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Kristy H (1252 KP) rated In a Holidaze in Books

Oct 29, 2020  
In a Holidaze
In a Holidaze
Christina Lauren | 2020 | Contemporary, Erotica, Fiction & Poetry, Humor & Comedy, Romance
8
8.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
A joyful and flirty holiday romance
Maelyn Jones spends every Christmas at her favorite place in the world: a cabin owned by her parents' friends in Utah. She joins her (divorced) parents, younger brother Miles, and two other families for a magical Christmas experience--cookie baking, snow creature making contests, holiday scavenger hunts, and more. She's been sleeping in the basement in the "kid bunk beds" with Miles and family friends Theo and Andrew for years, despite the fact that they are adults now. But this year, it's all ruined: their friends are selling the cabin and Mae is humiliated after an embarrassing encounter with Theo. As her family drives away from the cabin one last time, she makes a desperate plea for happiness. Then she sees a car headed straight toward theirs, and it all goes black. When she awakes, she's back on a plane headed to Utah, headed to the same holiday trip. As various disasters return Mae to the plane over and over, she realizes she's in a time loop--she needs to break free, and figure out to find true love and happiness, once and for all.

"So I ask the universe, simply: Can you show me what will make me happy?"

I know I must have read this synopsis when I requested this book, but I didn't reread it before starting, because hello, CLo, enough said. So I was slightly surprised by the Groundhog Day-esque story to this one, but I went with the flow. Luckily Mae is funny and charming enough to make just about anything fly, even a crazy time loop plot where you're not exactly sure how or why she's in it or quite what she's supposed to do to get out of it.

"'I think it's possible I'm in the past, repeating the same holiday, and I'm the only one who knows it.'"

It took a little while for the romance to heat up here, but once it did, the book was off and running. And boom! It's a sweet read, but flirty and romantic too. I loved Mae and her crush--they crackled and simmered. Honestly, the time loop piece was secondary to their joyful love. Seeing Mae come into her own made everything else less important, including Mae's reliving of her holiday. (And I enjoyed how she took to it so quickly--don't eat that, you're going to need this, tell me a secret so I can prove this to you next time--you go girl, embrace the loop!).

So, yes, while this book is a little crazy, it's also sweet and happy, too. It's a perfect Christmas read for a snowy day (or a fall day when you feel like the world is falling apart). 4 stars.
  
    My Royal Horse

    My Royal Horse

    Games

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    Embark on a magical adventure where your main character, Destiny, a royal horse is assigned to go on...

The Library Of Fates
The Library Of Fates
Aditi Khorana | 2017 | Fiction & Poetry
8
8.0 (4 Ratings)
Book Rating
I received an ARC of this book from FirstToRead.com for an unbiased opinion.

I read the author's note at the beginning of the book, and admittedly put the book down for a few days...I was afraid it would alter my ability to enjoy the book.

When I picked it up five days later, though, and went on from there, the note cleared from my mind, I found I couldn't stop reading until the book was completely finished. I read the author's note a second time, afterward, and found that it was fitting.

Khorana creates a vivid image of each character, as well as each location, to the point that a reader can smell the mangrove trees when Amarita walks among them, can feel her pain as she watches those she loves under attack, and can feel her fear as she flees to save herself. When her and Thala travel, you see all the beauty they encounter along the way.

This is not the story of a princess, though, who returns home to her throne after fighting a battle to save her kingdom. Khorana set out to create a story of mortal and immortal love, and what one sacrifices to save humanity over their own personal happiness, and this book embodies that. (This is why, after the fact, I had more appreciation for the author's note.)
  
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Maris (8 KP) rated Heartless in Books

Jun 10, 2019  
Heartless
Heartless
Marissa Meyer | 2017 | Children
10
8.3 (33 Ratings)
Book Rating
What a marvelous gem to read. I enjoy every bit of this story. I could not put this book down, I had to know what was going to happen. Who was the Queen of Hearts before she became who she was? Marissa Meyer did exactly that to explain the story.

"Three luscious lemon tarts glistened up at Catherine". Cath the main character of the story absolutely loves baking goods. Her dream is to start her very own bakery one day right in the kingdom of Hearts. What can possibly go wrong with starting your own bakery? Her heart is sought out from the King of Hearts and her heart also falls in love with the kings joker Jest.

The journey between Cath and where her heart truly goes on this journey to her happiness will just make you curiouser and curiouser on where the story will go and how she became what we all know her as the Queen Of Hearts.


Tea parties, Pastry goods, and white rabbits big announcements to the balls! Ohh lets not forget the jabberwocky!

I gave it a five star out of five stars cause its truly a wonderful heart warming story of one of the most notorious villains we all know. It became one of my new favorite stories and Marissa Meyer became one of my top favorite authors of all time.
  
Charly (1968)
Charly (1968)
1968 | Classics, Drama, Sci-Fi
Touching, sad and moving
Cliff Robertson won a Best Actor actor in 1968 fr his portrayal of a simple minded man who undergoes an experimental surgery first performed on mice to supposedly increase his intelligence.

Charly is a man who wants better for himself and for his simple life. He tries to do better by constantly challenging himself, but it is no use. He is the butt of jokes at his job at a bakery and he doesn't even know it. He can't even beat a mouse at a maze game given out by his physician friends. When a wild chance arises that could resolve all of Charly's woes, he jumps at the chance.

The operation does seem to be a slow success. His intelligence grows as well as his zest for life, his noticing the little things in live and also an interest in the opposite sex. Will his happiness be temporary or permanent?

The acting and screenplay in this film are superb as well as some interesting split screen camera work. Charly's growth and development are in stark contrast from the beginning of the film through his discovery of knowledge.

I had seen this film in middle school I think after we had read the source material "Flowers for Algernon" so I was anxious to revisit.

So glad I did.