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The Protector (William Falkland #2)
The Protector (William Falkland #2)
S.J. Deas | 2022
7
7.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
This is the second - and, to date, last - of S.J. Deas's William Falkland series (after The Royalist, at the end of which, and having discharged his investigative duties to Cromwell, William Falkland returned home in search of his wife and family.

As this starts, he has yet to find them.

It's into far into the novel before Cromwell again pulls Falkland into his orbit, offering his (and, by extension, Parliament's) help in discovering just what happened to Falkland's family and where they may be (perhaps in Oxford, the King's new capital?) as the First Civil War draws to a close - help that is, of course, contingent upon Falkland again carrying out an investigation for Cromwell: this time into just what happened to the sister of a prominent supporter of Parliament who has disappeared (abducted?): one Anne Agar, this sister of John Milton.

Yes, that John Milton. The author of Paradise Lost. Although that is never once mentioned here - I think (am nearly sure that) the setting here may be before he wrote that poem.

Once again, the narrative is told in the first-person view, with - once again - a warts-and-all picture given of life at the time, and with Falkland being both incredibly astute and incredibly blind at the same time! In other words, coming across as a 'real' person rather than as a literary construct.

I'm now going to go on record as saying: more, please!
  
His Precious Omega (Sweet Alps Mates #3)
His Precious Omega (Sweet Alps Mates #3)
Raiven Matthews | 2023 | LGBTQ+, Paranormal, Romance
7
7.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Put off by some wording
Independent reviewer for GRR, I was gifted my copy of this book.

This is book 3 in the Sweet Alps series. I have not read the others and I did not feel I was missing anything by not doing so.

For the most part, I did enjoy this book, I really did.

I liked that it took time for Ry and Daddy Brendan to properly connect. I liked that Ryan tells Brendan of his problems BEFORE they enter into anything. I liked that Brendan seeks help as to how to properly look of Ry when he is little. I even liked the stalker storyline, and how that all panned out. Didn't see that coming at me. I liked that I can see a certain pair of shifters getting together!

BUT

There are some points along the way that the wording of sentences really grated on my nerves. He did NOT "drug" the chair across the room (not actually from the book,but just using to make my point) he DRAGGED the chair. I'm fairly certain this is a local lingo thing, to the author's locality, but to me? Nuh-uh. Once, I can let it go, but it happens more than once. At that point, I switched to "let's get this finished, eh?" mode.

So, I'm sorry, I will not be following this series.

3 stars

*same worded review will appear elsewhere
  
Twist of Fate (Weavers Of The Ether #2)
Twist of Fate (Weavers Of The Ether #2)
Essie Suter | 2023 | Erotica, Paranormal, Romance
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
TWIST OF FATE is the second book in the Weavers of the Ether. You don't necessarily have to have read book one but I feel it would help more if you did.

Anyway, this is Wren's story and we start off with her rambling around in a forest, goodness knows where, as she ponders her life and just how she ended up in this position. Then she falls into a trap laid by rogue mages, plus meets two of her three mates. And then the third turns up and the fun really starts.

There were parts of this book that felt slightly disjointed or jerky as the story moved from one thing to another and I was left with unanswered questions. I'm not sure about that epilogue. It felt as though Wren's story was done with when that happened! I will have to wait and see. I am glad to hear other books will be coming in this series though, as this is a world I am enjoying and look forward to learning more about.

Overall, I enjoyed this story and catching up with Soren, Echo, and the rest. Orion is definitely my favourite out of this lot. So let's see what happens next!

** 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!
Jun 23, 2023
  
Charlotte Illes is Not a Detective
Charlotte Illes is Not a Detective
Katie Siegel | 2023 | Mystery
7
7.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
For a Non-Detective, Charlotte is Busy Detecting
Growing up, Charlotte Illes gained fame as a child detective, solving cases everywhere she went. However, Charlotte is trying to put that behind her now that she is an adult. The trouble is, she doesn’t know what comes next job wise. When her brother’s girlfriend starts getting notes on their apartment door, Charlotte reluctantly agrees to investigate. The case takes an unexpected turn when kidnapping and murder get involved. Can Charlotte figure out what is going on?

Since I read about fictional child detectives as a kid, the premise of this one sounded like fun. I don’t think I was the target audience since many of the characters are queer Millennials, but for the most part, that wasn’t an issue. Still, there were a few moments that made me prickle a little. But that was minor. Charlotte and her two best friends make a fun trio, and I enjoyed watching them grow as the book progressed. The rest of the cast is great, too. The pacing was uneven in the middle, but we still reached a logical conclusion with several twists along the way. There was plenty of humor, quite often coming from the banter of the main trio. There are quite a few four letter words, but as long as you know that, you’ll be fine. Overall, this really was a fun debut, and I’m glad I picked it up.
  
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Ryan Hill (152 KP) rated Iron Man 3 (2013) in Movies

May 10, 2019 (Updated May 10, 2019)  
Iron Man 3 (2013)
Iron Man 3 (2013)
2013 | Action, Sci-Fi
RDJ as Tony Stark/Iron man Don Cheadle as Rhodey Tony's ptsd storyline The final battle Tony and Rhodey's bromance Harley keener (0 more)
Humour and drama is off balance Mandarin twist isn't well executed Female characters are underused (0 more)
"i am iron man 2.0"
Marking the commencement of the second phase of Marvel Cinematic Universe after the first one culminated with The Avengers, Iron Man 3 presents a definite improvement over its insufferably insipid predecessor but it still falls short of the magical experience that was the first Iron Man film. However, it does carry a new energy & has a refreshing vibe to it, thanks to the new director at helm.

Iron Man 3 continues the story of Tony Stark who's recovering from post-traumatic stress caused by the events of The Avengers. Unable to sleep & genuinely afraid of losing what he loves, Stark's life is turned upside down after he issues a threat to a radical terrorist who retaliates by destroying his personal world, leaving him far more vulnerable than ever before & forcing him to rebuild from the scratch.

Co-written & directed by Shane Black, Iron Man 3 really benefits from a fresh perspective & is an enjoyable ride for the most part but is also marred by its attempt to try out way too many things at once, out of which only a few work out in a convincing manner. Technical aspects are finely executed for its Cinematography favours a slightly darker tone, Editing steadily paces its narrative while Brian Tyler's score adds more vibrancy to its plot.

Coming to the performances, Guy Pearce, Ben Kingsley & Rebecca Hall join the reprising cast & ably fill up their given roles while Robert Downey Jr. once again manages to impress the most. The best thing about this sequel is the position it puts Tony Stark in & Downey Jr. does a terrific job in bringing that vulnerability on the screen. Also, while I was a bit furious at what they did with Iron Man's arch-nemesis, I did later warm up to what their intent was here.

On an overall scale, Iron Man 3 is a solid follow up to Iron Man & you don't even have to go through the crap that was Iron Man 2 to get to this one. The film's intent to cover the darker issues at hand while keeping itself light-hearted & plenty of fun is a combination that doesn't gel so well, is at friction on many occasions & is bound to divide its viewers, but its improvement over everything that was so wrong with its predecessor nevertheless makes it a welcome chapter, if not a worthy one.
  
Batman: Nightwalker - DC Icons Book 2
Batman: Nightwalker - DC Icons Book 2
Marie Lu | 2018 | Young Adult (YA)
8
7.0 (8 Ratings)
Book Rating
Batman: Nightwalker gives us an origin story for the Caped Crusader that we didn't know we needed - even if it doesn't feel like the dark, gritty Batman we know from the Dark Knight or the comics. Bruce is an eighteen-year-old boy who is still trying to figure out who he is in a world where his parents were murdered when he was a child and he has just come into their vast fortune. He struggles to figure out how to live up to his parents' legacy and finds himself in a dangerous situation.

If you go into this book expecting Batman, I'm afraid you're going to be disappointed. This is a teenaged boy who is realizing that he wants to do more for his city and is coming to the conclusion that Bruce Wayne might not be enough. This book is his real origin story and Marie Lu brings his transformation back to its roots. We meet the boy who will one day become Batman, not the man we are familiar with as the Dark Knight.

I really enjoyed getting to know young Bruce in this story, although Alfred certainly stole the show. You could feel the bond that they had with one another, which translated so much more authentically than some of the other relationships in the story. I felt that Diane and Harvey were a little underdeveloped in the story, so I never really formed a connection with them. I really enjoyed the little cameos from characters we're familiar with and the characterization of people that we know are much more important in the Batman mythology in later years.

Superhero books are definitely difficult to write because they're so action heavy and as a result, visual, but I feel that Lu managed to capture the kinesthetic nature of the book well. She definitely delved more into Batman's detective nature, which was really nice because we don't see that as often as his fighting bad guys schtick. If you're interested in seeing the detective Batman dig into mysteries and try to foil a criminal organization than you should enjoy this book - just don't expect giant action-packed fight scenes.

I have really enjoyed the DC Icons series thus far because it brings the characters we've grown familiar with back to their roots. They're teenagers who are still figuring out who they are in the world, regardless of their future superhero journey. They are fragile and unsure, yet with a thirst for justice that one day will allow them to grow into the superheroes we know and love.
  
Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood (1988)
Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood (1988)
1988 | Horror
6
6.1 (16 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Tina Shepard isn't your normal, everyday girl. When she was younger, she overheard her parents having a heated argument that got really ugly. Tina decided to run out onto a boat in the nearby lake. Her father runs out to try and talk her into coming back to shore and that's when Tina's extraordinary abilities are revealed. Her father winds up dying in an accident caused by Tina's telekinetic powers.

In the present day, Tina and her mother are off to a cabin in the woods with Tina's psychologist, Dr. Crews, in hopes of making progress so Tina won't have to return to an institution. A group of young twenty somethings are gathered next door for a surprise birthday party. Both houses just happen to be in the Camp Crystal Lake area. Tina gets upset at Dr. Crews during one of their sessions and runs out to the lake. Her emotions get the best of her and she winds up resurrecting Jason, who's still chained to the bottom of the lake, with telekinesis. Not too long afterward, Tina starts having premonitions of people being gruesomely murdered by a man in a hockey mask. Is she going crazy or are these terrifying visions a reality?

As it stands, this is my guilty pleasure of the franchise. I love the concept and think it would be a really solid Friday the 13th sequel if it wasn't for the MPAA butchering this film. Most of the gore has been cut and it really hurts the film as a whole. This also begins Kane Hodder's reign as the masked serial killer for the franchise, who seems to be a cult favorite as the best Jason.

Speaking of Jason, he looks the best in this film. It may just be my opinion, but in addition to loving undead Jason, the make-up effects and his costume are just phenomenal in this one. As ugly as he looks when his mask gets ripped off, this is the film that makes him look the most flattering. That's not saying much for a guy who's been chained down at the bottom of a lake for ten years and killed multiple times, but at least he doesn't look like he has down syndrome this time around. If an uncut or director's cut of some kind ever makes the light of day, it'll probably wind up being in my top three F13 films. Easily. Here's an idea of what was cut from the film:
  
HS
Harp's Song (Harp's Song, #1)
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
***I received this book in exchange for an honest review ***

Harp's Song is a beautifully written breathtaking account of a young girl named Harp and her story of coming to terms with the abuse she suffered at the hands of her mother as well as first love.

When we first meet Harp she is a bit of a band geek who just so happens to be best friends with the high school jock Connor. Connor and Harp have been friends through thick and thin, and really Connor and his mom Catherine are the only people that know about the truth surrounding Harp's home life. Harp isn't part of any social group at school really, and her main focus is to play her Cello and to get out of Iowa, away from her mom, and to music school.

Harp's mother has always been lacking in the motherly department. She is constantly verbally abusing Harp and a couple of times even physically abusing her. Harp just knows she doesn't deserve the life that's been dealt to her and she has to get out. The way this book is written is that instead of having your typical chapters, the author uses them as a countdown to graduation. It's a very different approach to take and I love the way the author uses her "chapters" as a timeline for the reader. It helps you immerse yourself in the story even more. Not only that but your senior year I bet you counted down the days too, I know I did.

Connonr lets it slip that he wants to be more than friends with Harp, and how he's cared about her for so long. He doesn't want to see anything bad happen to her, and what he really wants is to do nothing but protect her. For the most part their relationship is comfortable and easy for them until Vincent shows up, and he becomes a snag in an otherwise smooth relationship. Connor perseveres and swears his love to Harp.

These characters are so beautifully written and so vibrant that I feel as though I know them outside of their pages. Harp's story is one that rips your heart out, and then replenishes your faith in humanity, and along the way raises awareness about abuse (both verbal and physical).

If you haven't read Harp's Song yet, or if you're debating about possibly reading it, let me do you a solid... Read it... I'm begging you. You won't be sorry. This story is both beautiful and poignant. This book will definitely make my top list of the year, maybe even ever. Bravo Cassie Shine, bravo!
  
Tank 432 (Belly of the Bulldog) (2016)
Tank 432 (Belly of the Bulldog) (2016)
2016 | Action, Drama, Horror
3
3.0 (1 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Characters – Reeves is one of the younger members of the unit, he seems like the newest member often making rookie mistakes in the eyes of other members of the unit. Capper is the injured member of the unit, he is left to defend for himself as the unit needs to move out quickly. Karlsson is the medic in the unit needing to take care of the injuries to Capper and the mental state of the random girl they find. The soldier all hit the generics of what you expect without giving too much about their lives outside of the unit away.

Performances – The performances across the board are good enough for the film, with most of the cast trapped inside the tank it doesn’t give them much to do other than sit around talk and searching for answers.

Story – The story follows the unit as they look to survive from an unknown enemy, this is where a lot of this films story falls apart because, we don’t know their mission, where it is or what they are running from. It spends too long inside the tank trying to figure out a way out without any threat coming from the outside, for this film to hit the marks we needed to see more of the nightmare effects of whatever is meant to be going on which would explain the fear they are facing but not enough is revealed until the final act.

Action/Horror – The action isn’t as heavy as we would like it too be, we have random shooting and a driving sequence the rest is waiting for something to happen. The horror is there just not as much as we would like it to be, the moments of the vision offer something but don’t deliver in the final punch.

Settings – Most of the film is set inside the vehicle, which I can accept being good for a confined setting waiting for an enemy but we don’t see the enemy do anything against them.

Special Effects – The effects are used well when needed but the film doesn’t turn to them, which is a good thing.


Scene of the Movie – Capper’s return.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – Not enough happens.

Final Thoughts – This is a horror that disappoints in the most part, it doesn’t hit the levels it could and we are left wondering just where the film was meant to be going for the most part.

 

Overall: Disappoint horror that misses the chances it had.
  
<b><i>I received this book for free from Roger Charlie in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.</i></b>
<p style="text-align: left;"><i>The Rampart Guards</i> basically made me realize that I'm definitely growing out of middle grade books and I should move on. This is an extremely scary thought, because what if I get tired of young adult books next?! That probably won't happen for a good while, and I've yet to actually read an adult novel that isn't from the cause of required reading.
<p style="text-align: left;">The first book in the <i>Chronicles of Jason Lex</i> starts out extremely slow, but picks up pace as the story progresses. Jason's mom suddenly goes missing, and Jason (along with his family) suddenly gets forced to move to a small town with their grandmother to get away from the painful memories of their mom. And to top it off, Jason sees weird blue electricity-like wisps coming out from his hands and eels in the sky later revealed as Skyfish. He's also a little whiny at the beginning of the novel, but eventually drops it as he realizes, "Oh, hey. Cryptids are real. Someone is hoping to expose these creatures and kill millions in the process, and if I don't get my act together, I might lose everything as well."
Wendy Terrien's debut novel is right up my alley in regards to concept – <i>The Rampart Guards</i> is about cryptozoology, the study of creatures that may or may not exist. It's not everyday Big Foot, Loch Ness, and other creatures play a critical role in the plot of a novel, and it's the primary reason why <i>The Rampart Guards</i> caught my eye the moment the book was pitched to me.

I adored learning about all kinds of different creatures I've never heard of until I read this book, and if I do decide to continue on with the series, learning more about the cryptids and how this entire world works is going to be one thing I'll be extremely excited for.

Even though I didn't enjoy it as much as I hoped I would, <i>The Rampart Guards</i> will be a fantastic read for younger audiences.

<a href="https://bookwyrmingthoughts.com/review-the-rampart-guards-by-wendy-terrien/"; target="_blank">This review was originally posted on Bookwyrming Thoughts</a>