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Kindling the Moon (Arcadia Bell, #1)
Kindling the Moon (Arcadia Bell, #1)
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
4.5 stars.

I was surprised that I liked this so much. I think it was the fact that the romance took up a good 50% or so of the book, the other 50% being the hunt for the demon that Cady believed killed the three people her parents had been accused of killing.

I still haven't decided if Lon is attractive (wavy longish hair and moustache?) but I have to admit that despite the age difference between him and Cady that I really like the thought of them as a couple. Some of the scenes between them were just amazingly sweet and others were just plain sexy.

I cannot wait to read more of this series!
  
TB
The Black Chalice (Revelations 1)
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
89 of 235
Kindle
The Black Chalice (Revelations 1)
By Lauretta Hignett
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

A cursed woman, destined to bring about the apocalypse. The obsessed zealot, determined to hunt and kill her.

And the demon who wants to save her.

It's the end of the world, but not as we know it.



Well that was different! I liked the concept the characters were actually likeable. Eve is definitely a breath of fresh air when it comes to female leads she’s funny without it being forced and her outlook on life is awesome. What’s more complicated than the end of the world? Throw a love that can never be in maybe.
  
Beauty and The Beast
Beauty and The Beast
6
6.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Princess Callindra of Tempath is in for some trouble when she runs aways from her mother’s castle and gets kidnapped by a vampire demon who will sell her into slavery. Her only hope out of there is with the help of a mysterious and hairy demon named Brigg, who is not in the least happy to be helping a human. He has hated humans ever since his father was cursed by a human woman, who turned all of them into hairy beasts for life. But he was drawn to this woman, as vexing as she could be. Every part of him was drawn to her and yearned to protect her and make her his. His inner demon was sure that she was his mate. But that was impossible, wasn’t it? How could he have a human for a mate?

I’m a huge sucker for Beauty and Beast stories, as you probably know if you’ve read some of my other reviews. Seriously. You can win some girls over with chocolate and others over with hugs and kisses, but nothing does it for me like an insecure love interest and a woman who’s his salvation because of her unconditional love. (Okay, maybe I’m a little high maintenance). So of course I loved this story! Brigg was wonderfully sweet and conflicted, even though he needs to stop listening to his idiot brother. Cally is a fantastic damsel in distress even though sometimes she just needs to think of the obvious and frickin’ tell someone she doesn’t want to go back home because her mother’s a bitch and she’s part demon. But you know, aside from that, the characters are great.

It’s totally understandable why Brigg dislikes humans. I mean, the only real exposure he had of them was from Cally’s mom, who cursed him and his brother to be hairy beasts instead of the handsome, practically human-looking demons they really were. Frankly, I’d be pissed too. I also understand his confusion when he falls himself falling for Cally when he thinks she’s completely human, and the daughter of a crazy witch/queen to boot. Nevertheless, he still protects her. He saves her from slavery, risking the wrath of her kidnapper to do it, and he keeps her safe. He does this even though he doesn’t think she could ever love him in return.

She was a vision, an image plucked right from his dreams. Maybe a time– before the curse– he had imagined such a beauty being his…. But he was no longer that young Rain demon, that young demon with smooth skin and a face as human as hers. He was a beast, an ugly monster who didn’t deserve the look of interest Cally was flashing right now.

What can I say? I love the insecurities. They are as sexy as hell when done right.

But even though his intentions are good, Brigg is not the smartest demon in the hellhole. As soon as his brother Torc enters the scene, it takes Brigg all of two minutes to decide that Cally has placed a spell on him to use him to get home. This would make sense, except by this point both Brigg and Cally were safe. In a palace. As the guests of a prince. Who was giving her a lift home. She would need to continue on with the spell and the act because…. ?

Like I said, not that fast of a thinker. But Cally isn’t much better. More than anything she wants to avoid her old home, with her abusive mother who was going to put her into an arranged marriage which would only end badly for Cally. Now she’s in an impenetrable palace that’s owned by Sam, who has been nothing but kind to her. He thinks he’s still being kind when he arranges for her ride home. And Cally doesn’t bother to tell him she doesn’t want to go home! Clearly, she’s just being melodramatic. She’s not that desperate.

She had thought about telling Sam, considered asking for his help, but she had been such a burden since Brigg rescued her, Call was frightened of rejection.



You think Sam’s rejection is going to be worse than having your horns filed off again before getting married to a prince that will likely torture you for the rest of your life when he finds out you’re a demon. Clearly, you don’t have your priorities straight.

But seriously, I loved the characters! I’m telling you, it’s Beauty and the Beast! My standards might be a tad low with this story arc.

There was a lot of confusing things in the plot as well. Like what era does this take place in? Cally rides home in a carriage and Brigg and Torc use swords. But Cally also wears t-shirts and jeans and she uses an electric torch, aka flashlight. It’s difficult enough to learn all of the nooks and crannies of the world the author built. There shouldn’t be confusion like flashlights with swords as well. Also, I felt like there was a lot of potential for a longer, more developed story. The whole thing felt very short to me. We never find out why Brigg’s father got cursed to begin with, and I’d love to know more about Brigg’s past, like how did he go crazy and get everyone to be afraid of him? That was never explained. Also, I know it’s unlikely, but I really wished there was some confirmation that Brigg and Cally are not brother and sister. After all, we know Cally’s mom has a past with Brigg’s father, Cally’s own father is MIA, and her horns are the same color as Brigg’s. Probably not anything, but just enough to make me wonder.

I don’t know. I liked this story enough to read it twice– that’s a huge compliment from me– but after reading it a second time and writing this review I’m wondering how good it really was. Maybe I just read it at the right time but didn’t like it as much. I don’t know. So three out of five stars on this one?
  
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Neon's Nerd Nexus (360 KP) created a post

Dec 23, 2019  
'The Neon Demon' 2016 is my film of the decade and also my favourite film of all time too.

'The Neon Demon' is all my passion, my addiction, my love for cinema and everything that inspires me, excites and drives me in life all crammed together into one cinematic masterpiece. In fact I think this film is so perfect and it means so much to me that its become a huge obsession of mine to the point where I think about it on a daily basis and even have my phone/room themed around it, tattoos of it, clothing/earnings based around it and it also influences most photos I take too. Directed by Nicholas Winding Refn and just like 'Only God Forgives'/'Drive' its visually immense, beautiful, intimidating, full of mystery and chock full of raw emotion too. Every scene is dense, rich and stylish with clearly a lot of time, care and thought put into each one be it the colours, lighting, camera angles or object placement everything in the frame is there for a purpose both visually and metaphorically. This film invokes and awakens so many emotions with me every single time I watch it that every time it ends I feel I've learnt something new not onlu about the film but about myself too. With next level acting and such an unnerving yet spellbinding soundtrack 'The Neon Demon' almost sends shivers down my spine and catapults me into a hypnotic state of immersion still when rewatching it to this day. Clearly inspired by Dario Argento movies such as 'Suspira' this film also has such a nostalgic feel to it as well containing very similar themes and uncomfortable visual/psychological horror too that many will no doubt find disturbing but to me it helps ramp up the tension, create a chilling atmosphere and adds huge emotional impact to the film. I doubt any film will ever replace this film as my top spot and although its slated by pretty much everyone (Jena Malone however said she was proud of it when I met her) the sheer depth, horror, inspiration, courage, enlightenment and joy that I personally get from watching it makes me feel so alive that if I met NWR I think I'd just burst into tears of gratitude.

Tom Nanni aka Neon Nans Reviews
     
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Kelly (279 KP) rated Diablero in TV

Jan 11, 2019  
Diablero
Diablero
2018 | Horror
8
6.1 (7 Ratings)
TV Show Rating
Creepy demons (1 more)
Likeable main characters
Some low budget special effects (0 more)
A Mexican Supernatural
This appeared on my Netflix recommendations list, so I thought that I would give it a try. I am a huge fan of this type of series, and would liken the series to Supernatural and the exorcist.

Series 1 follows Elvis (a Diablero or demon hunter), Father Ramiro (a priest hunting for his daughter, conceived prior to his joining the Catholic Church, but later abducted by a demon), Keta (Elvis’ sister) and Nancy (a young women who attracts demons). The story primarily centres around the groups search for the truth in finding Ramiro’s missing daughter, although strongly hints at stories that could be followed up in a future series.


Despite being in Spanish originally, Netflix have dubbed the show in English relatively well. I am not opposed to subtitles, but I do like to be lazy at times.

I thoroughly enjoyed this show and binged on it in two sittings. The show itself was quite dark at times, which fits in well with the genre. The story line includes the plight of small children which encourages us to route for the main characters, there is also on and off romantic tension between Ramiro and Nancy, which I found interesting. One thing I will say though, is at times the special effects were a little low budget, although I can imagine that this will improve as the show picks up credibility.

I eagerly await a second season (please renew Netflix), and hope that series 2 is longer than season 1!
  
Angelic Retribution
Angelic Retribution
Katrina Cope | 2017 | Paranormal, Young Adult (YA)
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
I thought the the first two installments of the Afterlife saga, following the exploits of human-turned-angel Aurora, were absoluately terrific. With this third installment I feel like I need to invent some new superlatives as all the existing ones seem somehow inadequate.

There's not much of the story I can discuss without giving things away, but this very much continues following the trend for the themes to get darker as the series has gone on. The angels are becoming desperate as the demon hordes press in relentlessly. After her actions in the second book Aurora is viewed with a great deal of suspicion by everyone and Abaddon is still focussed on getting her join the demon ranks.

The story that Cope tells here begs to be read; the stakes have been raised and it's really not clear what is going to happen next, and there are a number of shock twists and developments that take the plot in all sorts of directions I hadn't expected at the outset. As usual the writing and characterisation is flawless, smoothly flowing off the page throughout, effortlessly following the changes in pace as the story twists through its chapters.

If you enjoyed the first two books and want to find out what happens next to Aurora and her friends you will not be disappointed. If you have not read any of the series and are looking for something interesting, thought-provoking and pacey to read then I can't recommend these books highly enough.
  
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The Nun (2018)
The Nun (2018)
2018 | Horror
Nice visuals (0 more)
Weak storyline, low creepy factor (0 more)
Fair to Middlin'
I really wanted to love this movie. The Conjuring has been one of my favorite horror movies since its release. Sadly, this film relied on jump scares and predictable outcomes instead of the insidious creepiness that I loved in the previous movies. Although it does succeed in bridging the gaps between the two Conjurings, the storyline itself was weak and disappointing. With all the time it took to be released, I feel that a much better film could have been produced. Visually it was great. The Nun character is still as horrifying as before, but the movie glosses over the origin of the demon. I appreciated the few comedic bits, but overall this movie was a letdown.