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Laura Doe (1350 KP) rated Wish You Were Here in Books
Jan 26, 2022
I didn’t quite realise how much this book would resonate with me until I started reading it. It reminded me sometimes about the awful things that we have lived through the past 2 years but also reminded me how strong people can be.
Diana and Finn are living in New York as the Covid-19 pandemic is beginning, they have planned to go on a once in a lifetime holiday to The Galápagos Islands just as the world seems to be shutting down. Finn, being a surgical resident, has been told that he can’t take time off, even pre planned holidays. While Diana, who is an art specialist working for Sotheby’s, knows that she needs to take time off as a deal she had brokered for a painting has fallen through. Finn tells Diana to go anyway as he doesn’t want to make her sick since he’s working in the hospital.
We then follow Diana exploring the beautiful, scenic Isabela island, and meeting a family who take her in and look after her when she becomes stranded there. She explores the island and although she doesn’t speak the language she manages to get by because she needs to. She has no phone service and very limited access to the internet so she has no way to contact the outside world, but it doesn’t seem to matter too much when you’re in paradise.
The second part of the book was a complete surprise, but a pleasant one. It reminded me of exactly how we were at the start of the pandemic, wiping down anything that came from outside, not opening mail for days and for some of us stripping as soon as we came in from work for fear we’d brought the virus home with us. I am a support worker and so had no choice but to go into work and look after people that had Covid-19 because as much as I was scared, I knew that they needed me more. One line that sticks in my head is also one that I thought myself: “Well if I catch it, I catch it” and that became my opinion for a lot of the pandemic.
It was a nice change that not everything was tied up with a neat little bow at the end of this book, as that’s how life is sometimes. I really enjoyed this book and I feel like it will be one of those that helps us to remember the pandemic in years to come.
Diana and Finn are living in New York as the Covid-19 pandemic is beginning, they have planned to go on a once in a lifetime holiday to The Galápagos Islands just as the world seems to be shutting down. Finn, being a surgical resident, has been told that he can’t take time off, even pre planned holidays. While Diana, who is an art specialist working for Sotheby’s, knows that she needs to take time off as a deal she had brokered for a painting has fallen through. Finn tells Diana to go anyway as he doesn’t want to make her sick since he’s working in the hospital.
We then follow Diana exploring the beautiful, scenic Isabela island, and meeting a family who take her in and look after her when she becomes stranded there. She explores the island and although she doesn’t speak the language she manages to get by because she needs to. She has no phone service and very limited access to the internet so she has no way to contact the outside world, but it doesn’t seem to matter too much when you’re in paradise.
The second part of the book was a complete surprise, but a pleasant one. It reminded me of exactly how we were at the start of the pandemic, wiping down anything that came from outside, not opening mail for days and for some of us stripping as soon as we came in from work for fear we’d brought the virus home with us. I am a support worker and so had no choice but to go into work and look after people that had Covid-19 because as much as I was scared, I knew that they needed me more. One line that sticks in my head is also one that I thought myself: “Well if I catch it, I catch it” and that became my opinion for a lot of the pandemic.
It was a nice change that not everything was tied up with a neat little bow at the end of this book, as that’s how life is sometimes. I really enjoyed this book and I feel like it will be one of those that helps us to remember the pandemic in years to come.
Dean (6927 KP) rated Dead Island in Video Games
Jul 17, 2017
Great Graphics (4 more)
Huge areas to explore
Free roam mostly
Different characters
20-30 hours game time 1st time round
Some tricky bits to get past (1 more)
Losing custom weapons
Zombie Island vacation
A brilliant game going back a few years now. You have huge areas to roam as you please most of the time with a few key points to complete to advance. If you want to jump in a jeep and run down zombies you can! The game is huge and with a lot of exploring will take over 20 hours to complete first time round. You have a few players with different skills you can build on to add to the replay value. The graphics were great for the time, bright colorful and detailed. You can create custom weapons with various abilities. The only real downside was if you died sometimes it could mean a good 5 minutes or more to get back to that area to try again. Some of the enemies got repetitive and were just a higher level later on. Overall though a game to lose yourself in for hours as you bash zombies in a tropical paradise. It has almost a cinematic quality at times. Wouldn't surprise me if it gets a film one day.
Whatchareadin (174 KP) rated The Coldest Winter Ever in Books
May 10, 2018
Winter Santiaga is a girl whose whole world gets flipped upside down in a matter of moments. Winter thinks she is living the high life. She dresses in the best clothes, dates whoever she wants and gets whatever she asks for.
Her father, who goes by just Santiaga, is a big deal in the neighborhood. Mostly everyone is on his payroll and nothing goes down without his knowledge. When the Santiaga's move out of Brooklyn and to Long Island, things take a turn for the worse. With both of her parents arrested and her sisters wards of the state, Winter does all she can to survive.
Winter is a bitch!! I hate to use that word, but she really is. All of these people who try to help her, but she can't see the help for the all mighty dollar. She wants to follow in her father's footsteps and make that quick money, but it's not going to work for her the way that she is hoping.
Will Winter be able to survive and make it for herself? Will she be able to save her mother from the thing that used to keep her family together? Will she get the man she has always wanted?
Her father, who goes by just Santiaga, is a big deal in the neighborhood. Mostly everyone is on his payroll and nothing goes down without his knowledge. When the Santiaga's move out of Brooklyn and to Long Island, things take a turn for the worse. With both of her parents arrested and her sisters wards of the state, Winter does all she can to survive.
Winter is a bitch!! I hate to use that word, but she really is. All of these people who try to help her, but she can't see the help for the all mighty dollar. She wants to follow in her father's footsteps and make that quick money, but it's not going to work for her the way that she is hoping.
Will Winter be able to survive and make it for herself? Will she be able to save her mother from the thing that used to keep her family together? Will she get the man she has always wanted?
Merissa (12841 KP) rated Carnal Secrets Box Set in Books
Mar 18, 2019
Carnal Secrets Box Set by Vonna Harper
This box set comprises the first three stories in the Carnal Secrets series. All of the stories are very #DARK, with non-con sex, kidnap, abuse, to name just three. This is not a box set for the faint-hearted.
Out of the three, I thought Naked Nights was the strongest, with Taking Her Down as the weakest. All of the stories had mixed elements to them, some which I thought were well done, others, not so much. Taking Her Down though was too confusing from the start. There was no clear clarification about the whole story/role-play - with hints given about a possible supernatural element to the island and how it affects the characters, but nothing ever being said out loud or being made clear. Other characters definitely need more to them as they seem to play a big role, but then fade into the distance.
A box set to pass the time if you fancy something dark, but that won't make you think too deeply.
* 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!
Out of the three, I thought Naked Nights was the strongest, with Taking Her Down as the weakest. All of the stories had mixed elements to them, some which I thought were well done, others, not so much. Taking Her Down though was too confusing from the start. There was no clear clarification about the whole story/role-play - with hints given about a possible supernatural element to the island and how it affects the characters, but nothing ever being said out loud or being made clear. Other characters definitely need more to them as they seem to play a big role, but then fade into the distance.
A box set to pass the time if you fancy something dark, but that won't make you think too deeply.
* 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!
Lee (2222 KP) rated The Red Turtle (2016) in Movies
Mar 19, 2018
Mesmerisingly Beautiful
I'd not heard a great deal about this Studio Ghibli movie, other than some fairly positive buzz online, so when it hit Amazon Prime at Christmas last year, I quickly added it to my watch list. It's taken all this time, until a cold and wintry Sunday afternoon in March, for me to finally sit down and watch it.
A man is washed up on a deserted island and after exploring his surroundings, sets about trying to escape. He builds a number of rafts from the trees but each time his escape is thwarted by an unknown force breaking his raft apart from beneath. On the third time this happens, the man discovers the cause of the destruction to be a large red turtle and when he later sees the turtle shuffling up the beach, he seeks revenge, overturning it and leaving it to suffer in the heat of the sun as it fails to correct itself.
Eventually the man feels remorse, but it appears to be too late...
Not a single word is spoken throughout the whole movie (other than the occasional 'Hey!'). It's a simple, beautiful tale that drew me in and left me feeling totally mesmerised and emotional with it's profound ideas and messages. Simply wonderful.
A man is washed up on a deserted island and after exploring his surroundings, sets about trying to escape. He builds a number of rafts from the trees but each time his escape is thwarted by an unknown force breaking his raft apart from beneath. On the third time this happens, the man discovers the cause of the destruction to be a large red turtle and when he later sees the turtle shuffling up the beach, he seeks revenge, overturning it and leaving it to suffer in the heat of the sun as it fails to correct itself.
Eventually the man feels remorse, but it appears to be too late...
Not a single word is spoken throughout the whole movie (other than the occasional 'Hey!'). It's a simple, beautiful tale that drew me in and left me feeling totally mesmerised and emotional with it's profound ideas and messages. Simply wonderful.
Awix (3310 KP) rated The Wicker Man (1973) in Movies
Feb 18, 2018 (Updated Feb 18, 2018)
British folk-horror film is part of the mini-boom in 'British civil servant travels by seaplane to sun-obsessed Christopher Lee's remote island in search of missing girl, discovers Britt Ekland waiting for him' movies that happened in 1973-4. Devout Christian copper (Woodward) visits Summerisle (off the Scottish coast) after receiving a tip-off about a vanishing schoolgirl, is appalled by what he sees as the immorality of the islanders. The lord of the place (Lee) assures him that there's nothing to be worried about, they just have different ethical standards (they're all Pagans), but Woodward is not convinced. Is something nasty lined up for May Day?
Books have been written about the tortuous distribution endured by The Wicker Man and its producers; rumours persist that the original much longer version is buried under a motorway somewhere in England. But all the available cuts are excellent, if not superb: the film is not particularly scary per se, more a queasy examination of how society, morality and religion intersect with one another; manages to make moral relativism seem more disturbing than devil-worship, somehow. Has one of the greatest non-endings in cinema history. Great performances, banging tunes, thoughtful and playful script; a film for all seasons, but goes especially well with a barbecue.
Books have been written about the tortuous distribution endured by The Wicker Man and its producers; rumours persist that the original much longer version is buried under a motorway somewhere in England. But all the available cuts are excellent, if not superb: the film is not particularly scary per se, more a queasy examination of how society, morality and religion intersect with one another; manages to make moral relativism seem more disturbing than devil-worship, somehow. Has one of the greatest non-endings in cinema history. Great performances, banging tunes, thoughtful and playful script; a film for all seasons, but goes especially well with a barbecue.
Erika Kehlet (21 KP) rated The Silver Witch in Books
Feb 21, 2018
This novel is told in both the present and in ancient Celtic times, both storylines taking place in the same locale. In present day Wales, following the death of her husband, Tilda moves into the house that she and Matt had purchased to start their new life in together. After spending some time alone in her cottage, Tilda starts to experience strange things, and finds a new sort of power developing inside her. In ancient times, we hear the story of Seren, a shaman and seer to a Celtic Prince who lived on a man-made island in the middle of the lake near Tilda's cottage.
Each story on its is intriguing. We know early on that there is a connection between the two women, but it takes longer for Tilda to realize why she feels such an affinity for the lake and the area around her new home. By the time she does, her life and the life of her new love may be in more danger than she can handle.
This book has a little bit of everything. Historical fiction, fantasy, suspense, and a touch of romance. I highly recommend this one if you are a fan of any of those genres.
Each story on its is intriguing. We know early on that there is a connection between the two women, but it takes longer for Tilda to realize why she feels such an affinity for the lake and the area around her new home. By the time she does, her life and the life of her new love may be in more danger than she can handle.
This book has a little bit of everything. Historical fiction, fantasy, suspense, and a touch of romance. I highly recommend this one if you are a fan of any of those genres.
Nicole Hadley (380 KP) rated Vanished: True Tales of Mysterious Disappearances in Books
Jun 18, 2018
<a href="https://awindowintobooks.wordpress.com">Full Review</a>
Vanished: True Tales of Mysterious Disappearances by Elizabeth MacLeod is a non-fiction book for middle grade readers. The book discusses six stories about mysterious disappearances in chronological order. It starts with the 17th-century in North Carolina with the settlement of Roanoke Island, and ends with a 1990 art heist from Boston’s Isabella Stewart Gardner Art Museum.
The author could have taken on a negative tone with the subject but instead MacLeod is enthusiastic. The upbeat tone draws the reader into each mystery. Each story is filled with interesting facts and information.With each story there are pictures within the design.
The design of the book is uncluttered, featuring sidebars and appropriate images. The design also includes historical photographs, maps, and posters. These visuals add to the overall effectiveness of the book.
Each story begins with a factionalize vignette, which provides some background information about the disappearance. The ending of each section could have ended with a more smooth conclusion instead of abruptly. The combination of MacLeod’s storytelling and the resources included at the back of the book are sure to engage.
I received this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Vanished: True Tales of Mysterious Disappearances by Elizabeth MacLeod is a non-fiction book for middle grade readers. The book discusses six stories about mysterious disappearances in chronological order. It starts with the 17th-century in North Carolina with the settlement of Roanoke Island, and ends with a 1990 art heist from Boston’s Isabella Stewart Gardner Art Museum.
The author could have taken on a negative tone with the subject but instead MacLeod is enthusiastic. The upbeat tone draws the reader into each mystery. Each story is filled with interesting facts and information.With each story there are pictures within the design.
The design of the book is uncluttered, featuring sidebars and appropriate images. The design also includes historical photographs, maps, and posters. These visuals add to the overall effectiveness of the book.
Each story begins with a factionalize vignette, which provides some background information about the disappearance. The ending of each section could have ended with a more smooth conclusion instead of abruptly. The combination of MacLeod’s storytelling and the resources included at the back of the book are sure to engage.
I received this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Awix (3310 KP) rated Cats (2019) in Movies
Dec 24, 2019
Here's where I wrinkle my nose up at the Smashbomb scoring system - Cats isn't so much 'shoddy' as - well, it's such a particularly strange film that it's actually quite hard to tell whether it's any good or not. My instinct is to say not: a selection of character actors, comedians and musical theatre stars are CGI'd into human-animal hybrids like something out of The Island of Dr Moreau and hoof and yowl their way through a selection of TS Eliot's comic poems set to music. The plot does a good impression of being absolute gibberish, as the singing cat-people compete to get sent off to the bit of the sky that radio waves bounce off where they will receive a new life, while Idris Elba schemes to rig the contest. It's just weird.
Alternatively, this is a quasi-Lovecraftian surreal Arabesque which, fatally, fails to consider the difference between presentational and representational performance modes inherent in the transference of a narrative between theatrical and cinematic contexts. (i.e., people dressed as singing cats in a theatre can be beautiful and moving; people CGI'd into singing cats in a big-budget movie is more disturbing than anything else.) Jennifer Hudson's maximum-Streep, maximum-volume onslaught on 'Memory' made me want to hide under my seat.
Alternatively, this is a quasi-Lovecraftian surreal Arabesque which, fatally, fails to consider the difference between presentational and representational performance modes inherent in the transference of a narrative between theatrical and cinematic contexts. (i.e., people dressed as singing cats in a theatre can be beautiful and moving; people CGI'd into singing cats in a big-budget movie is more disturbing than anything else.) Jennifer Hudson's maximum-Streep, maximum-volume onslaught on 'Memory' made me want to hide under my seat.
Mothergamer (1568 KP) rated the PlayStation 4 version of Dragon Quest Builders 2 in Video Games
Jul 29, 2019
Fun Builds, Great Story
I love the game because it is done in a way that makes building fun and tells a great story. It also improved on issues that the first game had such as having to build your base when monsters would destroy it. They made the villagers more interactive with your builder so that they actually help you rebuild the base if it gets destroyed and will help build things on their own as well. The combat system is improved and you actually have a companion with you helping you fight. You can be as creative as you want with your own island and you can play co-op with friends which is a lot of fun. You can also share your builds with other people in the game via a notice board and can see their builds as well with the snapshot feature. You can take a picture of your builds and share it. It's interesting to see how creative everyone gets with their builds. The game is so much fun to play and time passes very quickly as you build, fight monsters, and follow the story. Overall, it is a great game that is fantastic for everyone.