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BeRad89 (48 KP) rated The Mountain Between Us in Books
Mar 23, 2018 (Updated Mar 23, 2018)
Two successful strangers, Ben Payne the doctor and Ashley the Columnist, end up plane crashed in Utah. As they struggle to survive, Ben pushes all the odds to get them rescued. Is this the end or the beginning?
Let me begin by saying, I liked this book. It was an easy read; and with all the hype around it, I really wanted to read it. I pushed it to the front of my pile and have read it in between official review books. I liked how you get to know Ben, his strength and character through his recordings to his his wife. Sadly, that was about the only thing I truly enjoyed in this book.
With all the recommendations to read this book, I was excited. I thought I was in for an exciting, thriller. I was disappointed. I kept waiting for moments that made my heart pound, my breath catch, fear, anything. It was flat , in my opinion. The book focuses on Ben. You do not learn anything about Ashley other than she is one hell of a strong woman. I feel like that was a missed opportunity. She may have well been a log dragged around.
Charles Martin's writing style feels generic. I kept having to check the front of the book to make sure it was a book churned out by Nicholas Sparks. I did like the way he told Ben's past. It was touching, and the emotions got through to me.
Overall, I gave The Mountain Between Us 3 out of 5 stars. I would recommend it as an easy read to anyone who loves Nicholas Sparks type books. If you are looking for an action-packed thriller, let this one pass you by.
Let me begin by saying, I liked this book. It was an easy read; and with all the hype around it, I really wanted to read it. I pushed it to the front of my pile and have read it in between official review books. I liked how you get to know Ben, his strength and character through his recordings to his his wife. Sadly, that was about the only thing I truly enjoyed in this book.
With all the recommendations to read this book, I was excited. I thought I was in for an exciting, thriller. I was disappointed. I kept waiting for moments that made my heart pound, my breath catch, fear, anything. It was flat , in my opinion. The book focuses on Ben. You do not learn anything about Ashley other than she is one hell of a strong woman. I feel like that was a missed opportunity. She may have well been a log dragged around.
Charles Martin's writing style feels generic. I kept having to check the front of the book to make sure it was a book churned out by Nicholas Sparks. I did like the way he told Ben's past. It was touching, and the emotions got through to me.
Overall, I gave The Mountain Between Us 3 out of 5 stars. I would recommend it as an easy read to anyone who loves Nicholas Sparks type books. If you are looking for an action-packed thriller, let this one pass you by.
Nicole Hadley (380 KP) rated Coming Up For Air in Books
Jun 14, 2018
Coming Up for Air by Miranda Kenneally is a fantastic book in the Hundred Oaks series. This is the 5th book I've read in the series. I love getting lost in the sporty world that Miranda Kenneally has created. I love that each book features a different girl with a different sport.
In Coming Up for Air the main character is Maggie. Maggie is a devoted swimmer. Swimming is her entire life, she is passionate about it. Maggie hopes that one day she'll get into the Olympics. Swimming is not something that is forced rather it is something she loves.
Coming Up for Air is light, funny and cute. Maggie has four great friends, who all have sports that they love more than life itself. Levi is her best friend, and he swims with her. They are great characters, and have a great romance. They are best friends first. They don't let anything come in the way of their friendship; however, when Maggie feels she needs experience in certain areas before she heads off to college, Levi is the one person she feels most comfortable asking for help.
Maggie wanting experience before going to college causes their relationship to go through a period of being a awkward and emotional. Eventually they both begin to see the other in a new way, and to start feeling emotions. The new direction of the friendship does not feel forced; but, rather natural. The strong bond between Maggie and Levi and their friendship was more important than anything else, and that was the one thing they wanted to save.
This book was such a worthy edition to the Hundred Oaks series. I also loved that Jordan Woods got a bigger speaking role as Maggie’s school coach.
In Coming Up for Air the main character is Maggie. Maggie is a devoted swimmer. Swimming is her entire life, she is passionate about it. Maggie hopes that one day she'll get into the Olympics. Swimming is not something that is forced rather it is something she loves.
Coming Up for Air is light, funny and cute. Maggie has four great friends, who all have sports that they love more than life itself. Levi is her best friend, and he swims with her. They are great characters, and have a great romance. They are best friends first. They don't let anything come in the way of their friendship; however, when Maggie feels she needs experience in certain areas before she heads off to college, Levi is the one person she feels most comfortable asking for help.
Maggie wanting experience before going to college causes their relationship to go through a period of being a awkward and emotional. Eventually they both begin to see the other in a new way, and to start feeling emotions. The new direction of the friendship does not feel forced; but, rather natural. The strong bond between Maggie and Levi and their friendship was more important than anything else, and that was the one thing they wanted to save.
This book was such a worthy edition to the Hundred Oaks series. I also loved that Jordan Woods got a bigger speaking role as Maggie’s school coach.
Gail (4 KP) rated The Fiction of Forever (Stand by Me, #2) in Books
Jun 4, 2018
What’s forever if your bot with the right person? Matchmaking has been around for ages and it’s still present today. In this story Kiley is weeks away from her own forever but is it with the right guy? When she reconnects with a guy she had a major crush on in high school things start to become clear with her fiancé. He wants to dictate her life and make sure she fits his vision of what that role is. The way she dresses and if she works all are decided by him. But that doesn’t last long. My first thought was how do you not see these signs when you're a matchmaker? She should’ve known that he wasn’t the one but to please her father I believe she made herself see him different. Gunner has crushed hard on Kiley since middle school but he believes she’s too different know. When he's thrown a challenge to be on her talk show he can’t resist the time he would get to spend with her. It’s a easy million dollars because the one he wants is the one reluctantly looking for his perfect match. I enjoyed the flow in which the author wrote the characters. The easy banters and how they connected to each other. They say you never forget your first love and it seems to be true for our main characters. I was blown away by this book and how it brought the characters alive. How there lives and emotions where front and center for us all to see. The story went so smoothly that I breezed through it only to want to go back and read more. This is what I look for in a book something that grabs me and doesn’t let go.
Mike Wilder (20 KP) rated St. Elmo's Fire (1985) in Movies
May 30, 2018
A great underrated and often overlooked 80's movie
Contains spoilers, click to show
In the mid 80's there were a group of young actors known as the "Brat Pack". It was made up of up and coming talented actors, many of them starred in a number of films together, St. Elmo's Fire being one of them.
The film is about seven University friends and the changes they find themselves going through once they graduate and try to make it as adults. Some thrive and others can't handle the new responsibilities that come with adulthood.
The cast is incredible made of Emilio Estevez, Rob Lowe, Andrew McCarthy, Demi Moore, Judd Nelson, Ally Sheedy, Mare Winningham, & Andie MacDowell. All of them bring a special charm to the characters they play. Every actor is great in this film, their friendships seem genuine and come across well. The emotions each character goes through are portrayed exceptionally well. There really isn't a stand out performance of any of the main cast. They are all perfect performances.
The characters go through every possible emotion a person can go through, you will be able to empathise with most if not all the situations from debt, love, death, marriage, break ups and infatuation to name a few of them. Even with all seven characters having their own individual stories, the film isn't overloaded. There is a perfect balance between the each one. Each character has their hardships and each finds a resolution in their own way.
This is another great one of the great underrated and often overlooked 80's movies, with a great cast, engaging story and a perfect soundtrack. This is watchable time and time again.
For a perfect Sunday afternoon film it doesn't get much better than this.
The film is about seven University friends and the changes they find themselves going through once they graduate and try to make it as adults. Some thrive and others can't handle the new responsibilities that come with adulthood.
The cast is incredible made of Emilio Estevez, Rob Lowe, Andrew McCarthy, Demi Moore, Judd Nelson, Ally Sheedy, Mare Winningham, & Andie MacDowell. All of them bring a special charm to the characters they play. Every actor is great in this film, their friendships seem genuine and come across well. The emotions each character goes through are portrayed exceptionally well. There really isn't a stand out performance of any of the main cast. They are all perfect performances.
The characters go through every possible emotion a person can go through, you will be able to empathise with most if not all the situations from debt, love, death, marriage, break ups and infatuation to name a few of them. Even with all seven characters having their own individual stories, the film isn't overloaded. There is a perfect balance between the each one. Each character has their hardships and each finds a resolution in their own way.
This is another great one of the great underrated and often overlooked 80's movies, with a great cast, engaging story and a perfect soundtrack. This is watchable time and time again.
For a perfect Sunday afternoon film it doesn't get much better than this.
Caffeinated Fae (464 KP) rated Into the Wild in Books
Jul 10, 2018
I read this as part of my 2014 reading challenge. This book was recommended to me by one of my close friends. This was definitely a book that I would expect a hiker, climber, and all around outdoorsy person to read.
I have to admit, I had a hard time reading this book. The writing was outstanding but I found the book itself a little dull and honestly, a little frustrating.
As many of my friends know, I grew up with my parents working in insurance. I also grew up working in insurance. This means that I have a (as my dad calls it) risk manager's mindset. That means that I had a hard time idealizing a man that took such a high risk with his life and refused most of the help that was offered.
I have to say that I admire this man's ideals and his bravery but I also feel that he was fairly foolish. I don't think that he was foolish for going out into the wilderness alone but I feel that he was foolish for not being able to swallow his pride and accept help. I think that he was foolish for pushing his family and his friends away.
This is the second Jon Krakauer book that I have read and I have to say that I his writing is spectacular but a little dull. I felt that I was reading a text book and not a novel. I think this is simply because I like my books to invoke emotions in me and all I felt in this book was frustration and deep sadness for anyone that knew and loved McCandless.
All in all, this wasn't my typical read but I'm glad that I took time to read it.
I have to admit, I had a hard time reading this book. The writing was outstanding but I found the book itself a little dull and honestly, a little frustrating.
As many of my friends know, I grew up with my parents working in insurance. I also grew up working in insurance. This means that I have a (as my dad calls it) risk manager's mindset. That means that I had a hard time idealizing a man that took such a high risk with his life and refused most of the help that was offered.
I have to say that I admire this man's ideals and his bravery but I also feel that he was fairly foolish. I don't think that he was foolish for going out into the wilderness alone but I feel that he was foolish for not being able to swallow his pride and accept help. I think that he was foolish for pushing his family and his friends away.
This is the second Jon Krakauer book that I have read and I have to say that I his writing is spectacular but a little dull. I felt that I was reading a text book and not a novel. I think this is simply because I like my books to invoke emotions in me and all I felt in this book was frustration and deep sadness for anyone that knew and loved McCandless.
All in all, this wasn't my typical read but I'm glad that I took time to read it.
ashezbookz (32 KP) rated Illuminae: The Illuminae Files: Book 1 in Books
Jul 5, 2018
First after reading this I gave it 5 stars - I still truly enjoyed this book and reading it in paper format this time was a definite plus - but for some reason it didn't hit the 5* for me, perhaps it was reading it so close together, but I wanted to complete gemina and obsidio this month so I decided to re-read ... ah well, live and learn right? I still highly love this book
I loved it I loved it I loved it - this is a must read book. However, my only complaint was that I read this in ebook format and I felt like it lost a lot of its luster. Reading it on my ipad I got half of the effect of reading it on the webpage version of the ebook. How is that possible? the blacked out words were not blacked out, the blacked pages were not black, a lot of it was messed up with formatting there, but webpage seemed a lot better. If anything, I say pick up a hard copy of the book, which I will be doing very soon!
How can you feel for an AI like this - for some reason I was on a rollercoaster of emotions with this book, I both wanted to hug it and punch it at the same time - or throw it across the room - but I'd break my precious ipad.
This book was laugh out loud funny - for real, there were parts where I could not stop laughing - and there were parts where you just wanted to cry.
Such a well written book, such a great book - I cannot wait to read book 2!!!!!!! In book format this time........get the full effect.
I loved it I loved it I loved it - this is a must read book. However, my only complaint was that I read this in ebook format and I felt like it lost a lot of its luster. Reading it on my ipad I got half of the effect of reading it on the webpage version of the ebook. How is that possible? the blacked out words were not blacked out, the blacked pages were not black, a lot of it was messed up with formatting there, but webpage seemed a lot better. If anything, I say pick up a hard copy of the book, which I will be doing very soon!
How can you feel for an AI like this - for some reason I was on a rollercoaster of emotions with this book, I both wanted to hug it and punch it at the same time - or throw it across the room - but I'd break my precious ipad.
This book was laugh out loud funny - for real, there were parts where I could not stop laughing - and there were parts where you just wanted to cry.
Such a well written book, such a great book - I cannot wait to read book 2!!!!!!! In book format this time........get the full effect.
This book looks like it a story about a young boy. This young boy goes on a journey of his life. We see how deals with his growing up. We also see how he deals with all kinds of emotions from death, to finding his love of this life.
We get in an depth of how you can destroy your own spirit. We get to learn and get try and get understanding. We also see his success and many crashes. He learn even what love is like or is and though friendships. You could be looking and end up emptying your spirit of that love.
You really can not say it based on one thing. It goes about this with giving you different way as it could be about yourself. The rating I would give this is a 4.5 moons. The reason for this is that I really did not get what most of it was about except that it might be a romance. I do know it a little more about trying to understand himself and what love is about. Well that's want I think if about. You can destroy yourself be giving all the time and not know if it really love that doing the drive or if it sex driven drive.
This book I would suggest only be for Adults that are 18 and up. There a few words in here that are not for young adults. These words are a bit sexual. I have parents be advised and I will let you decide for your Teenagers if this book is appropriate. To me I advise for this to be for Adults ages from 17 and up.
We get in an depth of how you can destroy your own spirit. We get to learn and get try and get understanding. We also see his success and many crashes. He learn even what love is like or is and though friendships. You could be looking and end up emptying your spirit of that love.
You really can not say it based on one thing. It goes about this with giving you different way as it could be about yourself. The rating I would give this is a 4.5 moons. The reason for this is that I really did not get what most of it was about except that it might be a romance. I do know it a little more about trying to understand himself and what love is about. Well that's want I think if about. You can destroy yourself be giving all the time and not know if it really love that doing the drive or if it sex driven drive.
This book I would suggest only be for Adults that are 18 and up. There a few words in here that are not for young adults. These words are a bit sexual. I have parents be advised and I will let you decide for your Teenagers if this book is appropriate. To me I advise for this to be for Adults ages from 17 and up.
Steve Fearon (84 KP) rated L.A. Noire in Video Games
Sep 5, 2018
Groundbreaking facial animation (2 more)
A fascinating world
Genuinely difficult to 100%
Action gets a bit repetitive (1 more)
Ran its studio into financial trouble :(
Still the best game of its kind
This game...its one of my favourites.
Its not an action masterpiece, in fact its a little clunky at times, with a similar but inferior combat style to GTA, but it has a legitimately great atmosphere, beautifully capturing the period and the stylings.
The detective work actually requires a little thinking (Which is rare) and asks the player to make choices without too much handholding (Which is even rarer), and as the game progresses, the challenge to interrogate the more devious individuals can prove rather vexing!
The animations, and the emotions they are able to portray in a game this old, puts to shame big budget thrillers from recent years (Mass Effec Andromeda, I am looking at you!), the city design is beautiful, and the characters are played by a number of recognisable actors which add to the big budget feel that runs all through this game.
Is the remaster an improvement on the 360 game? A little, higher resolution, parred up for Xbox one, but essentially its the same as it ever was, and that is fine.
There is still not a single game I have come across which has done the detective game as well as this, and it is a crying shame that the technology and effort used to create LA Noire has essentially been lost, since even now, manakin faced characters are still the norm.
This game still has a lot to offer, if you can look past the action sequences, and instead enjoy the characters, peformances, and genuine puzzle solving aspects of this classic title.
Its not an action masterpiece, in fact its a little clunky at times, with a similar but inferior combat style to GTA, but it has a legitimately great atmosphere, beautifully capturing the period and the stylings.
The detective work actually requires a little thinking (Which is rare) and asks the player to make choices without too much handholding (Which is even rarer), and as the game progresses, the challenge to interrogate the more devious individuals can prove rather vexing!
The animations, and the emotions they are able to portray in a game this old, puts to shame big budget thrillers from recent years (Mass Effec Andromeda, I am looking at you!), the city design is beautiful, and the characters are played by a number of recognisable actors which add to the big budget feel that runs all through this game.
Is the remaster an improvement on the 360 game? A little, higher resolution, parred up for Xbox one, but essentially its the same as it ever was, and that is fine.
There is still not a single game I have come across which has done the detective game as well as this, and it is a crying shame that the technology and effort used to create LA Noire has essentially been lost, since even now, manakin faced characters are still the norm.
This game still has a lot to offer, if you can look past the action sequences, and instead enjoy the characters, peformances, and genuine puzzle solving aspects of this classic title.
Sarah (7800 KP) rated A Simple Favor in Books
Oct 9, 2018
Ridiculous, irritating and quite dull
This is one of the few books I’ve read after watching the film, and one where I think the film is actually better (if not by much!).
Firstly, the film and the book follow vaguely similar plots although with a few minor differences but a massively different ending. For me, the differences don’t really have much effect on my feelings towards the book, although I do think the book ending is terrible and whilst not as far fetched as the film ending, it is still completely implausible. The whole plot really is just a bit silly and doesn’t make much sense. The other major issue with this book is that all characters are completely unlikeable. Stephanie was irritating in the film but is even more so in the book, mainly because the writing style used in her blog posts is so basic, childish and annoying. Emily however was fairly charismatic in the film and likeable to a point, but in this none of her charm comes through. And Sean is entirely forgettable in the book and you don’t feel any emotions towards him whatsoever.
The biggest issue I had with this book is the use of the word “moms”. I apologise profusely to my fellow Smashbombers hailing from the USA, but I cannot stand the word “moms” - both in spelling and pronunciation. And not only is this word used a lot in this book, it is vastly overused to the point where it was making me cringe. I know that Stephanie as a character is meant to make you cringe, but for me this was just far too much to the point where I almost stopped reading. A book that makes you grind your teeth in frustration is not one I’d recommend reading.
Firstly, the film and the book follow vaguely similar plots although with a few minor differences but a massively different ending. For me, the differences don’t really have much effect on my feelings towards the book, although I do think the book ending is terrible and whilst not as far fetched as the film ending, it is still completely implausible. The whole plot really is just a bit silly and doesn’t make much sense. The other major issue with this book is that all characters are completely unlikeable. Stephanie was irritating in the film but is even more so in the book, mainly because the writing style used in her blog posts is so basic, childish and annoying. Emily however was fairly charismatic in the film and likeable to a point, but in this none of her charm comes through. And Sean is entirely forgettable in the book and you don’t feel any emotions towards him whatsoever.
The biggest issue I had with this book is the use of the word “moms”. I apologise profusely to my fellow Smashbombers hailing from the USA, but I cannot stand the word “moms” - both in spelling and pronunciation. And not only is this word used a lot in this book, it is vastly overused to the point where it was making me cringe. I know that Stephanie as a character is meant to make you cringe, but for me this was just far too much to the point where I almost stopped reading. A book that makes you grind your teeth in frustration is not one I’d recommend reading.
BookwormMama14 (18 KP) rated In the Shadow of Denali (The Heart of Alaska #1) in Books
Jan 2, 2019
Excuse me while I find a train headed to Alaska...THIS book makes me want to visit Alaska even more than I did before. The beauty and the majestic land is captured in a way that speaks to the adventurous corners of my heart. Denali in all its wonder, is a sight that I want to see with my own eyes. Tracie and Kimberley have brought us an incredible story of faith and forgiveness set in the heart of the frontier of Alaska. The dangers, beauty, and awe of the land are expressed in detail on every page.
There are multiple viewpoints in this book which I love, but can be maddening at times. As the reader we can see ALMOST the whole picture, there are a few details that must work themselves out as we read. But in other situations, I just wanted to slap the characters and tell them what was REALLY going on. That being said, I really do enjoy the specific viewpoints that the authors highlighted.
In the Shadow of Denali is filled with so many emotions. Heartbreak, unforgiveness, hatred towards God, jealousy, greed, and yet we also see tender love, strong family bond, sweet surrender to Christ, forgiveness, and inner beauty. This is a journey that I am excited to continue! Travel back to 1923 and experience the mountain for yourself. The book ends with a tender, romantic scene that simply took my breath away. I am eagerly looking forward to the next installment of Heart of Alaska.
I received a complimentary copy of In the Shadow of Denali from NetGalley. I was not required to write a positive review. All opinions expressed are mine alone.
There are multiple viewpoints in this book which I love, but can be maddening at times. As the reader we can see ALMOST the whole picture, there are a few details that must work themselves out as we read. But in other situations, I just wanted to slap the characters and tell them what was REALLY going on. That being said, I really do enjoy the specific viewpoints that the authors highlighted.
In the Shadow of Denali is filled with so many emotions. Heartbreak, unforgiveness, hatred towards God, jealousy, greed, and yet we also see tender love, strong family bond, sweet surrender to Christ, forgiveness, and inner beauty. This is a journey that I am excited to continue! Travel back to 1923 and experience the mountain for yourself. The book ends with a tender, romantic scene that simply took my breath away. I am eagerly looking forward to the next installment of Heart of Alaska.
I received a complimentary copy of In the Shadow of Denali from NetGalley. I was not required to write a positive review. All opinions expressed are mine alone.