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Monster Manual (Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition)
8.4
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Tabletop Game
A menagerie of deadly monsters for the world’s greatest roleplaying game The Monster Manual...
dungeons and dragons roleplay rpg dnd d&d 5e
Ink Exchange (Wicked Lovely, #2)
7.6
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Book
Unbeknownst to mortals, a power struggle is unfolding in a world of shadows and danger. After...
faeries
The Hearth and the Eagle
6.0
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Book
A saga set in the coastal town of Marblehead, Massachussetts, by the New York Times–bestselling...
BeardyJim (611 KP) rated the PlayStation 4 version of Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice in Video Games
Nov 2, 2021 (Updated Nov 2, 2021)
Looks amazing (4 more)
Compelling story
Original death mechanic
Gives a psychological insight into how you played the game at the end
Loading screens completely hidden by cutscenes
A stunning insight into your own psyche
One of my favourite games of recent years, Senua's Sacrifice is a thought provoking insight into your own psyche, while at the same time being a beautiful story about love, death and loss.
The game looks amazing, and there aren't any loading screens, as they're cleverly hidden by cutscenes.
The game has an interesting death mechanic, whereby if Senua dies, an infection gets worse in her arm, spreading all over her body. If you die so often that the infection takes over, your save game is deleted. Harsh, right?
Despite this, the gameplay is beautifully done, and the story really gets your attention throughout.
If you haven't picked this up yet, I urge you to do so, before the sequel comes out.
The game looks amazing, and there aren't any loading screens, as they're cleverly hidden by cutscenes.
The game has an interesting death mechanic, whereby if Senua dies, an infection gets worse in her arm, spreading all over her body. If you die so often that the infection takes over, your save game is deleted. Harsh, right?
Despite this, the gameplay is beautifully done, and the story really gets your attention throughout.
If you haven't picked this up yet, I urge you to do so, before the sequel comes out.
Cori June (3033 KP) rated Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky (Tristan Strong #1) in Books
Feb 19, 2022
the characters (2 more)
the story
Good read for anyone
This is a great middle grade book. The story is compelling and deep. Tristan is a boy who is struggling with growing up, figuring out how to deal with losing his best friend, and feeling like a disappointment to his parents and grandparents. It's a rollercoaster of feelings and a great story.
If you don't know anything or much about African American or African folktales or mythology, it's ok. I really know only two (John Henry the reason why I bought the book.) and have only a passing knowledge of some of the characters and others I didn't know at all. And that didn't distract from the story. I will be looking the stories up because I want to know more about them. That kind of curiosity is something that I feel makes a great book.
I look forward to reading the next story.
If you don't know anything or much about African American or African folktales or mythology, it's ok. I really know only two (John Henry the reason why I bought the book.) and have only a passing knowledge of some of the characters and others I didn't know at all. And that didn't distract from the story. I will be looking the stories up because I want to know more about them. That kind of curiosity is something that I feel makes a great book.
I look forward to reading the next story.
Samueljhague (1250 KP) rated The Castles of Burgundy in Tabletop Games
Mar 23, 2022
Building a better board game.
The Castles of Burgundy looks like a typical Euro- board game from the early 2000's it looks boring. It also looks more complicated than it ends up being. The amount of brain power use in this game has a good balance between cerebral and mindless. At the end of the game you have something in front of you that you have built and it feels good in that respect even if you haven't won the game. It can be played casually, and with your full attention. My wife and I enjoy playing this as two players. We have played this many times more as a two player game than any other game in our collection. This game gets top marks, and is as close to a perfect game as I have experienced.
LeftSideCut (3776 KP) rated Three Thousand Years of Longing (2022) in Movies
Oct 13, 2022
Three Thousand Years of Longing is a film that manages to be compelling, magical, and very human all at one. It's a film that deals with a mystical concept but at its core, is about the basic need to feel loved and wanted, and the sacrifices that come with it.
It's also a huge love letter to story telling. A big chunk of the narrative structure is made up of the two leads regailing tales to eachother, and it's relentlessly engaging and wholesome. Tilda Swinton is fantastic, as she tends to be. Idris Elba has always been a bit hit and miss for me, but he also excels here, and the chemistry between the two of them is strong and sweet.
Throw in a heart wrenching score from Junkie XL and the unique visionary work of George Miller, and you're left with a piece that is built to bury itself into your mind and stay there for a while. A truly wonderful experience.
It's also a huge love letter to story telling. A big chunk of the narrative structure is made up of the two leads regailing tales to eachother, and it's relentlessly engaging and wholesome. Tilda Swinton is fantastic, as she tends to be. Idris Elba has always been a bit hit and miss for me, but he also excels here, and the chemistry between the two of them is strong and sweet.
Throw in a heart wrenching score from Junkie XL and the unique visionary work of George Miller, and you're left with a piece that is built to bury itself into your mind and stay there for a while. A truly wonderful experience.
Thirsty Animals
10.0
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Book
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THE WATER RUNS OUT? THE WORLD IS RUNNING OUT OF WATER. With supply in the...
Kristy H (1252 KP) rated Give Me Your Hand in Books
Mar 10, 2019
Dark, intense, and compelling psychological thriller
Kit Owens is surviving high school but not living up to her true potential when Diane Fleming arrives at her school. Diane awakens a fire in Kit and the two form an unlikely friendship that propels Kit to academic success in her senior year. She and Diane study together and push each other to reach to be the best. Kit can't help but feel bad for her friend, who lives with her grandfather after the death of her dad. But all that changes when Diane shares an explosive secret with Kit, one that changes the way she views Diane and basically ends their friendship. Ten years later, Kit has tried to put Diane (and her secret) behind her. She's working in the lab of a female scientist, Dr. Severin, whom she's idolized for years--a woman Diane first helped introduce her to. But when Dr. Severin earns a prestigious grant and Kit learns that Diane is suddenly in the running for one of the coveted spots to work with the Doctor on the research, the past comes rushing back. Soon Diane and Kit find themselves over their head, with secrets and horror lurking around every corner.
So, I wasn't sure I was going to enjoy this one as I started it, but it grew on me. It's not really a pleasant read, at all, and none of the characters are ones you'll really love, but it's very compelling and there's a slow, foreboding creepiness that keeps you reading. I read this one quickly, as it's dark, twisty, and intense and very easy-to-read (as in, a page-turner, not the subject matter).
"My mom always say, you don't have a self until you have a secret." ~Diane
The novel flips between the "then" and "now" format, with Kit narrating to us. It's a female-centered book, and it easily depicts women's uphill battle in the workplace. It also shows the complicated feelings of our female characters: Kit has a lot of thoughts. Her struggle from a poor high school student to doctor is a fascinating one, even if I found her hard to empathize with. You won't necessarily agree with a lot of these characters' (sometimes outlandish) choices, but you'll find them oddly fascinating. I enjoyed how the novel delved into the darkness of friendship--and some of the competition that can come with it. Diane and Kit's relationship is dark and intense, as is the entire novel, really. The secrets that layer this book unravel slowly and eerily, and it really does keep you reading.
I especially thought this one was redeemed or bolstered by its ending; often a thriller is so good and then deflates at the end, but I actually thought this one got a little better at the end. The ending is really well-done, and I didn't feel let down whatsoever.
Overall, this is a dark, intense, and compelling psychological thriller. It's not exactly packed with loveable characters, but they are flawed, interesting, and--at times--quite creepy. You'll be drawn in by its twisty plot and complicated portrayal of friendship and secrets.
So, I wasn't sure I was going to enjoy this one as I started it, but it grew on me. It's not really a pleasant read, at all, and none of the characters are ones you'll really love, but it's very compelling and there's a slow, foreboding creepiness that keeps you reading. I read this one quickly, as it's dark, twisty, and intense and very easy-to-read (as in, a page-turner, not the subject matter).
"My mom always say, you don't have a self until you have a secret." ~Diane
The novel flips between the "then" and "now" format, with Kit narrating to us. It's a female-centered book, and it easily depicts women's uphill battle in the workplace. It also shows the complicated feelings of our female characters: Kit has a lot of thoughts. Her struggle from a poor high school student to doctor is a fascinating one, even if I found her hard to empathize with. You won't necessarily agree with a lot of these characters' (sometimes outlandish) choices, but you'll find them oddly fascinating. I enjoyed how the novel delved into the darkness of friendship--and some of the competition that can come with it. Diane and Kit's relationship is dark and intense, as is the entire novel, really. The secrets that layer this book unravel slowly and eerily, and it really does keep you reading.
I especially thought this one was redeemed or bolstered by its ending; often a thriller is so good and then deflates at the end, but I actually thought this one got a little better at the end. The ending is really well-done, and I didn't feel let down whatsoever.
Overall, this is a dark, intense, and compelling psychological thriller. It's not exactly packed with loveable characters, but they are flawed, interesting, and--at times--quite creepy. You'll be drawn in by its twisty plot and complicated portrayal of friendship and secrets.
FilmIntuition (33 KP) rated All We Ever Wanted in Books
Jul 6, 2018
Timely & Compelling
Determined to get to the second book in the series that everyone I knew had assured me was "the best," over the years, I must've picked up and earnestly started my paperback copy of Emily Giffin's Something Borrowed dozens of times but just couldn't relate to the characters.
And while I feared the same would be true for Giffin's latest novel All We Ever Wanted, especially considering that the first chapter of the book – which divides the storyline into three alternating first person points-of-view – began from the perspective of the wealthy one percenter wife from Nashville's elite, Giffin quickly replaces first world problems with real world problems.
Shocked to her core upon discovering appalling decision made by her Princeton bound son, in trying to get to the bottom of what exactly happened and what on Earth he was thinking, Nina Browning is forced to take a good hard look at her life and marriage as well as her past when she found herself at the other end of a similar horrific situation.
Continuing the action from the perspective of the two main other parties involved including her son's younger classmate, Lyla and Lyla's protective single father Tom, Giffin deftly balances her richly compelling drama with timely issues of economic inequality, racism, and sexual harassment in the digital age.
Surprising her readers with a few well-earned twists, while despite the narrative roller-coaster, we're pretty sure we know precisely who's to blame, ultimately it's in Lyla and Nina's journey toward accepting and understanding the truth that made the book increasingly hard to stop reading, particularly in its second half.
An ideal property for HBO to look into adapting as part of its annual miniseries exploration of twenty-first century women in literature, All We Ever Wanted might have been my first Emily Giffin work but it's just the right one to make me want to pick up Something Borrowed again for good.
Note: I received an Advanced Reader’s Copy of this title from Bookish First in exchange for an honest opinion.
And while I feared the same would be true for Giffin's latest novel All We Ever Wanted, especially considering that the first chapter of the book – which divides the storyline into three alternating first person points-of-view – began from the perspective of the wealthy one percenter wife from Nashville's elite, Giffin quickly replaces first world problems with real world problems.
Shocked to her core upon discovering appalling decision made by her Princeton bound son, in trying to get to the bottom of what exactly happened and what on Earth he was thinking, Nina Browning is forced to take a good hard look at her life and marriage as well as her past when she found herself at the other end of a similar horrific situation.
Continuing the action from the perspective of the two main other parties involved including her son's younger classmate, Lyla and Lyla's protective single father Tom, Giffin deftly balances her richly compelling drama with timely issues of economic inequality, racism, and sexual harassment in the digital age.
Surprising her readers with a few well-earned twists, while despite the narrative roller-coaster, we're pretty sure we know precisely who's to blame, ultimately it's in Lyla and Nina's journey toward accepting and understanding the truth that made the book increasingly hard to stop reading, particularly in its second half.
An ideal property for HBO to look into adapting as part of its annual miniseries exploration of twenty-first century women in literature, All We Ever Wanted might have been my first Emily Giffin work but it's just the right one to make me want to pick up Something Borrowed again for good.
Note: I received an Advanced Reader’s Copy of this title from Bookish First in exchange for an honest opinion.