Smashbomb

Search

Search results

All (1271)

Content

Acanthea Grimscythe (300 KP) rated Festival in Books

May 16, 2018

A fast and entertaining read is always a plus for busy readers. Aaron J. French's Festival is just that: a quick, fun read, even if it does not appear so at first glance. Totaling 142 pages, I completed the book within 24 hours. Because of my current health issues, that's pretty impressive.

Festival begins on the slower side of things with flashbacks to Steve's abusive childhood with an alcoholic mother. His present-day girlfriend, though pretty, isn't much better. In a desperate bid to save their failing relationship, the two take an impromptu outing in search of a romantic vacation. They end up at Serenity Sanctum, a small campground and hot springs resort run by two women. The two quickly learn that they aren't alone. What begins as a dreadfully boring, typical last resort for a failing relationship quickly culminates in an action packed ending that fans of horror films like Teeth will love.

Though the plot is fairly intriguing, I must admit that the characters aren't anything special. At least, not the protagonist and his girlfriend. Cherie is far from perfect, as stated previously. Her alcoholism and her penchant for putting herself in risky situations undoes her, but Steve is no better. His misogynistic attitude justifies his blaming of Cherie for a past incident, which I won't go into detail. I don't like to give out spoilers, after all.

When I read books, I do it mostly for entertainment. On occasion, I may read something in hopes of gleaning something educational (such as non-fiction). Because of that, I don't tend to spend time looking for themes in a piece of material. That said, I would like to point my readers in the direction of <a href="https://vaguevisages.com/2017/05/08/book-review-gender-and-genre-in-aaron-j-frenchs-festival/"; target="_new">this excellently written review by Mike Thorn.</a>

Though I wouldn't place Festival among my favorite reads, it is definitely a book to look into. It's perfect if you only have a short amount of time and has enough of the occult in it to appease readers like me. I would like to thank Unnerving for providing me with a free copy for the purpose of unbiased review.

Kudos

FRAMED

Games

(0 Ratings) Rate It

App

FRAMED is a multi-award winning noir-puzzle game where you re-arrange panels of an animated comic...

Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2570 KP) rated The Final Tap (Living History Museum, #2) in Books

Mar 9, 2018

Kelsey Cambridge is getting ready for the first annual Maple Sugar Festival at Barton Farm, the living history museum she runs in Ohio. As part of that festival, she has invited Dr. Conrad Beeson to teach a class on harvesting maple sugar. However, while he is inspecting the trees on the farm, someone stabs him with a hand drill. With the police looking at one of Kelsey’s employees, can she find the real killer?

I was delighted to slip back into the world of this series. The setting is fantastic, and the characters are strong. Not all the returning characters get a lot of page time, but the ones that do get a good deal of development. The suspects are also strong, and the varying suspects and motives kept me guessing until the end.

NOTE: I received an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Read my full review at <a href="http://carstairsconsiders.blogspot.com/2016/05/book-review-final-tap-by-amanda-flower.html">Carstairs Considers</a>.

Kudos

Margaret Thatcher Queen of Soho

Jon Brittain and Matt Tedford

(0 Ratings) Rate It

Book

Look at us, Margaret - the press is on our side. We're heroes: the public is behind us, we're...

50 Years of Queer Cinema: 500 of the Best GLBTQ Films Ever Made

Darwin Porter and Danforth Prince

(0 Ratings) Rate It

Book

Out, outrageous, provocative, and proud, this comprehensive anthology and library resource reviews...

Gone Too Far!

Bola Agbaje

(0 Ratings) Rate It

Book

Nigeria, England, America, Jamaica; are you proud of where you're from? Dark skinned, light skinned,...

Rian Johnson recommended The Man Who Would Be King (1975) in Movies (curated)

"You know, I’m gonna put this one in because it is actually one of my favorite films of all time, although technically it’s probably not a con man movie. The Man Who Would Be King. I did a Festival of Fakery. I did a little mini film festival which I kind of curated at the New Beverly Cinema in Los Angeles, and this was one of the movies that I showed. It’s about these two characters who do kind of go to pull off this con of pretending to be, you know, one of them pretends to be a god so that they can rule this small territory, basically. But as I watched it, it does actually, I don’t know, to me it does kind of play like a con man movie and also has the essential buddy relationship. The two rascals, I guess, standing back to back and fooling the world, which is reflected also in another one of the films in my list. This particular dynamic is probably my favorite."

Source

Kudos

A Souffle of Suspicion

Daryl Wood Gerber

8.0 (1 Ratings) Rate It

Book

The buoyant mood at Bistro Rousseau deflates when Chef Camille’s sister, Renee, turns up dead in...

Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2570 KP) rated #Throwback for Murder in Books

Jun 4, 2025 (Updated Jun 4, 2025)

Coco Won’t Want to Post This Throwback

It’s been a quiet nine months for Coco Cline and her friends. In that time, the new government office building in Central Shores has been finished, and the city is holding a festival to celebrate. However, Coco’s friend, Charlotte, is shocked when her ex shows up during the festival. She came to town to get away from him. A few minutes after a tense standoff ends, he dies under the suspicious circumstances. With all the evidence pointing to Charolette, can Coco clear her friend?

Once again, Coco is surrounded by a good group of friends, and I enjoyed spending time with them and watching their relationships grow. There isn’t too much with her family this time. The plot started quickly and the pacing never lagged, with several sub-plots to keep us engaged. I did have a couple of niggles with the ending, but they are minor. There are a few laughs as well. If you haven’t read this series yet, do yourself a favor and pick it up today.

Kudos

Entertainment Editor (1988 KP) shared own list

Oct 22, 2017

Entertainment Weekly has put together the complete list of incredible foreign feature films gunning for an Oscar.

Among the competing titles are Angelina Jolie’s festival favourite First They Killed My Father, which has been submitted by Cambodia, along with other staples on the pre-season circuit, including Sebastian Lélio’s A Fantastic Woman (Chile), Robin Campillo’s BPM (Beats Per Minute) (France), Israel’s Samuel Maoz-directed Foxtrot, and Ruben Östlund’s Cannes Palme d’Or winner The Square, which will compete on behalf of Sweden.