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Heather Cranmer (2721 KP) rated Oh Dear Silvia in Books
Jun 7, 2018
I received this book for free through the Goodreads Firstreads program.
(This review can also be found on my blog <a href="http://themisadventuresofatwentysomething.blogspot.co.uk">The (Mis)Adventures of a Twenty-Something Year Old Girl</a>).
I love Dawn French! I think she is such a funny woman!! I was so happy to have won a copy of her fiction book entitled Oh Dear Silvia from Goodreads. However, once I started reading the book, it became apparent that I wasn't going to enjoy it.
Silvia is in a coma after falling from a balcony and hitting her head. Throughout her time in hospital, she is visited by family, her best friend, her ex-husband, her nurse, and her cleaner. Each has their own story to tell however odd it may be. Throughout this book, we will find out about who Silvia is.
The title of this book really works. After reading the book, I would say it definitely fits well with the story.
The cover of this book is quite bland. The tree on the cover of the book does have significance, but it's just rather boring. It wouldn't entice me to pick up this book to see what it's about. Surely, the cover could've been a bit more decorative.
The setting takes place mostly in suite 5 which is Silvia's room in hospital. The world building is alright. The memories of each visitor help set the story.
I found the pacing of Oh Dear Silvia to be extremely and painfully slow. At some points, I found myself skim reading the especially boring parts. I couldn't wait for this book to be over. There's not even one bit in this book where the pacing picks up. There's no real plot in this book, so there's definitely no plot twists. The pacing definitely lets this book down.
The dialogue is comedic at times which I found to be a small reprieve from the slowness of this book. Ed's dialogue really bored me.
The characters are well-developed which I found to be a relief. Each chapter of the book is told by someone who knows Silvia. The main characters that have their own chapters being Ed, Cat, Jo, Cassie, Winnie, and Tia. Ed is by far the most boring character that could ever be in a book. All he mostly talks about is his boring trees. Whilst I did find him to be a well-developed character, I found him extremely dull and found myself wishing that he'd just stop talking. Winnie and Tia were my favourite characters. Winnie has a big heart, and it really comes across in this book. Tia is from Indonesia so has a hard time pronouncing Silvia's surname which always made me laugh!! I found Tia and Jo to be the characters that brought the humour, and they delivered! Cat is the high strung character, and Cassie is the angry daughter. Each character has a unique personality. Well done to Dawn French for making each character unique! Through each of the characters' stories, we learn more and more about Silvia.
Even with the strong character personalities and comedic timing, this book still fell flat. I felt that this book was missing a plot. Oh Dear Silvia comes across more as a memoir about Silvia then anything else.
I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone except those who need help falling asleep. Dawn French is great, but this book just didn't do it for me.
(This review can also be found on my blog <a href="http://themisadventuresofatwentysomething.blogspot.co.uk">The (Mis)Adventures of a Twenty-Something Year Old Girl</a>).
I love Dawn French! I think she is such a funny woman!! I was so happy to have won a copy of her fiction book entitled Oh Dear Silvia from Goodreads. However, once I started reading the book, it became apparent that I wasn't going to enjoy it.
Silvia is in a coma after falling from a balcony and hitting her head. Throughout her time in hospital, she is visited by family, her best friend, her ex-husband, her nurse, and her cleaner. Each has their own story to tell however odd it may be. Throughout this book, we will find out about who Silvia is.
The title of this book really works. After reading the book, I would say it definitely fits well with the story.
The cover of this book is quite bland. The tree on the cover of the book does have significance, but it's just rather boring. It wouldn't entice me to pick up this book to see what it's about. Surely, the cover could've been a bit more decorative.
The setting takes place mostly in suite 5 which is Silvia's room in hospital. The world building is alright. The memories of each visitor help set the story.
I found the pacing of Oh Dear Silvia to be extremely and painfully slow. At some points, I found myself skim reading the especially boring parts. I couldn't wait for this book to be over. There's not even one bit in this book where the pacing picks up. There's no real plot in this book, so there's definitely no plot twists. The pacing definitely lets this book down.
The dialogue is comedic at times which I found to be a small reprieve from the slowness of this book. Ed's dialogue really bored me.
The characters are well-developed which I found to be a relief. Each chapter of the book is told by someone who knows Silvia. The main characters that have their own chapters being Ed, Cat, Jo, Cassie, Winnie, and Tia. Ed is by far the most boring character that could ever be in a book. All he mostly talks about is his boring trees. Whilst I did find him to be a well-developed character, I found him extremely dull and found myself wishing that he'd just stop talking. Winnie and Tia were my favourite characters. Winnie has a big heart, and it really comes across in this book. Tia is from Indonesia so has a hard time pronouncing Silvia's surname which always made me laugh!! I found Tia and Jo to be the characters that brought the humour, and they delivered! Cat is the high strung character, and Cassie is the angry daughter. Each character has a unique personality. Well done to Dawn French for making each character unique! Through each of the characters' stories, we learn more and more about Silvia.
Even with the strong character personalities and comedic timing, this book still fell flat. I felt that this book was missing a plot. Oh Dear Silvia comes across more as a memoir about Silvia then anything else.
I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone except those who need help falling asleep. Dawn French is great, but this book just didn't do it for me.
<i>Many thanks to the publisher for providing me with an ARC copy in exchange for an honest review</i>
What can I say about <i>The Red?</i> I honestly don’t know where to begin.
I went into The Red with an open mind and I came out the other end with it even wider. Someone once wrote that you’re not always the same person who opened the front cover at the end of a book and this is by no means untrue in this case.
The Red is the name of an art gallery owned by Mona Lisa St James who promises her mother on her deathbed that she will do anything to save The Red. The definition of anything in this book is carte blanche. Literally, I’m talking a blank white card that gives the holder carte blanche to do anything he wants.
By he – I mean Malcolm. That’s all he’s known as throughout the book – no last name, no contact details and sparse visits.
Mona has got to the point where she must sell The Red – it and she are highly in debt and have no way of keeping it afloat. Until one night in June when a mysterious stranger appears in the gallery without a sound and offers Mona a way to save the gallery – the offer? She must submit to him for a period of one year; he will treat her like his whore for a year and each time they have an assignation she’s paid in art.
Sounds relatively okay, right?
I forgot to mention that each chapter is styled after a specific piece of art – now I’m not an art connoisseur in anyway shape or form, but I sure have a new appreciation for art now. I’m almost positive that the paintings in this book are supposed to be less erotic than what Tiffany has made them but damn.
Having read Tiffany’s books before, I knew what I was in for to a point, but The Red had a nice subtle paranormal twist to it that was particularly fun to read, it kept me guessing all through out trying to work out what the hell was happening with all the spooky hallucination type events, the weird appearances and the odd feeling Mona gets.
Character-wise I couldn’t have pictured two better characters to be in this book – Malcolm was the perfect dominant while Mona had the submissive down mostly though she did have a little bit of a freak out at some points.
The sexual scenes were written like the author has experienced a lot of it herself or at the very least she knows how to write it so well that she makes us think that she has experienced it herself. The entire book was written astoundingly well with a good strong flow and a good strong plot – unique to be sure, for me at least.
There was a wicked twist at the end of the book – totally unexpected but fitting for the painting the chapter is named after – again I wouldn’t have known what the painting was without some serious googling but each and every chapter was perfectly styled with the relevant painting.
Overall, I really, really liked this book. It’s a definite must read for all fans of Tiffany Reisz and all fans of erotica as well.
What can I say about <i>The Red?</i> I honestly don’t know where to begin.
I went into The Red with an open mind and I came out the other end with it even wider. Someone once wrote that you’re not always the same person who opened the front cover at the end of a book and this is by no means untrue in this case.
The Red is the name of an art gallery owned by Mona Lisa St James who promises her mother on her deathbed that she will do anything to save The Red. The definition of anything in this book is carte blanche. Literally, I’m talking a blank white card that gives the holder carte blanche to do anything he wants.
By he – I mean Malcolm. That’s all he’s known as throughout the book – no last name, no contact details and sparse visits.
Mona has got to the point where she must sell The Red – it and she are highly in debt and have no way of keeping it afloat. Until one night in June when a mysterious stranger appears in the gallery without a sound and offers Mona a way to save the gallery – the offer? She must submit to him for a period of one year; he will treat her like his whore for a year and each time they have an assignation she’s paid in art.
Sounds relatively okay, right?
I forgot to mention that each chapter is styled after a specific piece of art – now I’m not an art connoisseur in anyway shape or form, but I sure have a new appreciation for art now. I’m almost positive that the paintings in this book are supposed to be less erotic than what Tiffany has made them but damn.
Having read Tiffany’s books before, I knew what I was in for to a point, but The Red had a nice subtle paranormal twist to it that was particularly fun to read, it kept me guessing all through out trying to work out what the hell was happening with all the spooky hallucination type events, the weird appearances and the odd feeling Mona gets.
Character-wise I couldn’t have pictured two better characters to be in this book – Malcolm was the perfect dominant while Mona had the submissive down mostly though she did have a little bit of a freak out at some points.
The sexual scenes were written like the author has experienced a lot of it herself or at the very least she knows how to write it so well that she makes us think that she has experienced it herself. The entire book was written astoundingly well with a good strong flow and a good strong plot – unique to be sure, for me at least.
There was a wicked twist at the end of the book – totally unexpected but fitting for the painting the chapter is named after – again I wouldn’t have known what the painting was without some serious googling but each and every chapter was perfectly styled with the relevant painting.
Overall, I really, really liked this book. It’s a definite must read for all fans of Tiffany Reisz and all fans of erotica as well.
Alice (12 KP) rated The Silver Tide (The Copper Cat, #3) in Books
Jul 3, 2018
My 200th book of the year was the final installment in Jen Williams’ The Copper Cat trilogy The Silver Tide and was it a doozie! The Copper Cat trilogy has got to be the best series I’ve read this year, so much so that I devoured it easily. It was without a doubt the best book of the trilogy with characters we’d only heard passing mentions of in the previous ones coming full circle and smacking us in the face. Devinia the Red? FTW!
The Silver Tide brought several running story arcs to a close nicely with just the right amount of action, drama and hate. Now I use the term hate lightly because it wasn’t hate from me but hate of some of the characters who originally I thought were good people – boy was I wrong.
The Silver Tide was the best title and I waited until right near the end to find out what the relevance of that was. Oh it was so good! I tweeted Jen Williams just before I got there grumbling because Sebastian was being abused in the book as a character and then I read the ending and my decision changed entirely.
This book had the same easy flow of dialogue and prose with character descriptions and world building in abundance – by world building, I don’t mean the standard Ede but a new “world” called Euriale where all sorts of weird and wonderful beasties and plants to die for – literally. This new world had some wonderful if slightly psychotic characters in it and there were pirates everywhere, several of those were psychotic as well.
The storyline for this book was based around Euriale and involved time travel, long dead gods and characters who have died and been reborn; Estenn a character who is half-mad at the beginning of the book and completely mad by the time Wydrin kicked her psycho butt is a new one, she’s entirely consumed by the Twins – Res’ni and Res’na – and believes herself to the their Emissary and it is because of Estenn that things happen in this book: good and innocent people die for her cause and Y’Gria followed by Y’Ruen, Res’ni and Res’na aid her in slaughtering the mages in a time gone by.
The ending, although sad because it ended, was brilliant. It was lovely seeing Sebastian finally get his happily ever after especially after the few disastrous attempts he made in the first two books – Oster and Sebastian I ship it. Dragon with dragon-kin oh yes! There was also a major overabundance of dragons and dragon-kin in this book and some pretty sweet new magical powers for Frith which was super.
Wydrin had her moments as always and this book was fantastically British in a lot of ways; including copious use of the words “fuck” and “mum” which I liked. I really can’t fault Wydrin Threefellows character in any way, shape or form and she went through some particularly freaky things in this book (when comparing the other books to this one, definitely freaky-deaky).
In all, this series was brilliant, it was a fantastic read all round and I’ve already got two people I know wanting to steal the series from me so they can read it on their own.
The Silver Tide brought several running story arcs to a close nicely with just the right amount of action, drama and hate. Now I use the term hate lightly because it wasn’t hate from me but hate of some of the characters who originally I thought were good people – boy was I wrong.
The Silver Tide was the best title and I waited until right near the end to find out what the relevance of that was. Oh it was so good! I tweeted Jen Williams just before I got there grumbling because Sebastian was being abused in the book as a character and then I read the ending and my decision changed entirely.
This book had the same easy flow of dialogue and prose with character descriptions and world building in abundance – by world building, I don’t mean the standard Ede but a new “world” called Euriale where all sorts of weird and wonderful beasties and plants to die for – literally. This new world had some wonderful if slightly psychotic characters in it and there were pirates everywhere, several of those were psychotic as well.
The storyline for this book was based around Euriale and involved time travel, long dead gods and characters who have died and been reborn; Estenn a character who is half-mad at the beginning of the book and completely mad by the time Wydrin kicked her psycho butt is a new one, she’s entirely consumed by the Twins – Res’ni and Res’na – and believes herself to the their Emissary and it is because of Estenn that things happen in this book: good and innocent people die for her cause and Y’Gria followed by Y’Ruen, Res’ni and Res’na aid her in slaughtering the mages in a time gone by.
The ending, although sad because it ended, was brilliant. It was lovely seeing Sebastian finally get his happily ever after especially after the few disastrous attempts he made in the first two books – Oster and Sebastian I ship it. Dragon with dragon-kin oh yes! There was also a major overabundance of dragons and dragon-kin in this book and some pretty sweet new magical powers for Frith which was super.
Wydrin had her moments as always and this book was fantastically British in a lot of ways; including copious use of the words “fuck” and “mum” which I liked. I really can’t fault Wydrin Threefellows character in any way, shape or form and she went through some particularly freaky things in this book (when comparing the other books to this one, definitely freaky-deaky).
In all, this series was brilliant, it was a fantastic read all round and I’ve already got two people I know wanting to steal the series from me so they can read it on their own.
Anna Marie Green (7 KP) rated the Xbox One version of Monster Hunter World in Video Games
Jul 3, 2018 (Updated Jul 3, 2018)
Fantastic Gameplay Possibilities (4 more)
Intelligent Monster AI
Climbing Difficulty
Good Community Management
It's Damn Good Fun (If you have $30, buy it.)
Feels Incomplete (2 more)
Experienced Players Lack Challenge
Mediocre Story
Monster Hunter, One Year Later
Monster Hunter: World was Capcom's fiest big success in the Western market. After years of cult status on the DS, they finally broke through to the world of consoles and had so much success that they dubbed MH:W their benchmark for future games.
But should they?
MH:W is, at its core, is a dungeon crawler designed to feel open-world within its own constraints. With beautiful environments such as the Coral Highlands and the toxic areas festering beneath the Rotten Vale, MHW looks and feels much more massive than the trodden paths you follow. Your first hunts feel thrilling as you take different paths to chase your limping prey, and a cycle of different weather, monsters, and endemic life keep you invested in immersion.
But after hunting a tempered Nergigante for the 20th time, things do begin to fall out of place. You experience the malaise of a Saitama-like hero. Have you become too strong?
Challenging fights become the norm. The occasional arch-tempered monster appears, but scaled damage isn't always the same thing as new difficulty.
In the handheld games, there were dozens of monsters with distinct abilities and variations. MH: Generations had 73 large monsters to hunt. You could even play as a palico.
But that variety just isn't in MH:W.
Granted, the game is an experiment and has provided some good content for no extra cost to the players, which is a feat of its own in comparison to all the other big game developers (EA, Microsoft, Square Enix, Bethesda). They also do an excellent job managing weekly challenges and encouraging community between players. Kulve Taroth hunts were a blast and the free meal in the Hub was an excellent bribe.
MH:W still needs more monsters and at least one new environment. Since its release in January 2018, only three monsters have been added to the game: Deviljho, Kulve Taroth, and Lunastra. Behemoth from Final Fantasy is also making an appearance this July. That's a monster every two months. Don't get me wrong here— that's a fair schedule for content release. Overwatch clocks in at about three months for every hero, so two months is a respectable jog for the quality of the quality of the game. Still, even Overwatch -with it's full player-controlled roster- can become a bit of a slog without those regular updates.
The easiest fix? Capcom needs to finally add in G-Ranks with weapon rarities 9 and 10, and the terrifying monsters to match. The other MH games have generally had these ranks, and the MH:W G updates have been teasing us in rumors since the release, yet we haven't seen any evidence of their existence. A massive content update containing new unique weapons trees, rarity 8 varieties of dead-end trees, armor transmogs, new endemic life and monsters, better armor designs, and more material choices... Capcom has incredible potential on their table that could rekindle gamers' interest in helping the Fifth solve the new mysteries of the New World.
Or, god forbid, suffer the gamers by making them by Monster Hunter: World 2 just to feel like they actually completed the first game.
But should they?
MH:W is, at its core, is a dungeon crawler designed to feel open-world within its own constraints. With beautiful environments such as the Coral Highlands and the toxic areas festering beneath the Rotten Vale, MHW looks and feels much more massive than the trodden paths you follow. Your first hunts feel thrilling as you take different paths to chase your limping prey, and a cycle of different weather, monsters, and endemic life keep you invested in immersion.
But after hunting a tempered Nergigante for the 20th time, things do begin to fall out of place. You experience the malaise of a Saitama-like hero. Have you become too strong?
Challenging fights become the norm. The occasional arch-tempered monster appears, but scaled damage isn't always the same thing as new difficulty.
In the handheld games, there were dozens of monsters with distinct abilities and variations. MH: Generations had 73 large monsters to hunt. You could even play as a palico.
But that variety just isn't in MH:W.
Granted, the game is an experiment and has provided some good content for no extra cost to the players, which is a feat of its own in comparison to all the other big game developers (EA, Microsoft, Square Enix, Bethesda). They also do an excellent job managing weekly challenges and encouraging community between players. Kulve Taroth hunts were a blast and the free meal in the Hub was an excellent bribe.
MH:W still needs more monsters and at least one new environment. Since its release in January 2018, only three monsters have been added to the game: Deviljho, Kulve Taroth, and Lunastra. Behemoth from Final Fantasy is also making an appearance this July. That's a monster every two months. Don't get me wrong here— that's a fair schedule for content release. Overwatch clocks in at about three months for every hero, so two months is a respectable jog for the quality of the quality of the game. Still, even Overwatch -with it's full player-controlled roster- can become a bit of a slog without those regular updates.
The easiest fix? Capcom needs to finally add in G-Ranks with weapon rarities 9 and 10, and the terrifying monsters to match. The other MH games have generally had these ranks, and the MH:W G updates have been teasing us in rumors since the release, yet we haven't seen any evidence of their existence. A massive content update containing new unique weapons trees, rarity 8 varieties of dead-end trees, armor transmogs, new endemic life and monsters, better armor designs, and more material choices... Capcom has incredible potential on their table that could rekindle gamers' interest in helping the Fifth solve the new mysteries of the New World.
Or, god forbid, suffer the gamers by making them by Monster Hunter: World 2 just to feel like they actually completed the first game.
Ivana A. | Diary of Difference (1171 KP) rated Uglies (Uglies, #1) in Books
Nov 26, 2018
Full review can also be found on www.diaryofdifference.com
A world where you are an ugly until your sixteenth birthday.
And then, you undergo a surgery and you become pretty. And life is perfect. Except, maybe, it isn’t.
This is one of those books where you visualise a world in so many details, and feel like you’ve lived there all your life. Also a book that captures society for what really is. A very pleasant and enjoyable read.
I received this book as a birthday gift. Have a look at my birthday book haul on my blog.
Uglies is the first book from the series by Scott Westerfeld. A dystopian world about ”uglies” and ”pretties”. A world in which society is split between beauty. A place where the ”uglies” are separated from the real world until they do a surgery and become pretties. Then, they grow up and join the world of pretties, where they are allowed to do everything they weren’t allowed before. They attend parties and have fun, and they don’t worry about anything.
Tally is about to turn sixteen, and she can’t wait to become pretty. All her friends have already turned pretty before her, and she is excited to join them in this marvellous world. But just weeks before her birthday, she becomes friends with Shay, who is not so sure whether she wants to become a pretty.
When her friend runs away and escapes the operation, Tally has a choice: find Shay and bring her back, or never turn pretty at all. And when Tally goes after Shay, she discovers that the world she believed in, might not be the real one…
I absolutely loved this book with all my heart. A beautiful world forming, an interesting scenario, great plot and interesting characters. I enjoyed reading about the world, how the author put the society together, and how it all worked out.
The characters were not as engaging as I would hope them to be. Even though you felt for them, you couldn’t connect a lot. Just a little bit, enough to make you wonder what will happen next. It was enough for me to keep turning page after page in the middle of the night.
The world the author created and the way the society works in this book is incredible. The ”uglies” and ”pretties” subject will always be matter of a discussion. And at the end of the day, it doesn’t really matter if your face has imperfections. It doesn’t matter how you look like. People love other people for who they are inside out, for the friendships, for the moments spent together, and for how they make them feel.
Another thing I loved was the subject of protecting the nature. I loved the little moments and theories of destroying a certain plant for a better tomorrow for all the rest of the plants.
‘’Nature, at least, didn’t need an operation to be beautiful. It just was.’’
An amazing book, a world where you can visualise every single detail, even though you’ve never been there. A dystopian society and a battle between brains and beauty. I enjoyed it so much and I can’t wait to read the rest of the series.
I strongly recommend it to all of you, my friends!
A question for you all – Would you do the pretty surgery or not?
A world where you are an ugly until your sixteenth birthday.
And then, you undergo a surgery and you become pretty. And life is perfect. Except, maybe, it isn’t.
This is one of those books where you visualise a world in so many details, and feel like you’ve lived there all your life. Also a book that captures society for what really is. A very pleasant and enjoyable read.
I received this book as a birthday gift. Have a look at my birthday book haul on my blog.
Uglies is the first book from the series by Scott Westerfeld. A dystopian world about ”uglies” and ”pretties”. A world in which society is split between beauty. A place where the ”uglies” are separated from the real world until they do a surgery and become pretties. Then, they grow up and join the world of pretties, where they are allowed to do everything they weren’t allowed before. They attend parties and have fun, and they don’t worry about anything.
Tally is about to turn sixteen, and she can’t wait to become pretty. All her friends have already turned pretty before her, and she is excited to join them in this marvellous world. But just weeks before her birthday, she becomes friends with Shay, who is not so sure whether she wants to become a pretty.
When her friend runs away and escapes the operation, Tally has a choice: find Shay and bring her back, or never turn pretty at all. And when Tally goes after Shay, she discovers that the world she believed in, might not be the real one…
I absolutely loved this book with all my heart. A beautiful world forming, an interesting scenario, great plot and interesting characters. I enjoyed reading about the world, how the author put the society together, and how it all worked out.
The characters were not as engaging as I would hope them to be. Even though you felt for them, you couldn’t connect a lot. Just a little bit, enough to make you wonder what will happen next. It was enough for me to keep turning page after page in the middle of the night.
The world the author created and the way the society works in this book is incredible. The ”uglies” and ”pretties” subject will always be matter of a discussion. And at the end of the day, it doesn’t really matter if your face has imperfections. It doesn’t matter how you look like. People love other people for who they are inside out, for the friendships, for the moments spent together, and for how they make them feel.
Another thing I loved was the subject of protecting the nature. I loved the little moments and theories of destroying a certain plant for a better tomorrow for all the rest of the plants.
‘’Nature, at least, didn’t need an operation to be beautiful. It just was.’’
An amazing book, a world where you can visualise every single detail, even though you’ve never been there. A dystopian society and a battle between brains and beauty. I enjoyed it so much and I can’t wait to read the rest of the series.
I strongly recommend it to all of you, my friends!
A question for you all – Would you do the pretty surgery or not?
Carma (21 KP) rated Moonlight Over Manhattan in Books
Jun 17, 2019
Do one thing every day that scares you. I think that is the best advice we could give ourselves on a daily basis. How many times have we just went status quo and always wondered what if. Harriet Knight is status quo. She is an average girl, with an average life, with average problems. But the month between Thanksgiving and Christmas she decides to challenge herself daily. No more status quo, start living outside the box. The plan is going worse than expected though and then she finds herself on the internet dating site date from hell. The best way she can think of to end said date is to jump out of the bathroom window. That is how we meet Harriet.
Harriet is a dog walker/pet sitter along with her twin sister Fliss. The started their own company and it has really taken off. Her sister has recently moved out of their apartment to live in the Hamptons with Seth (read Holiday in the Hamptons, you won’t regret it). Harriet finds herself alone for the first time in a very long time. After jumping out the bathroom window she heads to the ER to get her ankle checked and in walks Dr. Ethan Black.
Ethan Black is all ER all the time. He puts his very heart and soul in to his daily life and enjoys going to work everyday. Maybe the reason his marriage failed is because he puts 100% into his job. 100% means 0% left over for anything else. He is quite happy in his every day routine until his sister calls with an emergency. He'll do anything for his sister, well maybe anything.
Harriet agrees to change locations for one of her customers because an emergency takes them out of town. Her regular client "Madi" is staying with her “uncle”, a busy doctor, and needs to get her daily walk there instead of home. Harriet and Ethan meet again and realize they need each other to navigate this new normal. Can Ethan still put his heart and soul into work, but make a relationship work. Can Harriet realize she is great the way she is and "challenge Harriet" is a perfect way to get the happy ever after she craves.
I loved Harriet, more than any single main female character I can think of for a while. She is an every woman, self-conscience, has a stutter, awkward, shy. Being a dog walker/pet sitter myself I feel like Harriet (minus the stutter but just as awkward). I also loved revisiting the O’Neil family in Vermont. The way the author paints the scenery each and every time, makes me want to jump in the car and head to Vermont immediately. One of the other things I enjoy about Sarah Morgan novels is the English phrases that inevitably make their way into the writing. There are usually 3 or 4 common English phrases that don’t quite translate to US actions. I enjoy finding them though, and if not immediately known how they translate, finding the answer. None are every so strange though that it affects the flow of the story.
Even though I received this book in exchange for an honest review, it is another great novel from Sarah Morgan, as if I expected anything less. I am adding this to my From Manhattan with Love shelf immediately, hope you do the same right now.
Harriet is a dog walker/pet sitter along with her twin sister Fliss. The started their own company and it has really taken off. Her sister has recently moved out of their apartment to live in the Hamptons with Seth (read Holiday in the Hamptons, you won’t regret it). Harriet finds herself alone for the first time in a very long time. After jumping out the bathroom window she heads to the ER to get her ankle checked and in walks Dr. Ethan Black.
Ethan Black is all ER all the time. He puts his very heart and soul in to his daily life and enjoys going to work everyday. Maybe the reason his marriage failed is because he puts 100% into his job. 100% means 0% left over for anything else. He is quite happy in his every day routine until his sister calls with an emergency. He'll do anything for his sister, well maybe anything.
Harriet agrees to change locations for one of her customers because an emergency takes them out of town. Her regular client "Madi" is staying with her “uncle”, a busy doctor, and needs to get her daily walk there instead of home. Harriet and Ethan meet again and realize they need each other to navigate this new normal. Can Ethan still put his heart and soul into work, but make a relationship work. Can Harriet realize she is great the way she is and "challenge Harriet" is a perfect way to get the happy ever after she craves.
I loved Harriet, more than any single main female character I can think of for a while. She is an every woman, self-conscience, has a stutter, awkward, shy. Being a dog walker/pet sitter myself I feel like Harriet (minus the stutter but just as awkward). I also loved revisiting the O’Neil family in Vermont. The way the author paints the scenery each and every time, makes me want to jump in the car and head to Vermont immediately. One of the other things I enjoy about Sarah Morgan novels is the English phrases that inevitably make their way into the writing. There are usually 3 or 4 common English phrases that don’t quite translate to US actions. I enjoy finding them though, and if not immediately known how they translate, finding the answer. None are every so strange though that it affects the flow of the story.
Even though I received this book in exchange for an honest review, it is another great novel from Sarah Morgan, as if I expected anything less. I am adding this to my From Manhattan with Love shelf immediately, hope you do the same right now.
Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated Vacation (2015) in Movies
Jun 19, 2019
It is hard to believe it has been 32 years since Chevy Chase took his family on their now infamous “Vacation” and in doing so launched a series that would eventually spawn four movies.
The well-meaning but unlucky Griswold family gave new meaning to family trips and Europe, Christmas, and Las Vegas will never be the same.
In the new version, Rusty (Ed Helms) works away as a pilot for a commuter airline which ensures he is home each evening to see his beloved wife Debbie (Christina Applegate) and their sons Kevin and James.
The family tradition has been to go to as cabin for the Memorial Day weekend but after hearing that their neighbors recently went to France and that Debbie yearns for a break from the cabin, Rusty opts to take the family on a road trip to Wally World, where he has fond memories from the trip he took as a child.
The idea of spending a long week in a car does not sit well with his family but they decide to indulge their father and hit the road.
It does not take long for the Griswold legacy to start and after a series of hysterical and outrageous encounters along the way ranging from an ill-fated Sorority reunion, an awkward father and son conversation at a pool, running afoul of a trucker, and some hysterical car problems, and more, the crew make it to Texas to see Rusty’s sister Audrey (Leslie Mann) and her husband Stone (Chris Hemsworth).
Rusty has always had a distrust of Stone as he flirts with his wife and shows off his toned physique whenever he can, and touts his success to all.
Naturally some more mishaps ensue on this visit and Rusty and his family continue their trip with stops to the Grand Canyon and Four Corners.
There are plenty of other moments but suffice it to say that challenges and mishaps are the Griswold way whenever a trip is involved and Rusty has to seek help from his parents which sets up a great finale as Chevy Chase and Beverly D’Angelo add to the fun.
The film has plenty of nods to moments from the series but is very much its own film and not a reboot. The humor in the film is a bit raw for those used to the recent PG-13 efforts from the series, but I think returning the series to the R-Rated origins of the original film was a good idea as it allows the unexpected and outrageous to happen more often and it does many times during the film.
I went in hoping for an amusing continuation of the series and what I got was a film that had me laughing throughout and had some cringe-worthy moments where my wife alternated between laughing and hiding her eyes from the outrageous antics.
The cast did a great job of carrying on the Vacation tradition while establishing their own characters. They are not retreads of Ellen and Clark, as Rusty and Debbie are very much their own people with everyday concerns.
Here is hoping we see this group down the Holiday Road again in the future.
http://sknr.net/2015/07/29/vacation/
The well-meaning but unlucky Griswold family gave new meaning to family trips and Europe, Christmas, and Las Vegas will never be the same.
In the new version, Rusty (Ed Helms) works away as a pilot for a commuter airline which ensures he is home each evening to see his beloved wife Debbie (Christina Applegate) and their sons Kevin and James.
The family tradition has been to go to as cabin for the Memorial Day weekend but after hearing that their neighbors recently went to France and that Debbie yearns for a break from the cabin, Rusty opts to take the family on a road trip to Wally World, where he has fond memories from the trip he took as a child.
The idea of spending a long week in a car does not sit well with his family but they decide to indulge their father and hit the road.
It does not take long for the Griswold legacy to start and after a series of hysterical and outrageous encounters along the way ranging from an ill-fated Sorority reunion, an awkward father and son conversation at a pool, running afoul of a trucker, and some hysterical car problems, and more, the crew make it to Texas to see Rusty’s sister Audrey (Leslie Mann) and her husband Stone (Chris Hemsworth).
Rusty has always had a distrust of Stone as he flirts with his wife and shows off his toned physique whenever he can, and touts his success to all.
Naturally some more mishaps ensue on this visit and Rusty and his family continue their trip with stops to the Grand Canyon and Four Corners.
There are plenty of other moments but suffice it to say that challenges and mishaps are the Griswold way whenever a trip is involved and Rusty has to seek help from his parents which sets up a great finale as Chevy Chase and Beverly D’Angelo add to the fun.
The film has plenty of nods to moments from the series but is very much its own film and not a reboot. The humor in the film is a bit raw for those used to the recent PG-13 efforts from the series, but I think returning the series to the R-Rated origins of the original film was a good idea as it allows the unexpected and outrageous to happen more often and it does many times during the film.
I went in hoping for an amusing continuation of the series and what I got was a film that had me laughing throughout and had some cringe-worthy moments where my wife alternated between laughing and hiding her eyes from the outrageous antics.
The cast did a great job of carrying on the Vacation tradition while establishing their own characters. They are not retreads of Ellen and Clark, as Rusty and Debbie are very much their own people with everyday concerns.
Here is hoping we see this group down the Holiday Road again in the future.
http://sknr.net/2015/07/29/vacation/
Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated Runner Runner (2013) in Movies
Jun 19, 2019
Many times as a reviewer I watch a film that has so many things going for it that there is every reason to expect that it will be a high-quality product. Sadly the sum of the parts do not always come together and I am left to ponder how such an accumulation of talent went so wrong especially when the concept was strong and intriguing.
Such was the case with the new film “Runner Runner” which stars Justin Timberlake, Ben Affleck, and Gemma Arterton and takes a look at the big money yet seedy and dangerous world of online gambling.
Timberlake stars as Richie Furst, a Princeton student who is seeking his Masters degree and earns his income by getting new clients to sign up for a gambling site. Richie is bitter as he was a player about to get the first of several big paydays on Wall Street who lost it all when the market and the economy turned.
Richie hopes that a Masters from Princeton will get him back on solid footing in Wall Street and dreams of getting back the money he believes was owed to him.
When Richie is told that he must give up his gambling income in order to remain at school after a fellow student complains about him, Richie decides to gamble his last $17K online in an effort to get the $60K he needs to pay for his education.
Richie does well early and despite pleas from his friends to take his $50K and call it good, he presses his luck and loses it all.
Richie then learns that he was cheated and sets out to travel to Costa Rica to meet with the mysterious owner of the site, Ivan Block, (Ben Affleck), and tell him about the cheat program that has been running on the popular site.
Richie is able to meet Block and he in time thanks Richie for being discreet and exposing a problem he did not know about. He offers to restore the money Richie lost and pay him a bonus and then offers him a lucrative job working for him.
Seduced by the lure of big money and the charismatic block, Richie soon moves up the ranks and sets his eyes on the comely associate of Block named Rebecca (Gemma Arterton).
The new found success of Richie soon draws the attention of the F.B.I. and an agent named Shavers (Anthony Mackie), who threatens Richie unless he works for him as an informant against Block.
Now this setup combined with the fact that Block starts to show his darker side as well as the seedy world of corruptions, payoffs, and violence would be an ideal formula for success.
Sadly the film plays out without much drama or tension and gives us very little on the background of the characters and why they do what they do beyond simple greed.
The film does not have any dramatic payoff and plods along in a very methodical way without any real twists or turns.
The finale is fairly underwhelming and is not what audiences deserved after investing their time in the film or the characters.
Timberlake does a good job as the ambitious Richie and Affleck is very good as the charismatic Block. Sadly they can only do so much with their thinly written characters and scenarios that we have seen many times before.
In the end “Runner Runner” is a great concept that is sadly left stalled at the starting line.
http://sknr.net/2013/10/04/runner-runner/
Such was the case with the new film “Runner Runner” which stars Justin Timberlake, Ben Affleck, and Gemma Arterton and takes a look at the big money yet seedy and dangerous world of online gambling.
Timberlake stars as Richie Furst, a Princeton student who is seeking his Masters degree and earns his income by getting new clients to sign up for a gambling site. Richie is bitter as he was a player about to get the first of several big paydays on Wall Street who lost it all when the market and the economy turned.
Richie hopes that a Masters from Princeton will get him back on solid footing in Wall Street and dreams of getting back the money he believes was owed to him.
When Richie is told that he must give up his gambling income in order to remain at school after a fellow student complains about him, Richie decides to gamble his last $17K online in an effort to get the $60K he needs to pay for his education.
Richie does well early and despite pleas from his friends to take his $50K and call it good, he presses his luck and loses it all.
Richie then learns that he was cheated and sets out to travel to Costa Rica to meet with the mysterious owner of the site, Ivan Block, (Ben Affleck), and tell him about the cheat program that has been running on the popular site.
Richie is able to meet Block and he in time thanks Richie for being discreet and exposing a problem he did not know about. He offers to restore the money Richie lost and pay him a bonus and then offers him a lucrative job working for him.
Seduced by the lure of big money and the charismatic block, Richie soon moves up the ranks and sets his eyes on the comely associate of Block named Rebecca (Gemma Arterton).
The new found success of Richie soon draws the attention of the F.B.I. and an agent named Shavers (Anthony Mackie), who threatens Richie unless he works for him as an informant against Block.
Now this setup combined with the fact that Block starts to show his darker side as well as the seedy world of corruptions, payoffs, and violence would be an ideal formula for success.
Sadly the film plays out without much drama or tension and gives us very little on the background of the characters and why they do what they do beyond simple greed.
The film does not have any dramatic payoff and plods along in a very methodical way without any real twists or turns.
The finale is fairly underwhelming and is not what audiences deserved after investing their time in the film or the characters.
Timberlake does a good job as the ambitious Richie and Affleck is very good as the charismatic Block. Sadly they can only do so much with their thinly written characters and scenarios that we have seen many times before.
In the end “Runner Runner” is a great concept that is sadly left stalled at the starting line.
http://sknr.net/2013/10/04/runner-runner/
Darren (1599 KP) rated 2:HRS (2018) in Movies
Jun 20, 2019
Verdict: Fun Family Film
Story: 2: Hrs starts as we meet teenage slacker Tim (Jarvis) who spends his time painting London with graffiti with his best friends Vic (Smith) and Alf (Fofana). While on the school trip to a museum, the three sneak off and interrupt a science conference being hosted by conman Groad (Allen) who has created a machine that can tell when the living object inside will die.
Tim goes in the machine only to learn that he only has 2 hours left to live, left shocked, Tim sets out a small bucket list of achievable targets and while the friends target these goals, they are being chased down by the people behind the experiment who want to research and make sure Tim dies on time.
Thoughts on 2: Hrs
Characters – Tim is a school slacker with a talent for graffiti, he has been acting out because of the death of his father, which has changed him, his friends see this and his rebellious ways puts his life in danger when he learns he only has 2 hours to leave from spending time in a machine which can perform a prediction of when someone will die. He must go through a life lesson as this film unfolds. Vic and Alf are the two supportive friends, that join him on the adventure, we don’t learn too much about them without giving away spoilers. Groad is the businessman/conman that is running the operation, he hides in his apartment with fake backdrops as he conducts meetings. He is always looking to create a good face story for any PR situation. We also have the younger sister Shona to Tim that wants to look up to him only to be left disappointed most of the time and the two bumbling idiots trying to catch the teenagers.
Performances – Harry Jarvis in the leading role does a very good job, we see how his character must change over the course of the film ad he shows us this in his performance. Ella-Rae Smith and Alhaji Fofana are both good in their supporting roles while Keith Allen gives us a good performance as the shady character we see behind the curtain about.
Story – The story follows three friends that decide to ditch a school trip and end up on there on adventure after being caught in the middle of an adventure when one of them learns they only have two hours to live. This does sound like a simple fun adventure family film, which it is, though it does have deeper meaning for Tim who must learn to life lessons in this time while dealing with his own personal tragedy after not doing so when it happened.
Family – This film keeps the films moments all around the family problems Tim is facing, it keeps everything PG even with jokes adults will understand.
Settings – The film is set around London, which is good because it shows how difficult losing a parent can be in the busy city and how easy it is to rebel.
Scene of the Movie – Poetry competition.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – That pet, what was that?
Final Thoughts – This is a family film that can be enjoyed by everyone, it has good laughs, a smart character development story and a nice adventure.
Overall: Family film for all to enjoy.
https://moviesreview101.com/2018/07/05/2-hrs-2018/
Story: 2: Hrs starts as we meet teenage slacker Tim (Jarvis) who spends his time painting London with graffiti with his best friends Vic (Smith) and Alf (Fofana). While on the school trip to a museum, the three sneak off and interrupt a science conference being hosted by conman Groad (Allen) who has created a machine that can tell when the living object inside will die.
Tim goes in the machine only to learn that he only has 2 hours left to live, left shocked, Tim sets out a small bucket list of achievable targets and while the friends target these goals, they are being chased down by the people behind the experiment who want to research and make sure Tim dies on time.
Thoughts on 2: Hrs
Characters – Tim is a school slacker with a talent for graffiti, he has been acting out because of the death of his father, which has changed him, his friends see this and his rebellious ways puts his life in danger when he learns he only has 2 hours to leave from spending time in a machine which can perform a prediction of when someone will die. He must go through a life lesson as this film unfolds. Vic and Alf are the two supportive friends, that join him on the adventure, we don’t learn too much about them without giving away spoilers. Groad is the businessman/conman that is running the operation, he hides in his apartment with fake backdrops as he conducts meetings. He is always looking to create a good face story for any PR situation. We also have the younger sister Shona to Tim that wants to look up to him only to be left disappointed most of the time and the two bumbling idiots trying to catch the teenagers.
Performances – Harry Jarvis in the leading role does a very good job, we see how his character must change over the course of the film ad he shows us this in his performance. Ella-Rae Smith and Alhaji Fofana are both good in their supporting roles while Keith Allen gives us a good performance as the shady character we see behind the curtain about.
Story – The story follows three friends that decide to ditch a school trip and end up on there on adventure after being caught in the middle of an adventure when one of them learns they only have two hours to live. This does sound like a simple fun adventure family film, which it is, though it does have deeper meaning for Tim who must learn to life lessons in this time while dealing with his own personal tragedy after not doing so when it happened.
Family – This film keeps the films moments all around the family problems Tim is facing, it keeps everything PG even with jokes adults will understand.
Settings – The film is set around London, which is good because it shows how difficult losing a parent can be in the busy city and how easy it is to rebel.
Scene of the Movie – Poetry competition.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – That pet, what was that?
Final Thoughts – This is a family film that can be enjoyed by everyone, it has good laughs, a smart character development story and a nice adventure.
Overall: Family film for all to enjoy.
https://moviesreview101.com/2018/07/05/2-hrs-2018/
Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated Transporter 3 (2008) in Movies
Aug 14, 2019
Frank Martin (Jason Statham), the finest driver for hire in the world is back in “Transporter 3”. This time out Frank is forced to deliver a captive girl named Valentina (Natalya Rudakova), to Odessa from his home in Marseilles .
Frank has been recruited against his will by a scheming individual named Johnson (Robert Knepper), who plans to force the Leader of the Ukrainian government to sign a treaty that will allow for dumping of toxic chemicals.
Johnson has a very vital package from Frank to deliver and thanks to an explosive device attached to Frank and Valentina, he has the reluctant services that make a very in demand individual.
As if matters were not complicated enough for Frank, there is a band of thugs hot on his trail as he and Valentina race through the scenic landscapes of Europe.
Frank is determined to find a way to remove the explosive device attached to his wrist, and Valentina is more resigned to her fate as she sees that no matter what, they are both soon to be dead and should live what little life they have left as best as they can.
Along the way, Frank unleashes some of the signature action sequences of the series which as always include outrageous fight scenes that are as well choreographed as anything Jackie Chan has ever unleashed. Frank is a whirring dervish of action and destruction which bellies his soft spoken man of few words persona.
The film also has plenty of car chases to go with the fight sequences and while they are getting more and more over the top with each new segment of the series, still offer excitement. One such scene involves Frank racing through town on a bike to keep pace with his car after being separated from it. Since Frank or Valentina will go boom should they move beyond a certain distance from the tricked out Audi, you can imagine the extreme steps Frank takes to keep this from happening.
While the action of the film is good, I have to say that it is starting to wear thin after the two previous films. The original “Transporter” was a very fresh film as it blended over the top action and well choreographed fight sequences with a European drama to create a unique hybrid of American and European cinema.
The sequel, “Transporter 2”, relied heavily upon the outrageous stunts and less on plots yet still satisfied thanks to the non-stop action and charisma of Statham.
This time out the dialogue is so stunted and bland that you never see any chemistry between the lead characters develop and it seems a very forced pairing. It was reported that Natalya Rudakova was spotted going to work by Producer Luc Besson who cast her in the film even though she had no acting experience and while she does a good job, they just do not seem to fit with one another in a way that makes the audience care or believe in their situation.
The plot of the film is decent enough for an action film but lacks any real twists or turns which causes the film to unfold with few surprises. While the finale is acceptable, I wanted a better payoff as the series has yet to top the oil fight scene in the first film in my opinion.
In then end the film is a mixed bag that will appeal to fans of the series but even they will have to admit that the tread is starting to wear thin on the tires of this series.
Frank has been recruited against his will by a scheming individual named Johnson (Robert Knepper), who plans to force the Leader of the Ukrainian government to sign a treaty that will allow for dumping of toxic chemicals.
Johnson has a very vital package from Frank to deliver and thanks to an explosive device attached to Frank and Valentina, he has the reluctant services that make a very in demand individual.
As if matters were not complicated enough for Frank, there is a band of thugs hot on his trail as he and Valentina race through the scenic landscapes of Europe.
Frank is determined to find a way to remove the explosive device attached to his wrist, and Valentina is more resigned to her fate as she sees that no matter what, they are both soon to be dead and should live what little life they have left as best as they can.
Along the way, Frank unleashes some of the signature action sequences of the series which as always include outrageous fight scenes that are as well choreographed as anything Jackie Chan has ever unleashed. Frank is a whirring dervish of action and destruction which bellies his soft spoken man of few words persona.
The film also has plenty of car chases to go with the fight sequences and while they are getting more and more over the top with each new segment of the series, still offer excitement. One such scene involves Frank racing through town on a bike to keep pace with his car after being separated from it. Since Frank or Valentina will go boom should they move beyond a certain distance from the tricked out Audi, you can imagine the extreme steps Frank takes to keep this from happening.
While the action of the film is good, I have to say that it is starting to wear thin after the two previous films. The original “Transporter” was a very fresh film as it blended over the top action and well choreographed fight sequences with a European drama to create a unique hybrid of American and European cinema.
The sequel, “Transporter 2”, relied heavily upon the outrageous stunts and less on plots yet still satisfied thanks to the non-stop action and charisma of Statham.
This time out the dialogue is so stunted and bland that you never see any chemistry between the lead characters develop and it seems a very forced pairing. It was reported that Natalya Rudakova was spotted going to work by Producer Luc Besson who cast her in the film even though she had no acting experience and while she does a good job, they just do not seem to fit with one another in a way that makes the audience care or believe in their situation.
The plot of the film is decent enough for an action film but lacks any real twists or turns which causes the film to unfold with few surprises. While the finale is acceptable, I wanted a better payoff as the series has yet to top the oil fight scene in the first film in my opinion.
In then end the film is a mixed bag that will appeal to fans of the series but even they will have to admit that the tread is starting to wear thin on the tires of this series.