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Lee (2222 KP) rated A Discovery of Witches - Season 1 in TV

Nov 8, 2018 (Updated Nov 8, 2018)  
A Discovery of Witches - Season 1
A Discovery of Witches - Season 1
2018 | Fantasy
Bit of a slow burn, some good potential though.
A Discovery of Witches is based on the first book of the 'All Souls Trilogy', by Deborah Harkness. We're in a world where witches, vampires and demons all live among us, carrying out normal human jobs and duties. Obviously these creatures are all aware of each other, and it becomes clear that there is a long, complex and very tense history between them all. While us humans remain blissfully unaware.

The show begins in Oxford, England with Diana Bishop (Teresa Palmer), a witch working as a historian. While carrying out research in the local library she discovers a book which had long been considered missing, and mysteriously only shows itself to Diana. It's return triggers a lot of interest within the supernatural community and she finds herself attracting a lot of unwanted attention, beginning with Matthew Clairmont (Matthew Goode), a local geneticist and vampire. They eventually forge a romantic relationship and begin working together to try and solve the mysteries within the book.

My wife absolutely loves this show and looking at some of the reviews for it on IMDB I know I'm in the minority here, but I mostly found A Discovery Of Witches to be a bit dull. The whole thing is very stylishly done, highlighting Oxford as the beautiful city it is, and we also spend a lot of time in Venice, and various other exotic international locations. But it's the slow burn and the characters themselves that didn't really do it for me. The vampires are mostly moody, throwing their weight around and showing off their lightning speed and reactions along with their heightened senses. The witches are generally wise and supposedly more powerful, but rarely exhibit any more power than setting something on fire, rattling something, or making it a bit windy to the point where people get knocked off their feet. And the demons... well, the demons don't really seem to do anything at all, acting and appearing just like normal humans throughout the entire show. There's a lot of dodgy acting, and as much as I've loved Teresa Palmer in other roles prior to this, I don't really feel she's well suited here. It's all just slow burn and forbidden love. Twilight, but with grown-ups and less special effects.

It's just been granted another two seasons, so I'm definitely in the minority with my opinions. To be fair though, there have been some enjoyable moments, and I'm certainly interested in the direction the show appeared to be heading in. The finale cliffhanger definitely opened up some fun and interesting potential for next season too.
  
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Sarah (7799 KP) Nov 11, 2018

I’m only 4 episodes in to this and am not particularly impressed. It reminds me so much of Twilight, I’m glad you’ve said this too!

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Karica Truebenbach (156 KP) Nov 12, 2018

I didn't know they made the books into a show. I loved the All Souls Trilogy, so I think I might give this a pass. Thanks for the review.

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Whatchareadin (174 KP) rated The Fixer in Books

May 10, 2018  
The Fixer
The Fixer
Joseph Finder | 2015 | Fiction & Poetry
6
6.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
3.5 Stars

Rick Hoffman is down on his luck. He's just lost his high paying job and along with it, is long term girlfriend. Forced to move back into his childhood home, a place that has been abandoned for many years, he makes a startling discovery that will change his life forever. But will it change it for better or for worse. Will Rick be able to stay alive long enough to get to the bottom of who his father was and ultimately who he is?

This is the first book I have read by Joseph Finder. I have had a number of his books on my TBR list for a while and after seeing him on an interview on my Facebook feed, I decided to give it a try. <u>The Fixer</u> was the only book that I was able to find at the time. I was hooked from the start. At about 50%-75% through the book my interest dwindled a little bit, but that last part of the book was hard to put down. I had to know who was at the end of the mystery. Was it who I was suspecting, or a character you would never guess? Overall this was a very enjoyable book and I look forward to reading more Joseph Finder titles.
  
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Eleanor (1463 KP) rated Star Trek: Discovery - Season 2 in TV

May 28, 2019 (Updated May 28, 2019)  
Star Trek: Discovery - Season 2
Star Trek: Discovery - Season 2
2019 | Sci-Fi
Action (1 more)
Some strong characters
Story-lines (0 more)
Fall off in form - more of a set up for Season 3....
I enjoyed the first series of this Trek spin off so went into season 2 hoping for a lot. It managed to tackle some of the troublesome storylines but it felt like the characters had lost some of the punchyness that made the first series shine.

In this series we get a lot of Spock (not entirely sold on the acting of Ethan Peck) who must face his past along with his estranged sister Michael Burnham. As well as Captain Pike (played very well by Anson Mount) taking control of Discovery to investigate a series of odd red signals that have being appearing across the universe.

Stories involving time travel are often problematic and unlike the Series 1 mirror universe storyline the time travel aspect in this was clumsy. The AI threat was also not that thrilling for me and left too many questions unanswered.

There seemed to be a much more mopy, exploring feelings and relationships, feel to this series that I think that let it down. The action was great but characters seemed to feel it was necessary to have a heart to heart in the middle of a time critical mission - GET ON WITH IT FFS!!!
  
A friends to lovers historical romance that is as cute as it is frustrating.

Friends to lovers is one of my favorite subgenres and it was clear from the beginning that Francine and Julian were meant for each other. Sometimes you can just tell that two souls are two halves of a whole.

While the romance is both heartwarming and almost painfully cute, it was the characters that enraptured me. Francine is an absolute doll and Julian is everything the hero should be. In truth, it is the collective of characters that make this story, not just the leads. Francine’s friends are a force to behold, her mother surprisingly insightful, and the ton as transparent as they ought to be.

The author has a talent for pulling emotions from the reader. With every mishap, misunderstanding, and discovery, I found myself holding my breathing and worrying right along with the heroine. AT some points I had to place the book down because I was either so frustrated I couldn’t deal or so shocked I needed to process.
 
I feel in the end, we got the end we wanted. But I was left wanting, mainly for Mary’s story. As one of Francine’s closest friends, I felt that Mary stole the show for me and I am very much looking forward to her own story.
  
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Sean Farrell (9 KP) rated Ararat in Books

Mar 15, 2018  
Ararat
Ararat
Christopher Golden | 2017 | Fiction & Poetry, Horror, Thriller
10
7.3 (3 Ratings)
Book Rating
"Popcorn" books can be a lot of fun no matter what time of year it is, but they seem especially appropriate in the Summer time, and this latest horror offering from Christopher Golden is a pretty perfect Summer book. Engaged, moutain-climbing authors / documentary filmmakers Adam and Meryam are in a race to be first up Mt. Ararat into a cavern that has opened up as the result of an earthquake, possibly revealing Noah's Ark. Unsurprisingly they make it and discover that the cavern appears to actually be the ark itself, and it contains a rather disturbing discovery inside. Nevertheless, they assemble a team of international archaeologists, religious experts, mountain guides, and government representatives and get to work studying their findings. As a blizzard approaches, effectively trapping them inside the Ark, things begin to take a turn for the worse at the site as the body count begins piling up, and the tone of the book switches from adventure mixed with some mystery to a straight-up frightfest. This is one of the scarier books I've read in a while, using some pretty shocking violence to really up the fear factor. As a result, while not likely to win any literary rewards, Mr. Golden has created one of the year's most entertaining books, and written a story that would make a great Summer blockbuster.