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With You Always (Orphan Train, #1)
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
It is a well known fact that Jody writes some of my favorite books of all time. Her ability to express the time and place in a beautifully real way has drawn me into more than one story. And on more than one occasion, my attention would not be relinquished until I turned the last page of the book (or longer).

With You Always is the beginning of a new series and it is full of the same passion and faith that infuses Jody's other books. Elise is an immigrant woman in New York during the mid 1800s. A challenging time for many people, a single woman trying to take care of her siblings had limited options. When heading west to find employment, Elise struggles between doing what is best for her family and not wanting to be separated from them. Will she open her heart to God and allow Him to guide her steps?

With so much uncertainty about his future, Thornton Quincy battles to find his identity. Constantly being compared to his brother, he has never allowed himself to find who he truly is and the kind of man that he wants to be.

 
The emotions in this story gripped me from the start. So much suffering, so many families torn apart, my heart was (and still is) heavy with the situations that our characters face. However, it was so encouraging to witness God's hand weaving in and out of their lives. Lining up the pieces and placing everything in order. Although, beware the cliff hanger. AH! I am hoping that this story continues if not strictly from Elise's perspective than maybe Marianne's or Sophie's....because I NEED ANSWERS!!! Ok, that is all...Pick up this book, read it, and let me know what you think of it! I think this is a brilliant opening to the series and a unique look into an aspect of history that is so easily overlooked.

I received a complimentary copy of With You Always from Bethany House Publishers. I was not required to write a positive review. All opinions expressed are mine alone.
  
The Haunting of Sharon Tate (2019)
The Haunting of Sharon Tate (2019)
2019 | Drama, Horror, Thriller
With it being 50 years since the tragic Manson murders in California we have a year of Manson movies. We have the independent film Charlie Says which explores Manson and his cult in sensitive detail before the tragic night. We have Tarantino’s Once Up A Time In Hollywood which has been given the go-ahead from Sharon Tate’s sister to be made. Then we have this. The Haunting of Sharon Tate. An overly exploitative piece that twists truths to create a narrative and completely trashes the legacy of the late actress.

August 8, 1969, the night that Sharon Tate, Jay Sebring, Wojciech Frykowski, Abigail Folger and Steven Parent were brutally murdered. The film focuses on the days before the tragic event. The movie dramatizes the slayings and plays on the notion that Sharon Tate predicted her own death in the days leading up to the slaughter.

Surrounded by bad acting and awful scripting it was a very poor choice to make this film in the first place. Writer-director Daniel Farrands has created an offensive and frankly insulting ‘thriller’. Hilary Duff stars as Sharon Tate and whilst she somewhat looks the part, she doesn’t have that raw magic and flair that Sharon had. This tragic event has been turned into some stock-horror slash um up movie with a psychic paranormal twist.

At one point Manson’s song ‘Cease to Exist’ plays to Sharon over a tape player and the Manson Family stalks Tate and her friends around her home. It really is that bad. The introduction of the movie shows real-life footage as a black and white Hilary Duff talks about her own death. The opening scene of the movie is enough to want me to turn off the film instantly.
The Haunting of Sharon Tate still
With no care or respect being paid to the real-life counterparts, the movie has very little to say other than ‘you’re going to die soon’. There’s no feeling of empathy. The Haunting of Sharon Tate is just a 90-minute exploitation of a horrific night in Hollywood’s history.

https://backtothemovies.com/exploitative-trash-the-haunting-of-sharon-tate-review/
  
The Lost Symbol: (Robert Langdon Book 3)
The Lost Symbol: (Robert Langdon Book 3)
Dan Brown | 2010 | Fiction & Poetry
5
7.6 (19 Ratings)
Book Rating
Great storytelling, and shocking turns (0 more)
Drags on after action ends (1 more)
Unsatisfactory ending
Contains spoilers, click to show
Okay, so the third book in the Robert Langdon takes Robert through Washington D.C. as he tries to save a friend, who has been taken hostage. With help from the hostage's sister, Robert unravels a secret path by the Freemasons. Long story short, Robert saves his friend gets the girl and learns truths of the Freemasons no else has.

So overall the story is typical Dan Brown. Twists and turns at every turn, switching views from each chapter. Robert does Robert stuff with figuring everything out in due time. (By the way, I can't read these without thinking of Tom Hanks being Langdon anymore).

But the one thing I want to focus on is the villain. He is by far the most compelling part of this whole book. Spoiler is he dies about 3/4ths of the book in and once he is gone, that dragging on feeling sets in. There is no trouble, no sense of urgency and the book dies off after that for me. But back to our villain. He is revealed to be Mr. Hostage's son who was once thought dead, but more like transformed into a whole different person. You learn that he came from money, went to prison, is left there by his father, fakes his death, and then tries to steal a family heirloom he feels will help him unlock the secrets of Freemasonry and being the perfect human. My one gripe is Dan Brown pretty much tells you it's not the son, and then says oh yeah it is the son. There's a difference from being sneaky, and just lying to create suspense. Oh well, but before his death, the son is cunning, stealthy, and barbaric (drowning an assistant for a key card). He is a very interesting character and you do miss him once he is killed.

Overall its an okay book, but Inferno or Da Vinci Code were better stories, but if you like U.S. History, it should kill some time for you and keep you enthralled for most the book.
  
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