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Make Me Whole (Isle of the Forgotten, #2.5)
Make Me Whole (Isle of the Forgotten, #2.5)
Tiffany Roberts | 2017 | Fiction & Poetry
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Make Me Whole (Isle of the Forgotten, #2.5) by Tiffany Roberts
Make Me Whole is the perfect little bridge novella between Make Me Hunger and Make Me Yours. It is a story involving Quil, who we met in the previous book, as he returns to the village and woman he left so many years before. Whilst he is there, he discovers that the villagers are dying of a plague caused by a necromancer. The bodies are placed upon a ship, but we don't yet know where they are going. This is an introduction to the next book, as the twins are mentioned.

For only a novella, there is still a lot going on, with plenty of action and a fast pace. It was very well written, with no editing or grammatical errors to disrupt the reading flow. It also gives you more of an idea of the different Gods, and their meaning. With the Council and the Order in disarray, and betrayal coming from every direction, this is a brilliant addition to the series. Definitely recommended by me.

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

Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
  
Dead Island
Dead Island
2011 | Action/Adventure
Great Graphics (4 more)
Huge areas to explore
Free roam mostly
Different characters
20-30 hours game time 1st time round
Some tricky bits to get past (1 more)
Losing custom weapons
Zombie Island vacation
A brilliant game going back a few years now. You have huge areas to roam as you please most of the time with a few key points to complete to advance. If you want to jump in a jeep and run down zombies you can! The game is huge and with a lot of exploring will take over 20 hours to complete first time round. You have a few players with different skills you can build on to add to the replay value. The graphics were great for the time, bright colorful and detailed. You can create custom weapons with various abilities. The only real downside was if you died sometimes it could mean a good 5 minutes or more to get back to that area to try again. Some of the enemies got repetitive and were just a higher level later on. Overall though a game to lose yourself in for hours as you bash zombies in a tropical paradise. It has almost a cinematic quality at times. Wouldn't surprise me if it gets a film one day.
  
Gone Girl (2014)
Gone Girl (2014)
2014 | Mystery, Thriller
Rosamund Pike (1 more)
The plot was interesting
Ben Affleck... I Just hate him okay (1 more)
I guessed the ending.
One of the biggest let downs.
Contains spoilers, click to show
Okay I know this is going to be an unpopular opinion but personal opinion I just really didn't care for this movie that much. My biggest problem was everybody just talked about how there was no movie like this the story was so unique the plot twist was going to blow you away when I managed to guess the plot twist with no problem whatsoever so to say I was really disappointed is a bit of an understatement.


I found a majority of the movie to be very monotone and boring which for me basically sums up Ben Affleck's acting but what can I say I've just never been a fan of the guy.


Okay so it wasn't all bad the parts that I did like was Rosamund Pike really stole the entire movie she was brilliant I really liked her character as well as her acting was top notch I really bought her as Amy Dunne. My favorite scene was the bedroom scene with her and Neil Patrick Harris if there was more of that through out they movie I would have probably liked it more.
  
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Scott Tostik (389 KP) Oct 8, 2017

If Affleck would've stayed in Kevin Smith and the Dazed and Confused world and not tried to be the world's greatest actor, he would've been at least tolerable. The last movie I enjoyed this swelled headed idiot in was Smith's Chasing Amy... That was nearly 20 YEARS AGO!!!!
GIVE IT UP BAT-FLECK!!

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BobbiesDustyPages (1259 KP) Oct 8, 2017

Preach it dude,preach it ?

Marvel's Luke Cage  - Season 1
Marvel's Luke Cage - Season 1
2016 | Sci-Fi
Luke Cage - obviously (2 more)
Claire Temple gets some more screen time
More back story
Slower with less tension (1 more)
I feel Luke deserved a better story
Another decent Marvel show
Contains spoilers, click to show
I was all hyped up for this one but was left feeling a little disappointed and I'm not sure why. Don't get me wrong, it's still a great show with some brilliant action scenes and puts forward Luke's backstory. After being a side character in Jessica Jones it's good to see a bit more about his life and how he settles into Harlem.

It's possible that his story, while nice to see, wasn't as good as it could have been - the backstory is but what he went through in the present day was far too slow and could've picked up a bit. The ending unravelled a bit but I like the idea that his past caught up with him and for someone who seems to have such a good heart it's nice to see that he's happy to accept that and serve the time he owes.


I'm looking forward to seeing how he develops in The Defenders, especially since he'll be reunited with Jessica Jones after the development of his relationship with Claire.
  
Ready Player One (2018)
Ready Player One (2018)
2018 | Sci-Fi
Willy Wonka for the Digital Age
I went in to this movie somewhat cautious. I hadn't read the book, but the trailers looked very overwhelming.

I was excited to see that though it was very visually stimulating, I did not feel overwhelmed, just enamoured. 20 minutes in told my wife I would be seeing it again and the next time hopefully in a 3D IMAX. I want to be able to fully appreciate the visual beauty.


I also really enjoyed the theme. I found it particularly relevant. The character growth is almost subtle, but the point of it is very strong. In an age where we are all stuck to screens, Ready Player one has a very strong message.


Acting Kudos to Mark Rylance for being the brilliant billionaire. Unfortunately the characters being digital for more than half the movie makes it hard to really see their acting chops.


I also enjoyed all the pop culture references. Even though I felt like a lot of them were just before my time. 80s references and earlier and I'm a 90s kid.


All in all, I think it will stand the test of time on both a visual and message level. And everyone should see it and appreciate what a movie experience can be.
  
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Sarah (7800 KP) rated Circe in Books

Feb 18, 2019  
Circe
Circe
Madeline Miller | 2018 | Science Fiction/Fantasy
10
8.9 (18 Ratings)
Book Rating
An unexpected gem
I decided to read this book purely based on the reviews on here and on Goodreads. It sounded so different to my usual reads that I thought it'd be worth trying, and I'm very thankful I did.

It started off a little unsure, but this could have been down to me getting used to the style of writing and language style used to represent the characters and gods. However it soon picks up and really draws you in. It's an epic tale spanning so many different aspects of Greek gods and mythology. I could barely believe so many mythological tales had been spun into this, and not only that but done brilliant well. It's such a comprehensive and intriguing tale of the goddess Circe, who is a well rounded and feisty female protagonist. I really struggled to put this book down, and my only disappointment is that it took so long to read, and that it ended too of course. I could have quite happily read on about many more tales of Greek gods and mythology woven into Circe's life.

For me this book was pure escapism. Well written and highly captivating, diving into a book about gods and goddesses is a fantastic way to escape the dreary realities of real life.
  
Alliances (Star Wars: Thrawn #2)
Alliances (Star Wars: Thrawn #2)
Timothy Zahn | 2018 | Science Fiction/Fantasy
7
7.3 (4 Ratings)
Book Rating
Grand admiral Thrawn! (1 more)
Vader
First introduced in Timothy Zahn's 'Heir to the Empire' trilogy - a trilogy that, I fell, was instrumental in bringing Star Wars back to prominence - the character of the tactical brilliant and strategic genius Grand Admiral Thrawn is one of the few to survive Disney's cull of the old EU following their purchase of Lucasfilm.

And, what's even better, they even brought back the same writer.

This is thus the second Thrawn book in the 'new' timeline, flitting back and forth between the 'now' (early days of the empire, just after the Clone Wars) and the 'then' (during the Clone Wars, prior to Order 66) and moving between the characters of Thrawn himself (both periods), Padme Amidala (in the 'then' only, obviously!) and Vader/Anakin ('now'/'then' respectively) - I particularly liked the way that Vader refused to remember/call Anakin by name, but only ever as 'the Jedi', even if I wasn't so sold on the description of 'second sight' (although it does 'tie in' to the movies, particularly 'The Phantom Menace' in explaining how Jedi reflexes seem so fast).

And yes, I'm pretty sure that Thrawn expects - if not outright knows - Vader's big secret (i.e. his actual identity)
  
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Sarah (7800 KP) created a post

Mar 22, 2019  
Last night, I went to see Les Miserables at the Palace Theatre in Manchester. Unlike most people I know, I've never seen Les Mis on stage before and wasn't a particularly big fan of the film either, however I have to admit that after seeing it last night, I think I'm now a convert.


The stage production values, the sets and the costumes were very impressive. They managed to seamlessly coordinate a large screen with huge physical sets and the transition between the scenes was impressively smooth. The cast too were brilliant. There was nobody I recognised but they all had fantastic voices and put on a great performance.

My issue with the film was that is was overly long and drawn out and just didn't appeal, but the same can't be said for the show. Ths version was on for 3 hours plus a 15 min interval, which for me was just long enough. There's something about the music in this that makes it very rousing and entertaining and I wasn't bored, not even for a minute. It's a highly entertaining and almost emotional show, and would definitely recommend seeing it if you like musicals. It doesn't tour very often either so catch it while you can!

I'd give it an impressive 9/10
     
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Andy K (10823 KP) Mar 22, 2019

Sounds awesome Sarah!

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Sam (74 KP) rated Echo Boy in Books

Mar 27, 2019  
Echo Boy
Echo Boy
Matt Haig | 2019
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
I think I’m starting to become a fan of dystopia thanks to Matt Haig. Echo Boy was an exciting read and full of surprises.

Set in 2115, Echos are a normal household item. They look like humans, act like humans, but are robots created to help with human tasks. Audrey’s father hates new technology, despite his own brother, Alex, owning Castle Industries – one of the largest technology companies.

Echos are definitely not all they seem though, especially when Alissa, the Echo who teaches Audrey at home, kills both of her parents.

Echo Boy isn’t like anything I’ve read before. It’s young adult dystopia (which I usually avoid) but it’s actually quite adult in the ways it deals with grief and uncovering the truth. It was exactly what I expected from Matt Haig though because even though it’s a dystopia it still takes a serious view on the issues of the real world.

It also focuses a lot on the problems in being part of a generation who are obsessed with technology, such as the over-reliance on it and the susceptibility of it going wrong.

I absolutely loved Echo Boy. It brought me back to YA and is another brilliant novel by Matt Haig.
  
The Cursed Kingdom
The Cursed Kingdom
Maya Daniels | 2019 | Romance, Science Fiction/Fantasy
8
9.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
The Cursed Kingdom by Maya Daniels
The Cursed Kingdom is a historical fantasy romance that will sweep you back to the days of Persia and Babylon. Full of outstanding descriptions, this story brings Alexander the Great to life, along with Bela obviously! In a deal made with Ishtar, Bela is bound to Babylon. However, when an army comes a'knocking, Bela's brother makes a mistake. This sets off a series of events that will change their lives forever.

I read this book in one sitting! It was so easy to keep on reading, with a smooth and flowing pace, and fantastic descriptions of people and places. With sexual tension, intrigue, betrayal, there was certainly enough here to keep me involved and engrossed.

I certainly have no hesitation in recommending either this story, or the author! The only thing I would say, is I wish I knew what happened to one of the characters at the end. Still, that's me being greedy!

Brilliant story ~ excellently told ~ highly recommended.

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

Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!