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Heather Cranmer (2721 KP) rated Spine Chillers: The Scarecrow in Books
Jan 4, 2019
The Plot (2 more)
The Pacing
The Characters
A Great Spooky Read!
I've read two other novels by Nancy Gray, Empty Eyes and Krampus, so when I read the synopsis of The Scarecrow, I know I had to read it. It sounded really interesting. I was not disappointed.
All of the previous books in the Spine Chillers series have been short, and The Scarecrow was no exception. I love how each book in the series can be read as a standalone.
I found myself enthralled by the plot of The Scarecrow from the very beginning. Once I started reading, I was immediately thrust into all the action. Yes, the plot about a scary scarecrow come to life has been done many times before, but I loved the way Nancy Gray made her story a bit different. There are a couple of plot twists, and there was even one I didn't see coming. The Scarecrow is a scary read, but it's not overly scary for its targeted audience. I found the world building to be believable. It was easy to be transported to Sophie's world with each word I read.
The pacing for The Scarecrow is done fantastically. Not once did it slow down to where it became boring, and it was never too fast paced where I was just left confused. The pacing is spot on, and I found myself wanting to know more about the scarecrow, Hunt, Sophie, and Edward with each page. This was a definite page turner. Luckily The Scarecrow is a short read because I never wanted to stop reading. I had to know how everything would turn out.
I loved the characters in The Scarecrow. I found Sophie to be incredibly brave and sweet the way she was willing to put her life on the line to look for and save her cousin. Edward was an interesting character in a good way. Even the adults in this book were likable as well as believable.
Trigger warnings for The Scarecrow include one minor profanity (one of the characters says "what the hell"), violence, and disobeying adults.
Overall, The Scarecrow is a great read for those that like to be spooked. It has a great story line, interesting characters, and fantastic pacing. I would definitely recommend Spine Chillers: The Scarecrow by Nancy Gray to those aged 11+. Even though this is written for the middle grade age group, I really think adults would enjoy it too.
All of the previous books in the Spine Chillers series have been short, and The Scarecrow was no exception. I love how each book in the series can be read as a standalone.
I found myself enthralled by the plot of The Scarecrow from the very beginning. Once I started reading, I was immediately thrust into all the action. Yes, the plot about a scary scarecrow come to life has been done many times before, but I loved the way Nancy Gray made her story a bit different. There are a couple of plot twists, and there was even one I didn't see coming. The Scarecrow is a scary read, but it's not overly scary for its targeted audience. I found the world building to be believable. It was easy to be transported to Sophie's world with each word I read.
The pacing for The Scarecrow is done fantastically. Not once did it slow down to where it became boring, and it was never too fast paced where I was just left confused. The pacing is spot on, and I found myself wanting to know more about the scarecrow, Hunt, Sophie, and Edward with each page. This was a definite page turner. Luckily The Scarecrow is a short read because I never wanted to stop reading. I had to know how everything would turn out.
I loved the characters in The Scarecrow. I found Sophie to be incredibly brave and sweet the way she was willing to put her life on the line to look for and save her cousin. Edward was an interesting character in a good way. Even the adults in this book were likable as well as believable.
Trigger warnings for The Scarecrow include one minor profanity (one of the characters says "what the hell"), violence, and disobeying adults.
Overall, The Scarecrow is a great read for those that like to be spooked. It has a great story line, interesting characters, and fantastic pacing. I would definitely recommend Spine Chillers: The Scarecrow by Nancy Gray to those aged 11+. Even though this is written for the middle grade age group, I really think adults would enjoy it too.
Darren (1599 KP) rated Extinction: Jurassic Predators (2014) in Movies
Sep 13, 2019
Characters – Michelle is the presenter of the documentary and we barely see her do any presenting, we have a small moment early on but otherwise the camera spends a lot of time to following her ass on screen. Professor Howson is the expect in the field and meant to be the star alongside Michelle in the documentary, he must lead them to safety through the rainforest. Rob is the second in command being a lot more laid back when dealing with any danger believing in his own abilities. James is the cameraman that at one moment states the obvious, another moment does all the stupid things and somewhere along the lines becomes the bravest member of the crew.
Performance – The performances from the whole cast are fine, where the cast are not big-name actors which brings us into the found footage idea perfectly and nobody seems to overact through the film.
Story – Documentary crew heads into the rainforest to look for new species and they find some, but they are deadly, this is all we need from the film as a story, there are no major twists but it does take a while to get going as we must watch, walking, collecting moss, running and rocks for a lot of the time.
Adventure/Thriller – The adventure comes from the idea that we could be finding new species in the deepest darkest corners of the world and we are kept guess just who will make it out of the rainforest alive.
Settings – The rainforest is filled with species we might not have discovered yet, so this works for the settings needed for the film to take places.
Special Effects – The effects are a mixed bag, some parts of them are good while others feel like someone just stuck a dinosaur into the shot with CGI.
Scene of the Movie – Can’t sense us if we don’t move.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – Camera crew inside the tent ‘there is something out there, I can’t see anything’ this dialogue is why films get a bad name.
Final Thoughts – This does feel like a long-found footage film that could have been cut down by a good 20 minutes to fit the idea of a found footage concept that works, short sweat and plenty of fun.
Overall: Watchable found footage.
Performance – The performances from the whole cast are fine, where the cast are not big-name actors which brings us into the found footage idea perfectly and nobody seems to overact through the film.
Story – Documentary crew heads into the rainforest to look for new species and they find some, but they are deadly, this is all we need from the film as a story, there are no major twists but it does take a while to get going as we must watch, walking, collecting moss, running and rocks for a lot of the time.
Adventure/Thriller – The adventure comes from the idea that we could be finding new species in the deepest darkest corners of the world and we are kept guess just who will make it out of the rainforest alive.
Settings – The rainforest is filled with species we might not have discovered yet, so this works for the settings needed for the film to take places.
Special Effects – The effects are a mixed bag, some parts of them are good while others feel like someone just stuck a dinosaur into the shot with CGI.
Scene of the Movie – Can’t sense us if we don’t move.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – Camera crew inside the tent ‘there is something out there, I can’t see anything’ this dialogue is why films get a bad name.
Final Thoughts – This does feel like a long-found footage film that could have been cut down by a good 20 minutes to fit the idea of a found footage concept that works, short sweat and plenty of fun.
Overall: Watchable found footage.
Darren (1599 KP) rated Puzzle (2018) in Movies
Sep 13, 2019
Characters – Michelle is the presenter of the documentary and we barely see her do any presenting, we have a small moment early on but otherwise the camera spends a lot of time to following her ass on screen. Professor Howson is the expect in the field and meant to be the star alongside Michelle in the documentary, he must lead them to safety through the rainforest. Rob is the second in command being a lot more laid back when dealing with any danger believing in his own abilities. James is the cameraman that at one moment states the obvious, another moment does all the stupid things and somewhere along the lines becomes the bravest member of the crew.
Performance – The performances from the whole cast are fine, where the cast are not big-name actors which brings us into the found footage idea perfectly and nobody seems to overact through the film.
Story – Documentary crew heads into the rainforest to look for new species and they find some, but they are deadly, this is all we need from the film as a story, there are no major twists but it does take a while to get going as we must watch, walking, collecting moss, running and rocks for a lot of the time.
Adventure/Thriller – The adventure comes from the idea that we could be finding new species in the deepest darkest corners of the world and we are kept guess just who will make it out of the rainforest alive.
Settings – The rainforest is filled with species we might not have discovered yet, so this works for the settings needed for the film to take places.
Special Effects – The effects are a mixed bag, some parts of them are good while others feel like someone just stuck a dinosaur into the shot with CGI.
Scene of the Movie – Can’t sense us if we don’t move.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – Camera crew inside the tent ‘there is something out there, I can’t see anything’ this dialogue is why films get a bad name.
Final Thoughts – This does feel like a long-found footage film that could have been cut down by a good 20 minutes to fit the idea of a found footage concept that works, short sweat and plenty of fun.
Overall: Watchable found footage.
Performance – The performances from the whole cast are fine, where the cast are not big-name actors which brings us into the found footage idea perfectly and nobody seems to overact through the film.
Story – Documentary crew heads into the rainforest to look for new species and they find some, but they are deadly, this is all we need from the film as a story, there are no major twists but it does take a while to get going as we must watch, walking, collecting moss, running and rocks for a lot of the time.
Adventure/Thriller – The adventure comes from the idea that we could be finding new species in the deepest darkest corners of the world and we are kept guess just who will make it out of the rainforest alive.
Settings – The rainforest is filled with species we might not have discovered yet, so this works for the settings needed for the film to take places.
Special Effects – The effects are a mixed bag, some parts of them are good while others feel like someone just stuck a dinosaur into the shot with CGI.
Scene of the Movie – Can’t sense us if we don’t move.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – Camera crew inside the tent ‘there is something out there, I can’t see anything’ this dialogue is why films get a bad name.
Final Thoughts – This does feel like a long-found footage film that could have been cut down by a good 20 minutes to fit the idea of a found footage concept that works, short sweat and plenty of fun.
Overall: Watchable found footage.
Rachel King (13 KP) rated Lord of Misrule (The Morganville Vampires, #5) in Books
Feb 11, 2019
This book centered around a singular event, and the outcome of that event has the potential to change everything that the town of Morganville is about and how it is run. I found the plot of this book to be very unpredictable - which is a good thing - except for the fact that every book always centers around Claire and the choices she makes. The one-liners are as fantastic as always, and I love the introduction of a few new characters, such as Theo and his family, and the ex-Marine Hannah. I also found the introduction of a natural disaster as a major plot point to be refreshing - even though terrifying for the characters - since few books I read seem to work uncontrollable bad weather into the plot. For less than 300 pages, this book packs alot of sub-plots in, with the retribution against Monica, who I'm not convinced has learned from her mistakes yet, managing Mynin's bipolar behavior, and keeping track of what is happening with each of the four main characters/ Glass House residents. All of the possibilities in a town gone anarchic are explored to some degree, although I found that the lines that were used to control the college students to be less-than-believable. I am curious to see what happens to the human factions that were trying to exploit the mini-war by rebeling against the Powers That Be in the next book, Carpe Corpus (Morganville Vampires, Book 6), as well as how Mynin's disease plays out as it affects others en masse. The fact that Claire basically hardly ever goes to class and still manages to makes A's still bugs me, but I'm getting used to it. She has more exciting things to attend to!
Mothergamer (1536 KP) rated The Hunger Games in Books
Apr 3, 2019
Contains spoilers, click to show
I gave The Hunger Games trilogy a chance, I really did, but I found myself so frustrated with these books. I know all about the comparison to Battle Royale and here and there I do see where Suzanne Collins was influenced by it, but the books are different. For one thing Koushun Takami's book is better.
The problem for me, mainly was with the heroine Katniss. I wanted to like her, but I found I could not care about her at all, even after she did the noble sacrifice of taking her sister's place in The Hunger Games. She seems very cold, apathetic, and just drifting along. For a main character there isn't any depth to her and that's sorely disappointing considering the theme of these books. Then we have this pointless love story that is completely unnecessary to the book and it just seems awkward and forced. The only character who seems real to me at all is Peeta while the other characters seem one dimensional. I also found myself frustrated with Katniss because at so many intervals in the story she just gives up so easily like it's as simple as changing her hair color. Are you kidding me with this nonsense?
I had to keep reminding myself that these were books for young adults and while the writing wasn't bad, the story was not great. If the writing is so poor that you find you can not even care about the characters especially the main one, that's a serious problem. This didn't feel like a dystopian novel at all, sure it was dark and depressing, but that's pretty much it. I need more from something claiming to be a dystopian story. This was more like Dystopia with training wheels. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go read Fahrenheit 451 and Battle Royale again.
The problem for me, mainly was with the heroine Katniss. I wanted to like her, but I found I could not care about her at all, even after she did the noble sacrifice of taking her sister's place in The Hunger Games. She seems very cold, apathetic, and just drifting along. For a main character there isn't any depth to her and that's sorely disappointing considering the theme of these books. Then we have this pointless love story that is completely unnecessary to the book and it just seems awkward and forced. The only character who seems real to me at all is Peeta while the other characters seem one dimensional. I also found myself frustrated with Katniss because at so many intervals in the story she just gives up so easily like it's as simple as changing her hair color. Are you kidding me with this nonsense?
I had to keep reminding myself that these were books for young adults and while the writing wasn't bad, the story was not great. If the writing is so poor that you find you can not even care about the characters especially the main one, that's a serious problem. This didn't feel like a dystopian novel at all, sure it was dark and depressing, but that's pretty much it. I need more from something claiming to be a dystopian story. This was more like Dystopia with training wheels. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go read Fahrenheit 451 and Battle Royale again.
Kristy H (1252 KP) rated Everything I Never Told You in Books
Feb 8, 2018
I forget where I saw a recommendation for this book (who am I kidding, probably <i>People</i> or <i>Entertainment Weekly</i>, about the extent of my "literary" reading these days), but it wasn't quite what I expected. Less mystery surrounding a disappearance/death and more "human interest" about a-- truth be told-- rather unlikable family.
The novel chronicles the Lee family, who wakes up one day to find their eldest daughter/sister, Lydia, missing. Eventually Lydia's body is found in the local lake, and the family is turned upside down.
It goes without saying, but it's really a rather depressing book. Lydia's parents, Marilyn and James, are just awful, and not just because they are grieving. I found very little to like in them. Lydia's siblings, Nath and Hannah, aren't nearly as bad (Hannah is truly the redeeming one in the family), but still. It's hard to root for a family that you don't much care for. There are also some strange side plots involving the siblings that never really seem resolved.
As a parent, I found aspects of the book interesting -- the way Lydia's mom pushes her so much to attain a dream that really belonged to Marilyn. In addition, the family is still reeling from Marilyn's brief disappearance before Hannah was even born. Ng does do a good job of showing how much this impacts the family, especially the kids. It's a little frightening, really, as the sinking realization of how every little thing you do can follow your children, even 10 years later (though in Marilyn's case, she really does some damaging things).
Still, those redeeming moments couldn't salvage the whole book for me. I liked it well enough, but I was left at the end feeling a little depressed and annoyed and wishing more loose ends were tied up.
The novel chronicles the Lee family, who wakes up one day to find their eldest daughter/sister, Lydia, missing. Eventually Lydia's body is found in the local lake, and the family is turned upside down.
It goes without saying, but it's really a rather depressing book. Lydia's parents, Marilyn and James, are just awful, and not just because they are grieving. I found very little to like in them. Lydia's siblings, Nath and Hannah, aren't nearly as bad (Hannah is truly the redeeming one in the family), but still. It's hard to root for a family that you don't much care for. There are also some strange side plots involving the siblings that never really seem resolved.
As a parent, I found aspects of the book interesting -- the way Lydia's mom pushes her so much to attain a dream that really belonged to Marilyn. In addition, the family is still reeling from Marilyn's brief disappearance before Hannah was even born. Ng does do a good job of showing how much this impacts the family, especially the kids. It's a little frightening, really, as the sinking realization of how every little thing you do can follow your children, even 10 years later (though in Marilyn's case, she really does some damaging things).
Still, those redeeming moments couldn't salvage the whole book for me. I liked it well enough, but I was left at the end feeling a little depressed and annoyed and wishing more loose ends were tied up.
Caffeinated Fae (464 KP) rated The Lying Game (The Lying Game, #1) in Books
Jul 10, 2018
This book is definitely not my typical book. I'm not a fan on teenage drama filled novels so I was hesitant to read this book as part of my 2014 book reading challenge. This book was recommended to me my one of my amazing cousins so I committed to reading it this year.
Okay, where to startÛ_ The Lying Game by Sara Shepard is a murder mystery that takes place in high school. This book is filled with drama and murder with a slice of romance. The characters were very "Mean Girls" with an evil streak and I found myself thankful that my high school could not be compared to this high school.
I felt that the characters could have more dimension to them. I felt like they fell flat. Even the main character was only 2 dimensional and very clich̩. I tend to be a character person so I found that I couldn't truly connect with any of the characters in this book.
The storyline was entertaining, I found myself wondering what was going to happen and I was sort of invested in the plot. I wish that the plot line was more flushed out and that the characters were more flushed out. Seriously, I love characters that I can relate toÛ_
I could definitely tell that this was a young adult novel. I liked that it was a quick and surprisingly light read.
Ultimately, I think I may have been too old for this novel. I think I would have liked it better if I were to have read this in middle school. I liked the concept of this book but it just fell flat.
Ultimately, I would give this novel 3 cups of coffee. I enjoyed the book while it lasted but I will not continue on in the series.
Okay, where to startÛ_ The Lying Game by Sara Shepard is a murder mystery that takes place in high school. This book is filled with drama and murder with a slice of romance. The characters were very "Mean Girls" with an evil streak and I found myself thankful that my high school could not be compared to this high school.
I felt that the characters could have more dimension to them. I felt like they fell flat. Even the main character was only 2 dimensional and very clich̩. I tend to be a character person so I found that I couldn't truly connect with any of the characters in this book.
The storyline was entertaining, I found myself wondering what was going to happen and I was sort of invested in the plot. I wish that the plot line was more flushed out and that the characters were more flushed out. Seriously, I love characters that I can relate toÛ_
I could definitely tell that this was a young adult novel. I liked that it was a quick and surprisingly light read.
Ultimately, I think I may have been too old for this novel. I think I would have liked it better if I were to have read this in middle school. I liked the concept of this book but it just fell flat.
Ultimately, I would give this novel 3 cups of coffee. I enjoyed the book while it lasted but I will not continue on in the series.
Debbiereadsbook (1166 KP) rated Becoming Magic (Sleight of Hand #5) in Books
Dec 10, 2018
Not really one for me :-(
Independent reviewer for Archaeolibrarian, I was gifted my copy of this book.
I'm jumping straight in here, because this is one of those reviews that is going to be difficult to write!
Overall, I liked this book. Mostly.
It's reasonably well written, from both Carole and Connor's points of view, so that was good. I didn't see any spelling or editing errors to spoil my reading.
It just didn't grab me! I found myself wanting more, from Connor, about that break up with his ex-co-star. From Carole about what happened all those years ago in Hollywood. From them both, about each other, their feelings. . . . I. . . . just . . . .
Wanted MORE!!!! And I can't word just WHAT I wanted, and that's why this is a hard review to write, cos I cannot, for the life of me, find the right words, and you know how much that PAINS me!
It does deal with some difficult topics: being drugged and a sexual assault. It deals with these in a sensitive manner, but needs to be mentioned. I also found the assault story arc a little bit too much like what's going in the the REAL Hollywood right now, with the growing list of high powered Hollywood men being accused of various assaults. Maybe that's where the author got the inspiration from, I dunno, but I found it a little too much like it, you know??
This is book 5 in the Sleight of Hand series, and I have not read the others. I did not feel I was missing anything, by not reading them And although Sabrina and Walter (book4) play a huge part here, I didn't feel I HAD to have read their story before this one.
So, I'm sorry, but not one for me.
3 stars
**same worded review will appear elsewhere**
I'm jumping straight in here, because this is one of those reviews that is going to be difficult to write!
Overall, I liked this book. Mostly.
It's reasonably well written, from both Carole and Connor's points of view, so that was good. I didn't see any spelling or editing errors to spoil my reading.
It just didn't grab me! I found myself wanting more, from Connor, about that break up with his ex-co-star. From Carole about what happened all those years ago in Hollywood. From them both, about each other, their feelings. . . . I. . . . just . . . .
Wanted MORE!!!! And I can't word just WHAT I wanted, and that's why this is a hard review to write, cos I cannot, for the life of me, find the right words, and you know how much that PAINS me!
It does deal with some difficult topics: being drugged and a sexual assault. It deals with these in a sensitive manner, but needs to be mentioned. I also found the assault story arc a little bit too much like what's going in the the REAL Hollywood right now, with the growing list of high powered Hollywood men being accused of various assaults. Maybe that's where the author got the inspiration from, I dunno, but I found it a little too much like it, you know??
This is book 5 in the Sleight of Hand series, and I have not read the others. I did not feel I was missing anything, by not reading them And although Sabrina and Walter (book4) play a huge part here, I didn't feel I HAD to have read their story before this one.
So, I'm sorry, but not one for me.
3 stars
**same worded review will appear elsewhere**
What's not to like (other than the casual prejudice)?
Contains spoilers, click to show
Okay, so I am one of those people who definitely saw the film before I read the book (and having now done the background reading I am even more impressed with Gilliam’s direction which uses some seriously creative camera angles to replicate the constantly expanding and contracting drug dependent points of view).
Whilst I understand that America’s post counter-culture, folksy racism/ misogyny/ homophobia [insert prejudice here] is subject to criticism by the author, there was more than one occasion where I found the discriminatory language jarringly unnecessary. It really dates the piece.
That said, on the whole, this is a really excellent read, and I was in equal parts disgusted and amused by the antics, and found myself (to some degree of shame) identifying with some of the scrapes and situations the Doctor of Journalism and his legal crony got themselves into- I mean who hasn’t found a casualty or two in their bathrooms following an impromptu house party? (Although I do wonder how events might read to those who avoided misspending their youth...)
It’s a short, pithy searing indictment of American culture, society and the tacit implication (or actually come to think of it- pretty explicit statement) that substance abuse is the only way to deal with and make sense of the chaos. So, one could argue, still pretty relevant.
Violence is frequently a first recourse, the idealisation of capitalism is metaphorically “burned to the ground” (yet antithetically also a cause for admiration) and towards the end a primate bites into an old man’s skull. What’s not to like?
Whilst I understand that America’s post counter-culture, folksy racism/ misogyny/ homophobia [insert prejudice here] is subject to criticism by the author, there was more than one occasion where I found the discriminatory language jarringly unnecessary. It really dates the piece.
That said, on the whole, this is a really excellent read, and I was in equal parts disgusted and amused by the antics, and found myself (to some degree of shame) identifying with some of the scrapes and situations the Doctor of Journalism and his legal crony got themselves into- I mean who hasn’t found a casualty or two in their bathrooms following an impromptu house party? (Although I do wonder how events might read to those who avoided misspending their youth...)
It’s a short, pithy searing indictment of American culture, society and the tacit implication (or actually come to think of it- pretty explicit statement) that substance abuse is the only way to deal with and make sense of the chaos. So, one could argue, still pretty relevant.
Violence is frequently a first recourse, the idealisation of capitalism is metaphorically “burned to the ground” (yet antithetically also a cause for admiration) and towards the end a primate bites into an old man’s skull. What’s not to like?