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The Chocolate Lady (94 KP) rated The Kennedy Debutante in Books
Oct 7, 2020
(Thanks for the free book, @PRHGlobal / @prhinternational) The name Kennedy is known worldwide, and descendants of that famous family are in the public eye to this day. However, there’s one Kennedy who we know little about, mostly due to her early demise. She was named Kathleen, but everyone knew her as Kick. Kerri Maher’s debut book “The Kennedy Debutante” is a biographical historical fiction novel about this fascinating woman, and you can read my review of it on my blog now. https://tcl-bookreviews.com/2018/10/27/home-again-kathleen/
Dean (6927 KP) rated Body Heat (1981) in Movies
Dec 24, 2018
Finally got round to watching this as heard it was a great thriller and Kathleen Turner's first film role. It looks very old and dated more like an early 70's film. It starts far too slow for me with not much happening for the first half of a long run time. Once the pace picked up towards the end and plot unraveled I did like it a lot more. It has some neat twists in it and I can see how this influenced the likes of the Wild Things thrillers just for one example. If you like thrillers it's worth sticking with for the 2nd half of the film.
Liliannar (58 KP) rated Blindsighted (Grant County, #1) in Books
May 29, 2018
The overall story for this book was decently well written. My biggest issue was the cookie-cutter nature of the characters. Nearly every character fit a stereotype about law enforcement or victims. Within meeting characters initially you have a generally clear impression of exactly what is going to happen. There are some variances in what I expected, but for the most part this is a very easy to predict book. The writing was still good, and since I listened on Audible and it was narrated by Kathleen Early it was pleasant to listen to. The cadences for some of the characters seemed to be a bit "off" but after getting to know that character it seems that's how they were meant to be written.
Ross (3284 KP) rated The Staircase in TV
Jun 28, 2018
The story of what happened to Kathleen Peterson is compelling. Her husband claims to have found her after a fall at the bottom of a narrow staircase bleeding to death.
The documentary follows the investigation from very early on, through the original trail and subsequent appeals. It still smacks of being quite one-sided (which is natural when the filmmakers are given access to one side of the legal battle and not the other). As with other similar programs, it is somewhat failed as an idea when the burden of formulating a story of what happened and of proof is on the estate, and the defence (by far the more vocal side in the program) only have to cast enough doubt on aspects of those stories to allow a jury to have "reasonable doubt" and therefore a conviction cannot be made.
Once again, this documentary shows that the state will do anything to convict, and once convicted it is very unlikely any appeals would be successful - they cast aspersions over the judge and prosecutors' professional ethics which they won't allow.
This one is rare in that the judge does appear to suggest there was a miscarriage of justice at the end of the final episode.
There is more closure in this story when compared to the likes of Evil Genius and Making a Murderer, but there still remains some doubt over what happened to Kathleen (I have now read there was a theory she was attacked by an owl on the way in to the house!).
Compelling but a little more drawn-out than its peers.
The documentary follows the investigation from very early on, through the original trail and subsequent appeals. It still smacks of being quite one-sided (which is natural when the filmmakers are given access to one side of the legal battle and not the other). As with other similar programs, it is somewhat failed as an idea when the burden of formulating a story of what happened and of proof is on the estate, and the defence (by far the more vocal side in the program) only have to cast enough doubt on aspects of those stories to allow a jury to have "reasonable doubt" and therefore a conviction cannot be made.
Once again, this documentary shows that the state will do anything to convict, and once convicted it is very unlikely any appeals would be successful - they cast aspersions over the judge and prosecutors' professional ethics which they won't allow.
This one is rare in that the judge does appear to suggest there was a miscarriage of justice at the end of the final episode.
There is more closure in this story when compared to the likes of Evil Genius and Making a Murderer, but there still remains some doubt over what happened to Kathleen (I have now read there was a theory she was attacked by an owl on the way in to the house!).
Compelling but a little more drawn-out than its peers.
Merissa (12298 KP) rated The Secrets of Jane (Improper Bastards #1) in Books
Oct 2, 2023
THE SECRETS OF JANE is the first book in The Improper Bastards series and, if you're a fan of #Dark #Fantasy #Romance, then this is just the book for you.
Both the FMC and MMC are what you might call morally grey! Jane is certainly one to attack first and think later. Soren is more the one with the plan. That is, unless you touch something (or someone!) that belongs to him, and then all bets are off.
I loved Jane's history here and, whilst I don't fully understand the fuss, I'm looking forward to reading the next book to get the answers to my oh-so-many questions. The thing is, even with questions, I still enjoyed every single moment.
Not only do the supporting characters do their jobs incredibly well, but I'm also invested in them too. I'd Bones and Kathleen to have their story told. Anya, too. And Tempest. And… you get the idea. This is a world I'd love to return to and see just where the author takes me.
With an ending that will definitely leave you wanting more, I have no hesitation in HIGHLY recommending this book, and I can't wait until early 2024 to read the sequel!
** same worded review will appear elsewhere **
* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book; the comments here are my honest opinion. *
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Oct 2, 2023
Both the FMC and MMC are what you might call morally grey! Jane is certainly one to attack first and think later. Soren is more the one with the plan. That is, unless you touch something (or someone!) that belongs to him, and then all bets are off.
I loved Jane's history here and, whilst I don't fully understand the fuss, I'm looking forward to reading the next book to get the answers to my oh-so-many questions. The thing is, even with questions, I still enjoyed every single moment.
Not only do the supporting characters do their jobs incredibly well, but I'm also invested in them too. I'd Bones and Kathleen to have their story told. Anya, too. And Tempest. And… you get the idea. This is a world I'd love to return to and see just where the author takes me.
With an ending that will definitely leave you wanting more, I have no hesitation in HIGHLY recommending this book, and I can't wait until early 2024 to read the sequel!
** same worded review will appear elsewhere **
* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book; the comments here are my honest opinion. *
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Oct 2, 2023
Night Reader Reviews (683 KP) rated The Other Side of the Looking Glass in Books
Feb 29, 2020
Honest Review for Free Copy of Book
The Other Side of the Looking Glass by Kathleen Harryman is an amazing and well-written story. It focuses on some very hard topics (that I discuss in the final paragraph) and readers need to be prepared for that. The frequent reader will probably figure out the plot early like I did.
Kate is married to a very wealthy man, Liam, who believes appearances are everything. Liam spends thousands on clothing for Kate to keep her looking what he considers to be appropriate. The only time they really spend any time together is at events when Liam wants or feels the need to show Kate off. However, Kate is very unhappy with this arrangement and ends up falling in love with one of her doctors. Kate knows Liam will never let her go, so with the help of her doctor they create an elaborate plan to make Liam believe Kate is going to die of cancer and send her away to a clinic.
Even in severe sickness Liam refuses to give up Kate, but her current state of “illness” is unacceptable to him so he does exactly as she expects and sends her away. What he does after she is gone is even more of a problem. With that being said Liam creates his own plan. He will replace the “sick” Kate with a healthy look-a-like. The only problem is that he must change the look-a-like’s memories and behaviors to match that of the original Kate. Too bad for Liam memories have a way of coming back, that and because he is a perfectionist a look-a-like will not do it for him. No, he needs someone identical to Kate. Now, where can he find an identical match to his wife?
The emotions the book provoked were very strong and very real. The writing was well done to the point that while reading it was possible to feel everything the characters go through. It is impressive when writing can provoke real emotions. What I did not like was that the plot is given away way too early into the book. The book ended up being externally predictive because of it. There really wasn’t much in the lines of surprising twist either, which was disappointing.
An adult book for sure. Some very mature high school students should be able to handle it, but I would not recommend it for anyone under 16. Foul language, abuse both physical and mental, and rape run rampant in this book, not to mention pregnancy death and kidnapping. You have been warned. I rate this book 2 out of 4. I really enjoyed this book but the fact that I had the ending figured out three chapters in was disappointing. It can really ruin a well written, emotional book when the entire plot is exposed way to early.
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Kate is married to a very wealthy man, Liam, who believes appearances are everything. Liam spends thousands on clothing for Kate to keep her looking what he considers to be appropriate. The only time they really spend any time together is at events when Liam wants or feels the need to show Kate off. However, Kate is very unhappy with this arrangement and ends up falling in love with one of her doctors. Kate knows Liam will never let her go, so with the help of her doctor they create an elaborate plan to make Liam believe Kate is going to die of cancer and send her away to a clinic.
Even in severe sickness Liam refuses to give up Kate, but her current state of “illness” is unacceptable to him so he does exactly as she expects and sends her away. What he does after she is gone is even more of a problem. With that being said Liam creates his own plan. He will replace the “sick” Kate with a healthy look-a-like. The only problem is that he must change the look-a-like’s memories and behaviors to match that of the original Kate. Too bad for Liam memories have a way of coming back, that and because he is a perfectionist a look-a-like will not do it for him. No, he needs someone identical to Kate. Now, where can he find an identical match to his wife?
The emotions the book provoked were very strong and very real. The writing was well done to the point that while reading it was possible to feel everything the characters go through. It is impressive when writing can provoke real emotions. What I did not like was that the plot is given away way too early into the book. The book ended up being externally predictive because of it. There really wasn’t much in the lines of surprising twist either, which was disappointing.
An adult book for sure. Some very mature high school students should be able to handle it, but I would not recommend it for anyone under 16. Foul language, abuse both physical and mental, and rape run rampant in this book, not to mention pregnancy death and kidnapping. You have been warned. I rate this book 2 out of 4. I really enjoyed this book but the fact that I had the ending figured out three chapters in was disappointing. It can really ruin a well written, emotional book when the entire plot is exposed way to early.
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