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Summer 1993 (2017)
8.0
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Movie Watch
In the Summer of 1993, Frida, a six-year-old little girl, leaves Barcelona and her grandparents for...
international drama history
Darius the Great is Not Okay
8.3
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Book
Do you ever feel like you are not good enough? Well, that is exactly how Darius feels. There is...
Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2568 KP) rated Antihero in Books
Mar 13, 2026 (Updated Mar 13, 2026)
Evan Must Control Himself
Evan’s latest call for help comes from a witness. A woman was taken off a New York City subway by four young men. When Evan manages to find the woman, she’s been horribly violated. Evan immediately goes after the men who did this to her, but she makes him promise not to kill them. Will he be able to keep his promise?
While this series is always more violent than what I typically read, this one felt darker than it needed to be. Then again, that might have been what helped me fully feel with Evan’s struggle to find another way to bring justice. I felt one subplot was recycled, but overall, I felt the character development was good. And the supporting regulars were good as always. We even saw a couple who hadn’t been around for the last book or two. And the plot kept me engaged. Other readers like me might want to think twice before picking up this book, but those who enjoy thrillers will love it.
While this series is always more violent than what I typically read, this one felt darker than it needed to be. Then again, that might have been what helped me fully feel with Evan’s struggle to find another way to bring justice. I felt one subplot was recycled, but overall, I felt the character development was good. And the supporting regulars were good as always. We even saw a couple who hadn’t been around for the last book or two. And the plot kept me engaged. Other readers like me might want to think twice before picking up this book, but those who enjoy thrillers will love it.
Merissa (14003 KP) rated Into The Storm (Full Circle #2) in Books
Dec 8, 2021
INTO THE STORM is the second book in the Full Circle series, a follow-on from The Base and, it seems, with references to another series too, The Island. In this one, we meet with Elias, Abernathy, and Riley -- three boys who each have a lot to learn about their pasts before they can move forward.
Once again, this story references situations and incidents in other books, as well as characters who I've never met before but have their own backstories that are relevant to this story. This makes it increasingly difficult to read as I feel as though I'm only getting half a story.
It appears I am in a minority feeling this way, and I can only presume other reviewers have read the previous books/series. The bit I could understand was good; I just didn't get the whole picture.
** same worded review will appear elsewhere **
* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and the comments here are my honest opinion. *
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Once again, this story references situations and incidents in other books, as well as characters who I've never met before but have their own backstories that are relevant to this story. This makes it increasingly difficult to read as I feel as though I'm only getting half a story.
It appears I am in a minority feeling this way, and I can only presume other reviewers have read the previous books/series. The bit I could understand was good; I just didn't get the whole picture.
** same worded review will appear elsewhere **
* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and the comments here are my honest opinion. *
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Lee (2222 KP) rated Mary Poppins Returns (2018) in Movies
Dec 22, 2018
Good but not as memorable as the original
To be honest, I'm kind of struggling to know what to say about this. The main thing is, I enjoyed it, and the rest of my family loved it too. It just wasn't enough to leave any big lasting impression on me. The songs are all good, usually accompanied by some wonderful visuals and fun choreography, but none of the songs are particularly memorable. There's nothing that I can imagine being as repeatable, or as catchy as 'A spoonful of sugar' for example. Emily Blunt is wonderful as always and the movie does a fantastic job of paying homage to the original Mary Poppins and keeping to the style and tone of the movie, there's just something missing that I can't quite put my finger on. I can remember leaving the cinema after seeing The Greatest Showman a year ago, having the songs stuck in my head, downloading the soundtrack and wanting to see the movie again. I didn't really feel like that at all with Mary Poppins Returns.
That being said, this is still a good fun family movie and if you enjoyed the original you should find enjoyment in this. With all the doom and gloom in the world right now, the world definitely needs something like this for all the family to enjoy at Christmas time.
That being said, this is still a good fun family movie and if you enjoyed the original you should find enjoyment in this. With all the doom and gloom in the world right now, the world definitely needs something like this for all the family to enjoy at Christmas time.
Rebecca Billcliff (2409 KP) rated The Simpsons in TV
Nov 26, 2019 (Updated Nov 26, 2019)
Going down hill
When I was a child, I loved the Simpsons. Even now, as an adult, I re-watch episodes and find subtle and adult jokes I missed entirely as a child. Those fist 8 or so seasons were very good. Full of little details, great humour, and plenty of theme variety. After that, things started to go down hill.
My new sustain of the more modern show, culminated in an episode involving a screaming caterpillar.... after that, I lost all hope they would produce a good episode again.
The characters have now become very one dimensional, with personalities in the extremes. For example, homer is no longer just quite dim, with a fair few moments of total stupidity, but with a good heart; now he is mentally defective, and to dumb to realy feel love. This is seen right across the board, with each story now being a rip off of either a film, tv series or book, or some crazy nonsense that seems to fizzle out by the third act.
All in all, the original seasons, up to 10, are either great or at least worth a watch, after that, I would not bother.
How sad the fall from greatness, if only they had quite while they were ahead, instead of milking this yellow cow dry.
My new sustain of the more modern show, culminated in an episode involving a screaming caterpillar.... after that, I lost all hope they would produce a good episode again.
The characters have now become very one dimensional, with personalities in the extremes. For example, homer is no longer just quite dim, with a fair few moments of total stupidity, but with a good heart; now he is mentally defective, and to dumb to realy feel love. This is seen right across the board, with each story now being a rip off of either a film, tv series or book, or some crazy nonsense that seems to fizzle out by the third act.
All in all, the original seasons, up to 10, are either great or at least worth a watch, after that, I would not bother.
How sad the fall from greatness, if only they had quite while they were ahead, instead of milking this yellow cow dry.
Ross (3284 KP) rated Siege and Sacrifice in Books
Dec 12, 2019
A good conclusion
Contains spoilers, click to show
The final part of this trilogy starts with what should be an almighty conflict. The (somewhat damp squib of a) second book in the series ended with the much-feared monster being summoned into the body of the presumed-dead Anon, Sandis' brother. Sadly, this opening scene is short-lived as the heroes scarper and live to fight another day (though admittedly it was always going to be that way!).
That opening anti-climax out of the way, this book is a more intelligent and thoughtful one that the previous two. Finally we have some answers and insight into the world we are in, and where the ancient mystical race went, as well as where the summoned demons come from. While I didn't feel this was missing from the first two books, it is good to have some answers and extra world-building to get stuck into.
The first third of the book rattles along quite well, the humans trying to track down the host of the demon and hence stop its daily attacks. The middle third was a bit of a slog, with much less happening, quite heavy on the exposition and endless narrative descriptions. The final was much more pacey, though I was starting to tire of the book by then and skimmed some chapters.
All in all a good conclusion to an enjoyable series.
That opening anti-climax out of the way, this book is a more intelligent and thoughtful one that the previous two. Finally we have some answers and insight into the world we are in, and where the ancient mystical race went, as well as where the summoned demons come from. While I didn't feel this was missing from the first two books, it is good to have some answers and extra world-building to get stuck into.
The first third of the book rattles along quite well, the humans trying to track down the host of the demon and hence stop its daily attacks. The middle third was a bit of a slog, with much less happening, quite heavy on the exposition and endless narrative descriptions. The final was much more pacey, though I was starting to tire of the book by then and skimmed some chapters.
All in all a good conclusion to an enjoyable series.
The Good Gut Guide: Delicious Recipes & a Simple 6-Week Plan for Inner Health & Outer Beauty
Book
Delicious recipes and the ultimate wellbeing plan for a healthy gut in 6 weeks. 'A better gut means...
Kristina (502 KP) rated Cocky Biker (Cocker Brothers of Atlanta, #2) in Books
Dec 7, 2020
Contains spoilers, click to show
Cocky Biker was, all in all, a pretty good read. I enjoyed the story line and I loved the characters. I especially liked how they were bikers, but they did good, instead of just looking BA and kicking butt. But I feel like it could have been written a bit better - there were a lot of grammatical errors and moments where the wording just didn't sound right. Also, I'm a bit biased when it comes to perspective and prefer first person point of view, so some of my issues with how it was written could totally just be because of that. Also, though I know it was supposed to be a character trait of Jett's, the fact that he hardly ever used a 'g' at the end of his words drove me absolutely insane. The story, in a way, was predictable.
**SPOILER ALERT** I wasn't surprised when Luna ended up pregnant, though I will say it was a sweet way to end things.
It was nice, however, to read about a man who's more than ready for commitment and a woman who's not; I'm not saying these stories aren't available, just that I don't run across them often and the role reversal was refreshing.<br/>P.S: I did not appreciate the times when Jett called Luna a bitch, especially when it was behind her back. Not necessarily "good guy" material.
**SPOILER ALERT** I wasn't surprised when Luna ended up pregnant, though I will say it was a sweet way to end things.
It was nice, however, to read about a man who's more than ready for commitment and a woman who's not; I'm not saying these stories aren't available, just that I don't run across them often and the role reversal was refreshing.<br/>P.S: I did not appreciate the times when Jett called Luna a bitch, especially when it was behind her back. Not necessarily "good guy" material.
Sarah (7800 KP) rated The Leopard (Harry Hole #8) (Oslo Sequence #6) in Books
Aug 2, 2020
Good, but drawn out
I do love Harry Hole and as a character he's brilliant, flawed and alcoholic yet always pursuing the truth and justice. I do think though that some of Jo Nesbo's stories featuring Harry are a little farfetched and drawn out, and sadly this is one of them.
The plot on this is actually very intriguing and full of twists and turns that I didn't see coming, and apart from some of the more farfetched elements, this is actually a very good thriller. The problem is it's a bit drawn out and could have been condensed a lot more, it just seemed unnecessarily long. This also seemed to have an issue with the timeline, it seemed to jump from one location to another and it made me feel a little confused. Also as much as I love Harry, he seems to do the same things in nearly every book I've read recently - leaves Norway, returns for a case he doesn't want but gets sucked in, then leaves Norway again afterwards. The better stories in the Hole series are the ones where he doesn't leave Norway at all and sadly this book is a bit half and half.
Overall this is pretty good but not flawless. It's definitely not the best book in the Harry Hole series, but neither is it anywhere near the worst.
The plot on this is actually very intriguing and full of twists and turns that I didn't see coming, and apart from some of the more farfetched elements, this is actually a very good thriller. The problem is it's a bit drawn out and could have been condensed a lot more, it just seemed unnecessarily long. This also seemed to have an issue with the timeline, it seemed to jump from one location to another and it made me feel a little confused. Also as much as I love Harry, he seems to do the same things in nearly every book I've read recently - leaves Norway, returns for a case he doesn't want but gets sucked in, then leaves Norway again afterwards. The better stories in the Hole series are the ones where he doesn't leave Norway at all and sadly this book is a bit half and half.
Overall this is pretty good but not flawless. It's definitely not the best book in the Harry Hole series, but neither is it anywhere near the worst.