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Dead of Night: A World Book Day Book 2017
Book
Set in the alternative World War II scenario of his Front Lines novels, Michael Grant, author of the...
HD
His Dark Materials: BBC Radio Drama Collection: Northern Lights; the Subtle Knife; the Amber Spyglass
Terence Stamp, Philip Pullman, Full Cast and Kenneth Cranham
8.0
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Book
With a cast including Terence Stamp, Bill Paterson and Kenneth Cranham, these BBC Radio 4 full-cast...
Monkey Island Tales 1
Games and Entertainment
8.0
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App
Start your adventure! NOTE: This app is compatible with an iPhone 3GS or third generation...
When Darkness Follows (Beyond the Grave #4)
8.0
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The only eyewitness to a murder can’t remember a thing. Rachel Sommers and her two best friends...
Paranormal Romance Suspense Mystery
Merissa (11805 KP) rated Chalvaren Rising (Kingdom of Chalvaren #2) in Books
May 5, 2023
Different worlds, dragons, elves, evil yet misguided women - what more could you ask for?
Now, this is the first 'full' book in the Kingdom of Chalvaren series, although there is the novella in which our two main characters meet. What made this book interesting for me is that they were already 'together' right at the start. So although I knew that things had moved quickly in the prequel, it actually made for fantastic reading as the two of them got to know each other and explored their feelings for each other. Trust me when I say those feelings run hot! Their relationship has the normal ups, downs and misunderstandings that occur when two people are trying to live together and that made for excellent reading. Throw in a world in chaos, with a crazy woman trying to resurrect the dead along with killing the dragons, you have an action-packed world, full of character and heart.
With a smooth, steady pace and excitement on every page, this is a wonderful Fantasy Action Romance. I know that there are two books in this series but I am really hoping for more. I loved the world of Chalvaren and hope to see more of it, and the dragons, in the future. Highly recommended for all fans of Fantasy!
* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and my comments here are my honest opinion. *
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Nov 25, 2015
Now, this is the first 'full' book in the Kingdom of Chalvaren series, although there is the novella in which our two main characters meet. What made this book interesting for me is that they were already 'together' right at the start. So although I knew that things had moved quickly in the prequel, it actually made for fantastic reading as the two of them got to know each other and explored their feelings for each other. Trust me when I say those feelings run hot! Their relationship has the normal ups, downs and misunderstandings that occur when two people are trying to live together and that made for excellent reading. Throw in a world in chaos, with a crazy woman trying to resurrect the dead along with killing the dragons, you have an action-packed world, full of character and heart.
With a smooth, steady pace and excitement on every page, this is a wonderful Fantasy Action Romance. I know that there are two books in this series but I am really hoping for more. I loved the world of Chalvaren and hope to see more of it, and the dragons, in the future. Highly recommended for all fans of Fantasy!
* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and my comments here are my honest opinion. *
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Nov 25, 2015
Lyndsey Gollogly (2893 KP) rated Sophie and the Odd Ones ( Sophie Feegle book 1) in Books
Dec 15, 2022
221 of 230
Kindle
Sophie and the Odd Ones ( Sophie Feegle book 1)
By Gwen DeMarco
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Sophie Feegle needs a break. Rent is due on her crappy apartment and she's halfway through her last loaf of bread.
Sophie doesn't have big ambitions. She only wants a job that will keep her landlord off her back, enough extra cash for whiskey at the neighborhood bar and a bit of free time to hang out with the naughty old lady next door.
When a chance encounter with a quiet stranger leads to a job offer at the San Francisco City Morgue, Sophie jumps at the opportunity. She never expected to find her calling on the graveyard shift surrounded by dead bodies and the strange characters that make up the morgue's staff. Finding out that your friends and co-workers are shifters, ogres and other non-human creatures is a shock, but Sophie quickly realizes that these are her people, and she has finally found her perfect gig.
And then things get odd. Well… odder.
Unusual murders keep ending up on Sophie’s autopsy table, hinting at strange powers working within the city. Something nefarious is building in San Francisco, and it is up to Sophie and her friends to thwart the evil powers on the rise.
I absolutely loved this! It was funny and a refreshing enjoyable read. It was really good to see an author using the non apex predator shifters as the crime fighting team. If you’re looking for a supernatural fun read this is definitely recommended.
Kindle
Sophie and the Odd Ones ( Sophie Feegle book 1)
By Gwen DeMarco
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Sophie Feegle needs a break. Rent is due on her crappy apartment and she's halfway through her last loaf of bread.
Sophie doesn't have big ambitions. She only wants a job that will keep her landlord off her back, enough extra cash for whiskey at the neighborhood bar and a bit of free time to hang out with the naughty old lady next door.
When a chance encounter with a quiet stranger leads to a job offer at the San Francisco City Morgue, Sophie jumps at the opportunity. She never expected to find her calling on the graveyard shift surrounded by dead bodies and the strange characters that make up the morgue's staff. Finding out that your friends and co-workers are shifters, ogres and other non-human creatures is a shock, but Sophie quickly realizes that these are her people, and she has finally found her perfect gig.
And then things get odd. Well… odder.
Unusual murders keep ending up on Sophie’s autopsy table, hinting at strange powers working within the city. Something nefarious is building in San Francisco, and it is up to Sophie and her friends to thwart the evil powers on the rise.
I absolutely loved this! It was funny and a refreshing enjoyable read. It was really good to see an author using the non apex predator shifters as the crime fighting team. If you’re looking for a supernatural fun read this is definitely recommended.
Lyndsey Gollogly (2893 KP) rated Grace ( The Revelations book 1) in Books
Aug 22, 2022
149 of 230
Kindle
Grace (The Revelations book 1)
By Leanne Rathbone
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Good and Evil...two absolutes that every person is taught about from a young age but what if the lines between the two suddenly blurred, what if everything you believed you knew changed in the blink of an eye?
These are the dilemmas that 17-year-old Grace Ayre suddenly finds herself facing. One fateful night a brutal attack leaves her best friend dead and her life changes in an instant. She's moved away from the life she had always known and thrown into the life of a loner in a remote village in the north of England.
An unnerving trip through a darkened cemetery sparks a series of events that make Grace question everything she knows about the world and more importantly, everything she knows about herself.
With her life in imminent danger will she discover enough about herself to change her future and will the elusive and mysterious Nate help or hinder her process?
Grace is a story of love, loss, friendship and discovering how one's fate can shape existence and how the lust for power can destroy it all.
I literally could not put this down! I started at 2am and it’s now 4:24am. It was addictive and I just could stop reading. The story, the characters and the fact it was set in the UK kept me hooked. As you may have guessed from previous books I’m an emotional reviewer and this was the perfect book for me. Absolutely loved it!
Kindle
Grace (The Revelations book 1)
By Leanne Rathbone
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Good and Evil...two absolutes that every person is taught about from a young age but what if the lines between the two suddenly blurred, what if everything you believed you knew changed in the blink of an eye?
These are the dilemmas that 17-year-old Grace Ayre suddenly finds herself facing. One fateful night a brutal attack leaves her best friend dead and her life changes in an instant. She's moved away from the life she had always known and thrown into the life of a loner in a remote village in the north of England.
An unnerving trip through a darkened cemetery sparks a series of events that make Grace question everything she knows about the world and more importantly, everything she knows about herself.
With her life in imminent danger will she discover enough about herself to change her future and will the elusive and mysterious Nate help or hinder her process?
Grace is a story of love, loss, friendship and discovering how one's fate can shape existence and how the lust for power can destroy it all.
I literally could not put this down! I started at 2am and it’s now 4:24am. It was addictive and I just could stop reading. The story, the characters and the fact it was set in the UK kept me hooked. As you may have guessed from previous books I’m an emotional reviewer and this was the perfect book for me. Absolutely loved it!
Elpie Erectus
10.0
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On the verge of being murdered, a child vanishes, and her tormentors, arrested for her...
science fiction
Darren (1599 KP) rated The Dark Within (2019) in Movies
Jun 21, 2019
Story: The Dark Within starts after an experiment goes wrong leading to Marcus (Flannery) growing up facing troubled visions and illnesses, in search for answers his doctor, Dr Norton (Styles) is trying to find answers to his past, which sends him to his parent’s cabin in a remote woodland area.
In the cabin the memories come running back to Marcus through visions and he is joined by his ex-girlfriend Sarah (Carelli) that is willing to help him put his life back together, but the truth itself will be too shocking for Marcus to handle.
Thoughts on The Dark Within
Characters – Marcus is a disturbed man with unknown psychic abilities, he spends times in therapy trying to piece together the pieces of his past to understand just what happened to him as a child, he has made himself distant from his loved ones and in a final attempt to unlock the truth, he heads to his parent’s old cabin, which soon starts to unlock the shocking truth about his childhood, as he starts to lose sense of reality. Sarah is the ex-girlfriend that has a restraining order against Marcus, she decides to put that aside to help Marcus find answers, being the only person that will be there for him. Dr Norton is the lady that is trying to help Marcus understand his past, she suggests the cabin as a location in which could hold the answers he requires. Andrew is the father of Marcus, the man that was performing the experiment which saw him leave Marcus as a young child, he knew the value of his idea and the consequences once things started to go wrong.
Performances – Paul Flannery in the leading role is great to watch, he gives us a performance of a man that is losing sense of his reality, with moments of desperate hope, while others are filled with fear and moments where he tries to remain calm, he pulls us through the film with his performance that is needed to help carry the film. Kendra Carelli does get time to shine, but like most of the supporting cast they are only used when required and make the most of their screen time.
Story – The story here follows a man that has been losing sense of reality because of a childhood trauma, he goes in search for answers that will only leave him feeling shocked and needing to battle evil. One of the easiest ways to describe the story at times would be like watching ‘The Evil Dead’ one man trapped in a cabin trying to remain sane, while a host of different paranormal incidents come in his direction, this story does go deeper than just that though, because we get involved in a scientific experiment which has caused the events to unfold. There could be one side of the story which does get overused, which does frustrate, though it does only add to the unknown about what is going on. For a story that does revolve around the unknown mindset, this is one that does keep you guessing and does make you question everything you are seeing.
Horror – The horror in the film does comes from the unknown hauntings Marcus is experiencing, each one of these become more shocking as the events of the film do unfold, with moments that are meant to disturb along the way.
Settings – The film does use the one location for the setting, which is the remote cabin in the woods, which does create the isolation required for the film.
Special Effects – The effects do show the budget the film is working with, they do work well for the film, when we get to the creature it will leave people feeling scared by the end of the film.
Scene of the Movie – The creature’s first appearance.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – The Evil Dead laugh.
Final Thoughts – This is an entertaining shock filled horror that is very enjoyable, we get a story that will keep you guessing and a creature that could strike the fear into the audience.
Overall: Horror to enjoy.
https://moviesreview101.com/2019/06/17/the-dark-within-2019/
In the cabin the memories come running back to Marcus through visions and he is joined by his ex-girlfriend Sarah (Carelli) that is willing to help him put his life back together, but the truth itself will be too shocking for Marcus to handle.
Thoughts on The Dark Within
Characters – Marcus is a disturbed man with unknown psychic abilities, he spends times in therapy trying to piece together the pieces of his past to understand just what happened to him as a child, he has made himself distant from his loved ones and in a final attempt to unlock the truth, he heads to his parent’s old cabin, which soon starts to unlock the shocking truth about his childhood, as he starts to lose sense of reality. Sarah is the ex-girlfriend that has a restraining order against Marcus, she decides to put that aside to help Marcus find answers, being the only person that will be there for him. Dr Norton is the lady that is trying to help Marcus understand his past, she suggests the cabin as a location in which could hold the answers he requires. Andrew is the father of Marcus, the man that was performing the experiment which saw him leave Marcus as a young child, he knew the value of his idea and the consequences once things started to go wrong.
Performances – Paul Flannery in the leading role is great to watch, he gives us a performance of a man that is losing sense of his reality, with moments of desperate hope, while others are filled with fear and moments where he tries to remain calm, he pulls us through the film with his performance that is needed to help carry the film. Kendra Carelli does get time to shine, but like most of the supporting cast they are only used when required and make the most of their screen time.
Story – The story here follows a man that has been losing sense of reality because of a childhood trauma, he goes in search for answers that will only leave him feeling shocked and needing to battle evil. One of the easiest ways to describe the story at times would be like watching ‘The Evil Dead’ one man trapped in a cabin trying to remain sane, while a host of different paranormal incidents come in his direction, this story does go deeper than just that though, because we get involved in a scientific experiment which has caused the events to unfold. There could be one side of the story which does get overused, which does frustrate, though it does only add to the unknown about what is going on. For a story that does revolve around the unknown mindset, this is one that does keep you guessing and does make you question everything you are seeing.
Horror – The horror in the film does comes from the unknown hauntings Marcus is experiencing, each one of these become more shocking as the events of the film do unfold, with moments that are meant to disturb along the way.
Settings – The film does use the one location for the setting, which is the remote cabin in the woods, which does create the isolation required for the film.
Special Effects – The effects do show the budget the film is working with, they do work well for the film, when we get to the creature it will leave people feeling scared by the end of the film.
Scene of the Movie – The creature’s first appearance.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – The Evil Dead laugh.
Final Thoughts – This is an entertaining shock filled horror that is very enjoyable, we get a story that will keep you guessing and a creature that could strike the fear into the audience.
Overall: Horror to enjoy.
https://moviesreview101.com/2019/06/17/the-dark-within-2019/
Hadley (567 KP) rated Soul Drinker in Books
Jul 25, 2020
The writing (2 more)
No character development
No ending
One of the classic horror tropes is Heaven versus Hell, angels versus demons, good versus evil (like a boogeyman versus an innocent child, or a killer versus a group of teenagers, or even an evil spirit versus an exorcist) and we always know how it's going to end: good triumphs evil, every time. Some of the most well known films with this trope are Constantine (2005), the Exorcist (1973) and more recently, Stephen King's IT : Chapter 2 (2019).
That, along with a little romance, mystery, and historical elements make up this novel that features three main characters who are stuck in a struggle between good and evil while having to face mistakes from the past.
Welcome to the hellish world of Soul Drinker by newcomer, Matthew Yard.
Deep description is what makes up Yard's storytelling, so much so that the book is extremely hard to read. Only 132 pages long, Yard spends most paragraphs describing one single thing in many different ways, such as a young woman's hair, which only needs one sentence to tell such a detail, but instead, took an entire paragraph.
During an ancient civilization, a deity appeared named Destroyer, it found a way to break through the boundaries that separates realms and universes - - - finding our realm, Destroyer leaves his son Luther to build powerful followings through cults run by Pagans.
The novel's villain, Luther, isn't present enough to feel like a real threat for the reader. And the three main characters, other than their physical descriptions, are lifeless because of the extreme lack of character development.
Our main character, Devin, is a college student who constantly has nightmares of his best friend's murder. He also lives at house in the woods which he has no idea how he attained it and this is never explained. After Devin and a classmate named Vic have an encounter with a supernatural cloud, they end up at this house, where readers find out that Devin isn't the only one who has been having nightmares.
Vic is a beautiful, young woman, who Devin seems to be enamoured with, but she is still busy getting over her first love. A few chapters in, readers get flashbacks of Vic's father and mother before she was born. Vic's father was also haunted by this supernatural cloud, which seems to have had a tighter grip on him than Vic - - - her father's flashbacks are the most interesting part of this story.
Vic's father, Jacob, is fast asleep next to his wife when a giant face wakes him up, telling him that there is work to do. Jacob follows the face out into the hallway, when it begins to sway, as if through the eyes of a drunk. Jacob fights the urge to continue to the stairs, wanting to turn back and protect his sleeping wife.
A little while later, we find out that Jacob is psychic: he can see the dead and/or the past. But for anymore development on that interesting piece of information, readers get one glimpse of what Jacob sees - - - and that's it. Jacob's wife, Nina, is an even flatter character, which we only get to see in bed either asleep or waking up. Even Jacob's mental and spiritual fight with the 'face' is disappointingly short with no real tension, no climax, or feelings of betrayal when something finally happens in the end of that scene.
Love, the supernatural, and Pagan cults are what make up the plot of this book. The story jumps between Devin, Vic and Jacob, but the story gets caught up in moments that shouldn't be more than a paragraph, which caused me to become bored with the story. And Yard's writing made this book read like a fan fiction: a lot of inconsistencies throughout, tons of misspellings, and a major overuse of the same words, sometimes even in the same sentence.
Unfortunately, this book was almost unreadable, and the heavy descriptions were extremely off-putting, as was the end of the story- - - the book ended suddenly, and with no sequel in sight. I can't recommend this book to anyone.
That, along with a little romance, mystery, and historical elements make up this novel that features three main characters who are stuck in a struggle between good and evil while having to face mistakes from the past.
Welcome to the hellish world of Soul Drinker by newcomer, Matthew Yard.
Deep description is what makes up Yard's storytelling, so much so that the book is extremely hard to read. Only 132 pages long, Yard spends most paragraphs describing one single thing in many different ways, such as a young woman's hair, which only needs one sentence to tell such a detail, but instead, took an entire paragraph.
During an ancient civilization, a deity appeared named Destroyer, it found a way to break through the boundaries that separates realms and universes - - - finding our realm, Destroyer leaves his son Luther to build powerful followings through cults run by Pagans.
The novel's villain, Luther, isn't present enough to feel like a real threat for the reader. And the three main characters, other than their physical descriptions, are lifeless because of the extreme lack of character development.
Our main character, Devin, is a college student who constantly has nightmares of his best friend's murder. He also lives at house in the woods which he has no idea how he attained it and this is never explained. After Devin and a classmate named Vic have an encounter with a supernatural cloud, they end up at this house, where readers find out that Devin isn't the only one who has been having nightmares.
Vic is a beautiful, young woman, who Devin seems to be enamoured with, but she is still busy getting over her first love. A few chapters in, readers get flashbacks of Vic's father and mother before she was born. Vic's father was also haunted by this supernatural cloud, which seems to have had a tighter grip on him than Vic - - - her father's flashbacks are the most interesting part of this story.
Vic's father, Jacob, is fast asleep next to his wife when a giant face wakes him up, telling him that there is work to do. Jacob follows the face out into the hallway, when it begins to sway, as if through the eyes of a drunk. Jacob fights the urge to continue to the stairs, wanting to turn back and protect his sleeping wife.
A little while later, we find out that Jacob is psychic: he can see the dead and/or the past. But for anymore development on that interesting piece of information, readers get one glimpse of what Jacob sees - - - and that's it. Jacob's wife, Nina, is an even flatter character, which we only get to see in bed either asleep or waking up. Even Jacob's mental and spiritual fight with the 'face' is disappointingly short with no real tension, no climax, or feelings of betrayal when something finally happens in the end of that scene.
Love, the supernatural, and Pagan cults are what make up the plot of this book. The story jumps between Devin, Vic and Jacob, but the story gets caught up in moments that shouldn't be more than a paragraph, which caused me to become bored with the story. And Yard's writing made this book read like a fan fiction: a lot of inconsistencies throughout, tons of misspellings, and a major overuse of the same words, sometimes even in the same sentence.
Unfortunately, this book was almost unreadable, and the heavy descriptions were extremely off-putting, as was the end of the story- - - the book ended suddenly, and with no sequel in sight. I can't recommend this book to anyone.