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Monkey Shines: An Experiment in Fear (1988)
Monkey Shines: An Experiment in Fear (1988)
1988 | Horror
8
6.7 (3 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Starring Jason Beghe and Janine Turner, Monkey Shines is indeed an experiment in fear and it may, just possibly, give you a ear of monkeys! Allan Mann (Jason Beghe) has changed since his accident left him paralysed from the neck down and has become a bitter, angry and vengeful man. He’s fed up with himself and everyone around him, could life be any different for him now, but everything changes when he’s given Ella, a monkey trained to meet his every need.
  
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Merissa (11666 KP) rated Against the Darkness (Cimmerian Moon #1) in Books

Apr 7, 2023 (Updated Apr 10, 2023)  
Against the Darkness (Cimmerian Moon #1)
Against the Darkness (Cimmerian Moon #1)
A.M. Griffin | 2014 | Romance, Science Fiction/Fantasy, Young Adult (YA)
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
This story starts with a grumpy 17-year-old as she is packed off to Band Camp and refuses to kiss her mom goodbye. Fast forward 20 odd days and the world as she knew it has completely changed. You find out what happened from her perspective and how they are trying to make it back 'home,' if the home still even exists.

This story is gripping and fulfilling. They have a hard time as they are trying to survive and you feel the pain and loss that they go through. This is not a smooth journey with a handful of hardships thrown in for good measure. No, this is serious work where they are fighting for survival every day.

Yes, there's a love triangle but thankfully no insta-love. Wade is the once overweight Band member who suddenly, possibly for a long time but we don't know for sure, wants to be with Sinta. Jason is the boy/man who helps to rescue them from a horrifying situation. I felt that this part was exceedingly well written as Sinta is really troubled about what is going on, Wade tries his best and Jason keeps his distance.

This is definitely a page-turner and you will be wanting to start The Ashes That Remain which is book 2 in this series as soon as you finish this one.
 
* 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!
April 8, 2017
  
A Stranger on the Beach
A Stranger on the Beach
Michele Campbell | 2019 | Crime, Mystery, Thriller
10
8.0 (5 Ratings)
Book Rating
This book was EXCELLENT. I was hooked from the very first line and I could not stop reading. Fun, fast-paced, and completely intriguing - Michele Campbell has done it again!

There is a stranger outside Caroline's house.

Or is he?

This story was so well-written. It's told from two perspectives: Aiden's and Caroline's. Neither is a particularly reliable narrator, and you will find yourself questioning SO MANY THINGS. There were quite a few scenes which seemed to happen one way when Caroline was narrating, but then seemed to happen a completely different way when Aiden was narrating. Who's telling the truth? What actually happened? How do Caroline's husband, Jason, or her sister, Lynn, figure in to the story? Discovering all of this is half the fun, and I'm being very mindful of spoilers so as not to take that fun away from prospective readers! ?

A Stranger on the Beach is a twisted (and twisty), gripping, page-turner releasing July 23rd - just in time to take it to the beach. Add it to your TBR list now!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to preview this title early in exchange for an honest review.
  
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Kristy H (1252 KP) Mar 23, 2019

Great review! I’m excited to read this!

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MelanieTheresa (997 KP) Mar 24, 2019

Thanks! I'll be excited to hear what you think! ?

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Joss Whedon recommended Magnolia (1999) in Movies (curated)

 
Magnolia (1999)
Magnolia (1999)
1999 | Drama

"We’re back to opera, we haven’t left it — because Magnolia. If you think about the moment Keanu wakes up as a battery, the moment Lana Turner loses it in traffic and is in this insane hysteria of flashing lights that is completely unrealistic, and then you look at the moment where it’s raining frogs. I saw it, and was like, “Is this going to be one of those movies that I don’t like where he looks down on every one?” I think Alexander Payne and Todd Solondz are super talented, but sometimes I don’t want to sit through their movies because the bile is just unbearable. I didn’t really know PT Anderson’s work that well, or what was going to happen. And then, it turns out he loves people so hard that it rains frogs. There is actual opera in this one. Oh, and BT-dubs, there is a musical number. The license and the observation and the amount that he went for it. The craft and his ability to sustain that much — any one of these movies could have fallen into a puddle of pretension, but the mastery behind them meant that they never could. Jason Robards, who happens to be in two of the movies on this list, him actually dying of actual cancer playing a guy dying of cancer, giving that speech. And Tom Cruise giving the best performance he’ll ever give. It just felt so achingly, weirdly logical to me."

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