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Hazel (2934 KP) rated Dead and Buried in Books
Jan 5, 2020
Pretty Good Thriller
I am ashamed to say that this book has been in my "to be read" pile since it was published in 2015; my New Year's Resolution for 2020 is to read at least 1 book per month from my pile in order to get through the backlog - this is the first of the year so doing pretty well so far!
Anyway, this is a pretty good read and although the subject matter is harrowing at times, I enjoyed it and found it an engaging and riveting read.
The book alternates between the past and the present and follows the story of Conor amongst the backdrop of "The Troubles" in Northern Ireland during the 1990's and the present day; I admit you do have to have your wits about you when reading in order not to get confused as to which time you are in however, I found it quite easy to stay on track and only had to check back a couple of times to double check.
The story is told from Conor's perspective throughout and his character is well developed and believable as are all the main characters in this book. What I particularly liked and which felt authentic, was how the internal battle Conor fought with himself around trying to do the right thing whilst being forced to do wrong in order to protect himself and his family.
This is a dark and gritty story with plenty of action and scenes of peril; the writing is at a good pace and easy to read with the difficulties Conor faces being a Catholic married to a Protestant being dealt with sensitively and, in my opinion, without bias towards either side.
Overall, a pretty good thriller set in a time and place that few books I have read previously have touched upon and I would certainly read further books from this author.
Thank you to Carina UK/HQ Digital and NetGalley for my copy in return for an honest review.
Anyway, this is a pretty good read and although the subject matter is harrowing at times, I enjoyed it and found it an engaging and riveting read.
The book alternates between the past and the present and follows the story of Conor amongst the backdrop of "The Troubles" in Northern Ireland during the 1990's and the present day; I admit you do have to have your wits about you when reading in order not to get confused as to which time you are in however, I found it quite easy to stay on track and only had to check back a couple of times to double check.
The story is told from Conor's perspective throughout and his character is well developed and believable as are all the main characters in this book. What I particularly liked and which felt authentic, was how the internal battle Conor fought with himself around trying to do the right thing whilst being forced to do wrong in order to protect himself and his family.
This is a dark and gritty story with plenty of action and scenes of peril; the writing is at a good pace and easy to read with the difficulties Conor faces being a Catholic married to a Protestant being dealt with sensitively and, in my opinion, without bias towards either side.
Overall, a pretty good thriller set in a time and place that few books I have read previously have touched upon and I would certainly read further books from this author.
Thank you to Carina UK/HQ Digital and NetGalley for my copy in return for an honest review.
Kate (493 KP) rated Redemption Lake in Books
Oct 19, 2020
This was a good book. It was all about the choices people make and the choices they make also depend on the situation they are involved in. I did get frustrated with some the choices the Matt made throughout the book. But this could be due to my age. I had to remember he had just turned 18 and was in a very stressful situation. Also he though his choices were helping the people around him. I was going back and forth with who I thought did it which is a good thing.
It was also a book about growing up and how life changes as you grow. I was hooked from Chapter 1 but then I found I wasn't as gripped as I initially was.
I got a feeling for each character and how they were feeling from the author's writing. The author did well in describing the places, people and scenes. The book flowed well.
The blurb described the book very well.
I would recommend the book to people but people of a younger age.
If the author had another book out I'm not sure I would read it as I may not be the target audience but I would always read the blurb and then make a decision. I wouldn't actively look for this author.
It was also a book about growing up and how life changes as you grow. I was hooked from Chapter 1 but then I found I wasn't as gripped as I initially was.
I got a feeling for each character and how they were feeling from the author's writing. The author did well in describing the places, people and scenes. The book flowed well.
The blurb described the book very well.
I would recommend the book to people but people of a younger age.
If the author had another book out I'm not sure I would read it as I may not be the target audience but I would always read the blurb and then make a decision. I wouldn't actively look for this author.
BookInspector (124 KP) rated Dinner At The Happy Skeleton in Books
Sep 24, 2020
For more reviews please visit https://bbookinspector.wordpress.com
When I was approached by the author, I was a little bit unsure, how I am going to react to this book. Before this book, I haven’t read other books about gay guys, but because I like to read different types of books (you will not know whether you like it until you try it), I decided to give this book a go, and I had very educational experience with this novel.
The blurb above described this novel very very accurately. The main character in this novel is Dan, and the whole book was told from Dan’s perspective. I really liked Dan’s personality in this book, I think he is very believable, funny, nice person, and I would like to have a friend like Dan.
The whole narrative of this book felt a lot like a diary. I really enjoyed reading not only Dan’s present life events but also, his memories about his ex-boyfriend, who brought Dan a lot of trust issues. As a person, who knows very little about gay people’s lives, I found this book very educational. I learned about gay guys lifestyle, and it was very interesting to have an insight into how they feel. This book for me felt a lot like reading a Chick lit book, but instead of a girl telling a story, it was a guy. (I hope you get what I mean…) The whole story is flowing very evenly, and I was missing the depth in this book, some deep conflict, which Dan could battle. The whole plot of this book has very close resemblance with author’s bio down below, so I strongly believe, that there are some true facts and stories which author shared in this novel, and it just increased my curiosity, of which parts are true, and which ones are fictional.
The writing style of this book is really pleasant and I really enjoyed how Chris Chalmers portrayed all the little details about London, Dan’s personal feelings and interesting experiences. The chapters used in this novel are pretty short, so it was easy to read and it didn’t leave me bored. I would like to throw in a DISCLAIMER, that there is quite a lot of sex scenes/ talks in this book. The ending of this novel left me satisfied, as it is well deserved and rounds up this book really nicely. So, to conclude, it was a very interesting experience for me, where I got to feed my curiosity, and read some pretty interesting stories, which could’ve been based on true facts, and I do recommend to give it a try, you never know, you might enjoy it. 🙂
Was given this book by the author for an honest review.
When I was approached by the author, I was a little bit unsure, how I am going to react to this book. Before this book, I haven’t read other books about gay guys, but because I like to read different types of books (you will not know whether you like it until you try it), I decided to give this book a go, and I had very educational experience with this novel.
The blurb above described this novel very very accurately. The main character in this novel is Dan, and the whole book was told from Dan’s perspective. I really liked Dan’s personality in this book, I think he is very believable, funny, nice person, and I would like to have a friend like Dan.
The whole narrative of this book felt a lot like a diary. I really enjoyed reading not only Dan’s present life events but also, his memories about his ex-boyfriend, who brought Dan a lot of trust issues. As a person, who knows very little about gay people’s lives, I found this book very educational. I learned about gay guys lifestyle, and it was very interesting to have an insight into how they feel. This book for me felt a lot like reading a Chick lit book, but instead of a girl telling a story, it was a guy. (I hope you get what I mean…) The whole story is flowing very evenly, and I was missing the depth in this book, some deep conflict, which Dan could battle. The whole plot of this book has very close resemblance with author’s bio down below, so I strongly believe, that there are some true facts and stories which author shared in this novel, and it just increased my curiosity, of which parts are true, and which ones are fictional.
The writing style of this book is really pleasant and I really enjoyed how Chris Chalmers portrayed all the little details about London, Dan’s personal feelings and interesting experiences. The chapters used in this novel are pretty short, so it was easy to read and it didn’t leave me bored. I would like to throw in a DISCLAIMER, that there is quite a lot of sex scenes/ talks in this book. The ending of this novel left me satisfied, as it is well deserved and rounds up this book really nicely. So, to conclude, it was a very interesting experience for me, where I got to feed my curiosity, and read some pretty interesting stories, which could’ve been based on true facts, and I do recommend to give it a try, you never know, you might enjoy it. 🙂
Was given this book by the author for an honest review.
Gareth Michael Lewis (6 KP) rated Family Guy: The Quest for Stuff in Video Games
Jan 20, 2018
It's better on an android tablet
So, I played this on facebook and hated it because it slowed everything down and glitched too often to be truly fun.
I then found it for windows phone and downloaded it. It plays really well and is good fun for a click and wait game. Set your characters to tasks to earn and unlock other characters and buildings from Quahog.
Sadly, windows support for the game is non-existent and you cannot unlock area 9 which means your progress stalls and stops.
You can spend real money on the game in windows, which is utterly pointless as you can only buy stuff which is unlocked up to area 8. I cannot stress enough DO NOT SPEND MONEY ON THE WINDOWS VERSION.
If, however, you have an Android phone or tablet, have at it. Limited time events run often to add new fun elements to the game. It is supported with regular updates and bug fixes, all areas can be unlocked and all characters can be earned by watching videos to earn clams (in-game currency) if you are patient enough to wait for them.
I then found it for windows phone and downloaded it. It plays really well and is good fun for a click and wait game. Set your characters to tasks to earn and unlock other characters and buildings from Quahog.
Sadly, windows support for the game is non-existent and you cannot unlock area 9 which means your progress stalls and stops.
You can spend real money on the game in windows, which is utterly pointless as you can only buy stuff which is unlocked up to area 8. I cannot stress enough DO NOT SPEND MONEY ON THE WINDOWS VERSION.
If, however, you have an Android phone or tablet, have at it. Limited time events run often to add new fun elements to the game. It is supported with regular updates and bug fixes, all areas can be unlocked and all characters can be earned by watching videos to earn clams (in-game currency) if you are patient enough to wait for them.
Eloise Stanley (122 KP) rated Google Home in Tech
Nov 1, 2018
Understands most things even my god awful mumbling (3 more)
Tends to be pretty good at searching through websites for specific information
Works brilliantly as a speaker and connects through Spotify
Amazing for essay writing when you need quick and short answers and facts
Has a fair amount of things it’s unable to help with (3 more)
You often need to try different phrasing to get the answer you’re looking for
Absolutely dire at letting you know if your alarms are set or not
Privacy.... and google.... really bad mix........
Personally I have found this device extremely useful just for the element of the speakers and as someone who is not going to notice a difference between speaker qualities I don’t at all mind that it isn’t rated the highest for that in comparison to some other smart speaker devices on the market.
Other than for music I use it for quick facts be it for essays or for weather and cooking and or these it works fantastically. You can quickly get fast responses on fairly niche topics that I would not have expected it to be able to have dragged up from the bowls of the internet.
The other great thing about it is that it can be updated and it will have the ability to be improved as time goes on and given that there is a fairly small collection of products like this one currently out on the market I think you are pretty safe from making an awful choice in choosing this one... I like it anyway!
Other than for music I use it for quick facts be it for essays or for weather and cooking and or these it works fantastically. You can quickly get fast responses on fairly niche topics that I would not have expected it to be able to have dragged up from the bowls of the internet.
The other great thing about it is that it can be updated and it will have the ability to be improved as time goes on and given that there is a fairly small collection of products like this one currently out on the market I think you are pretty safe from making an awful choice in choosing this one... I like it anyway!
BookwormMama14 (18 KP) rated Murder at the Flamingo (A Van Buren and DeLuca Mystery #1) in Books
Jan 2, 2019
Oh, Hamish...My Hamish...Where have you been all my life? Hamish is my kindred spirit. My best friend. The fictional character that I so desperately want to meet.
For Rachel McMillan to take something that she has personally dealt with her whole life, and give it to her HERO...It is one of the most beautiful things you will ever witness. I feel like I not only know Hamish...But I know Ms. McMillan better. She opened her heart and let the words pour onto the page. The description is REAL, the emotion is REAL, the pain and the heartache is REAL. Anxiety...is REAL!
In addition to the anxiety factor...We have all the makings for an intense and intriguing mystery. A suave Italian nightclub owner, a bad guy on the hunt, and a high class born young lady determined to solve a crime. One of the themes that stood out to me in this story, is the sense of finding home.
"What if home wasn't something you were born into but rather something you found and ultimately chose?"
Murder at the Flamingo is a story full of life and adventure! From the North End of Boston to the nightclub scene of the 1930s...You will want to dance the night away with Reggie and Hamish in this new mystery from Rachel McMillan!
I received a complimentary copy of Murder at the Flamingo. I was not required to write a positive review. All opinions expressed are mine alone.
For Rachel McMillan to take something that she has personally dealt with her whole life, and give it to her HERO...It is one of the most beautiful things you will ever witness. I feel like I not only know Hamish...But I know Ms. McMillan better. She opened her heart and let the words pour onto the page. The description is REAL, the emotion is REAL, the pain and the heartache is REAL. Anxiety...is REAL!
In addition to the anxiety factor...We have all the makings for an intense and intriguing mystery. A suave Italian nightclub owner, a bad guy on the hunt, and a high class born young lady determined to solve a crime. One of the themes that stood out to me in this story, is the sense of finding home.
"What if home wasn't something you were born into but rather something you found and ultimately chose?"
Murder at the Flamingo is a story full of life and adventure! From the North End of Boston to the nightclub scene of the 1930s...You will want to dance the night away with Reggie and Hamish in this new mystery from Rachel McMillan!
I received a complimentary copy of Murder at the Flamingo. I was not required to write a positive review. All opinions expressed are mine alone.
Fairly simple to use (2 more)
Free to download
Good communication app for businesses
Poor security (2 more)
You can't have group conversations
Can be awkward to follow threads
Just good
So I work for a rather large logisitics company and we used slack as a way of each department staying connected. We stopped using it after about 6 months because the company found that security was poor and not to the standards to what our company wanted it to be. I liked using the app because it meant I could ask for advice and speak to colleagues from all over the country but sometimes it was difficult to follow the conversation topic because other people would be having another conversation in between. It was simple to use as in setting up and 1 on 1 conversations but I never found out how to do a small group chat and also how to reply to one comment even though someone mastered that straight away. So in short some things were a lot easier than other things. All in all I think it's a good app but should be aimed at maybe school/college/uni groups not company's that may share sensitive or important information.
Merissa (13503 KP) rated Dark One's Bride (Dark One's Trilogy #2) in Books
Dec 30, 2019
DARK ONE'S BRIDE continues where book one (Dark One's Mistress) finished, with a five-month gap. We rejoin Clara as she travels to Endlight to be reunited with Lucias and prepare for their wedding. Attitudes need to be adjusted all round, as Lucias needs to realise he can't just throw his life away recklessly, and Clara has to join in with the other noblewomen.
It was great to see Brenna had improved from book one. I found her to be a bit too obvious in that book, so to see this new side of her was delightful. I just hope she remains trustworthy in the last book.
There is a lot of action in this book, with many assassination attempts on Clara. There is also Thalia giving birth to Thad's son, which freaks Clara out as it doesn't go 'normally'. I found this to be refreshingly honest! How many 17-year-olds do you know that would accept that sort of birth without it raising concerns and questions?!?!
I thoroughly enjoyed this book, but I want Clara and Lucias to return to the Citadel. Endlight is good, but the Citadel is their home. This book does end on a cliffhanger so I'm hoping book three won't be long to arrive.
Absolutely recommended by me.
It was great to see Brenna had improved from book one. I found her to be a bit too obvious in that book, so to see this new side of her was delightful. I just hope she remains trustworthy in the last book.
There is a lot of action in this book, with many assassination attempts on Clara. There is also Thalia giving birth to Thad's son, which freaks Clara out as it doesn't go 'normally'. I found this to be refreshingly honest! How many 17-year-olds do you know that would accept that sort of birth without it raising concerns and questions?!?!
I thoroughly enjoyed this book, but I want Clara and Lucias to return to the Citadel. Endlight is good, but the Citadel is their home. This book does end on a cliffhanger so I'm hoping book three won't be long to arrive.
Absolutely recommended by me.
Rachael Moyes (404 KP) rated The Gospel of Loki in Books
Jul 8, 2017
Fantastic take on the character of Loki
‘The Gospel of Loki’ by Joanne M. Harris is the story of the Norse Gods from the point of view of Loki, the Trickster. I’ve always found Norse Mythology very interesting and Loki is by far my favourite of the Gods. I first heard about this book about a year ago and I finally managed to grab a copy from my local library earlier this week, then proceeded to read the whole book in two days. It was just that good!
Odin rules the nine worlds from his fortress of Asgard. When this book starts his people, the Aesir, have finally made peace with the Vanir and members of both groups make up the Gods of Asgard. The world is split into Order and Chaos, with Odin and the Gods trying to maintain Order over the nine realms. Loki was born from Chaos and is essentially a demon with no physical form (or Aspect) living in the realm of Pandaemoniem under the evil Lord Surt. But Loki was curious about the worlds where Order and Chaos co-existed so he left Chaos and traveled to the worlds above where he gained a physical Aspect, met Odin and was invited back to Asgard where he became the 25th God.
He did not receive a warm welcome from the other Gods, however, and soon lived up to his names of Wildfire and the Trickster. This book, which I would imagine takes place over a number of years, tells the story of many of Loki’s exploits in the nine realms including when he tricked a builder into fortifying Asgard’s walls without paying him, cut off Sif’s golden hair (to Thor’s outrage), got Thor to dress up as a bride to infiltrate the Ice Folk and kill their enemies, met the giants of Utgard and their own Trickster Utgard-Loki, all the way up to Ragnarok and the final battle between Order and Chaos.
Okay, I’ve just tried to describe the plot fairly simply above and I don’t know how much sense it will have made if you’re not familiar with the Norse Gods, but hopefully it wasn’t too bad!
I’ve always found Norse Mythology very interesting, mainly, I think, because of the diverse characters and fanciful stories. We get to meet all those characters in this book; Odin, Thor, Frey, Freyja, Balder, Frigg, Sigyn, Skadi, Gullvieg-Heid & many more. And as this book is written in first person from Loki, we see them all from his point of view. I also loved Loki’s illegitimate children, particularly Hel, the ruler of the Underworld and Fenris the werewolf.
I know a fair bit about Loki from things I’ve read online and books about mythology so I was a bit wary going in about how historically accurate Joanne had written her character, but I have to say that I found her version of Loki spot on! She voiced him perfectly and I also found the other characters to be very close to what I’ve read about them.
I really enjoyed the author’s writing style and the story flowed so well that I found it really difficult to put down. Loki’s storytelling was both informative and engaging and each of his stories flowed into each other very well.
This book is very heavy on the Norse Mythology (obviously) and I think it’s probably best to go into it with a little bit of knowledge beforehand. I think that if I knew nothing of the subject before, I might have found it a bit overwhelming mainly due to the amount of characters and worlds. But saying that, it is so well written and well explained that I think anyone could read it, I just think you’d get more enjoyment out of it if you knew a bit about some of the characters first. There is a very useful character list at the beginning that you can go back to.
I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who loves Norse Mythology, especially Loki and Odin but I think anyone who likes a good fantasy novel would enjoy it :)
Odin rules the nine worlds from his fortress of Asgard. When this book starts his people, the Aesir, have finally made peace with the Vanir and members of both groups make up the Gods of Asgard. The world is split into Order and Chaos, with Odin and the Gods trying to maintain Order over the nine realms. Loki was born from Chaos and is essentially a demon with no physical form (or Aspect) living in the realm of Pandaemoniem under the evil Lord Surt. But Loki was curious about the worlds where Order and Chaos co-existed so he left Chaos and traveled to the worlds above where he gained a physical Aspect, met Odin and was invited back to Asgard where he became the 25th God.
He did not receive a warm welcome from the other Gods, however, and soon lived up to his names of Wildfire and the Trickster. This book, which I would imagine takes place over a number of years, tells the story of many of Loki’s exploits in the nine realms including when he tricked a builder into fortifying Asgard’s walls without paying him, cut off Sif’s golden hair (to Thor’s outrage), got Thor to dress up as a bride to infiltrate the Ice Folk and kill their enemies, met the giants of Utgard and their own Trickster Utgard-Loki, all the way up to Ragnarok and the final battle between Order and Chaos.
Okay, I’ve just tried to describe the plot fairly simply above and I don’t know how much sense it will have made if you’re not familiar with the Norse Gods, but hopefully it wasn’t too bad!
I’ve always found Norse Mythology very interesting, mainly, I think, because of the diverse characters and fanciful stories. We get to meet all those characters in this book; Odin, Thor, Frey, Freyja, Balder, Frigg, Sigyn, Skadi, Gullvieg-Heid & many more. And as this book is written in first person from Loki, we see them all from his point of view. I also loved Loki’s illegitimate children, particularly Hel, the ruler of the Underworld and Fenris the werewolf.
I know a fair bit about Loki from things I’ve read online and books about mythology so I was a bit wary going in about how historically accurate Joanne had written her character, but I have to say that I found her version of Loki spot on! She voiced him perfectly and I also found the other characters to be very close to what I’ve read about them.
I really enjoyed the author’s writing style and the story flowed so well that I found it really difficult to put down. Loki’s storytelling was both informative and engaging and each of his stories flowed into each other very well.
This book is very heavy on the Norse Mythology (obviously) and I think it’s probably best to go into it with a little bit of knowledge beforehand. I think that if I knew nothing of the subject before, I might have found it a bit overwhelming mainly due to the amount of characters and worlds. But saying that, it is so well written and well explained that I think anyone could read it, I just think you’d get more enjoyment out of it if you knew a bit about some of the characters first. There is a very useful character list at the beginning that you can go back to.
I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who loves Norse Mythology, especially Loki and Odin but I think anyone who likes a good fantasy novel would enjoy it :)
Jonathan Donahue recommended track Second Skin by The Chameleons UK in Script of the Bridge by The Chameleons UK in Music (curated)
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