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5150, rue des Ormes (2009)
Movie
5150 ELM'S WAY is located at the end of a quiet street in a small town. When Yannick fell off his...
Crazy Little Thing Cold Love (Destination Daddies Season Two)
9.5
Rate It
Book
Jude I shoot my mouth off and hide behind my smile as I try—and fail—to fill the void inside....
MM Contemporary Romance Daddy/Little
Kara Skinner (332 KP) rated Of Mice Not Men in Books
Jun 12, 2019
Genre: Science Fiction, Non-Romance
Page Count: 350 pages
Average Goodreads Rating: 4.75 out of 5 stars
My rating: 3 out of 5 stars
After manmade natural disasters wiped out most humans and life around the world, war breaks out among the remaining humans. The faction called the Developers want to take the resources from Earth and leave the dying planet behind to join the stars. The Harmonizers want to stay and restore Earth’s resources. Both factions race to stop the other, using deadly, even sadistic measures. After all, the fate of the planet and the human race lies in the balance.
I had my ups and downs with this book to be sure. Aside from the book badly needing a proofreader, the writing itself is well done, only dipping into preachiness about human’s greed a couple of times. The brain curdling torture scenes were deliciously awful and made me stop reading a couple times to look up pictures of pet pigs until I calmed down enough to continue.
I thought I had a stomach for violence. I read Stephen King books and have watched plenty of horror movies. In middle school I reveled in shocking my classmates with presentations of General Sherman’s March to the Sea and torture practices from the Spanish Inquisition. In high school I was the only one who could watch the video of a shark eating a turtle without looking away ( but I ended up crying about shark fin soup later that year).
The point is, violence in books usually doesn’t bother me. But Canterbury takes it to a whole new level in a few of the torture scenes. It wasn’t just the twisted sadism in the scenes that bothered me, however. It was the fact that both sides are tooth achingly aware of the finite resources left and yet they both spend resources making inefficient weapons. The Developers do it in the name of sadism and the Harmonizers end up with weapons that are less effective than gun powder guns. I guess it shows that humans don’t make sense.
There are a lot of characters in this book, but Jasmine is the main character. I didn’t like her at first. I found her too cold-hearted and hot-headed. Granted, she’s in deeper and darker shit than I’ve ever seen in my lifetime, but despite her parents dying, she isn’t a sympathetic character for most of the book. Her relationship with Thomas feels as forced as a cheap jigsaw puzzle. Mostly she is indifferent to him or pushing him away. For awhile the only reason she was still with him was out of fear of being alone. And then suddenly she loves him? I never really bought it. Cynthia’s relationship with an alien artificial intelligence robot feels more real and she thought she was hallucinating it.
But I ended up really liking Jasmine in the end, and even Thomas. The plot was fascinating, even a couple of parts I was skeptical about at first and this book turned out to be entertaining, even though I guessed two of the biggest plot “twists” (if you can even call them that) as soon as the foreshadowing again. But one plot twist I didn’t see coming at all, which was great.
I do wish the sides were not so black and white. The Developers were clearly evil with practically no human sides in any main characters while the Harmonizers were clearly peaceful with no dark streaks to be found. It ended up making what could have been a great story about needless conflict and saving the world sound a little like anti space exploration propaganda. That being said, it is still entertaining.
While Canterbury’s writing skills are rough, he has the potential to be a great science fiction/horror writer.
Page Count: 350 pages
Average Goodreads Rating: 4.75 out of 5 stars
My rating: 3 out of 5 stars
After manmade natural disasters wiped out most humans and life around the world, war breaks out among the remaining humans. The faction called the Developers want to take the resources from Earth and leave the dying planet behind to join the stars. The Harmonizers want to stay and restore Earth’s resources. Both factions race to stop the other, using deadly, even sadistic measures. After all, the fate of the planet and the human race lies in the balance.
I had my ups and downs with this book to be sure. Aside from the book badly needing a proofreader, the writing itself is well done, only dipping into preachiness about human’s greed a couple of times. The brain curdling torture scenes were deliciously awful and made me stop reading a couple times to look up pictures of pet pigs until I calmed down enough to continue.
I thought I had a stomach for violence. I read Stephen King books and have watched plenty of horror movies. In middle school I reveled in shocking my classmates with presentations of General Sherman’s March to the Sea and torture practices from the Spanish Inquisition. In high school I was the only one who could watch the video of a shark eating a turtle without looking away ( but I ended up crying about shark fin soup later that year).
The point is, violence in books usually doesn’t bother me. But Canterbury takes it to a whole new level in a few of the torture scenes. It wasn’t just the twisted sadism in the scenes that bothered me, however. It was the fact that both sides are tooth achingly aware of the finite resources left and yet they both spend resources making inefficient weapons. The Developers do it in the name of sadism and the Harmonizers end up with weapons that are less effective than gun powder guns. I guess it shows that humans don’t make sense.
There are a lot of characters in this book, but Jasmine is the main character. I didn’t like her at first. I found her too cold-hearted and hot-headed. Granted, she’s in deeper and darker shit than I’ve ever seen in my lifetime, but despite her parents dying, she isn’t a sympathetic character for most of the book. Her relationship with Thomas feels as forced as a cheap jigsaw puzzle. Mostly she is indifferent to him or pushing him away. For awhile the only reason she was still with him was out of fear of being alone. And then suddenly she loves him? I never really bought it. Cynthia’s relationship with an alien artificial intelligence robot feels more real and she thought she was hallucinating it.
But I ended up really liking Jasmine in the end, and even Thomas. The plot was fascinating, even a couple of parts I was skeptical about at first and this book turned out to be entertaining, even though I guessed two of the biggest plot “twists” (if you can even call them that) as soon as the foreshadowing again. But one plot twist I didn’t see coming at all, which was great.
I do wish the sides were not so black and white. The Developers were clearly evil with practically no human sides in any main characters while the Harmonizers were clearly peaceful with no dark streaks to be found. It ended up making what could have been a great story about needless conflict and saving the world sound a little like anti space exploration propaganda. That being said, it is still entertaining.
While Canterbury’s writing skills are rough, he has the potential to be a great science fiction/horror writer.
Beat Fever: Music Rhythm Game
Games and Entertainment
App
Get your fingers ready for the ultimate music game! Beat Fever is an easy to learn, hard to master...
Kristy H (1252 KP) rated Girls on Fire in Books
Feb 8, 2018
Hannah Dexter has led a fairly mundane life in the small town of Battle Creek, where everyone knows everyone else and everything that happens to everyone. But her life is turned upside town by two events: the suicide of a local boy, Craig, and the arrival of a new girl, Lacey, who quickly becomes the town's resident bad girl. Hannah and Lacey unite over their hatred of the town's "it girl" Nikki Drummond. Lacey transforms Hannah into Dex--a darker version of Hannah--who adores Lacey and Kurt Cobain's music (this is the early '90s after all). But Hannah doesn't realize that Lacey is hiding a secret from her, a pretty big one, which threatens to destroy the very fabric their friendship is based on.
"Girls on Fire" is an oddly captivating and compelling novel. The story unfolds before you and you're powerless to stop the events as they occur. It's told mainly from the alternating points of view of Lacey and Hannah, and we slowly learn about the events that led to their friendship and its aftermath-- and also Craig's suicide. The book wasn't a particularly fast read for me, but it was fascinating. It's an accident where you can't look away, even though you know something horrible will happen. This book is dark and disastrous and makes you afraid to ever send your children off to high school.
Parts of the novel are a bit cliched (it's almost too dark, too awful) but it doesn't stop it from being intriguing and captivating. It pulls you in to Lacey and Hannah's world and as time somehow moves forward, yet we learn about what happened to Craig in the past, Wasserman does an amazing job of unfurling her plot. I was drawn to the book and the characters. Tragic Lacey, confused Hannah, evil queen Nikki: you can see them so clearly in your head. The book almost casts a spell over you as it sucks you into its world. The writing is intense, the storyline is intense, and you're left almost breathless at the end. I didn't really enjoy the book, per se, but I appreciated it. It's a wild ride, a dark one, and definitely one worth taking.
I received an advanced copy of this novel from Edelweiss (thank you!); it is available everywhere on 5/17/2016.
"Girls on Fire" is an oddly captivating and compelling novel. The story unfolds before you and you're powerless to stop the events as they occur. It's told mainly from the alternating points of view of Lacey and Hannah, and we slowly learn about the events that led to their friendship and its aftermath-- and also Craig's suicide. The book wasn't a particularly fast read for me, but it was fascinating. It's an accident where you can't look away, even though you know something horrible will happen. This book is dark and disastrous and makes you afraid to ever send your children off to high school.
Parts of the novel are a bit cliched (it's almost too dark, too awful) but it doesn't stop it from being intriguing and captivating. It pulls you in to Lacey and Hannah's world and as time somehow moves forward, yet we learn about what happened to Craig in the past, Wasserman does an amazing job of unfurling her plot. I was drawn to the book and the characters. Tragic Lacey, confused Hannah, evil queen Nikki: you can see them so clearly in your head. The book almost casts a spell over you as it sucks you into its world. The writing is intense, the storyline is intense, and you're left almost breathless at the end. I didn't really enjoy the book, per se, but I appreciated it. It's a wild ride, a dark one, and definitely one worth taking.
I received an advanced copy of this novel from Edelweiss (thank you!); it is available everywhere on 5/17/2016.
Caffeinated Fae (464 KP) rated Magic Unleashed in Books
Mar 12, 2020
Fast Paced with some problems
TW: Sexual Assualt, Child Abuse, Abuse, mention of slavery, mention of forced prostitution, Victim blaming verbiage.
When I was approached about this book tour, I knew I needed to jump in. Magic Unleased is right up my alley, and I couldn't wait to get started. I ended up low on time, so I snagged the audiobook so that I could read it while reading a few other books in between. The narrator did a good job of portraying the characters, though, at times, his voice bordered on monotone.
Devri Walls sure knows how to write a vast world. The descriptions were great, and at times I felt like I was walking around with Rune & Grey. The setting itself was well done, and I liked to see the author's interpretations of the supernatural characters. My favorite was how the fae were portrayed. They weren't sweet, helpful things but tricksters. I just loved it.
The characters were also well done. I wanted to get to know more about Grey and Rune, and I liked seeing how they interacted with all of the characters. I enjoyed the side characters, as well. It seems like everyone, for the most part, was three dimensional. I will admit, I struggled with how young Grey & Rune acted though this is more of a me issue and not a book issue.
The one thing that didn't sit well with me was some of the victim-blaming verbiages in a specific scene. I felt that the character had every right to be upset, and I feel like she was gaslit because she didn't just accept that something "had" to happen. This scene soured me on the book, and I have to admit, I almost DNFd right then and there. After that scene, I started to notice just some of the ways that Rune was treated, and I hated how she was consistently berated instead of helped.
Though I did find some faults with this book, I ended up pushing through. In the end, I enjoyed the world that created. It was fun to see a more sinister side of faeries, and I enjoyed how fast-paced the plot was. I'm not sure that I will continue in the series, but I do understand why so many people have enjoyed it.
When I was approached about this book tour, I knew I needed to jump in. Magic Unleased is right up my alley, and I couldn't wait to get started. I ended up low on time, so I snagged the audiobook so that I could read it while reading a few other books in between. The narrator did a good job of portraying the characters, though, at times, his voice bordered on monotone.
Devri Walls sure knows how to write a vast world. The descriptions were great, and at times I felt like I was walking around with Rune & Grey. The setting itself was well done, and I liked to see the author's interpretations of the supernatural characters. My favorite was how the fae were portrayed. They weren't sweet, helpful things but tricksters. I just loved it.
The characters were also well done. I wanted to get to know more about Grey and Rune, and I liked seeing how they interacted with all of the characters. I enjoyed the side characters, as well. It seems like everyone, for the most part, was three dimensional. I will admit, I struggled with how young Grey & Rune acted though this is more of a me issue and not a book issue.
The one thing that didn't sit well with me was some of the victim-blaming verbiages in a specific scene. I felt that the character had every right to be upset, and I feel like she was gaslit because she didn't just accept that something "had" to happen. This scene soured me on the book, and I have to admit, I almost DNFd right then and there. After that scene, I started to notice just some of the ways that Rune was treated, and I hated how she was consistently berated instead of helped.
Though I did find some faults with this book, I ended up pushing through. In the end, I enjoyed the world that created. It was fun to see a more sinister side of faeries, and I enjoyed how fast-paced the plot was. I'm not sure that I will continue in the series, but I do understand why so many people have enjoyed it.
Eleanor (1463 KP) rated Beyond Reach / Skin Privilege (UK) (Grant County, #6) in Books
Oct 19, 2019
A worthy end to a solid series - would recommend reading in order.
For some reason, the UK version of this book has a different name (Skin Privilege) to the rest of the world’s Beyond Reach title. Whatever you call it its the end of the Grant County series and what a way to finish!!! It’s a strong and worthy ending to a solid series that had a few ups and downs along the way for me.
We meet up again with Detective Lena Adams back in her hometown of Reece; where she has got herself into a whole world of trouble (no surprise there, it’s her special talent.) With a vicious (and I mean typical Slaughter full-on vicious) murder Lena is the only suspect and our intrepid heroes, Jeffery and Sara; rush to do what they do best i.e. stick their noses in and try to figure out what the hell is going on.
We get 2 different timelines and general POVs with us following Lena pre murder trying to unearth the truth of her family history and Sara and Jeffery trying to piece together Lena’s involvement in a murder. Lena looks especially involved in it when she does a runner from local law enforcement. The two main POVs work well together to slowly lead you through an enjoyable mystery.
I’ve previously not been a huge fan of Jeffery and Lena but this book worked to give me a better understanding and more empathy for Lena; although she is still annoyingly stubborn to the point of it being pretty stupid.
I thought the ending was what this series needed and for those that don’t like it there is a letter from Slaughter on her website explaining her thoughts (don’t read until after you have read the book.) Overall the Grant County Series has had some really high points (the first two books were particularly good) and some low points; A Faint Cold Fear and Indelible didn’t do much for me but overall I’m glad I kept with it and look forward to maybe meeting some of the characters again in the future - I think there is a tie in at some point in her Will Trent series that I’ve not read any of yet but look forward to giving a go - I do enjoy Slaughters writing.
We meet up again with Detective Lena Adams back in her hometown of Reece; where she has got herself into a whole world of trouble (no surprise there, it’s her special talent.) With a vicious (and I mean typical Slaughter full-on vicious) murder Lena is the only suspect and our intrepid heroes, Jeffery and Sara; rush to do what they do best i.e. stick their noses in and try to figure out what the hell is going on.
We get 2 different timelines and general POVs with us following Lena pre murder trying to unearth the truth of her family history and Sara and Jeffery trying to piece together Lena’s involvement in a murder. Lena looks especially involved in it when she does a runner from local law enforcement. The two main POVs work well together to slowly lead you through an enjoyable mystery.
I’ve previously not been a huge fan of Jeffery and Lena but this book worked to give me a better understanding and more empathy for Lena; although she is still annoyingly stubborn to the point of it being pretty stupid.
I thought the ending was what this series needed and for those that don’t like it there is a letter from Slaughter on her website explaining her thoughts (don’t read until after you have read the book.) Overall the Grant County Series has had some really high points (the first two books were particularly good) and some low points; A Faint Cold Fear and Indelible didn’t do much for me but overall I’m glad I kept with it and look forward to maybe meeting some of the characters again in the future - I think there is a tie in at some point in her Will Trent series that I’ve not read any of yet but look forward to giving a go - I do enjoy Slaughters writing.
Garfield - Wicked!
7.0
Rate It
Book
Everyones favourite, lazy, lasagna-loving cat has been around since 1978 and Garfield is just as...
Hazel (2934 KP) rated Darkness, Darkness (Charles Resnick, #12) in Books
Jan 12, 2018
What a great book!
The storyline took me back to my early teenage years and I recall watching the news about the miners strike with my parents but, not coming from a mining community and being quite young, I never fully appreciated what was really happening. I have since seen a couple of things that have touched on the subject but I felt this book brought me new perspectives to this difficult time in British history particularly from the point of view of the striking miners, the "scabs" and the families caught on both sides. Although this is a work of fiction, I found it very believable with a feel of authenticity and I particularly enjoyed the way the author switched from the present to the past throughout which, for me, worked very well.
The book was full of interesting and colourful characters many of whom have their own demons to deal with not least Resnick himself who I felt came across as a sad and melancholic man who appears disillusioned with not only his work but also his life. Many of the characters had issues outside of the main focus of the book and I felt these were seamlessly woven throughout which added further dimensions to this engrossing story. This is all written at great pace which kept me engaged throughout and, to cap it all, it kept me guessing who the killer was right until the end.
Where have I been? I must have had my head in the sand for many years not to have come across John Harvey and Charlie Resnick before! This is Resnick's last case and my first foray into the world of this very interesting character ... it won't be my last and I will go back to the start of the series in order to find out how it all began.
I am grateful to the publisher, Randomhouse UK Cornerstone and www.netgalley.com for sending me a copy in return for an honest review and for introducing me to another new author to add to my ever-growing list of great writers.
http://haziegaze.blogspot.co.uk/
The storyline took me back to my early teenage years and I recall watching the news about the miners strike with my parents but, not coming from a mining community and being quite young, I never fully appreciated what was really happening. I have since seen a couple of things that have touched on the subject but I felt this book brought me new perspectives to this difficult time in British history particularly from the point of view of the striking miners, the "scabs" and the families caught on both sides. Although this is a work of fiction, I found it very believable with a feel of authenticity and I particularly enjoyed the way the author switched from the present to the past throughout which, for me, worked very well.
The book was full of interesting and colourful characters many of whom have their own demons to deal with not least Resnick himself who I felt came across as a sad and melancholic man who appears disillusioned with not only his work but also his life. Many of the characters had issues outside of the main focus of the book and I felt these were seamlessly woven throughout which added further dimensions to this engrossing story. This is all written at great pace which kept me engaged throughout and, to cap it all, it kept me guessing who the killer was right until the end.
Where have I been? I must have had my head in the sand for many years not to have come across John Harvey and Charlie Resnick before! This is Resnick's last case and my first foray into the world of this very interesting character ... it won't be my last and I will go back to the start of the series in order to find out how it all began.
I am grateful to the publisher, Randomhouse UK Cornerstone and www.netgalley.com for sending me a copy in return for an honest review and for introducing me to another new author to add to my ever-growing list of great writers.
http://haziegaze.blogspot.co.uk/
