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Rachel King (13 KP) rated Pale Demon (The Hollows, #9) in Books

Feb 11, 2019  
Pale Demon (The Hollows, #9)
Pale Demon (The Hollows, #9)
Kim Harrison | 2011 | Fiction & Poetry
8
9.4 (7 Ratings)
Book Rating
One of the things I have grown to love about Rachel Morgan through all of these nine books is her constant positive and hopeful perspective with others, despite how contrary their behavior. Though her friends and partners are telling her in so many ways that the rulers of her kind, the witches' council, will never let her make it to the coast and are more interested in killing her than anything else, she won't believe it until she sees for herself. And then there is her odds-defying ability to always find a way to survive against all attacks - she truly has become one of a kind, as is revealed in several ways in this book, with her match-up against the just-released demon creation that is her genetic match, as well as the sad speech that Ivy gives her about how Rachel is leaving her and Jenks behind with the way she can create change across all species.
And if that is not enough to keep her busy, Rachel's love life only becomes more complicated, since Pierce has professed his love for her in the previous book, and Rachel feels a certain obligation to him. Of course, Al continues to pursue Rachel despite her refusals, and one violent-turned-steamy moment showed the kind of lust-filled potential that exists between them. Towards the end of the book, Rachel also makes a rather interesting observation about demons in general that could put Al in the potential category for future books. If two men is not enough to keep her busy, a very obvious growing attraction between her and Trent seems to show the most promise, and is ironically the one I found myself most rooting for, especially with some of the scenes in the book.
Trent's part in the book is an elf quest of sorts that he is particularly silent about, but gets him in all kinds of trouble and just creates more work for Rachel and crew. Of course, the outcome of this quest makes Trent more likable in the end, but he has to do much to prove himself to Rachel. The newest element to the series in this book was the use of wild magic by the elves, which has an untamed, old world quality that Rachel dislikes immensely. Trent wields it well, though often secretly and against Rachel's wishes.
In the end, the revelations that Rachel undergoes regarding herself and the people around her mark a major turning point for her and the series. I only wish I knew when the next book was due for release!
  
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Jordan Binkerd (567 KP) rated The Scorpion King 3: Battle For Redemption (2012) in Movies

Oct 27, 2019  
The Scorpion King 3: Battle For Redemption (2012)
The Scorpion King 3: Battle For Redemption (2012)
2012 | Action
5
5.0 (1 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Victor Webster sells the fights (5 more)
Ron Perlman is never a bad thing.
Neither is Temura Morrison.
Billy Zane is comically evil
Krystal Vee and Selina Lo pull off their reason for being here - hot chicks kicking ass.
Nice scenery and sets
Victor Webster fails to sell being The Rock, even aside from skin ton (2 more)
The story and lore are all over the place, not helped by the setting
The Warriors of the book announcing themselves just felt silly and contrived
Muddies the franchise and lore
The longer this goes the more damage this franchise does to itself. Let's review what we've seen so far:
-The Mummy Returns: At the end of his life, the Scorpion King leads an army to take over and subjugate the world, aided by Anubis, which proves that the Egyptian gods are, you know, gods.
-The Scorpion King: Mathayus is ostensibly the last living Akkadian, and leads a revolt against an evil king who....wants to take over and subjugate the world. Some tragic irony there, knowing where he ends up.
-The Scorpion King II: Rise of a Warrior: There's a whole kingdom of Akkadians, and Mathayus leads a revolt against the general who killed both his father and the rightful King, usurping the throne. Given that just a decade or two later the entire race has been wiped out, maybe putting the rightful heir back on the throne didn't end well?
Which brings us to this movie, featuring numerous human characters with the names of the Egyptian pantheon (maybe named in homage to their gods, but it feels like the idea is that these men will be mistaken for God's by myth and legend) and doubles down on the "conquest is evil" theme. Mathayus has lost his queen and kingdom from the first film to plague, reduced to being a mercenary again. The action primarily happens in Egypt and.... Cambodia? Vietnam? Thailand? Somewhere around there, with little explanation of how the characters go that distance. This just makes the whole thing more inconsistent and convoluted. I shudder to think about the damage the next one will do....
  
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Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2346 KP) rated The Hidden Corpse in Books

Mar 27, 2019  
The Hidden Corpse
The Hidden Corpse
Debra Sennefelder | 2019 | Fiction & Poetry, Mystery, Thriller
7
7.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Can Hope Find the Hidden Killer?
Hope’s neighbor Peggy Olson has come to Hope for help after catching some stuff on fire in her kitchen. Peggy had fallen asleep only to wake up to the smoke. What bothers her is she didn’t even remember starting to cook anything. When Peggy’s house burns down the next day with Peggy inside, Hope feels extremely guilty for not saying anything to protect Peggy from accidentally doing this again. That guilt changes when the police find evidence that it could have been arson. A second body in the house only further confuses things. Can Hope figure out what happened to her neighbor?

This book has a very strong mystery with plenty of questions that need to be answered. The suspects were strong as well, and they kept me guessing until the end. In fact, I was certain it was several of them at various points in the book, yet the final solution made perfect sense. Hope is a great main character as well. My biggest issue is the supporting cast. I feel like they are still fairly thin characters, and several of them are annoying. I hope they get more fleshed out as the series progresses, allowing us to like them more. Since I am a blogger (but not a food blogger), I found that aspect of Hope’s life very interesting, although her world is very different from mine. And, speaking of food, there are six delicious sounding recipes at the end of the book.