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Nadya R (9 KP) rated The Butterfly Garden in Books
Jul 2, 2018
Usually I don’t choice book by its cover. But in this case, when I saw the book’s cover I was almost sure that I wanna read this book. The cover with its dark tones and eye catching red details is so stunning.* Then there was a brainstorming review that made me 100% sure I am gonna read this book.
The story is told my Maya. 18 years old girl managed to escape from a sex-addicted serial killer. He ‘catches’ the girls and make them live in the Garden. From first sight this Garden is a piece of Heaven- all this green plants, cliffs with waterfalls and brooks, but actually its a Devil’s place and the Devil is The Gardener. Rich man, craving for attention sociopath, he keeps his Garden full with beautiful young girls with breathtaking tattoos on their back. The tattoos represent butterfly wings and that’s why these girls are called ‘Butterflies’. They are going to share the butterfly beauty but their short life as well.
The story goes in two directions- the one, where two FBI detectives are trying to solve the mystery of The Garden and meanwhile leading Maya’s interrogation and the second one brings us back the house throughout Maya’s memories.
Maya was the girl who helps the new ‘catch’ the get use with the new situation they came with. Also she tries to keep all girls united. Except from the Gardener, there is his eldest son who also is aware of what’s going on in his dad’s secret garden. There is Lorraine as well. She is an ex-Butterfly who takes care for the girls and plays the role of their doctor. She is free of going in and out of the house, whenever she wants to, but also she is the perfect example of Stockholm syndrome so she didn’t even think about exposing her beloved one.
The Gardener is pretty conflicting character, though. Although he keeps girls in captive, for the outside world he is intelligent man, and big appreciator of art. He takes care for the girls, acts gently, with respect, but he expect from them, they always to be ready to greet him in their beds and to satisfy his sexual desires. From other side is his biggest son. He, in difference with his father, is evil and rude. He is one sadistic son of a bitch, trying to take all the benefits from the girls, as he can. The thing that makes him horny and turns him up is to break girls limbs, to hurt and even to kill them while he is f*cking them.
The wind of change came with Des - the Gardener lil son. He is good and loving, just like his father, except the fact that he doesn’t ripe girls and doesn’t like what his father and brother are doing at all. But after all he is son of his father and prefers to keep their family name nice and clean, instead of helping the girls.
From the very first page, the book held my attention and this didn’t change throughout the hole book till the last page. A horrifying story narrated extremely well. The adrenaline of the action kept me awake in the night, made me turn over the pages till I reached the last one. Maya is the perfect narrator- a rebel with butting tongue, she brings so much life to the book and her story at all. The biggest fault of the book is its ending. Seriously who can finish an amazing book like this in this stupid, discouraged way? It’s like the author just ran out of ideas (or deadlines were knocking on the door) and rushed the end. In the last pages there is a person, showed up with all the answers I need, but I didn’t found their answers because the book came to its end. I was so frustrated that I wanted to throw the book away and never ever look at it once again.
Despite the miserable ending, I recommend the books as something that everyone, who likes psycho triller, has to read.
* I’m taking about Bulgarian edition of the book ?
The story is told my Maya. 18 years old girl managed to escape from a sex-addicted serial killer. He ‘catches’ the girls and make them live in the Garden. From first sight this Garden is a piece of Heaven- all this green plants, cliffs with waterfalls and brooks, but actually its a Devil’s place and the Devil is The Gardener. Rich man, craving for attention sociopath, he keeps his Garden full with beautiful young girls with breathtaking tattoos on their back. The tattoos represent butterfly wings and that’s why these girls are called ‘Butterflies’. They are going to share the butterfly beauty but their short life as well.
The story goes in two directions- the one, where two FBI detectives are trying to solve the mystery of The Garden and meanwhile leading Maya’s interrogation and the second one brings us back the house throughout Maya’s memories.
Maya was the girl who helps the new ‘catch’ the get use with the new situation they came with. Also she tries to keep all girls united. Except from the Gardener, there is his eldest son who also is aware of what’s going on in his dad’s secret garden. There is Lorraine as well. She is an ex-Butterfly who takes care for the girls and plays the role of their doctor. She is free of going in and out of the house, whenever she wants to, but also she is the perfect example of Stockholm syndrome so she didn’t even think about exposing her beloved one.
The Gardener is pretty conflicting character, though. Although he keeps girls in captive, for the outside world he is intelligent man, and big appreciator of art. He takes care for the girls, acts gently, with respect, but he expect from them, they always to be ready to greet him in their beds and to satisfy his sexual desires. From other side is his biggest son. He, in difference with his father, is evil and rude. He is one sadistic son of a bitch, trying to take all the benefits from the girls, as he can. The thing that makes him horny and turns him up is to break girls limbs, to hurt and even to kill them while he is f*cking them.
The wind of change came with Des - the Gardener lil son. He is good and loving, just like his father, except the fact that he doesn’t ripe girls and doesn’t like what his father and brother are doing at all. But after all he is son of his father and prefers to keep their family name nice and clean, instead of helping the girls.
From the very first page, the book held my attention and this didn’t change throughout the hole book till the last page. A horrifying story narrated extremely well. The adrenaline of the action kept me awake in the night, made me turn over the pages till I reached the last one. Maya is the perfect narrator- a rebel with butting tongue, she brings so much life to the book and her story at all. The biggest fault of the book is its ending. Seriously who can finish an amazing book like this in this stupid, discouraged way? It’s like the author just ran out of ideas (or deadlines were knocking on the door) and rushed the end. In the last pages there is a person, showed up with all the answers I need, but I didn’t found their answers because the book came to its end. I was so frustrated that I wanted to throw the book away and never ever look at it once again.
Despite the miserable ending, I recommend the books as something that everyone, who likes psycho triller, has to read.
* I’m taking about Bulgarian edition of the book ?
Daniel Boyd (1066 KP) rated Bad Samaritan (2018) in Movies
Oct 3, 2018 (Updated Oct 3, 2018)
Tacky jump-scares (1 more)
Constantly asks you to accept huge leaps of logic
What A Waste
Bad Samaritan is a movie that I really should have liked. I am a huge fan of David Tennant, I love a decent thriller movie and the trailer for the movie teased an intriguing plot as well. Unfortunately, I didn't like much of it, in fact it really annoyed me how little I liked when watching this thing.
Let's start off with the cast. David Tennant is, - as he always is, - absolutely fantastic in this role. In any other better movie, he would be in with a shout for an award for this role, unfortunately he is surrounded by absolutely overwhelming amount of trash. Robert Sheehan does a serviceable job with what he has given, but some of the lines he delivers are just too forced and cheesy to be taken seriously. The actor playing his best friend is just playing a stereotypical nonchalant small time criminal. Kerry Condon plays the hostage that David Tennant is keeping in his house and she also does a decent enough job with the shoddy material she has been given to work with.
The only other positive that I can think of other than Tennant's performance, is the way that Tennant's character systematically ruins Sheehan's character's life. He makes him lose his job, he blackmails him via social media, he attacks his girlfriend and he wrecks his car. The way that this sequence played out reminded me of Frank Miller's Daredevil story Born Again, where Kingpin learns Daredevil's real identity and destroys his life piece by piece via the people he cares about. Don't get me wrong, it is done far better in Born Again and Born Again is a much better story overall than Bad Samaritan, but it was the only element of this movies plot that I liked other than what we already saw in the trailers.
Now that we have discussed the few positives that this movie has, let's go through everything else. First of all, I have never heard a more out-of-place, inappropriate score to go along with what is happening onscreen. It genuinely felt like a temp score that was put in preliminarily until the proper one was put in and then they just left it in and didn't bother going back to improve it.
Then there was the cheap jump-scares, Although they are mostly consigned to the first act in the movie, they are still far too frequent and totally unnecessary. The last one that I remember happening was so egregious, (when David Tennant was standing behind the detective outside the house,) it actually bordered on parody. There was no story justification for it whatsoever, why would this guy who is trying to appear normal and as if nothing is wrong, creep up behind a detective who is investigating him and just stand there like a creep to give him a fright? It makes absolutely no sense. To be honest, the movie is abundant with things that don't make any sense and you are almost constantly asked to make huge leaps of logic when watching it.
There's also the fact that this movie has no idea what it wants to be. Dean Devlin who directed this, also directed last year's Geostorm. Now Geostorm was a steaming pile of shit, but at least it knew what it wanted to be. The tone in Bad Samaritan is totally all over the place and doesn't work in any way or flow well at all. This movie also plays like a check-list of thriller movie clichés. Everything from cheesy flashbacks showing the villains messed up past to the detectives not believing the protagonist's claims even when he has photo evidence on his phone.
Overall, this film is a huge waste. David Tennant's fantastic performance that he puts in here as an unhinged, genuinely scary villain is wasted in this trash movie. The trailers showed us a potentially thrilling plot that could have really been exciting and engaging only to totally waste it on a flick full of mediocre production elements and a half baked storyline. The only reason that this scored 4 was because of Tennant's brilliant performance, if not for that, this movie would have scored a 2 at best.
Let's start off with the cast. David Tennant is, - as he always is, - absolutely fantastic in this role. In any other better movie, he would be in with a shout for an award for this role, unfortunately he is surrounded by absolutely overwhelming amount of trash. Robert Sheehan does a serviceable job with what he has given, but some of the lines he delivers are just too forced and cheesy to be taken seriously. The actor playing his best friend is just playing a stereotypical nonchalant small time criminal. Kerry Condon plays the hostage that David Tennant is keeping in his house and she also does a decent enough job with the shoddy material she has been given to work with.
The only other positive that I can think of other than Tennant's performance, is the way that Tennant's character systematically ruins Sheehan's character's life. He makes him lose his job, he blackmails him via social media, he attacks his girlfriend and he wrecks his car. The way that this sequence played out reminded me of Frank Miller's Daredevil story Born Again, where Kingpin learns Daredevil's real identity and destroys his life piece by piece via the people he cares about. Don't get me wrong, it is done far better in Born Again and Born Again is a much better story overall than Bad Samaritan, but it was the only element of this movies plot that I liked other than what we already saw in the trailers.
Now that we have discussed the few positives that this movie has, let's go through everything else. First of all, I have never heard a more out-of-place, inappropriate score to go along with what is happening onscreen. It genuinely felt like a temp score that was put in preliminarily until the proper one was put in and then they just left it in and didn't bother going back to improve it.
Then there was the cheap jump-scares, Although they are mostly consigned to the first act in the movie, they are still far too frequent and totally unnecessary. The last one that I remember happening was so egregious, (when David Tennant was standing behind the detective outside the house,) it actually bordered on parody. There was no story justification for it whatsoever, why would this guy who is trying to appear normal and as if nothing is wrong, creep up behind a detective who is investigating him and just stand there like a creep to give him a fright? It makes absolutely no sense. To be honest, the movie is abundant with things that don't make any sense and you are almost constantly asked to make huge leaps of logic when watching it.
There's also the fact that this movie has no idea what it wants to be. Dean Devlin who directed this, also directed last year's Geostorm. Now Geostorm was a steaming pile of shit, but at least it knew what it wanted to be. The tone in Bad Samaritan is totally all over the place and doesn't work in any way or flow well at all. This movie also plays like a check-list of thriller movie clichés. Everything from cheesy flashbacks showing the villains messed up past to the detectives not believing the protagonist's claims even when he has photo evidence on his phone.
Overall, this film is a huge waste. David Tennant's fantastic performance that he puts in here as an unhinged, genuinely scary villain is wasted in this trash movie. The trailers showed us a potentially thrilling plot that could have really been exciting and engaging only to totally waste it on a flick full of mediocre production elements and a half baked storyline. The only reason that this scored 4 was because of Tennant's brilliant performance, if not for that, this movie would have scored a 2 at best.
Darren (1599 KP) rated The Faceless Man (2019) in Movies
Aug 5, 2019
Story: The Faceless Man starts when Emily (Thurling) a recovering cancer survivor who has starting to put her life back together is spending a weekend away with friends, Nina (Kauffeld), Kyle (Pittaway), Brad (Facciolo), Dave (Astifo) and Chad (Walia) are having a weekend away for parties.
It isn’t long before the group of friends have upset the local rednecks who decide to terrorize them, a ruthless drug dealer Viktor Nov (Goikhman) searching for them, while Emily is dealing with her own insecurities about her recover, which manifests itself in a faceless figure haunting her.
Thoughts on The Faceless Man
Characters – Emily is a cancer survivor, she made it with friends, not family and has just started to put her life back together, despite having the fear that one day it would return, which appears to her in living nightmares including a faceless man figure, out of the group of friends this is the only character that gets much outside the generics traits we learn, we have the friend that wants more of a relationship, the one that will push the limits of drugging people, a few jokers and the best friend who can’t handle their substances. Eddie is the owner of the rented house, he comes off creepy to the city slickers as he puts it, he doesn’t want trouble in his property and will deal with anybody that causes it. Viktor Nov is the ruthless drug dealer that has been hunting for his drugs which have a connection to the group of friends, he uses his muscle to kill anybody that disrespects him.
Performances – Sophie Thurling in the leading role is one of the highlights in the film, seeing Sophie balance the mindset of her character through the film will keep us wondering just what will happen next, Albert Goikhman as the ruthless drug dealer is fun to watch, we always know something violent is going to happen when he is on the screen. Andy McPhee does bring the awkward local to life well too.
Story – The story follows a group of friends that want to go on a drink & drug filled party weekend, only to end up in a town that isn’t happy with this lifestyle and that want to send a message to them, while we also see one character haunted by a terrifying looking faceless man. This story does have plenty going on, which works in and against it because you could easily drop one of the side stories and still have an enjoyable horror movie, but mixing them together does add to the mystery of what will happen next, because it does feel like nobody is safe from what is going on. We could have had more development on the group of friends, as it they end up coming off like your usual slasher cast. With the different arcs we do get plenty of violence which is what the film wants to pay respect to the Ozploitation era of cinema, which will help understand the tone of the film.
Horror – The most impressive part of the horror in this film comes from the Faceless Man himself, it comes early in creepy moments, but the reveal of the creature is one of the most terrifying figures in horror this year.
Settings – The film is set in a small town location, with most of the action happening in the one house picked for the party, it shows how things can get out of hand and how uninvited guests can cause more problems in life.
Special Effects – The effects to create the Faceless Man are brilliant, he will scare you, where this film also shines is by letting us imagine the damage being down, with the chainsaw scene being played out longer than needed, which only adds to the horror being inflicted.
Scene of the Movie – The Faceless Man, first full reveal.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – The group of friends are not that interesting.
Final Thoughts – This is a horror film built of paying respect to the Ozploitation era of cinema, it brings us plenty of blood and keeps us guessing along the way.
Overall: Ozploitation has returned.
It isn’t long before the group of friends have upset the local rednecks who decide to terrorize them, a ruthless drug dealer Viktor Nov (Goikhman) searching for them, while Emily is dealing with her own insecurities about her recover, which manifests itself in a faceless figure haunting her.
Thoughts on The Faceless Man
Characters – Emily is a cancer survivor, she made it with friends, not family and has just started to put her life back together, despite having the fear that one day it would return, which appears to her in living nightmares including a faceless man figure, out of the group of friends this is the only character that gets much outside the generics traits we learn, we have the friend that wants more of a relationship, the one that will push the limits of drugging people, a few jokers and the best friend who can’t handle their substances. Eddie is the owner of the rented house, he comes off creepy to the city slickers as he puts it, he doesn’t want trouble in his property and will deal with anybody that causes it. Viktor Nov is the ruthless drug dealer that has been hunting for his drugs which have a connection to the group of friends, he uses his muscle to kill anybody that disrespects him.
Performances – Sophie Thurling in the leading role is one of the highlights in the film, seeing Sophie balance the mindset of her character through the film will keep us wondering just what will happen next, Albert Goikhman as the ruthless drug dealer is fun to watch, we always know something violent is going to happen when he is on the screen. Andy McPhee does bring the awkward local to life well too.
Story – The story follows a group of friends that want to go on a drink & drug filled party weekend, only to end up in a town that isn’t happy with this lifestyle and that want to send a message to them, while we also see one character haunted by a terrifying looking faceless man. This story does have plenty going on, which works in and against it because you could easily drop one of the side stories and still have an enjoyable horror movie, but mixing them together does add to the mystery of what will happen next, because it does feel like nobody is safe from what is going on. We could have had more development on the group of friends, as it they end up coming off like your usual slasher cast. With the different arcs we do get plenty of violence which is what the film wants to pay respect to the Ozploitation era of cinema, which will help understand the tone of the film.
Horror – The most impressive part of the horror in this film comes from the Faceless Man himself, it comes early in creepy moments, but the reveal of the creature is one of the most terrifying figures in horror this year.
Settings – The film is set in a small town location, with most of the action happening in the one house picked for the party, it shows how things can get out of hand and how uninvited guests can cause more problems in life.
Special Effects – The effects to create the Faceless Man are brilliant, he will scare you, where this film also shines is by letting us imagine the damage being down, with the chainsaw scene being played out longer than needed, which only adds to the horror being inflicted.
Scene of the Movie – The Faceless Man, first full reveal.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – The group of friends are not that interesting.
Final Thoughts – This is a horror film built of paying respect to the Ozploitation era of cinema, it brings us plenty of blood and keeps us guessing along the way.
Overall: Ozploitation has returned.
Duas of Prophet (Sallallahu alayhi wasallam) ( Islam Quran Hadith - Ramadan Islamic Apps ) )
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Al-Khawarizmi is a trusted name in Islamic Apps development for years. We have sold thousands of...
Haley Mathiot (9 KP) rated Love You to Death in Books
Apr 27, 2018
Love you to Death by Shannon K. Butcher
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Rating: 2.5/5
Summary (from back of book):
It's been days since reporter Elise McBride has heard from her sister, Ashley. She's convinced Ashley has met with some kind of foul play, especially when she learns that bodies of other missing women have surfaced in and around Chicago--all victims of a brutal serial killer. Convinced her sister is still alive, Elise vows to risk everything to save her...
The last thing ex-cop Trent Brady needs is more blood on his hands. Yet when he catches Elise breaking into her sister's house, full of reckless determination and fear, he knows she needs his help. But just as desire ignites between them, a twisted madman sets his sights on Elise. Hell-bent on possessing her for himself, this psychopath won't rest until he has his perfect woman.
It’s hard for me to say where I sit for this book. There were some aspects of it that I liked (how do you spell Hottie? T-R-E-N-T.) and some that I didn’t (a lot of content.)
The plot wasn’t as mysterious as it could have been. I knew what the criminal was doing because when I read from his perspective, he told me. Also even at the end, there are some un-answered questions. They should have come up in the book and they didn’t.
This wasn’t a book that I was addicted to. I could only get through a few chapters at a time before having to put it down. The writing wasn’t anything special and the characters were just characters. They were realistic but not enough to make me really care about them. My favorite character was John, the ex-cop who was Trent’s partner. He just had so much character and personality. I think I would have enjoyed a book with him as the main character. Ashley and Elsie? Not so much.
On the good side, I liked the change in Elsie. In the beginning of the book she didn’t believe in true love, and laughed at the idea of marriage. She said it just didn’t work. She learned that that wasn’t true. I also liked that Trent was a marriage-minded man (There aren’t enough of those out there). But of course that didn’t stop their physical or sexual relationship any.
If you look at my sidebar at my rating system, you’ll see that this rating was the only one I could come up with. It wasn’t really worth reading, but I liked it enough to finish it.
Content: My opinion on the content is mentioned thought the review.
Recommendation: Ages 18+
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Rating: 2.5/5
Summary (from back of book):
It's been days since reporter Elise McBride has heard from her sister, Ashley. She's convinced Ashley has met with some kind of foul play, especially when she learns that bodies of other missing women have surfaced in and around Chicago--all victims of a brutal serial killer. Convinced her sister is still alive, Elise vows to risk everything to save her...
The last thing ex-cop Trent Brady needs is more blood on his hands. Yet when he catches Elise breaking into her sister's house, full of reckless determination and fear, he knows she needs his help. But just as desire ignites between them, a twisted madman sets his sights on Elise. Hell-bent on possessing her for himself, this psychopath won't rest until he has his perfect woman.
It’s hard for me to say where I sit for this book. There were some aspects of it that I liked (how do you spell Hottie? T-R-E-N-T.) and some that I didn’t (a lot of content.)
The plot wasn’t as mysterious as it could have been. I knew what the criminal was doing because when I read from his perspective, he told me. Also even at the end, there are some un-answered questions. They should have come up in the book and they didn’t.
This wasn’t a book that I was addicted to. I could only get through a few chapters at a time before having to put it down. The writing wasn’t anything special and the characters were just characters. They were realistic but not enough to make me really care about them. My favorite character was John, the ex-cop who was Trent’s partner. He just had so much character and personality. I think I would have enjoyed a book with him as the main character. Ashley and Elsie? Not so much.
On the good side, I liked the change in Elsie. In the beginning of the book she didn’t believe in true love, and laughed at the idea of marriage. She said it just didn’t work. She learned that that wasn’t true. I also liked that Trent was a marriage-minded man (There aren’t enough of those out there). But of course that didn’t stop their physical or sexual relationship any.
If you look at my sidebar at my rating system, you’ll see that this rating was the only one I could come up with. It wasn’t really worth reading, but I liked it enough to finish it.
Content: My opinion on the content is mentioned thought the review.
Recommendation: Ages 18+
Phillip McSween (751 KP) rated Up (2009) in Movies
Jan 30, 2018
Pixar Does it Again
Up is one of those films that sticks with you long after the credits are done rolling. It hits you on a number of different levels, bordering close to perfection. I don't think I've seen a film that manages to switch from hurt to hilarious in such an effortless fashion.
In the beginning you meet Ellie, a cute little girl full of adventure. Her energy and excitement bleed off the screen and you can't help but smile at her. She's perfect for Carl, an innocent kid who barely says more than a few words. Their imaginative adventures get you into the story immediately. It's a relationship that makes the first ten minutes that much harder to watch. There are moments in the film that never lose impact which is testament to the film's power to stand the test of time.
For a child's film, there are a lot of layers that really make the film special. It isn't long before we get to meet Russell, an innocent boyscout turned star of the movie. He's just trying to earn another badge by helping the elderly. Underneath this unassuming kid is hurt from all the painful things happening in his life. Each character has their own respective backstory that makes them relatable and lovable.
There's good ole Doug the runt of a talking dog pack who can't seem to do right even when he tries his best. He's an outcast amongst the other dogs while still harboring those wonderful dogs traits that humans can't help but love. And how can you not love the colorful snipe Kevin whose only goal is to take care of her kids (yes, HER name is Kevin)? All of these characters are worthy of their own standalone film which is why bringing them all together for one story makes the film spectacular.
At the core of the story is the odd couple relationship between Kevin and Russell. Young and old meet and it couldn't be funnier to see the two try and operate together. As they try and understand each other, they form an unlikely bond, a closeness that was lost from both of their lives. At the risk of sounding like a teenager, it will give you all the feels.
There could be some missteps in this wonderful adventure about a man who decides to fly away in his house using thousands of balloons, but those missteps are minute. Not only are the visuals amazing, but the message is also a strong one: Don't get stuck in the past. Live life for the now.
Up is a classic. I give it a 99.
In the beginning you meet Ellie, a cute little girl full of adventure. Her energy and excitement bleed off the screen and you can't help but smile at her. She's perfect for Carl, an innocent kid who barely says more than a few words. Their imaginative adventures get you into the story immediately. It's a relationship that makes the first ten minutes that much harder to watch. There are moments in the film that never lose impact which is testament to the film's power to stand the test of time.
For a child's film, there are a lot of layers that really make the film special. It isn't long before we get to meet Russell, an innocent boyscout turned star of the movie. He's just trying to earn another badge by helping the elderly. Underneath this unassuming kid is hurt from all the painful things happening in his life. Each character has their own respective backstory that makes them relatable and lovable.
There's good ole Doug the runt of a talking dog pack who can't seem to do right even when he tries his best. He's an outcast amongst the other dogs while still harboring those wonderful dogs traits that humans can't help but love. And how can you not love the colorful snipe Kevin whose only goal is to take care of her kids (yes, HER name is Kevin)? All of these characters are worthy of their own standalone film which is why bringing them all together for one story makes the film spectacular.
At the core of the story is the odd couple relationship between Kevin and Russell. Young and old meet and it couldn't be funnier to see the two try and operate together. As they try and understand each other, they form an unlikely bond, a closeness that was lost from both of their lives. At the risk of sounding like a teenager, it will give you all the feels.
There could be some missteps in this wonderful adventure about a man who decides to fly away in his house using thousands of balloons, but those missteps are minute. Not only are the visuals amazing, but the message is also a strong one: Don't get stuck in the past. Live life for the now.
Up is a classic. I give it a 99.
BookwormMama14 (18 KP) rated Undaunted Hope (Beacons of Hope, #3) in Books
Jan 2, 2019
When Tessa's hope and dreams are thwarted, she must face her deepest fears. Will she have the strength to overcome?
Tessa hopes to outrun her past by escaping to Eagle Harbor in the fall of 1871. There she becomes the new school teacher, even though the town requested a male teacher. Percival Updegraff runs the town like a king. No one dares to stand up to him for fear of what he will do. Tessa has vowed to never step foot into another lighthouse again. But then the local light keeper, Michael Bjorklund, and his assistant and brother, Alex, begin vying for her attention. Micheal's children long for a mother, and even though Alex would sacrifice anything for his brother, can he give up the woman he loves? As winter sets in and difficulties arise, will Tessa stay strong in the face of evil? Can she overcome her fears? Will she rely on God to direct her path and protect her and those she loves?
"I choose to have hope. Will you?"
Jody Hedlund has quickly become one of my absolute favorite authors! When I pick up one of her books, I know that nothing will get done until I finish! Although, this week I did manage to make Cornish Pasties. All thanks to a little inspiration from the book. Pasties has long been a family favorite recipe! Now down to business. I think it is safe to day that Undaunted Hope is my favorite book of the Beacons of Hope series. Tessa must face her fears and her past. How many times have we made a vow out of fear? Is God calling us to face that fear and overcome it? Know that He is with you every step of the way. And that you will come through it stronger. I could relate to Tessa very well! She stands up for truth and justice. Her heart aches for the people to be treated fairly and with respect. She is a brave woman. It was a pure delight to watch her discover her strength and find her true identity in Christ. This is an excellent book and one that I know I will read again.
If you have not read the first two books, I recommend you start with Out of the Storm it is the prequel to Love Unexpected. Undaunted Hope brings the story around full circle. I was also pleasantly surprised to find out that book four, Forever Safe, will be releasing later this year as well!
I received a free digital copy of Undaunted Hope from Bethany House Publishers through NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. All opinions expressed are mine alone.
Tessa hopes to outrun her past by escaping to Eagle Harbor in the fall of 1871. There she becomes the new school teacher, even though the town requested a male teacher. Percival Updegraff runs the town like a king. No one dares to stand up to him for fear of what he will do. Tessa has vowed to never step foot into another lighthouse again. But then the local light keeper, Michael Bjorklund, and his assistant and brother, Alex, begin vying for her attention. Micheal's children long for a mother, and even though Alex would sacrifice anything for his brother, can he give up the woman he loves? As winter sets in and difficulties arise, will Tessa stay strong in the face of evil? Can she overcome her fears? Will she rely on God to direct her path and protect her and those she loves?
"I choose to have hope. Will you?"
Jody Hedlund has quickly become one of my absolute favorite authors! When I pick up one of her books, I know that nothing will get done until I finish! Although, this week I did manage to make Cornish Pasties. All thanks to a little inspiration from the book. Pasties has long been a family favorite recipe! Now down to business. I think it is safe to day that Undaunted Hope is my favorite book of the Beacons of Hope series. Tessa must face her fears and her past. How many times have we made a vow out of fear? Is God calling us to face that fear and overcome it? Know that He is with you every step of the way. And that you will come through it stronger. I could relate to Tessa very well! She stands up for truth and justice. Her heart aches for the people to be treated fairly and with respect. She is a brave woman. It was a pure delight to watch her discover her strength and find her true identity in Christ. This is an excellent book and one that I know I will read again.
If you have not read the first two books, I recommend you start with Out of the Storm it is the prequel to Love Unexpected. Undaunted Hope brings the story around full circle. I was also pleasantly surprised to find out that book four, Forever Safe, will be releasing later this year as well!
I received a free digital copy of Undaunted Hope from Bethany House Publishers through NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. All opinions expressed are mine alone.
Midge (525 KP) rated The Birthday Mystery in Books
Dec 29, 2018
Strong characters (2 more)
Good mystery
Great for food-lovers
Great Whodunit!
Over recent months I've become a great fan of cozy mysteries so, when I saw a new series featuring Jenny Starling being launched, I knew I had to read "The Birthday Mystery." Also, it has a culinary theme which I love and a little light humour.
First, we are introduced to Jenny who is catering for the twenty-first birthday party of upper-class twins, Alicia and Justin. In her late twenties, Jenny is an impressive woman. Curvaceous and sexy, she’s a modern single woman, living the lifestyle that suits her – that of a travelling cook. Her famous father is a ‘celebrity’ cook, divorced from Jenny’s mother. Jenny is happy travelling the country catering for events and cooking great food. She is on a mission to bring back traditional home cooked food and to offer new and exciting recipes made with fresh ingredients. She arrives at the twins family country house located in a picturesque and charming village and is immediately met by the police. A young man has drowned in the pond. Was it an accident or murder?
The birthday party goes ahead and then, just after midnight, everyone gathers for a champagne toast . . . and one of the guests falls down dead. The police are baffled and there is a whole party full of suspects.
Jenny finds crime very distracting, especially when there is chocolate to temper or pike to poach. She is very observant, with an agile mind and an amazing ability to interpret clues and hidden meanings. Her wit and sense of humour help her sanity when all around her, people are dropping like flies. When it comes to someone possibly adding the extra ingredient of poison to her own precious recipes, Jenny isn't going to take it lying down. She has a reputation to protect.
Jenny Starling won't stop until the murderer is found.
There are many suspects in this mystery, clues a-plenty and red herrings all the way through this book. It was a thoroughly satisfying read and I often found myself asking the same questions as Jenny and I was kept in suspense to the end. The pacing in "The Birthday Mystery" was very good and I never lost interest, as it wasn't long before something intriguing would happen. Things came together for a great finish and wrapped everything up very neatly.
I'm definitely looking forward to reading the next novel featuring Jenny Starling very soon and other books by the author, Faith Martin. "The Birthday Mystery" whets your appetite for more to come.
My thanks to NetGalley, Joffe Books and the author for providing me with an advanced copy of this novel.
First, we are introduced to Jenny who is catering for the twenty-first birthday party of upper-class twins, Alicia and Justin. In her late twenties, Jenny is an impressive woman. Curvaceous and sexy, she’s a modern single woman, living the lifestyle that suits her – that of a travelling cook. Her famous father is a ‘celebrity’ cook, divorced from Jenny’s mother. Jenny is happy travelling the country catering for events and cooking great food. She is on a mission to bring back traditional home cooked food and to offer new and exciting recipes made with fresh ingredients. She arrives at the twins family country house located in a picturesque and charming village and is immediately met by the police. A young man has drowned in the pond. Was it an accident or murder?
The birthday party goes ahead and then, just after midnight, everyone gathers for a champagne toast . . . and one of the guests falls down dead. The police are baffled and there is a whole party full of suspects.
Jenny finds crime very distracting, especially when there is chocolate to temper or pike to poach. She is very observant, with an agile mind and an amazing ability to interpret clues and hidden meanings. Her wit and sense of humour help her sanity when all around her, people are dropping like flies. When it comes to someone possibly adding the extra ingredient of poison to her own precious recipes, Jenny isn't going to take it lying down. She has a reputation to protect.
Jenny Starling won't stop until the murderer is found.
There are many suspects in this mystery, clues a-plenty and red herrings all the way through this book. It was a thoroughly satisfying read and I often found myself asking the same questions as Jenny and I was kept in suspense to the end. The pacing in "The Birthday Mystery" was very good and I never lost interest, as it wasn't long before something intriguing would happen. Things came together for a great finish and wrapped everything up very neatly.
I'm definitely looking forward to reading the next novel featuring Jenny Starling very soon and other books by the author, Faith Martin. "The Birthday Mystery" whets your appetite for more to come.
My thanks to NetGalley, Joffe Books and the author for providing me with an advanced copy of this novel.
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