Search
Search results
Ross (3284 KP) rated We Ride The Storm in Books
May 18, 2021
Great Asian-inspired twisting, back-stabbing fantasy
'We Ride the Storm' is an epic fantasy book set in an Asian-inspired world, with savage tribes, in-bred empires and age-old family rivalries.
We see the story unfold through the eyes of three characters: a princess of the Kisian empire (who is the step-daughter of the empire, so a princess in name only); an intriguing assassin and a tribal warrior forced into nomadic life. The plot revolves around a building conflict between the empire and its subjects and neighbours, largely driven by the accidental actions of the aforementioned assassin.
The princess is a well-formed character who quickly moves from plotting with her brother to take their family's rightful place at the head of the empire to siding with the crippled cruel emperor, seeking her own place. Her story is straight out of a Disney film, refused her chance to use her martial skills and forced to marry into power as her only contribution to the family's strength.
The nomadic warrior should have been intriguing, given his initial scene where he is cutting the heads off his fallen comrades and enemies, driven by a religious zeal that a person's head must be removed and properly laid to rest to release their soul. However, he quickly became flat and irritating, his zealous nature making him whiny. His story is the most exciting, though, as his tribe is forced into serving the empire (I think) and put aside their traditionally passive nature in order to secure new lands for themselves.
The final PoV character, the assassin, is by far the most original - she has an extra voice in her head (the background still a mystery), a presence who can inhabit corpses, allowing for some interesting escapes and plans. Her role is slightly comedic, dashing from one job to another across the country, often conflicting jobs, in order to try and release herself from the voice in her head.
The story involves a great amount of plotting and double-crossing, some excellent action scenes and a complex, weaving plot. The only downside for me was remembering who was who, who the empire was, their enemies etc, as different names were sometimes given and I found it hard to remember. Also, some major plot points were initially exposed in fairly throw-away style and later passages made no sense without picking up on them (specifically the voice in the assassin's head, but also aspects of the possession and other events which were easy to miss).
A great read and with a sequel already out, a series I will stick with.
I received a free copy from the publishers and netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
We see the story unfold through the eyes of three characters: a princess of the Kisian empire (who is the step-daughter of the empire, so a princess in name only); an intriguing assassin and a tribal warrior forced into nomadic life. The plot revolves around a building conflict between the empire and its subjects and neighbours, largely driven by the accidental actions of the aforementioned assassin.
The princess is a well-formed character who quickly moves from plotting with her brother to take their family's rightful place at the head of the empire to siding with the crippled cruel emperor, seeking her own place. Her story is straight out of a Disney film, refused her chance to use her martial skills and forced to marry into power as her only contribution to the family's strength.
The nomadic warrior should have been intriguing, given his initial scene where he is cutting the heads off his fallen comrades and enemies, driven by a religious zeal that a person's head must be removed and properly laid to rest to release their soul. However, he quickly became flat and irritating, his zealous nature making him whiny. His story is the most exciting, though, as his tribe is forced into serving the empire (I think) and put aside their traditionally passive nature in order to secure new lands for themselves.
The final PoV character, the assassin, is by far the most original - she has an extra voice in her head (the background still a mystery), a presence who can inhabit corpses, allowing for some interesting escapes and plans. Her role is slightly comedic, dashing from one job to another across the country, often conflicting jobs, in order to try and release herself from the voice in her head.
The story involves a great amount of plotting and double-crossing, some excellent action scenes and a complex, weaving plot. The only downside for me was remembering who was who, who the empire was, their enemies etc, as different names were sometimes given and I found it hard to remember. Also, some major plot points were initially exposed in fairly throw-away style and later passages made no sense without picking up on them (specifically the voice in the assassin's head, but also aspects of the possession and other events which were easy to miss).
A great read and with a sequel already out, a series I will stick with.
I received a free copy from the publishers and netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Kristy H (1252 KP) rated I'll Be Your Blue Sky in Books
Feb 26, 2018
Revisits former characters (3 more)
Features unexpected twists and turns
Beautiful characters that fit together well
Funny and touching
Lovely look at some favorite characters
The weekend of her wedding, Clare Hobbes meets an elderly woman, Edith Herron, at the venue. While they only have a few brief conversations, they provide Clare with the insight and courage she so badly needs. So much that she finds the strength to call off her wedding and return home alone. A few weeks later, Clare receives some sad and surprising news: Edith has passed away and left Clare a seaside home in Delaware. Desperately seeking a place to reevaluate her life, Clare decamps to the "Blue Sky House" and there begins to learn more about Edith and the remarkable life she led. This includes the discovery of two ledgers--one depicting a list of the guests who stayed at Edith's home when it was a beach guesthouse and another, "shadow" ledger, with mysterious notations. With the help of her former boyfriend, now best friend Dev Tremain, Clare starts to unravel Edith's brave and fascinating past. Along the way, she starts to get closer to working out more about herself as well.
I absolutely adore Marisa de los Santos and was really excited to see she had written another book picking up on the characters first introduced in Love Walked In: A Novel and Belong to Me. Both still hold a place of honor on the bookshelves of my home. Still, Goodreads told me it was nearly ten years since I'd read those gems. Considering I can forget a lot of what I've read a few months ago, it took a little remembering and time to get back into the characters. There's a lot to keep track of in the beginning. Still, once I got into the groove, it was like being back with old friends.
Getting to know more about Clare--all grown up now--is lovely. You find yourself drawn to her immediately. Her finance, Zach, made me nervous from the start, and in many ways, the novel can be a little stressful, between Clare navigating Zach, learning about what Edith was up to, and just some of the general topics of the novel. I always know a book is well-written when I find myself getting nervous on the characters' behalf.
The book generally alternates chapters between Clare and the story of Edith, the woman she meets at her wedding venue. Edith's story mainly takes place in the 1940s and 1950s, and I found myself always wishing for more and more of her tale, as she's a fascinating character in her own right. As Clare moves into Edith's old home and starts to investigate the woman's past, we learn a little more about her through Clare and Dev's sleuthing. It's a very effective format, and I found the book surprisingly suspenseful, with several unexpected twists and turns thrown in along the way.
Indeed, I was never really sure where this one was going. It meanders a bit and kept surprising me as it did. There are points where the sadness can be really hard and heartbreaking (in a wow, this novel is incredibly well-written and I feel as if these characters are real way). All the characters fit together so well and come to life before you--no surprise to anyone who has read a Marisa de los Santos novel before. It's so easy to get lost in the world she creates for us. At other times, I just found myself laughing, as Clare and Dev, for instance, could just be so funny and real.
In the end, I just wound up really loving this one. I was along for the ride wherever Clare and her gang were going to take me. I loved her, I loved Edith, and now I'd wait ten years for another book without any issue whatsoever. It's a lovely book about connections and about the family we have and the family we make. It's about love (very appropriate that I finished it on Valentine's Day). Thanks for revisiting these characters, Ms. de los Santos. I didn't know I needed them again, but I'm glad you did. 4+ stars.
I I received a copy of this novel from the publisher and Edelweiss in return for a honest review. More at http://justacatandabookatherside.blogspot.com/
I absolutely adore Marisa de los Santos and was really excited to see she had written another book picking up on the characters first introduced in Love Walked In: A Novel and Belong to Me. Both still hold a place of honor on the bookshelves of my home. Still, Goodreads told me it was nearly ten years since I'd read those gems. Considering I can forget a lot of what I've read a few months ago, it took a little remembering and time to get back into the characters. There's a lot to keep track of in the beginning. Still, once I got into the groove, it was like being back with old friends.
Getting to know more about Clare--all grown up now--is lovely. You find yourself drawn to her immediately. Her finance, Zach, made me nervous from the start, and in many ways, the novel can be a little stressful, between Clare navigating Zach, learning about what Edith was up to, and just some of the general topics of the novel. I always know a book is well-written when I find myself getting nervous on the characters' behalf.
The book generally alternates chapters between Clare and the story of Edith, the woman she meets at her wedding venue. Edith's story mainly takes place in the 1940s and 1950s, and I found myself always wishing for more and more of her tale, as she's a fascinating character in her own right. As Clare moves into Edith's old home and starts to investigate the woman's past, we learn a little more about her through Clare and Dev's sleuthing. It's a very effective format, and I found the book surprisingly suspenseful, with several unexpected twists and turns thrown in along the way.
Indeed, I was never really sure where this one was going. It meanders a bit and kept surprising me as it did. There are points where the sadness can be really hard and heartbreaking (in a wow, this novel is incredibly well-written and I feel as if these characters are real way). All the characters fit together so well and come to life before you--no surprise to anyone who has read a Marisa de los Santos novel before. It's so easy to get lost in the world she creates for us. At other times, I just found myself laughing, as Clare and Dev, for instance, could just be so funny and real.
In the end, I just wound up really loving this one. I was along for the ride wherever Clare and her gang were going to take me. I loved her, I loved Edith, and now I'd wait ten years for another book without any issue whatsoever. It's a lovely book about connections and about the family we have and the family we make. It's about love (very appropriate that I finished it on Valentine's Day). Thanks for revisiting these characters, Ms. de los Santos. I didn't know I needed them again, but I'm glad you did. 4+ stars.
I I received a copy of this novel from the publisher and Edelweiss in return for a honest review. More at http://justacatandabookatherside.blogspot.com/
Meditation Sounds and Ambient Music to Meditate
Health & Fitness and Lifestyle
App
We believe that the term "meditation" is a result of differing sets of practices that are found...
Michael J. Bess (2 KP) rated Facebook in Apps
Jul 6, 2018
Great way to maintain relationships, but bad if you do not want your personal life all out there
I use Facebook to keep in contact with men and women I served with when I was in the Marine Corps. Whenever I remember the name of one, I go online and try to track them down. At least 1/4 of my 1000+ friend's list consists of veterans and current servicemembers and civilian employees.
But one thing that Facebook needs to improve on is it's verification process. My 13-year-old niece has had a page (TWO pages in fact!) since she was barely ten. I immediately contacted Facebook about this because I didn't want my niece to be another stat where she is preyed upon online by some phedophile. Facebook continued to keep the pages up.
Another reason the process needs to be improved is because someone may end up being "Catfished," for a lack of better term. My personal business was posted online by a woman whom I never met and I had no idea why this person would do something like that. More than two years later, I found that it wasn't a woman who posted the info, but it was a male friend of mine! A person who I had played practical jokes on the past but never to this extreme. Needless to say we are not longer friends as his ex-wife (my current girlfriend) informed me of other scrupulous things he had done with this particular page.
But one thing that Facebook needs to improve on is it's verification process. My 13-year-old niece has had a page (TWO pages in fact!) since she was barely ten. I immediately contacted Facebook about this because I didn't want my niece to be another stat where she is preyed upon online by some phedophile. Facebook continued to keep the pages up.
Another reason the process needs to be improved is because someone may end up being "Catfished," for a lack of better term. My personal business was posted online by a woman whom I never met and I had no idea why this person would do something like that. More than two years later, I found that it wasn't a woman who posted the info, but it was a male friend of mine! A person who I had played practical jokes on the past but never to this extreme. Needless to say we are not longer friends as his ex-wife (my current girlfriend) informed me of other scrupulous things he had done with this particular page.
Scott Tostik (389 KP) rated Halloween (2018) in Movies
Nov 2, 2018
.....Fuckin comedians
Michael Myers is back.... And this is supposed to be what actually happened... 40 years later???
I'm sorry if any of you disagree with me... But this movie blew....
Don't get le wrong. I love the fact that Jamie Lee is back and more of a badass than i wpuld have ever expected.
But come on...
Denying the fact that almost 40 years worth of mythology happened... Thats a hard sell. Let's do some math as well.
You expect me to believe that Michael is wandering around at 61 years old, after being locked up for 40 years... And he's picking up 200 pound men one handed and crushing their windpipes???
I love the Halloween series of films. Even the Rov Zombie offerings... I love the fact that Rob gave us a back story. You found out why Michael was the way he was...
But this??? This was nothing more than two morons... And yes, I think Danny McBride is an idiot. And he should stick to Vice Principals and Eastbound and Down. And stay the fuck away from horror films.
He should've taken a hint from his lackluster and shitty preformance in Alien Covenant... And leave horror to the pros.
I'm sorry but the only person who should've carried on this franchise was John Carpenter himself... But even he knows that you shouldn't dip your pen in the company ink too many times.
Ignoring the mythology of the films and expecting die hard fans to believe that characters like Jamie Lloyd and Tommy Doyle didn't exist in the history is ludicrous.
Some people enjoyed the sequels and some people didnt. But expecting us to forget forty years of horror history???
Not on your life, comedian.
I'm sorry if any of you disagree with me... But this movie blew....
Don't get le wrong. I love the fact that Jamie Lee is back and more of a badass than i wpuld have ever expected.
But come on...
Denying the fact that almost 40 years worth of mythology happened... Thats a hard sell. Let's do some math as well.
You expect me to believe that Michael is wandering around at 61 years old, after being locked up for 40 years... And he's picking up 200 pound men one handed and crushing their windpipes???
I love the Halloween series of films. Even the Rov Zombie offerings... I love the fact that Rob gave us a back story. You found out why Michael was the way he was...
But this??? This was nothing more than two morons... And yes, I think Danny McBride is an idiot. And he should stick to Vice Principals and Eastbound and Down. And stay the fuck away from horror films.
He should've taken a hint from his lackluster and shitty preformance in Alien Covenant... And leave horror to the pros.
I'm sorry but the only person who should've carried on this franchise was John Carpenter himself... But even he knows that you shouldn't dip your pen in the company ink too many times.
Ignoring the mythology of the films and expecting die hard fans to believe that characters like Jamie Lloyd and Tommy Doyle didn't exist in the history is ludicrous.
Some people enjoyed the sequels and some people didnt. But expecting us to forget forty years of horror history???
Not on your life, comedian.
Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated Homefront (2013) in Movies
Aug 6, 2019
The new movie Homefront stars Jason Statham (Phil Broker), James Franco (Gator Bodine), Winona Ryder (Sheryl Gott), Kate Bosworth (Cassie Bodine), Chuck Zito (Danny T), Omar Benson Miller (Tito), Izabela Vidovic (Maddy Broker).
Written by Sylvestor Stallone. The film opens with a major drug bust going down, and inside undercover DEA agent Phil Broker (Statham) gives chase to the head of the drug ring and his son. While trying to arrest the father and son team, the son is shot to death, and his father promises to kill Broker and his children.
The rest of the movie takes place a few years later in a small town in Louisiana, where a now widowed Broker and his pre-teen daughter have moved to rebuild their life. An entire series of events is set off by Broker’s daughter standing up for herself against the school bully. The bully’s mother Cassie, demands an apology and doesn’t get one enough to her liking. She escalates the situation by going to her brother, Gator, who is the town’s resident “drug kingpin”.
After Gator discovers that Broker is actually an ex-undercover DEA agent, he tries to use that information as leverage to gain business ground for his drug running enterprise, and that’s where the rest of the movie plays out.
There are a lot of action and shooting scenes, which is what one would expect from a Statham movie, but it is still pretty predictable. Once Gator brings in the “big dogs” from the city, things quickly escalate and spin out of his control. The remainder of the movie is one gun fight after another, interspersed with chase scenes, swearing, explosions and hand to hand fighting. If you’re a fan of Statham, then there are really no surprises here. If you know to expect the movie’s complete predictability and his somewhat stiff acting, you’ll enjoy it.
Written by Sylvestor Stallone. The film opens with a major drug bust going down, and inside undercover DEA agent Phil Broker (Statham) gives chase to the head of the drug ring and his son. While trying to arrest the father and son team, the son is shot to death, and his father promises to kill Broker and his children.
The rest of the movie takes place a few years later in a small town in Louisiana, where a now widowed Broker and his pre-teen daughter have moved to rebuild their life. An entire series of events is set off by Broker’s daughter standing up for herself against the school bully. The bully’s mother Cassie, demands an apology and doesn’t get one enough to her liking. She escalates the situation by going to her brother, Gator, who is the town’s resident “drug kingpin”.
After Gator discovers that Broker is actually an ex-undercover DEA agent, he tries to use that information as leverage to gain business ground for his drug running enterprise, and that’s where the rest of the movie plays out.
There are a lot of action and shooting scenes, which is what one would expect from a Statham movie, but it is still pretty predictable. Once Gator brings in the “big dogs” from the city, things quickly escalate and spin out of his control. The remainder of the movie is one gun fight after another, interspersed with chase scenes, swearing, explosions and hand to hand fighting. If you’re a fan of Statham, then there are really no surprises here. If you know to expect the movie’s complete predictability and his somewhat stiff acting, you’ll enjoy it.
Etsy Conversations Podcast | Arts & Crafts | DIY | Online Business | Ecommerce | Online Shopping | Entrepreneur Interviews
Podcast
Featuring interviews with Etsy shop owners. Get to hear the personal Etsy stories behind your...
Rimbaud: Complete Works, Selected Letters
Jean-Nicholas-Arthur Rimbaud, Wallace Fowlie and Seth Whidden
Book
The enfant terrible of French letters, Jean-Nicholas-Arthur Rimbaud (1854-91) was a defiant and...
GA
Grotowski and Company
Book
This collection of texts by Ludwik Flaszen, Grotowski's main collaborator and co-founder of the...
