Tag: psychotic

The Boyfriend – Review

October 20, 2025 / / 0 Comments

One fine Saturday afternoon,  after PTM at GBee’s school, Mr.Bee, I and the kids went to the Ashoka One Mall, which is the closest mall to his school, like less than 1km away. (There is another mall which is even closer, but it is still under construction) Incidentally,  Ashoka One Mall is GBee’s favourite mall. (KBee loves the Nexus Mall, we alternate between the malls, to satisfy them both!)

Anyway, after the usual car rides and toy train rides, both the kiddos were happy. That’s when I saw the bookstore. (During my days as a working woman, I would spend most of my lunch hours, browsing through Walden, the bookstore in our office premises.  I sorely miss those days!)

Once inside, I quickly got what I wanted. Two books by Freida McFadden and one by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni. I started reading the first book after returning home.

So here comes the review….

Review:

Written by : Freida McFadden

Published on : 1st October 2024

Read by Queen Bee on : 16th October 2025

This is the 4th Freida McFadden’s book, that I have read.

The book starts with Tom and his weird and mad love for Daisy Driscoll. It makes us wonder,  do people like him even exist, but I guess they do!

Tom is a poor but handsome, clever but a little scaredy guy. He loves Daisy but also dreams of killing her. He probably has some mania related to blood like hemomania because he enjoys looking at blood or imagining blood! Yuk!

Daisy Driscoll,  the school beauty, the girl Tom loves the most and the girl who loves and adores Tom.

Then there is Slug, Tom’s best friend, who has the habit of eating insects! (I have never read about two or more such characters in a book, ever.) Weird bunch, I tell you.

Also, there is Alison, bestie of Daisy, who hates Tom. She is one of those rare individuals who knows about the kind of a guy Tom is. She gets a weird vibe from him.  These are one side of the story.

The story alternates between two sets of characters.

The other set of characters include Sydney Shaw, who has been unsuccessful in love and is into dating apps. She wants a steady boyfriend,  marry him and settle down. But all she ever meets are weirdos like Kevin, who later becomes her stalker.

Sydney has two girl besties, Bonnie and Gretchen. Bonnie is in a serious relationship with a doctor, not even her friends have seen him.

Suddenly,  Bonnie is found in her flat, dead, apparently tortured to death.

How did she die? Is the stalker Kevin the murderer or the super of the apartment Randy, who always gave Bonnie the creeps?

Meanwhile Sydney begins to date Dr.Tom Brewer, who has many secrets of his own.  Who even contacts his girlfriend from a burner phone? Who lies about his name and place of work? Only suspicious individuals do.

Then there is Jake, Sydney’s ex, a cop who is set on finding Bonnie’s killer.

Just as Sydney begins to put two and two together,  to guess the killer,  she is in grave danger.

So many innocent people end up dead because of one supremely psychotic brain,  so who is the killer?

What I like:

Each chapter is a page turner. It has twists and turns, rightly so, since it is a thriller.

What I don’t like:

The heroine Sydney is a little slow. She is gullible too, she is like a lesser liked version of Rachel Green from F.R.I.E.N.D.S!

When Sydney is in a near death situation,  the only thing that’s on her side is, luck. She does nothing to save herself.

I don’t like the killer getting away with crime, after killing innocent people.  No, not one bit!

But that’s not a good enough reason not to read, go ahead and read it. Tell me what you make of it.

P.S:

1. The next time someone in power like a cop, volunteers to do a background check on the person you are dating,  ALWAYS  say yes, take help. This is my advice to all potential heroines in thrillers and mysteries!

Let me bring my bowl of puffed rice. Time to read, Do Not Disturb!

Cheerio…

The Housemaid – Review

September 3, 2025 / / 1 Comment

It’s been so long since I read a novel and while I was busy with my usual online window shopping, I came across these books and bought them without second thought.  I always buy the books of authors I know about or read about,  this is the first instance I bought books without knowing anything about the author or without reading the preview!

The best thing about having no expectations is that, if it’s good, then I will be mighty happy with my choice of book, but if it turns out bad, I never really had any expectations to begin with, so I won’t be sad either! It is a win-win!

That’s what I had in mind, when I started reading the book…..

Let’s get the review started.

Written by: Freida McFadden

Published in : April 2022

Read on : 14 August 2025

Genre : Psychological Thriller

The novel starts with the police entering an attic and finding a corpse and a woman is being questioned….

Then the narrative shifts to Millie Calloway, who is at the Winchester house, attending an interview for the job as a housemaid. She is an ex- convict, who is out on a payroll and has been fired from her last job.

Nina Winchester, an amiable and lovable person, wearing a full white attire is the interviewer. She hires Millie as a housemaid,  even without references and that sets the pace of the story.

During the interview,  Millie is taken to the attic at the top of the house, through creaky stairs, where she is to stay, while working as an stay-in housemaid. Although she loves the house, Millie finds the attic disturbing. It feels claustrophobic,  there is only a tiny window, which can’t be opened and the door can only be locked from outside!

After the interview, the muscular, over 6 foot something tall gardener Enzo gives Millie a foreboding message, Danger!

Millie suspects that the house must be haunted, but even then, she decides to work there. She has no prospects at any other jobs, she is an ex-convict, who served 10 years in prison!

While she is attending interviews and awaiting call backs, Millie is living in her old and beaten car, as a home! Nina Winchester hires Millie, which in itself is suspicious.

She enters the house and is again warned by the Italian gardener, Enzo. The room in the attic gives off weird vibes, but then, it is better than the car home, anyway. Millie decides to save up as much as she can and leave.

The house, which had been spic and span during her interview,  is now in bad shape and needs serious cleaning.

Millie soon learns thar Nina is borderline neurotic and her moods are as bad as an oscillating pendulum. One minute she is charming, and another minute she is menacing and scary.  Nina, is the wife of Andrew Winchester,  a handsome uber rich young business man, who is apparently in love with his wife, inspite of the trouble she keeps causing him daily.

As Millie starts living with them, she learns that Nina Winchester had been to a “loony bin” and even tried to drown her own baby Cecelia!

Why is Nina always dressed in white? Why do the Winchester’s have peanut butter in the house if little Cecelia is allergic to it? Why does Cecelia always dress in uncomfortable frocks ? Why did Andrew marry Nina?  So many questions intrigued me….

There is also a scene where Andrew and Nina fight at night, a loud crash is heard and Millie suspects Nina hurt Andrew! Even the blood on Nina’s night dress is suspicious. Luckily, he is unhurt.

At one point in the story, even I was scared about what Nina Winchester might do to Millie, since she is young and beautiful and it is clear as day that Andrew  seems to be attracted to her ( by the end of 3 months) Nina is obviously a jealous wife.

Turns out plain looking Nina is older than Andrew and was a working single mom, before she met and married him.

The first part of the story ends with Nina being thrown out of the house by Andrew and Millie is promoted from a housemaid to a girlfriend!

Just when I was scared for the safety of Millie, Freida McFadden throws a juggernaut and demolishes the theory I had in my mind, while reading the book. (Like any reader, I was trying to guess what happens next)

She manages to turn the story on its head and how!

I am stopping at this. You have got to read the book to know the clever writing and memorable characters. For once I was happy reading about both the female characters Nina Winchester and Millie Calloway.

This is one of those novels which gets a 5 out of 5 from me. Good going Freida McFadden!

P.S:

I also bought two other novels in the Housemaid series.

Fingers crossed!

 

 

Hanu-Man!

January 14, 2024 / / 1 Comment

Ever since I saw the trailer of Hanu Man, that too with Teja Sajja as the main lead, I wanted to watch the movie in theater, thanks to it being a super hero movie based on Hindu Mythology. Added to that Teja had been my favourite child artist after my other favourites and National award winners Tarun and Shamilee, both from the children’s movie directed by Mani Ratnam, Anjali (1990).

Anyway, watching same kind of movies is so boring. I also watched Guntur Karam. I will review it next. I think this is the month of movies as I also watched 12th Fail and The Archies in quick succession!

Let’s get back to the Hanu-Man.

Review:

Directed by : Prasanth Varma

Release Date : January 2024

Hanu-Man

The movie starts with a school going child Micheal and his love for super heroes. (which is generally normal in kids) But once his love turns into obsession, this child grows into a super villain  and as far as I know, that is the first instance in a movie, where the villain is introduced in the first scene itself! His mom tries to give him good advice and he also manages to retain it in his brain, the only thing is that he never understands the true meaning of it. So that is our clever, rich and psychotic villain.

Then comes the drone shot and the majestic Hanu-Man statue, guarding the village of Anjanadri, where we find the male lead Teja, playing Hanumanthu, a common thief. Thanks to the build up given during male lead introduction, we may imagine the hero to be good at fights etc, but he is not! He is a failure in many ways. (That clearly shows the contrast between Hanumanthu before and after gaining his super power.)

He is in love with his childhood crush, Meenakshi, a doctor, who visits the village for summer holidays and also enlightens the villagers, who are under the iron fist of a local pehlwan.

Long thing short, during a fight among the goons and the hero, who is in it to save Meenakshi, Hanumanthu falls into the ocean and finds himself a stone, with the power of Lord Hanuman. (The stone is said to contain a drop of Lord Hanuman’s blood. Nice!)

Suddenly the good for nothing thief, finds himself at the centre of supreme power and uses it to help the locals bring down the pehlwan. He also manages to get them to start electing a local head to rule them.

Meanwhile, Micheal happens to see a video of Hanumanthu showing off his super power and lands at Anjanadri, on the pretext of constructing a hospital for them!

The rest of the story is about how Hanumanthu saves the stone from the villain. The movie ends with Hanumanthu becoming a super hero, with a red cape, like Doctor Strange!

Teja as Hanumanthu is believable and is a natural. He is better than some other star kids, who suck at acting.

Amritha Aiyer as Meenakshi has little scope for acting, she is good in her scenes.

Vinay Rai, the hero of Vaana (2008 movie, meaning Rain) now plays a villain who is on the verge of being psychotic. Even if the duration of his role is small, he is impactful.

Sathya, Getup Srinu bring some laughs. I liked how a bird, probably a humming bird, hovered on Sathya’s head, always! Lol! This scene itself shows how well comedy has been blended in the scenes, without adding extra dialogues to impress us, the audience.

The best role however went to Varalaxmi Sharatkumar. Her role is relatable too.

Lastly, there is Samudrakhani, who plays an important character in the movie. I won’t reveal it! (I will forever remember him as the villain from Ala Vaikuntapuram. He even has a song in the movie. Which villain ever had a song in a movie? It is a rare feat!)

Vennela Kishore, for once played a character role and not anything related to comedy. He is one actor who has a natural flair for comedy after the world record holder, Brahmanandam. This is purely my personal opinion. (Sunil used to have similar flair for comedy. But he has transitioned effortlessly into character and villain roles. He is not suited for hero roles, thank God he found his positives.)

Hanu-Man has its highs and lows, but some scenes are memorable and will remain with us for sometime. Just like how Rajamouli makes a powerful statement with memorable scenes, Prashanth Varma has also executed it.

The one scene I love, is where Hanumanthu, after beating up the goons, sits on top of them, which is similar to how Lord Hanuman makes his own throne with his looooong tail, in Lanka, to sit a few feet taller than the Lankesh, Ravana.

Hanuman seated on tail throne in front of Ravana – @Tadipatri, A.P.

The other scene I love is when Hanuman is shown as the shadow of Lord Rama. Chef’s kiss on its way!

It is satisfying to watch Hanuman at the climactic scenes.  Thankfully, the CGI is beautiful, which will satisfy an average movie-goer and the scenes with gold coloured Hanuman statue are good too.

Overall the movie is a pleasant watch. There is no vulgarity or cringe worthy scenes, so that’s a plus.

Go ahead and watch it, I am eager to see what will follow this movie.

P.S:

  1. Prasanth Varma, the director is ambitious and the movie is made under Prasanth Varma Cinematic Universe! There will be sequels coming up and I hope they will surpass the first installment. Way to go. About time someone made a super hero franchise in India.
  2. Even though Hanu-Man showed a lot of potential, only limited number of theaters or multiplexes had shows for this movie. Injustice! It proved the rumour that big producers don’t allow small movies.
  3. I loved the song in which the hero Hanumanthu fights the bad guys while the village ladies were busy making the yummy mouth watering mango pickle!

© 2026

Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑