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Daniel Boyd (1066 KP) rated Mayans MC in TV
Jan 8, 2019 (Updated Jan 8, 2019)
Hijos de la Anarquía
Funnily enough, my girlfriend and I were actually on Holiday in Mexico when this show premiered back in September. Although I was excited to see it since it was announced as I am a big fan of the original SOA series, because we were away when it first aired and we had a bunch to catch up on when we got back, I only recently made my way through the first series of Mayans. Also, just as a heads up, because this is a spinoff of SOA, I will be making a lot of comparisons to the OG show throughout my review.
Mayans follows EZ Reyes, a prospect for the Mayans Motorcycle Club. His older brother is a full patch and is responsible for getting him involved with the biker gang. The series takes place a few years after, (SPOILERS FOR SOA,) the death of Jax Teller. EZ is far less involved with his club than Jax was. Due to Jax's heritage, he was destined to be a part of the SOA, but most of EZ's problems come from outside the club or from his murky past.
In fact, most of the issues that characters deal with in the show, come from problems outside the club, whereas the first season of SOA dealt far more with club problems and established the group of men as more of a family unit, much more so than the Mayans. This change isn't necessarily a bad thing, it's just different and I wonder if it was a conscience change to differentiate the show from SOA or if it was due to the addition of Kurt Sutter's new writing partner Elgin James.
Speaking of the writing, it is as tight here as it ever was in SOA. Kurt Sutter is an absolute genius with a pen, taking the audience from generic biker dialogue one minute to deep family crisis' and existential questions the next. The one major change is the use of flashbacks in this series. As far as I can recall, although SOA spent a lot of time talking about Jax's family history, we never actually saw any flashbacks, but Mayans is full of them. This is based around the gimmick of EZ having a photographic memory. Personally I don't mind gimmicks like this in writing as long as they are executed well and for the most part, they do serve the story that Mayans is trying to tell.
Overall, I enjoyed the first series of Mayans and I am looking forward to seeing where the show will go in future after having been renewed for a second season.
Mayans follows EZ Reyes, a prospect for the Mayans Motorcycle Club. His older brother is a full patch and is responsible for getting him involved with the biker gang. The series takes place a few years after, (SPOILERS FOR SOA,) the death of Jax Teller. EZ is far less involved with his club than Jax was. Due to Jax's heritage, he was destined to be a part of the SOA, but most of EZ's problems come from outside the club or from his murky past.
In fact, most of the issues that characters deal with in the show, come from problems outside the club, whereas the first season of SOA dealt far more with club problems and established the group of men as more of a family unit, much more so than the Mayans. This change isn't necessarily a bad thing, it's just different and I wonder if it was a conscience change to differentiate the show from SOA or if it was due to the addition of Kurt Sutter's new writing partner Elgin James.
Speaking of the writing, it is as tight here as it ever was in SOA. Kurt Sutter is an absolute genius with a pen, taking the audience from generic biker dialogue one minute to deep family crisis' and existential questions the next. The one major change is the use of flashbacks in this series. As far as I can recall, although SOA spent a lot of time talking about Jax's family history, we never actually saw any flashbacks, but Mayans is full of them. This is based around the gimmick of EZ having a photographic memory. Personally I don't mind gimmicks like this in writing as long as they are executed well and for the most part, they do serve the story that Mayans is trying to tell.
Overall, I enjoyed the first series of Mayans and I am looking forward to seeing where the show will go in future after having been renewed for a second season.
Marylegs (44 KP) rated The Lovely Bones in Books
Aug 14, 2019
This is another book I have felt the urge to read after watching the film. I probably would never have picked this book up if I hadn’t seen the film previously. The Lovely Bones is not the easiest story to read, as it is the story of a 14 year old girl, Susie Salmon, being raped and murdered. Told from the perspective of Susie in her heaven watching over her family, friends and murderer as they carry on with their life in the years after her death. The story develops from the initial stages of grief and devastation felt by her family and friends to how the move on and, not forget her, but learn to live again.
This story could be hard work to read due to the subject matter, but in fact it is beautiful in all the right places. It is raw in detailing human emotions, and how people can feel guilty for feeling normal after the death of a loved one occurs. It is a lovely thought, of people moving onto a place where the heaven is what they make of it, that it is different for each person and that they can build upon it and still have the ability to watch over the family they left behind.
My one bug bear with the book was the character of Susie’s mother, Abigail. I understand that grief affects everyone differently but I couldn’t warm to her due to the actions she took in the subsequent years after her eldest daughter was killed. But I found all the other characters interesting and well developed including in particular Susie’s sister Lindsey, who had to grow up to quickly and Susie’s could have been boyfriend Ray, who didn’t let being accused of her murder destroy him. Even the killers’ character was interesting to read about and whilst I never sympathised with his past history as it is told, it felt important to include more about him than just having him defined by the murder he committed. Probably the most developed and grief stricken character was Susie’s father Jack, the way he dealt with his emotions is more how I imagined a parent would act after losing a child this way. It really pulled at your heart when he had to push down his grief to still try to be a father to his two remaining children, but the whole time feeling guilty that Susie wasn’t there which obviously made it harder for his to let go. I would recommend this book but due to the subject matter, no matter how delicately it is written and dealt with, still may not be for everyone.
This story could be hard work to read due to the subject matter, but in fact it is beautiful in all the right places. It is raw in detailing human emotions, and how people can feel guilty for feeling normal after the death of a loved one occurs. It is a lovely thought, of people moving onto a place where the heaven is what they make of it, that it is different for each person and that they can build upon it and still have the ability to watch over the family they left behind.
My one bug bear with the book was the character of Susie’s mother, Abigail. I understand that grief affects everyone differently but I couldn’t warm to her due to the actions she took in the subsequent years after her eldest daughter was killed. But I found all the other characters interesting and well developed including in particular Susie’s sister Lindsey, who had to grow up to quickly and Susie’s could have been boyfriend Ray, who didn’t let being accused of her murder destroy him. Even the killers’ character was interesting to read about and whilst I never sympathised with his past history as it is told, it felt important to include more about him than just having him defined by the murder he committed. Probably the most developed and grief stricken character was Susie’s father Jack, the way he dealt with his emotions is more how I imagined a parent would act after losing a child this way. It really pulled at your heart when he had to push down his grief to still try to be a father to his two remaining children, but the whole time feeling guilty that Susie wasn’t there which obviously made it harder for his to let go. I would recommend this book but due to the subject matter, no matter how delicately it is written and dealt with, still may not be for everyone.
Rachel King (13 KP) rated The Lens and the Looker in Books
Feb 11, 2019
The premise of this book was quite intriguing, so I had high hopes to see how this concept of "History Camps" played out using the city of Verona in the year 1347. What I did not really understand was why Hansum and Lincoln were specifically cast as lens-maker apprentices. Kaufman goes into extreme detail regarding the intricacies of making lenses for eye glasses with rudimentary tools of that time period, and quite a bit of the book is devoted to the education of the process and the modernization of the tools used. Seeing the lens-making business in practice in the "real" Verona showed that the "lenses for the eyes" contributed as more of a novelty for the wealthy and educated than a wide-spread tool used by the masses. In contrast, Shamira's role as kitchen girl made much more sense to me, as that is a generic role that would not necessarily impede the progression of plot.
Backing up, I was very interested in the present-day time period of 2347 and the few details that Kaufman spared regarding this society. Unfortunately, not much is explained about how this society came to be. A brief explanation is given for the planetary population of 300 million, along with other random details interspersed throughout the book, such as every child born is paired with an A.I., people are implanted with a device that keeps disease and infection at bay, and parents are only allowed to have one child with a lottery sometimes allowing for a second child. The purpose of the History Camps are explained through the rebellious attitudes of the three main characters and how they can easily manipulate the system for their own entertainment. As a parent, the word that continually echoed through my head regarding these children in the Hard-Time History Camp is "Spoiled!" Though they are supposed to be learning about how the rebellion of the human populations of the past caused everything from war, to disease, to poverty and famine, the way the children are coddled and protected from any sort of real pain or hardship makes me wonder how these History Camps ever accomplished anything of lasting value in any child.
Once the children are brought to the real Verona and abandoned as orphans, they finally begin to get a taste of real difficulty and hardship, but this is where the believability ends for me. The children had a single day in the History Camp Verona to get acquainted with their roles, and they show up in the real Verona as near-experts, maneuvering the details of their jobs to accommodate for comfort and ease of use that the family they work for is not familiar with, of course all with the help and direction of a very convenient genie. On top of all of this, the three children become agreeable, cooperative, and hard-working practically overnight, with little sign of the rebellious tendencies that put them in a History Camp in the first place. These transitions in character development felt forced to me.
Another aspect that really bugged me from the beginning of the book was the awkwardness of the dialog throughout the book, specifically regarding the children's speech. It felt stilted and over-simplified, and slowed down my reading because I consistently felt that children today did not speak like this. Some of the speech of the people native to the real Verona also seemed strange, but I attributed that to the speech of the time period.
Many of the characters took on unique facets that made them rather memorable to me, such as Ugilino's looks and arrogance, Signora della Cappa's madness, and Shamira's artistic inclinations. The budding romance between Hansum, or "Romero", and Guilietta copies the Shakespearean play, "Romeo and Juliet", in many ways, down to the presence of a Father Lurenzano, and I have to wonder about Kaufman's motivations for working this tale into the plot. And again, their romance also felt forced and over-the-top, missing the reality-warping conviction that is obvious in the original Shakespeare story.
I also have to wonder how these advancements that the three children are introducing to 1347 Verona are actually affecting the progression of time, since this is a much harped-upon concern regarding time travel. The only thing that is apparent to both the children and the reader is the quaint changes made to the appearance of the genie. Something else that is also mentioned early on is that this is also the same time period as the Black Plague, which has yet to make an appearance. Hopefully, the next book in the trilogy will address these things, The Bronze and the Brimstone: The Verona Trilogy, Book 2.
This book seemed geared to appeal to pre-teens and young teens in many ways, but as an adult reader, it left much to be desired for me.
Backing up, I was very interested in the present-day time period of 2347 and the few details that Kaufman spared regarding this society. Unfortunately, not much is explained about how this society came to be. A brief explanation is given for the planetary population of 300 million, along with other random details interspersed throughout the book, such as every child born is paired with an A.I., people are implanted with a device that keeps disease and infection at bay, and parents are only allowed to have one child with a lottery sometimes allowing for a second child. The purpose of the History Camps are explained through the rebellious attitudes of the three main characters and how they can easily manipulate the system for their own entertainment. As a parent, the word that continually echoed through my head regarding these children in the Hard-Time History Camp is "Spoiled!" Though they are supposed to be learning about how the rebellion of the human populations of the past caused everything from war, to disease, to poverty and famine, the way the children are coddled and protected from any sort of real pain or hardship makes me wonder how these History Camps ever accomplished anything of lasting value in any child.
Once the children are brought to the real Verona and abandoned as orphans, they finally begin to get a taste of real difficulty and hardship, but this is where the believability ends for me. The children had a single day in the History Camp Verona to get acquainted with their roles, and they show up in the real Verona as near-experts, maneuvering the details of their jobs to accommodate for comfort and ease of use that the family they work for is not familiar with, of course all with the help and direction of a very convenient genie. On top of all of this, the three children become agreeable, cooperative, and hard-working practically overnight, with little sign of the rebellious tendencies that put them in a History Camp in the first place. These transitions in character development felt forced to me.
Another aspect that really bugged me from the beginning of the book was the awkwardness of the dialog throughout the book, specifically regarding the children's speech. It felt stilted and over-simplified, and slowed down my reading because I consistently felt that children today did not speak like this. Some of the speech of the people native to the real Verona also seemed strange, but I attributed that to the speech of the time period.
Many of the characters took on unique facets that made them rather memorable to me, such as Ugilino's looks and arrogance, Signora della Cappa's madness, and Shamira's artistic inclinations. The budding romance between Hansum, or "Romero", and Guilietta copies the Shakespearean play, "Romeo and Juliet", in many ways, down to the presence of a Father Lurenzano, and I have to wonder about Kaufman's motivations for working this tale into the plot. And again, their romance also felt forced and over-the-top, missing the reality-warping conviction that is obvious in the original Shakespeare story.
I also have to wonder how these advancements that the three children are introducing to 1347 Verona are actually affecting the progression of time, since this is a much harped-upon concern regarding time travel. The only thing that is apparent to both the children and the reader is the quaint changes made to the appearance of the genie. Something else that is also mentioned early on is that this is also the same time period as the Black Plague, which has yet to make an appearance. Hopefully, the next book in the trilogy will address these things, The Bronze and the Brimstone: The Verona Trilogy, Book 2.
This book seemed geared to appeal to pre-teens and young teens in many ways, but as an adult reader, it left much to be desired for me.
Suswatibasu (1703 KP) rated A Kind of Freedom: A Novel in Books
Nov 6, 2017 (Updated Nov 6, 2017)
A book rooted in hope and endurance
Margaret Wilkerson Sexton's beautiful debut novel explores four generations of a family, from the time of segregation to mass incarceration.
In A Kind of Freedom, Sexton pursues a family’s history in a downward spiral, with three alternating plot lines that echo one another along the way. It begins with the budding love of Evelyn, brought up in New Orleans and the daughter of a Creole mother and black doctor father. She is courted by Renard, a poor man who works menial jobs to get by but aspires to study medicine. Their courtship reveals the strictures of a class- and colour-driven society that suffocates ambition and distorts desire.
The second generation is about Jackie, a single mother in 1980s New Orleans who is in love with her child’s father but afraid he will succumb to his crack addiction.
Eventually, we get to know Jackie’s son, T.C., in 2010, a young man at a turning point in his life. Through T.C.'s eyes, Sexton portrays a post-Katrina New Orleans where the smell of mold still lingers and opportunities for fast cash in the streets abound, as do the chances of getting shot or arrested.
It's an unflinching portrayal, slightly detached and not overbearing in its rhetoric. It shows where links have been bruised and sometimes broken, but dwells on the endurance and not the damage. A moving read.
In A Kind of Freedom, Sexton pursues a family’s history in a downward spiral, with three alternating plot lines that echo one another along the way. It begins with the budding love of Evelyn, brought up in New Orleans and the daughter of a Creole mother and black doctor father. She is courted by Renard, a poor man who works menial jobs to get by but aspires to study medicine. Their courtship reveals the strictures of a class- and colour-driven society that suffocates ambition and distorts desire.
The second generation is about Jackie, a single mother in 1980s New Orleans who is in love with her child’s father but afraid he will succumb to his crack addiction.
Eventually, we get to know Jackie’s son, T.C., in 2010, a young man at a turning point in his life. Through T.C.'s eyes, Sexton portrays a post-Katrina New Orleans where the smell of mold still lingers and opportunities for fast cash in the streets abound, as do the chances of getting shot or arrested.
It's an unflinching portrayal, slightly detached and not overbearing in its rhetoric. It shows where links have been bruised and sometimes broken, but dwells on the endurance and not the damage. A moving read.
Molly J (Cover To Cover Cafe) (106 KP) rated My Daughter's Legacy (Cousins of the Dove #3) in Books
Feb 27, 2019
I love these two authors and their work, and I was excited to see where this book went. And honestly, while I loved that these authors came together and created a captivating story, I was a little lost in some of the areas of the story, so I'll definitely be going back to read the first two in the series.
That said, these characters, both present day, and historical, are beautifully chiseled. Told between two points of view, the authors take the reader on a whirlwind ride through history and contemporary times. I loved visiting Richmond during the Civil War. Historical eras are my favorite! Nicole and Therese quickly swept me into the heart of the story and I felt both of their emotions like they were my own!
Despite not reading book 1 and 2 and occasionally struggling to follow the story line, this conclusional book is definitely worth 4 stars. The writing styles of these two authors are beautiful, and mysterious and historical elements are awesome. This book is filled with emotions, thought provoking story lines, family legacies, and Godly messages of faith, trust and hope. I definitely suggest you get this book if you've read the first two! It will steal you away to another place in time and keep you up long into the night.<a href="http://cafinatedreads.com/13819-revision-v1/"; target="_blank">This review was originally posted on Cafinated Reads</a>
That said, these characters, both present day, and historical, are beautifully chiseled. Told between two points of view, the authors take the reader on a whirlwind ride through history and contemporary times. I loved visiting Richmond during the Civil War. Historical eras are my favorite! Nicole and Therese quickly swept me into the heart of the story and I felt both of their emotions like they were my own!
Despite not reading book 1 and 2 and occasionally struggling to follow the story line, this conclusional book is definitely worth 4 stars. The writing styles of these two authors are beautiful, and mysterious and historical elements are awesome. This book is filled with emotions, thought provoking story lines, family legacies, and Godly messages of faith, trust and hope. I definitely suggest you get this book if you've read the first two! It will steal you away to another place in time and keep you up long into the night.<a href="http://cafinatedreads.com/13819-revision-v1/"; target="_blank">This review was originally posted on Cafinated Reads</a>
Whatchareadin (174 KP) rated Better Than I Know Myself in Books
Apr 3, 2019
Did you ever have a friend who was more like family? For Regina Foster, Jewel Prescott, and Carmen Webb this is exactly true. Better Than I Know Myself starts in the late 70's when the girls are seniors in high school and making the decision on where to go to college. Three different girls from three very different backgrounds. Jewel, a former child star. Regina, the daughter of two college educated parents and little sister to older brothers who had all attended and graduated from college. And Carmen whose parents had left her at a young age.
The story progresses through their meeting in New York at Barnard and continues through their graduation. Regina and Jewel were already roommates when they met Carmen at the university library. They all got stuck in an elevator together and as they say, "The rest is history." They lived together through the early 80's as they grew into women and started to become independent.
The book covers twenty years of friendship and sisterhood and all the trials and tribulations that entails.
This book made me laugh out loud and brought a tear or two to my eyes. It also made me want to get together with my closest girlfriends. This is a book that you have to read until the end.
I listened to this book through the iPod and Overdrive. The audio was read by Lisa Renee Pitts.
The story progresses through their meeting in New York at Barnard and continues through their graduation. Regina and Jewel were already roommates when they met Carmen at the university library. They all got stuck in an elevator together and as they say, "The rest is history." They lived together through the early 80's as they grew into women and started to become independent.
The book covers twenty years of friendship and sisterhood and all the trials and tribulations that entails.
This book made me laugh out loud and brought a tear or two to my eyes. It also made me want to get together with my closest girlfriends. This is a book that you have to read until the end.
I listened to this book through the iPod and Overdrive. The audio was read by Lisa Renee Pitts.
Andy K (10823 KP) rated Aliens (1986) in Movies
Oct 23, 2018
Sci fi action at its finest
Alien and Aliens have to be up there with The Godfather I and II and Raiders/Temple of Doom and one of the greatest one-two punches in movie history.
"They mostly come at night...mostly"
Make sure if you are watching after not seeing for awhile or never seen you watch the 1990 "Director's Cut". As with several Cameron epics, the story and characters get flushed out a lot more and the extra scenes are very good. With Aliens, though, I would have omitted the scene near the beginning where we meet Next and her family when they discover the chestbursters. I think Newt's reveal works better if we were to first meet her while crawling around underneath the decks of the colony.
The only thing that ever bothered me was the extremely bad timing of Ripley being floating in space for 57 years, then she gets found, then they lose contact with the colony on LV426 right after that? Talk about a horrible coincidence!
Another remarkable item of the film;s slow progression is we don't even see an alien until well over a hour into the film and it doesn't matter. The tension built and anticipation Cameron delivers are amazing!
Nonetheless, Aliens is a masterpiece of sci fi cinema which has rarely been equaled. Now if only they wold quit trying!.
"They mostly come at night...mostly"
Make sure if you are watching after not seeing for awhile or never seen you watch the 1990 "Director's Cut". As with several Cameron epics, the story and characters get flushed out a lot more and the extra scenes are very good. With Aliens, though, I would have omitted the scene near the beginning where we meet Next and her family when they discover the chestbursters. I think Newt's reveal works better if we were to first meet her while crawling around underneath the decks of the colony.
The only thing that ever bothered me was the extremely bad timing of Ripley being floating in space for 57 years, then she gets found, then they lose contact with the colony on LV426 right after that? Talk about a horrible coincidence!
Another remarkable item of the film;s slow progression is we don't even see an alien until well over a hour into the film and it doesn't matter. The tension built and anticipation Cameron delivers are amazing!
Nonetheless, Aliens is a masterpiece of sci fi cinema which has rarely been equaled. Now if only they wold quit trying!.
LilyLovesIndie (123 KP) rated By the Rivers of Water: A Nineteenth-Century Atlantic Odyssey in Books
Nov 5, 2018
I was highly intrigued by this book when I first read about it as I have a minor obsession with everything and anything to do with the American Civil War. Admittedly, this is pre-war and gives an insight into the efforts of missionary do-gooders in trying to relocate the African American population back to their 'native' home.
I was expecting a more fictional style of writing, and was pleasantly surprised to see that it is written in more of a recount style of the lives of the main family, namely Leighton Wilson. The detail and attention paid to the research shone through in every page and was highly informative to read. However, at times this book did have a tendency to drag, and I suspect it is due to the overwhelming attention to small detail. Fabulous if you're using the book as a research project, not so if you're reading out of curiosity into this era of history. In addition, it also occasionally lacked the fine balance between informative on the religious aspect of the missions and preaching through the pages. As a not so religious person, this did become annoying at times, but I could understand why Clarke had this tone in the book.
Overall, an enjoyable, if not very long, book that was incredibly informative and rather enjoyable. The addition of the photographs and personal snippets from letters added a very personal and enjoyable aspect to the tale of the Wilson's.
I was expecting a more fictional style of writing, and was pleasantly surprised to see that it is written in more of a recount style of the lives of the main family, namely Leighton Wilson. The detail and attention paid to the research shone through in every page and was highly informative to read. However, at times this book did have a tendency to drag, and I suspect it is due to the overwhelming attention to small detail. Fabulous if you're using the book as a research project, not so if you're reading out of curiosity into this era of history. In addition, it also occasionally lacked the fine balance between informative on the religious aspect of the missions and preaching through the pages. As a not so religious person, this did become annoying at times, but I could understand why Clarke had this tone in the book.
Overall, an enjoyable, if not very long, book that was incredibly informative and rather enjoyable. The addition of the photographs and personal snippets from letters added a very personal and enjoyable aspect to the tale of the Wilson's.
Otway93 (580 KP) rated Doctor Who in TV
Oct 28, 2019
Stories (3 more)
Educational
Casting
Imagination
Some Casting Choices (1 more)
Can rely too much on nostalgia
All round fun, from the newest to the oldest bubblewrap monsters!
Doctor Who will always be my favourite show of all time, but it has had its ups and downs, just like every show.
The original run of Doctor Who from 1963-1989 was 95% brilliant, an almost constant flow of imagination from some incredibly talents writers. From the more you educational episodes of the first two series to the somewhat difficult days of the late 80s, fun was always there, but at the same time teaching morality and kindness. The show also created some of the most notorious villains in science fiction history, with such enemies as the Daleks, the Cybermen and not forgetting one of the greatest nemesis of all time, The Master! The older stories, family fun for all!
Then in 2005 after a 16 year hiatus it returned to a new audience and its original audience. With shorter stories and fewer episodes, the show continues to attract fans worldwide and keep (most of) the original fans happy.
The only real downsides I can think of are some poor writing in Season 22 and 24 of the original run, and 8 and 11 of the new run, and a few poor casting choices, mainly being Bonnie Langford in the original run, and Tosin Cole in the most recent series, but plenty of other perfect casting choices to make up for it!
The original run of Doctor Who from 1963-1989 was 95% brilliant, an almost constant flow of imagination from some incredibly talents writers. From the more you educational episodes of the first two series to the somewhat difficult days of the late 80s, fun was always there, but at the same time teaching morality and kindness. The show also created some of the most notorious villains in science fiction history, with such enemies as the Daleks, the Cybermen and not forgetting one of the greatest nemesis of all time, The Master! The older stories, family fun for all!
Then in 2005 after a 16 year hiatus it returned to a new audience and its original audience. With shorter stories and fewer episodes, the show continues to attract fans worldwide and keep (most of) the original fans happy.
The only real downsides I can think of are some poor writing in Season 22 and 24 of the original run, and 8 and 11 of the new run, and a few poor casting choices, mainly being Bonnie Langford in the original run, and Tosin Cole in the most recent series, but plenty of other perfect casting choices to make up for it!
Based on a real place and a real period of history, Jordan Elizabeth imagines fictional characters living in the settlement of Hillside, New York in the 1890s. The main character, Viola, is a young school teacher at a one-roomed school where nothing out of the ordinary happens. That is until she learns her dying Aunt Helen is harbouring a huge secret.
Aunt Helen revealed she abandoned a daughter and Viola decides to surprise her by finding her long lost daughter, Bessie. But in finding Bessie, Viola discovers the reason Aunt Helen ran away from home, putting everyone who lives in Hillside in grave danger.
Although short, Jordan Elizabeth packs in romance, family, murder and historical fiction into her novella Hillside, the second instalment of theEchoes of New York series. The story does not follow on from the previous book, however, it is set in the same area. The amount of research the author has done to create an accurate setting is clear from the authenticity of the story.
A tiny element of the supernatural appears inHillside, although not as much as in the previous book in the series. This is by no means a bad thing, however, since it does not detract from the storyline and historical accuracy.
Personally, I did not think Hillside was one of Jordan Elizabeth's best books but it is a good story to read when you need something to pass a short time.
Aunt Helen revealed she abandoned a daughter and Viola decides to surprise her by finding her long lost daughter, Bessie. But in finding Bessie, Viola discovers the reason Aunt Helen ran away from home, putting everyone who lives in Hillside in grave danger.
Although short, Jordan Elizabeth packs in romance, family, murder and historical fiction into her novella Hillside, the second instalment of theEchoes of New York series. The story does not follow on from the previous book, however, it is set in the same area. The amount of research the author has done to create an accurate setting is clear from the authenticity of the story.
A tiny element of the supernatural appears inHillside, although not as much as in the previous book in the series. This is by no means a bad thing, however, since it does not detract from the storyline and historical accuracy.
Personally, I did not think Hillside was one of Jordan Elizabeth's best books but it is a good story to read when you need something to pass a short time.