finale later like me, enjoy!
I don’t think there is anything that excites me more than a theatre trip.
It’s no secret that I love the theatre. I see a lot of shows. I’m aware that it can be an expensive pastime. I’m aware that I am very, very fortunate to be able to go to the theatre as often as I do. I make so many wonderful memories each and every time I go to see a show, and there’s just no other place that gives me the same excited buzz as when I am sitting in my seat just before the curtain rises.
Willy Russell’s Blood Brothers is a masterpiece. I can’t even begin to explain how much I love this show, but I am determined to try. I studied speech and drama for years. I have been in several productions and choirs. I have watched this show many times. I’ve seen every professional production that I could. I’ve watched amateur productions. I’ve been in this show myself, and performing in a production of Blood Brothers will always be one of my fondest memories of drama class. It was incredible, and the material has stuck with me all these years.
I saw Blood Brothers when the show came to Dublin in 2020, just before the pandemic hit Ireland and everything changed. I remember how excited I was when the five minute call was announced over the speakers. I was buzzing with anticipation. I thought the show would never start. I love it that much, I just could not wait.
I don’t tend to speak about my personal life. I try not to, just because it’s not really relevant to my literature discussions, however always typing “a friend” just feels ridiculous. The reason I’m even adding this information is because this theatre trip was fairly spontaneous. I wouldn’t call it last minute as we did have time to make plans, but the way this little city break came about was all very sudden and seeing as this is a theatre/city break piece I want to explain properly how this trip came about. Unlike my holiday to Italy, this trip was not planned months and months in advance.
This may come as a shock, but I talk about literary things quite often as a love of film in particular is something that I have in common with many of my very close friends. I was talking to my boyfriend about Blood Brothers because it is a show that I thought he would really enjoy, so we decided that the next time the show comes to Dublin, we will definitely go to see it.
I was thinking about how the last time I had seen the show was in 2020, so I thought it could be a while before it comes back to Dublin. I don’t know why, but I decided right there and then to look up “When will Blood Brothers tour again?”
Immediately I saw that there was in fact a 2022 tour happening. I was so excited, and also surprised that I hadn’t heard about it until this moment. I don’t think I’ve ever made plans so quickly. I viewed the tour dates and as soon as I saw that the show was going to be on in Belfast, I just knew that a little mini break was happening. Yes, it is a mini break. In my opinion, if you are leaving your city with an overnight bag then yes, that is a city break, even if it is only for one night.
Let’s talk about the cost. I am a full-time masters student who is about to face a mountain of work when the academic year starts again in September and I have to tackle my thesis. This means I budget. I really try to save my money and only splurge when it is really worth it, and for the most part, theatre trips are really the only thing that I do spend money on. I tend to save money from work, my birthday, and Christmas in order to be able to go to a few different shows every year, and sometimes the tickets are birthday or Christmas presents.
I am a firm believer that you can still find nice places even if you don’t want to spend a fortune, and lovely places don’t always have to cost a ridiculous amount of money.
I’m being very realistic here when I say that it is easier to do things if you are splitting the cost with someone, and when you are splitting the cost with someone, you can decide together what is worth a splurge and what isn’t.
When planning a theatre trip specifically, my thoughts are as follows; there is no point in paying a lot of money to go somewhere and stay the night (if you’re going outside of your home base), and then not have great seats at the show. Theatre tickets are theatre tickets, and they cost what they cost, and there is a price range that differs depending on where you sit, but sometimes the seats at the back of the theatre are still very pricey and if I’m going to spend money on seats, I would rather spend a little more and sit in the stalls. I’d rather an expensive seat that I have a really great view in as opposed to a less pricey, but still rather expensive seat that I may not be able to have a great view from.
Something to note here is that I am very short so I am speaking from personal experience. I find that the further back I sit, I have a harder time seeing. Honestly even when I sit in the stalls I have to hope that someone very tall does not sit directly in front of me. I’m not bashing any seats. Some people may prefer to sit further back. My own mother doesn’t like being super close to the stage, and everyone has to decide what price option works best for them, but if I’m explaining where I’m going to splurge, then I am going to be honest and say that if I can, I will sit in the stalls.
On this occasion, we decided that the hotel was worth a splurge more than transport so we booked a bus ticket from Dublin to Belfast instead of getting the train even though a train journey is usually a bit more comfortable, and even though it was only going to be for one night, we decided that we’d like to treat ourselves to a slightly pricier hotel even though there were budget options that would have been perfectly fine. If we had have been staying for a few nights, then we would have had to choose a more budget friendly hotel, but when we were talking about just one night, and one hotel was just so much nicer than the other, and the difference between the two places wasn’t absurd, we decided that we would splurge a little and treat ourselves to a really nice night in a gorgeous place.
I am going to be completely transparent and create a breakdown of costs for anyone who is interested in the table below. Feel free to skip ahead if travel breakdowns don’t interest you.
Personally, I find them helpful if I’m reading about trips so I can get an idea of prices if I want to do something similar myself.
The below table is a breakdown of costs from show tickets to accommodation, and it is all based on what we paid individually. For example the show tickets are not £40 in total, they are £40 each. Everything is divided this way.
Show Tickets
£40 per person > approx. €50 each.
Transport
€20 per person. Round trip. This makes it €10 each way per person. Extremely reasonable.
Hotel
€65 each.
Total cost
€135 each.
Overall, for a plan that was put together in a very short amount of time, I am extremely happy with this price. If you look at it and compare it to a night out in Dublin, it becomes clear that we found some great prices.
Tickets to see a show in the Bord Gáis can start at €50 each, and depending on the show, I’ve sometimes paid €80 to sit in the stalls. On a night out to the theatre, we will usually get a few drinks and we sometimes go to dinner, although we don’t do this every single time. For the sake of the comparison though, let’s say we had dinner before the show and had drinks after the show. I’ve often split a dinner bill down the middle and paid €45. That usually covers my food and a cocktail or two and a soft drink.
Even before adding post show drinks, if you take the €50 for the tickets and pair it with at least another €40 for dinner and drinks with the food, that’s €90 already.
If I spend roughly €90 on a trip to the theatre (to be fair, the tickets are usually purchased far in advance so on the night of the show itself, I’m just buying dinner and/or drinks but I’m including the ticket price as part of the overall theatre trip expense) then this entire mini trip to Belfast, tickets, transport, and accommodation is costing me another €45.
If the tour had have come to Dublin, I would have absolutely bought tickets. There’s no doubt about that, so even though the tour coming to Dublin would have saved me the trip, I still think that getting a cute little break away in the month of august to stay in a nice hotel and see an amazing show and make a wonderful memory out of it for an extra €45 is so worth it.
That is really how I decide whether or not something is worth the splurge. I sit down and I think about it and I add everything up, and sometimes we go for the more affordable option or sometimes we decide that we just cannot justify something and we don’t do it, but when we find the right prices and we think it through and we compare, if it works out that we can do something really nice for not a ridiculously extra amount, we do it, and we always have an amazing time.
I want to take a moment to state that this theatre trip was not sponsored. It was not gifted. No part of this piece is an ad. We chose to go on this mini break. We paid for everything ourselves and anything that I have chosen to discuss, I have chosen because we really enjoyed it.
Now that the logistics are out of the way, let’s talk about the fun stuff.
We stayed in the gorgeous Hotel Belfast. This was a great choice because the hotel could not have been in a better location. It was a ten minute walk away from the Grand Opera House. The Botanic Gardens were just down the road. We were right beside so many little coffee shops, pubs, and book shops. It was a twenty minute walk to Victoria Square. The bus from Dublin dropped us off right beside the theatre, and as I said the theatre was only a ten minute walk away so this meant that the hotel was easy to find and we did not have to walk for very long with our bags.
I’ve shared pictures on my Instagram grid – @katelovesliterature is my handle for those who don’t know. I will share some snaps below, but you can also find them on my Insta, along with many snaps from the trip itself in my highlights.
If you like to take pretty pictures like I do, then you’ll see that House Belfast was a dream. It is so pretty. I fell in love with the blossom tree in the bar. I love the design. I love the deeper colours mismatched with lampshades and lots of florals. I love the out there patterns clashed against the grey and rose gold hardware.
I did talk about this already on Instagram, but it is worth repeating. I have to say how impressed I was with the staff. Everyone was so kind to us, especially everyone in the bar and restaurant.
Our lovely waitress, (whose name I won’t share for obvious privacy reasons), was brilliant. She was able to tell me exactly what was nut/peanut free on the menu. She went back to the kitchen and double checked with the chef for me. She gave recommendations. It was so kind of her, and it meant that we could enjoy our meals without any second thoughts.
I wish we could have stayed longer. It was such a lovely experience. The overnight stay has also made me really want to do a staycation in House Dublin so I might look into that closer to Christmas or maybe for one of our birthdays.
When we arrived in Belfast, we checked into our hotel and then we headed out for a walk.
We had planned to eat dinner in the hotel so we had a table booked in advance so our plan for the afternoon was to just have a wander. We grabbed a coffee and made our way to the botanic gardens.
If you need to kill some time on a sunny day, botanical gardens are a great spot. We had a lovely walk through the rose gardens and then we went through the greenhouses. It was a really nice way to spend the afternoon. We really enjoyed the sunshine and the fresh air.
I will talk about the performance of Blood Brothers in a separate piece because this show deserves its own piece. It is incredible. The show is iconic. It is heart-breaking. It is gripping. It is filled with highly emotional themes of poverty, class differences, religion, and fate.
The score is stunning. Each character serves their own purpose. Every line is so intentional. Every move is so intentional. I have studied this show intensely. I’ve been in an amateur production of this show. I’ve read the material too many times to count, and the thing that always stands out is how detail orientated this show is. It is precise. There is so much foreshadowing and this is something that the music reflects. It is just a masterpiece and I intend to speak about it properly in what will be a very long discussion.
Keep an eye out for that as it will be published soon.
The theatre itself was beautiful. We had great seats. We had a drink at intermission. The Grand Opera House in Belfast was a lovely venue. I love visiting different theatres and I would happily see a show there again in the future.
The next day we explored. We had a great time. Our bus back to Dublin was not leaving Belfast until the evening so we had all day to explore.
We went to several book shops. We explored Victoria Square. We had ice cream at Taboo Donuts. It was delicious. The highlight of my day though was when we got to Victoria Square and came across a fairy tale exhibit. This was an amazing coincidence. We did not know about this exhibition in advance, but if I’d have known about it, it would have been on my to-do list for sure, so the fact that we stumbled across it was brilliant.
The exhibition is called Into The Forest and you can go on this journey through fairy tales until the 29th of August 2022.
It was amazing. I was looking at each fairy tale display like an excited kid on Christmas morning. It was so sweet and it felt really magical. I also love the idea behind it.
Fairy tales are so important and we should never be too old to enjoy them.
I’m sharing some snaps here, but most of my pictures can be found in my highlights on Instagram so check it out – @katelovesliterature.
Overall, we had the best time. It was just one night, and although we said that we could have easily stayed another day, the fact that it was such a spontaneous mini trip was what made it so fun. We went with zero plans aside from seeing Blood Brothers so all of the other lovely things that we did were things that we just stumbled into, which made it all the better.
What is your favourite fairy tale? I’d love to know.
Have you seen Blood Brothers?
Where is your favourite place to go on a mini break?
Kate xo.
HouseBelfastOur hotel room... I loved this wallpaper. Dinner … yum!Our dessert …this was delicious! The beautiful stage at the Grand Opera House before act one started. I was so excited. This is one of the beautiful fairy tale displays at Victoria Square.Little Red Riding Hood’s House at Victoria Square.My ice cream from Taboo Donuts. I’m a vanilla with sprinkles gal.
Note that all of the above pictures are pictures that I took myself with my own phone. They may not be shared without my permission.
September is fast approaching and before we know it, it will be time to head back to school and back to college. I am getting ready to enter my final year of my masters. I’m going to be very busy writing my thesis, and I am slightly apprehensive about all the work that is to come, but I’m looking forward to the challenge.
I’m very lucky because I truly love my course. I’ve gotten to learn from some brilliant people and I’ve made lovely friends. I’ve also gotten to meet lots of fascinating people.
If you are a consistent reader of my articles here on Katelovesliterature.com, then you will remember that a topic that I am very passionate about is the idea of inspiring and celebrating a sense of wonder and curiosity in young readers. Children’s literature is so important because the books we read when we are young can have such a lasting impression on us, and we take those stories with us into adulthood. I believe that developing a love for reading when you are young can open so many doors for you in life. Reading encourages you to use your imagination, and reading expands your vocabulary. Reading also allows you to read about different people, different places, different cultures, and when you read about experiences that are different to your own, you develop a sense of empathy for others, even if those characters are fictional, you can take that skill with you into the real world.
Children’s Books Ireland is a national charity and arts organisation and I have been very fortunate as throughout my course, I have gotten the opportunity to hear members of the Children’s Books Ireland team speak about the wonderful work that they do.
I am going to provide a link to the official website below. I highly encourage anyone who enjoys reading to go to the website and read about the brilliant work that Children’s Books Ireland does. A brief summary is that Children’s Books Ireland is a brilliant organisation that strives to help young people develop a love for reading, and engage with stories.
If you go to the Children’s Books Ireland website, you will see that the organisation’s mission is to inspire a love of reading in children and young adults. Children’s Books Ireland believes that every child has the right to access wonderful books so that they can understand the importance of reading. The vision of Children’s Books Ireland is that every child is a reader, and this is a vision that I personally love.
The more I’ve gotten to learn about Children’s Books Ireland and the work that they do, the more impressed I’ve become. I think that all children have the right to read, and it is so important that the resources are available because the benefits of being a book lover should not be inaccessible. I love seeing children fall in love with books, I love hearing their thoughts and their opinions. I feel that children so often remind rooms full of adults that they are more intelligent and more insightful than they are given credit for. I also love seeing that childhood love of reading develop into a love for literature as an adult, and as we grow, our literary interpretation skills grow alongside our critical thinking skills, so I know that I will forever be an advocate for stressing the importance of reading in childhood.
Children’s Books Ireland is an organisation that does many things, but one of my favourite things about the organisation is their book gifting scheme. All of this work is detailed on the website, you can go online and read all about their various projects, one of them being the book gifting scheme which allows Children’s Books Ireland to gift books to libraries, schools, educational and healthcare settings, and other children’s charities. This scheme alone allows Children’s Books Ireland to help ensure that resources are available and accessible to those who need them, and Children’s Books Ireland also strives to share knowledge so that adults can learn about various different books and ideas so they can then go on to influence and teach children in the best way possible.
I’m very excited to share that I have also gotten involved. I am now a reviewer for Children’s Books Ireland. I’ve been lucky enough to receive some lovely books that I’ve had the pleasure of reading and reviewing. It has been a joy to receive lovely new stories and being a reviewer has allowed me to read stories that I may not have ever chosen myself. It is a new experience that I am thoroughly enjoying. I hope to continue to review books as I want to keep learning. I want to continue to expand my knowledge of all kinds of literature from children’s to YA, to picture books etc.
I’m really enjoying this opportunity to engage with new authors and illustrators whose work I maybe haven’t seen before. The books are always different so I am getting to engage with different kinds of stories and different kinds of lessons. It is a joy and I truly feel that it is a pleasure to be involved with this organisation even in the smallest way. I’m very excited to keep learning, and I am very grateful for this opportunity.
Two of my reviews are now available to read on the Children’s Books Ireland website.
I’ll link them here as I am so excited about this. It is surreal to see my name in print on a platform of this calibre. The fact that my reviews are there to be viewed by all is really special. I couldn’t be happier.
If you’re a book lover, if you’re a parent/guardian of a book lover, if you believe in fostering and encouraging a love for reading in children then get yourself over to the Children’s Books Ireland official website and educate yourself about the organisation. Learn about what they do, learn about their events, learn about all of the support they provide, learn about how you can get involved if you’d like to.
Are you sitting your Leaving Certificate in June 2023?
Are you dreading the English paper?
Do you struggle with poetry? Is your set Shakespeare play confusing you?
Let me help.
Starting in September 2022, I am going to be offering English grinds.
You can contact me for details by emailing katelovesliterature@gmail.com.
I got a H1 in English. I went on to study English Literature in college after doing my Leaving Cert.
I graduated with a BA in English Literature. I got a distinction and I ranked 3rd in my college course. I am currently studying English Literature at Masters level, specialising in children’s literature. I’m very calm, very patient, and I believe that I can help you form a better understanding of whatever it is you are finding difficult, whether its poetry, prose, or grammar.
I like to take things step by step. I believe in explaining things in the most straightforward way possible. It doesn’t matter if you ask me to explain the same thing ten times, the goal is to help you feel the most confident you can about sitting your English paper.
I know that many people dread the English paper. It can be intimidating as there is a lot of ground to cover and people can feel stressed about running out of time, so if I’m giving you grinds, not only will we go through your material, but we can also talk about time management in the exam.
The Leaving Cert is a stressful time. English is a daunting subject for some. If you’re struggling then please contact me because I’d love to help.
For any information about my English grinds, such as times, session plans, and session rates, please contact me via email – katelovesliterature@gmail.com.
The mystery is getting more intriguing with each episode.
Let’s dive into episode 5. I really liked this episode.
I knew that I would like this episode as soon as it started because I like the idea of people having “tells.”
Oliver introduces a party game that he used to love called The Son of Sam.
How do you play?
Well everyone at the party is given a card, someone will get the killer’s card and when the lights go out, the “killer” will kill someone else in the game.
The game then becomes a process of elimination as more and more people drop out, the remaining players have to try to keep from being found out.
I really like this idea because this kind of game allows one to see who has a good poker face and who doesn’t, or as Oliver would say, this game allows you to see if someone has a “tell”.
What is a tell? A tell is a nervous little habit that one does when they’re lying. Someone might subconsciously play with their hair or fiddle with their clothes or bite their lip when they’re lying, and this little “tell” is how you know that this person is being untruthful.
So, we know from the very start of this episode that this game is important and it will likely come up again, and it does, in Mabel’s apartment.
I mentioned in my discussion of episodes 3 & 4 that Mabel has been getting to know Alice. The two characters are dating, and while Charles and Oliver are happy for Mabel, they are also a little wary.
Charles and Oliver are unsure of whether or not they can trust Alice. They are being extra cautious because of all the chaos that is taking place in their lives at the moment, and they also find the timing of Alice’s arrival a little suspicious. It is important to say that it is Oliver who is more suspicious. Charles is happy for Mabel and he just wants what is best for her, however he does agree with Oliver’s questioning.
Personally, as an audience member, I agreed with Oliver’s suspicions.
I’ve said it already, but I want to say it again, I think that Cara Delavigne is doing a brilliant job. I think she is playing Alice very well. Alice is a slick, sexy, confident character and Cara delivers every line in a very intentional manner. She is a very engaging presence, especially when she is speaking to Mabel, and Cara has this very intense stare that is almost piercing. I just think that she makes such an impression every time she is onscreen. You cannot help but pay attention to her, so I really like Alice’s character, however I also felt the timing was questionable.
Mabel and her friends are being framed for murder, they are being questioned, Mabel in particular is trending on social media, there is a lot going on in her life. If I were Mabel, I wouldn’t exactly be jumping into a new relationship, and Mabel has opened up a few times this season about her trust issues. Mabel wants to explore art, she wants to become more of an artist. She wants her life to be about more than just violence and death. She wants to move on. Alice understands and shares her love for art. Alice makes her happy and makes her feel normal. Mabel enjoys her company, so she sees this new development in her personal life as a welcome distraction. Fair enough, however because at this point in time, the writers have kept Alice fairly vague, I’m still questioning if she can be trusted.
Oliver says no. He thinks that Alice is hiding something and to prove it, he gets everyone involved in a game of The Son of Sam.
This part of the episode is fabulous. Charles and Oliver have crashed Mabel’s artist party in her apartment and during the game, everyone is transformed into a 70s look. It’s a quick process of elimination, lights on, lights off, again and again, until only Alice and Mabel are left. Oliver accuses Alice of hiding something, he points out her “tells”, he puts her on the spot and she finally confesses her truth.
Alice has been lying to Mabel…about her background. Alice didn’t go to a fancy school or come from a privileged upbringing. She felt the need to embellish her life story in order to make an impression in the art world, in order to make a name for herself.
Oliver feels guilty as he thought he would be exposing something more murderous, however Mabel is still furious with him for embarrassing Alice in front of everyone.
Mabel makes Alice promise that from now on there will be no more secrets between them and Alice agrees, however the episode ends with the camera showing us, the viewers, the inside of Alice’s bag, where she has hidden the Son of Sam card.
This moment shows us that Alice managed to cheat in the game and hide that she was the “killer”. This indicates to us that she is still hiding something and not being completely honest with Mabel.
In the meantime, Charles has his own love troubles. He’s still visiting Jan in prison and he reveals how inept he is at relationships because he says that the two never officially broke up even though she went to jail for murder. He has mixed feelings because he’s lonely and despite everything, the romantic feelings he once had for Jan didn’t just disappear.
Deceit seems to be the common thread of this episode because Oliver is faced with a DNA test when he learns that his son may not actually be his biological son.
Let’s jump into episode 6.
This is another character episode. The show likes to give us an insight into different characters. This time, we got a glimpse into the world of Poppy. Cinda Canning’s overworked and extremely underappreciated assistant.
Cinda is determined to air a podcast that will get big numbers tuning in, she does not care about the truth, and she is happy to paint Mabel as a violent loose cannon with a history of snapping.
The gang face some more personal issues in episode 6, alongside putting together a plan to try to trap the killer and figure out at last who is trying to set them up.
Oliver takes his DNA test and anxiously waits for the results and Charles realises that he must end things once and for all with Jan.
This leads me to my favourite part of this episode. That’s right everyone. Jane Lynch is back. She is utterly brilliant in her role as Saz, Charles’ stunt double. I just love Jane Lynch. I think she is a fantastic comedian. The way she delivers lines with such a straight face always cracks me up. I love the running gag that Saz is a better Charles. Saz does what Charles cannot do, physically and emotionally, which leads me to discuss the glorious scene in which Saz goes to visit Jan in jail, to break up with her on behalf of Charles.
Jane Lynch commits to this bit. She embodies this role and everything is perfect, from her lines, to her mannerisms, to her costumes, it’s just brilliant.
I never once imagined that I would see a show in which Jane Lynch is acting as the stunt double for Steve Martin, but it has happened, and it is the bit that I didn’t know I needed.
I would imagine that these scenes were so much fun to film, and I’d like to think that the actors had a great time working together because the energy onscreen certainly comes across that way.
Remember when I said that episode 5 implied that Alice is still lying?
Let’s talk about how episode 6 ended.
Our trio set a trap for the murderer. A glitter bomb, however the three are so busy chatting that they get distracted and they miss the murderer. Annoyed that they missed their chance to find out who this person is, Mabel decides to go home however when she gets to her apartment she is greeted by a strange scene. Alice has recreated moments of Mabel’s life, specifically tragic moments. There’s a party scene from the night Oscar was arrested. Alice herself is dressed up as Mabel from the night of Bunny’s murder, and she has an actor playing Bunny lying on the floor. Alice panics when she sees Mabel, because Mabel “wasn’t supposed to see it like this”. She starts rapidly throwing out an explanation, something about examining trauma through an artistic lens however her voice becomes muffled as Mabel drowns her out. She stops listening. She feels lied to. She leaves the apartment so hurt and so upset. A distraught Mabel is sitting on the subway when she sees a figure dressed in all black, and covered in glitter. It’s the one who got away from the trio earlier. Mabel decides to confront him. The episode ends with bizarre footage of Mabel supposedly stabbing this person on the subway, footage that ends up on TikTok so “Bloody Mabel” will be trending once more.
I enjoyed episodes 5 & 6. I’ll be honest, while I thought it was an okay story, I wish more was done with Poppy. I appreciated her storyline. Poppy represents so many people who are overworked and underpaid by arrogant bosses who will never admit that they could not do what they do without their assistance. I hope she decides to ditch Cinda and help our trio discover the truth. Maybe this moment of Poppy seeing Cinda’s true colours will be important later. I’m not sure yet. I enjoyed her as a character, it just felt a little side-tracked in my opinion. I will say, Tina Fey does a good job of playing an arrogant boss. She is not in the show too much but she always makes her mark.
I’m very interested to see what the writers do with Alice. It’s safe to guess that Mabel will feel used and betrayed. I’m curious about the angle that they’re going to take with Alice. Is she just an artist who had this grand idea and then she got swept away in it? Are they going to try to spin this as a positive thing? I hope not. I love art and I understand that acknowledging one’s pain can be a cathartic part of the creative process but Alice deciding to study trauma through an artistic lens by specifically studying and making a piece out of Mabel’s very personal trauma is wrong, especially when Mabel opened up to her about her trust issues. At the moment, I feel this move makes Alice’s character feel disingenuous. Did she reach out to Mabel because she liked her art and wanted to meet? Or did she reach out because she was fascinated by Mabel and wanted to make art out of her story but felt that she needed to get close to her to do that? Is this her only secret or is she connected to Bunny’s death? I want answers.
I’m also curious about Oliver and his son. It looks as though Oliver’s wife had an affair with Teddy Dimas and Oliver’s son might be Teddy’s son, but he’s still waiting on his DNA result to come back. I wonder where this storyline will go if Oliver’s son turns out to be biologically Teddy’s and whether or not this plot will have anything to do with the murder.
As I’m writing this review, I have watched episode 7.
I plan to write about episodes 7 & 8 together. At this point in time, I still don’t have a guess about who I think the killer is. I think it is a man, based on height, build, and the hands of the figure who Mabel was chasing, but I don’t know who it is. I don’t even have guesses about who that figure may be.
Is it someone we already know? Is it someone who we don’t know but they’re connected somehow? I’m determined to lock in a guess before the final two episodes, and by then I hope the clues start coming together.
If I’m remembering correctly, this time last season, I had guessed Jan. I didn’t lock it in until the second last episode but I always felt that Jan protested too much and tried to put the focus on others a little too often, and that made me wary of her. This time I don’t have an idea yet, but maybe others do so please, if you have thoughts and theories, let me know.
Oscar still has not appeared, nor has he been mentioned. I’m losing hope that he will appear.
I’m aware I could look it up and find out if the actor left the show, however I don’t want to look up anything about the show at all because I want my discussions to be based solely off of my thoughts after watching the episodes. If I found out now that Oscar isn’t in the show because the actor couldn’t come back for whatever reason, that’ll just disappoint me more, so I’d rather watch and hope he arrives, or at the very least, I hope he’s mentioned in more detail.
I’m planning to talk about my overall thoughts on season 2 once all the episodes have aired and I get my answers, but for now I’ll say that in my opinion, the show has done a really good job of building a suspenseful mystery in season two. I feel it’s more complex, and I think it has been much harder to guess this time, which is impressive as this demonstrates how the show has upped its game since season one.
What has been your favourite moment of season 2 so far? I’d love to know.
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