Search

Search only in certain items:

While You Sleep
While You Sleep
8
8.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
If you’re looking for something in the flavor of gothic horror with a little bit of romance and an unreliable narrator to thrown in, While You Sleep by Stephanie Merritt is the perfect choice. Reading it during a thunderstorm (which takes place quite often in the book) is even better. While I don’t tend to like romance, this book plays it off in a manner that even I can enjoy.

Set on a small island off the coast of Scotland, Merritt immediately creates an atmospherically gloomy environment. The main character, Zoe Adams, is an introverted artist who’s taking some much needed time away from her family in a lovely Victorian Era house in a town where she knows no one. Unbeknownst to her, the house has a reputation. Soon, things start to get a little rough, and the vacation turns into a nightmare. The question is, is there a phantom lending truth to the house’s status, or is there more than meets the eye?

When it comes to characters, Merritt’s ability to write dynamic and three-dimensional characters is spot on. I found myself becoming attached to a few while loathing others. The small town feel is replicated in the behaviors and actions of several characters, which tends to be something I’m wary of, being from a small town myself.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. It’s one I’d like to own, and one I’ll definitely recommend to fellow horror fiends. I’d like to thank the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a free copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

http://theghastlygrimoire.com/2019/05/10/book-review-while-you-sleep-by-stephanie-merritt/
  
40x40

ClareR (5879 KP) rated Remembered in Books

Jul 8, 2019  
Remembered
Remembered
Yvonne Battle-Felton | 2019 | Fiction & Poetry, History & Politics
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
This is set in two time periods: the ‘present’ of February 1910, and 1843-1867. This second time period is during slavery in the USA, and follows the story of Spring and her sister Tempe. This was a time when black people were property, treated no better than cattle (their white owner even talks about ‘breeding’ them), and goes up to the emancipation and what happens afterwards.
In the ‘present’ timeline, we see Spring sitting by her sons deathbed in hospital, with the ghost of Tempe.
There are several newspaper articles that start chapters, and they go some way to explaining what is happening in the story - at least from a white mans perspective. Spring’s son, Edward, is accused of driving a Philadelphia streetcar into a department store and endangering the lives of white people. It’s not explicitly said (that I can remember), but Edwards injuries aren’t just from the crash. Spring arrives at the hospital knowing that he’s unlikely to survive. Mainly because the ghost of her sister is telling her so, and encouraging her to tell him the true story of his birth, in order that he can ‘go home’ and not become an earth bound ghost.
So we get to see for ourselves what motherhood really is - it’s not about who gives birth to a baby, but about who loves and brings that child up.
It’s a difficult story to read, as it should be. This was a difficult and terrible time in history, but I did enjoy reading it. I can see why it was nominated for the 2019 Women’s Prize. It’s well worth reading.
  
Mooncakes
Mooncakes
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
<a href="https://diaryofdifference.com/">Blog</a>; | <a href="https://www.facebook.com/diaryofdifference/">Facebook</a>; | <a href="https://twitter.com/DiaryDifference">Twitter</a>; | <a href="https://www.instagram.com/diaryofdifference/">Instagram</a>; | <a href="https://www.pinterest.co.uk/diaryofdifference/pins/">Pinterest</a>;

<img src="https://diaryofdifference.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Book-Review-Banner-6.png"/>;

Graphic novels are not usually my first choice of books. But after seeing the book cover, I couldn't resist the urge. I just had to read Mooncakes.

Mooncakes is a cute paranormal story, filled with magic, love, family... In a paranormal city, Nova, a teen witch goes to the woods and follows a white wolf. It turns out that the wolf is her high-school crush, Tam. It would all be lovely, but Tam is in life danger and needs help. The two girls help each other and their connection grows throughout the book.

The scenery of the cosy home of Nova's grandmothers and the lovely bookshelves gave me a wonderful feeling of comfort. I loved their warm house, the lovely relationship they had and the love you could feel through the pages.

I enjoyed Mooncakes - it was adorable. If you like graphic novels, cute art and a little sparkle of magic - this book will not disappoint you.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher, Lion Forge, for sending me an E-Arc copy of this book, in exchange for an honest review.

<a href="https://diaryofdifference.com/">Blog</a>; | <a href="https://www.facebook.com/diaryofdifference/">Facebook</a>; | <a href="https://twitter.com/DiaryDifference">Twitter</a>; | <a href="https://www.instagram.com/diaryofdifference/">Instagram</a>; | <a href="https://www.pinterest.co.uk/diaryofdifference/pins/">Pinterest</a>;
  
Jump Force
Jump Force
2018 | Action, Fighting
Great to see all (almost) your favorite characters in one fighting game, all characters are unlocked pretty much right after the tutorial, controls are really easy to figure out and game is fun to pla (0 more)
Poor character design, plot was too dull for story mode, and DLC for more characters in a fighting game always rubs me the wrong way (0 more)
Nothing To Jump Up And Down About After All - 6/10
Jump Force is a 2019 fighting game developed by Spike Chunsoft and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment. It features a variety of characters from Shueisha's Shõnen Jump and was released on February 15th.


After our world crashes into the Shõnen Jump multi-verse, it's invaded by an army of mind-controlled villains, called "Venoms". Under the leadership of Director Glover heroes are recruited to fight back by joining the "Jump Force".


 This game is pretty fun to play. That being said, it is pretty horrible in it's own way too. To me the 40 person roster wasn't as bad as the story mode being such a bland experience. Although a couple more characters couldn't of hurt. The create a character mode was "ok" at best even though I had fun with it. But the whole upgrade system never really interested me. Biggest disappointment was learning that all characters are unlocked pretty much by just going through the tutorials and starting story mode. Still got to give this game a 6/10. Below is a link to a video I edited and posted on YouTube showcasing some of the gameplay if you want to see for yourself how the game plays.

  
Halloween (2018)
Halloween (2018)
2018 | Horror
The atmosphere is ramped up to 10 in this new rendition of Micheal Myers. (0 more)
The off place comedy in some places. (0 more)
The best horror sequel ever?
How could anything truly top the great Halloween? Though the franchise has been riddled with cheese and just insane plot holes. This sequel of the original 1978 horror classic maybe one of the best horror sequels of all time let alone probably the best Halloween sequel ever? The film has a freaky atmosphere that seems to be directly copied from the original. Is that a bad thing? No not necessarily. The original sequels to the Halloween franchise have little to no atmosphere. Feels like more of the focus is promantly towards the "not so" mysterious Micheal Myers and less about setting the scene up for a good erie feeling. Which isn't to say that its easy to do. Much of a sequels scares come from the shocking and overrated "jump scare" aspect. Once you're shown the big bad on camera, it's hard to gain that same fear and mystery back. However in the 2019 film, it ramps it to 11. Maybe it's because we haven't seen Myers on the big screen for quite some time? There is something about seeing an older Myers that is so freaky to me. The cat and mouse plot twist is a wonderful change that makes this film a 9/10 for me. As a horror buff, I was so excited for this film so much that I didn't watch anything else for 2 months. I loved the film that much. Definitely a great watch.
  
Show all 6 comments.
40x40

Andy K (10823 KP) Jun 30, 2019

I went a little overboard I guess sorry.

40x40

Eilidh G Clark (177 KP) Jun 30, 2019

I remember watching the original as a wee girl and finding it terrifying . I wanted to got to the cinema to see the newest one but never got a chance. Can't wait to see it

    MoonWorx Lunar Calendar

    MoonWorx Lunar Calendar

    Lifestyle and Health & Fitness

    (0 Ratings) Rate It

    App

    MoonWorx 2 - the popular lunar calendar with many advanced features and new contents. Now with...