Search
Acanthea Grimscythe (300 KP) rated How I Lost You in Books
May 16, 2018
As seen on <a href="http://theghastlygrimoire.com/"; target="_new">The Ghastly Grimoire.</a>
How I Lost You by Jenny Blackhurst is difficult for me to score with ease, to be completely and totally honest. There are several things I loved about this book and others that felt more like a cliche. Aside from those few moments, I enjoyed reading this novel.
Susan Webster, a.k.a. Emma Cartwright, finds her head still spinning after serving her time in a psychiatric prison for the murder of her son. As a character, she is for the most part fairly well-written. Having suffered a psychotic break, she becomes an unreliable narrator and Blackhurst does an excellent job at describing the sort of incredulity that individuals suffering mental illness find themselves often faced with. Reading Susan’s point of view felt very much like my own after a break I had about two years ago, and for that reason I found her to be relatable – all the way down to the seemingly instant attraction to an otherwise unknown man.
In some reviews, Susan’s interest in Nick has been viewed critically. I, on the other hand, have been that desperate for someone, anyone, to possibly listen to me or give me time of day so I feel Blackhurst’s portrayal of Susan in such a circumstance is certainly realistic. Diminished capacity for judgment is a side effect of mental illness, one that often gets dismissed as a cry for attention.
The story unfolds fairly quickly and in ways that are, at some moments, unsettling. Many of these moments take place in the past, where flashbacks take us to the glorious lives of the Durham Elite. It is in these flashbacks that I encountered the one cliche that absolutely annoyed the piss out of me: a cult like gathering that seemed to come out of nowhere. Seriously, cults are beyond overdone.
I really found myself dancing between three and four for this piece, largely because of the typical use of the “cult” as a scapegoat. For the most part, this is the only bit that appeared to stand completely out of place, so I’ve decided to lean toward four. Thus far, I find Emily Bestler’s selections to be wonderfully appropriate to my tastes and I look forward to seeing more of her publications as an imprint of Atria and Simon & Schuster.
I would like to thank the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book for the purpose of review. This review is written without bias and reflects my honest opinion.
How I Lost You by Jenny Blackhurst is difficult for me to score with ease, to be completely and totally honest. There are several things I loved about this book and others that felt more like a cliche. Aside from those few moments, I enjoyed reading this novel.
Susan Webster, a.k.a. Emma Cartwright, finds her head still spinning after serving her time in a psychiatric prison for the murder of her son. As a character, she is for the most part fairly well-written. Having suffered a psychotic break, she becomes an unreliable narrator and Blackhurst does an excellent job at describing the sort of incredulity that individuals suffering mental illness find themselves often faced with. Reading Susan’s point of view felt very much like my own after a break I had about two years ago, and for that reason I found her to be relatable – all the way down to the seemingly instant attraction to an otherwise unknown man.
In some reviews, Susan’s interest in Nick has been viewed critically. I, on the other hand, have been that desperate for someone, anyone, to possibly listen to me or give me time of day so I feel Blackhurst’s portrayal of Susan in such a circumstance is certainly realistic. Diminished capacity for judgment is a side effect of mental illness, one that often gets dismissed as a cry for attention.
The story unfolds fairly quickly and in ways that are, at some moments, unsettling. Many of these moments take place in the past, where flashbacks take us to the glorious lives of the Durham Elite. It is in these flashbacks that I encountered the one cliche that absolutely annoyed the piss out of me: a cult like gathering that seemed to come out of nowhere. Seriously, cults are beyond overdone.
I really found myself dancing between three and four for this piece, largely because of the typical use of the “cult” as a scapegoat. For the most part, this is the only bit that appeared to stand completely out of place, so I’ve decided to lean toward four. Thus far, I find Emily Bestler’s selections to be wonderfully appropriate to my tastes and I look forward to seeing more of her publications as an imprint of Atria and Simon & Schuster.
I would like to thank the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book for the purpose of review. This review is written without bias and reflects my honest opinion.
Purple Phoenix Games (2266 KP) rated Bob Ross: Art of Chill Game in Tabletop Games
Jun 30, 2021
Bob Ross is a household name in the United States and has been for quite a while. The man is a legend and part of the Trinity of Mankind (which also includes Mister Rogers and Steve Irwin). Anyone who has watched this man paint instantly recognizes a beautiful human being with extreme talent and the ability to lull audiences into a state of euphoria as he paints mountains, creeks, cabins, and trees. And of course, every one should have a friend. His wholesomeness goes to 11! So what do I find one day whilst perusing the strange board game wares in my local Target one day three years ago but a Bob Ross game. I wasn’t expecting much, but had to have it for nostalgic reasons. Was my money wasted or is there something in this box worth actually playing?
Bob Ross: Art of Chill is a set collection, hand management, card drafting game that has its players attempting to complete masterful paintings before the master does in order to collect bonus “chill points” to win the game. Whomever manages to reach ultimate chill status will be victorious and can return to feeding Peapod, their rascally pocket squirrel.
To setup, place the easel and one of the shuffled painting panels upon it. Place the other panels (paintings) nearby. Place the main scoreboard nearby as well and place the shuffled Chill Cards on its space upon the board. The Technique Cards deck and the Art Supplies Card decks will be shuffled separately and placed below the board with four cards from each deck revealed as an offer. Place the Bob Mover (Bobeeple) on the easel in the first location printed on the panel. Each player will receive a palette, the scoring cube of their color to be placed on the scoreboard, the three Feature Markers, and three random Art Supplies Cards. The game may now begin!
On a turn players will be rolling the Bob die and carrying out its action. These actions are playing a paint card from hand onto their palette, drawing one Art Supplies Card from the deck to their hand, performing one free Action prior to the Action phase, or resolving the Bob die face. The Bob die face requires players to reveal a new Chill Card and resolve its immediate effects, or effects that will remain in play until a new Chill Card is revealed. Secondly, the Bobeeple will move to the next printed stopping point on the panel.
Once the die has been rolled and resolved, the active player will be able to take any three actions available in any order: Draw an Art Supplies Card (from the deck or from the offer), Sweep the Art Supplies Card (discard all face-up cards and reveal four new ones), Apply Paint to Your Palette (by placing it on your palette from your hand of cards), Wash Your Palette (by discarding cards from one of the palette areas to clear it), Earn a Technique Card (by discarding two like-cards from the hand of cards in order to score more VP for painting features in the future), or Paint a Feature (by discarding the required brush from the player’s hand of cards and the correct matching paints already applied to their palette).
Once complete, the next player will take their turn of rolling the die and completing three actions. Should players paint a feature on the panel before Bob moves to that spot on the panel the player(s) will gain extra bonus Chill points. Players may still paint features for points if Bob already has as well, they just will not receive the bonus Bob points. Turns will continue in this fashion until the moment one player has reached ultimate Chill and won the game.
Components. This game has a fair amount of components and I am happy to say they are all great! The cardboard components (palettes, score board) are good. The cards are all lovely linen-finished. The other player components are fine as well. The painting panels are excellent and feature actual Bob Ross masterpieces, and there are 15 double-sided panels in the box! The coolest component is certainly the easel though. It seems to be a somewhat real and functional easel (not that you would really want to paint on it) and it amps up the table appeal when setup and in play. I love the components and I am so glad that Big G Creative made a Bob Ross game with beautiful components. Anything less would be sacrilege.
It probably comes as no surprise that I love this game. I have always loved watching Bob Ross from when I was a child even up through my adulthood and I am relieved to be able to still watch him in action via Netflix. The game, though, is rather surprising. I certainly wasn’t expecting to like this as much as I do and was quite shocked to find out that there was actual substance in a Bob Ross game. Especially when it was stationed next to “games” like Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, Throw Throw Burrito, and the like. I enjoy the nostalgia in seeing my favorite colors in my hands like Phthalo Blue, Cadmium Orange, and Sap Green.
I don’t know if I would really consider this a gateway game, though I believe it really depends on the gamers with whom you are playing. There will be many times when you are concentrating on collecting the colors needed to finish a feature before Bob only to frustratingly never see that color on offer nor in the cards you draw and then the painting has to be refreshed because people can’t seem to stop rolling Bob on the die. However, if you play with people who can literally chill when things don’t go their way, this is a gem. Purple Phoenix Games gives Bob Ross: Art of Chill a 21 / 24. The only thing missing here is a way to, “beat the devil out of it,” and it would make my heart sing.
Bob Ross: Art of Chill is a set collection, hand management, card drafting game that has its players attempting to complete masterful paintings before the master does in order to collect bonus “chill points” to win the game. Whomever manages to reach ultimate chill status will be victorious and can return to feeding Peapod, their rascally pocket squirrel.
To setup, place the easel and one of the shuffled painting panels upon it. Place the other panels (paintings) nearby. Place the main scoreboard nearby as well and place the shuffled Chill Cards on its space upon the board. The Technique Cards deck and the Art Supplies Card decks will be shuffled separately and placed below the board with four cards from each deck revealed as an offer. Place the Bob Mover (Bobeeple) on the easel in the first location printed on the panel. Each player will receive a palette, the scoring cube of their color to be placed on the scoreboard, the three Feature Markers, and three random Art Supplies Cards. The game may now begin!
On a turn players will be rolling the Bob die and carrying out its action. These actions are playing a paint card from hand onto their palette, drawing one Art Supplies Card from the deck to their hand, performing one free Action prior to the Action phase, or resolving the Bob die face. The Bob die face requires players to reveal a new Chill Card and resolve its immediate effects, or effects that will remain in play until a new Chill Card is revealed. Secondly, the Bobeeple will move to the next printed stopping point on the panel.
Once the die has been rolled and resolved, the active player will be able to take any three actions available in any order: Draw an Art Supplies Card (from the deck or from the offer), Sweep the Art Supplies Card (discard all face-up cards and reveal four new ones), Apply Paint to Your Palette (by placing it on your palette from your hand of cards), Wash Your Palette (by discarding cards from one of the palette areas to clear it), Earn a Technique Card (by discarding two like-cards from the hand of cards in order to score more VP for painting features in the future), or Paint a Feature (by discarding the required brush from the player’s hand of cards and the correct matching paints already applied to their palette).
Once complete, the next player will take their turn of rolling the die and completing three actions. Should players paint a feature on the panel before Bob moves to that spot on the panel the player(s) will gain extra bonus Chill points. Players may still paint features for points if Bob already has as well, they just will not receive the bonus Bob points. Turns will continue in this fashion until the moment one player has reached ultimate Chill and won the game.
Components. This game has a fair amount of components and I am happy to say they are all great! The cardboard components (palettes, score board) are good. The cards are all lovely linen-finished. The other player components are fine as well. The painting panels are excellent and feature actual Bob Ross masterpieces, and there are 15 double-sided panels in the box! The coolest component is certainly the easel though. It seems to be a somewhat real and functional easel (not that you would really want to paint on it) and it amps up the table appeal when setup and in play. I love the components and I am so glad that Big G Creative made a Bob Ross game with beautiful components. Anything less would be sacrilege.
It probably comes as no surprise that I love this game. I have always loved watching Bob Ross from when I was a child even up through my adulthood and I am relieved to be able to still watch him in action via Netflix. The game, though, is rather surprising. I certainly wasn’t expecting to like this as much as I do and was quite shocked to find out that there was actual substance in a Bob Ross game. Especially when it was stationed next to “games” like Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, Throw Throw Burrito, and the like. I enjoy the nostalgia in seeing my favorite colors in my hands like Phthalo Blue, Cadmium Orange, and Sap Green.
I don’t know if I would really consider this a gateway game, though I believe it really depends on the gamers with whom you are playing. There will be many times when you are concentrating on collecting the colors needed to finish a feature before Bob only to frustratingly never see that color on offer nor in the cards you draw and then the painting has to be refreshed because people can’t seem to stop rolling Bob on the die. However, if you play with people who can literally chill when things don’t go their way, this is a gem. Purple Phoenix Games gives Bob Ross: Art of Chill a 21 / 24. The only thing missing here is a way to, “beat the devil out of it,” and it would make my heart sing.
Darren (1599 KP) rated 6 Underground (2019) in Movies
Dec 13, 2019
Verdict: Completely Bonkers Entertainment
Story: 6 Underground starts as we meet the agents, One (Reynolds) the billionaire, Two (Laurent) the Spook, Three (Garcia-Rulfo) a hitman, Four (Hardy) the skywalker, Five (Arjona) the doctor and Six (Franco) the driver, whose latest mission in Italy has gone sour, seeing them use their skills to escape the threat coming their way, only to lose a member of the team, needing to find a new member to become a seven.
Recruiting Seven (Hawkins) we learn about the plans they group have, they look to eliminate dictators that nobody else would touch, placing the rightful person in charge of the country, with the latest mission being to head to Turgistan.
Thoughts on 6 Underground
Characters – One is the leader of the squad, he is a billionaire that faked his own death to build the squad which will fight against the dictators of the world, he recruits the very best, he uses the code name, he wants to use his wealth to solve the problems in the world, in a way being known really works, often given commentary on what is going on. Two is the ex-CIA spook that is the most deadly with a weapon, she is willing to lead any assault the team goes on. Three is a hitman that has been given a new life, he is the most reckless of the crew, he will break the rules, but give him a gun and he will get the job done. Four is known as the skywalker, he parkour skills are unbelievable, he will run through building roof tops, searching for routes for the team, getting involved when required, he is easily the most entertaining character of the squad. Five is the doctor, while she might have the weakest character development of the whole squad. Six is the driver that enjoys the thrills that come from the high speed chases. Seven is the newest member of the team, a former soldier bought in for his own skills, he does question the true identity of One, unlike anybody else.
Performances – Ryan Reynolds, is like he always is, wise cracking, fun to watch and always confident, something he needs to be for this role, thinking Deadpool, without the costume. Melanie Laurent does an excellent job in the spook role, with Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, Adria Arjona, Dave Franco and Corey Hawkins are strong too, though it is Ben Hardy that seems to steal the show.
Story – The story here follows an elite group of soldiers that have come from around the world to work together to stop dictators from maintaining their reigns of terror over their nations. While this story is hugely ambition and original, it shows how wealthy people could use their money for the right reasons, to help the world instead of just watching it get destroyed. Outside of just dealing with the problems in the world, the story is very simple, go from one mission to the next, with plenty of banter between the squad, usually revolving around film references, which if you understand add humour to scenes through the film.
Action – The action in this film is massive, it is almost relentless for large parts of the film, we see so much happening, from car chases, the gun battles, parkour on rooftops and that boat sequences, well wow.
Settings – The film does take us all over the world, with the main country being fictional, it is implied which country we are seeing wanting to have a change. The film does make the most of the locations, with the environment playing a big part in how each scene can be won.
Scene of the Movie – The Parkour rooftop.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – Sometimes it does feel like it is just Deadpool commenting on an action film.
Final Thoughts – This is a truly bonkers action film that you can switch off and just let everything unfold to the crazy levels it is meant to reach.
Overall: Wildly Over the Top.
Story: 6 Underground starts as we meet the agents, One (Reynolds) the billionaire, Two (Laurent) the Spook, Three (Garcia-Rulfo) a hitman, Four (Hardy) the skywalker, Five (Arjona) the doctor and Six (Franco) the driver, whose latest mission in Italy has gone sour, seeing them use their skills to escape the threat coming their way, only to lose a member of the team, needing to find a new member to become a seven.
Recruiting Seven (Hawkins) we learn about the plans they group have, they look to eliminate dictators that nobody else would touch, placing the rightful person in charge of the country, with the latest mission being to head to Turgistan.
Thoughts on 6 Underground
Characters – One is the leader of the squad, he is a billionaire that faked his own death to build the squad which will fight against the dictators of the world, he recruits the very best, he uses the code name, he wants to use his wealth to solve the problems in the world, in a way being known really works, often given commentary on what is going on. Two is the ex-CIA spook that is the most deadly with a weapon, she is willing to lead any assault the team goes on. Three is a hitman that has been given a new life, he is the most reckless of the crew, he will break the rules, but give him a gun and he will get the job done. Four is known as the skywalker, he parkour skills are unbelievable, he will run through building roof tops, searching for routes for the team, getting involved when required, he is easily the most entertaining character of the squad. Five is the doctor, while she might have the weakest character development of the whole squad. Six is the driver that enjoys the thrills that come from the high speed chases. Seven is the newest member of the team, a former soldier bought in for his own skills, he does question the true identity of One, unlike anybody else.
Performances – Ryan Reynolds, is like he always is, wise cracking, fun to watch and always confident, something he needs to be for this role, thinking Deadpool, without the costume. Melanie Laurent does an excellent job in the spook role, with Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, Adria Arjona, Dave Franco and Corey Hawkins are strong too, though it is Ben Hardy that seems to steal the show.
Story – The story here follows an elite group of soldiers that have come from around the world to work together to stop dictators from maintaining their reigns of terror over their nations. While this story is hugely ambition and original, it shows how wealthy people could use their money for the right reasons, to help the world instead of just watching it get destroyed. Outside of just dealing with the problems in the world, the story is very simple, go from one mission to the next, with plenty of banter between the squad, usually revolving around film references, which if you understand add humour to scenes through the film.
Action – The action in this film is massive, it is almost relentless for large parts of the film, we see so much happening, from car chases, the gun battles, parkour on rooftops and that boat sequences, well wow.
Settings – The film does take us all over the world, with the main country being fictional, it is implied which country we are seeing wanting to have a change. The film does make the most of the locations, with the environment playing a big part in how each scene can be won.
Scene of the Movie – The Parkour rooftop.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – Sometimes it does feel like it is just Deadpool commenting on an action film.
Final Thoughts – This is a truly bonkers action film that you can switch off and just let everything unfold to the crazy levels it is meant to reach.
Overall: Wildly Over the Top.
The Untethered Soul: The Journey Beyond Yourself
8.0
Rate It
Book
Who are you? When you start to explore this question, you find out how elusive it really is. Are you...
AA
Arbitration and Mediation in Seventeenth-Century England
Book
Despite plague, fire, political upheaval and religious strife, in the 17th century English people of...
Leanne Crabtree (480 KP) rated Prom Nights from Hell in Books
Jan 6, 2021
Overall rating 2.5 stars
<b>The Exterminator's Daughter - Meg Cabot</b> - 3 stars.
If this had been a little longer and fleshed out just a little more then it would have gotten four stars but since it wasn't, it's getting three. Adam was quite fun and I loved his water pistol on the two occasions it appeared. If the author ever fancied doing it into a full length story then I'd read it because Mary and Adam make quite a fun team
<b>The Corsage - Lauren Myracle</b> - 2 stars
I didn't particularly enjoy this one until the last five pages but they couldn't save the story. Not to my liking at all.
<b>Madison Avery and the Dim Reaper - Kim Harrison</b> -2.5 stars
Madison was quite annoying when she was arguing that she was still alive and took the amulet from Seth and leading up to that it didn't really grab me and pull me in. I don't think I'll be reading more of this series.
<b>Kiss and Tell - Michele Jaffe</b> - 3 stars
I enjoyed this once we got past the initial back-info overload. Once Sibby arrived and was being her teenager-y annoying self and winding up our super-powered Miranda i got into the story. The prom took a while to arrive but she had an almost kiss with her crush before things went to hell. And then we get a little twist at the end before she ends up getting a date with her crush. If it was a full length story then i would read it.
<b>Hell on Earth - Stephanie Meyer</b> - 2 stars
I had no idea what was going on in this for a long time and then when I figured it out I wasn't into the plot. Not for me.
<b>The Exterminator's Daughter - Meg Cabot</b> - 3 stars.
If this had been a little longer and fleshed out just a little more then it would have gotten four stars but since it wasn't, it's getting three. Adam was quite fun and I loved his water pistol on the two occasions it appeared. If the author ever fancied doing it into a full length story then I'd read it because Mary and Adam make quite a fun team
<b>The Corsage - Lauren Myracle</b> - 2 stars
I didn't particularly enjoy this one until the last five pages but they couldn't save the story. Not to my liking at all.
<b>Madison Avery and the Dim Reaper - Kim Harrison</b> -2.5 stars
Madison was quite annoying when she was arguing that she was still alive and took the amulet from Seth and leading up to that it didn't really grab me and pull me in. I don't think I'll be reading more of this series.
<b>Kiss and Tell - Michele Jaffe</b> - 3 stars
I enjoyed this once we got past the initial back-info overload. Once Sibby arrived and was being her teenager-y annoying self and winding up our super-powered Miranda i got into the story. The prom took a while to arrive but she had an almost kiss with her crush before things went to hell. And then we get a little twist at the end before she ends up getting a date with her crush. If it was a full length story then i would read it.
<b>Hell on Earth - Stephanie Meyer</b> - 2 stars
I had no idea what was going on in this for a long time and then when I figured it out I wasn't into the plot. Not for me.
Kristy H (1252 KP) rated The Mighty Heart of Sunny St. James in Books
Jun 21, 2019
Sunny St. James is twelve and getting a new heart. She was diagnosed at the age of ten with cardiomyopathy: a failing heart. That was two years ago. Sunny’s been through a lot in her short life. Her dad passed away in an accident right after she was born. When she was four, her mom, Lena, couldn’t take care of her anymore, so she gave her to her best friend, Kate. Kate and Sunny moved to Juniper Island, where Kate runs Cherry Picked Books. And recently, Sunny’s best friendship with Margot ended. But she’s getting a heart transplant, and everything is going to change now. Sunny even has a new life plan, which includes finding a new best friend and kissing some boys. So when she meets Quinn, a new girl, on the beach, it seems like all the pieces of her plan are coming together. But Quinn makes Sunny question some things—including whether she wants to kiss boys at all.
“I’m going to die today. Definitely for a few minutes and maybe forever. Kate keeps telling me no way, nohow is it going to be forever, but she isn’t the one who’s about to have her most important internal organ switched out like a new swimsuit at the start of the summer.”
Oh this book, this book. Ashley Herring Blake did it again. She is just such a wonderful, wonderful writer. I simply fell head over heels for Sunny, who stole my heart from the first pages of this beautiful book. She is strong, vulnerable, and a darling character who came to life through Blake’s lovely writing. She goes through so much in her life—and in the chapters of this book—and yet there’s so much hope and laughter. I cannot even describe it. The book opens with Sunny’s transplant and then we move on from there, as she works to implement her three-step plan:
“Step One: Do awesome amazing things I could never do before. Step Two: Find a new best friend. Step Three: Find a boy and kiss him.”
To Sunny’s twelve-year-old reasoning, it all makes perfect sense. She has a new heart, so it’s a perfect time to be a new person. In fact, with the new heart, there’s no reason to feel the things she felt before, which might have included some desires to kiss girls. When she meets Quinn on the beach—Quinn and her mom are in town for the summer, as Quinn’s mom is a nature photographer—they become fast friends. It seems like they will be on a quest to kiss boys together. But things quickly go awry (seriously – there are some hilarious comedic scenes as the two attempt to kiss some boys). This book does such an amazing job at capturing the loneliness of young gay kids. I so wish there books like this around when I was a teen. Sunny is so sweet, so real, and so raw as she works through her confusion about liking girls. This is such a wonderful and needed book for middle schoolers (and everyone)—for queer kids as they try to figure out things like Sunny and for the allies who need to support them. I wish everyone could read it. Not only does Sunny struggle with her feelings about liking girls and boys, but she must deal with the return of her long-lost mother, Lena. In another book, these two storylines might feel crowded, but Blake handles them deftly.
And it’s such a lovely story at its heart—because, truly, it’s a book about hearts and those you love and who love you. I defy you to read this book and not fall in love with Sunny St. James. She is a character who will stick with you long after you read the last page. Blake has created yet another lasting story through her magical words. I highly recommend this book. 4.5+ stars.
“I’m going to die today. Definitely for a few minutes and maybe forever. Kate keeps telling me no way, nohow is it going to be forever, but she isn’t the one who’s about to have her most important internal organ switched out like a new swimsuit at the start of the summer.”
Oh this book, this book. Ashley Herring Blake did it again. She is just such a wonderful, wonderful writer. I simply fell head over heels for Sunny, who stole my heart from the first pages of this beautiful book. She is strong, vulnerable, and a darling character who came to life through Blake’s lovely writing. She goes through so much in her life—and in the chapters of this book—and yet there’s so much hope and laughter. I cannot even describe it. The book opens with Sunny’s transplant and then we move on from there, as she works to implement her three-step plan:
“Step One: Do awesome amazing things I could never do before. Step Two: Find a new best friend. Step Three: Find a boy and kiss him.”
To Sunny’s twelve-year-old reasoning, it all makes perfect sense. She has a new heart, so it’s a perfect time to be a new person. In fact, with the new heart, there’s no reason to feel the things she felt before, which might have included some desires to kiss girls. When she meets Quinn on the beach—Quinn and her mom are in town for the summer, as Quinn’s mom is a nature photographer—they become fast friends. It seems like they will be on a quest to kiss boys together. But things quickly go awry (seriously – there are some hilarious comedic scenes as the two attempt to kiss some boys). This book does such an amazing job at capturing the loneliness of young gay kids. I so wish there books like this around when I was a teen. Sunny is so sweet, so real, and so raw as she works through her confusion about liking girls. This is such a wonderful and needed book for middle schoolers (and everyone)—for queer kids as they try to figure out things like Sunny and for the allies who need to support them. I wish everyone could read it. Not only does Sunny struggle with her feelings about liking girls and boys, but she must deal with the return of her long-lost mother, Lena. In another book, these two storylines might feel crowded, but Blake handles them deftly.
And it’s such a lovely story at its heart—because, truly, it’s a book about hearts and those you love and who love you. I defy you to read this book and not fall in love with Sunny St. James. She is a character who will stick with you long after you read the last page. Blake has created yet another lasting story through her magical words. I highly recommend this book. 4.5+ stars.
Purple Phoenix Games (2266 KP) rated Zoom in Barcelona in Tabletop Games
Jan 5, 2022
Barcelona! One of my favorite cities I have ever visited. I have sweet memories and also sour memories of this wonderful place. I have walked the streets, tipped the street performers, performed at the Universitat de Barcelona, but I also have mistakenly happened upon a brothel at night and had my debit card stolen by the hotel maintenance staff while visiting. So there’s a wide range of experiences I’ve had in Spain. That said, as this game is set in Barcelona, I knew I just had to get it to the table ASAP, and I found a gem for my collection.
In Zoom in Barcelona, players are photographers competing in a local photography contest. Judges will dictate the preferred sites, and the contest will have an over-arching theme, while players also race to take shots at the most opportune moment with the sunlight over the city. There are multiple ways to score points, and collecting a diverse portfolio of shots from the day will win a prize for the best photographer!
DISCLAIMER: We were provided a copy of this game for the purposes of this review. This is a retail copy of the game, so what you see in these photos is exactly what would be received in your box. I do not intend to cover every single rule included in the rulebook, but will describe the overall game flow and major rule set so that our readers may get a sense of how the game plays. For more in depth rules, you may purchase a copy online or from your FLGS. -T
To setup, follow the instructions in the rulebook; there are just too many to list here. However, the starting state of the board should look something similar to the photo below. The major components are the board, the Landmark photo cards, the Transport cards, Natural Light track, Themes tokens, and of course: the Dragon token.
NOTE: This review includes all rules found in the rulebook. For lighter games, players may omit certain rule options.
Turns are very simple in Zoom in Barcelona and consist of two phases – Move and Perform One Action. Players may move up to two connected spaces by walking, or more spaces by playing and discarding one of their Transport cards (shown above in hand). Players will be moving around the board like crazy attempting to arrive at certain locations so that they may take one action from the following: take one photo, visit an Information Point, or take the Metro.
Should the active player choose to take one photo, they must be currently at a location that matches one of the Landmark cards currently residing in the Judges’ Picks area (northeast corner of the board). To take a photo here, the player simply collects the card from the board and replaces it with another from the deck. Collecting Judges’ Picks cards is nice, but if players neglect to advance themselves along the Natural Light Track (southeast corner of the board), these cards will not score. Players will need to take photos at the leftmost location to be able to score two Landmark cards, with each subsequent Natural Light card allowing an additional two cards to be scored, up to a maximum of eight total cards scored. Players may also take photos of portions of the Barcelona Skyline by arriving at the corresponding Skyline Viewpoint spots on the board and collecting the token present (in a two player game, there is only one token at each spot, so the race is on!). These Skyline tokens can be combined at the end of the game for bonus points if combined in a specific order per the individual City Skyline Tokens dealt at the beginning of the game. Finally, players may take a photo of the Dragon in its current Lair by arriving on the Dragon’s location and choosing this action. By taking its photo, the Dragon allows players to freely take one of the Judges’ Picks Landmark cards from those on display, collect any Skyline building token from the board, advance the player’s token on the Natural Light Tracker, OR refresh all the Landmark cards on the Judges’ Pick area. In all of my plays, I abuse the Dragon to advance my token on the Natural Light Track primarily.
The player may instead visit an Information Point on the board in order to draw more or completely refresh their hand of Transport cards. Perhaps the player has a value 3 card, discards it, and draws three more cards offering higher value transports.
Finally, a player may instead choose to Take the Metro by visiting a red M spot and virtually teleporting to any other red M Metro spot on the board. This makes for quick travel across the city.
Play continues in this fashion until one player collects their eighth Landmark photo. The game then immediately ends and scores are counted per the rulebook. The photographer with the highest score wins the competition!
Components. This game has a lot of different types of components; the box is stuffed! All of the cards are nice, the cardboard components are great, and the wooden tokens are just okay. I would prefer more custom wooden components, as the game ships with just entry level pawn tokens and matching colored cubes. Something a bit more jazzed up would be appreciated here. Otherwise, the art is wonderful, the board is beautiful, and everything just looks really interesting when all setup. Per usual, Blue Orange has given us a beautiful game. (*Just bling out the wooden bits in your copy – I plan to with mine)
So wow, there are so many choices to be made in this game. Firstly, it’s a mad dash to collect that eighth Landmark card, but you just can’t ignore the Natural Light Track (if you play with it), because having eight cards but only able to score two or four is just like shooting yourself in the foot for no good reason. Zooming around town (I know, I had to) is so satisfying, like a board game treasure hunt, and snapping all these photos of memorable places just hits the spot for me. Yes, I am probably biased because of the setting and my fondness for it, but even if this were set in another location where I had no experience, I would still very much enjoy it.
I’ll tell you one thing. I feel bad every time I play this because I feel like a lazy one-trick pony chasing around the Dragon to exploit its power, and MAYBE grabbing a shot along the way. The Dragon is very powerful and allows players to do really helpful things throughout.
Yes, there are some minor rules I left out, but I think you all get the idea behind this game. I am absolutely in love with this one, and I am so glad it was suggested to me to try, and even more lucky that Blue Orange sent me a copy to review! Officially, Purple Phoenix Games gives this one a 5 / 6 for its beauty, fun mechanics, and incredible array of choices to be made along the way. I can see this one inching its way toward my Top 10 Games of All Time, but I suppose time will tell. If you are a fan of ours, and your tastes typically line up with mine, then please do yourself a solid and grab a copy of this one right away. It may be daunting to learn at first, but once it all clicks, I can guarantee you will see the cohesiveness and beauty of Zoom in Barcelona.
Oh, and if anyone finds my debit card, please return it. I “lost” it there in the Summer of 2000. Thanks.
In Zoom in Barcelona, players are photographers competing in a local photography contest. Judges will dictate the preferred sites, and the contest will have an over-arching theme, while players also race to take shots at the most opportune moment with the sunlight over the city. There are multiple ways to score points, and collecting a diverse portfolio of shots from the day will win a prize for the best photographer!
DISCLAIMER: We were provided a copy of this game for the purposes of this review. This is a retail copy of the game, so what you see in these photos is exactly what would be received in your box. I do not intend to cover every single rule included in the rulebook, but will describe the overall game flow and major rule set so that our readers may get a sense of how the game plays. For more in depth rules, you may purchase a copy online or from your FLGS. -T
To setup, follow the instructions in the rulebook; there are just too many to list here. However, the starting state of the board should look something similar to the photo below. The major components are the board, the Landmark photo cards, the Transport cards, Natural Light track, Themes tokens, and of course: the Dragon token.
NOTE: This review includes all rules found in the rulebook. For lighter games, players may omit certain rule options.
Turns are very simple in Zoom in Barcelona and consist of two phases – Move and Perform One Action. Players may move up to two connected spaces by walking, or more spaces by playing and discarding one of their Transport cards (shown above in hand). Players will be moving around the board like crazy attempting to arrive at certain locations so that they may take one action from the following: take one photo, visit an Information Point, or take the Metro.
Should the active player choose to take one photo, they must be currently at a location that matches one of the Landmark cards currently residing in the Judges’ Picks area (northeast corner of the board). To take a photo here, the player simply collects the card from the board and replaces it with another from the deck. Collecting Judges’ Picks cards is nice, but if players neglect to advance themselves along the Natural Light Track (southeast corner of the board), these cards will not score. Players will need to take photos at the leftmost location to be able to score two Landmark cards, with each subsequent Natural Light card allowing an additional two cards to be scored, up to a maximum of eight total cards scored. Players may also take photos of portions of the Barcelona Skyline by arriving at the corresponding Skyline Viewpoint spots on the board and collecting the token present (in a two player game, there is only one token at each spot, so the race is on!). These Skyline tokens can be combined at the end of the game for bonus points if combined in a specific order per the individual City Skyline Tokens dealt at the beginning of the game. Finally, players may take a photo of the Dragon in its current Lair by arriving on the Dragon’s location and choosing this action. By taking its photo, the Dragon allows players to freely take one of the Judges’ Picks Landmark cards from those on display, collect any Skyline building token from the board, advance the player’s token on the Natural Light Tracker, OR refresh all the Landmark cards on the Judges’ Pick area. In all of my plays, I abuse the Dragon to advance my token on the Natural Light Track primarily.
The player may instead visit an Information Point on the board in order to draw more or completely refresh their hand of Transport cards. Perhaps the player has a value 3 card, discards it, and draws three more cards offering higher value transports.
Finally, a player may instead choose to Take the Metro by visiting a red M spot and virtually teleporting to any other red M Metro spot on the board. This makes for quick travel across the city.
Play continues in this fashion until one player collects their eighth Landmark photo. The game then immediately ends and scores are counted per the rulebook. The photographer with the highest score wins the competition!
Components. This game has a lot of different types of components; the box is stuffed! All of the cards are nice, the cardboard components are great, and the wooden tokens are just okay. I would prefer more custom wooden components, as the game ships with just entry level pawn tokens and matching colored cubes. Something a bit more jazzed up would be appreciated here. Otherwise, the art is wonderful, the board is beautiful, and everything just looks really interesting when all setup. Per usual, Blue Orange has given us a beautiful game. (*Just bling out the wooden bits in your copy – I plan to with mine)
So wow, there are so many choices to be made in this game. Firstly, it’s a mad dash to collect that eighth Landmark card, but you just can’t ignore the Natural Light Track (if you play with it), because having eight cards but only able to score two or four is just like shooting yourself in the foot for no good reason. Zooming around town (I know, I had to) is so satisfying, like a board game treasure hunt, and snapping all these photos of memorable places just hits the spot for me. Yes, I am probably biased because of the setting and my fondness for it, but even if this were set in another location where I had no experience, I would still very much enjoy it.
I’ll tell you one thing. I feel bad every time I play this because I feel like a lazy one-trick pony chasing around the Dragon to exploit its power, and MAYBE grabbing a shot along the way. The Dragon is very powerful and allows players to do really helpful things throughout.
Yes, there are some minor rules I left out, but I think you all get the idea behind this game. I am absolutely in love with this one, and I am so glad it was suggested to me to try, and even more lucky that Blue Orange sent me a copy to review! Officially, Purple Phoenix Games gives this one a 5 / 6 for its beauty, fun mechanics, and incredible array of choices to be made along the way. I can see this one inching its way toward my Top 10 Games of All Time, but I suppose time will tell. If you are a fan of ours, and your tastes typically line up with mine, then please do yourself a solid and grab a copy of this one right away. It may be daunting to learn at first, but once it all clicks, I can guarantee you will see the cohesiveness and beauty of Zoom in Barcelona.
Oh, and if anyone finds my debit card, please return it. I “lost” it there in the Summer of 2000. Thanks.
Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated 6 Underground (2019) in Movies
Dec 15, 2019
It’s a Michael Bay film. It’s going to have so many car crashes, explosions, stunts and more of the same. Seriously. It’s Michael Bay…AND Ryan Reynolds. With the script by Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, who both have worked on Zombieland, Deadpool 1 & 2. Just to clarify, this IS an action movie. It surprises me that it was released at this time of year. I would have thought the typical release would head off the summer blockbuster season. However, Netflix has been sending out an eclectic group of movies to premiere in theaters prior to its streaming release.
The premise that we are set up for: super rich billionaire, Number One (Ryan Reynolds) has curated a team with members that each have a specific set of skills. The small team of specialists are all ghosts in the real world. The work that they do requires the anonymity of nonexistence. Each member of the six -person team have been chosen by Number One. Number Two (Melanie Laurent) is a former CIA Operative, Number Three (Manuel Garcia Rulfo) the very talented assassin, Number Four (Adria Arjona) is the Doctor. She is the one who can remove a bullet while the car is dodging through the traffic at breakneck speed. Number five (Ben Hardy, last seen in Bohemian Rhapsody as Roger Taylor) who is the parkour king. Rounding out the team is Number Six (Dave Franco) the Driver.
To say some parts of the film was subdued would have some people raise their collective eyebrows. However, the characters (Numbers Two to Six), have taken on the witty quips that we, as an audience have long associated with Ryan Reynolds. The writers have dispersed the wit and sarcasm to the other team members. This also helps to provide the comradery and establish the “family” concept that bonds the disparate backgrounds of each member. We are privy to a little bit of information of each team member, but I would have liked to see a little bit more history of each to fill in the personal motivation.
I enjoyed all the car chases, explosions, stunts and the international sites. It’s definitely not the typical fare of the holiday season in the theaters, but it is a very fun action movie that shoots the viewer through the story. The pacing is steady, the humor is a little sarcastic with a side of gentle familial teasing.
If you have had enough of the warm and fuzzies that the season provides in plentitude, Six Underground is a welcomed palate cleanser in this time of Yule. I certainly hope we get to see more of this team in a sequel.
4 out of 5 stars
The premise that we are set up for: super rich billionaire, Number One (Ryan Reynolds) has curated a team with members that each have a specific set of skills. The small team of specialists are all ghosts in the real world. The work that they do requires the anonymity of nonexistence. Each member of the six -person team have been chosen by Number One. Number Two (Melanie Laurent) is a former CIA Operative, Number Three (Manuel Garcia Rulfo) the very talented assassin, Number Four (Adria Arjona) is the Doctor. She is the one who can remove a bullet while the car is dodging through the traffic at breakneck speed. Number five (Ben Hardy, last seen in Bohemian Rhapsody as Roger Taylor) who is the parkour king. Rounding out the team is Number Six (Dave Franco) the Driver.
To say some parts of the film was subdued would have some people raise their collective eyebrows. However, the characters (Numbers Two to Six), have taken on the witty quips that we, as an audience have long associated with Ryan Reynolds. The writers have dispersed the wit and sarcasm to the other team members. This also helps to provide the comradery and establish the “family” concept that bonds the disparate backgrounds of each member. We are privy to a little bit of information of each team member, but I would have liked to see a little bit more history of each to fill in the personal motivation.
I enjoyed all the car chases, explosions, stunts and the international sites. It’s definitely not the typical fare of the holiday season in the theaters, but it is a very fun action movie that shoots the viewer through the story. The pacing is steady, the humor is a little sarcastic with a side of gentle familial teasing.
If you have had enough of the warm and fuzzies that the season provides in plentitude, Six Underground is a welcomed palate cleanser in this time of Yule. I certainly hope we get to see more of this team in a sequel.
4 out of 5 stars
Night Reader Reviews (683 KP) rated I'm Lost I'm Lost in Books
Jan 9, 2020
Im Lost Im Lost by Ruth Passmore is a little bit on the misleading side. The cover of this book depicts animals and a train. Potential readers should be aware that although the front cover depicts a train the book has absolutely nothing to do with them (a big disappointment to my two-year-old who loves trains). I know you should never judge a book by its cover by a childrens book may not be the best idea to practice that idea. At the same time, this is a counting book and aside from the numbers on the train cars, the front cover does not hint at this at all, although the back of the book dose.
Baby animals are lost and trying to find their way home in this short counting book. Readers start with a classical animal issue, a cat stuck in a tree. With the aid of very simple illustrations, readers are introduced to nine other animal species, ending with ten baby kangaroos.
What I liked best it that the idea behind this book is great. Counting is a fundamental skill that all children must learn and this book does so in a fun way. Children frequently have a fascination with animals and this book mixes animals with learning in a way children would not notice. The repetitive pattern is also nice for children. What I did not like is that some of the choices in animal types are questionable as they could be difficult for young children to read such as tortoises, hedgehogs, and kangaroos. Also on six out of ten pages, a specific number of animals is given but technically it is wrong. For example page, one says there is one cat stuck and a friend (witch according to the picture is also a cat) helps it, the same issue arises on multiple pages (page three has four fish on it not just the three that are lost). This is very confusing to young children.
Toddlers and their parents are the target readers for this book. Parents will enjoy reading this counting book to their young children. Young readers will enjoy the repetitive pattern of the story. The names of some animals may prove difficult to some young readers and they may need help if reading it on their own. I give this book a 1 out of 2 rating. Although a cute book, I would not necessarily recommend it as an educational book. While there is nothing wrong with the text, the illustrations could be confusing when it comes to counting.
https://nightreaderreviews.blogspot.com
Baby animals are lost and trying to find their way home in this short counting book. Readers start with a classical animal issue, a cat stuck in a tree. With the aid of very simple illustrations, readers are introduced to nine other animal species, ending with ten baby kangaroos.
What I liked best it that the idea behind this book is great. Counting is a fundamental skill that all children must learn and this book does so in a fun way. Children frequently have a fascination with animals and this book mixes animals with learning in a way children would not notice. The repetitive pattern is also nice for children. What I did not like is that some of the choices in animal types are questionable as they could be difficult for young children to read such as tortoises, hedgehogs, and kangaroos. Also on six out of ten pages, a specific number of animals is given but technically it is wrong. For example page, one says there is one cat stuck and a friend (witch according to the picture is also a cat) helps it, the same issue arises on multiple pages (page three has four fish on it not just the three that are lost). This is very confusing to young children.
Toddlers and their parents are the target readers for this book. Parents will enjoy reading this counting book to their young children. Young readers will enjoy the repetitive pattern of the story. The names of some animals may prove difficult to some young readers and they may need help if reading it on their own. I give this book a 1 out of 2 rating. Although a cute book, I would not necessarily recommend it as an educational book. While there is nothing wrong with the text, the illustrations could be confusing when it comes to counting.
https://nightreaderreviews.blogspot.com