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Christine A. (965 KP) rated Mayhem in Books

Aug 25, 2020

Mayhem

Estelle Laure | 2020 | Young Adult (YA)

7.5

(2 Ratings)

Book Rating

YA feminist mash-up inspired by The Lost Boys and The Craft.

I was provided with a complimentary copy of this book so I could give an honest review. The opinions are entirely my own, and any quotes are taken from the ARC and may be different in the final published copy.

A YA feminist mash-up inspired by The Lost Boys and The Craft. That's the first line of the description of Mayhem by Estelle Laure, which meant it was a book I just had to read. It was later changed to describe it as The Lost Boys meets Wilder Girls. I am glad I saw the earlier description because I probably would not have been so eager to read it.

When Mayhem Brayburn and her mom flee from an abusive stepfather/husband and return to Roxy's family home, Mayhem hopes to discover her mother's secrets and more about herself. What she learns is magic runs through the female lineage in her family, and the Brayburn women are responsible for keeping the town safe. Now, it is her generation, Mayhem and the kids who live with the Brayburns, to find the serial killer responsible for the missing girls.

Many reviewers rated the book low because it resembles The Lost Boys. Mayhem does pay homage to it. The Frog brothers make an appearance, and a few famous lines from the movie are included. However, Mayhem stands on its own.

Mayhem contains adult themes including rape and should be read by older YA readers.

This 200-word review was published on Philomathinphila.com on 7/15/20 and updated on 8/24/20.

Kudos

Mekkin B. (122 KP) rated Wonder Woman (2017) in Movies

Sep 11, 2017

Wonder Woman (2017)

2017 | Action, Fantasy, War

8.2

(517 Ratings)

Movie Rating Watch

Wonder Woman is visually beautiful, fairly well paced, and delivers great action. If you like superhero movies, it's definitely one to go see. Gal Gadot plays the bright-eyed and slightly alien Diana with aplomb. The plot is definitely weak in places. This movie has one or two moments where things would be solved much more swiftly if the characters weren't keeping secrets for very flimsy reasons, and also fails to give answers to some things, such as Diana's wrist guards. All in all, though, this movie had heart and I appreciated it for refusing to fall into grit and darkness. It's hard to craft a character who is brave and honest and quintessentially good and also make them not incredibly boring. This movie did that very well.

Kudos

Cori June (3033 KP) rated Tempests and Slaughter: the Numair Chronicles Book 1 in Books

Nov 30, 2018

Tempests and Slaughter: the Numair Chronicles Book 1

Tamora Pierce | 2018 | Science Fiction/Fantasy, Young Adult (YA)

8.5

(4 Ratings)

Book Rating

Numair (0 more)

If you are a fan of the Tortall world you should live this book. Set before the Immortals Sonnet, we get to see what Numair's childhood was like as he grows up in Carthak and meets Ozorne and Valice. Unlike most of her books this is completely set in Numair' s aka Arran Draper' s p.o.v.
I would recommend to pre-teens and older however, suggest that parent's read first because male puberty is discussed. Also discussed is Bullying, slavery, death, learning mage craft, political intrigue, friendship, love, gods, war. and has a few graphic fighting and healing scenes. A fast-paced read that has world building to reacquaint people to known characters. it does have an abrupt ending but I'm also selfish in I didn't want the book to end.

Kudos

Kirk Bage (1775 KP) rated Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957) in Movies

Mar 3, 2020

Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957)

1957 | Action, Classics, Western

7.4

(5 Ratings)

Movie Rating

In another piece of perfect casting, Douglas realised that in this old tale of massive mythological appeal the role of Doc Holliday is far more interesting than the lead of Wyatt Earp. Even so, he managed to earn level billing with lifelong friend Burt Lancaster, such was his box office draw at this point. The two had worked together before, but it wasn’t until this hugely entertaining western that they really bonded; apparently laughing so much between takes that on several occasions director John Sturges sent them home, as no work was possible that day. Douglas also talks in his auto-biography about how he became obsessed with how many times Doc would cough in a scene to maintain continuity – evidence of just how seriously he did take his screen work and craft.