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Alison Pink (7 KP) rated Delirium in Books

Jan 15, 2018  
Delirium
Delirium
Lauren Oliver | 2011 | Children, Dystopia, Romance
8
7.8 (19 Ratings)
Book Rating
I have to admit that I'd heard so many good things about this book that I was thrilled to finally get started on it. I have to say though, that I was not hooked right from page one like I thought I'd be. It took me several chapters to really get into the story & the characters. BUT once I did, I was hooked! I can't wait to see what happens to Lena & Alex!!!!!
Delirium tells the story of love being a sickness, a disease, something that the US government has found a cure for. Society cures people at the age of 18 after they've gone through an interview process & then been matched with their mate & told what they will do & how many children they can have.
Lena's mother was infected & the cure was adminstered to her with no effect. Lena lives terrfied that she will be like her mother & therefore counts down the days until she can be cured. And then,quite by accident, she meets Alex. And as they say the rest is history!
There isn't much more I can say without giving too much away. The story sucks you in & sweeps you away. I was laughing & crying & hoping against hope that Lena would somehow avoid the cure. Did she? I don't know & that's the part that SUCKS! Gotta wait til the next book is released. ARGH!!!
  
Sex, Lies and Chocolate Cakes
Sex, Lies and Chocolate Cakes
Steven Morris | 2018 | Romance
7
7.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Online this book is described as 'a delicious laugh out loud comedy' and to be honest with you I do feel as though I have been slightly misled. Although it did make me laugh a few times I do feel as though the writing style was slightly unsophisticated for my taste.

One critisism I feel I have to mention is that the book was very short and was not advertised as so. I enjoy a long book in order to get to know the characters and really feel I can identify with them. However, this was unable to happen due to the length of the book.

Adding to this, I felt as though the book never really 'got going' and due to this it was hard to connect with the characters which I feel is necessary to really enjoy a book. However, there is a sequel which I do intend to read in order to see if the problem is rectified so keep a look out for that!

Overall, I feel as though this is a good book if you don't take it too seriously and simply want a funny addition to add to your collection. Although the writing style did lack some imagination it was an easy read and welcome after a busy night at work.
  
I read the first book in this series a few months ago and really quite enjoyed it so when I got my KU subscription and saw this was in the catalogue I decided to grab this one, too.

This one picks up not long after the events of the first with Raine now being persona non grata in Dark River apart from her four guys. It's going to take some time for the townspeople to come to terms with Raine being the victim of their well-loved, long-term resident (who I won't name.) It seems that what went down in their little town has drawn the attention of the Vampire Nation and they are on their way to investigate.

I did enjoy the first one, this one wasn't quite as engaging. I felt this one was getting a little too complicated with all the new lovers she was acquiring. Four men I can cope with - and have read several books with four males in reverse harems - but I think that at the end of this Raine was quickly verging on about 7 or 8 men that she would happily share her bed with and the others not be bothered about. It was getting a little ridiculous for me.

I can't say the storyline of this one pulled me into it, either. It was rather reminiscent of the first. Someone wants her dead, various attempts on her life and then saved by her guys - only the number of them has multiplied a little. There was quite a lot of sex in this, with various partners and combinations of men. It felt rather heavy on the erotica side of romance and I wasn't entirely convinced by the feelings floating around.

As much as I liked the first book I don't think I'll be continuing the series.
  
The Immortals: Evermore
The Immortals: Evermore
Alyson Noel | 2009 | Children
6
7.3 (21 Ratings)
Book Rating
I enjoyed this, but some things just seemed a little strange, like their romance. It just seemed to happen without much build-up. Sure she liked him and everyone assumed they were going out...but when did it actually start to happen? It just seemed to happen between one chapter and the next...

The names of the characters were a little strange too, and I kept getting confused between Haven and Honor; one being Ever's friend and the other someone who didn't like her.

As for the storyline, it was fairly new to me and I was intrigued as to where it was going, though it seemed to take a long time to actually get there. The style was easy for me to get into and I found myself not wanting to put it down.

I'm straight onto book 2, Blue Moon, to see where the stories going to go next.
  
Honestly, I can't believe I read the whole thing. Here's the premise of the first story: Girl gets turned into vamp. Has sex. Has some more sex. A tiny bit of plot. Even kinkier sex. Sex, sex, sex. And more sex than plot throughout the remainder of the story. Honestly the redundancy got really boring. Now, I knew this was erotica (or Erotic Romance as it says on the spine) going into this, but I had read that there was a good plot in there too. I would think even erotica would have at least equal plot with the sex, if not slightly more. Maybe I'm wrong, I don't know, this is the only book in this genre I've read. And seeing as it does say it's also a romance, I would expect some feelings and emotions behind all the rutting sex in almost every possible sexual situation known to man (and wolf), but no, there's nothing there. The second story is slightly better in the love territory, but the plot is a complete disaster. While I didn't care for Tori in the first story, I hated her here. What a *bleep*! And if there's nothing I despise more, it's a Mary Sue; every guy wants her, she's this perfect creature, et cetera, et cetera, excuse me while I throw up. And it's carrying it too far that everyone hates Sarel and she has to suffer that much because she made a big mistake, but geez, deal with it! She knows she was stupid and wrong, and Eli forgave her. Bunch of hypocrites.

So it sounds like I totally hated the book, not so. The ideas are solid and in between sex scenes in the first story, it was well-written. So overall, not the worst thing I've read, but far, far from the best. I do have another in the series sitting here that I'll give a try, although I think it might be my last one by this author, unless she goes strictly romance.
  
Exodus: Gods and Kings (2014)
Exodus: Gods and Kings (2014)
2014 | Classics, Drama
2
5.3 (6 Ratings)
Movie Rating
So. Much. Potential. Squandered.

The primary actors in this movie could make baking bread interesting. Yet somehow, the great Ridley Scott found a way to admonish them to caricatures of their potential.

I don't recall a time where I was more disappointed in a movie. From a visualization standpoint, it was actually very good. From every other standpoint, it was rubbish.

I understand very clearly that any time a film gets made from source material that there will be exception. There is no way to convey everything that can be stated in words onto film. I get that. I actually advocate for not comparing movies to their source material too heavily for this reason. However, the source material should somewhat be represented on some level. In this case, it was not. Not remotely.

In addition to that glaring gaff, the way that the story is actually told is done so in such a muddled way that there isn't a way to actually follow it with any sense of logic whatsoever. Nothing is tied together and things happen completely arbitrarily as if only to extend the length of an already sleep movie.

Maybe I'm missing something, but from what I can see this movie should have stayed on the cutting room floor. To call this an abomination would be a disservice to the word itself.
  
Quite amusing in places, but there were some errors - Henry VIII's will did in fact reinstate Mary and Elizabeth and after that went for the descendants of younger sister Mary (the Greys) over older sister Margaret (the Scottish line). It was Edward's Device for the Succession which looked to overturn that.

There was some off-beat facts thrown in, but would have been nice to have some explanation too. It mentions a fine if you sold the meat of a Bull without it having been baited but doesn't explain why (this might have driven me mad, but I had just read Ruth Goodman's How to be a Tudor, which explains about how they believed this would tenderise the meat! I highly recommend the book!).
  
Dark Prophecy: A Box Set
Dark Prophecy: A Box Set
Kris Norris | 2019 | Erotica, Paranormal, Romance
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Dark Prophecy Box Set by Kris Norris
The Dark Prophecy Box Set contains the three stories of the Dark Prophecy series. In it, we meet Rafe, Gabe, Mathias, and Gideon. All vampires, all charged with keeping a talisman safe... once they find it. Rafe is the first one, and he finds his talisman around the neck of Terryn. He is followed by Gabe and Mathias, and finally Gideon. Now, as you can imagine, all stories are similar in some respects, and yet different in others - which is very good when you are reading a box set. Terryn, Riley, and Genevieve are the three sassy heroines who keep our boys in check. They know nothing about the paranormal world, until they find out about their necklaces.

These books were just what I needed, and came at exactly the right time. There was enough story there to keep me involved, and yet it never went into too much detail that I felt I was drowning. There is enough steam to fill a bathroom, with a big dollop of insta-love that somehow seems to work! There were no editing or grammatical errors that I noticed, and the world-building was more than enough for these storylines. I am still left wanting more, which is such a good thing after reading three books back to back. I really hope to hear more from/about Sirus as he was a character that constantly intrigued me.

If you are looking for hot and steamy action, coupled with plenty of sass, and fighting the bad guys, then I have absolutely no hesitation in recommending this book.

* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and the comments here are my honest opinion. *

Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
  
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Hazel (2934 KP) rated The Choice in Books

Aug 29, 2020  
The Choice
The Choice
Alex Lake | 2020 | Crime, Thriller
9
9.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
My exact words when I finished this book ... "Wow - that was good!"

This is sold as being "The gripping new thriller you won’t be able to put down!" and I am going to have to agree ... I wasn't able to put it down and read it way too late into the night but it was worth it. From the very first to the very last page, there is no let up and it grabs you, throws you around and doesn't let go.

I loved everything about it - the characters, the plot, the pace, the writing style - everything and it's not often I say that. The only "complaint" I have is that it is so good, I found myself reading it faster and faster because I was desperate to find out where the next twist and turn would take me so I ended up finishing it way too quickly and felt sad when it had ended.

I have read a couple of books by Alex Lake previously "Seven Days" and "Copy Cat" and this is by far the best one yet and I very much look forward to reading the next which is due out in 2021 - a sneak peak of which I found at the end of The Choice.

Thanks must go to HarperCollinsUK, HarperFiction via NetGalley for my copy in return for an honest, unbiased and unedited review.
  
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Jonathan Higgs recommended Electro-Shock Blues by Eels in Music (curated)

 
Electro-Shock Blues by Eels
Electro-Shock Blues by Eels
1998 | Indie, Rock, Singer-Songwriter
8.0 (4 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"I was a big fan of Mark Everett ever since I heard ‘Novocaine For The Soul’; I heard it once on the radio and bought the album the next day. It was perfect, almost like a Nirvana that were still alive. Little did I know that was their only song that was really like that, but I still fell in love with them, I loved Beautiful Freak. I guess I was following them so closely and thinking about his various woes so much and then this record came out. It was set in a hospital and a lot of things seemed to be set in a hospital for me, musically, at that time - The Bends had a lot of those themes on it too, for example. On the one hand there was this idea of the monotony of being in a hospital, the absolute depths of his misery, but at the same time he can’t seem to stop himself writing these theme tunes for happier scenes, like ‘Susan’s House’. He’s just got these terrible, heart-breaking lyrics but attached to these jovial little songs. There’s also loads of really cool sampling and the musique concrète stuff he does, particularly on Electro-Shock Blues, where there’s lots of ambience and you don’t know what instrument is playing what. It’s got a kitchen sink sort of vibe. “Arrangement-wise too you’ll get really unusual stuff happening; lots of bass and then something weird with no drums. He broke a lot of rules for me when I was starting out and I started thinking, 'Well, you don’t have to have that in your song if you don’t want...' You could just have the beeping from a heart monitor and sing over that."

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