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Lyndsey Gollogly (2893 KP) rated Scouse Gothic: The Pool of Life and Death in Books
Jun 14, 2022
107 of 230
Kindle
The Pool of Life …… and Death ( Scouse Gothic book 1)
By Ian McKinney
⭐️⭐️⭐️
Melville wakes with a pounding headache – there had been too many hangovers recently, but this one felt different. What had he been drinking last night? Then he remembered – it was blood.
Enter the bizarre world of Scouse Gothic where a reluctant vampire mourns a lost love and his past lives, where a retired ‘hit man’ plans one more killing and dreams of food, and a mother sets out to avenge her son’s murder, and, meanwhile, a grieving husband is visited by an angry angel.
Set in present day Liverpool, vampires and mortals co-exist, unaware of each others’ secrets and that their past and present are inextricably linked.
But as their lives converge, who will be expected to atone for past sins?
This was a different unique take on vampire and their rivals! 3 vampire lives somehow become entangled with humans including a hitman and a mentally I’ll grieving mother. In a short space in time we see how all these lives collide. It was certainly different and I’m not exactly sure what I feel about it. 3.5 stars maybe instead of 3 or 4!
Kindle
The Pool of Life …… and Death ( Scouse Gothic book 1)
By Ian McKinney
⭐️⭐️⭐️
Melville wakes with a pounding headache – there had been too many hangovers recently, but this one felt different. What had he been drinking last night? Then he remembered – it was blood.
Enter the bizarre world of Scouse Gothic where a reluctant vampire mourns a lost love and his past lives, where a retired ‘hit man’ plans one more killing and dreams of food, and a mother sets out to avenge her son’s murder, and, meanwhile, a grieving husband is visited by an angry angel.
Set in present day Liverpool, vampires and mortals co-exist, unaware of each others’ secrets and that their past and present are inextricably linked.
But as their lives converge, who will be expected to atone for past sins?
This was a different unique take on vampire and their rivals! 3 vampire lives somehow become entangled with humans including a hitman and a mentally I’ll grieving mother. In a short space in time we see how all these lives collide. It was certainly different and I’m not exactly sure what I feel about it. 3.5 stars maybe instead of 3 or 4!
LeftSideCut (3778 KP) rated The Northman (2022) in Movies
May 11, 2022
Robert Eggers continues his winning streak with The Northman, surely one of the most visually stunning and compelling movies in recent years. A Viking revenge story presented in his signature style is just cinematic crack waiting to happen as far as I'm concerned.
The first third is a fast moving setup that effectively establishes the characters and shows off quite an epic production. After that, The Northman becomes a tight and slow burning thriller as Amleth (Alexander Skarsgård) exacts a psychologically torturous revenge on the people who killer his father. It's a perfect marriage of powerful character drama, weird imagery, Viking culture and beliefs, bizarre gore, and fantasy set pieces, and it's slower pace ensures that it's utterly captivating.
The whole film looks incredible from start to finish and is complimented by a wonderful music score.
It's all cemented by a stacked cast. Skarsgård is a capable lead for sure, and is just a big walking muscle in this, the manly bastard. Anya Taylor-Joy is great as always, and the supporting cast boasts the likes of Nicole Kidman, Willem Dafoe, Ethan Hawke, and Claes Bang who are all stellar.
I can't heap enough praise on The Northman, another homerun from Eggers. I'd happily call it a masterpiece.
The first third is a fast moving setup that effectively establishes the characters and shows off quite an epic production. After that, The Northman becomes a tight and slow burning thriller as Amleth (Alexander Skarsgård) exacts a psychologically torturous revenge on the people who killer his father. It's a perfect marriage of powerful character drama, weird imagery, Viking culture and beliefs, bizarre gore, and fantasy set pieces, and it's slower pace ensures that it's utterly captivating.
The whole film looks incredible from start to finish and is complimented by a wonderful music score.
It's all cemented by a stacked cast. Skarsgård is a capable lead for sure, and is just a big walking muscle in this, the manly bastard. Anya Taylor-Joy is great as always, and the supporting cast boasts the likes of Nicole Kidman, Willem Dafoe, Ethan Hawke, and Claes Bang who are all stellar.
I can't heap enough praise on The Northman, another homerun from Eggers. I'd happily call it a masterpiece.
Spark
8.0
Rate It
Book
People are dying downtown, their bodies shriveled away to almost nothing. The police are mystified,...
Young Adult Science Fiction
Lyndsey Gollogly (2893 KP) rated Zombie Insurance ( Book 1) in Books
Jun 12, 2024
114 of 220
Booksirens arc
Zombie Insurance ( Book 1)
By Dean Williamson
⭐️⭐️
Emma works for Zombie Insurance, a company selling what she believes to be bogus policies. The growing pile of bills are enough to quiet Emma’s conscience, and, to her, this is merely a job. With her father crashing on the couch of her small, one bedroom apartment, and dealing with the grief of her husband’s death five years prior, Emma is depressed, penniless, and desperate.
During a routine claim inspection, Emma makes the harrowing discovery that she is an unwitting accomplice in the zombie apocalypse. She is forced to contend with the startling discovery that zombies are real and that the movies, video games, and comics ill prepared Emma for dealing with their horrifying nature.
Emma must navigate through her emotions of revenge, sorrow, and loneliness as she faces trials that confront her past. Forgiveness and redemption are available should she summon the strength to take them.
This started well and had such a good concept. But it got bizarre and not in a good way it got way to “clever” and I got bored.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
Booksirens arc
Zombie Insurance ( Book 1)
By Dean Williamson
⭐️⭐️
Emma works for Zombie Insurance, a company selling what she believes to be bogus policies. The growing pile of bills are enough to quiet Emma’s conscience, and, to her, this is merely a job. With her father crashing on the couch of her small, one bedroom apartment, and dealing with the grief of her husband’s death five years prior, Emma is depressed, penniless, and desperate.
During a routine claim inspection, Emma makes the harrowing discovery that she is an unwitting accomplice in the zombie apocalypse. She is forced to contend with the startling discovery that zombies are real and that the movies, video games, and comics ill prepared Emma for dealing with their horrifying nature.
Emma must navigate through her emotions of revenge, sorrow, and loneliness as she faces trials that confront her past. Forgiveness and redemption are available should she summon the strength to take them.
This started well and had such a good concept. But it got bizarre and not in a good way it got way to “clever” and I got bored.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
Kristy H (1252 KP) rated Today Will be Different in Books
Feb 1, 2018
Eleanor wakes up with the resolution that today will indeed be different. She will be a better person, a better mother, and a better wife. She will pay more focused attention to her son, Timby. She will have sex with her surgeon husband, Joe. She will go to her poetry and yoga classes. She will wear real clothes. She will pleasantly lunch with a friend she doesn't quite care for. But it doesn't take long for Eleanor's plans to quickly derail, as a series of mishaps rapidly start to add up: Timby is sick, it appears as if Joe is no longer going to work (and lying about it), and Eleanor's lunch date isn't what it seems, either.
I may be the only person left on the planet who hasn't read [book:Where'd You Go, Bernadette|13526165] (sometimes I'm stubborn about reading "it" books, ok), so I cannot compare this novel to that one. That may be for the best. This is the second novel--in a row--that I contemplated just not finishing, and again, that is so rarely my style. This book felt like a slapdash series of paragraphs thrown together about a crazy woman whose motivations and actions made entirely no sense.
The book veers back and forth in time: while the main action occurs all in one day (the one Eleanor vows will be better), she flashes back to her past, telling the story of her childhood, a long and confusing saga with her sister, Ivy, and Ivy's husband, and how she met her own husband. She also covers her time as working as an animator. It all happens sort of randomly and often in a stream of consciousness. This occurs among the crazy, insane happenings of Eleanor's day, where she sets off a series of bizarre actions that-to me-made no sense and came across as completely irrational. She was not endearing, she was not a little silly: she was just weird and somewhat unhinged, and I'm honestly not sure how she was still allowed to care for poor Timby.
There were a few glimmers about the frustrations of modern motherhood and marriage in this novel, but most were buried by the bizarre ramblings and incoherence of the plot. Some plot pieces were never resolved, some just popped up for no reason, and some dragged on and on endlessly. Maybe I'm just not familiar with Semple's style, but I have to pass on this one.
<center><a href="http://justacatandabookatherside.blogspot.com/">Blog</a>; ~ <a href="https://twitter.com/mwcmoto">Twitter</a>; ~ <a href="https://www.facebook.com/justacatandabook/">Facebook</a>; ~ <a href="https://plus.google.com/u/0/+KristyHamiltonbooks">Google+</a></center>;
I may be the only person left on the planet who hasn't read [book:Where'd You Go, Bernadette|13526165] (sometimes I'm stubborn about reading "it" books, ok), so I cannot compare this novel to that one. That may be for the best. This is the second novel--in a row--that I contemplated just not finishing, and again, that is so rarely my style. This book felt like a slapdash series of paragraphs thrown together about a crazy woman whose motivations and actions made entirely no sense.
The book veers back and forth in time: while the main action occurs all in one day (the one Eleanor vows will be better), she flashes back to her past, telling the story of her childhood, a long and confusing saga with her sister, Ivy, and Ivy's husband, and how she met her own husband. She also covers her time as working as an animator. It all happens sort of randomly and often in a stream of consciousness. This occurs among the crazy, insane happenings of Eleanor's day, where she sets off a series of bizarre actions that-to me-made no sense and came across as completely irrational. She was not endearing, she was not a little silly: she was just weird and somewhat unhinged, and I'm honestly not sure how she was still allowed to care for poor Timby.
There were a few glimmers about the frustrations of modern motherhood and marriage in this novel, but most were buried by the bizarre ramblings and incoherence of the plot. Some plot pieces were never resolved, some just popped up for no reason, and some dragged on and on endlessly. Maybe I'm just not familiar with Semple's style, but I have to pass on this one.
<center><a href="http://justacatandabookatherside.blogspot.com/">Blog</a>; ~ <a href="https://twitter.com/mwcmoto">Twitter</a>; ~ <a href="https://www.facebook.com/justacatandabook/">Facebook</a>; ~ <a href="https://plus.google.com/u/0/+KristyHamiltonbooks">Google+</a></center>;
The Alex Crow
Book
From the critically acclaimed author of cult teen novel Grasshopper Jungle, Andrew Smith, comes a...
Rick Astley recommended Hatful of Hollow by The Smiths in Music (curated)
Sean Farrell (9 KP) rated The Hatching (The Hatching #1) in Books
Mar 15, 2018
Some people find spiders horrifying, others don't have much problem with them. I belong to the former group, and as such, found much in this book to creep me out. The story follows a large and diverse cast of characters located around the world, as a series of bizarre incidences involving spiders begins to point towards a larger disaster looming around the corner. With the cast featuring everyone from doomsday preppers to an FBI agent to an arachnologist to the President of the United States, it's practically a who's who of monster and disaster movie cliches. But thanks to the brisk pace and effectively gross manner of death, this combination of "Arachnophobia", "Alien" and pretty much any Roland Emmerich blockbuster winds up being very hard to put down. There are a few flaws, like some forced-feeling romance elements, and far too many of the characters being described as very attractive. The complete lack of any resolution presented by the ending is a bit of a disappointment as well, though I am left definitely interested in the next book. I don't know how much the type of person who would happily let a tarantula crawl up their arm will get out of this, but for everyone else, you will likely find yourself checking the corners of your walls for a couple days after finishing.
Tim McGuire (301 KP) rated In the Shadow of the Moon (2019) in Movies
Nov 2, 2019
361. In the Shadow of the Moon. Pretty sweet Netflix movie! I read the description 'life long obsession' and 'serial killer' and I was ready to go! Starts out with young police officer Locke, who really, really wants to be a detective, and happens to get involved with a string of connected murders, and actually has an early confrontation with the killer. Without giving to much away, after their confrontation, lets just say, it will be extremely unlikely that the killer will strike again. Afterwards Locke does indeed get his wish of becoming a homicide detective. About a decade or so later, another string of murders occur, same M.O. as the first... Of course Locke is completely baffled, and yep, he becomes quite obsessed, with this super bizarre turn of events. And when it happens another decade later... something going on here!! The description of the movie left out a huge element of the movie, I of course did not watch the trailer, because trailers suck. They usually give you the whole movie if you pay enough attention. But anyways, yea I really liked it, mostly because it was a surprise. No one is going to win an oscar for acting in this one. But like I said, the less you know, the better, in my opinion. Filmbufftim on FB