Favourite Lost Characters

So for the past year me and Jess have been watching Lost – I know we’re very late to the party but when we were seventeen we randomly got really into the show despite the fact this would’ve been 2014 and the show had finished in 2010. We watched until the end of Season 4 and then just stopped for some reason. We kept saying we would pick it back up but then didn’t.

Last year I put my foot down and told Jess we needed to watch the last two seasons because we’d made it this far without the ending being spoilt for us which was pretty good going. Jess was happy to watch Lost but wanted us to restart from the beginning as it had ten years since we last watched the show, something I didn’t really want to do but eventually agreed. This ended up being the right choice as we’d forgotten loads and it was fun piecing together things we did remember.

On Sunday 14^th April 2024 we finally watched the Season 6 finale and finished the show after a whole year of rewatching. I wanted to write a Lost themed post to commemorate the occasion. I was originally going to post my thoughts on the show but I’m not sure I’ve got those in order yet, I’d like to watch some videos and see some more theories before I go into that.

So instead I’m going to write a post of my ten favourite characters from Lost – which will potentially be difficult because there were so many great characters but I’m going to give it a go!

Heads up – this post will contain spoilers!

Claire

I really liked Claire the first time around but for some reason Jess wasn’t keen – as adults she said she didn’t dislike her. I don’t even know why I liked Claire so much. I liked seeing her relationship with Charlie develop and I thought her backstory was interesting – as an adult her backstory is so frustrating! It was also interesting having such a heavily pregnant woman on the island and how that played out.

Seeing feral Claire when the Oceanic 6 returned to the island was really interesting as well and I’m glad she trusted Kate and went with her on the plane. It frustrates me no end that we don’t know if she reunited with her Mum and Aaron but I’m glad she got off the island in the end.


Kate

I’m not gonna lie I hated Kate the first time I watched this show. Every time she was on screen I was instantly irritated and I hated that she was a main character. Watching as an adult though I felt completely different towards her and I actually agreed with a lot of the points that she made whereas before I disagreed with everything!

Her backstory is really sad as well but I loved that she still remained kind-hearted on the island whilst also getting involved with the heavy lifting. Kate was a great character and it’s such a shame I didn’t like her as a teen!


Desmond

I don’t think I remembered much about Desmond before the rewatch but I ended up loving his character this time around. I found his backstory to be a little bit boring at times but I still loved his character. He really went through Hell being on the island by himself, finally making it home and reuniting with Penny only to end up back on the island. But at least he got a happy ending (well, hopefully anyway!)


Hurley

I related a lot to Hurley particularly in the sense that he’s not very good at lying and that he desperately wants to help but is often overlooked. Ultimately though he remained kind-hearted despite the fact that he also went through Hell – I can’t believe they killed off Libby just because they didn’t know what to do with her. And then also killing off Charlie who has Hurley’s best friend on the island? Totally not cool.

I really loved Hurley’s backstory and I loved that he had the ability to talk to dead people. He might be one of my favourite characters of all time and I just loved anytime he had a main story. He was great at building up morale on the island like when he made the golf course, when he managed to get that car working and even managed to get Sawyer to be nice for a full day! Hurley was incredible, I absolutely loved him.


Ana-Lucia

I know that Ana-Lucia wasn’t a fan favourite and she was quite unpopular but I actually loved her. It probably helps that I love the actress Michelle Rodriguez. Obviously Ana-Lucia wasn’t perfect and she made some bad decisions but I loved her. Her backstory was another good one and I wish she could’ve stayed around for a bit longer although in some ways I think it made sense that she met her demise that way. I’m glad she did pop up a couple more times as well. I really loved her!


John Locke

Watching Lost for the first time and having that plot twist that John used to be in a wheelchair was incredible. John’s backstory is probably the most infuriating for me, his Dad was the real villain of the series and my heart actually broke for him. What chance did he stand?

I feel like despite everything John was a genuinely good person who always tried to do the best but unfortunately he was easy to manipulate which ultimately led to his decline in character. But I still liked him and found him really interesting. I also feel like his iconic phrases stuck with me the most like ‘don’t tell me what I can’t do’ and ‘I wish you had believed me’.

Fair play to Terry O’Quinn because his acting in the final seasons as the man in black were incredible, I’m glad that he stayed in the show as a different character. I also loved him in the flash sideways, John Locke as a substitute teacher with Ben as his friend was not something I knew I needed but I loved it.


Sun

Reading that Yunjin Kim was initially not keen on portraying Sun because she seemed too stereotypical and submissive was interesting and I’m glad that they didn’t keep Sun that way. I also really loved Jin and their relationship although I’m very glad that Jin did eventually loosen up! Her ending absolutely destroyed me and I was so angry. I waited so long for Sun and Jin to be reunited and for what? AND FOR WHAT?

Sun was another one whose backstory I loved and again the plot twist of her being able to understand English was incredible. I’m so sad that Jin never met their daughter and that she has to now grow up without her parents, I can’t believe the writers did me dirty like that.


Charlie

Upon rewatching this there were a lot of things that Charlie did that I really didn’t agree with but it doesn’t affect my love for his character. Again, Charlie isn’t perfect but he is an amazing character. As with most of the characters listed he has a really frustrating backstory, I actually hate his brother Liam so much. I found his death to be irritating because I didn’t really see the point. My friend Janie pointed out that it was good they committed to him dying instead of writing their way out of it but I also feel like the way he died didn’t make much sense. One could argue he thought it was the only way Claire and Aaron would end up on the helicopter so he decided to sacrifice himself but it makes no sense that the helicopter would only arrive if Charlie died. He could’ve come out, locked the door behind him and told Desmond that it wasn’t Penny’s boat. I just wish it had been written better so that there was literally no way out for Charlie. I think they wanted him to look noble but ultimately it was just a bit stupid.

Anyway, I loved Charlie and I wish he had been in the series for longer. Again though I’m glad he appeared to Hurley and in the flash sideways as well. Another one of my absolute favourite characters.


Rose

I loved Rose’s no nonsense attitude and her storyline was one of my favourites. Her absolute faith that Bernard was alive and I’m so glad that we got to see them reunite. After season four I kept saying to Jess “we’d better see what happened to Rose and Bernard, I’ll be so mad if they just skim over them as if they didn’t matter” and was so pleased when they did crop back up. I thought their ending was satisfying and I’m glad that Rose got to live out her life in peace (mostly) with Bernard.


Sawyer

Sawyer’s character was absolutely insufferable at times but ultimately I ended up really loving him. I loved his storyline with Juliet in Season Five and I thought her reason for wanting to detonate the bomb was ridiculous. I loved that he went from the guy that nobody trusted to someone who was dependable. His friendship with Hurley and Jin was one of my favourites in the show. His backstory was also incredibly tragic which makes me forgive a lot of his more insufferable moments – when he pretended to have Shannon’s inhalers to kiss Kate was such a ballache but it was still early days I suppose.


BONUS: Ben

I’ve included Ben because when he was first introduced I hated him and for his first couple of seasons it was so annoying that other characters had every opportunity to kill him but never took them. However in the final seasons I ended up really liking him and was hoping he wouldn’t die. I loved seeing the flip of him having all the power and knowledge to him being powerless and not knowing what was going on. I’ve read that Ben wasn’t meant to be a regular character but they were so impressed with Michael Emerson that they fleshed out his role and I’m so glad that they did, Michael Emerson was actually incredible as Ben, I couldn’t find a single fault in his performance.


Other honourable mentions go to Danielle, Sayid, Jin and Bernard. But there we have it, my top ten favourite characters from Lost! Feel free to let me know your favourites in the comments.

The Chocolate Lovers Christmas by Carole Matthews

Heads up – this review will contain spoilers!

Anyone who knows me knows that I love Christmas and what better way to celebrate the season than with a festive book? Now I actually spotted this book at my local train station in a ‘take one and leave one’ book stall – I’d already left a few of my old books in the past so figured I was allowed to take this one. Only to get home and realise I had a new copy given to me last Christmas!

I hadn’t realised upon picking this up but it’s actually part of a series but there was enough recap that I wasn’t left without any information going into the book. The main plot is about Lucy and her friends Nadia, Chantel and Autumn… And I don’t really know what else to say it’s about!

I really feel like this book went on for over 400 pages without having an actual story. Each character has their own sort of subplot but I feel like none of these were even resolved by the end of the book and what we did get wasn’t really enough.

We’ll take each character one at a time so we’ll start with Nadia who I did like. Her plot was mostly about grieving for her husband, trying to raise her young son alone and reconnecting with her estranged family who hadn’t liked her husband. She becomes friends with her sister again and they begin working together for her sister’s husband even though she knows he’s a creep. Surprise, surprise he ends up to still be a creep and Nadia needs to find a way to get him off her back.

I feel like her plot was okay but Nadia and her sister make constant reference to trying to reconnect Nadia with her parents and then they don’t move any closer with that throughout the entire book. Also I wouldn’t let my sister off the hook as easily as Nadia did if she ignored me after I got married and then set me up with a job with her knob head husband. Also Nadia and the girls desperation for the sister not to find out he was a creep was a bit weird, I’d have exposed him as soon as possible.

Then there was Chantel and her friend Lucy’s attitude towards her in the first couple of chapters did my head in, the constant talk about how Chantel used to be glamorous but still hasn’t got rid of her baby weight was so annoying. Who the fuck cares? Chantel’s storyline was about her failing relationship with her husband and how his bit on the side also had a baby around the same time as Chantel so he needs to split himself between the two families. Chantel invites Stacey into the friendship group and he leaves Chantel for her. Could’ve spotted that a mile off really. There isn’t much to say about Chantel’s plotline other than it was predictable as hell.

Autumn was a bit more interesting although her fiancé Addison did my head in but even more than that was Autumn bending over and just accepting it. I’m glad she didn’t give him the money he was after but it’s disappointing that she didn’t call the shots in ending their relationship so she could be with Miles, it was all very neat and wrapped up in a bow with Addison with his new girl and her with Miles… The plot about her looking for her long-lost daughter was interesting but we don’t even get to read about them meeting! I put up with endless drivel about Addison but I didn’t get to read the actual interesting bit?

And lastly we have Lucy who honest to God needs a good slap. I didn’t find her cute in anyway shape or form. I really wouldn’t describe her as ditzy, she was just downright stupid. Absolutely no one sends that many texts to the wrong person – I was expecting that fact she sent a picture of her tits to her ex-fiancé by mistake to come back and bite her in the arse but it didn’t.

And speaking of the bloody ex-fiancé her attitude towards Marcus throughout the whole book was insufferable. What she needs is a restraining order, not to be ballroom dancing with him in Brussels. Constantly banging on about how he needs to get out of her life but then allowing him to worm in at every opportunity? Even at the end after everything she’s been through she’s like ‘I wish Marcus was coming with me for Christmas-‘ GIRL WHAT!? The plot twist of him buying Chocolate Heaven could be seen from a mile off and the fact Lucy couldn’t see it just proves further that she’s a fucking idiot. You want me to believe this woman is successfully running a business but can’t even navigate her mobile phone?

Ugh and the bit where she eats the engagement ring by mistake wasn’t funny either like your boyfriend literally asked you to wait two seconds for him to get back from the kitchen but because she was feeling ‘naughty’ she ate one of the chocolates (the ring was in a chocolate!) like… He asked you to wait for god’s sake!

Also the idea that they meet because they love to eat chocolate but it’s constantly described as naughty and the mere suggestion that any of them should get fat would be a bad thing was annoying to read about as well. Foods aren’t good or bad or naughty and being fat isn’t a negative attribute. I also found them all just popping in to see Lucy at random intervals a bit unrealistic.

I wish Matthews had either committed to writing this in third person or from Lucy’s point of view, the flipping between the two just really didn’t work for me. Preferably sticking to third person though because I enjoyed everyone else’s story much more than Lucy’s. I’m sorry but she may have taken the spot for my least favourite book character of all time! How the other girls or Aiden or anyone puts up with her is beyond me.

As I’m sure you can tell this really wasn’t the story for me. If I had to describe what it was about I feel like I really wouldn’t be able to tell you, it drags on for over 400 pages but nothing actually really happens. It also didn’t feel very festive, I saw another review that mentioned it could’ve been written at any time but the author decided to market it as a Christmas book so went back and added some references to snow and I have to agree. It didn’t feel Christmassy, it was just dull. I won’t be returning to this series unfortunately!

Favourite Christmas TV Episodes

Sometimes I don’t have the attention span to watch a whole movie so I’ll whack on Christmas episodes of shows I already know I enjoy. Today I wanted to highlight some of my favourite Christmas episodes of shows I like!


Family Guy

Although ‘Road to the North Pole’ would obviously take the top-spot it’s actually a two-parter and I have a DVD of this so I always count it as a movie. I’m gonna give this to ‘A Very Special Family Guy Freakin’ Christmas’ which is Season 3, Episode 16. This is the first Christmas episode of Family Guy and I really like it, especially seeing Lois finally reach boiling point when the stress of the season catches up with her. I like every Christmas Family Guy episode but this one takes my top spot. Bottom spot would probably go to ‘How the Griffin Stole Christmas’, I didn’t like the Peter taking advantage people by dressing up as Santa storyline – I’ve no idea why. Brian and Stewie crashing office Christmas parties was pretty good though.


The Simpsons

I used to have a DVD full of Christmas ‘The Simpsons’ episodes so I know which one will be taking the top spot but omg I need to tell this story. Last year I decided to watch Christmas episodes of the ‘The Simpsons’ and settled down to watch ‘Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire’ which is Season 1 Episode 1. I didn’t remember it being so bloody sad, it felt like there weren’t even any jokes. The part where Homer looks at his dismally decorated house and Flanders’ over the top decorated house and hangs his head in shame makes me wanna cry, as does the bit where Flanders and his son walk past him outside the supermarket talking about how amazing Christmas is going to be and Homer sheds a tear knowing he can’t provide his family the same Christmas. I was in tears, it was so bloody sad!

My favourite when I was younger watching the DVD and probably still now is ‘Grift of the Magi’ which is Season 11, Episode 9 which is the episode where a toy company purchases the school and they make the ‘Funzo’ toy. I don’t know why I love it so much, I just know that I do. Although ‘She of Little Faith’ (Season 13, Episode 6) would come a close second.


Modern Family

Modern Family have some great Christmas episodes but for me the top spot goes to ‘Undeck the Halls’ Season 1 Episode 10. I love everyone’s storyline, Phil and Claire almost cancelling Christmas, Cam and Mitch dealing with the bad Santa but my favourite is probably Jay’s storyline where he puts aside his own Christmas traditions to make way for new ones. When he pranks Manny and Gloria before revealing he went out and bought fireworks for them is my favourite part of the episode. It shows everything important about Christmas and it’s one of my favourite episodes of all time, not just out of the Christmas ones.


K-On!

This is technically cheating as ‘K-On!’ only has one Christmas episode but ‘Kurisumasu’ Season 1 Episode 7 is such a good episode. It’s a really cute episode and parts of it remind me of me and my friends when we would meet up for our present exchanges. I feel like most Christmas episodes of shows are about family and it’s nice to see one about friendship – of course there’s a bit of family elements like Yui giving her younger sister Ui a ‘white Christmas’ when they were children. I actually haven’t watched it for a while so I’ll have to do so again this year.


The Goes Wrong Show

There are two Christmas episodes of ‘The Goes Wrong Show’ and whilst I absolutely loved ‘The Spirit of Christmas’ (Season 1, Episode 1) I’m gonna have to give it to ‘The Nativity’ which I believe is Season 2, Episode 1. It’s probably just because I’ve seen ‘The Nativity’ less to be honest but I do love the majority of the jokes. Particularly when they’re singing a carol around the piano and the music gets mixed up so they keep singing it to different tunes, it has me in stitches. Or the Donkey being two asses is quite funny.

I do love ‘The Spirit of Christmas’ though, particularly the songs in that one and also Henry Lewis as a drunk, bitter Santa is quite funny.


Friends

Potentially controversial opinion these days but I do like ‘Friends’ – it’s not my favourite TV show ever but I do like it, particularly their Christmas episodes. However ‘The One with the Holiday Armadillo’ Season 7 Episode 10 has to take the top spot for me. I just love it, I also love that there’s the Hanukah element as well. I don’t really like Ross but I do enjoy him in this episode just panic-buying an armadillo costume because he didn’t know what else to do. The subplot with Phoebe trying to irritate Rachel out of Joey’s apartment is also funny. Definitely one of my favourite episodes overall!


Doctor Who

Okay to tell you the truth I haven’t watched Doctor Who in a while. David Tennant was my Doctor and although I do believe Matt Smith did a good job I just kind of lost interest. I am really glad to see a female Doctor though because I grew up loving it and never seeing myself in the Doctor, only the companions so I’m glad little sci-fi loving girlies get to see a female Doctor!

Anyway, my favourite Christmas episode of Doctor Who has to be ‘The Runaway Bride’ Episode 178. We get the introduction of the most iconic companion of all time, Donna. The episode doesn’t give me a warm, fuzzy, Christmassy glow like the other Christmas episodes on this list do but it’s still an amazing episode of Doctor Who. I do bloody love Donna, what an icon.


Glee

I know, I know, but I actually loved Glee when I was a teenager. I remember getting up early on a Monday morning to watch the show so I wouldn’t have any spoilers when I got to school. Even now I have Glee versions of Christmas songs in my Christmas playlist. The show was a train wreck but they did produce some bangers, I’m sorry!

‘Extraordinary Merry Christmas’ Season 3 Episode 9 takes the top spot for me. I love the Christmas special that they film. It does kind of annoy me that the kids who pick to do the Christmas special also get to take the heroism of helping out at the homeless shelter later – Sam and Quinn were there from the start and missed it, they deserved more praise for that. Overall it is a really good (okay that might be stretching things) episode and very Christmassy!


Supernatural

It appears we may only have one Christmas Supernatural episode but considering it was my life at one point (I spent ridiculous amounts of money on a yearly Supernatural convention in the next town over) I feel it deserves an honourable mention. ‘A Very Supernatural Christmas’ Season 3 Episode 8 is actually a pretty good creepy Christmas episode. I’m pretty sure I watched a scene of it as a kid – the one where the grandparent dresses as Santa and puts presents under the tree then gets snatched up the tree by the Supernatural creature. Scared the crap out of me but I appreciate the episode as an adult!

I loved the monsters turning out to be pagan God’s and considering the spookiness of the episode it does actually end up being quite Christmassy. Also Sam and Dean having to pretend to be carollers and not knowing the words was absolutely iconic at the time. It’s a good episode!


There we have it, my favourite Christmas episodes of TV shows I love or at the very least used to love! Let me know your favourite Christmas episodes of your favourite shows and maybe I’ll check them out!

Don’t Worry Darling (Olivia Wilde, 2022)

Please be aware that this review will contain spoilers.

For my birthday this year I spent the day at Resort World in Birmingham and was keen to watch a movie at some point to get the full Resort World experience. When I first saw the trailer for ‘Don’t Worry Darling’ and saw it was coming out a week before my birthday I was over the moon – a thriller starring Florence Pugh, Chris Pine and Harry Styles was right up my street and I was so excited. I’m not gonna get into the details of the controversies surrounding the promotion of the movie other than to say the drama of whether or not Harry Styles spat on Chris Pine was absolutely hilarious.

For those unfamiliar with the premise ‘Don’t Worry Darling’ is a bit of a ‘Stepford Wives’-esque movie about a 1950’s housewife who begins to worry her husband’s glamorous lifestyle and job are hiding something more sinister. We went to the 7PM showing on my birthday and at the end of the film as a group we had mixed feelings with Jess & Hirst who had fully enjoyed the film whilst Becca and I were on the fence.

We’ll start with the acting because that seems to be causing a fair amount of controversy. Florence Pugh acted her absolute ass off in this film and she was amazing, as was Chris Pine. Harry Styles did okay but any scenes where he was angry or upset took me out of the film completely– his acting isn’t to be trashed completely but it definitely needs some work and to pair him with Florence Pugh was always setting him up for failure to be honest. I think also and this might sound stupid but he can’t switch off the face he’s Harry Styles, he doesn’t have the ability. I love Florence but when I watch her in a movie she becomes the character so in this she became Alice whereas Harry was just Harry for me, not Jack. It’s like when we’re watching a period movie and Becca says ‘that boy has definitely seen an iPhone’ Harry is just that type of person who unfortunately doesn’t have the natural ability to fully adapt into a new person.

This is a major spoiler alert but I found Harry’s acting better in pre-simulation Jack when he was a greasy nobody. He did a great job of making that character completely unlikable. But, and again spoiler alert, he kind of ruins the scene where Alice is dragged out of the car. Florence’s acting is so emotional and then Harry does that over the top crying that did make me laugh a little when it wasn’t supposed to.

As mentioned, Harry’s acting isn’t that bad but it was noticeably poor compared to his cast mates unfortunately.

In terms of the plot I absolutely love the idea but I feel like there was a lot thrown in that could’ve been explored more fully when big chunks of the runtime were just kind of artsy shots thrown in that didn’t add much to the overall plot. I would’ve rather spent that time exploring aspects of the film like what actually was the plane that Alice saw, what were the tremors going on through the town that everyone barely reacted to, even just more on how the simulation came to be and more of how Jack got involved or more of Frank’s involvement. So many interesting angles to go down and we didn’t really explore any of them.

I also wish the ending had been a bit longer like if we’d actually got to see Alice wake up and then what she does with her life next, only an extra five minutes or so – it could’ve still ended on a bit of a cliff-hanger, like she could have seen someone from the simulation in real life or something. Maybe Olivia was hoping for a sequel but given the rumours about her and Florence, and also Florence removing herself from the press run I would say that’s rather unlikely – which is a shame as I’d actually love to see more world-building for this.

Overall I’m still on the fence – I absolutely love the idea and it had so much potential but it’s missing something for me and I’m not even sure what. The overall vibe of the movie is great, there’s just something not there that I can’t put my finger on.

I would recommend this movie because it was an interesting watch and it’s one of those that does cause a discussion afterwards which I always enjoy but it’s not one I’d be able to watch over and over again.

Why I Didn’t Like The Sims 4

I’m definitely more than a little late to be writing this post considering I remember going out to buy The Sims 4 when I was in college and I left in 2015 but I still wanted to write this post. I’m back on my Sims hype at the minute (I’m a Sims 3 girlie) and I’ve also been watching a lot of Plumbella videos so I wanted to delve into what I didn’t enjoy about The Sims 4.


Open World Removed

My favourite thing about The Sims 3 was the open world. Although I’d liked that you could actually leave your home lot in The Sims 2 it was definitely flawed because if you spent all day somewhere you would arrive back at your home lot at the time you left but in the mood you were in the other lot – so I’d have tired, cranky Sims at like nine in the morning. Sims 4 did fix this issue but it felt like too little too late for me as I’d enjoyed the open world in Sims 3 too much.

I loved being able to send Sims off somewhere to have fun whilst I dealt with stuff that needed doing at home or following a Sim around the community whilst the others chilled at home. Like I love playing a teen who’s bunking off from school or sneaking out after curfew and having the freedom to go wherever I wanted without loading screens. I was honestly amazed when I loaded up The Sims 4 and I had to watch a loading screen just to go to the house next door!

I really feel like it didn’t make the lag in the game that bad that they needed to get rid of it completely in The Sims 4. I don’t like a game where I’m constantly watching loading screens, there is absolutely no fun in that.


Emotions Weren’t That Exciting

Whenever I’ve played the emotions have actually annoyed me more than added fun to the game. It was really heavy on the fact you’d finally be able to see how your Sim was feeling but it was really annoying making my Sim go for a bubble bath and they’d faff around in there for ages playing with bubbles ‘cos it put them in a ‘playful’ mood for some reason.

I preferred the wishes system in Sims 3 and found it much easier to do what my Sims wanted. Even the wants and fears in Sims 2 was fun. I’m not sure why but I just find Sims 4 annoying in that respect.


Base Game was Boring

I have played every Sims game so far and I think from the first Sims game to Sims 3 I’ve been more than happy just playing with the base game. For Sims 2 and 3 I did add expansion packs but these just added to the fun. I’d managed to have long, interesting games with just the base game where I’d be absorbed for hours. I never got into a game with Sims 4 and I feel like it’s because the base game just lacked a lot of basic stuff that had been included in previous games and I found it really boring. I was intrigued back into the game when they added the camping pack because that was one of the many things that was lacking in the other games – that Sims couldn’t go on holiday. But even this wasn’t enough for me to be honest.

Also I can’t believe how much all the packs cost. EA need to get a hold of themselves, it’s actually ridiculous how many extra packs there were.


Sims are so Slow

I don’t know if I’m the only one who found this but my Sims in Sims 4 were always so slow to get anything done and it really wound me up. Their toddler would be literally screaming and I’d send them over to pick them up and they’d think about it for ages then cancel the action and go to do something else. It actually drove me insane. In all other Sims games they obviously do faff a bit but they were a lot quicker to sort stuff.

And although I quite liked the addition of multi-tasking, like Sims being able to watch TV whilst they eat etc. I also find that this slows them right down and I just find that annoying. They all just faff about too much and I lose patience.


Sims Lack Personality

Despite the fact this is probably the game with the most customisation for your Sims personality, down to the way they walk and talk I find that they actually really lack any personality. I loved the traits in Sims 3 and found they really did change the way my Sim behaved whereas I’ve never really had that with Sims 4. Maybe it’s because I haven’t played enough but I feel like it doesn’t matter which options I pick really, they all act the same.

One of my favourite things to do in the Sims is to have a running story in my head and I feel like the story doesn’t flow in Sims 4 if that makes any sense? It did in all the other games but doesn’t in this Sims 4 and it’s really disappointing.


There are probably more reasons why I don’t like Sims 4 but these are the main ones that come to mind. If you’re a Sims 4 fan then let me know what you love about it and equally if you weren’t keen let me know your thoughts, I’d be interested to hear!

Review: Afterlove by Tanya Byrne

This review will contain spoilers!

It’s been a while since I wrote a book review and that’s because I’ve moved away from reviewing every book I read to only reviewing the ones I have some thoughts on. This is one such book.

‘After Love’ is the story of Ash who is killed in a car accident and becomes a grim reaper with a small group of girls. But she cannot stop thinking about her first love Poppy. It would be dangerous to try and see her but Ash is desperate, even if it means they only get a few more days together.

I do love finding an LGBT book and its books like this that prove that I don’t hate romance at all – I hate boring heterosexual romances where the protagonist becomes unhealthily obsessed with some boring boy that she only just met. This book wasn’t like that. I loved the first half of the book with Ash meeting Poppy and the two of them beginning to date. I loved both Ash and Poppy as characters and was really enjoying reading about them.

In my opinion the book went downhill after Ash’s death about halfway through the book. She ends up joining two girls Dev and Esen who are led by a woman named Deborah. I don’t know why but this whole section and them being grim reapers just read like bad FanFiction I’d read when I was like thirteen. Which is a shame because the first half of the book is literally so good and beautiful but the whole concept of what the reapers do just made me cringe a bit. I think it’s because they weren’t explored enough – the whole concept of them was kind of glossed over and it felt like something I’d written when I was about thirteen and hadn’t thought too deeply about it if that makes sense?

Honestly the second half was really rushed. The prologue is slotted in again later into the book but it feels really out of place. The prologue had me thinking that Ash would be a reaper for years and years and by the time she reaps this girl she’s weary of it if you know what I mean but it turns out it’s her first reap and it just doesn’t fit in with the way Tanya was telling the story. I wouldn’t be surprised if it had been written first and then just slotted in because that’s definitely how it feels.

Also the fact that Ash barely spares a moment’s thought for her family and her best friend Adara, it’s all about Poppy. Which like I kind of get, she did love Poppy, but they hadn’t known each other that long compared to her literal family and a girl she’d grown up with. Also the scene where Ash spots Adara leaving a shop a couple of weeks after her death and Adara is laughing and playing around with her boyfriend low-key bothers me. I don’t think Adara should’ve been sad forever obviously but it just felt weird? If one of my best friends died so suddenly like that I don’t think I’d be laughing and larking around literally two weeks later like I don’t know?

Then let’s talk about Poppy who went from a really likeable character in the first half of the novel to a manic dream pixie girl in the second half. Like I get it, she was worried about dying and wanted to do stuff before she did so but she became almost unbearable. The mini golf scene was really cringe.

It is turned into a big deal that no one must see the reapers or understand what they do so when Poppy finds out what Ash is and what she does the others are worried about what Deborah will do if she finds out. There’s major implications that Deborah is going to turn out to be evil or at the very least linked to something evil but it just doesn’t go anywhere… At the end it’s implied Deborah knew what was happening the entire time and just allowed it to happen. Why? What was the point in everyone getting so worked up then if actually it didn’t matter?

Also the whole ‘you can get on the boat to the afterlife after a year if you want but we’re not gonna tell you about it so you think you’re stuck here forever’ was really weird? What was the point?

The whole section with Ash becoming a reaper feels really rushed with aspects thrown in that never get explored. It gets even more rushed after (massive spoiler alert) Poppy dies where we just skip from January to the following New Year’s Eve. The story sold on the blurb is completely different to the story we actually get.

As I said, I really enjoyed the first half of the book and I kind of wished Tanya hadn’t gone down the ‘killing Ash and making her a grim reaper’ route. I genuinely would’ve preferred a book where Ash got to introduce Poppy to her family, her parents struggle to adjust but come around to the idea, you know… Just a usual LGBT romance book. Or if you’re going to have the fantasy elements then explore them more instead of rushing over them and only focusing on Ash’s obsession with Poppy.

I did give the book four stars on Good Readers and I think that is because I genuinely loved the first half of the book but I think it’s actually a three star read for me. The second half is such a disappointment.

The Black Phone (Scott Derrickson, 2022)

Just a heads up – this review will contain spoilers.

To be honest I didn’t really see any advertising for this film which is the opposite of what my friend Becca went through – she liked the trailer for the movie once and apparently then started to get bombarded with tweets from the producers etc. asking her to go and watch the movie. She suggested we all go and so today the two of us went to go and see the film.

As I said, I really didn’t know anything about it – I’d seen the poster with the guy in the mask but hadn’t seen anything else. I kind of assumed it was a bit like that movie where they download a weird app onto their phone or something to do with some guy calling all the time. I don’t really know. Becca explained the basic premise to me before it got started and I’m glad she did otherwise boy would I have been thrown off.

Basically the plot is that a boy named Finney Shaw is a thirteen year old boy who is kidnapped and held hostage in a sound-proofed basement. When an unconnected phone on the wall keeps ringing he soon discovers that he can hear the voices of his captor’s previous victims – can they help him before it’s too late?

Before this movie my friend Becca said “Horror movies are either amazing or shit, there’s no in between” which in general I do agree with but I think this one sits in the middle for me – leaning more towards ‘good’ than ‘bad’ though. I’m on the fence.

There were lots of things I liked about it – some parts were a bit mental but like in a good way? I also loved Gwen and her attitude, particularly the scene where the police come and talk to her while she’s at school.

Then there were also things I didn’t like. I’m not keen on when a film suggests something but then doesn’t go anywhere with it – there was a part where one of the dead kids tells Finney that only he and the killer can hear the black phone ring and that the others hadn’t been able to hear it. I thought this was going to go somewhere but it didn’t really go anywhere. I thought it would tie in with Gwen having psychic dreams but these also didn’t really go anywhere, she just had them and she’d picked them up from her Mum?

It also would’ve been interesting to know how and why the black phone was even there – I thought the killer was going to be conducting some kind of experiment with the phone so it was kind of disappointing that he was just a pervert. I did have to check with Becca at the end who agreed he was just a nonce.

However I have since read that this film was based on a short story and apparently it was quite faithful to the source material. I’ve also read that a sequel has been pitched so maybe if that goes ahead it’ll get explored more because where else can they really go?

Another thing I really liked was that the five kids all tried to help Finney escape in the way they’d tried to escape before and in the end he needed all of their ideas to get out. I thought that was a really good touch. The scene with Robin teaching Finney to fight from beyond the grave is actually really sad the more I think about it.

I also liked that it wasn’t jump scare central – it didn’t have many so I relaxed and then got the absolute shit scared out of me which had me on edge for the rest of the film. The pacing was really good, it had me on the edge of my seat and I was intrigued throughout the entire movie.

Overall I am definitely leaning towards having liked the movie rather than disliking it and I would be pleased if they did make the sequel. If you’re a horror movie fan then I’d definitely recommend giving it a go – I’d be pleased to see what everyone else thinks of this movie.

The Play That Goes Wrong in Manchester: 4th June 2022

I doubt anyone on here follows it but I have an Instagram account called ‘Hollie Reviews Theatre’ where I’ve already touched on this show but wanted to write a longer post on my proper blog!

A few years ago Mischief Theatre announced the original cast of ‘The Play That Goes Wrong’ would be doing a one week run in London before they moved to perform in New York. I was desperate to go but could only make it work on the Sunday – so I made the two and a half hour train journey to London, walked into the theatre and immediately realised that week long run had not included the Sunday. I was a bit gutted but obviously still enjoyed the cast at the times version of the show.

A couple of months ago they announced that the original cast would be performing again in two cities on their tour – Manchester and Newcastle. I already had tickets to see the show with my Mum in Birmingham but I decided to treat myself and see the show in Manchester as well. You know, to make up for missing them all those years ago. And it may have been the last time to catch them so I decided to just go for it!

Before I knew it the day had arrived and I was catching the train to Manchester. I won’t lie to you; Manchester is not my favourite city in the world but its closer to where I live than Newcastle. The train journey went smoothly and I made into Manchester easily – last year when I went there to see Ashnikko I’d had a right nightmare with the trains but everything ran relatively on time this time round.

I’d originally been booked into a hotel I’ve stayed in previously but at the last minute swapped to a Premier Inn because let’s be real, you can’t beat a Premier Inn. I didn’t have the best hotel when I came to watch Ashnikko so I was determined to have a better one this time and it was good because like I said, you can’t beat Premier Inn.

I didn’t really do much with the rest of the day because I’m not really sure what there is to do in Manchester and also I’m meant to be saving money. I currently live with my Dad and Step-Mum to save up for my house deposit so I kind of just enjoyed having my own space for a bit. I had Maccies in the hotel room then got ready to go and watch the show.

I made it to the Manchester Opera House just after 7PM, had my bag checked and then made my way to my seat in the stalls – since it’s my seventh time seeing the show I know there are things going on before the show actually starts and I didn’t want to miss anything so down I went. I was sat in the aisle of the third row which had a pretty good view.

A week beforehand I’d gone to Birmingham with my best friend Jess to see ‘Magic Goes Wrong’ and during the second half of the show I’d been called on stage – audience participation isn’t really my thing but I decided to just go for it and ended up having a good time. I wasn’t worried about being pulled on stage this time because whenever I’ve seen it before a man is usually picked to go up so I figured it wouldn’t be me – until I saw a girl on Twitter posting about how she’d been up and as I sat in the theatre I realised that actually, it was a possibility.

Part of me was torn on whether I wanted to go up but as Nancy, who was playing Annie, made her way down the stairs I decided that I didn’t want to be called. Nancy made a detour away from me so I was like ‘oh good, not me then’ – until she started inching her way back and began talking to me. I’d been picked two weeks in a row!

As I said, I’m a quiet person around strangers and quite awkward so I don’t volunteer for these things but I’m also not a spoil sport so I went along with it and soon me and Nancy were holding onto a shelf as we made our way onto the stage. I was also quite glad I’d seen this show six times beforehand so I knew what would happen. Nancy helped me set the shelf up above the fireplace and then left me there holding it.

I won’t go into the details of everything that happened as I don’t want to ruin it for anyone else who goes to watch the show but it was a lot of fun and soon I was making my way back to my seat – as with ‘Magic Goes Wrong’ I hadn’t really wanted to go up but I ended up being glad that I’d been chosen. After seeing it live so many times it was cool to get to be up on the stage and see it close up!

As I said, I don’t want to ruin the show for anyone who hasn’t seen it but it was so much fun. Every actor got a loud cheer when they first came on stage and the atmosphere was so different to every other time I’ve seen this show. You could tell almost everyone in the room was a Mischief fan. My favourite bit was probably during the ‘a ledger?’ scene when Henry Shields started improvising and arguing with the audience – particularly when he literally leapt from the stage to yell at a child in the front row. I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again; my favourite Mischief moments are definitely when they improvise and this was no exception.

It was probably the hardest I have laughed in a long time, my stomach was literally hurting. I love getting to see this cast perform; I hadn’t seen them in person since ‘Mischief Movie Night’ back in 2020 and I don’t think I’ve ever seen Rob Falconer so that was exciting! The only show I haven’t seen them in live now is ‘Peter Pan Goes Wrong’ but at least we have the BBC version of that show.

At the end of the show they got a standing ovation and the applause went on for a long time. I was really happy when Nancy caught my eye at the end and mouthed ‘thank you’ – she was so lovely!

I’m part of a Mischief discord group and a few people had been talking about how they’d gone to the stage door and met the cast – something I’ve wanted to do since I became a fan back in 2017. I’ve always felt too shy and awkward to attempt it but now I really wanted to. My friends and other people in the discord group encouraged me to go for it so without over thinking it I headed to the stage door.

Luckily I was stood near some nice groups of people who recognised me from being called on stage and two of them actually asked me to sign their programmes which was funny and absolutely made my night. I was really nervous but felt better having someone to chat to while we waited.

Henry Lewis came out first and I’d been worried as security had only been talking about getting things signed and unfortunately the theatre had ran out of programmes and although a nice girl in the queue had given me a piece of paper I didn’t have a pen. Luckily I saw him taking a photo with someone else so when he came along I asked for a selfie and we took one. I am no selfie expert and I was shaking like a bloody leaf but as each cast member came out I managed to ask them all for a selfie and they all came out looking okay!

I was a bit too nervy to properly talk to any of them but did thank Nancy for picking me when she came out and she told me I was awesome. I told her about being called on stage at ‘Magic Goes Wrong’ last week and she said “Yeah it’s ‘cos you avoided eye contact – anyone looking at me desperate to get picked I’m like nah, I look for those avoiding eye contact like you were” which was pretty funny.

Stage Door did not take as long as I thought it would, everyone came out pretty quickly and I was right near the front of the line so we got let out and I headed back to the hotel. There was a brief moment where I thought some guy was gonna try and set my hair on fire but other than that the walk back was pretty easy and soon I was back in my hotel.

I’m really glad I did stage door because the cast were honestly all so lovely and I’ve wanted to meet them for absolutely ages. The show itself was so much fun, one of the best I’ve been to this year so it was definitely worth travelling to Manchester and forking out ridiculous prices for a hotel for the night!

I wish I could see the cast at the various shows they have at Fringe Festival this year but getting to and staying in Edinburgh is insanely expensive so I think I’ll have to give that a miss but hopefully I’ll get to see them in something again soon. Fingers crossed!

Twenty Favourite Theatre Shows

So, a while ago I wrote a list of my ten favourite theatre shows and now I want to update it but ten was just definitely not enough. This list will definitely change as there are plenty of shows that I’m dying to see but haven’t had chance to yet because of COVID-19. I’m not limiting this list to the West End it’s just any show I’ve seen at a theatre, musical or play or whatever. Here goes!


20. The Mousetrap

Me and Mum went to see this show when I was at university. Mum prefers plays to musicals and since it’s the longest running show in the West End we had to go and see it.  I wasn’t sure what I’d think but we managed to get tickets smack bang in the middle of the front row and I ended up really enjoying it. So much so that I dragged my friend Jess to see it to see if she could guess who the murderer was. It’s such a good show.

Favourite Character: Christopher Wren
Favourite Song: N/A


19. Wicked

A few years ago this would’ve been top of the list and it will always hold a special place in my heart as the first West End show I saw. I begged my Mum to take me for months and then we were going to London anyway for a Jacqueline Wilson signing for my 16^th birthday so Mum booked me some tickets as a surprise. I absolutely loved this show and have seen it an extra four times since I first saw it. There probably isn’t a theatre kid out there who doesn’t love this show and although it’s not my favourite anymore I will definitely always have a soft spot for it.

Favourite Character: Fiyero
Favourite Song: What is this Feeling?


18. Little Shop of Horrors

I fell in love with this show when we performed it at secondary school during my final year. My fellow classmates weren’t as keen as they felt it was a bit depressing for our final performance, particularly compared ‘Disco Inferno’ the year before or ‘Beauty and the Beast’ the year before that but I loved it. The only thing that sucked was that because so many people wanted to take part the general chorus got split into one and two, with one getting the better songs. I was placed into chorus two and despite being reassured if we were doing really well we could get bumped up (or bumped down if you weren’t good) I remained in chorus two despite getting several compliments from teachers about my performance. Ugh!

However, that aside, I still do really love the show. I’ve only seen it once whilst it was on tour a few years ago but I’d love to see it again. The film doesn’t hit the same as the stage show does and I’d love to see it again. Who doesn’t love a show about a blood-thirsty plant?

Favourite Character: Audrey Two
Favourite Song: Feed Me


17. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time

My Mum enjoyed this book and a couple of times tried to convince me to read it but I didn’t do so until there was a college trip to see the stage show. Unfortunately we didn’t get to see the show after all due to an issue at the theatre but I still enjoyed the book. One day I decided to have my first solo daytrip to London and decided to watch the stage version. I ended up really enjoying it so when the show toured I also took my Mum to see it – she prefers plays to musicals so she enjoyed it as well. I love the way it was done and I just really enjoyed it, I’d definitely like to see it again one day.

Favourite Character: Christopher Boone
Favourite Song: N/A


16. Matilda the Musical

This is another show that at one point would’ve taken the top spot but I’ve seen a few too many times now. I first saw this show with my Mum, I was at university in London and my Mum came down for my 19^th birthday so we could watch the show together. She accidentally booked the matinee instead of the evening performance so I had to race there after class but it was worth it, the show was really good. I loved the addition of the songs and it’s just overall a really good show.

Favourite Character: Miss Trunchbull
Favourite Song: My House

15. The Exorcist

I’ll be honest, I’ve never seen the movie. I watched ‘The Exorcism of Emily Rose’ with my friends when we were teenagers and I was dreading it as my horror loving sister had told me that film terrified her but I spent most it feeling really bored so I never gave ‘The Exorcist’ a go. However, I really like horror theatre and seeing how they do it so I decided to give it a go.

I knew people had described it as shocking but I just assumed it wasn’t as bad in this day in age but Jesus, yes it was. Fair play to the actors, particularly the girl who played Regan for doing it all with a straight face. Despite it being so shocking I really enjoyed it and would definitely watch it again.

Favourite Character: Regan
Favourite Song: N/A


14. Cinderella

I’ve seen a few people criticising this show and whilst they are all valid I actually still really enjoyed it. I loved the costumes, the dancing, the songs… I want to watch it again to sit in the seats that move as well because it looked so cool. This Andrew Lloyd Webber retelling of the classic fairy tale isn’t perfect but I still enjoyed it and I thought Carrie Hope Fletcher was very good in the part of Cinderella. I’d definitely re watch it.

Favourite Character: Prince Charming
Favourite Song: I Know I Have a Heart


13. The Comedy About a Bank Robbery

After watching both of Mischief Theatre’s ‘goes wrong’ shows at the time I finally decided to give ‘The Comedy About a Bank Robbery’ a try. I’ll be honest for the first couple of minutes the jokes went over my head a bit and I wasn’t sure if it was my thing but I ended up really enjoying it once I’d sort of settled into it. This was probably the show that tipped me over from casual Mischief Theatre fan to ‘Oh My God I have to watch all their shows’.

I persuaded my Dad to watch a West End show with me and insisted he should watch this one as I just knew he’d like it. For the first five or so minutes he sat there with a stony expression on his face but then eventually couldn’t resist laughing and he ended up enjoying the show just as I knew he would!

I also took my friend Jess to see it because our Seventeen concert got cancelled last year just before everything with COVID-19 kicked off. Both of us really like the scene where the characters are in the vents looking down on a scene – it’s so funny and just so clever. I did also love the scene where Chris Leask played three characters all fighting each other though.

Favourite Character: Caprice Freeboys
Favourite Song: N/A


12. Ghost Stories

See, I originally saw the film of this stage show and I hated it. I thought it was stupid, not that scary and I really didn’t like the twist at the end. However it was definitely made for the stage and I ended up really enjoying it. For me it’s probably the scariest live stage show, I remember being in a big hotel room by myself after watching it and not wanting to sleep with the lights off!

I took my friends to go and see it but kind of ruined it by saying the three different ghost stories interlink – they sort of do but not the way they were expecting so they were trying to make connections that weren’t there. I still really like it though, it’s not a long show but it is really spooky and enjoyable.

Favourite Character: Tony Matthews
Favourite Song: N/A


11. Aladdin

I’m pretty sure this has closed in the West End now which is such a shame as I really enjoyed it and always said I’d go back one day to watch it in a better seat – I saw it twice, both times in the exact same seat up in the high heavens at the very back. Luckily it didn’t make the show any less enjoyable though.

Aladdin was one of my favourite Disney films growing up and I loved the stage version just as much. I liked that there were the original songs from the film (although some altered) as well as new songs. I also liked that Aladdin had actual friends instead of just a monkey (Abu is great in the movie but it’s nice to see Aladdin have friends!). It’s also just really funny and overall an amazing show. I wish I could see it again – hopefully one day!

Favourite Character: The Genie
Favourite Song: High Adventure


10. Heathers the Musical

This is one of those shows that I kept intending to watch because I knew I’d like it but never got round to it. I mentioned in a previous post that I had been about to book tickets for it but the only ones I could afford were at the very top and it turned out they weren’t assigned seats it was just a bench – as a fat person there was just no way I was going to be comfortable on this bench so I didn’t.

So I didn’t see the show until me, Becca and Jess decided to book tickets for a clubbing event in London and me and Becca decided to travel up a day early to see a West End show. We booked tickets for ‘Heathers the Musical’ and then waited nervously as Boris announced the delay in reopening. We were advised the show was going ahead but with reduced capacity so we awaited the email to say we’d been kicked out but luckily they advised we could still go but with different tickets. Fine by us!

I’m really glad we went to see it because I’ve seen a fair amount of the shows in the West End now but this was one I hadn’t seen and I really wanted to. I wasn’t sure at first but was soon sucked into the story and ended up really enjoying it. The soundtrack is also amazing, I’ve had it on repeat since we went in June.

I bought tickets for the tour for my friend for her birthday last year so I’m lucky enough to have tickets to see it again in September. I can’t wait!

Favourite Character: Veronica
Favourite Song: Meant to Be Yours


9. The Lion King

My Mum took me to London to watch this show for my eighteenth birthday and it did not disappoint. I’d obviously seen the movie a ton of times as a child so was really excited for the stage version as friends who had seen it before me advised that it was amazing. They weren’t wrong, the way it’s done is absolutely amazing and the singing particularly in the opening song ‘Circle of Life’ just blew me away. If you only have time for one West End show I’d probably recommend this one because I don’t know a single person who’s seen it and has been disappointed.

I took my friend Jess to see it and after the opening number she turned to me and said ‘I know it’s a bit early but this is the best show I’ve ever seen’. Everything about it is so good!

Favourite Character: Zazu
Favourite Song: Be Prepared


8. The Woman in Black

When we found out we wouldn’t be seeing ‘The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time’ on our college trip the staff scrambled to find us enough tickets for another show. They ended up booking ‘Once’ and ‘The Woman in Black’ and I was so excited to see ‘The Woman in Black’ but instead of doing a first come first choice basis I was just automatically assigned a ticket for ‘Once’. My teacher tried to help me do a swap but I didn’t manage to so I was banished to ‘Once’ which, I’ll be honest, wasn’t that great.

So when I went to London for my first ever overnight trip I decided to pay a visit to ‘The Woman in Black’ and ended up absolutely loving it. I’ve been to see it probably three more times since then. I just love horror theatre so much! We definitely need more of it.

Favourite Character: The Actor (Couldn’t find that he had a name?)
Favourite Song: N/A


7. Groan Ups

When Mischief Theatre announced this show I knew I’d have to go so I immediately bought tickets and visited in September. I was looking forward to seeing another not ‘goes wrong’ show from them as I’d enjoyed ‘The Comedy About the Bank Robbery’ so much and ended up absolutely loving ‘Groan Ups’. The show basically follows a group of classmates with the first half showing them in primary school then secondary and then the second half is their class reunion.

I loved pretty much everything about it, the set design was amazing and I just found it endlessly funny – although parts of it are actually quite sad and heart-warming. I’ve booked tickets to take my Mum to see it, originally in July but now postponed until November and I really hope she likes it.

Favourite Character: Spencer
Favourite Song: N/A


6. School of Rock

Okay, I love the film ‘School of Rock’ so when I saw they’d turned it in a theatre show I knew I had to see it. Tickets seemed to be really expensive but I finally managed to find some relatively cheap ones – the seat wasn’t perfect and did cut off some of the story but I didn’t care, I was just happy to be inside.

I LOVED it. I love the song from the film so I was happy it was included but I was glad they’d also written original songs for the stage show. I love pretty much every song. I returned to London to watch ‘School of Rock’ in a slightly better seat and now me and my friends have tickets to see it in Wolverhampton in September. I’m so excited!

Favourite Character: Dewey
Favourite Song: You’re in the Band


5. Peter Pan Goes Wrong

Although I love ‘The Play That Goes Wrong’ I didn’t feel able to include it on this list because I’ve seen it so many times that it’s slightly less funny for me now – it’s hilarious the first time when you don’t know what’s going to happen but when you know the set-up for the jokes it loses its appeal. I’ve only seen ‘Peter Pan Goes Wrong’ twice though so I love it a lot more although I have seen the BBC recorded version a fair few times – however that’s a reduced version of the show so not every joke from the live version is included.

This is a show that I definitely want to see again because I just love it. My favourite part is definitely when the stage won’t stop revolving, particularly the second time and everything just descends into chaos. I love it!

Favourite Character: Max
Favourite Song: The Pirates Song

4. Magic Goes Wrong

Another goes wrong show by Mischief Theatre that I adore. The first time I went to see this at the theatre there was a suspicious package outside so we were all told we had to leave – a man came on stage and told us this was the case and due to the nature of the show we all assumed it was a joke. I genuinely didn’t realise it was real until I was stood on the street.

I’ve always said that my favourite Mischief work is when they improvise which is probably why I love this show so much. Henry Lewis as The Mind Mangler is one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen, particularly when he was ‘guessing’ peoples jobs. I need to take Jess to see this show because I need to know how some of the tricks are done. It’s the perfect balance of magic going wrong but also amazing with some of the stuff they do. Definitely need to re-watch when it opens!

Favourite Character: The Mind Mangler
Favourite Song: N/A


3. Anastasia

When me and my Mum went to New York I put watching a Broadway show at the top of my list so she let me chose which one we watched. I chose ‘Anastasia’ because it’s not a show we have currently in the UK and I’m so glad I did. We were given amazing seats away from everyone else and it was honestly the perfect first Broadway experience. The show was amazing, the set, the costumes, EVERYTHING was perfect. I love the story of Anastasia so much and the stage show was amazing.

Keeping my fingers crossed that it does come to the UK one day – I know how much my friend Becca wants to see this show and I’ll definitely be going with her.

Favourite Character: Anastasia
Favourite Song: Once Upon a December


2. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

I had wanted to see this show for ages but getting tickets felt impossible until one day they released a bunch of months’ worth of tickets so I took the spent the morning trying to get some for me and Becca. I only worked part-time when I booked them so we had to get the cheap seats at the very top of the theatre but it didn’t matter. The show was amazing.

I’ve been to see this show five times now, twice with Becca and then I dragged my friends Janie and Hirst to watch it as well because I knew they’d love it. Now we just need Jess to watch it and experience how amazing it is. I read the book of the play before watching the stage show and I hadn’t been keen on it for a number of reasons but the stage show is incredible. There are some plot points that I’m really not keen on but it doesn’t change how much I love the show. It’s one of my absolute favourites and probably always will be despite how I feel about J K Rowling these days.

Favourite Character: Scorpius Malfoy
Favourite Song: N/A


1. Six

I had seen this show advertised in London but had always put off going due to the length of the show – if I’m going all that way I wanted to watch a full, over two hours with interval kind of show. But when it went on tour I got tickets for me and Hirst as a Christmas present, then me and my Mum also received tickets from my brother’s ex-girlfriend so I got to watch the show two nights in a row.

I was AMAZED by how good it was. My friend Becca had seen it a couple of weeks before me and assured me it was amazing and it really was. I’m not normally keen on shows that are mostly singing but these songs were just so good that it felt like you already knew them if that makes sense. It absolutely blew me away with how amazing it was – even my Mum who’s not keen on musicals said she loved every second of it.

Earlier this year I visited London for a long weekend and decided to re-watch ‘Six’ in the West End. I loved it potentially even more than the first time, it felt so good to be in a theatre again and I didn’t stop smiling the entire time. The cast were absolutely perfect and I had the best time ever. Such a good time that when me and my Mum returned to London a couple of weeks later I insisted we should watch this show again but unfortunately it fell a bit flat the second time. We had understudies this time and although I’ve seen ‘Six’ with understudies before these ones didn’t seem as enthusiastic. Don’t get me wrong they were good singers but they didn’t become the characters like I’ve seen in previous shows – Anne Boleyn in particular was a let-down compared to the one I’d seen at the start of June.

Me and the girls have tickets to see the show in Birmingham and this will be Jess’ first time watching so I’m hoping it’s just as good as the majority of the times that I’ve seen it. This is definitely one of those shows where the actors make or break the show. It’s still probably my favourite though because it’s such a simple concept but works so well. And every song is a bop, my Spotify Wrapped 2020 was just exclusively Six songs.

Favourite Character: Anne Boleyn
Favourite Song: Ex-Wives


So there we have it, my twenty favourite theatre shows! Feel free to leave some of your favourites in the comments, I’m always keen to get recommendations on new shows to watch.

Thoughts on this Year’s Love Island Contestants: 2021

Well, another year and another season of Love Island has finished. I haven’t watched the show since 2019 because my Mum didn’t want to watch it last year after everything that happened with Caroline Flack but we did watch it this year. As usual I’m going to be writing my thoughts on this year’s contestants – and as usual I won’t be commenting on every single contestant as some only appeared for a short amount of time, it’s only contestants I have thoughts about. Here we go!


Millie

We’ll start with our 2021 winner – I absolutely loved Millie. I thought she was really funny and genuine, and I’m glad she forgave Liam but only after making him work for it. I wasn’t really sure when she first came in with Lucinda but she quickly grew on me and I’m glad she made it to the final and then went on to win! Fair play to her.



Liam

The man who let us all down by entering Casa Amore and immediately forgetting about his Millie Moo! I don’t think I’ve ever been so disappointed with someone in Casa Amore and then he didn’t even bring Lillie into the main villa so it was all a bit pointless. I hope to God he’s genuine because I feel like Millie definitely is. To be fair I feel like he worked hard to prove to Millie how sorry he was so I’ll keep my fingers crossed for them now the season is over.



Faye

Before I get into my thoughts on Faye, I will say that the Love Island producers cannot claim to care about any of their contestants mental health after sending Faye in and deliberately winding her up to get a reaction out of her. They took out certain challenges supposedly for the contestant’s mental health – for example the tweet challenge, lie detector etc. and then brought in the movie night which seemed crueller in my opinion. Everyone arguing ‘oh they’ll see it anyway when they’re out’ – yes but seeing it in the private of your own home where you don’t have to worry about people seeing your reaction is a little different to what happened on movie night.

I completely understood her decision to recouple before the boys returned from Casa Amore – she was desperate not to be stood up there by herself and I was glad when Teddy returned and reminded her that she wasn’t the only one who had opened up. But after she screamed at everyone like that after the movie night I couldn’t like her anymore. And everyone blaming the other girls saying they should’ve told her she was overreacting (or even worse, had her back?) – Dale pulled her to one side and tried to explain that and she hit the roof, I don’t blame the girls for not wanting to say anything to her.

I also found her attitude childish during the compatibility vote, particularly the next day when she told Liberty ‘well I thought we were all friends but I was nice and you weren’t so’ – there was no nice vote! Either way everyone had to pick two couples and Liberty and Jake also received votes but didn’t hit the roof about it.

And her and Sharon kicking off at Hugo at the very start about the ‘fake’ comments like get a grip. Hugo literally had a disability and they were crying to him about why they got plastic surgery. Really?

I’ll be honest, I’m disappointed that Faye got to the final and secured third place – had a man sounded off on everyone like that they would’ve been removed immediately and I never found Faye’s apologies to be that genuine. I don’t see her and Teddy lasting long on the outside to be honest because if she was that insecure in the villa then how on earth will she cope on the outside? Time will tell I guess.



Teddy

I loved Teddy but wish he had distanced himself from Faye after the movie night. I’m so glad his brothers were honest about Faye’s behaviour when they came into the villa and told her it was that bad. Honestly Teddy deserved better than being screamed at over nothing for weeks on end. I hope he knows what he’s doing.



Kaz

I LOVED Kaz. She had such lovely energy, was always hyping the other girls up and just seemed so genuine. It was disappointing seeing the other boys not realise how amazing she was until Tyler came in and she finally found the boy she was looking for – until Casa Amore happened.

I’ll be honest, I don’t think Kaz handled the Matthew & Tyler situation well. I agree that Matthew wasn’t 100% into her but it was unfair of her to expect both boys to give her 100% whilst not giving them the same. And then realising her feelings were still with Tyler but also keeping Matthew in the background almost as a backup. I respect Matthew for breaking it off and was a bit annoyed when she was like ‘he’s so confusing’, girl no. But ultimately I do think Kaz’s self-esteem took a hit seeing the postcard and then Tyler coming back with another girl so I can forgive her. Her bad handling of the situation doesn’t change my overall opinion of her which is that she seems like a lovely girl who cares deeply about her friends and has a really positive personality.

I voted for Kaz & Tyler twice in the final and was so disappointed to see them get fourth place. They definitely deserved to place higher than that even if they didn’t win overall. Honestly, I wish we could’ve voted for Kaz and Liberty to win together because that was probably the most genuine connection from this series! I wish Kaz all the best for the future.



Tyler

The only reason I’m not sure about Tyler is because I feel like he didn’t work very hard to win Kaz back. I did like Tyler though, I just wish he had remained loyal in Casa Amore but to be fair to him when he realised his feelings were with Kaz he immediately called it off with Clarisse and told Kaz he was going to focus on her. He didn’t wait for a dramatic recoupling moment. I liked the way he asked her to be exclusive and I respect he picked exclusive instead of girlfriend and boyfriend because it was a bit too soon particularly after their casa amore split.

On the whole, I like both Kaz and Tyler and hope it works for them on the outside. Also, Tyler’s Dad is a legend. Give him a show!



Liberty

It’s a shame because Liberty fully deserved a place in the final but unfortunately she was shackled to Jake who definitely didn’t. Liberty was true to herself, an amazing friend and just such a lovely girl. I’m so happy that she listened to her gut and called it off with Jake despite it being so close to the final – that’s how you know she was real. She could’ve waited it out but she didn’t, she did what was best for her. It’s so good that she finally saw through Jake’s constant ‘you’re my girlfriend’ charade and didn’t back down when she wanted to split. Also her little comments about how she ‘knew she wasn’t the best-looking so lead with her personality’ – girl I promise you that you have it all, looks, personality, you’re the real deal.

Such a shame for her that her Love Island journey was fake (not on her side) but she’s definitely set herself up for a good career now that the shows over and she has been an inspiration for other girls who have little doubts in their mind about their boyfriends. Listen to your gut ladies and follow Liberty!



Jake

Oh boy, where do I even start? Jake wasn’t too bad in the first episode – his creepy foot fetish thing put a lot of people off (like when he recorded the toe sucking challenge, bit weird) but nobody really had any problem with him. And then it went downhill.

My opinion of him lowered with his constant talk about how he didn’t want to rip Liberty’s clothes off and wanted to meet other girls, and then he acted like Liberty was being unreasonable when she said she wasn’t going to give him 100% if he wasn’t going to give it back. It was irritating because they did seem compatible, it was just like he wanted to have more options.

My biggest issue with Jake is that he didn’t do a lot to reassure Liberty. On the movie night there was a clip from the first week of him saying he didn’t feel a sexual attraction and didn’t want ‘to rip her clothes off’. She told him it had upset her afterwards and it would’ve been so easy to say “Look I’m sorry but that was week one, we didn’t know each other that well and the sexual attraction came letter. I do think you’re stunning and I’m sorry my comment upset you.” Instead he chose his favourite one-liner “But Lib I CHOSE YOU TO BE MY GIRLFRIEND. You’re my GirLFRIend idiot.” Don’t call her an idiot for being rightfully upset by your words.

As the season went on I got more uncomfortable watching them. Particularly in the episode where they broke up, it felt like he was constantly making little digs at her. Relationships where you roast each other happen naturally over time but only work if you also uplift each other. I only have that relationship with my three best friends and it happens because we know when it’s appropriate and when it’s not, and if one of us does take it too far then we know to apologise. I felt so uncomfortable when they were taking the selfies and all they did was talk about him and he still turned around and said to Liberty ‘it’s always about you’. Fair play to her for deciding enough is enough.

I don’t think he came in with a game plan but I think he got to a point where he was worried that if he left Liberty the public would vote him out so that’s when his game started. He didn’t love her, the girls were more upset about Liberty leaving than he was about them breaking up. And when she said she wanted to break it off and he said “Well I’ve learnt nothing I’ve said will change your mind” – maybe because you never actually console her or say anything relevant? Just repeat ‘you’re my girlfriend’ over and over again like it actually means something!

I didn’t like him and I’m glad he got the opportunity to see that Liberty was more popular than him when he was in the bottom three and she wasn’t. I hope he watches the series and reflects on his attitude because he just did not come across as a nice person at all.



Lucinda

Lucinda came in and was obviously a very pretty girl but I’m sorry she just had no personality. Poor Aaron made the wrong choice coupling up with her because she dragged them both down and got them thrown out of the villa. She seemed like a nice enough girl but yeah, she didn’t really have much going for her.



Chloe

Chloe was interesting because I couldn’t stand her when she first came in. I don’t know what she was doing with her voice but it was unbearable for the first two episodes she was in and then suddenly she dropped it and her voice wasn’t that bad anymore. Very strange!

Once the irritating voice was dropped I ended up really liking her. I thought she was so funny and genuine. And at least she had some self-awareness, like when she told Toby she wasn’t surprised they were in the bottom three couples because she knew the public wouldn’t be happy about what they’d done to Kaz. She was a good laugh and livened up what was setting itself up to be quite a dull series without being over the top rude like Faye was. Absolutely loved Chloe.



Toby

It’s actually crazy how going back to Chloe saved this man’s popularity. He started with Kaz, swapped to Chloe, swapped to Abi, picked Mary in Casa Amore and then whilst picking between Abi and Mary decided he wanted Chloe again! It was so funny you couldn’t even be mad at him.

I’ll be honest I think Toby had mad character development over the show. For the first few weeks he did seem quite childish jumping from girl to girl, sulking when his team didn’t win the challenge, the way he reacted over Hugo’s speech… But when he got back with Chloe he seemed to chill out a bit and the two of them were hilarious to watch and just seemed so unbothered by everything. When it came down to them and Millie & Liam I low-key wanted them to win but making it to second place when everyone disliked both of them for the first couple of weeks is actually amazing. Fair play to them both!



Shannon

A naturally stunning girl who got done dirty by being dumped so quickly from the show. There’s a rumour that it’s because she wouldn’t do certain things the producers were telling her to do but surely there’d have been an idea of what was expected before she went in? It just seemed really unfair that she was dumped for no reason so quickly and I wish we’d seen more of her.



Hugo

I don’t understand how everyone could be mad at Jake for faking it with Liberty and then get mad at Hugo for not wanting to couple up with any old random person who flirted with him? If he didn’t feel he had a connection with Sharon, Georgia or AJ then fair enough. You don’t have a connection with everyone you meet even if they’re into you and I think it would’ve been unfair for him to get with them for the sake of the show rather than genuine connection.

I don’t really know how I feel about his recoupling speech when he chose Chloe – it was clearly mainly for Chloe’s benefit as he liked her but I don’t think what he said was unfair. I’m sick of contestants on Love Island claiming that choosing between two other contestants is a ‘test’ like what does that even mean? And for Faye to sit there and be like ‘that’s really rude’ like okay hen?

My only criticism of Hugo would be his attitude towards Amy, for example when they kissed for the first time and he said ‘job done’ and just some of his comments. I do think his self-esteem had taken a hit though after weeks of being single or in friendship couples and being the only boy not picked for a challenge earlier on when Brad got picked like three times. He could’ve been more courteous to her although a lot of people said he was her ticket into the main villa – I’m not sure though because it didn’t look like she tried with any of the other boys.

I don’t hate the man but I do think he left at the right time.

Danny

A very scary man who in my opinion probably shouldn’t have been allowed on – he made me feel so uncomfortable the entire time he was in there and I was so glad when he went home. His attitude towards Lucinda was quite worrying.



Priya

Any girl who says she fancies Boris Johnson needs to go home immediately. What the Hell? Although she did provide me with some entertainment with her whole “Brett likes coffee and I like a cheese board” when she said he gave her the ick, I thought that was pretty funny. She made the wrong choice picking Brett, he was difficult to look at. That sounds horrible but he just had such a weird vibe, I really couldn’t understand why she chose him!



Mary

I wasn’t really keen on Mary at first – crying because Abi got to go first and picked Dale? Why should Abi have picked someone as a friend when she wanted Dale and by coincidence got to go first? Dale hadn’t told her his intentions were with Mary of course Abi was going to pick him. And then Mary didn’t cry when Dale got sent home and she was allowed to stay!

She did warm to me though, it must’ve been hard as the three Casa Amore girls seemed quite separate from the main villa girls and then suddenly the other two went home and it was just her. I remember she went up to two of the girls and asked if she could join in their chat and she sounded quite shy and it did make me warm to her.

I do find it funny that her and Aaron have now already split after giving it their all to Kaz and Tyler but I do still think Mary seems like a nice girl.

Abi

I wasn’t sure about Abi at first. When she came in chatting to Toby she gave me really bad vibes. When the boys went off to Casa Amore my opinion of her changed, she seemed quite sweet. I think choosing not to recouple was a strange move because it was obvious Toby was going to but I did read an opinion that she was looking to get the sympathy vote. Might’ve worked but everyone knew he would cheat so it was hard to be sympathetic.

As I said though, after Casa Amore I did end up really liking her and it was a shame things with Dale didn’t work out as I thought they seemed like more of a match than him and Mary personally.


Those are really the only islanders I have any major thoughts on. Please feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments!