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Kristy H (1252 KP) rated The Push in Books

Nov 11, 2021  
The Push
The Push
Ashley Audrain | 2021 | Contemporary, Fiction & Poetry, Thriller
7
8.3 (4 Ratings)
Book Rating
I realized I need a book project to keep me reading the books on my shelves… so I’m turning to the ABCs again. This time, it’s authors. The only rule is the book can start with either the author’s first or last name, and I’m trying to prioritize BOTM books to meet my goal of reading twelve this year. Let’s see how I do!

My first choice was THE PUSH by Ashley Audrain (two As and a BOTM!). This was a mesmerizing psychological thriller about a woman, Blythe, who has always feared motherhood, based on her own childhood. After giving birth to Violet, she becomes convinced there’s something wrong with her. Violet doesn't act like other kids. Her husband Fox says it's all in her head. When their second child, Sam, is born, Blythe has a wonderful connection with him--motherhood is finally everything she's wanted. But then it all changes in a devastating moment, and Blythe must face the awful truth she's been fearing.

THE PUSH offers a very honest and brutal look at motherhood. It definitely kept me flipping the pages! It starts off with a bang, then dragged a bit for me in the middle. It's certainly serious and sad, and, at times, a mystery as well. THE PUSH will keep you thinking long after you've turned that last page. 3.5 stars.
  
Teacher’s Threat
Teacher’s Threat
Diane Vallere | 2021 | Mystery
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Going Back to School is Murder
Madison Night needs cash to buy inventory to relaunch her decorating business. After the banks keep turning her down, she hopes that getting an MBA will change their minds. The only class she is finding helpful in the program is Radical Business Theory, even after the professor uses her as an example on her first day. However, when the professor is killed in the parking lot, Madison wonders what is going on at her new school. Can she figure out how to relaunch her business while also solving the murder?

This book really is focused on both parts of that question, and new comers to the series will definitely find the mystery slow as a result. As a fan of the series who is invested in Madison’s life, I found the dual focus enjoyable. It certainly helps that we have an ingenious murder method and a surprising yet logical climax. The characters, both new and returning, are great as always. Fans of Doris Day will laugh at the massive Easter Egg in this book, but if you haven’t watched the movies, you’ll be fine since the author uses the scene to advance the plot. If you are a fan of this mystery series, you’ll be happy with this book. If the series sounds fun to you, I recommend you start at the beginning.
  
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Simon Joseph (14 KP) rated Final Space in TV

May 1, 2019  
Final Space
Final Space
2018 | Animation, Comedy, Sci-Fi
9
7.2 (26 Ratings)
TV Show Rating
The writing and plot are amazing (4 more)
Character development is incredible and you really get to know them in the short time you have with them
The relationahips between the characters is also diverse and emotive
The script is geat and funnier than you expect after the first 1 or 2 episodes
Can only be reviled in the adult animated category by Rick & Morty or maybe Archer
It can take the first 2 episodes to really grasp what's going on and how it's being shown to you but after that it's easy to fall in love with the characters and the show (0 more)
A hilarious animated action comedy series filled with drama and emotional scenes that get you right in that little soft spot you have!
I don't like giving too much away when giving a full review but I stumbled upon this show on Netflix and was intruiged straight after the first episode which, yes is a little slow but is just laying out the story so it doesn't waste lots of episodes doing this and you can dive right into the adventure.

It is about a character called Gary who is portrayed and seen as a bit of a Village Idiot in a futuristic version of Earth. Essentially the show follows his journey and you watch his character develop into a potential hero that you thought he could be but could always still screw it up. You meet a vast array of characters and have an emotional roller-coaster of a time following their journey.

I would highly recommend the show if you're a fan of well written humour and perfectly timed wit as well as the adult animation genre like Archer and Rick & Morty.
  
Six Tudor Queens: Katharine Parr, The Sixth Wife
Six Tudor Queens: Katharine Parr, The Sixth Wife
Alison Weir | 2021 | Fiction & Poetry, History & Politics
9
9.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
Katherine Parr’s book in this series of Henry VIII’s six wives was a really immersive read. She’s always seen as the wife who made it: the wife who escaped, lived after Henry died. And she’s certainly portrayed as a genuinely nice person - someone who I’d certainly be happy to sit down and talk to. She’s approachable, mature beyond her years as a young woman, and constantly loyal to all of her husbands (but they did have a habit of dying on her).

It’s clear that Alison Weir did loads of research on Katherine’s childhood and early years, and it was so interesting to learn more about that part of her life. Usually, any of Henry VIII’s wives are only spoken about in relation to their marriage. But Katherine Parr certainly lived in the years before Henry. She was a dutiful, supportive wife to both of her husbands before Henry, and had happy marriages - but no children. She didn’t have children with Henry either. It must have been a great sadness for her. I loved reading about the relationships she had with all of her stepchildren, and how she convinced Henry to re-establish Mary and Elizabeth in the succession. Not so good in Mary’s case (she wasn’t nicknamed Bloody Mary for nothing), better in Elizabeth’s. Indeed, Mary and Elizabeth seem genuinely fond of Katherine, and both even live with her for a time.

Things don’t run smoothly for Katherine - the knives are out for her whilst she is Queen, and remain out after Henry’s death. So when she marries the man that she truly loves after Henry’s death - without permission - there is scandal.

This is a captivating chunk of a book. I do enjoy a big, historical book, and this delivers in spades. I loved it!

Many thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for my ARC of this book.
  
Only Built 4 Cuban Linx by Raekwon
Only Built 4 Cuban Linx by Raekwon
1995 | Rock
6.0 (1 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"""It was a more intense injection of it. That was the second solo album, before the second Wu Tang album, and you can still hear that hunger in RZA's production. It's even more intense and claustrophobic. I didn't buy this album until six years after I discovered the Wu Tang, and it threw me again, I was obsessed with it. I used to have it on in the car all the time and I would stop it and go back to a little bit, then stop it and go back to another little bit, thinking about how I could replicate that, because it was so good. This was well after I came up with Sleaford Mods, just before I met Andrew. It was still so mind blowing. There was a theme to it, they always used to bang on about how it was a concept but I never got that. 'Guillotine' was my favourite one off it, and also 'Incarcerated Scarfaces'. The first one has this Keystone Cop kind of beat. It's bizarre, there's almost an Irish thing to that. It was east coast, you've got a lot of Irish immigrants there, so it must have spread through the culture. I used samples for the first four albums, or tried to, but I don't do it any more. It was just so tired to me, I'd rather leave sampling to those classic albums than flog a dead horse, you know. I was aware of the fact that it was an uphill battle trying to get clearance for stuff, but after three or four albums I was also getting bored of it, trying to find a loop off a great track. It didn't matter how obscure it was or how obscure the approach was, it just bored me and I needed something more home grown."""

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