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Dana (24 KP) rated The Winner's Kiss in Books

Mar 23, 2018  
The Winner's Kiss
The Winner's Kiss
Marie Rutkoski | 2016 | Children
8
7.5 (4 Ratings)
Book Rating
So my rating for this is actually a 3.5 stars instead of a 4 stars, but I rounded up. Oh and there will be spoilers in this review, so you have been warned.

This was an okay ending for the series-it wasn't bad but it wasn't bad either.

The characters got whiny and I only understood some of their motivations for what they did. Kestrel and Arin were very angsty throughout the series, and they did not disappoint in this book either.

I understand Kestrel had to forget herself in the work camp to be able to survive the camp and to become a better person afterwards, but to me, it was kinda pointless. Yes, she gets to start a new relationship with Arin and everyone else, but it seemed like a cover for the story to be able to go on without as many hitches. She was still able to retain some of herself, but most of her memories were gone? That just didn't make much sense to me. With that, how would she remember how to play the games so well if her mind was gone? I'm pretty sure that war strategy doesn't stay with you longer than your core memories, but hey, that's just my opinion. Another convenient thing that came with Kestrel's memory loss was that some of the previous novels' subplots were not touched on because she couldn't remember them. Again, not really my favorite thing in the world when it comes to writing.

Because of these couple of things, I did see quite a few plot holes that were too big for me not to notice.

I liked Arin the tiger. I want a tiger friend because that would be awesome.

I also really liked the clever way Kestrel took down the emperor. That was a brilliant move and I was actually really worried for her when I was reading that part of the book.

Overall, it was paced quite well, it was a very quick read, but there were plot and characterization problems that kept me from absolutely loving it. I am glad that I finished reading this series and that I waited to be able to binge read them all in one summer, but it was also kind of a let down from what I had expected.

If you like books with interesting concepts, lands, and politics, definitely pick this series up because, like I said before, I didn't dislike it! Not by a long shot!
  
The Cheerleaders
The Cheerleaders
Kara Thomas | 2018 | Crime, Fiction & Poetry, Young Adult (YA)
5
6.8 (4 Ratings)
Book Rating
Semi-interesting Plot (0 more)
Two-dimensional characters (1 more)
Pacing all over the place
A Forgettable Read
When I first read the synopsis for The Cheerleaders by Kara Thomas, I was intrigued. This book was high on my TBR list. When I got the chance to read it, I was ecstatic. However, I was left feeling a bit disappointed after finishing it.

The pacing for The Cheerleaders is a bit all over the place. Sometimes it would be really slow, sometimes it would be a decent pace, and other times, it would just be too fast! I will admit that the pacing got better during the second half of the book. Still, I did find myself becoming bored with the book mostly during the first half. However, most of the book held my attention long enough for me to keep on reading.

The world building was fairly believable although I did have a hard time believing the police would miss some of the more obvious things I won't go into due to spoilers. There's one thing that is described at the end that I wondered how that was never discovered. Maybe the police force in the town of Sunnybrook just aren't very efficient at their jobs. Anyway, the plot has been done before, but it was still fairly interesting to read about. After finding her dead sister's old cell phone and a note saying "connect the dots" on a photo of the 5 dead cheerleaders in her step-father's locked drawer, Monica starts doing some detective work. She doesn't believe her sister would have committed suicide. As she starts digging deeper, she finds out some things aren't what they seem. The plot had some twists. I do believe some of the plot twists were predictable while others were not. I did get the killer wrong though. I will admit that. One of things that felt out of place was the book starting off with Monica's abortion. I really don't see the point of it. It isn't really mentioned again after the first few chapters. Also, there's a paragraph of politics thrown in the book that I didn't know why it was in there. It was as if the author just wanted her audience to know what her political leanings were.

I felt like the characters for The Cheerleaders were all a bit two dimensional. The author tried to make them fleshed out a bit more, but they just felt a bit flat to me. I felt as if they were all a little conceited especially Monica, the main character, for my liking. There were so many times I rolled my eyes at Monica. I just did not and could not bring myself to like her no matter how hard I tried. I felt like she was a bit spoiled and selfish. I did like Ginny though. I just wish she was more fleshed out. I also would have liked to read more about Ethan. I find him to be an interesting character.

Trigger warnings for The Cheerleaders include swearing, murder, death, some violence, underage drinking, drugs (pill popping), abortion, kissing, talks of suicide, and implied sexual situations.

All in all, The Cheerleaders was just an okay read. Nothing really stood out, and I imagine I'll forget about this book soon which is a shame because it sounded really good going by the synopsis. The plot was somewhat interesting, and it did hold my attention for the most part, so it has that going for it. I'm on the fence about whether I'd recommend The Cheerleaders by Kara Thomas. Actually, I would recommend people to read it and come to their own conclusions.
  
Death Overdue
Death Overdue
Allison Brook | 2018 | Mystery
2
2.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Wasn't enough to get my attention
What I enjoyed the most about this novel is the relationships Carrie develops throughout the book. She finally finds her place in the small town, has a mystery to solve, develops friendships, and even has a ghost to help her out with the mystery.

The book was all right, but it wasn’t that great either. The mystery aspect was fine and you were guessing throughout the novel, a few red herrings planted here and there. I took a liking to Carrie’s Aunt and Uncle who are loving and great characters and treat Carrie like gold. The mood and setting of the book was also pretty good. It’s quaint and cozy like it should be. There’s even a library cat that comes into the story. Libraries and cats just go together so well :)

The romance aspect of the book was one of the weak points. At first you thought Carrie was going to go for one person but then it turns out to be someone completely different and you’re left wondering where did this come from all of a sudden. It’s awkwardly placed and just doesn’t feel quite right until later. It’s almost as if Carrie’s crush was placed there conveniently just when it was time to solve the mystery. A bit eye rolling, but nevertheless still awkward.

Although the ghost assists Carrie when possible you’d rather wish there was more to her story instead of just being a secondary assistant. Perhaps that will be further developed and mentioned as the series progresses. The revealing of the culprit and the climax ending was pretty good and satisfactory but by the time this was happening I was pretty much done.

So although the setting, the characters, and the mystery were fine, it just wasn’t enough to get me to continue onto reading the series. To me, it just seemed to dragged towards the last half of the book and I did put it down several times because it didn’t seem to be progressing anywhere. Other cozy mystery readers may enjoy this more than I will though, as this is one of the better ones out there. Worth picking up if you’re into small towns, libraries and a ghostly assistant.
  
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019)
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019)
2019 | Crime, Drama, Thriller
All style, too much substance
I'm a big Tarantino fan and I really wanted to like this film, but I'm afraid like The Hateful Eight before it, I just found it far too rambling and long winded.

Don't get me wrong, I get what he was trying to do here with the classic Hollywood era, I just think it has been poorly executed. Instead of going for 'all style, no substance', Tarantino appears to have gone for all style and too much substance. Visually this film looks stunning, the set design and the costumes look amazing. The cast are brilliant, there's some great supporting faces in this and truly marvellous turns from Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio. Honestly it's these two that kept my attention for the nearly 3 hour run time. The ideas are good and the dialogue is good, the problem is that there's just way too much of it. Every scene has been dragged out way past the point of enjoyment, and there are so many pointless scenes in this that could easily have been cut out without affecting the barely there plot. He could've at least replaced some of these dragged out scenes with more of a main plot, especially as the only thing interesting about this film was the small bits with the Mansons in it.

I'm starting to wonder if Tarantino is becoming a bit complacent. He's known for his dialogue, but this is just too much. Its worrying when a 3 hour film gets interesting 15 minutes towards the end, which is the only time we see any in depth violence. Had this film been cut by at least an hour, it would've actually been very good. It's just a shame it had to ramble on for so long.

I've marked this higher than I probably should, but only because there is a lot to appreciate in this film and some wonderful performances, it just should've been in a much shorter runtime. I havent seen The Hateful Eight since it was on at the cinema as I can't bear to put myself through it again, and I'm afraid to say it's the same for this.
  
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
1968 | Classics, Sci-Fi

"When I was seven, my parents were living again in Buenos Aires, and they were going to watch movies all the time. Maybe that day they could not leave me at home because there was no one to take care of me, so I remember we went with my sister and my parents to see 2001. And we were on the first row of the balcony, so we were in front of the movie. And the monkey in front of the monolith, the tunnel of light at the end of the movie, the fetus floating at the end of the movie — all that happening in front of my eyes was, for me, like my very first drug experience — or transcendental experience — ever. I was blown away by the images. And maybe it’s a fake memory that I have, but I remember — during the movie, at that very early age — it seems to me that I liked it much more than my parents, because even then, when I talked about it with my parents, they didn’t really care much about 2001. And for me it became like an obsession. Every summer, or every two summers, the movie was replaying in some theater in Buenos Aires. And I would go again and again and again to watch it. Also because, for me, it was the ultimate image of what the future world could become. And I thought that when I would be maybe 30-40 I would really be living in a world in which it would be easy to go to the moon or do things like that. And to this day when I rewatch that movie, I feel it’s still representing the future in a very accurate way. Besides that, the dresses are very pop art. Since then I’ve seen it like 40, 60 times and I never ever get tired of replaying it. And sometimes even for New Year’s Eve, instead of going out partying, I want to start the year in a good mood so I just stay and put the movie on my DVD player. I know that that movie also — because it’s very tricky — I would say later in my life when I was a teenager doing mushrooms or taking acid, mostly it’s because I wanted to have the same impact in my brain that that movie had when I was a kid. And you can clearly tell that Enter the Void — it’s not an homage, but it’s a movie extremely inspired by 2001. And since then, I collect every single poster of that movie, every single lobby card. I have an obsession. I want to possess that movie, which is totally unpossessable."

Source
  
The Glass Spare (The Glass Spare, #1)
The Glass Spare (The Glass Spare, #1)
Lauren DeStefano | 2017 | Fiction & Poetry
8
8.8 (4 Ratings)
Book Rating
The Glass Spare was a book that at times couldn't decide what it wanted to be. With its steampunk-esque technological innovations thrown in a typical fantasy kingdom setting, the world-building of the story just didn't quite mesh. I'm sure that some people will enjoy that melding, but it personally wasn't seamless enough for me not to detract from the plot. The storyline itself was interesting and the premise was unique. Similar Midas before her, Wil learns that her touch can turn living things into gemstone.

Wil, or Wilhemina, is the fourth child in her family and considered a spare, as she is not the heir to the throne. This status has influenced her thinking and perception of herself, so although she is a strong-willed person who is resourceful, she is also reckless with her life. Whereas Loom was the more intriguing character for me. I was interested to see his motivations and the development of his personality over the course of the book.

While I enjoyed the two main characters, the focus on the story was more on the will they/won't they romance rather than the premise that drew me in initially. I have a difficult time determining if this was insta-love or not, just because the main character wouldn't acknowledge it - yet they were inexplicably drawn together, she couldn't help but want to be near him even though she didn't trust him, etc. It just seemed like the love connection was formed pretty quickly, even if it wasn't explicitly described. 

Despite the book falling a little flat for me some of the time, it intrigued me enough that I am looking forward to the next book in the series. I was left with so many questions that I need to know the answer to and won't receive unless I continue the series.
  
E2-E4 by Manuel Goettsching / Manuel Gottsching
E2-E4 by Manuel Goettsching / Manuel Gottsching
1984 | Electronic, House
(0 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"Andy might have been cheating a little bit by picking two Pogues songs, and I might be doing the same with this, because it’s just under an hour long. I’m getting my money’s worth out of my three picks! “The first time I heard this track was when it was sampled by an Italian house band called Sueño Latino in the late 80s’. Their version had more of a four-on-the-floor kick to it, so you could dance to it and that’s where I first heard it, in Ibiza way back. It really spoke to me straight away; I couldn’t pinpoint any of the sounds and it felt as if it came from the future. It had this Balearic, soulful feel to it and yet it was electronic. It was about as far out a piece of music as I’d experienced and it seemed totally unique at the time. “I slowly unravelled it and got back to the original by Manuel Göttsching, which is just mind-blowing. It goes back to the days of those electronic concept albums. I read somewhere that it wasn’t ever supposed to be released, that he just made it for himself so that he had something to listen to on long-haul flights - which is the kind of self-indulgence you expect from a German electronic pioneer! “I love that it has so much soul and yet it still doesn’t sound as if it’s of this world. It’s a total shapeshifter and there’s still an intoxicating sense of escapism about it for me, which is something I’m always chasing in my own work. Like the Beck and Smiths songs, it was a track that had a profound effect on me, and made me think, “I want to learn how to do that, or at least try. I want to live in that world."

Source
  
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Nick Rhodes recommended Fresh by Sly & The Family Stone in Music (curated)

 
Fresh by Sly & The Family Stone
Fresh by Sly & The Family Stone
(0 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"I discovered this album relatively late. I liked funk, and disco was an earlier discovery for me when I was in my late teens. But, around 1985, I found Sly And The Family Stone. I was about 23 at the time and – wow – was that a discovery, not knowing that that particular album was out there before then. I played it from morning until night before we were doing the Notorious album, which was very influenced by Fresh. For me, it is the greatest funk album. I could have picked a James Brown album – I love Live At The Apollo, which was such a terrific record – but the songs on Fresh like ‘If You Want Me To Stay’ and ‘In Time’ are just masterpieces. Fresh has got such a mood to it. It is very difficult in the studio to capture a mood. In a live show it is easier because there is an atmosphere there already – you’ve got the audience, you are playing together, there is a danger something can go wrong any minute and you will take a song off somewhere and you cannot get yourselves back. But, doing it in a studio and capturing a real vibe is the apex of music. If you can do that and you can get that – then you have something great. The Stones were always very good at that, as were The Who early on. But, this album, Fresh, is just pure vibe and every time I listen to the organ swells in the songs I can almost feel the guy playing them. You don’t get that so much in modern records. That’s what we’ve lost. Andy Newmark played drums on the album and they are some of the greatest drum tracks ever recorded. It’s not just feel – it is vibe. Love it."

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Bride of Re-Animator (1990)
Bride of Re-Animator (1990)
1990 | Comedy, Horror, Sci-Fi
The first Re-Animator definitely ranks in my personal top horrors of all time, and it's sequel isn't that far behind in quality.

First and foremost, Bride of Re-Animator is batshit insane, arguably more so than its predecessor. My the time the climax rolls around, there is just an unholy amount of crazy shit going on at once. It's genuinely quite challenging to take it all in, and it's nothing short of marvelous.
The effects work is outstanding. Practical effects and stop motion are used to bring a plethora of rejected experiments to life, and the whole film is just caked in gore and viscera (be prepared if you get funny about veins and ligaments...)
There's one particular moment that could well be one of the finest examples of body horror ever committed to screen.

The puppeteer of this madness is of course Herbert West, a bonafide icon of horror, and once again played by the great Jeffrey Combs. It's great to see David Gale and Bruce Abbott back for another stint as well, and Kathleen Kinmont gives it her all as the titular and showstopping Bride of Re-Animator.

The only real way that Bride falls short of the first movie is really down to pacing and structure. The payoff is fantastic, but the majority of film that comes beforehand feels a bit jumbled together (much like the Bride herself) and comes across as disjointed at times. Honestly, any character that isn't mentioned above is also just kind of there, but that's a minor grumble in a film that involves Hebert West.

Not quite as brilliant as the first Re-Animator then, but a suitably absurd sequel that can stand proud on its own merits.
  
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018)
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018)
2018 | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
Life Finds A Way
After really enjoying Jurassic World back in 2015, I was excited when they announced that a sequel was in the works. I felt optimistic about it because the ending of Jurassic World left it wide open for a story continuation, and I didn’t feel like they were just making a new one to milk a franchise. It’s no surprise that I can be hugely critical of sequels, but I was willing to give this one a fighting chance.

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom is set three years after the destruction of the Jurassic World park, and characters are faced with the dilemma of what to do now a volcano on the island is beginning to erupt. It’s a huge moral dilemma: let the dinosaurs die again, or move them to a safe location where they can thrive. Ultimately, Claire and Owen end up back on Isla Nublar with the help of a rescue team to round up the dinosaurs. As you can expect, things don’t go according to plan and we soon realise the rescue team has other, darker intentions.

Whilst this film is not the strongest in the franchise, it’s still an enjoyable watch. I wasn’t expecting it to be as thought provoking as it was, which was a pleasant surprise. I felt like the storyline had a lot of depth to it, and a lot of emotional moments too. One thing I really love about the Jurassic franchise is how they make you connect and feel emotions towards CGI dinosaurs. You know they aren’t real, yet you get so invested in the narrative that you quickly forget. In Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom we see some familiar dinosaurs from the previous films, as well as some new ones too. In classic Jurassic nature, we also see a brand new dinosaur that humans thought was a good idea to create… for some reason.

Another thing that surprised me was the horror-like elements that were present in the film. Without giving too much away, there’s a couple of scenes that are very reminiscent of classic horror and plummets the film into a much darker, creepier atmosphere. These scenes were incredibly well done and didn’t feel out of place, even though they could’ve easily felt too jarring. It was fun to witness the franchise experimenting with this, and enhances the scary side of the dinosaurs. There’s some really impressive shots during these scenes too, that emphasises the imposing nature of these creatures.

My biggest criticism of this film is that I felt like too much was going on, and consequently the narrative felt rushed. Despite it running at just over 2 hours, I almost felt like we needed another half hour to properly tell the story without glossing over some really important plot points. The main narrative was paced okay but then we had random side storylines that seemed unnecessary and just left me confused more than anything. It’s a shame they tried to cram so much into such a short space of time as there was no need to do that.

Long time fans of Jurassic Park should definitely give this a go as I think it’s a solid entry into the franchise, though it doesn’t do enough to ascend above its predecessors. It’s what I’ve described as a “fun, Monday night film” to people who’ve asked, so if you’re looking for a visually impressive blockbuster with loud roars and some creepy elements, this film is perfect for you.

https://lucygoestohollywood.com/2018/06/24/life-finds-a-way-jurassic-world-fallen-kingdom-review/