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My Lovely Wife
My Lovely Wife
Samantha Downing | 2019 | Thriller
10
8.2 (12 Ratings)
Book Rating
Contains spoilers, click to show
In Samantha Downing’s book ‘My Lovely Wife‘, Millicent has designed her life just how she wants it. Nice house. Good job. Two kids. And a husband, she has been able to manipulate throughout their fifteen years of marriage- even to the point of sharing the same delightful hobby.

Murder.

Now, deaf ‘Tobias’ as he’s known to a few select and unlucky few, (when he is scouting around for their next victim), is beginning to see how what they do is starting to affect their own kids. His daughter is scared of this ‘serial killer’ in their home town, and his son is learning to be as manipulative as his mother. But this is nowhere near his biggest issue.

Of course, ‘Tobias’ the husband is no saint, but he’s been so well-trained in the art of doing what his wife Millicent tells him, he just gets on with his part of the job of victim selection, and let’s her do the rest. This his how they get their kicks. He’s never even questioned it.

Until the last woman they drugged, kidnapped and Millicent ‘took care of’ turns up dead in an abandoned building. She’d kept her alive for over a year and never even told him. What was Millicent doing with her all this time? Why didn’t she keep him updated? After all, they were partners in crime, weren’t they?

This is a creepy book about a couple with some very strange habits. On the outside they look like the average family, but together, in private they hold secrets that they’ll take to the grave. At least hope to. But when murder becomes a dangerous game for life, and not everyone is playing by the rules, things are not always as black and white. And that, dear reader, is the deadly sting in this tale, which will have you reading until the sun comes up the next morning and the truth is revealed.

I couldn’t read this fast enough! What a thrilling book this turned out to be!
  
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Marylegs (44 KP) rated Inkheart in Books

Aug 14, 2019  
Inkheart
Inkheart
Cornelia Funke | 2003 | Children
6
7.6 (38 Ratings)
Book Rating
This is a book I have had on my to read pile for some time, and having a bit of extra free time on my hands have finally got round to. I vaguely remember seeing the film that was made, but luckily the film wasn’t that memorable so I couldn’t remember how it ended. However, I enjoyed the book very much and realise why the film maybe didn’t do as well as was expected. Most of the characters are either hiding their emotions or a secret of some kind throughout the story, this did not portray over well in the film and just made everything pretty confusing.

On the whole this is a book about a father and daughter who love to read and have the ability to make books come to life and this appealed to me greatly. It was a slow starter but built up the characters well and I really wanted to know what happened to them. I am not saying this book was the pinnacle of literary accomplishments, but I enjoyed the fantasy, the adventure and how with some characters, even towards the end you weren’t sure if you should like them or not. For instance the character of Dustfinger who is ripped from his story into a world he despises and he yearns just to return home. You never know whether to trust him, to not trust him, to pity him or to think he is selfish. Not all the characters in Inkheart fall into a black and white category, which is refreshing, especially in a book aimed at slightly younger/teen readers.

Great amounts of cheesy humour, good general read I would definitely read the next two books as the characters are all built up now so I think the next books would pick up quicker. Would have probably enjoyed this book more when I was in my yearly teens.
  
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LeftSideCut (3776 KP) rated Sin City (2005) in Movies

Jan 7, 2021 (Updated Jan 11, 2021)  
Sin City (2005)
Sin City (2005)
2005 | Action, Drama, Mystery
I absolutely adored Sin City when it first released way back in 2005, and I still do to a point, albeit a little less than I used to.
The main positives are of course the cast, and the style.

The cast is stacked - Bruce Willis, Rosario Dawson, Benicio Del Toro, Brittany Murphy, Michael Madsen, Clive Owen, Micky Rourke, Jessica Alba, Elijah Wood, Powers Boothe, Devon Aoki, Rutger Hauer, Michael Clarke Duncan, Carla Gugino, Jaime King... that's a fair ensemble if you ask me.
The style is of course a huge part of Sin City. It's neo noir black and white with splashes of colour translate perfectly from page to screen. 15 years later, the effects still look pretty decent and the overall look of the film is practically watching the graphic novels come to life, a strength that is bolstered by the cast involved.
It has a cheesy yet engaging screenplay - the runtime clocks in at over two hours, but never gets boring (just about), and the constant growly voiceovers and on the nose script beats could have potentially been laughable in anyone else's hands, but Robert Rodriguez somehow gets away with it.

The comics ultraviolence is well realised - the movie doesn't shy away from the grimness of proceedings. Some of the content however feels a little problematic in this day and age. The whole thing is plagued by a steady stream of misogyny, which would have probably been toned down if released today, but in my opinion, it's never glamorised. 95% of the male characters are grim shitbags, and the audience know it well.

I understand why a fair few people have an issue with Sin City and it's content, but personally, I find it to be a unique film with plenty of positives, a project that respects it's source material, and just about manages to avoid falling inside of its own arse.
  
Andrei Rublev (1966)
Andrei Rublev (1966)
1966 | Biography, Drama, History
(0 Ratings)
Movie Favorite

"Well, I think one thing is I love seeing the 15th century in black and white, in the 20th century. The physical imagery… that scene in the balloon at the beginning of the movie, the way that it’s cut together and the way that it functions and what he’s looking at. The sound, the music. Tarkovsky is one of my favorite directors and I think there’s just a great abstract quality in his films, where you see something and, as you’re looking at it, it transforms in front of your eyes. Things happen that you can’t believe you’re looking at — a horse falling down a flight of stairs; all of a sudden there’s a moment where you’ve got Christ, in the snow, carrying his cross up a hill. The kind of subliminal violence that occurs — when this guy gouges the eyes out of one of those journeymen, artisans that are leaving the reconstruction of a church; the apathy in the violence reminds me of the W.H. Auden poem, “Musee des Beaux Arts.” The old masters, they really knew about human suffering. And I guess in that particular film, what I’m thinking about is the length of the takes, and the surprise of what you actually see being filmed. The way slow motion is used in that movie also; the way that movies are not like that anymore. The scale and the depth of field of what you’re seeing is vast. So there’s a poetic quality to that. I’d have to mention The Passenger also, because there’s a moment when Antonioni has Jack Nicholson sticking his arms outside of a cable car, and for that moment you just have this sense of observing observation — that’s a big part of moviemaking to me, or painting. That kind of filmmaking, where the camera is still but everything around it is moving, and moving at different speeds, is something that I’m attracted to."

Source
  
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Merissa (12552 KP) rated Color You In (EMS Station 1 #2) in Books

Feb 25, 2025 (Updated Feb 25, 2025)  
Color You In (EMS Station 1 #2)
Color You In (EMS Station 1 #2)
K. Evan Coles | 2025 | Contemporary, LGBTQ+, Romance
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
COLOUR YOU IN is the second book in the EMS Station 1 series and it can be read as a standalone. This one features Gus and Madoc. Gus is an amputee with a prosthetic, working hard and studying to better himself and become a paramedic. Madoc is a single dad who has experience as an EMT but is also a 'rookie' under Gus' supervision.

Gus was such a brilliant character and I loved him. That simple. Madoc? Well, he was harder to love. He has good qualities, don't get me wrong, but he is also rather selfish. In the first instance, he sees things in a very black-and-white manner, usually with his mouth opening before he's taken the time to think it through. Their relationship moves quickly from co-workers, to friends, to FWB, and I didn't feel as though Madoc appreciated any of it in the way he should have.

It was good to see Connor and Judah again, even if they were only mentioned briefly. Tarek, nah, I'm good. I didn't feel for him AT ALL and, honestly, wanted to skip over the parts he was in. I'm sure his redemption will be in a future book, but I disliked him so much, I don't know if I could bring myself to read it!

One thing I would have liked to see was a description of the different codes used. I did a search just to confirm what I thought Code 4 actually meant.

Well-written and nicely paced, this was a good addition to the series. If you want a bi-awakening with angst, then this just might be the one for you.

** same worded review will appear elsewhere **

* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book; the comments here are my honest opinion. *

Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Feb 25, 2025
  
    Ricoh myPrint‏‏

    Ricoh myPrint‏‏

    Utilities and Productivity

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    Using the Ricoh myPrint app requires access to a Ricoh myPrint environment. The Ricoh myPrint...