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Purple Phoenix Games (2266 KP) rated Azul in Tabletop Games

Jun 12, 2019  
Azul
Azul
2017 | Abstract Strategy
10
8.7 (21 Ratings)
Tabletop Game Rating
We are late to the game. Almost always. I mean, we BUY new games. We watch videos on them to learn. We then digest the rulebook and teach it to whomever is interested in playing with us. Then we play. Sometimes we can only get a few games in and we have to decide their fate in our collection after just a play or two or three. But then there are games that our wives buy us for Christmas that wasn’t even on our list, but she was on the publisher’s website buying a different game that WAS on our list, but thought this game was pretty so she decided to buy it for us (as well as the cute little expansion) and then decides she wants to play it and it turns out to be a really great game that we enjoy playing a whole bunch.

Uh. Sometimes I get too excited introducing a game. We are talking about Azul. O.G. Azul.

Ok, so you are supposed to be building a fancy tiled wall in Portugal. I think. The game comes with these fancy Starburst (not a sponsor) looking bakelite pieces – if you have played Hive you know the ones – and they are very colorful and cute. Everyone gets their own player board and score tracking cube. Then the game is afoot.

The player with the most points at the end of the game wins. Standard. I’m not going to go into the entirety of a rules explanation. Instead, I’m going to give you my review.

After having played it a dozen times or more, I absolutely love it. It is by far my favorite abstract strategy game that I have played. The components are fun to play with, the rules are light – most players can grasp the concept and gameplay – and it’s quick enough that you can play multiple games in a row if you so choose.

That said, we at Purple Phoenix Games give it a 24 / 24.

https://purplephoenixgames.wordpress.com/2018/11/30/azul-review/
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The Marinated Meeple (1853 KP) Jun 12, 2019

Love it, keep the reviews coming, I got kudos to give boardgamers
(1)
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Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2357 KP) rated Buried to the Brim in Books

Jan 29, 2020  
Buried to the Brim
Buried to the Brim
Jenn McKinlay | 2020 | Mystery
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Brimming with Fun, Doggone It!
Cousins Scarlett and Viv have an unusual new client for their hat shop. Betty Wentworth, Scarlett’s fiancé Harrison’s aunt, is about to enter a dog show with her dog, Freddy, and she is hoping that a top hat will launch him from second place to first place this year. At first Viv, who designs the hats, is reluctant, but soon she is on board, and everyone is delighted with the results. However, the contest weekend gets off to a rocky start during the cocktail party that kicks things off when Betty gets into an argument with Gerry Swendson, the owner of the dog food company that sponsors the show. The next morning, Freddy is the one to find Gerry’s very dead body. With the police looking at Betty, Scarlett begins digging in, trying to figure out who else had motive. It quickly becomes apparent that this dog show is far from cute. But who committed murder?

It’s been a couple of years since the last book in this series came out, and it was wonderful to catch up with these old friends. Some time has passed for them as well, but the relationships were as great as ever. We saw plenty of the supporting characters and I loved every minute of it. The mystery was just as strong, with plenty of suspects and a fantastic ending. I did find one thing near the climax pushed me out of the book and I didn’t remember a few instances of very mild swearing in earlier books, but both are worth noting only in passing. The running gags involving puns were always one of my favorite things in the series, and it is as delightful as ever here. And the dogs! There are some very cute moments with the dogs here. Fans of the series will be delighted to get to revisit these characters.
  
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Night Reader Reviews (683 KP) rated The Adventures of Pugalugs: Trick or Treat in Books

Jan 9, 2020  
The Adventures of Pugalugs: Trick or Treat
The Adventures of Pugalugs: Trick or Treat
Jessica Parish | 2015
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
The Adventures of Pugalugs: Trick or Treat by Jessica Parish is the Halloween edition of Pugalugs. It is a cute story that should not scare children at all.

In this Halloween adventure Pugalugs is getting ready to go trick or treating with his siblings Dug and Bella. He starts digging through a chest full of costumes trying to find the perfect one. Unfortunately, he finds this task o be a bit on the difficult side. Pugalugs and his siblings seem to be able to find something wrong with every costume he tries out. He tries everything from a scary ghost to a silly pumpkin. Finally, at the very end, Pugalugs finds the perfect costume at the bottom of the chest. After getting dressed up Pugalugs surprise everyone with his wonderful disguise.

What I liked best was each of the costumes that Pugalugs tries on is cute in its own way. Pugalugs entertains children with his silly antics by tripping over the tail of one costume and getting all tangled up in another one. At the end, he decides the best thing to be is himself. What I didn’t like was that this book was not quite what I expected, although that is not a problem. I was expecting Pugalugs to actually be trick or treating and possibly overcoming a fear. Instead, Pugalugs is getting ready to go trick or treating but never actually leaves the house.

Animal lovers of all ages will enjoy this fun Halloween book. Toddlers and young children will enjoy having this book read to them over and over again while slightly older children will enjoy reading it themselves. I rate this book 4 out of 4. The small paragraphs accompanied by full-page pictures keep the book from being intimidating to young readers. The rhymes in this book keep it moving at a steady speed and it has a wonderful lesson for children; be your self.

https://www.facebook.com/nightreaderreviews/
https://nightreaderreviews.blogspot.com/
  
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Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated Hotel Transylvania 2 (2015) in Movies

Aug 6, 2019  
Hotel Transylvania 2 (2015)
Hotel Transylvania 2 (2015)
2015 | Animation
8
7.3 (14 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Hotel Transylvania 2 is a new animated family film from Columbia Films, produced by Sony.

It has a huge voice cast, including stars Adam Sandler, Andy Samberg, Selena Gomez, Kevin James, Steve Buscemi, David Spade, Fran Dresher, Molly Shannon, Megan Mullally, Dana Carvey, Mel Brooks & Jon Lovitz.

This movie was super cute. The adult audience, myself included, laughed out loud, a lot. The kids thought it was hilarious, too.

One thing I liked a lot is that NOT all the good parts are in the commercials and previews, which means there is still “movie left to see” when you get to actually see the film, which is frequently not the case with highly advertised films.

The movie picks up where the first one left off, showing the wedding of Drac’s daughter Mavis to human Jonathan, and quickly jumping from there to the birth of a child (a son! (Named Dennis)) and then to the boys fourth birthday.

When Dennis doesn’t show any signs of his vamp heritage, Drac feels he must step in and try to help the boy “find his fangs”. Jonathan’s parents are none too thrilled with this turn of events and protest in words and actions.

The overall tone of the movie is happy, and teaches a lesson of acceptance.

The chemistry that showed up in the first film, is back in force between Dracula and his hotel buddies, and causes the movie to flow along without any major hiccups.

The jokes are cute, and play to both the kids and to adult humor.

There wasn’t anything that I found to be so inappropriate that it made my grind my teeth, which was a nice change in a children’s film.

If I had to make a complaint, it would honestly be that the movie seemed to almost move TOO quickly and I could have sat through another 20 minutes at least. Even though it’s run time is 90 minutes, it doesn’t “feel like” it lasts that long, and even my 7 year old son said it was ‘a quick movie’.
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Leanne Crabtree (480 KP) rated Promises: Part 1 (Bounty Hunters, #1) in Books

Jan 6, 2021  
Promises: Part 1 (Bounty Hunters, #1)
Promises: Part 1 (Bounty Hunters, #1)
A.E. Via | 2015
6
6.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
I borrowed this from the Kindle Unlimited Library.

I haven't read a gay romance in a while. This one tells the story of Duke, a bounty hunter/bail bondsman, who's in his mid 40's still pining over the guy he thought he was in love in, Judge. Then steps in his best friends son, Vaughan, a 31 year old lawyer who's had a crush on Duke for the past decade or so and has now come back to Atlanta to claim him as his own. Not all goes to plan though.

Duke is wary of dating his best friends son and Vaughan is determined to make him realise how right they are for each other. It's kinda cute, how they act around each other - like they're having their first crush.

Admittedly though, I did think that Vaughan's behaviour was a bit full on at times. Following Duke to Macy's and then following him into the dressing room? Fair enough we had a hot scene in that dressing room but it was still a little stalker-ish. I think because of that I didn't really feel their relationship. There were some cute moments throughout.

I did like how Duke saw Vaughan. He was bowled over by the sight of him and his description of him was downright awesome. It was how he described Vaughan's voice that I liked the most. Even I got a few tingles.

I liked it but it didn't completely pull me in. The relationship didn't entirely work for me. I get lust but these two seemed to fall into love really quickly and easily. I felt like I missed something.

One thing that has got me intrigued is Quick and Dr Chauncey. With how Quick spoke to the poor doctor in this one, I have no idea how he's going to straighten things out with him but after seeing that bit from the doctor's POV, I really hope they do because the poor guy deserves someone who'll stay.

I may read it at a later time.
  
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Ivana A. | Diary of Difference (1171 KP) rated Brightley & Glow in Books

Oct 5, 2020  
Brightley & Glow
Brightley & Glow
Sophie Carmen | 2020
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
I don’t often read Children’s Bedtime stories, as I think myself to be a grown up person (sometimes). But I couldn’t ignore Brightley & Glow by Sophie Carmen, as the cover was too gorgeous.

Even though I am past this whole bedtime story moment, I sometimes do read children's books. Maybe because I get nostalgic. Or maybe, because sometimes, we forget to look and remember the little things. And Children's books are all about little things in life. Moments and fragments that we often remember to forget as adults. Take a moment to look in the sun. A moment to smile to a person. Create a little space for yourself. Breathe. And be happy!

Brightley & Glow is quite short, but full of amazing art. I loved the way everything was represented, the dark background and the bright colours surrounding it. The story was also really cute. Brightley is a shooting star and his job soon will be to start bouncing and slowly fall out of the sky, so children can make their wishes. But his brother, Glow is a shining star. And his job is to stay close with the Moon and keep shining at night. When it’s time for Brightley to leave, both him and his brother become very sad and try to solve this unfairness so they can stay together.

I found the story in Brightley & Glow quite moving and absolutely adorable. It brought out many feelings inside me. How it feels when you see a loved one leave, and you know they have to go, and you have to accept the fact. But it also shows us how you can still love someone so fiercely and innocently that you are willing to give up everything for them.

If you have little ones, I highly recommend this Children’s Bedtime Story. It is short, but adorable, and the images are really cute as well!
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