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Night Reader Reviews (683 KP) rated Scavengers in Books
Dec 5, 2020
Surprisingly amazing book!!
Scavengers by Alessandra Melville is ideal for those who like post-apocalyptic stories. While readers won’t find zombies in these pages they will discover a world with Fallout tones mixed with Divergent.
Olivia Taylor lives safely within the confines of the Community along with other survivors. This Community was founded after a virus outbreak to protect the survivors from raider attacks. Unfortunately not all is perfect in the Community. Soaring temperatures and a lack of resources mixed with the ever present threat of discovery cause the Community’s numbers to drop, resulting in the need for a Scavenging trip. Olivia and all the other children of the Community that are of age report to volunteer to scavenge and this year she is finally picked. Now along with four others Olivia must leave the safety of the Community in an attempt to bring back supplies, food, and new members or not come back at all.
Before the foundation of the Community disaster struck the world. A virus ran rampant and high temperatures cause drought and dehydration. Out of desperation the entire Taylor family leaves their home, along with many others, in search of a safer place to live. Yet in a world that is falling apart danger is everywhere and the journey is not an easy one. Finally they meet up with others fleeing the city but they have to stop and wonder if anywhere is safe anymore.
I was very happy to find halfway through the book that it changes focus from Olivia to Grace. This answered many questions that I was beginning to forum but was afraid I would never get an answer too, and yet did not explain everything. The book is also well detailed and I can sense a well thought out backstory driving everything. I wanted more out of the book in the end for both parts of the story. The cliffhangers and unanswered questions would easily be fixed with a sequel that I feel this book deserves. Although this is a full length book it still felt more like a teaser than anything.
Teens and young adults will enjoy this book just as much if not more so than adults. While there are hints toward sexual activities both wanted and not nothing happens with any detail and will go over the heads of many young readers. The young readers will enjoy the story and I suppose some of the older readers will start questioning just how these events came to pass. I rate this book 4 out of 4. This book deserves a sequel. It is very well written and an enjoyable book with a style that reminded me of Hunger Games (along with a few others previously mentioned). It could easily make itself at home on shelves right alongside other such dystopian books. This book is so gripping a read that many reader should be able to finish it in just a couple of days.
Scavengers | Book| Austin Macauley Publishers
Olivia Taylor lives safely within the confines of the Community along with other survivors. This Community was founded after a virus outbreak to protect the survivors from raider attacks. Unfortunately not all is perfect in the Community. Soaring temperatures and a lack of resources mixed with the ever present threat of discovery cause the Community’s numbers to drop, resulting in the need for a Scavenging trip. Olivia and all the other children of the Community that are of age report to volunteer to scavenge and this year she is finally picked. Now along with four others Olivia must leave the safety of the Community in an attempt to bring back supplies, food, and new members or not come back at all.
Before the foundation of the Community disaster struck the world. A virus ran rampant and high temperatures cause drought and dehydration. Out of desperation the entire Taylor family leaves their home, along with many others, in search of a safer place to live. Yet in a world that is falling apart danger is everywhere and the journey is not an easy one. Finally they meet up with others fleeing the city but they have to stop and wonder if anywhere is safe anymore.
I was very happy to find halfway through the book that it changes focus from Olivia to Grace. This answered many questions that I was beginning to forum but was afraid I would never get an answer too, and yet did not explain everything. The book is also well detailed and I can sense a well thought out backstory driving everything. I wanted more out of the book in the end for both parts of the story. The cliffhangers and unanswered questions would easily be fixed with a sequel that I feel this book deserves. Although this is a full length book it still felt more like a teaser than anything.
Teens and young adults will enjoy this book just as much if not more so than adults. While there are hints toward sexual activities both wanted and not nothing happens with any detail and will go over the heads of many young readers. The young readers will enjoy the story and I suppose some of the older readers will start questioning just how these events came to pass. I rate this book 4 out of 4. This book deserves a sequel. It is very well written and an enjoyable book with a style that reminded me of Hunger Games (along with a few others previously mentioned). It could easily make itself at home on shelves right alongside other such dystopian books. This book is so gripping a read that many reader should be able to finish it in just a couple of days.
Scavengers | Book| Austin Macauley Publishers
Kyera (8 KP) rated When Dimple Met Rishi in Books
Jan 31, 2018
When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon is a contemporary book set in San Francisco. Our two main characters, Dimple and Rishi are Indian-American and this book is such a lovely addition to the more diverse YA reads that we have been getting lately. Dimple’s parents don’t understand her love of coding and desire to do that for a living. They want her to find the Ideal Indian Husband, get married and settle down. To Dimple, that sounds like the most horrifying loss of her identity and freedom, so she’s very surprised when her parents agree to let her attend a coding camp over the summer at SFSU.
Rishi is the perfect eldest son, sure of his duties and ready to fulfill his family’s wishes. He plans to attend MIT in the coming year to major in engineering and computer science. Even though he has other interests, he knows that they are not viable career options and will have to support his family in the future. His parents send him to the same coding camp so that he can meet and get to know his (possible) future wife. It is not an official arranged marriage, but their parents each have decided that they would be good together.
Unlike Rishi, Dimple does not know of her parents' plan and is entirely freaked out when a stranger comes up to her and addresses her as his future wife. Their first interaction is hilarious and sets the stage for a fantastic book to come. Although Dimple is vehemently opposed to Rishi’s attendance as she feels tricked, she knows that it would be unkind to demand that he leave. The two end up spending more time together and become friends. Their friendship was authentic and quite adorable, even though on the surface they don’t have much in common.
Celia, Dimple’s roommate and Ashish, Rishi’s brother are really nice supporting characters. Celia gets wrapped up in the idea of fitting in and we watch as she learns to be herself. She has a number of rapid changes of opinion and emotion that aren’t entirely explained. Sometimes they seem like they come out of nowhere and there isn’t enough context or backstory to support them. That feels like one aspect of the story that could be improved.
Ashish is initially portrayed as the lazy brother who does not care what his parents want for him. He is most passionate about basketball and spends his time doing things that Rishi does not always approve of. It was nice to see their brotherly bond evolve over the course of the novel. Rishi learns to support his brother and judge him less, as a result, their relationship becomes stronger. They learn more about each other and it was nice to see a positive familial relationship depicted. Even his parents are ultimately supportive as they just want their children to be happy.
I would highly recommend this book to young adult/teen readers who enjoy diverse reads, contemporary novels, character-driven plots and coming of age stories. The characters go on a lovely journey of self-discovery and have a lot of enjoyable (and funny) scenes along the way.
Rishi is the perfect eldest son, sure of his duties and ready to fulfill his family’s wishes. He plans to attend MIT in the coming year to major in engineering and computer science. Even though he has other interests, he knows that they are not viable career options and will have to support his family in the future. His parents send him to the same coding camp so that he can meet and get to know his (possible) future wife. It is not an official arranged marriage, but their parents each have decided that they would be good together.
Unlike Rishi, Dimple does not know of her parents' plan and is entirely freaked out when a stranger comes up to her and addresses her as his future wife. Their first interaction is hilarious and sets the stage for a fantastic book to come. Although Dimple is vehemently opposed to Rishi’s attendance as she feels tricked, she knows that it would be unkind to demand that he leave. The two end up spending more time together and become friends. Their friendship was authentic and quite adorable, even though on the surface they don’t have much in common.
Celia, Dimple’s roommate and Ashish, Rishi’s brother are really nice supporting characters. Celia gets wrapped up in the idea of fitting in and we watch as she learns to be herself. She has a number of rapid changes of opinion and emotion that aren’t entirely explained. Sometimes they seem like they come out of nowhere and there isn’t enough context or backstory to support them. That feels like one aspect of the story that could be improved.
Ashish is initially portrayed as the lazy brother who does not care what his parents want for him. He is most passionate about basketball and spends his time doing things that Rishi does not always approve of. It was nice to see their brotherly bond evolve over the course of the novel. Rishi learns to support his brother and judge him less, as a result, their relationship becomes stronger. They learn more about each other and it was nice to see a positive familial relationship depicted. Even his parents are ultimately supportive as they just want their children to be happy.
I would highly recommend this book to young adult/teen readers who enjoy diverse reads, contemporary novels, character-driven plots and coming of age stories. The characters go on a lovely journey of self-discovery and have a lot of enjoyable (and funny) scenes along the way.
Melanie Caldicott (6 KP) rated Sorrowland in Books
Apr 29, 2021
You can also read my review at my blog - https://roamingthroughbooks.wordpress.com
Sorrowland is a genre-bending book which is like nothing I have ever read before and probably ever will again!
The story centres around Fern, an albino black teenage girl who gives birth to twins, Howling and Feral in the woods after escaping from a cult called Cainland. What follows is a mindboggling adventure surrounding her survival.
This is a coming of age story like no other – part sci-fi, part horror, part dystopian, part magical realism, this book defies genre. But amongst all the myriad of twists and turns this novel takes, what lies at the heart of it is a story about a girl who comes to understand her identity and rises above what has been spoken over her in her past.
During Fern’s journey of self-discovery the book examines themes such as racism, indoctrination, abuse and misogyny. There are many challenges in reading this book as we encounter a dystopian world that is disturbingly similar to our own exploring those who live on the fringe of society due to white domination. This not only includes Cainland, the cult set up by black people originally to challenge the white belief system, but also native American characters who quietly hold onto their truth in a far less bigoted and twisted way.
I love the big questions this book asks and the twisted paths it takes in asking them leading you into such unknown territories through the plot that you meet these issues head on in such different ways that you confront them anew and reexamine how you really feel about them and the impact that they have on our world.
Sorrowland is compelling and, although this would never be a genre I would normally read, I enjoyed the enigmatic nature of the evolving fantastical storyline and the constant surprises Rivers Solomon weaves into the plot. It is extremely well-written, with powerful characterisation, rich with poetic descriptions and intelligent themes.
However, the aims of the book seem to get a little muddled at times and I became confused about what Solomon wanted me to get out of the book. The story becomes so fast-paced and dense at times that this prevented me from taking a step back and truly immersing myself in the deeper themes of the novel.
This is a hard book to review. As I said, not something I would normally read, but the quality of the writing won me over. That said, I did not come away from the book feeling a sense of enjoyment, but instead, unsettled and disturbed by encountering a story of brutality with wild, savage characters and a frightening world where nothing is as it seems.
I would recommend this book – purely because you will be changed by it and this is one of the most powerful gifts of literature – but it is not a comfortable read and would not suit everyone.
Thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for the ARe-copy in exchange for this honest review.
Sorrowland is a genre-bending book which is like nothing I have ever read before and probably ever will again!
The story centres around Fern, an albino black teenage girl who gives birth to twins, Howling and Feral in the woods after escaping from a cult called Cainland. What follows is a mindboggling adventure surrounding her survival.
This is a coming of age story like no other – part sci-fi, part horror, part dystopian, part magical realism, this book defies genre. But amongst all the myriad of twists and turns this novel takes, what lies at the heart of it is a story about a girl who comes to understand her identity and rises above what has been spoken over her in her past.
During Fern’s journey of self-discovery the book examines themes such as racism, indoctrination, abuse and misogyny. There are many challenges in reading this book as we encounter a dystopian world that is disturbingly similar to our own exploring those who live on the fringe of society due to white domination. This not only includes Cainland, the cult set up by black people originally to challenge the white belief system, but also native American characters who quietly hold onto their truth in a far less bigoted and twisted way.
I love the big questions this book asks and the twisted paths it takes in asking them leading you into such unknown territories through the plot that you meet these issues head on in such different ways that you confront them anew and reexamine how you really feel about them and the impact that they have on our world.
Sorrowland is compelling and, although this would never be a genre I would normally read, I enjoyed the enigmatic nature of the evolving fantastical storyline and the constant surprises Rivers Solomon weaves into the plot. It is extremely well-written, with powerful characterisation, rich with poetic descriptions and intelligent themes.
However, the aims of the book seem to get a little muddled at times and I became confused about what Solomon wanted me to get out of the book. The story becomes so fast-paced and dense at times that this prevented me from taking a step back and truly immersing myself in the deeper themes of the novel.
This is a hard book to review. As I said, not something I would normally read, but the quality of the writing won me over. That said, I did not come away from the book feeling a sense of enjoyment, but instead, unsettled and disturbed by encountering a story of brutality with wild, savage characters and a frightening world where nothing is as it seems.
I would recommend this book – purely because you will be changed by it and this is one of the most powerful gifts of literature – but it is not a comfortable read and would not suit everyone.
Thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for the ARe-copy in exchange for this honest review.
Radioactive (2019)
8.5
Rate It
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Based on Lauren Redniss’s award-winning graphic novel, Marjane Satrapi’s (Persepolis) biopic...
Madeira Walks: Volume 2: Challenging Trails & High Altitude Routes
David Brawn, Shirley Whitehead, Mike Whitehead and Ros Brawn
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As a walker's paradise, Madeira has it all - majestic mountains, rugged coastline, ancient forests,...
Kristy H (1252 KP) rated She Lies in Wait (DCI Jonah Sheens, #1) in Books
Apr 8, 2019
Interesting mystery, with a detailed plot and characters
Aurora Jackson disappeared thirty years ago at age fourteen. She went camping with her sister, Topaz, and five of Topaz's friends. Topaz reluctantly let her kid sister tag along. No one ever saw Aurora again. Thirty years later, a body is found. DCI Jonah Sheens and DC Hanson are called to the scene, but Jonah already knows that it's Aurora. He's been waiting for this discovery for years. During the original investigation, all six friends maintained their stories and their innocence. But now Jonah is determined to find out what really happened to Aurora.
"It was where seven kids had bedded down thirty years ago, but only six of them had got up in the morning."
This was one of the ARCs that I requested simply because the story sounded interesting, and it really was. I couldn't shake the feeling while I was reading that the storyline felt somewhat familiar, but that didn't detract from what was a pretty strong police procedural, especially for an author debut. The book is fairly long--there is a lot of buildup to our ending--but I thought it was all well-done. Jonah is an intriguing character; it's made known early on that he had a small role in the first investigation when Aurora disappeared, and he clearly is hiding something, which isn't revealed for quite some time. But he's a good investigator, too, and it was sort of fun wondering if you could fully trust him (with Hanson, the newbie, as his foil).
"He found it impossible not to remember this place as it had been back then. The car park had all been bark and mud, but it had been just as overrun by police. The haircuts different; the faces somehow the same."
The way the story is told--snippets of the past (including from her point of view), plus Jonah and Hanson investigating in the present--is interesting and moves the story along. It certainly keeps you wondering as things unravel. While the limited number of characters (especially at the camp ground thirty years ago) lowers our amount of suspects, it's easy to speculate about each one.
Plus, all the characters in this one are detailed. I found it a little complicated to keep track of everyone at first--especially all the boys at the campground--but they were strong characters and knowing so much about them made figuring out who killed Aurora all the more compelling. Aurora herself is a lovely character, and I felt for her. When our suspect was revealed, it all ended a little crazily yet easily, but this was still a good read for me.
Overall, this was an interesting mystery, with a detailed plot and characters. I look forward to Lodge's next book.
I received a copy of this book from the publisher and Netgalley in return for an unbiased review (thank you!).
"It was where seven kids had bedded down thirty years ago, but only six of them had got up in the morning."
This was one of the ARCs that I requested simply because the story sounded interesting, and it really was. I couldn't shake the feeling while I was reading that the storyline felt somewhat familiar, but that didn't detract from what was a pretty strong police procedural, especially for an author debut. The book is fairly long--there is a lot of buildup to our ending--but I thought it was all well-done. Jonah is an intriguing character; it's made known early on that he had a small role in the first investigation when Aurora disappeared, and he clearly is hiding something, which isn't revealed for quite some time. But he's a good investigator, too, and it was sort of fun wondering if you could fully trust him (with Hanson, the newbie, as his foil).
"He found it impossible not to remember this place as it had been back then. The car park had all been bark and mud, but it had been just as overrun by police. The haircuts different; the faces somehow the same."
The way the story is told--snippets of the past (including from her point of view), plus Jonah and Hanson investigating in the present--is interesting and moves the story along. It certainly keeps you wondering as things unravel. While the limited number of characters (especially at the camp ground thirty years ago) lowers our amount of suspects, it's easy to speculate about each one.
Plus, all the characters in this one are detailed. I found it a little complicated to keep track of everyone at first--especially all the boys at the campground--but they were strong characters and knowing so much about them made figuring out who killed Aurora all the more compelling. Aurora herself is a lovely character, and I felt for her. When our suspect was revealed, it all ended a little crazily yet easily, but this was still a good read for me.
Overall, this was an interesting mystery, with a detailed plot and characters. I look forward to Lodge's next book.
I received a copy of this book from the publisher and Netgalley in return for an unbiased review (thank you!).
Louise (64 KP) rated Beautiful Broken Things in Books
Jul 2, 2018
This is Sara Barnard's debut novel and a good one at that! Beautiful broken things is an emotional rollercoaster, you are literally up and down on this suspenseful ride, With friendship, self discovery, school, family and abuse this novel certainly packs a punch!
Caddy has been best friends with Rosie for over 10 years despite attending different schools. Calling each other throughout the week and spending the weekends together they couldn't be closer, until Caddy is introduced to Suzanne a new girl from Rosie's school. Jealous of Rosie's new friendship she doesn't instantly take to her, Suzanne is pretty, bold, exciting and totally different from what Caddy is used to. Slowly Suzanne starts to reveal things about herself and the issues that she is hiding from her friends. With this new found knowledge Caddy suddenly sees Suzanne in a different light and wants to help her but also be involved in this interesting girls life and so their friendship blossoms but threatens to break them all apart for good.
Caddy goes to Esther's which is an all girls private school, she is on a tight leash with her parents, paying thousands of pounds per term for her education they are expecting A grades. With all work and no play nothing significant has happened in Caddy's life, she makes a vow for that to end this year and Suzanne is there to help. People around caddy don't think their friendship is a good idea as Suzanne is 'troubled' and leading her astray. Caddy is very naive and hasn't really be involved with boys or been to house parties but with her new-found friend and wanting to fit in she gets more involved and really comes out of her shell.
Suzanne is beautiful, funny and also a "troubled" teenager, living with her aunt starts speculation as to why this is. With a history of abuse, Suzanne is broken and is what people would call a bad influence, she drinks, she goes around with any boy who will have her and when things get tough she runs away. As she becomes friends with Caddy she is pulling her towards her way of life. Caddy would never have dreamt of climbing out of her window in the middle of the night or randomly catching a train without knowing the destination. But in her bid to help Suzanne she feels she has to be with her every step of the way.
This book explores the true meaning of friendship and love between teenage girls. This is a coming of age story with no romance involved and scarily realistic. It portrays mental health and teenagers sensitively and honest.
I loved that this book was set in the UK it felt so more relatable and exciting when your hometown gets referenced in the book.
There things that let down the book for me were the details of the abuser, there wasn't really any detail whether the abuser had been arrested or why Suzanne had or hadn't reported the abuser. It was sort of just glimpsed over this and neither Caddy nor Rosie questioned it which I thought was a little odd. Caddy was very annoying at points and was making some stupid decisions,I felt like shaking her and telling her to stop! JUST STOP!
I definitely recommend this book if you are looking for a realistic portrayal of mental health in young adults.
I rated this 4 out of 5 stars
Caddy has been best friends with Rosie for over 10 years despite attending different schools. Calling each other throughout the week and spending the weekends together they couldn't be closer, until Caddy is introduced to Suzanne a new girl from Rosie's school. Jealous of Rosie's new friendship she doesn't instantly take to her, Suzanne is pretty, bold, exciting and totally different from what Caddy is used to. Slowly Suzanne starts to reveal things about herself and the issues that she is hiding from her friends. With this new found knowledge Caddy suddenly sees Suzanne in a different light and wants to help her but also be involved in this interesting girls life and so their friendship blossoms but threatens to break them all apart for good.
Caddy goes to Esther's which is an all girls private school, she is on a tight leash with her parents, paying thousands of pounds per term for her education they are expecting A grades. With all work and no play nothing significant has happened in Caddy's life, she makes a vow for that to end this year and Suzanne is there to help. People around caddy don't think their friendship is a good idea as Suzanne is 'troubled' and leading her astray. Caddy is very naive and hasn't really be involved with boys or been to house parties but with her new-found friend and wanting to fit in she gets more involved and really comes out of her shell.
Suzanne is beautiful, funny and also a "troubled" teenager, living with her aunt starts speculation as to why this is. With a history of abuse, Suzanne is broken and is what people would call a bad influence, she drinks, she goes around with any boy who will have her and when things get tough she runs away. As she becomes friends with Caddy she is pulling her towards her way of life. Caddy would never have dreamt of climbing out of her window in the middle of the night or randomly catching a train without knowing the destination. But in her bid to help Suzanne she feels she has to be with her every step of the way.
This book explores the true meaning of friendship and love between teenage girls. This is a coming of age story with no romance involved and scarily realistic. It portrays mental health and teenagers sensitively and honest.
I loved that this book was set in the UK it felt so more relatable and exciting when your hometown gets referenced in the book.
There things that let down the book for me were the details of the abuser, there wasn't really any detail whether the abuser had been arrested or why Suzanne had or hadn't reported the abuser. It was sort of just glimpsed over this and neither Caddy nor Rosie questioned it which I thought was a little odd. Caddy was very annoying at points and was making some stupid decisions,I felt like shaking her and telling her to stop! JUST STOP!
I definitely recommend this book if you are looking for a realistic portrayal of mental health in young adults.
I rated this 4 out of 5 stars
Purple Phoenix Games (2266 KP) rated Kingdomino Origins in Tabletop Games
Dec 28, 2021
I try very hard not to allow hype to affect my views on a game. This is why I similarly rarely consume other reviewers’ work on a game prior to me playing it. I don’t want others influencing my experiences. However, I was ultimately tempted by the Game Boy Geek, Dan King, when a video he published was titled, “Why I’ll Never Play Kingdomino Again.” I mean, with a title like that, and already having reviewed and loved OG Kingdomino, I just HAD to see what was with this new version. I have to say, he makes some great points – many with which I tend to agree. But what are those points?
Kingdomino Origins is a tile drafting and placement game set in prehistoric times for two to four players. Just like the original Kingdomino (even though this is titled Origins, which makes me chuckle) players will be drafting tiles from the offer and adding them to their village, matching terrain types to those already built. Instead of crowns to count VP, Origins has players using fire icons and tokens to multiply VP for endgame scoring. New for Origins is the ability to play three different modes: Discovery, Totem, and Tribe Mode! The player with the most VP at the end of the game wins!
DISCLAIMER: We were provided a copy of this game for the purposes of this review. This is a retail copy of the game, so what you see in these photos is exactly what would be received in your box. I do not intend to cover every single rule included in the rulebook, but will describe the overall game flow and major rule set so that our readers may get a sense of how the game plays. For more in depth rules, you may purchase a copy online or from your FLGS. -T
To setup (a two-player game playing the Tribe mode is used for this review), place the Cave Board on the table, shuffle the Caveman tiles, and deal four to the board. Separate the fire tokens and resourceeples into their piles on the table. Shuffle the main domino tiles and, as in the original, draw four, arrange them numerically, and reveal them to make the offer. Place another four domino tiles nearby, face-down, and arranged numerically. The players each choose a color, takes their starting tile with hut placed atop, and their two chiefeeples. The first player will choose to take tiles 1 and 4 or 2 and 3 from the offer by placing their chiefeeples upon them. The game is now setup for Tribe Mode and ready to begin!
On a normal turn, a player will have two steps to complete: Place a Domino, and Choose a New Domino. In a 3-4 player game, each player will have one domino to place, but in this 2 player game each player will have two dominoes to place within their 7×7 grid (a 5×5 grid with 3-4 player games). The player takes their chosen dominoes from beneath their chiefs and add them to their village grid. As in all domino-based games, the terrain (or side) of the domino must be placed adjacent to a matching terrain type in the village; the starting tile is wild and can match to any terrain type.
Once a domino is placed, if it shows icons or volcanoes, special rules are enacted. For icons showing resources, a wooden resourceeple is placed upon the icon. These come in mammoths, fish, mushrooms, and flints. In Tribe Mode, these will be used later. However, if a volcano is placed in the village, it will spew forth one to three flames, whose tokens will be placed on a domino square in the village. The volcano tile showing one active crater sends a flame soaring up to three squares away, and diagonal movement is acceptable. A volcano tile showing three active craters throws three flames (a fire token with three fire icons) one square away.
Once both tiles have been placed, the player will next Choose a New Domino (or dominoes when playing a two player game). From the now-revealed set of four new tiles in the offer, the players will choose their next tile(s) to be played during the next round, thus also creating the turn order for the next round.
After players have chosen their dominoes, and only in Tribe Mode, the final step to the turn is optional: Recruit a Caveman. Remember those resourceeples that were placed on tiles? By discarding two different resources, a player may recruit one of the face-up Caveman tiles from the board. By discarding one of each type of resource, the player may instead look through the stack of Caveman tiles and take one of their choosing. These Caveman tiles do many different things, but they primarily offer extra VP for being placed adjacent to specific resources, or by clumping together similar Cavemen in the village.
Once all the dominoes have been added to the villages, the game ends and VPs are counted for each player. The game comes with an excellent score pad to help keep track of the different ways to earn VP. The player with the most VP (“comfort points” in the game) is the winner and creates the most prosperous Caveman village!
Components. Just like previous versions of Kingdomino, these components are excellent. The domino tiles are again thick and glossy, the huts are again the 3D style, and the chiefeeples are similar in style to the kingeeples from the original. In this new version, however, new fire tokens have been added, and are fine, but they are double-sided to remind players how many squares they travel – an EXCELLENT idea. I have to also applaud these cute little resourceeples. They are so stinkin cute and look great on the villages. The art is again wonderful on everything in the box, and overall is just a great bunch of components.
What about the claim Dan King made about never playing Kingdomino again? Gosh darnit, I totally agree. By simply playing the included Discovery Mode you get all the same functionality of Kingdomino. But it doesn’t stop there. I didn’t really get into the second mode, Totem Mode, but it also uses the resourceeples to grant extra VP to the players who have collected the majority of each type. It is a great next step from Discovery, and a good setup for Tribe Mode, especially when playing with newer gamers.
So, the components are similar quality to the original version, but there are more components included, and provide three different play modes. The only thing I see that the original Kingdomino has on this version is the Age of Giants expansion. Perhaps something similar is in the works for Origins, where players can effectively negate opponents’ VPs. I’m sure giants existed in Caveman times, right?
All this said, I may be soon looking for a new home for my copy of Kingdomino and the Age of Giants expansion, as I am certainly agreeing with Dan here. I don’t think I have the interest in playing Kingdomino anymore, as long as I have Kingdomino Origins in my arsenal. Purple Phoenix Games gives this one a super-upgraded 5 / 6. The extra play modes, excellent components, and the cool volcano mechanics just elevate this superior version. If you are a fan of Kingdomino, then I highly recommend you check out Kingdomino Origins. Unless, of course, you don’t wish to be seduced away from your beloved copy of the original version. I understand, but you may be unnecessarily handicapping your collection.
Kingdomino Origins is a tile drafting and placement game set in prehistoric times for two to four players. Just like the original Kingdomino (even though this is titled Origins, which makes me chuckle) players will be drafting tiles from the offer and adding them to their village, matching terrain types to those already built. Instead of crowns to count VP, Origins has players using fire icons and tokens to multiply VP for endgame scoring. New for Origins is the ability to play three different modes: Discovery, Totem, and Tribe Mode! The player with the most VP at the end of the game wins!
DISCLAIMER: We were provided a copy of this game for the purposes of this review. This is a retail copy of the game, so what you see in these photos is exactly what would be received in your box. I do not intend to cover every single rule included in the rulebook, but will describe the overall game flow and major rule set so that our readers may get a sense of how the game plays. For more in depth rules, you may purchase a copy online or from your FLGS. -T
To setup (a two-player game playing the Tribe mode is used for this review), place the Cave Board on the table, shuffle the Caveman tiles, and deal four to the board. Separate the fire tokens and resourceeples into their piles on the table. Shuffle the main domino tiles and, as in the original, draw four, arrange them numerically, and reveal them to make the offer. Place another four domino tiles nearby, face-down, and arranged numerically. The players each choose a color, takes their starting tile with hut placed atop, and their two chiefeeples. The first player will choose to take tiles 1 and 4 or 2 and 3 from the offer by placing their chiefeeples upon them. The game is now setup for Tribe Mode and ready to begin!
On a normal turn, a player will have two steps to complete: Place a Domino, and Choose a New Domino. In a 3-4 player game, each player will have one domino to place, but in this 2 player game each player will have two dominoes to place within their 7×7 grid (a 5×5 grid with 3-4 player games). The player takes their chosen dominoes from beneath their chiefs and add them to their village grid. As in all domino-based games, the terrain (or side) of the domino must be placed adjacent to a matching terrain type in the village; the starting tile is wild and can match to any terrain type.
Once a domino is placed, if it shows icons or volcanoes, special rules are enacted. For icons showing resources, a wooden resourceeple is placed upon the icon. These come in mammoths, fish, mushrooms, and flints. In Tribe Mode, these will be used later. However, if a volcano is placed in the village, it will spew forth one to three flames, whose tokens will be placed on a domino square in the village. The volcano tile showing one active crater sends a flame soaring up to three squares away, and diagonal movement is acceptable. A volcano tile showing three active craters throws three flames (a fire token with three fire icons) one square away.
Once both tiles have been placed, the player will next Choose a New Domino (or dominoes when playing a two player game). From the now-revealed set of four new tiles in the offer, the players will choose their next tile(s) to be played during the next round, thus also creating the turn order for the next round.
After players have chosen their dominoes, and only in Tribe Mode, the final step to the turn is optional: Recruit a Caveman. Remember those resourceeples that were placed on tiles? By discarding two different resources, a player may recruit one of the face-up Caveman tiles from the board. By discarding one of each type of resource, the player may instead look through the stack of Caveman tiles and take one of their choosing. These Caveman tiles do many different things, but they primarily offer extra VP for being placed adjacent to specific resources, or by clumping together similar Cavemen in the village.
Once all the dominoes have been added to the villages, the game ends and VPs are counted for each player. The game comes with an excellent score pad to help keep track of the different ways to earn VP. The player with the most VP (“comfort points” in the game) is the winner and creates the most prosperous Caveman village!
Components. Just like previous versions of Kingdomino, these components are excellent. The domino tiles are again thick and glossy, the huts are again the 3D style, and the chiefeeples are similar in style to the kingeeples from the original. In this new version, however, new fire tokens have been added, and are fine, but they are double-sided to remind players how many squares they travel – an EXCELLENT idea. I have to also applaud these cute little resourceeples. They are so stinkin cute and look great on the villages. The art is again wonderful on everything in the box, and overall is just a great bunch of components.
What about the claim Dan King made about never playing Kingdomino again? Gosh darnit, I totally agree. By simply playing the included Discovery Mode you get all the same functionality of Kingdomino. But it doesn’t stop there. I didn’t really get into the second mode, Totem Mode, but it also uses the resourceeples to grant extra VP to the players who have collected the majority of each type. It is a great next step from Discovery, and a good setup for Tribe Mode, especially when playing with newer gamers.
So, the components are similar quality to the original version, but there are more components included, and provide three different play modes. The only thing I see that the original Kingdomino has on this version is the Age of Giants expansion. Perhaps something similar is in the works for Origins, where players can effectively negate opponents’ VPs. I’m sure giants existed in Caveman times, right?
All this said, I may be soon looking for a new home for my copy of Kingdomino and the Age of Giants expansion, as I am certainly agreeing with Dan here. I don’t think I have the interest in playing Kingdomino anymore, as long as I have Kingdomino Origins in my arsenal. Purple Phoenix Games gives this one a super-upgraded 5 / 6. The extra play modes, excellent components, and the cool volcano mechanics just elevate this superior version. If you are a fan of Kingdomino, then I highly recommend you check out Kingdomino Origins. Unless, of course, you don’t wish to be seduced away from your beloved copy of the original version. I understand, but you may be unnecessarily handicapping your collection.
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Kirk Bage (1775 KP) rated Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019) in Movies
Oct 11, 2020 (Updated Jan 22, 2021)
I’m sure I wasn’t alone in the Summer of 2019 when Spider-Man: Far From Home was released in just needing a minute or two, maybe a couple of months, longer to catch my breath after Avengers: Engame, and what very much felt like an ending to the MCU plan that had been in motion since 2008. That climax was so satisfying and complete that the thought of any of them donning the costume and fighting bad guys again so soon felt wrong.
I wasn’t against the survivors having continued adventures, of course not. It was more a question of where do we go from here? And how? Well, perhaps Tom Holland as the youngest and most emotionally resilient of the bunch was the right choice to continue the universe, if any at all. Knowing that Jake Gyllenhaal had been brought onboard certainly added to the appeal, being one of my very favourite actors of the last decade (together with Ryan Gosling and Joaquin Phoenix), but I had made up my mind to skip this one at the cinema.
And so, before any of us knew where we were, it was Spring 2020 and we were all in a different place. Needing films, any films, to fill out the days of lockdown and isolation became a case of make a list and tick them off. This was one of those that made the shortlist around June when I began the trial month of Now TV and discovered that this was where all the big films of the last year I had missed were hiding.
I liked Spider-Man: Homecoming very much, after some initial trepidation over who the heck Jon Watts was, and why he had been trusted with such a big job out of seemingly nowhere? I also really like Tom Holland in the role. I think the idea of making him seem like a naive teenager again is a masterstroke, and he fast became The real Spider-Man in my head. His relationship with Robert Downey Jnr across the last handful of MCU films was rich, genuine and fully rounded, and Holland has managed to pitch the balance between nervy teen and likeable hero quite deftly.
The charm of the first film from Watts was how much it felt like a teen film, full of teens that were actual teens, not adults pretending to be teens. And in this second instalment that element is even more to the fore. It is a travelling road movie that keeps everything fresh and energetic, not giving a moment to dwell despondently on previous events, but looking forward to a bright, hopeful world, full of romance and adventure and discovery.
Other than Holland himself, who grows in stature and maturity as an actor every minute, the rising star of Zendaya as MJ fills the screen very pleasantly, she has a great aura about her for one so young. I am expecting great things from her, especially in the upcoming yet delayed Dune, directed by Denis Villeneuve. She doesn’t have a lot to do here, but steals enough scenes to hint at a serious talent. In fact, most of his classmates seem beyond their years ability-wise, or do they seem that way because of the skilled direction and bottomless production?
It’s also nice to get more time with Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury and Marisa Tomei as Aunt May in this one. You always do wonder what the lesser characters have been up to while everyone else was saving the world. But the backbone of the film as a spectacle is the Peter Parker / Quentin Beck face off. Every moment of Holland and Gyllenhaal together feels like a huge movie treat. And knowing nothing about who Quentin Beck was going in from comic book lore, I got a real thrill out of how it all develops.
I came away from my small screen experience of this movie thinking that I had really enjoyed it, but in a very disposable way, that I was happy to leave behind almost instantly. Nothing about it is especially deep or meaningful, just fun! And that was 100% what Marvel needed at this junction in the pantheon. These guys are pretty smart at knowing when and why and how much with these movies, and I’m pleased to say they did it again!
There is some serious work to be done to ever reach the heights of interest generated by the final pairing of Avengers films, and a lot has changed, as it must, as some actors age, some even pass away (RIP CB) and some call it a day. But if nothing else, there feels like there is plenty of mileage left in this incarnation of the friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man, and a lot of new fans to be hauled in by the onscreen romance between Tom Holland and Zendaya’s MJ. Older fans, like me, could maybe care less, but I believe that is the hook to ensure a future generation of fans stay loyal to Marvel. Every hero needs someone to save, after all. I’m still watching.
I wasn’t against the survivors having continued adventures, of course not. It was more a question of where do we go from here? And how? Well, perhaps Tom Holland as the youngest and most emotionally resilient of the bunch was the right choice to continue the universe, if any at all. Knowing that Jake Gyllenhaal had been brought onboard certainly added to the appeal, being one of my very favourite actors of the last decade (together with Ryan Gosling and Joaquin Phoenix), but I had made up my mind to skip this one at the cinema.
And so, before any of us knew where we were, it was Spring 2020 and we were all in a different place. Needing films, any films, to fill out the days of lockdown and isolation became a case of make a list and tick them off. This was one of those that made the shortlist around June when I began the trial month of Now TV and discovered that this was where all the big films of the last year I had missed were hiding.
I liked Spider-Man: Homecoming very much, after some initial trepidation over who the heck Jon Watts was, and why he had been trusted with such a big job out of seemingly nowhere? I also really like Tom Holland in the role. I think the idea of making him seem like a naive teenager again is a masterstroke, and he fast became The real Spider-Man in my head. His relationship with Robert Downey Jnr across the last handful of MCU films was rich, genuine and fully rounded, and Holland has managed to pitch the balance between nervy teen and likeable hero quite deftly.
The charm of the first film from Watts was how much it felt like a teen film, full of teens that were actual teens, not adults pretending to be teens. And in this second instalment that element is even more to the fore. It is a travelling road movie that keeps everything fresh and energetic, not giving a moment to dwell despondently on previous events, but looking forward to a bright, hopeful world, full of romance and adventure and discovery.
Other than Holland himself, who grows in stature and maturity as an actor every minute, the rising star of Zendaya as MJ fills the screen very pleasantly, she has a great aura about her for one so young. I am expecting great things from her, especially in the upcoming yet delayed Dune, directed by Denis Villeneuve. She doesn’t have a lot to do here, but steals enough scenes to hint at a serious talent. In fact, most of his classmates seem beyond their years ability-wise, or do they seem that way because of the skilled direction and bottomless production?
It’s also nice to get more time with Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury and Marisa Tomei as Aunt May in this one. You always do wonder what the lesser characters have been up to while everyone else was saving the world. But the backbone of the film as a spectacle is the Peter Parker / Quentin Beck face off. Every moment of Holland and Gyllenhaal together feels like a huge movie treat. And knowing nothing about who Quentin Beck was going in from comic book lore, I got a real thrill out of how it all develops.
I came away from my small screen experience of this movie thinking that I had really enjoyed it, but in a very disposable way, that I was happy to leave behind almost instantly. Nothing about it is especially deep or meaningful, just fun! And that was 100% what Marvel needed at this junction in the pantheon. These guys are pretty smart at knowing when and why and how much with these movies, and I’m pleased to say they did it again!
There is some serious work to be done to ever reach the heights of interest generated by the final pairing of Avengers films, and a lot has changed, as it must, as some actors age, some even pass away (RIP CB) and some call it a day. But if nothing else, there feels like there is plenty of mileage left in this incarnation of the friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man, and a lot of new fans to be hauled in by the onscreen romance between Tom Holland and Zendaya’s MJ. Older fans, like me, could maybe care less, but I believe that is the hook to ensure a future generation of fans stay loyal to Marvel. Every hero needs someone to save, after all. I’m still watching.