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Cyn Armistead (14 KP) rated Skin Deep (Laura Blackstone, #1) in Books
Mar 1, 2018
This is an intriguing beginning to a series. I've played a character with similar abilities in a long-running roleplaying game, so I was particularly interested in this book. I think the author did an excellent job of exploring just how much could be done with "essence" (glamour), while setting believable limits to the character's abilities. She has an exceptionally well-trained memory, but even she slips on a few details here and there when juggling too many personas or with someone very close to her for a long time.
The plot was less interesting to me, frankly, than the character. In fact, the details are a little fuzzy and I just finished the book earlier today. (Of course, I've read most of the next book since then, too). Even while reading it, though, some details strained believability. That detail took the rating down a point.
Still, I was interested enough to go right on to the next book in the series, and I intend to read more of del Franco's work. I would recommend this book for those who enjoy urban fantasy.
The plot was less interesting to me, frankly, than the character. In fact, the details are a little fuzzy and I just finished the book earlier today. (Of course, I've read most of the next book since then, too). Even while reading it, though, some details strained believability. That detail took the rating down a point.
Still, I was interested enough to go right on to the next book in the series, and I intend to read more of del Franco's work. I would recommend this book for those who enjoy urban fantasy.
A Love Letter To Whiskey
10.0
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It’s crazy how fast the buzz comes back after you’ve been sober for so long. Whiskey stood...
Cover To Cover Cafe Reads Angst Romance
Andy K (10823 KP) rated The Mountain Between Us (2017) in Movies
Feb 18, 2018
I liked it more than most it seems
The survival in the wilderness aspect of this film is what it does best, but it seems like I liked the developing love more than most people based on their ratings and comments.
Yeah fine no one wants the dog to die, but the movie was more than that. The Idris Elba character slowly reveals aspects of his personal like to Kate Winslet in a unique way. You expect them being found to be the end of the film, but it isn't and I was all right with that.
As far as the ending goes, there weren't too many ways it could go and the director picked one. Didn't bother me and I actually enjoyed it.
I also love Kate. Have since her "Introducing Kate Winslet" card in Heavenly Creatures. Make sure everone watched that too.
Yeah fine no one wants the dog to die, but the movie was more than that. The Idris Elba character slowly reveals aspects of his personal like to Kate Winslet in a unique way. You expect them being found to be the end of the film, but it isn't and I was all right with that.
As far as the ending goes, there weren't too many ways it could go and the director picked one. Didn't bother me and I actually enjoyed it.
I also love Kate. Have since her "Introducing Kate Winslet" card in Heavenly Creatures. Make sure everone watched that too.
Heather Cranmer (2721 KP) rated Spine Chillers: The Scarecrow in Books
Jan 4, 2019
The Plot (2 more)
The Pacing
The Characters
A Great Spooky Read!
I've read two other novels by Nancy Gray, Empty Eyes and Krampus, so when I read the synopsis of The Scarecrow, I know I had to read it. It sounded really interesting. I was not disappointed.
All of the previous books in the Spine Chillers series have been short, and The Scarecrow was no exception. I love how each book in the series can be read as a standalone.
I found myself enthralled by the plot of The Scarecrow from the very beginning. Once I started reading, I was immediately thrust into all the action. Yes, the plot about a scary scarecrow come to life has been done many times before, but I loved the way Nancy Gray made her story a bit different. There are a couple of plot twists, and there was even one I didn't see coming. The Scarecrow is a scary read, but it's not overly scary for its targeted audience. I found the world building to be believable. It was easy to be transported to Sophie's world with each word I read.
The pacing for The Scarecrow is done fantastically. Not once did it slow down to where it became boring, and it was never too fast paced where I was just left confused. The pacing is spot on, and I found myself wanting to know more about the scarecrow, Hunt, Sophie, and Edward with each page. This was a definite page turner. Luckily The Scarecrow is a short read because I never wanted to stop reading. I had to know how everything would turn out.
I loved the characters in The Scarecrow. I found Sophie to be incredibly brave and sweet the way she was willing to put her life on the line to look for and save her cousin. Edward was an interesting character in a good way. Even the adults in this book were likable as well as believable.
Trigger warnings for The Scarecrow include one minor profanity (one of the characters says "what the hell"), violence, and disobeying adults.
Overall, The Scarecrow is a great read for those that like to be spooked. It has a great story line, interesting characters, and fantastic pacing. I would definitely recommend Spine Chillers: The Scarecrow by Nancy Gray to those aged 11+. Even though this is written for the middle grade age group, I really think adults would enjoy it too.
All of the previous books in the Spine Chillers series have been short, and The Scarecrow was no exception. I love how each book in the series can be read as a standalone.
I found myself enthralled by the plot of The Scarecrow from the very beginning. Once I started reading, I was immediately thrust into all the action. Yes, the plot about a scary scarecrow come to life has been done many times before, but I loved the way Nancy Gray made her story a bit different. There are a couple of plot twists, and there was even one I didn't see coming. The Scarecrow is a scary read, but it's not overly scary for its targeted audience. I found the world building to be believable. It was easy to be transported to Sophie's world with each word I read.
The pacing for The Scarecrow is done fantastically. Not once did it slow down to where it became boring, and it was never too fast paced where I was just left confused. The pacing is spot on, and I found myself wanting to know more about the scarecrow, Hunt, Sophie, and Edward with each page. This was a definite page turner. Luckily The Scarecrow is a short read because I never wanted to stop reading. I had to know how everything would turn out.
I loved the characters in The Scarecrow. I found Sophie to be incredibly brave and sweet the way she was willing to put her life on the line to look for and save her cousin. Edward was an interesting character in a good way. Even the adults in this book were likable as well as believable.
Trigger warnings for The Scarecrow include one minor profanity (one of the characters says "what the hell"), violence, and disobeying adults.
Overall, The Scarecrow is a great read for those that like to be spooked. It has a great story line, interesting characters, and fantastic pacing. I would definitely recommend Spine Chillers: The Scarecrow by Nancy Gray to those aged 11+. Even though this is written for the middle grade age group, I really think adults would enjoy it too.
Emma @ The Movies (1786 KP) rated Inside Man: Most Wanted (2019) in Movies
Mar 20, 2021
I was drawn to this one after an ultimatum from Now TV that it was only going to be available for one more day. This after having it in my watchlist for a rather long time. I had some slight dread for this lengthy weight for a sequel.
NYPD and the FBI handle a hostage negotiation at the US Federal Reserve. With civilians and one of their own inside they must draw on all their knowledge to try and resolve the situation without letting their egos and knowledge of the past cloud their judgement.
There's nothing like having to follow a popular film, and I'm not sure there would be many sequels that I would praise over its predecessor. Thankfully that isn't a point I need to ponder on for too long here.
At some point while watching I just stopped taking notes, for me that's either a very good sign or a very bad one... I think from the score you can probably tell which.
Inside Man: Most Wanted seems fully aware that it isn't Inside Man, and that there wasn't really a genuinely original storyline insight. There are a lot of callbacks to the first film that seem rather hammy and shoehorned in, but I'll elaborate on that later.
There weren't any actors that I recognised, though the top three have been in several things I'm aware of. I'm not going to dwell on the acting because I really found it just to be fine. I didn't see anything that made me want to call it out as good, and similarly there was nothing terrible. It was all... fine.
And in fact, that's my feeling for the whole film... and I apologise, because I've just realised that I do not have anything at all that I want to speak about around this film. Already knowing Inside Man, this felt like a rather hollow attempt at a crime thriller. Had they taken out the connection to the first film and made it it's own film then I think it may have got a higher rating, not higher than three, but there was potential there for an average thriller.
Originally posted on: https://emmaatthemovies.blogspot.com/2021/03/inside-man-most-wanted-movie-review.html
NYPD and the FBI handle a hostage negotiation at the US Federal Reserve. With civilians and one of their own inside they must draw on all their knowledge to try and resolve the situation without letting their egos and knowledge of the past cloud their judgement.
There's nothing like having to follow a popular film, and I'm not sure there would be many sequels that I would praise over its predecessor. Thankfully that isn't a point I need to ponder on for too long here.
At some point while watching I just stopped taking notes, for me that's either a very good sign or a very bad one... I think from the score you can probably tell which.
Inside Man: Most Wanted seems fully aware that it isn't Inside Man, and that there wasn't really a genuinely original storyline insight. There are a lot of callbacks to the first film that seem rather hammy and shoehorned in, but I'll elaborate on that later.
There weren't any actors that I recognised, though the top three have been in several things I'm aware of. I'm not going to dwell on the acting because I really found it just to be fine. I didn't see anything that made me want to call it out as good, and similarly there was nothing terrible. It was all... fine.
And in fact, that's my feeling for the whole film... and I apologise, because I've just realised that I do not have anything at all that I want to speak about around this film. Already knowing Inside Man, this felt like a rather hollow attempt at a crime thriller. Had they taken out the connection to the first film and made it it's own film then I think it may have got a higher rating, not higher than three, but there was potential there for an average thriller.
Originally posted on: https://emmaatthemovies.blogspot.com/2021/03/inside-man-most-wanted-movie-review.html
Kristina (502 KP) rated The Heir (The Selection, #4) in Books
Dec 7, 2020
I was so excited to read about Maxon and America's children! I'd been waiting to read this one for quite a while. However, I was totally unprepared for it to lead into another book. I'm most definitely not complaining, it just threw me for a loop. I can say that I'm glad there will be another book (or more) because I look forward to watching Eady grow. So far, I'm not too impressed with who she is and how she views herself, considering who her mother is. I can't wait to see what the rest of the Selection has in store for our princess.
P.S: I'm team Kile all the way! I wouldn't mind being team Erik, if poor Henri wouldn't get hurt.
P.S: I'm team Kile all the way! I wouldn't mind being team Erik, if poor Henri wouldn't get hurt.
Parfs (178 KP) created a post in Avengers: Endgame (Discussion)
May 4, 2019
Haley Mathiot (9 KP) rated The Ice Twins in Books
Apr 27, 2018
This was literally the most depressing book I’ve ever read. Like, literally. The writing was lyrical and descriptive (almost too much so), and it was hard to listen to because of the emotional devastation of the characters. It was a rollercoaster because out of the three main characters (daughter, husband, wife) you loved all of them, you hated all of them, but you weren’t sure which one was the bad guy (and there was definitely a bad guy). And then once you figured out which one you hated the most, it would switch on you. Suffice to say, this made it an emotional trip.
As I said, the writing was almost so descriptive that it was annoying. And it wasn’t all of it, there were just some parts where I thought “Okay, I get it, move on with the story please.” Another thing was some of the dialogue was redundant. I realize you’re dealing with a traumatized child here, and they tend to repeat themselves and not elaborate, but there are artful ways of writing that without driving your reader crazy. (Example, thought not a direct quote: “tell me what happened?” “Nothing.” “Tell me?” “no. nothing.” “Please?” “Nothing.” “Please sweetheart.” “No! Nothing.” and on and on we go.)
But the story itself wrapped up with an intensely confusing and fulfilling climax, and even a week later it is still haunting me… the ghost may never go away.
The narration was combined: there were three people reading. Rawlins for the voice of Sarah, the mother; Duncan for the voice of Angus before the climax; King for the voice of Angus after the climax (which I thought was really weird, honestly). I liked Rawlins and King, but not Duncan at all. I also would have liked Rawlins to do the voice of the daughter for the whole thing, not just her chapters, since her voice was really good for it. It would have been so much editing though.
The Ice Twins was an overall good reading experience and despite it’s minor flaws I would recommend it to anyone who likes drama, romance, or general fiction.
As I said, the writing was almost so descriptive that it was annoying. And it wasn’t all of it, there were just some parts where I thought “Okay, I get it, move on with the story please.” Another thing was some of the dialogue was redundant. I realize you’re dealing with a traumatized child here, and they tend to repeat themselves and not elaborate, but there are artful ways of writing that without driving your reader crazy. (Example, thought not a direct quote: “tell me what happened?” “Nothing.” “Tell me?” “no. nothing.” “Please?” “Nothing.” “Please sweetheart.” “No! Nothing.” and on and on we go.)
But the story itself wrapped up with an intensely confusing and fulfilling climax, and even a week later it is still haunting me… the ghost may never go away.
The narration was combined: there were three people reading. Rawlins for the voice of Sarah, the mother; Duncan for the voice of Angus before the climax; King for the voice of Angus after the climax (which I thought was really weird, honestly). I liked Rawlins and King, but not Duncan at all. I also would have liked Rawlins to do the voice of the daughter for the whole thing, not just her chapters, since her voice was really good for it. It would have been so much editing though.
The Ice Twins was an overall good reading experience and despite it’s minor flaws I would recommend it to anyone who likes drama, romance, or general fiction.
TLW21 (15 KP) rated Rampage (2018) in Movies
Apr 18, 2019
I had a love/hate relationship with this
Contains spoilers, click to show
They could have worked a few things out differently, they definitely overplayed the bad guys in places they should have been more focused on what was actually happening around them with the whole city falling apart and giant creatures attacking everywhere. The action scenes between the animals and The rock was just too much. There should have definitely more action with the animals themselves with all the crazy changes they had gone through it would have been epic
Ducklady (1174 KP) rated the PlayStation 4 version of Kingdom Hearts III in Video Games
Aug 25, 2019 (Updated Aug 25, 2019)
The worlds and characters look incredible (1 more)
The battles are fluid
Feels like your watching a movie instead of playing a game (1 more)
the story is convoluted
I have been waiting for this game since Kingdom hearts 2 came out when I was a kid. I have been a huge fan of the kingdom hearts games for many many years and when I found out that this one finally had a release date, I was ecstatic. I even watched a whole bunch of videos and read lots of info about the full story so far. Despite this, while playing through, the story seems over complicated and a lot of it was pointless.
Exploring the worlds is a lot of fun and the game hits you with a huge dose of nostalgia, but for me there wasn't enough actual gameplay, especially compared to previous games and the giant wait time for this game to be released.
Although the fight scenes flowed so well, all the combos and special moves made this game way too easy. I was also expecting there to be loads more worlds, but it was distinctly lacking for a full game that cost a bomb.
I couldn't stand the sheer amount of cutscenes and ended up skipping most of them when I was about halfway through the game. I am frustrated that I never got to the ending as the game ceased to interest me.
I have to commend the game on the way it looks though, the "let it go" scene was like it was straight out the movie and all the NPC's looked excellent.
Overall, the game is fun, but greatly didn't meet my expectations.
Exploring the worlds is a lot of fun and the game hits you with a huge dose of nostalgia, but for me there wasn't enough actual gameplay, especially compared to previous games and the giant wait time for this game to be released.
Although the fight scenes flowed so well, all the combos and special moves made this game way too easy. I was also expecting there to be loads more worlds, but it was distinctly lacking for a full game that cost a bomb.
I couldn't stand the sheer amount of cutscenes and ended up skipping most of them when I was about halfway through the game. I am frustrated that I never got to the ending as the game ceased to interest me.
I have to commend the game on the way it looks though, the "let it go" scene was like it was straight out the movie and all the NPC's looked excellent.
Overall, the game is fun, but greatly didn't meet my expectations.