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How to Kill Your Family: a dip into revenge murders and misogyny

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Bella Mackie holds a mirror up to the modern feminist with her darkly satirical novel How to Kill Your Family Rating ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Besides being an eye-catching title on your morning commute, this gripping story navigates the uncomfortable topics of misogyny, socioeconomic inequality, and of course strained familial relationships. Much like other tales told from the perspective of a murderer on a mission ( Dexter immediately comes to mind), the audience may at times find themselves sympathising with the antiheroine and her tragic backstory, though she herself hardly cries about it. Our main character, Grace Bernard, is a stoic young woman with two main goals: revenge and acquiring the family fortune. Painted rather more as a sociopathic schemer than a psychopathic killer, she comes across as just your average Jane: flat in south London, job in marketing, goes shopping, and attends parties. Nothing remarkable about her life... on the surface. As we learn more about Grace's childhood and he...
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Flying Home for Christmas: A True Story

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 (This story is a first-hand account of real events that took place December 22, 2022. Dedicated to all you international travellers who have experienced delays, cancellations, and the joys of journeying home for Christmas.) Needless to say travel through the UK in 2022 has been severely disrupted by the increase in frequency of strikes, engineering works on train tracks, and the obscenely understaffed airlines and airports. That being said, Christmas time has got to be the most stressful period world-wide to travel anywhere by any mode of transportation. I can personally attest to the fact that it is not as jolly as the holiday tunes make it out to be (with the exception of Chris Rea who is stuck “Top to toe in tailbacks” and still having a merry time). My journey was overcomplicated from the start. Birmingham, UK to Dublin, Ireland (BHX-DUB) Dublin, Ireland to London, UK (DUB-LHR) London, UK to Las Vegas, USA (LHR-LAS) The first flight went smoothly, nothing to worry about ther...
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Kill the Bill: Birmingham

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Saturday, March 20th  saw a coalition of grassroots organisations and individuals gather in Birmingham's Victoria Square to raise their voices in solidarity. These past few weeks have seen other major cities such as Manchester, Brighton, Bristol and Liverpool holding protests of their own as outrage spreads across the nation following the murder of Sarah Everard. Sarah was walking home through Clapham Common in London on March 3rd when she disappeared. Her body was found just a week later inside a builder's bag in the woodlands of Kent, about 40 miles from where she was kidnapped. No sooner had this news reached the rest of the UK, than the vigil that was held Clapham Common in her honour turned violent between attendees and police officers sent to oversee COVID guidelines.  Occurring in tandem with this catastrophe is the proposal of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill (PCSCB) which was published March 8th of this year. If this bill were to come to fruition, it woul...
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7 (slightly) Unconventional Ideas for Your V-Day in Lockdown

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We're well into February - or 'Forever Alone' month - and lovers are scrambling for ideas on how to make their special day unforgettable, despite the looming cloud of bollocks that is quarantine. If you're like me, you've already trolled through the top searches on Google and found these: 20 Best and Most Romantic Valentine's Day Ideas 12 ways to enjoy Valentine's Day in lockdown from home Valentine's Day 2021 date night ideas All containing great ideas, but after 20 minutes of scrolling, you'll start to see a pattern arise. Suggestions like "cook dinner together", "have a spa day", and "breakfast in bed" are the top recurring suggestions; or if you have an affinity for the outdoors, "go for a walk" and "go for a picnic" are the two for you. But seeing as we're coming up on our one year anniversary of quarantine here in the UK, these brilliant ideas were already exhausted back in August.  Every da...
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France vs Apple in 'The Great Capitalism Debate'

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First, let me start off by commending (or is it condemning?) Apple for absolutely nailing this 'capitalism' stuff. I can't even begin to get into their profit margin which is supplied by outsourcing cheap labor from Asia paired with a high market demand, egged on by the ruthless advertising and outrageous qualities these phones posses. Apple's market success is only furthered by their use of planned obsolescence, which has recently gotten the company into some pretty deep waters in mainland Europe just a year ago.  'Planned obsolescence' is a policy implemented by Apple that involves the use of non-durable materials (fragile glass screens) and changes in hardware (the removal of the auxiliary jack in the iPhone 7 and newer generations) or software (regular iOS updates) that result in consumer goods becoming obsolete and needing to be replaced frequently. The use of this ingenious but still malicious strategy is illegal in France, and the lawsuit filed in Decem...
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i just want to be left alone

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(Disclosure: the following poem contains allusions to suicide and self harm. If you struggle with these thoughts in any way, please, decide for yourself if you should read this. We should not be afraid to talk about mental health, and that's what I'm doing here today, but know your own limits and do not push yourself.) What use is the 999 when they won't send somebody unless there's a body Unless there's a villain masked and oddly enough 'Is the patient still breathing' is not something to be asked when the patient is alive but not well Living but no one can tell what hell she's lived through The things she's done or that have been done to You walked away your white jacket shining bright as the night enveloped you like a beacon to our wary eyes But we needed no beacon to hear your cries concealed behind the 'do you have a cigarette' and 'I want to be left alone' but you knew we wouldn't, couldn't do that Up...
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Graduation: Expensive and Oversized

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Another milestone to check off the 'life' to-do list: the long-awaited university graduation. This occasion is traditionally celebrated by decking out the 'graduands' in black gowns that more closely resemble poorly tailored capes and matching caps that are equally unflattering. You have to give them credit, though; it must have been difficult to design a co-ord that nobody actually looks good in.  It doesn't take a Paris Fashion Week judge to notice that the 'academic dress' is ill-fitting in general: students of extreme stature are especially cheated. Despite inputting measurements of height and head size prior to ordering the dress, this feels like a farce as they appear to be a one-size-fits-all deal. Taller individuals show an excess of leg (scandalous!) - rather than the traditional mid-calf hem ending - which looks comical. While shorter students are positively swimming in their gowns, looking as if the shroud is trying to swallow them. Nevertheless,...
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