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Lottie disney bookworm (1056 KP) rated The Fractured Empire in Books
Oct 25, 2021
“Clark and Adelaide think their lives can’t get any worse. Until they meet each other.”
The style of this book is distinctly steampunk rather than the medieval style that I am used to with ElBin books. I was nervous about this as I generally don’t read books in a steampunk setting but I did find I really enjoyed it. To me the world building wasn’t quite as clear in my mind but I’m not sure if this was because I wasn’t reading a physical book.
Despite this, The Fractured Empire met all my expectations and more! How can it not when it includes all my favourite tropes such as enemies to lovers and, of course, the old forced shared-bed situation.
“who kidnapped someone and then introduced themselves? Yet here we were”
The characters are amazing, of course they are! There isn’t an underdeveloped or “2D” character in sight as we follow Addie, Clark and his 2 brothers around the Ceithren Empire, desperately seeking answers … and finding some that they didn’t expect!
Clark and Addie’s relationship is a rollercoaster! The term enemies-to-lovers does not do this pair justice, it’s more like enemies-to-almost lovers-to- definite enemies- to- begrudging colleagues. There is a definite attraction though and it is very physical to begin with: there are a lot of references to Clark’s muscles, Addie’s dress slipping down etc. I have read other reviews where they use this to say that the romance relationship is shallow but I don’t believe this is the case, they are both quite young as characters and it merely demonstrates, in my opinion, how they are constantly drawn to each other.
The best thing about Clark and Addie’s dynamic is 100% the amount of bickering and sarcasm. Oh the amount of sarcasm in this book speaks to my soul and it is here where I think the audiobook may have been better than a physical book (I know, I know! Don’t shoot!) The narrators for Clark and Addie really captured the personalities of the characters, even down to the pacing of their reading and, in Addie’s case, the haughty tones.
From the mysterious best friend Nell (who I’m still not sure if I trust or not) to Addie’s oppressive Director father to the playboy prince: the cast of supporting characters deserves an honourable mention, particularly Gunther. If you aren’t in love with Gunther we can’t be friends – it’s as simple as that!
“I gave them a mocking salute before I turned and jumped, right out the hundredth story window”
The Fractured Empire presents twists upon twists and constantly changes who you can trust but still manages to flow really well and keep the reader engaged. This is a testament to the writing of Robin but also to the narrators of the audiobook, Cris Dukehart and Graham Halstead. Some small snippets felt like they were recorded in sections and sounded out of place but on the whole the pair really embodied the characters and kept me hooked.
Thank you to Robin Mahle for providing a free copy of the audiobook of The Fractured Empire. My TBR list however, does not thank you as it now has 3 more additions to it! (*Edit* 4! I found out about the prequel!)
Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated Jurassic World: Dominion (2022) in Movies
Jun 8, 2022
Picking up a few years after the events of “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom”, the dinosaurs have escaped into the wild and now mingle with and at times endanger society.
A multi-national company has been leading the way with a reserve to study the animals and their quirky leader Lewis Dodgson (Campbell Scott), promises the goal is to discover medicines that will benefit all of society.
At the same time, various concerns have arisen such as gigantic Locust swarms that threaten the food supply and activist Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern) is convinced that Dodgson and his company are behind it. Desperate to find answers, she seeks the help of Dr. Alan Grant (Sam Neill) and Dr. Ian Malcom (Jeff Goldblum) to get to the bottom of the mystery.
Owen Grady (Chris Pratt), and Claire Dearing (Bryce Dallas Howard), find their lives disrupted by the poaching of a unique dinosaur and a genetically unique young girl named Maisie (Isabella Sermon) and this puts them on a path to recover them both which takes them into the illegal world of dinosaur sales and on a collision course with Ellie and her team.
The old and new cast faces numerous dangers along the way before they unite for a rousing final act which effectively combines the original and new trilogy and cast very well.
Director Colin Trevorrow takes his time getting the story up to speed as the early part of the film is heavy on characters and set up before getting to the action but once it starts, there is an endless parade of dinosaurs old and new to endanger the cast and keep the tension moving.
While people may be able to find fault with elements of the plot, pacing, and dialogue, the cast is very effective and it is nice to see the cast from the original series being given a much larger role and how elements from the first film are addressed which have been a point of debate for fans.
The visuals are impressive and there is no end of snarling, biting, and deadly creatures mixed in with favorites old and new while people may want more depth or variation, the creatures are the focal point of the story and the film provides plenty of what fans have come to expect.
The formula of gathering the cast and endangering them with an array of dinosaurs does not change much aside from the locales and creatures involved but fans of the series know what they are getting and “Jurassic World: Dominion” gives fans what they expect and does it well.
DeWanda Wise and Mamoudou Athie are nice additions to the cast and Isabella Sermon appears to be a breakout star in the making. It will be interesting to see how long Universal waits before returning the franchise to cinemas as they have mentioned taking a break following this film, hopefully, it will not be as long as the break between “Jurassic Park 3”, and “Jurassic World” as it will be interesting to see what the next summer event film in the series will offer.
4 stars out of 5.