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David McK (3425 KP) rated Skulduggery Pleasant in Books

Jan 26, 2024

The first in Derek Landy's 'Skulduggery Pleasant' series, which I decided to borrow recently from Kindle Unlimited.

I read (or heard) somewhere that this was attempting to be the heir to the Harry potter crown, and I can definitely see the similarities: a secret world alongside our own full of magic, where a dark sorcerer wants to gain control over the mortal world, and where a young pre-teen is introduced to the world and has (to them) unknown connections to it already, and some unpleasant relatives...

However, unlike the Harry Potter series, this is primarily set in and around Dublin (rather than London) - and so, to me, is closer to home - while the home life of the protagonist is far more settled: she's not an orphan, and lives with her family.

I also found Skulduggery Pleasant to be more of an interesting character than Dumbledore, as well as playing a far larger role in the proceedings.

Finally, I may yet read more of these.

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Riddle of the Gods (Olaf's Saga #4)

Eric Schumacher

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Book

Riddle of the Gods is the riveting fourth novel in the best-selling series chronicling the life and...

Historical Fiction Adventure Norse Series

Lonely Planet Ireland's Best Trips

Lonely Planet, Catherine Le Nevez, Fionn Davenport and Belinda Dixon

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Book

Lonely Planet: The world's leading travel guide publisher Discover the freedom of open roads while...

The Woman Who Stole My Life

Marian Keyes

8.0 (1 Ratings) Rate It

Book

Ever wish you could trade your life in for a better one? The Woman Who Stole My Life is a story full...

Bob Mann (459 KP) rated Animals (2019) in Movies

Jul 23, 2019

Animals (2019)

2019 | Comedy, Drama

6.3

(3 Ratings)

Movie Rating

It's well shot and Holliday Grainger is great (0 more)

Hateful characters that acted in depressingly negative ways that I couldn't relate to. (0 more)

As sponsored by Jacob’s Creek.

Laura (Holliday Grainger) and Tyler (Alia Shawkat) are two late twenty-somethings partying their way to an early death through drink, drugs and lack of sleep in Dublin. They are co-habiting best friends, with Laura a hugely unsuccessful part-time novelist and Tyler a barista. But these “professions” are just to fill the day and provide cash (SURELY not enought!?) to fuel their nights. They are swimming against the current of convention, but when Laura falls for concert pianist Jim (Fra Fee), and ‘settling down’ starts to look like an option, then this begins to put a terrible strain on their friendship.

A well made film, but I just found all the characters hateful and unrelatable to. Didn't enjoy it.

For the full review, please visit One Mann's Movies on https://bob-the-movie-man.com/2019/07/18/one-manns-movies-film-review-animals-2019/.

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Diva (60 KP) Dec 17, 2019

I agree with you - I didn’t have any emotional connection to the protagonists! I had been looking forward to this film all summer, the trailers made it look like a comedy. But it was more of a dark, tragic tale.

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David McK (3425 KP) rated Sharpe's Devil (Sharpe, #21) in Books

Mar 5, 2020

The final (*sniff*) of Bernard Cornwell's Sharpe books, this is set 5 years after the battle of Waterloo (so, in 1820) and sees Richard Sharpe - now happily settled and living with Lucille in Normandy, and his particular friend Patrick Harper (now running a bar in Dublin) off to Chile in a quest to find an old friend (from all the way back in Sharpe's Rifleswho is missing, reported dead - a report his wife refuses to believe.

While at first it seems that the 'pit-stop' in Saint Helena to meet/gawk at the defeated Emperor Napoleon - pretty daring of Cornwell to put such a famous historical personage in the novel! - is just that, this actually later proves to be an essential part of the plot: I'm not going to give anything away by saying how!

Bit sad that the series is finished now; I guess I'm just going to have to go back and (re)read them all again, as I have been doing over the last couple of years!