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Cruella (2021)
Cruella (2021)
2021 | Comedy, Crime
8
8.0 (24 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Back in 1961; Disney adapted the 1056 Novel The Hundred and One Dalmatians and in doing so; crafted a beloved animated classic and introduced the world at large to Cruella De Vil. The film has not only endured but has spawned television series, a direct to video sequel, merchandise, and two live-action versions.

Despite being delayed due to the Pandemic; Disney has scheduled the much-anticipated “Cruella” for release and I am happy to announce that the film is a Wickedly Delicious new entry into the series.

The story follows young Estella as she and her mom plan to start a new life in London in the 1960s. When tragedy strikes, the young girl finds herself on the streets and working a life of crime and grift with fellow street kids Jasper and Horace.

Flash forward to the 1970s and Estella (Emma Stone) toils away in a store cleaning while hoping for her shot in the world of fashion. When fate arrives and places Estella in the path of vain, self-centered, and vicious fashion magnate The Baroness (Emma Thompson); who hires Estella to begin her career in fashion.

The savage way The Baroness treats those around her intimidates Estella but her friends Jasper (Joel Fry) and Horace (Paul Walter Hauser); see this as an opportunity to rob from The Baroness and this places them at odds with Estella as her designs start to gain traction.

When situations clarify and things begin to evolve into a mission of revenge; Estella transforms into Cruella which had long been the name associated with the darker side of her personality.

Cruella takes the fashion world by storm for her innovative looks, bold designs, and theatrical events which upstage the Baroness at major fashion events.

With her sales and reputation in decline, The Baroness declares war on Cruella which sets a dark and sinister series of events into motion which drives the film into darker content then one may expect from a Disney film.

The cast is very strong as Stone and Thompson are amazing as they are both wicked and captivating without ever going to far over the top or extreme with their characters. The supporting cast is great as well as Fry who was hysterical in the series Plebs brings a depth to Jasper which takes him above just being a stumbling sidekick.

Mark Strong also does great work and elevated all the scenes in which he was in with his strong presence. While at first I wondered if we really needed to have this part of Cruella’s life told; the story is engaging and the cast is fantastic which makes this movie dark and delightful.

While elements of it may not be ideal for younger viewers; the story was captivating and the performances were amazingly engaging.

The film ran about two hours and 10 minutes and seemed a bit long in one segment but the film does regroup brings the story home. There is a mid-credit scene audiences will want to stay for as it was an unexpected and very charming nod to what is to come and is not to be missed.

It will be interesting to see if the film is the hit that I expect it to be if Disney will consider more films in the series as it would be amazing to see this cast return for further wickedly dark adventures.

4 stars out of 5
  
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Necole (36 KP) rated The Patient in Books

Nov 24, 2021  
The Patient
The Patient
Jasper Dewitt | 2020 | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
7
7.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Asylum Fright
November 20, 2021

I just got done reading The Patient by Jasper Dewitt and was not expecting to get sucked into a one morning read-a-thon. I think I read it in maybe 2 ½ hours. With that being said, I gave this book a 3-star review, although it should be a 3 ½-star review. I will start with the good and end with the bad.

A young, overconfident psychiatrist gets a new job at a mental asylum and chronicles his attempts to treat a profoundly disturbed patient who has been in the hospital since early childhood through a series of online posts. Each chapter is a new day and a new post that Parker has shared with the readers. This manuscript writing style was a unique way to give us Parker’s perspective and account of what occurred with patient “Joe”. I also enjoyed the transcripts and the audio tapes added into the chapters. These few thing added more layers to the story, sucked you in deeper, and gave an unexpecting twist to the book. It was like you were really reading a true account from whom it occurred to.
After reading all the hype and the synopsis of the book, I was hooked and reeled in. A psychiatrist, a mental patient, an asylum set in my home state of Connecticut, strange occurrences to those who have treated patient “Joe”, misdiagnosis’, undiagnosis’, a 30 plus year mystery … The Patient seemed to have it all!!! Even dark, creepy, supernatural horror!!! A perfectly blended cocktail of psychological thriller and supernatural horror.

Unfortunately, it fell flat for me. I kept anticipating more twists, turns, gore and scare. I wanted this book to haunt me well after I finished. The ending felt rushed and not well thought out, I felt like I was cheated out of being scared out of my mind. There was enough horror, suspense, thrills and mystery to keep me reading but after completing The Patient, I just felt let down. I feel like even as the story unfolds, Jasper could have gotten more in depth with the creepy and horror factor but instead it was almost basic. I tried to let my imagination scare with the images the author tries to put in your mind but again I was disappointed.
If you want a quick read that will scare you a little but will keep the suspense up, then pick this up because one person’s opinion is not another’s and who knows, you might scare more easily than me.
  
Another fun fantasy adventure that picks up right after the events of The Last Dragonslayer. I just love the world Jasper Fforde has built here and the characters feel like old friends. Oh, and I really want a quarkbeast!! My main complaint with this one, and from the little I've read of the third one, is a lack of continuity in places. Dragonslayer is set in the "capital city of Hereford in the kingdom of the same name" whose monarch is the nefarious King Snod. When Quarkbeast begins and Jennifer is summarizing the details of her world and the events of Dragonslayer the kingdom name has changed from Hereford to Snod with no explanation. This kinda threw me a bit, things like that are a pet peeve of mine, but I decided to overlook it. Then I finish this one and start the sample of book three and it happened again, the end of Quark and the beginning of the Eye of Zoltar don't match up. At the end of Quark Jennifer talks about all the repairs they made to zambini towers and in the beginning of Zoltar she says they didn't happen. Im not sure if it was intentional or just bad editing but it's a bit irritating in an otherwise wonderful series.
  
Shadowplay (Micah Grey #2)
Shadowplay (Micah Grey #2)
Laura Lam | 2016 | LGBTQ+, Romance, Science Fiction/Fantasy
8
7.5 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
Contains spoilers, click to show
Old magics are waking. But will the world survive their return?

Micah Grey almost died when he fled the circus with Drystan - now he and the ex-clown seek to outrun disaster. Drystan persuades his old friend Jasper Maske, a once-renowned magician, to take them in. But when he agrees to teach them his trade, Maske is challenged to the ultimate high-stakes duel by his embittered arch-nemesis.

Micah must perfect his skills of illusion, while navigating a tender new love. An investigator is also hunting the person he once seemed to be - a noble family's runaway daughter. As the duel draws near, Micah increasingly suffers from visions showing him real magic and future terrors. Events that broke the ancient world are being replayed. But can Micah's latent powers influence this deadly pattern?

The second installment of this trilogy and it started very slow for me I did struggle to keep myself focused. But it got better the longer it went on. Learning more about Micah and Drystan was good as well as their relationship development finally seeing them can me together was quite sweet. I loved the magic and introduction of Cyan. What will the 3rd book bring.




⭐⭐⭐

  
The Constant Rabbit
The Constant Rabbit
Jasper Fforde | 2020 | Contemporary, Humor & Comedy
9
8.5 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
The humour and rabbit culture references (0 more)
I was given an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I’m a big fan of authors like Terry Pratchet, Robert Rankin, Jasper Fforde, and Tom Holt. Books written within the realms of the ridiculous, that make me smile, definitely get my vote. So when a new book by Jasper fforde comes out, about a society of anthropomorphised rabbits, I’m definitely on board.

The premise is really interesting. Decades ago an unexplained event led to a bunch of rabbits morphing into humanoid form. They’re still rabbits in essence, but just the size of humans and with the ability of human speech. Well these rabbits bred like the proverbial rabbit, and cut to present day where there are millions of anthropomorphised rabbits living in Britain. Still being the ‘sub-species’ though they live and work in a lesser capacity than most humans.

This book is a very intricately woven story about the prejudices that the rabbits face, their efforts to overcome it, and their ultimate acceptance that things are never going to change.

Interspersed with the usual Fforde humour, where Humans are often referred to as ‘Fudds’ (a reference to Elmer Fudd), and a detailed description of the ‘Beatrix potter’ clothing range. There are also some harsh ‘close to the bone’ observations. Our protagonist works for a certain government department as a ‘spotter’, his job is to go through the database and identify certain rabbits. It’s a special skill, as to most humans, ‘All rabbits look the same’.

At a time when the subject of racism is very much in the forefront of everyones minds and in the news every day, this is an interesting book. He’s not making light of the subject of racism, far from it. His jibes are more at the state of the UK and it’s various political and ethical issues.

For example, in the book there is a group called ‘TwoLegsGood’ a supremacist factor. This group, on finding out that a certain rabbit has committed an act that THEY consider a crime, drag him from his house in the middle of the night and ‘jug’ him! This involves upending him in a forty-gallon drum of cheap gravy that had been seasoned with bay leaves, celery, thyme, juniper berries and red wine (I see you smiling there!) It is later discovered to be a case of mistaken identity with TwoLegsGood showing no remorse, under the presumption he’s a rabbit and is bound to be guilty of something.

Funny right?

Now take out the fact the victim is a rabbit and the drum is filled with cheap seasoned gravy, and it’s not so funny anymore, it’s actually a serious and reprehensible crime.

That is the beauty of satire and the genius of this book.

A well thought out piece of satiric writing tackling the ‘hot potato’ subject of race. A light-hearted read with a serious message.
  
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Untamed (Uninhibited, #1)
8
9.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
Actual rating: 3.5 stars.
<i>Many thanks to the publisher for providing me with an advanced reading copy in exchange for an honest review. </i>

I was a little dubious reading this little serial as I've not read anything by the author before and I generally don't read 5 star reviews because of personal choices.

Going into <i>Untamed </i> I was pleasantly surprised by the way it was written. I had expected it to be a quick serial number with little going on and a quick steamy sex scene but there was plenty happening in this serial.

Dr Cari Dunn is a celebrity architect with a stalker. A pretty crazy stalker as stalkers are want to be. The network she does a TV show for hires a bodyguard to protect her - queue Jasper. A sinfully hot male with an alpha streak - just how I like my males!

As it's a pretty short price of writing everything meshes together nicely with a wickedly good sex scene and a great cliffhanger that leaves the series open for the next instalment which is released a week after this one.

I think the one big thing that put me off a bit was the mention of Christian Grey. Those are two words that will put me off any book but thankfully he was only mentioned once in passing.

We'll see where the next part takes us in this ride.
  
New Moon (Twilight, #2)
New Moon (Twilight, #2)
Stephenie Meyer | 2006 | Science Fiction/Fantasy, Young Adult (YA)
6
6.9 (85 Ratings)
Book Rating
I remember this book being a lot worse. I was actually pleasantly surprised when, on reading it again, I felt some empathy for Bella.

Here's the story:

Bella and Edward are happy, lalala. Jasper freaks out at her birthday and Edward decides this would be a great time to desert Bella and tell her he doesn't love her anymore. The thing here, is...I understand the motivation, and it kinda makes sense, but it was executed so bady, you have to wonder if Edward actually <i>loves</i> Bella or is just toying with her emotions.

Bella ends up transferring her codependence on Jacob and trying dangerous things so she can hear Edward's voice in her head. Now, in my opinion, this book would have been much better if Edward and Bella were presented as mentally unstable and emotionally damaged, because that's how they come across.

As much as I have been unimpressed with Meyer's writing in the past, the scenes depicting Bella's depression were pretty much on target, and in a way almost painful to read.

I still don't get the swooning over Edward thing. I'm just not that impressed with him. He spent the first book alternately growling, sneering, and laughing at Bella. It makes me want to lock him in a room with Stefan Salvatore and see who whines the most.

To recap: this book would be amazing if it had different characters who acted competely differently. As it stands, it's just "okay".
  
Early Riser
Early Riser
6
8.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
Slow plot compromises the book
I enjoyed the concept of this one and the world building. It was interesting and definitely something different.

Charlie is your lovable loser who doesn’t have much going for him but has this perfect opportunity to do better. Other characters make the story colorful and engaging (The Toccata/Aurora arc is amusing and fun to read). Each character has their own quirks and personality traits which makes the book develop a personality of its own.

The concept of people going into hibernation, and the viral dreams is interesting and makes the world unique and unbelievable but also fun to read. The world building itself in the novel is also interesting. I took a liking to the Villains and their stamp collecting, although they play a small part in the novel, think of them as elegant pirates with a penchant for stamps.

So although the characters and the setting is interesting, the plot itself falls flat and is very slow. There’s sporadic moments to carry the book along, but overall the book in its entirety is slow paced. It did feel a bit of a chore to read for the most part which is unfortunate as there the setting and the characters proved to be promising but the plot could have been better.

This was my first Jasper Fforde book, so I’m willing to give the other books a chance as I’m sure they’re better this one. It’s not that I didn’t like reading it, but it was the slow pace of the plot that nearly compromised my attention and rather affected my reading and enjoyment of the book.
  
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Mothergamer (1517 KP) rated the PC version of Fable III in Video Games

Apr 3, 2019  
Fable III
Fable III
Role-Playing
I finished my first play through of Fable 3. I did pick the hero role my first time through. You can choose to play an evil tyrant also. I loved hearing John Cleese as the voice of your trusty butler Jasper, along with other recognizable voices throughout the game such as Simon Pegg and Ben Kingsley. The first half of the game follows the template of exploration, quests, and combat as you recruit followers and gather an army as either a prince or princess of Albion. While some of the quests are courier (package delivery) quests, there are quests that are creative with things like donning a chicken costume, performing in a play, or wearing a disguise.
 Once you have your army, the revolution can begin and Fable 3 becomes a tactician strategy game where the tough decisions you make actually have an impact in the story. Interaction with others is one on one now making it easier to recruit followers or woo a spouse. Another thing that I loved is the solution to the clunky menu system. That is gone and you now have the sanctuary where you can organize weapons, costumes, and your full magic arsenal. There is also an offline and online co-op feature that works really well so you can play with others and pool together treasure, resources, and rewards from adventuring together.
 That isn't to say that there aren't any problems. There are a few. At times, there are loading time issues with the load screen as you enter a new area. There are also little graphic errors here and there where you're holding an npc's hand for a quest and as you are running, it looks like they're not holding hands with you, or they end up stopping and standing there so you have to come back to get them. Even with the world map and fast travel, there still seems to be a loading issue.
 However, you forget all that as you play Fable 3 immersed in fun quests, planning a revolution, and deciding if you will be a hero or a villain. Who knew revolution could be so much fun?
  
The Glasshouse (Lavender Shores #6)
The Glasshouse (Lavender Shores #6)
Rosalind Abel | 2018 | Contemporary, LGBTQ+, Romance
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
love love LOVE this series!
Independent reviewer for Archaeolibrarian, I was gifted my copy of this book.

This is book 6 in the series, but you don't need to have read there other books to follow this one. They can all be read as stand alones. But they are all 4 and 5 star reviews, from me!

I keep flipping from 4 to 5 stars and back to four again, and I have no idea why I keep crossing the numbers out at the top of the page, so gonna split the difference and call it 4.5 stars, rounded up to 5 for the blog!

A little bit more of an emotional read, this one. I felt for Harrison, I really did. I cried for him when he runs, first from Will then from Adrian. And cheered for him when he finds himself, after being someone else for everyone for so very long.

But equally, Adrian wrecks your heart too! While he fights for what he feels for Harrison in the beginning, then letting it all out and going all in, and when he was waiting for Harrison to come back to him. Oh Lord, the waiting was painful!

Harrison's brother Jasper plays a huge part here, and I think he should get a story too. Adrian's brother too, but to a lesser degree. He needs a happy ever after though, after such loss. OH!! Did I see that one being laid out?? Maybe not, we'll see!

But my overwhelming feeling (and ya'll know I'm all about sharing the feelings!) is that I want, no, I NEED the story of Adrian's uncles, Alex and Alan. Alex' diary was found in one of the couples (I forget which) house when they are remodeling. Adrian references Alex' diary here, and I so desperately want to hear their story. Although members of the Founding Families, they didn't have it as easy as the guys in Lavender Shores do now. I think THEIR story would be a welcome addition to this series.

As I read each one of these books, I find once I start, I cannot stop and I have read most of them in one sitting. They aren't short books, some 300 pages but everything just grinds to a halt when I start. So, please, keep them coming!

Ah stuff it!

5 full and shiny stars!

**same worded review will appear elsewhe