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Sassy Brit (97 KP) rated Romanov in Books

Jun 6, 2019  
Romanov
Romanov
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
^^ The Romanovs are an ancient family of vampires, to which Anna belongs, but after the death of her father, they are now in hiding for their own protection. When she meets a lad, Eric, college student and human, their bond is so strong they fall in love hard. Yes, it’s literally love at first sight. But unbeknown to Eric, danger is close, always watching and threatening to pounce from the shadows. Can Anna protect the ones she loves, when someone or something is out to eradicate the Romanov family and all those that stand in their way?

^^ This is written from different points of view, which allows us to see this intriguing story from several angles. At the end of every chapter there’s a sense of something lurking in the shadows, watching, following, and it could attack at any time. Whilst this added to the suspense and made for great foreshadowing, it was drawn out over a lot of pages, and felt a little repetitive at times.

^^ What I loved about this was the ‘new adult’ romance theme of which gave way to a large proportion of this book. With danger lurking around every corner, Anna soon discovers that she had to look out for not only her own family, but protect her beau, Eric, too. There is also an unusual shape-shifting, supernatural element to this tale, both of which I found added different levels to this modern vampire story. It’s not all as straightforward, as it might – at first – seem.

^^ This story feels like the beginning of a much larger tale, since we are introduced to a lot of characters and different families, all living their lives as they know how. It reminded me of a soap opera, where we watch the lives of many families unravel before our very eyes. An unknown danger is making every effort to thwart the Romanov’s survival, but is Anna strong enough to overcome this evil?

Overall: Samaire Provost has created an atmospheric vampire story with a difference, in that the creatures within are not your standard monsters and their world consists of different rules and ideals. That alone is quite refreshing in this vampire story. Saying that, this is not just a book about vampires, it’s about families, feuds, survival of the fittest and how far you’d go to protect the ones you love. I found it an enjoyable, clever read and it should appeal to readers of vampire fiction who like something a little different from the norm.
  
I really enjoyed this cozy! It was my first trip to Sweet Pepper Tennessee, even though this is book 4 in the series. There was plenty of explanation along the way regarding people and places, so I didn’t feel at all lost jumping in at this point.

In this story, Stella has to find her kidnapped ghost friend, Eric, and investigate a string of illegal still explosions and fires. There are an abundance of suspects, some within the police department itself, and as she gets too close to the truth, Stella finds her own life may be at risk.

I always enjoy a story with a strong, intelligent female lead character, and Stella fit the bill perfectly. She is not perfect, and needs her circle of volunteer firefighters, friends, and her ghost-roommate to keep her out of trouble, but she has a good head on her shoulders and does a decent job taking care of herself.

As with many cozy mysteries, Sweet Pepper Hero includes some great looking recipes in the back. Personally, I am a big fan of the sweet / hot combination of chocolate and chilis, so I can’t wait to give one of these a try!

<u>Recipes include:</u>
Chocolate Cookies with a Bite
Tennessee Whiskey Cake with Cherries
Lemon Habanero Cookies

<i>Note: I received a free copy in exchange for an honest review</i>
  
Time: The Kalief Browder Story
Time: The Kalief Browder Story
2017 | Crime, Documentary
Bawled like like baby, heartwrenching, horrific and utterly disgusted
It's been a while since any TV series or film has affected me as much as the Kalief Browder story. I think it made me feel nauseous at one point. The level of hideous injustice Browder faced, more so the fact he was just a boy, is worse than most police corruption cases covered by the media.

An innocent boy was held without trial, without conviction for three years in one of the most notorious prisons (Rikers Prison) where he was beaten senselessly by correction officers and inmates alike. He was then held in solitary confinement for 322 days (UN calls 15 days a human rights violation), tortured, starved and attempted suicide. This is New York. This is the American justice system.

When he was eventually released his mental health suffered, and it just gets worse and worse. I won't say anymore before I burst into tears again.

There are some remarkable interviews in here with Kalief's family, who were torn to shreds, top speakers such as Attorney General Eric Holder, "The New Jim Crow" author Michelle Alexander, journalist Shaun King, and even Jay-Z and Rosie O'Donnell, who were close friends. The biggest take away is how broken the system is / intended racial segregation and how important it is for the civil rights movement to join forces with the greater American populace to stop further injustices.

Seriously keep the tissues at hand. This is a hundred times more disturbing than Making A Murderer and The Keepers.
  
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LoganCrews (2861 KP) rated Joji Presents: The Extravaganza (2020) in Movies

Nov 27, 2020 (Updated Nov 27, 2020)  
Joji Presents: The Extravaganza (2020)
Joji Presents: The Extravaganza (2020)
2020 | Comedy, Music
Not as good as Hair Cake. In seriousness, as someone who firmly believes that FIlthy Frank was perhaps the single greatest online entertainer who ever lived - something this casual was always going to seem like a downgrade for me as opposed to his former persona's caustic, over-the-top antics. But I also really enjoy Joji and feel he's similarly unique in a different way - one of which I dig quite a lot. Ballads 1 and Nectar have some *banger* songs on them that I regularly put on repeat so I was fully ready to have fun with this. But what was marketed as a dark spin on a circus stage performance meets a lite version of The Eric Andre Show ended up being a rather low-energy, repetitive slog that stretches at barely over an hour. I'm still not even sure what the point of this was, the only half-inspired bit was Run (and maybe Sanctuary yet it seemed so telegraphed) but other than that it's a collection of confusingly samey (though never bad) live renditions of songs that you get no benefit of seeing performed here as opposed to hearing/seeing them on the albums or music videos. Joji's downtrodden, walking broken heart persona (which - by the way - I love) tries to mix with this high-energy would-be attention grabber and truthfully it doesn't work or come even close to justifying the ticket price. The costumes and songs are still rock-solid even though two or three of them just feel like the same track. It makes me happy to see George's newfound success in something he's so passionate about, but this was a misfire imo. Alas, not even Joji performing Tick Tock as a 𝘋𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘔𝘦 minion can save it. God-tier ending, though - why wasn't the whole thing more like that?