Search
In Good Faith: Secular Parenting in a Religious World
Book
Part memoir, part cultural exploration, this book covers the author's journey as she grows up in an...
Charlotte (184 KP) rated Three Divisions (Crescentwood #1) in Books
Feb 15, 2021
Holy fluff balls, what an amazing start to this series!
Although based around seventeen year old Sophie this is anything but a typical teen book. This is most definitely an adult read with some hard hitting topics like abuse, suicide and bullying to name a few.
Nothing phases Sophie for long, she's an awesome character, with a strong survival instinct, a smart mouth and feisty kick ass personality. She has a kind of sex appeal that calls like a siren song to not one but four men (a girl can dream!!)
The four men all have an outward persona that isn't endearing but beneath the surface lies a hot mess......They go from mean and moody to a girl's wet dream and back again. Like Sophie they all have a hard past driving them, things that bleed into their current lives, each fighting their own demons.
There isn't anything that I don't like as the bits that make me uncomfortable are crucial foundations for the story. They add depth to the characters and create a more three dimensional look at all the key players.
A good strong start to what promises to be an amazing, gripping series....... **Taps fingers impatiently waiting for the next book**
Although based around seventeen year old Sophie this is anything but a typical teen book. This is most definitely an adult read with some hard hitting topics like abuse, suicide and bullying to name a few.
Nothing phases Sophie for long, she's an awesome character, with a strong survival instinct, a smart mouth and feisty kick ass personality. She has a kind of sex appeal that calls like a siren song to not one but four men (a girl can dream!!)
The four men all have an outward persona that isn't endearing but beneath the surface lies a hot mess......They go from mean and moody to a girl's wet dream and back again. Like Sophie they all have a hard past driving them, things that bleed into their current lives, each fighting their own demons.
There isn't anything that I don't like as the bits that make me uncomfortable are crucial foundations for the story. They add depth to the characters and create a more three dimensional look at all the key players.
A good strong start to what promises to be an amazing, gripping series....... **Taps fingers impatiently waiting for the next book**
I Hate Everyone, Except You
10.0
Rate It
Book
From the bestselling author, beloved television host, and “arbiter of style and good taste in all...
Biography memoir essays
Hazel (1853 KP) rated Montpelier Parade in Books
May 24, 2017
Sylvia Plath-esque
I received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads.
Set in the not-so-distant-past in Dublin, Ireland lives Sonny, a schoolboy with not much hope of succeeding in life. Living on the poverty line, Sonny has no choice but to work at a butcher’s shop after school, and with his gambling father, a builder, at the weekend. On one such occasion, whilst working on a posh house on Montpelier Parade, Sonny meets the enigmatic Vera, whose beauty leaves him speechless. It only takes another encounter, and Sonny is infatuated with this elusive lady.
Montpelier Parade is a melancholy love story, describing the dangerous relationship between Sonny and Vera. Not only is it wrong for schoolchild and adult to have such an intimate connection, Sonny finds himself powerless to deal with Vera’s depression. Vera’s Sylvia Plath-esque demeanour results in events that go above and beyond what an adolescent boy ought to be dealing with – especially as he has his own problems, too.
Karl Geary has written this novel in the second person, placing the reader directly into Sonny’s position. “You say,” “She turned and looked at you.” – we, as the reader, become Sonny. This makes it easier to imagine the hardships he is facing at school, at home, and with Vera. We imagine ourselves in his position, thus making everything feel so real.
Montpelier Parade is not an easy book to read. Depression and suicide are very delicate topics to deal with. Combine that with underage sexual relationships with an adult, and you have got a particularly uncomfortable journey ahead. Then, to top it all off, the narrative is riddled with foul language.
A comparison with wealth and poverty, life and death, and love, Montpelier Parade will attract many readers. Sadly, the story was a bit too crude for myself to enjoy. That said, I can understand why many will enjoy it, or even relate to it, however be aware, it is quite a serious, dark story.
Set in the not-so-distant-past in Dublin, Ireland lives Sonny, a schoolboy with not much hope of succeeding in life. Living on the poverty line, Sonny has no choice but to work at a butcher’s shop after school, and with his gambling father, a builder, at the weekend. On one such occasion, whilst working on a posh house on Montpelier Parade, Sonny meets the enigmatic Vera, whose beauty leaves him speechless. It only takes another encounter, and Sonny is infatuated with this elusive lady.
Montpelier Parade is a melancholy love story, describing the dangerous relationship between Sonny and Vera. Not only is it wrong for schoolchild and adult to have such an intimate connection, Sonny finds himself powerless to deal with Vera’s depression. Vera’s Sylvia Plath-esque demeanour results in events that go above and beyond what an adolescent boy ought to be dealing with – especially as he has his own problems, too.
Karl Geary has written this novel in the second person, placing the reader directly into Sonny’s position. “You say,” “She turned and looked at you.” – we, as the reader, become Sonny. This makes it easier to imagine the hardships he is facing at school, at home, and with Vera. We imagine ourselves in his position, thus making everything feel so real.
Montpelier Parade is not an easy book to read. Depression and suicide are very delicate topics to deal with. Combine that with underage sexual relationships with an adult, and you have got a particularly uncomfortable journey ahead. Then, to top it all off, the narrative is riddled with foul language.
A comparison with wealth and poverty, life and death, and love, Montpelier Parade will attract many readers. Sadly, the story was a bit too crude for myself to enjoy. That said, I can understand why many will enjoy it, or even relate to it, however be aware, it is quite a serious, dark story.
Hazel (1853 KP) rated Montpelier Parade in Books
Dec 7, 2018
<i>I received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads.</i>
Set in the not-so-distant-past in Dublin, Ireland lives Sonny, a schoolboy with not much hope of succeeding in life. Living on the poverty line, Sonny has no choice but to work at a butcher’s shop after school, and with his gambling father, a builder, at the weekend. On one such occasion, whilst working on a posh house on Montpelier Parade, Sonny meets the enigmatic Vera, whose beauty leaves him speechless. It only takes another encounter, and Sonny is infatuated with this elusive lady.
<i>Montpelier Parade</i> is a melancholy love story, describing the dangerous relationship between Sonny and Vera. Not only is it wrong for schoolchild and adult to have such an intimate connection, Sonny finds himself powerless to deal with Vera’s depression. Vera’s Sylvia Plath-esque demeanor results in events that go above and beyond what an adolescent boy ought to be dealing with – especially as he has his own problems, too.
Karl Geary has written this novel in the second person, placing the reader directly into Sonny’s position. “You say,” “She turned and looked at you.” – we, as the reader, become Sonny. This makes it easier to imagine the hardships he is facing at school, at home, and with Vera. We imagine ourselves in his position, thus making everything feel so real.
<i>Montpelier Parade</i> is not an easy book to read. Depression and suicide are very delicate topics to deal with. Combine that with underage sexual relationships with an adult, and you have got a particularly uncomfortable journey ahead. Then, to top it all off, the narrative is riddled with foul language.
A comparison with wealth and poverty, life and death, and love, <i>Montpelier Parade</i> will attract many readers. Sadly, the story was a bit too crude for myself to enjoy. That said, I can understand why many will enjoy it, or even relate to it, however be aware, it is quite a serious, dark story.
Set in the not-so-distant-past in Dublin, Ireland lives Sonny, a schoolboy with not much hope of succeeding in life. Living on the poverty line, Sonny has no choice but to work at a butcher’s shop after school, and with his gambling father, a builder, at the weekend. On one such occasion, whilst working on a posh house on Montpelier Parade, Sonny meets the enigmatic Vera, whose beauty leaves him speechless. It only takes another encounter, and Sonny is infatuated with this elusive lady.
<i>Montpelier Parade</i> is a melancholy love story, describing the dangerous relationship between Sonny and Vera. Not only is it wrong for schoolchild and adult to have such an intimate connection, Sonny finds himself powerless to deal with Vera’s depression. Vera’s Sylvia Plath-esque demeanor results in events that go above and beyond what an adolescent boy ought to be dealing with – especially as he has his own problems, too.
Karl Geary has written this novel in the second person, placing the reader directly into Sonny’s position. “You say,” “She turned and looked at you.” – we, as the reader, become Sonny. This makes it easier to imagine the hardships he is facing at school, at home, and with Vera. We imagine ourselves in his position, thus making everything feel so real.
<i>Montpelier Parade</i> is not an easy book to read. Depression and suicide are very delicate topics to deal with. Combine that with underage sexual relationships with an adult, and you have got a particularly uncomfortable journey ahead. Then, to top it all off, the narrative is riddled with foul language.
A comparison with wealth and poverty, life and death, and love, <i>Montpelier Parade</i> will attract many readers. Sadly, the story was a bit too crude for myself to enjoy. That said, I can understand why many will enjoy it, or even relate to it, however be aware, it is quite a serious, dark story.
Purple Phoenix Games (2266 KP) rated Polemic in Tabletop Games
Nov 19, 2019
Apples to Apples. Cards Against Humanity. What Do You Meme? These are all party card games that are based upon similar card play: the active player plays a card and the rest of the players play cards to influence the active player to choose their response. Typically it is the funniest or, in the case of CAH, most disgusting and obscene cards that win. But what if we flip this party game model on its head a bit? Does it make for a better game or more enjoyable play? Let’s find out.
DISCLAIMER: We were provided a copy of this game and its NSFW expansion for the purposes of this review. These are final components, and the game is available from the publisher and other online retail stores. Also, I do not intend to explicitly cover every rule for the game, but to give an idea of game flow and play. -T
To setup a game of Polemic, each player will choose a color of cards and receive the small deck of the same color. Each player’s deck will include a Like, Dislike, and numbered cards 0-6. Shuffle the Topic cards (or Adult Topic cards – optional expansion) and place them face down in the middle of the playing surface – my band and I used a chair when we played. Choose who will be the first active player and you are ready to play!
The active player will draw a Topic card and read the provided topics silently. They will choose one topic to play, announce it to the group and lay the card in a discard pile. Now every player (active player included) will choose whether they Like or Dislike the topic. Simple as that. However, the players will also need to choose a card describing how many of the players will Like the topic. Herein lies the game.
You see, it’s not just deciding whether you Like the topic or not, but it’s also reading and knowing your fellow players to guess how many of them will also Like the topic. Example from photo below: I choose “dogs” as my topic. Obviously I Like dogs, so I will play my Like card and another numbered card as my guess to how many total players will Like dogs. It should be all of them, but I suppose there are those who are cat people as well. All players will reveal their Like/Dislike and numbered guess simultaneously and those that guessed the number of Likes correctly will each get one point. The game continues in this fashion until you run out of time to play or you have hit the agreed-upon point total for victory.
Components. To reiterate, we were provided a copy of this game along with the Adult Topics Pack. This game is a box with a bunch of cards. A ton of Topic cards are provided and enough personal decks for up to six players. The rules are also printed on a card. I LOVE this. The cards are good quality and I might even consider sleeving my personal decks as they are handled A LOT. I have no issues with the components at all.
Here’s the deal. We hear so many times that a game is a CAH-killer. And I, for one, hope that to be true every single time. While Polemic is not really akin to CAH, I can see how it would be classified similarly. However, Polemic is SUCH a great game of discovering what your playmates are into and what they think you enjoy as well. I would be remiss if I didn’t insist on also picking up the Adult Topics Packs, but be warned: once you go NSFW you may not want to play any other way. Unless you’re playing with your grandparents or in-laws or something. Then just be smart about what you choose to play with them. That said, Purple Phoenix Games (with help from 10 of Soul) give this one a resounding 11 / 12. Pick this up now before they are sold out.
DISCLAIMER: We were provided a copy of this game and its NSFW expansion for the purposes of this review. These are final components, and the game is available from the publisher and other online retail stores. Also, I do not intend to explicitly cover every rule for the game, but to give an idea of game flow and play. -T
To setup a game of Polemic, each player will choose a color of cards and receive the small deck of the same color. Each player’s deck will include a Like, Dislike, and numbered cards 0-6. Shuffle the Topic cards (or Adult Topic cards – optional expansion) and place them face down in the middle of the playing surface – my band and I used a chair when we played. Choose who will be the first active player and you are ready to play!
The active player will draw a Topic card and read the provided topics silently. They will choose one topic to play, announce it to the group and lay the card in a discard pile. Now every player (active player included) will choose whether they Like or Dislike the topic. Simple as that. However, the players will also need to choose a card describing how many of the players will Like the topic. Herein lies the game.
You see, it’s not just deciding whether you Like the topic or not, but it’s also reading and knowing your fellow players to guess how many of them will also Like the topic. Example from photo below: I choose “dogs” as my topic. Obviously I Like dogs, so I will play my Like card and another numbered card as my guess to how many total players will Like dogs. It should be all of them, but I suppose there are those who are cat people as well. All players will reveal their Like/Dislike and numbered guess simultaneously and those that guessed the number of Likes correctly will each get one point. The game continues in this fashion until you run out of time to play or you have hit the agreed-upon point total for victory.
Components. To reiterate, we were provided a copy of this game along with the Adult Topics Pack. This game is a box with a bunch of cards. A ton of Topic cards are provided and enough personal decks for up to six players. The rules are also printed on a card. I LOVE this. The cards are good quality and I might even consider sleeving my personal decks as they are handled A LOT. I have no issues with the components at all.
Here’s the deal. We hear so many times that a game is a CAH-killer. And I, for one, hope that to be true every single time. While Polemic is not really akin to CAH, I can see how it would be classified similarly. However, Polemic is SUCH a great game of discovering what your playmates are into and what they think you enjoy as well. I would be remiss if I didn’t insist on also picking up the Adult Topics Packs, but be warned: once you go NSFW you may not want to play any other way. Unless you’re playing with your grandparents or in-laws or something. Then just be smart about what you choose to play with them. That said, Purple Phoenix Games (with help from 10 of Soul) give this one a resounding 11 / 12. Pick this up now before they are sold out.
Christine A. (965 KP) rated The Swallows in Books
Jan 30, 2020 (Updated Jan 31, 2020)
I was provided with a complimentary copy of this book so I could give an honest review.
Lisa Lutz's latest, The Swallows, introduces Alex Witt, a teacher with a past. She is hired at Stonebridge Academy and asks her creative writing students to answer innocent questions so she can get to know them. "What do you love? What do you hate? What do you want?" The answers surprise Alex. They are not innocent and reveal much more about the students and the school's activities than she expects. The students reveal online bullying and a private message board. She encourages the female students to fight back and fight they do.
While I have not worked at a boarding school, I have worked at urban schools. The online bullying and message board are all too real. So is the school's attitude that "boys will be boys". Lutz uses her characters to show the dark side of technology and teenagers. This is not a young adult book. It is a book for adults which is set in a school.
The writing in The Swallows is witty while covering dark topics. Lutz's word choices and writing style keep the book from being too dark.
I added several of Lutz's books, including the Spellman Files series, to my "want to read" list.
This 200-word review was published on Philomathinphila.com on 1/30/20.
Lisa Lutz's latest, The Swallows, introduces Alex Witt, a teacher with a past. She is hired at Stonebridge Academy and asks her creative writing students to answer innocent questions so she can get to know them. "What do you love? What do you hate? What do you want?" The answers surprise Alex. They are not innocent and reveal much more about the students and the school's activities than she expects. The students reveal online bullying and a private message board. She encourages the female students to fight back and fight they do.
While I have not worked at a boarding school, I have worked at urban schools. The online bullying and message board are all too real. So is the school's attitude that "boys will be boys". Lutz uses her characters to show the dark side of technology and teenagers. This is not a young adult book. It is a book for adults which is set in a school.
The writing in The Swallows is witty while covering dark topics. Lutz's word choices and writing style keep the book from being too dark.
I added several of Lutz's books, including the Spellman Files series, to my "want to read" list.
This 200-word review was published on Philomathinphila.com on 1/30/20.
Moyamoya Disease: Diagnosis and Treatment
John E. Wanebo, Nadia Khan, Joseph M. Zabramski and Robert F. Spetzler
Book
This book achieves the goal of worldwide sharing and standardization of cutting-edge knowledge of...
Youth-Community Partnerships for Adolescent Alcohol Prevention: 2016
Book
This forward-thinking reference spotlights an expansive and inclusive community model for youth...
Act Like A Lady
Keltie Knight, Becca Tobin and Jac Vanek
Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - The hosts of the popular podcast and E! show LadyGang offer a relatable,...