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Lady Silver (Warlock Chronicles #1)
Lady Silver (Warlock Chronicles #1)
Bobbie R Byrd | 2021 | Romance, Science Fiction/Fantasy
6
6.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
LADY SILVER is the first book in the Warlock Chronicles and we enter a futuristic world that has been split between humans and warlocks, with obvious mistrust and antagonism on both sides. Bryanna and T'Laan have lived their lives on the edge under no one's control but that changes when they are captured by Devon Bastion and taken aboard his ship, Maelstrom.

There is a lot that goes on in this book that isn't explained. I hope it will become clearer in future books but, for this one, it left me wondering what was going on. We have a prologue with someone who has been captured, who drops names like breadcrumbs, and as a reader, I had no idea if I was supposed to remember these names as someone to be important. Then we skip to someone new, and then something new again. It became mostly conjoined as the story went on, but there were still parts that were fragmented and confusing.

T'Laan is the best character here, followed by Glynda. Bryanna gets away with a lot due to her naivete, but Devon? Well, he's certainly a character but I really can't say I like him. Apparently, he has reasons for everything he does, but he is just arrogant and dislikeable most of the time. He is aware that Bryanna has feelings for him, talks about possibly having feelings for her, and then treads all over them with no reason given apart from the obvious "I'm not good enough. It's for her benefit..." He lies and hides the truth, only sharing when it suits him.

I definitely wanted to know more about the Flow and how it works. Yes, I know there are different Elements, but how? What do they do? Are there limits? And the Big Bad? Just what is going on there?

I read this book and enjoyed it but I'm left with more questions than when I started and a healthy dislike of the main male character. Overall, I think this book is good and has the potential to be part of a great series.

** 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, and the comments here are my honest opinion. *

Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
  
When He Was Wicked (Bridgertons, #6)
When He Was Wicked (Bridgertons, #6)
Julia Quinn | 2004 | Fiction & Poetry, Romance
8
8.0 (3 Ratings)
Book Rating
I was surprised with how different this book was from all the others, but in a good way. It meant that I didn’t get bored as the others are fairly similar looking back on them.
We start 2 years into Francesca’s marriage, which is completely different to the other books as we follow them as they are looking for their future spouse. Then rather unfortunately, her beloved husband - John dies, leaving her widowed only 2 years into their marriage.
His cousin, and both Francesca and John’s best friend, Michael is also shocked to the core at his death and at his newfound Earldom. Michael has also been in love with Francesca since he met her, but out of loyalty to his cousin has never told anyone of this. In previous books, I would have guessed that Michael would have pursued Francesca straight away, but I was glad that I was wrong and it made it a much better read that he didn’t.
This book deals with a few different medical issues, which at the end Julia Quinn does explain more about and confirmed my suspicions as to why John died. It was definitely such a different pace to this book and it was nice to change up the style slightly. I enjoyed the excerpts of letters at the start of each chapter (although still not quite as good as Lady Whistledown’s comments!) and it definitely gave more of an insight into what they were thinking, especially as it included letters that weren’t sent at all.
Before this book, we didn’t know too much about Francesca, other than she’d married an Earl and spent a lot of time in Scotland, but this book made her more than just a mention and you realised that she is a bit different from her siblings and probably quite enjoys being away from everyone. I also liked how it brought together the events in both Colin’s story and Eloise’s story as they happen so close together, I think it ties the stories up quite neatly as you sometimes forget during this book that Francesca was a Bridgerton since she doesn’t spend a lot of time with them in this book.
This has definitely firmly cemented its place in my top 3 of this series and I’m hoping that the next book is just as good to read.
  
Midsommar (2019)
Midsommar (2019)
2019 | Drama, Horror, Mystery
Director: Ari Aster
Writer: Ari Aster (Screenplay)
Starring: Florence Pugh, Will Poulter, Jack Reynor, William Jackson Harper, Liv Mjones, Anna Astrom, Julia Ragnarsson

Plot: A couple travels to Sweden to visit a rural hometown's fabled mid-summer festival. What begins as an idyllic retreat quickly devolves into an increasingly violent and bizarre competition at the hands of a pagan cult.

Runtime: 2 Hours 20 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Verdict: The Wicker Man on Acid

Story: Midsommar starts when young lady Dani (Pugh) has her family die suddenly, turning to the only person left in her life, her boyfriend Christian (Reynor) who has started to move away from their relationship. Christian and his friends Josh (Harper), Mark (Poulter) and Pelle (Blomgren) are planning a trip to Pelle’s home in Sweden for a special mid-summer festival.
Christian trying to do the right thing for Dani, invites her along, but it isn’t long before the festival turns into a cultural nightmare for the outsiders who have never seen the customs before.

Thoughts on Midsommar

Characters – Dani is a young lady that has suffered a heart-breaking tragedy in her life, leaving her along in the world, struggle to get over the loss of her family, she is unsure about her relationship with her boyfriend and agrees to go with him on the trip to Sweden. Dani is trying her best to get on with her life, which is seeing her have the good and bad days, while on the commune she starts to relax more in life. Christian is the student boyfriend of Dani, he is starting to question the relationship about to end it before the tragedy strikes, he invites her believing she won’t go, while also hoping to find out whether they should stay together. Josh is a student friend of Christian, who has been working on his paper on different cultures, he sees this event a major part of his studies, only he doesn’t seem to respect enough cultures. Mark is the comic relief, he wants to go to Sweden to meet women, he is quick to turn to drink or drugs, while always putting his foot in it.
Performances – Florence Pugh is the star of the show, she does show the grief required in her role, which shows us how hard to is finding life. Jack Reynor has finished turning his career around after Transformers, with one that must make people take him seriously now. Will Poulter will make you laugh with nearly everything he says, while William Jackson Harper will make you dislike his characters arrogance quickly.
Story – The story here follows a young woman dealing with grief of losing her family, trying to get away from her past by getting away from the world with the festival which soon sees her trapped with her friends with a cult that has strict rules. Much like Hereditary, we are tackling grief on a personal level, unlike Hereditary we find ourselves not seeing a timeline to make us understand the recover process that Dani is trying to go through. The story does have a huge problem for me though, is that this is a story which the people should just walk or run away after seeing the first major incident, not just calmly say ‘sure this is a different culture we should see what happens next’ this is easily one of the biggest let down in any horror. We also do spend way too much time just turning to drugs as an excuse rather than trying to solve the real problems and the students just being arrogant not seemingly wanting to do anything with their lives.
Horror/Mystery – The horror in this film comes from graphic imaginary that we see from the injuries, we do have tension growing and the make up team should be praised for just how real everything looks. The mystery comes from just what is happening with this cult and what they will do next.
Settings – The film is set in the Swedish countryside away from the world, the only type of place a cult could operate in around the modern day. The sets are the best thing about this film because they are crafted which such love and you can’t help but think everything you see is a clue to what is happening.
Special Effects – The effects in the film do bring us the graphic images of the injuries that people are going through. The make up team work wonders on this film.

Scene of the Movie – Dancing.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – Just using drugs to explain why these people are friends.
Final Thoughts – This is a horror that is set and created wonderfully on the outside, only to fall short on the story which only drags along without reaching any levels of scares.

Overall: Not reaching the potential.
Rating
  
Val (The Hawks #2)
Val (The Hawks #2)
Jennie Lynn Roberts | 2021 | Romance, Science Fiction/Fantasy
10
10.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
I can't wait for what comes next, because I'm not seeing the whole picture yet!
Independent reviewer for Archaeolibrarian, I was gifted my copy of this book. I also won a signed copy!

OK SO! This is book 2 in The Hawks series, and you really REALLY MUST read Tristan, book 1, before this one. This book picks up immediately after that one, and you need, you really NEED that book to get the full picture of what's happened before. You get the most of it recapped, but personally, I don't think it ALL comes across.

Lanval was rescued, along with his sister Nim and Keeley, the Queen's maid. The Queen, however, was not and Val needs to rescue Alanna before her despot of a husband hangs her for treason she did not commit. But Val is broken, inside and out, and his Hawk friends hate him for what they thought he did. Lanni is glad Val is free, she can die knowing he is safe. Then, he's there, rescuing her and whisking her away! Ballinor won't stop though, and with a new chancellor at his side, things get mighty difficult for everyone.

In case you missed it, when you read my review for Tristan, I LOVED that book. And I wanted to love this one as much as that one, but I can't, as much as it pains me, I really can't.

Why?? Cos I LOVED THIS ONE MORE!!

OH my freaking gosh, this book! Full of so much! So much pain, for both Lanni and Val. So much love between them, even if it takes them such a long time to finally, FINALLY come together fully. So much discovered, by The hawks, about what happened before, and so much guilt from everyone!

I cried, a lot in this book. Val and Lanni are perfect for each other, but they know they can never be free to be together, while the King listens to his newest Chancellor. Oh I did NOT like him. The last one was just trying to get his hands on Lanni, but this one?? He's after so much more than that. What exactly, I'm not entirely sure yet, but I'm sure all will be revealed, eventually! I love being kept in the dark!

I shouted a lot too! Lanni has a lot of ideas about honour, as does Val, but some of it is misplaced. I swore, a few choice words a sailor would be proud of, or rather, words a soldier in the barracks would be proud of! These men, this group, right? They love hard, they fight hard, and they *think* they mess up hard, but actually, THEY don't! Reece, oh he needs such a hug. He thinks he caused most of the group to be captured, but he didn't. Even the Chancellor says so, but Reece feels he did. His book is gonna be painful reading, I reckon!

Both Lanni and Val get a say, along with Mathos, who has his book next. I did see him with someone else, to be honest, but given what was discovered here, then reading what it says at the end of this one, I was made to see my error. Mathos is not Mabin, like Val and Nim, but something else. Something with a beast inside him. With scales. Dragon-type beast? Not 100% certain, I may have missed all the clues, but Mathos the man is a bit of a player. He thinks he won't fall like Tristan and Val, so when he meets his lady in the next book, there is sure to be fireworks.

Said lady also gets the epilogue. When she was revealed in this book, I wasn't expecting her, and she has quite a tale to tell, I'm sure. How she will react to Mathos should be amusing, given these men have protective streaks a canyon wide, and she has been where she has all her life.

I said in my review for Tristan that I thought this would be a much darker read than that one, and it is, it really is. The level of violence Ballinor steps up to is given in great detail, and you can feel every lash given, every punch taken and every injury to Lanni at the hands of her husband. Val too, but it's mostly Lanni who suffers here.

I can't wait for what comes next, because I'm not seeing the whole picture yet. I can't see where this is all going and I love that! Mostly, though, because I'm loving these guys, watching them fall one by one, and meeting the strong women who take their hearts.

Write quicker, Ms Roberts.

Write.
Quicker!

5 stars, but more if I could!

**same worded review will appear elsewhere**
  
40x40

Haley Mathiot (9 KP) rated Wildwing in Books

Apr 27, 2018  
W
Wildwing
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Wildwing by Emily Whitman
Genre: YA, romance, time travel, historical fiction
ISBN: 9780061724527
Published: September 21st 2010 by Greenwillow Books

Rating: 5

Addy isn't satisfied in her world, with her life, with the mean girls from school always telling her that she's worthless. She wants to be free, be respected, not have to work for her food every night. She knows she's better than what she's been given… and she's determined to find it. So when she stumbles into a time machine that brings her back to the time of castles and lords and falconers, and she is mistaken for a rich lady betrothed to marry the king, she believes she has found exactly what she wants to do.

But she didn't count on falling in love with a falconer, a nobody. If only she hadn't gone along with the lie, she'd be herself, a nobody too, and Will could be hers.

Addy must decide what she wants, and what is more important, and then fight to get home. But in the process she might lose the people she loves.

Wildwing drew me in from the first line and held me captive until the last words. A poor sweet lovable main character who isn't being treated fairly, she makes every girl understand her pain. Her insecurities are ours. She is one of the more relatable female protagonists I've read this year.

One thing I really liked about the story was Addy and Will's relationship. It wasn't based on pure physical attraction—although I'm adding Will to my list of literary crushes—they spent time together, they learned, they talked, they argued. It wasn't a shallow empty relationship, which is why it hurt so much in the end, and why the resolution was so sweet.

The plot started off so simple, and got more complex with every page. Addy's little schemes and ideas didn't always go through, and she had to improvise. It kept my heart pounding and my mind curious. The writing was very good, though nothing extraordinary. The characters were quickly developed, some became my friends and some were despicable.

This was more than a love story with a time machine; it was a beautiful enchanting story about a young girl who finds out for herself what is important, how to sacrifice, and how to truly fight for what she loves.

All in all I adored this story and recommend it to anyone ages 12+. No sex or language.

This review is copyright Haley Mathiot and Night Owl Reviews. Do not copy without permission.

Original review here: http://haleymathiot.blogspot.com/2010/12/review-wildwing.html