Not even a year after publishing The Similars, an epic first in a duology, Rebecca Hanover is now ready to usher you into the deeper, intertwining world of Darkwood Academy, featuring your long-awaited heroine, Emmaline Chance. At the end of the first book, she discovered a horrible truth that shook her to the core. But don’t you worry because we’re not going to drop any spoilers in today’s post, in case you haven’t got a chance to get all curled up in your favourite reading nook to explore Emma’s previous adventure along with her friends!
After a dangerous incident that she has to face in the first book, this recently published sequel, The Pretenders, follows Emma who’s now back at Darkwood not just with her best friend, Oliver and Pru, but also with her cloned friends, Maude, Theodora, Pippa, Ansel, and Jago. She couldn’t be happier, except for the fact that Levi, Ollie’s clone that Emma’s befriended in the previous term, is now stuck in the Castor Island with his rightful guardian. Getting worried about Levi’s safety, being caught up with her own feelings over two boys with the same face, stressing over college applications, and not to mention some new faces that started to be more vocal about their anti-clone movement, the pressure on Emma’s shoulders are getting heavier by each day passing by. Now that she discovered a new dangerous plot that’s sneaking around the corner of Darkwood, will she be able to save everyone while also saving herself from the unavoidable truth?
Now, one thing that caught our attention, aside from the advanced technology that makes appearances throughout these books (of course), is the fact that Emma’s getting her best friend back, Oliver. These two have been each other’s support system since they were kids and one of their favourite activities to kill time is movie marathons. But we’re thinking, hmm, everyone loves movie marathons, right? So, in today’s post, we’re going to predict what movies that the characters from The Pretenders are most likely to watch during their school break. This might or might not be turning into a list of movie recommendations… Well, you’ve been warned.
Emmaline Chance
As a student enrolled in a boarding school full of dark history and thrilling secrets, we wouldn’t be surprised if we discover Emma enjoying Suspiria (1977) during her break. As a fan of old movies (fun fact: Emma & Oliver’s normal night included binging on Kubrick’s movies), Emma’s most likely to relate to the plot of this movie and use it as a reference for any future danger that might creep on her or her friends during their stay in Darkwood. And let’s be real, she’s definitely not going to admit that she’s also watching fun rom-com such as The Kissing Booth (2018) to give herself a break after long, intense hours of binging thrillers, and lowkey enjoying it. Although one might never guess that she’ll watch Lion (2016) and relate to Saroo’s journey in finding his true self, which also one of her main issues in this book.
Oliver Ward
Although he’ll never reject an opportunity to have a good quality time with Emma by loading up on sugar and watching campy horror flicks, nothing will make Oliver happier than a well-made horror film. Obviously, he stands by his opinion that jumpscare isn’t equal to a good horror and much prefers a slow-pace horror. Therefore, he might find Hereditary (2018) as one of the best horrors that he’s ever seen. Still, genre snobbery isn’t his branding and he’d be more than happy to dive into drama movies as well. We think he’ll be enjoying Flipped (2010) and Love, Rosie (2014) especially since these movies revolving around childhood friends turn into lovers plot, and he’s most likely to take lessons and tips for his own feelings to Emma.
Prudence Stanwick
As a pretty laid back best friend of Emma, Prudence will not ask much when it comes to movies. Her recent watch might be Love, Simon (2018) and aside from being an advocate of inclusivity and supporting marginalised groups (in this case, the clones), she’s been jamming to the soundtracks through her summer break because the songs were great to entertain herself after her unfortunate incident in Darkwood. Speaking of which, she’s been trying to recover her trauma by watching some murder mysteries, such as Knives Out (2019). Of course, she can always use good detective skills to solve the mysteries that keep floating around Darkwood Academy. And since she is spending her break with her clone, Pippa, she’ll most likely recommend a good journalist movie to give Pippa a better understanding of their father’s job. Her pick? Spotlight (2015). She insisted that it’s one of her all-time favourite movies and not in all related to Liev Schreiber in a gold spectacle.
The Similars (Ansel, Jago, Levi, Maude, Pippa, Theodora)
Considering their childhood in Castor Island, it will be no surprise if they found any escape movies to be fairly interesting. Although things might get heated and they’ll end up throwing theories in each other’s faces instead, it’s safe to say that they were having a good time. But above anything else, they love a creative and well-built setup, so it’s not surprising to find them enjoying Escape Room (2019). And let’s be real, the literal escape room was great and all. But escaping a heist? Now that’s on another level. No wonder that The Similars are enjoying The Ocean’s franchise. Although they’ll also enjoy a quiet movie on slower days such as Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children (2016). They cared for these kids too much.
The Pretenders is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers.
