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Alpha's Embrace (Omega Misfits #3)
Book
I am Misha and I am twenty years old. My name was given to me at birth by the doctor who...
Second Glance
Book
When odd, supernatural events plague the town of Comtosook, a ghost hunter is hired by the developer...
KatieLouCreate (162 KP) rated Empire of the Vampire in Books
Jul 10, 2023
Empire of the Vampire
This book is not for the feint hearted. Not only is it decidedly grotesque and gruesome, but its also a monster of a book, coming in at 725 pages with another book on the way.
It has been twenty-seven long years since the last sunrise. For nearly three decades, vampires have waged war against humanity; building their eternal empire even as they tear down our own.
Gabriel de León is a silversaint: a member of a holy brotherhood dedicated to defending realm and church from the creatures of the night. But even the Silver Order couldn’t stem the tide once daylight failed us, and now, only Gabriel remains.
Imprisoned by the very monsters he vowed to destroy, the last silversaint is forced to tell his story. A story of legendary battles and forbidden love, of faith lost and friendships won, of the Wars of the Blood and the Forever King and the quest for humanity’s last remaining hope:
The Holy Grail.
The book is dark and gruesome, but also delightfully entertaining. Kristoff puts an original spin on the vampire world and created a deep, well-rounded character with the biggest chip on his shoulder. All the characters are well-developed, to be honest.
The humour, as expected, is dark. Which is what makes it so great. I found myself laughing out loud in parts. I loved the witty banter and insults from the characters.
My woe with this book was, though I enjoyed it, it did feel like I was reading a 725 page book. Sometimes the time flew, and others I found myself counting the pages wondering how much longer this was going to go on for. I think the story could have been shorter without losing anything vital.
Read if you like:
Adult fantasy
Legendary battles
Blood and gore/violence
Religious occult
Dark humour
Don't read if:
You are a child
And dont like:
Prolific swearing
Sexual Content
Violence
Religious Themes
Trigger warnings:
Anything mentioned above
Drug addiction
Child abuse
Homophobia
It reminds me of Interview With a Vampire meets Van Helsing...
It has been twenty-seven long years since the last sunrise. For nearly three decades, vampires have waged war against humanity; building their eternal empire even as they tear down our own.
Gabriel de León is a silversaint: a member of a holy brotherhood dedicated to defending realm and church from the creatures of the night. But even the Silver Order couldn’t stem the tide once daylight failed us, and now, only Gabriel remains.
Imprisoned by the very monsters he vowed to destroy, the last silversaint is forced to tell his story. A story of legendary battles and forbidden love, of faith lost and friendships won, of the Wars of the Blood and the Forever King and the quest for humanity’s last remaining hope:
The Holy Grail.
The book is dark and gruesome, but also delightfully entertaining. Kristoff puts an original spin on the vampire world and created a deep, well-rounded character with the biggest chip on his shoulder. All the characters are well-developed, to be honest.
The humour, as expected, is dark. Which is what makes it so great. I found myself laughing out loud in parts. I loved the witty banter and insults from the characters.
My woe with this book was, though I enjoyed it, it did feel like I was reading a 725 page book. Sometimes the time flew, and others I found myself counting the pages wondering how much longer this was going to go on for. I think the story could have been shorter without losing anything vital.
Read if you like:
Adult fantasy
Legendary battles
Blood and gore/violence
Religious occult
Dark humour
Don't read if:
You are a child
And dont like:
Prolific swearing
Sexual Content
Violence
Religious Themes
Trigger warnings:
Anything mentioned above
Drug addiction
Child abuse
Homophobia
It reminds me of Interview With a Vampire meets Van Helsing...
graveyardgremlin (7194 KP) rated Vesper (Deviants, #1) in Books
Feb 15, 2019
The start of VESPERS immediately caught my attention with the transcript of an interview with Emily Webb, the protagonist, and an agent of the mysterious Vesper Company. This led to the first chapter where no time is wasted getting straight to the story. Emily is every introverted, insecure, don't-make-a-scene-or-stand-out girl out there, which made her very relatable to me; as a teen, I was just like her. Her transformations into Nighttime Emily, as she called herself, were well-done but I felt the author could have stretched a little further than the "wild child" persona he gave Emily during those times. I got a bit bored when she was in that stage and liked when she went back to Daytime Emily, her normal self, much better. At first, I was a little disappointed in where the story actually went, mainly what Emily ended up being (and that's all I'm saying, no spoilers here), but I accepted and enjoyed it anyway. The middle of the book lagged and I was afraid it would end up an average read, with too much wild behavior and not as much development as I would have liked. However, toward the end the story picked up and kept me riveted; it's always a good thing for an author to end his or her book on a high note. This isn't a YA book with romance as its central focus, but it does have its place in the story and doesn't overwhelm the main plot. The book as a whole could have been deeper than it was, but it's still a good start to the Deviants series and opened up numerous possibilities, with many unanswered questions for future endeavors. The use of six or so transcripts interspersed throughout the book was a nice element and I quite enjoyed them; the entire book could have easily been written this way. This would probably appeal more to teenagers but some adults would enjoy it as well. I did. THE VESPERS is a breeze to read, briskly-paced, and has a few snicker-worthy moments; maybe it's not perfect, but it's far from bad and I had a good time reading it.
3.5 stars
Note: There is some graphic violence, only one scene really, but it's there.
3.5 stars
Note: There is some graphic violence, only one scene really, but it's there.
Elizabeth (1521 KP) rated The Alchemist in Books
Apr 24, 2019
I struggled through the first half of the book. It wasn't bad, just not what I was expecting after all of the positive reviews I'd heard or following an interview I had seen with Paulo Coelho that had me intrigued.
Despite my apprehension, I kept reading and I'm glad I did. Once the boy set out on his adventure and began to learn and understand the language of the world, I understood what all the fuss was about. This is one of those books, that if read at the right time in your life, can have a profound impact. I found myself bookmarking every other page at one point, for some pearl of wisdom or a lesson that I had only recently learned myself and held so much relevance in my life.
I can relate to the boy because I feel like I'm on a similar sort of journey right now, learning the same lessons about life and being open and aware of what it is trying to tell us. It is not always easy to listen to our hearts or follow our dreams. Many of us go through life like the shopkeeper, holding on to our dreams to motivate us to get through the mundane lives we live, but never having the courage to go after them for fear of having nothing left to live for once the dream is reached or perhaps even fear of failure.
Even after I got past the first half, I took my time reading, letting the words sink in. Too often, I fly through books and months later if someone asks me about a particular scene I have trouble recalling it. I wanted to retain what I was reading. And for the first time in my life I wanted to buy the book just so that I could highlight passages and make notes in the margins. I had always thought of this as defamation before, like it was a sacrilege to mark up a book like that.
I would recommend this book to anyone that is feeling like there has to be more to life; someone who feels the potential of their destiny but is at a loss as to how to achieve it. The book doesn't have all of the answers, but it helps you understand that the only thing truly standing in your way is you.
Despite my apprehension, I kept reading and I'm glad I did. Once the boy set out on his adventure and began to learn and understand the language of the world, I understood what all the fuss was about. This is one of those books, that if read at the right time in your life, can have a profound impact. I found myself bookmarking every other page at one point, for some pearl of wisdom or a lesson that I had only recently learned myself and held so much relevance in my life.
I can relate to the boy because I feel like I'm on a similar sort of journey right now, learning the same lessons about life and being open and aware of what it is trying to tell us. It is not always easy to listen to our hearts or follow our dreams. Many of us go through life like the shopkeeper, holding on to our dreams to motivate us to get through the mundane lives we live, but never having the courage to go after them for fear of having nothing left to live for once the dream is reached or perhaps even fear of failure.
Even after I got past the first half, I took my time reading, letting the words sink in. Too often, I fly through books and months later if someone asks me about a particular scene I have trouble recalling it. I wanted to retain what I was reading. And for the first time in my life I wanted to buy the book just so that I could highlight passages and make notes in the margins. I had always thought of this as defamation before, like it was a sacrilege to mark up a book like that.
I would recommend this book to anyone that is feeling like there has to be more to life; someone who feels the potential of their destiny but is at a loss as to how to achieve it. The book doesn't have all of the answers, but it helps you understand that the only thing truly standing in your way is you.
Mark Halpern (153 KP) rated I, Tonya (2017) in Movies
Jan 18, 2018
Acting (2 more)
Story
Cast
Skate or Die
A lot of us remember the day when Nancy Kerrigan's knee was smashed by a hired hit man. According to this biographical film it is told that it was supposed to death threat letters that were to be written to scare her off but, instead one of the hired men took a rod and smashed her knee. Kerrigan was slated as the top us skater to qualify for the Olympics and Harding was close behind being the only female who could land the triple axle.
The story told of Harding's life in this movie makes us feel horrible for her. The way she was brought up, her father leaving when she was very young, the abusive mentally and physically mother, the abusive husband who she had battered women's syndrome with. Her bad ass up brining that made the judges hated her for not being American enough. Her life was Shit that turned into to gold but back to shit yet again. She possibly could have made it on her own.
Harding's husband was behind the plot along with his dumb friend who was Harding's bodyguard arranged to have Kerrigan dismantled in some fashion. Of course these idiots were found and spilled their guts. Harding was named as knowing about the plot but, has denied up until her latest interview. As she said "I have said I am sorry enough, enough saying i'm sorry." So believe this story or the hundred others that are out there on exactly what happened. I truly believe she knew about the plot just not when it was going to happen.
Marggot Robbie shows her acting range in this movie. She has played along side Leo in Wolf Of Wall Street an shined. She played everyone's favorite woman villain as Harley Quinn in Suicide Squad and now doing real biographical role. She shows that she has no boundaries and can adapt to any role.
Allison Janney. Deserved the golden globe and has a dam good chance at winning the Oscar for best supporting actress. She has played almost every genre you can throw at an actress and succeed. She is so good that she made me believe that she could have been Harding's mother twin in an alternate universe from all of the interviews.
This is a great close to excellent movie
The story told of Harding's life in this movie makes us feel horrible for her. The way she was brought up, her father leaving when she was very young, the abusive mentally and physically mother, the abusive husband who she had battered women's syndrome with. Her bad ass up brining that made the judges hated her for not being American enough. Her life was Shit that turned into to gold but back to shit yet again. She possibly could have made it on her own.
Harding's husband was behind the plot along with his dumb friend who was Harding's bodyguard arranged to have Kerrigan dismantled in some fashion. Of course these idiots were found and spilled their guts. Harding was named as knowing about the plot but, has denied up until her latest interview. As she said "I have said I am sorry enough, enough saying i'm sorry." So believe this story or the hundred others that are out there on exactly what happened. I truly believe she knew about the plot just not when it was going to happen.
Marggot Robbie shows her acting range in this movie. She has played along side Leo in Wolf Of Wall Street an shined. She played everyone's favorite woman villain as Harley Quinn in Suicide Squad and now doing real biographical role. She shows that she has no boundaries and can adapt to any role.
Allison Janney. Deserved the golden globe and has a dam good chance at winning the Oscar for best supporting actress. She has played almost every genre you can throw at an actress and succeed. She is so good that she made me believe that she could have been Harding's mother twin in an alternate universe from all of the interviews.
This is a great close to excellent movie
Darren (1599 KP) rated Patient Seven (2016) in Movies
Oct 24, 2019
Characters – Dr Daniel Marcus is the man trying to learn about six disturbed patients at a mental hospital, each story needs to be broken down in a different way, he is doing research for his book, but leaving us wondering what his motives are is the biggest mystery in this film. we do meet the different patients which all have different stories and we follow the events of their stories each different from the rest. We do meet the doctors, but as the film is an anthology we just don’t get enough time to look into their characters.
Performances – Michael Ironside is the star of this film with his calming presence while interviewing the patients that can turn on them in a heartbeat. We have a couple of known names in the supporting cast with Alfie Allen in the second story being the highlight of the rest of the performances, while no one is bad in their roles here, they just don’t get the time they deserve.
Story – The story here is told like an interview process to give us seven short horror stories, the fact each one goes in a different direction helps the audience find one they can enjoy even if the previous one isn’t for them. Vampires, ghost, spirits, serial killers and zombies are the main topics each one feels short enough to be entertaining, even if one did make me want to see a feature film about that character. For a horror anthology this does check the boxes well and is one that can be enjoyed.
Horror – The horror in the story comes from the different stories, while we don’t always get the best build up to the horror moments, we do follow the horror guidelines well.
Settings – Each story does take us to a new setting which helps make the film feel fresh, though I don’t quiet understand how the crimes from England, New Zealand and Iceland ended up in an American mental home.
Special Effects – The effects in the film across the different stories are great and make you feel like you are part of them.
Scene of the Movie – The second story.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – Some of the stories are slightly too short though.
Final Thoughts – This is a good horror anthology even if the ending feel slightly flat, we get plenty going on and can enjoy the different ideals of horror.
Overall: Horror anthology does correctly.
Performances – Michael Ironside is the star of this film with his calming presence while interviewing the patients that can turn on them in a heartbeat. We have a couple of known names in the supporting cast with Alfie Allen in the second story being the highlight of the rest of the performances, while no one is bad in their roles here, they just don’t get the time they deserve.
Story – The story here is told like an interview process to give us seven short horror stories, the fact each one goes in a different direction helps the audience find one they can enjoy even if the previous one isn’t for them. Vampires, ghost, spirits, serial killers and zombies are the main topics each one feels short enough to be entertaining, even if one did make me want to see a feature film about that character. For a horror anthology this does check the boxes well and is one that can be enjoyed.
Horror – The horror in the story comes from the different stories, while we don’t always get the best build up to the horror moments, we do follow the horror guidelines well.
Settings – Each story does take us to a new setting which helps make the film feel fresh, though I don’t quiet understand how the crimes from England, New Zealand and Iceland ended up in an American mental home.
Special Effects – The effects in the film across the different stories are great and make you feel like you are part of them.
Scene of the Movie – The second story.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – Some of the stories are slightly too short though.
Final Thoughts – This is a good horror anthology even if the ending feel slightly flat, we get plenty going on and can enjoy the different ideals of horror.
Overall: Horror anthology does correctly.
Emma @ The Movies (1786 KP) rated A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (2019) in Movies
Nov 17, 2019
The film starts with a perfect homage to Mr Rogers and his show, the miniature city and the gentleness of everything, even without the first hand nostalgic feeling it's a very calm and tranquil moment.
After we get our introduction to Lloyd and find out he works for a magazine we're shown a video about how people make a magazine... I love these videos. I'm amazed that you still see the old 60s/70s ones making the rounds these days.
Our first proper introduction to Mr Rogers comes on set when Lloyd arrives for the interview and find him on set with a child and his parents who have come to visit. It's a charming encapsulation of his character and how he was able to reach out to people who were in need.
Hanks was an amazing choice for this, the calm confident manner is something he seems perfect for. His attention to detail when you see footage side by side is just incredible. I don't know that anyone else in Hollywood would have been good for this role, I'm really glad it was Hanks.
Matthew Rhys playing Lloyd Vogel gets to be a powerful thing in this, for this point I'm not talking about as Lloyd but what he represents to the viewer. A lot of us will get to take the same journey Lloyd goes through in the film, it allows you to fall to Mr Rogers' personality in the same way he does. Rhys makes Lloyd the perfect contrast for Hanks' Rogers, the cynicism, the constant surprise that comes across his face, a great combination.
There are so many touching scenes in A Beautiful Day In The Neighbourhood and I genuinely smiled a lot and felt like I was staring wide-eyed at the screen. If I was younger, and more limber I think I'd have ended up sitting crosslegged, elbows on knees, resting my head on my hands as I watched.
In a world full of troubles this film is a moment of peace and tranquility. There's no real way to explain how I felt after seeing this. I was definitely moved by it, there was a sense of peace... I can only hope that everyone gets this same sad yet somehow uplifting feeling from it.
Full review originally posted on: https://emmaatthemovies.blogspot.com/2019/11/a-beautiful-day-in-neighbourhood-movie.html
After we get our introduction to Lloyd and find out he works for a magazine we're shown a video about how people make a magazine... I love these videos. I'm amazed that you still see the old 60s/70s ones making the rounds these days.
Our first proper introduction to Mr Rogers comes on set when Lloyd arrives for the interview and find him on set with a child and his parents who have come to visit. It's a charming encapsulation of his character and how he was able to reach out to people who were in need.
Hanks was an amazing choice for this, the calm confident manner is something he seems perfect for. His attention to detail when you see footage side by side is just incredible. I don't know that anyone else in Hollywood would have been good for this role, I'm really glad it was Hanks.
Matthew Rhys playing Lloyd Vogel gets to be a powerful thing in this, for this point I'm not talking about as Lloyd but what he represents to the viewer. A lot of us will get to take the same journey Lloyd goes through in the film, it allows you to fall to Mr Rogers' personality in the same way he does. Rhys makes Lloyd the perfect contrast for Hanks' Rogers, the cynicism, the constant surprise that comes across his face, a great combination.
There are so many touching scenes in A Beautiful Day In The Neighbourhood and I genuinely smiled a lot and felt like I was staring wide-eyed at the screen. If I was younger, and more limber I think I'd have ended up sitting crosslegged, elbows on knees, resting my head on my hands as I watched.
In a world full of troubles this film is a moment of peace and tranquility. There's no real way to explain how I felt after seeing this. I was definitely moved by it, there was a sense of peace... I can only hope that everyone gets this same sad yet somehow uplifting feeling from it.
Full review originally posted on: https://emmaatthemovies.blogspot.com/2019/11/a-beautiful-day-in-neighbourhood-movie.html




