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Rebecca's Children: A saga of love and betrayal in 19th century Wales
Rebecca's Children: A saga of love and betrayal in 19th century Wales
Kate Dunn | 2019 | History & Politics
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Not at all what I had expected!
Honestly, I didn't think that I was going to like this book, mainly because of the subtitle: 'love and betrayal' sounded a bit Catherine Cookson, and whilst I liked Cookson as a teenager, not so much now. BUT this is NOTHING like her books! There is a bit of romance, but I didn't find that it overwhelmed the story, and I really the historical detail fascinating. I'd never heard of the Rebecca Riots before, and I found the descriptions really interesting (and the English reaction completely unsurprising). Dare I say that I completely empathised with them?
Mary and William's story alone was interesting, but I really enjoyed the other sides to the story: the other Rebecca-ites, the Law and Mary's rather unfortunate, and slightly toe-curling, employer Hugh. There's a large cast of characters, as we meet a fair few Rebecca-ites, soldiers, policemen and politicians, but it didn't put me off or confuse me. It was all a clear, well-told, touching story. And I learnt something. So all good!
Many thanks to Sapere Books for giving me a copy of this book to read and honestly review.
  
Globe of Frogs by Robyn Hitchcock / Robyn Hitchcock & The Egyptians
(0 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"Robyn Hitchcock is another one of my songwriting heroes. He gets a special fucking prize for following his songwriting impulses better than anyone on the planet. He's so wonderfully unapologetic in his songwriting style that I think he really influenced me to remove filters. His songs often follow a kind of inner logic unto themselves. I probably got Globe of Frogs when I was 15 or 16. I look back at the music I was listening to then when I was fermenting as a songwriter, and I was obviously really influenced by the things I was listening to. Robyn Hitchcock's songwriting sort of gave me blanket permission to write about anything I wanted to – because he did. While I had my sad, emotional, poetic music off to this side, with the Cure and Leonard Cohen, Robyn Hitchcock opened up a whole world, off to the left – 'You can write about anything!' And also, like a lot of these people, he's just a fantastic songcrafter with a hooky sense of melody. I could go on and on about Robyn Hitchcock, but as far as full albums go, Globe of Frogs holds up the most, with every song being genius."

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Jamie (0 KP) rated Everless in Books

Jan 28, 2018  
Everless
Everless
Sara Holland | 2017 | Science Fiction/Fantasy, Young Adult (YA)
8
7.8 (17 Ratings)
Book Rating
I was hesitant after reading the summary, but I decided to give it a go anyway... I am so glad I did. After the first chapter I was hooked. I read it from cover to cover in one night. I will be anxiously waiting for the next book in the series!
  
Of Mice and Men
Of Mice and Men
John Steinbeck, Susan Shillinglaw | 2013 | Fiction & Poetry
6
7.2 (50 Ratings)
Book Rating
I think I would have to read this book again as I don't think i have given it a very fair response. I was made to read this in school for english class, because of this i never really appreciated it and so one day I will come back to it.
  
Beautiful Disaster (Beautiful, #1)
Beautiful Disaster (Beautiful, #1)
8
8.8 (5 Ratings)
Book Rating
(This review can also be found on my blog: <a href="http://themisadventuresofatwentysomething.blogspot.com/">The (Mis)Adventures of a Twenty-Something Year Old Girl</a>).


A friend of mine had recommended this book back when it first came out. While I was definitely intrigued, I kept putting off buying it. However, with Walking Disaster coming out, I thought I'd give it a read. I'm super happy I did. I loved it!

Abby Abernathy is a reformed good girl. She moved to another state to get away from her horrible past. However, when she meets Travis, a self-professed womanizer, she struggles to continue being that good girl she so desperately wants to be. Travis is violent and sleeps with almost any woman. The more Abby tries to stay away, the more she finds herself drawn to Travis. Will Abby be able to keep up her good girl image or will she succumb to Travis' charms?

I love this title!! It definitely suits this book because it describes, perfectly, the relationship between Travis and Abby. It's even mentioned in the book!

I like the cover. In fact, I think it's really pretty. I'm sure it's symbolic of Travis and Abby with Abby being the butterfly, but I just can't figure it out. I don't see how Abby is a trapped butterfly.

For the most part, the world building was alright. There were times, while reading, were I felt like I was more in a high school setting then a college setting. Also, there was hardly any mention of time going by. For example, Abby and Travis would say about 4 or 5 sentences to each other, and three hours had passed by. That happened quite a few times in the book which I found annoying. Other than that, everything about the world was great.

The pacing was perfect in Beautiful Disaster! I couldn't get enough of the action. The chapters flowed beautifully into each other, and I found that I couldn't read the pages fast enough. Every sentence left me wanting more!

The characters were fantastic and well written! I loved how Abby was trying to turn her life around. I didn't think she had as bad of a life as she let on although I would've loved to learn more about her past. Abby had a sweet vulnerability to her which I liked. I thought Travis was quite romantic, and I loved how crazy he was about Abby. At some points, I felt that he was a little too crazy about Abby, but I still found myself wishing I had someone like Travis to look after me (except not as violent). Like Abby, I would've loved to find out more about Travis' background. I really hope I will learn more about him in Walking Disaster. I loved America although I kept picturing her differently to the blonde girl that she is. Shep is great when it comes to America and his cousin Travis. He's also great to Abby. Shep has a good heart, and I loved how willing he was to help those he loved.

The dialogue was a bit intense but in a good way. I loved reading how Abby and Travis interacted with each other. These two were super funny and at times would drive me crazy with how they acted towards each other when they would argue. As for the language, there is A LOT of swearing so if you don't like cuss words, this isn't your type of book.

Beautiful Disaster by Jamie McGuire was definitely an enjoyable and intense read. I was also appreciative that the sex scenes were done quite tastefully instead of being graphic. I didn't really like the way it ended as I felt it was a rush decision on the characters' part. (Don't worry, I won't go into detail). Other than that, I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

I'd recommend this book to everyone aged 17+ who is seeking a bit of a bad boy or a bit of a thrill. Please be aware that there is a lot of violence and swearing within this book.

Beautiful Disaster (Beautiful #1) by Jamie McGuire gets a 4.25 out of 5 from me.
  
I Am the Messenger
I Am the Messenger
Markus Zusak | 2006 | Fiction & Poetry
10
8.0 (8 Ratings)
Book Rating
I got this book from the library, just because I got the cover. I didn't see who wrote it or what it's called. After I finished the last page, and read the author's biography, I realised it's the author of The Book Thief, a book I have bought and adore. Then I realised why I loved the main character. He reminds a lot to the boy I love, and Audrey resembles on me. What I loved the most about this book was the message the boy gives to all those people, and for no particular reason. I loved the symbolism with the aces. Perfect book. I even enjoyed it more then the book thief. Thank you, Markus, for making me think about becoming a better person. Great job ♥
  
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Rico Rodriguez recommended Nightcrawler (2014) in Movies (curated)

 
Nightcrawler (2014)
Nightcrawler (2014)
2014 | Drama, Mystery

"Now I’m going a little more up-to-date modern. My fourth one would probably have to be Nightcrawler with Jake Gyllenhaal. I just really liked it. It was one of those movies that’s creepy but really entertaining and just different, and I really, really enjoyed that. When I saw the previews for it last year, I was like, “Man I really want to see it.” And I never got to because — we go to the movies often, but not as much. But whenever I do, I always want to go see a good movie; I want to see a movie I’d been wanting to see. So since I wasn’t able to watch it, I rented it the first day it came out, and I thought wow this movie is really, really good."

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The Hangover Part III (2013)
The Hangover Part III (2013)
2013 | Comedy
This is exactly what you would expect from this series of films. A bit of a laugh and a few silly jokes. I particularly like the characters of Chow and Alan, their humour appeals to me and I did have a giggle in parts.