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Touch the Dark (Cassandra Palmer, #1)
Touch the Dark (Cassandra Palmer, #1)
8
7.7 (12 Ratings)
Book Rating
I would like to thank Karen Chance for letting me fall in love with paranormal romance again. It’s very rare for me to find a paranormal romance series that I love in the never ending shelves filled with them. Among them are Kresley Cole, Gena Showwalter, Jeaniene Frost, Patricia Briggs, Lynn Viehl and now Karen Chance.

I brought this book on a 13 hour car ride, not expecting much, just words to fill the time. It was about halfway through when I realized what a gem I really had. The plot was fascinating, the world was so involved and though out, and the characters were just as interesting as the world they were involved in. I would like to thank Karen Chance once more for not making her heroine, Cassandra, so independent that it made me want to gag. Cassandra knew when she needed help and that she wasn’t going to survive on her own. Of course, Cassandra has an awesome power that makes her wanted by multiple races. I can forgive that stereotypical plot aspect since Cassandra is not the most power creature to ever exist in the world nor is the only one to have had or will have such power.

But, dear Chance, did you really have to throw in such an erotic scene when I am sitting in the car with my family? I was not expecting anything so…steamy from this book that I actually had to put the book down for a moment.

This was one of those novels that made me depressed when I finished it, for the sheer fact that it was over. I immediately turned to my phone to see if there were any more. When I found out it was a series, I ordered every single one.
  
Baby Driver (2017)
Baby Driver (2017)
2017 | Action, Comedy
Will Baby Get Out of the Game?
A young getaway driver finds himself in over his head when he tries to get out of the crime game.

Acting: 10

Beginning: 10

Characters: 10
It’s really hard not to love main character Baby (Ansel Elgort). Sure he’s helping criminals do criminal things but he has a great story and a solid motive. From the minute he shows up on screen beating his steering wheel to the music, you immediately want to root for this guy. Baby answers to Doc played by Kevin Spacey who reads the role with a controlled seriousness that forces you to focus on his every word. Doc along with an interesting gang of thugs make for a solid supporting cast.

Cinematography/Visuals: 10
Whether it’s two lovebirds in a diner talking or a death-defying car chase, I really appreciate the way Edgar Wright uses different angles to capture the perfect moment. I don’t know how he did it, but the movie has an 80’s feel to it even though it takes place in modern day. The action sequences play out in amazing fashion on screen and keep the story moving.

Conflict: 10
So many angles to consider here. Will Baby get out of the game? Does he get the girl? Will the next heist be a success? Something seems to always be happening whether at the forefront or in the background. This is a movie where you can get up to grab a drink and totally miss something you wish you hadn’t. Not to mention Baby Driver seriously has some of the best car chases in film period.

Entertainment Value: 10
It’s a movie that makes The French Connection car chase look like amateur night. There is so much going on, so many layers, that you will be hardpressed to be bored. It has the feel of an indie with blockbuster moments.

Memorability: 10

Pace: 10
Moves at an extremely high clip. Even the dialogue scenes can feel action-driven at times due to the intensity of the conversation. It’s a movie that never really lets you get too comfortable, but rather continues to hit you repeatedly with more.

Plot: 10

Resolution: 8
While the ending is the weakest point of the movie, it doesn’t detract from the overall greatness of Baby Driver. I wasn’t blown away by the resolution, but it was complete enough to get a pass from me. Good, but not lifechanging.

Overall: 98
In addition to having great action, Baby Driver’s love story helps drive the movie (pun intended) as a whole. It’s movies like these I wish would get more love from the Academy as they help to keep the population in love with film. Proud to call this movie a classic.
  
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Ronnie (304 KP) Feb 1, 2020

totally agree, I would go as far as to say it’s one of the best movies ever

The Bride Test
The Bride Test
Helen Hoang | 2019 | Fiction & Poetry
10
9.3 (3 Ratings)
Book Rating
As you may know, I have a child with Autism and reading books fiction or non-fiction that give me a little more insight into what is going on in his brain, always make me feel like I get to know him a little better. Stella doesn't always say and do the right things, but that is what makes her so lovable. I think everyone who reads this book will fall in love with Stella.

The Kiss Quotient had me wanting to know what was going to happen with Stella. Was she going to find the love she wanted? Was her relationship with Michael going to be just temporary? Will Michael stop helping Stella if he finds out about her labels? I laughed, and cried during while listening to this book. I was happy for Stella for going for what she wanted and making her own happiness.

I think I've found a new favorite author!! I will read everything she writes.
  
Where Creatures Hide
Where Creatures Hide
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
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My rating: ?????

Review:
I was sent Where Rogues Hide to read and review for my honest opinion but I only got about 20 pages in when I realized that I needed to read Where Creatures Hide (which is book 1 of the series) and Where Puppets Hide (book 2 of the series). So I rented them off of Amazon so I can give them a quick read through and review. Here is everything that I have felt throughout my read through of Where Creatures Hide.

The story starts by introducing the "Chant of Creatures." This then leads to the opening of the story where there are a bunch of lab technicians doing tests on a girl that is frozen in a tomb of ice. They decide to melt the ice so they can carry out other tests that would lead to the girl's puppet soul being released.

A note on puppet souls:
Puppet souls are the darkest part of a creature's mind. The part of the mind that tells you you're not good enough. That voice that can break you down until you're nothing. They are extremely dangerous because they are numb beings that enjoy killing for pleasure, even if it costs them their own life. <i>"Now what I mean here is that when you give into your dark thoughts, you forget about everything around you. Your family, your friends, the people who love you, the people who matter most. You don't see them, all you see is a shadowy haze of darkness, nothing else. The sun doesn't shine, rain pours thicker than it ever has before but you don't care because you're falling. Falling into that endless bottomless pit of ebony nights. You're not scared because everything you see means nothing. Everything you hear means nothing. The people who call your name, mean nothing... Falling into your puppet soul is like ecstasy. You crave for silence, bliss, happiness and you think the only way you're going to get it is if you truly allow it to overcome you. Even if it means hurting the people around you, and yourself."</i>

The girl's puppet soul ends up releasing for only a short moment before she passes out. This is where Alex comes into the story as he was the only one to survive the release of the girl's puppet soul. Where Creatures Hide follows that girl's story. Her name is Dawn, she is a creature with a puppet soul and has no recollection of who she really is but she's determined to figure that out, even if it means hurting others around her.

"Because love thrives so much more than fear and darkness. Loyalty lies so much deeper with family than it does an army."

Characters:
Alex - the leader of Europha and one of Titan's sons. He is light in a dark and cruel world.
Dawn - the main character with a puppet soul. There is a twist that I can't reveal about her because it's a spoiler, but it was amazing!
Xavior - my baby, my smol cinnamonroll, my love. Xavior is by far my favorite character. He's just so innocent and loves to eat - I can get down with that!
Aziel - a god sent from higher up gods to find and protect the princess, eventually he must... wait, I can't tell you that cause it's a spoiler!
Luna - this little girl right here has my heart wrenched into a million pieces. I want to smother her into my arms and protect her from the world but at the same time, she's strong and independent and doesn't need any protection as long as she has her violin.
Titan - Alex's father. A gruesome man who wants to control all
Inaya - the princess that is to save her people from Titan's grasp
Tremayne - a phoenix lady who is cursed with not being able to touch anybody. Raised Alex after he lost his mother.
Ava - a vampire who doesn't come in until roughly the halfway mark of the book. She ends up standing close with Uma and Susi to protect them.
Uma - a bad ass little cat girl who I just wanted to cuddle in my arms!
Susi - wolf sidekick and protective of Uma

Reasons why I rated it 5 stars:
1. The plot:
I've never read anything by PJ Sheperd and I honestly have no idea why. PJ is an amazing human being with great storytelling skills. Where Creatures Hide packed a punch that I was not ready at all for. I bawled my eyes out, I fell in love, my heart raced at the twists and turns that littered throughout this breathtaking novel. There was an aura of mystery across the entirety of the novel and it honestly added such an appeal to the plot that left me craving more.

2. My enjoyment:
I absolutely 100% enjoyed reading Where Creatures Hide. The execution of the writing was amazing and the amount of background, development, and story that was packed into this little novel was a whirlwind of a roller coaster ride that I will gladly take over and over again.

3. Character and story development:
Guys! The character development within Where Creatures Hide is some of the best I've seen. PJ Sheperd does an amazing job and it was honestly a lot better than quite a few popular authors that have great editors. The story development was a little slow at first but with how the story ended up laying out, it made total sense the way that it was written.

4. Grammar and spelling:
PJ Sheperd has had a lot of hardships finding a good editor as each one has screwed her over. So I am not rating her on grammar and spelling as she is a new-ish indie author. There weren't many grammatical and spelling errors, just a few that could be overlooked but I happened to notice. She knows all about them already.

5. The overall story:
I absolutely am in love. I cannot express how much I've come to love this story-line just know that it's a lot. I can't wait to get my hands on some physical copies so I can reread the story. I'm already ready to do it!

"When you have strength, you fear nothing, and when you fear nothing you overcome the darkness with a blazing beacon of light."

There are three (3) different covers for each book in the Where Creatures Hide series. Each cover has a bit of extra stuff added to either the story or at the end of the book.

OG paperback cover - original PG-13 storyline
Special Edition paperback cover - smut filled storyline
Hardback cover - smut filled storyline + artwork
  
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Dana (24 KP) rated Heartless in Books

Mar 23, 2018  
Heartless
Heartless
Marissa Meyer | 2017 | Children
6
8.3 (33 Ratings)
Book Rating
Let me start off by saying that I love Marissa Meyer's writing so much, but this book wasn't as good for me as The Lunar Chronicles.

This was a really cute and quirky book with so many puns! I loved all of the puns about baking, they gave me life. Especially since I love puns and I love baking, so putting those two things together made me so happy!

This had a very interesting story, one we all know the end of, just not how the story will get to that point. If you have read or even know of Alice in Wonderland, you know that the Queen of Hearts is a villain, so it was interesting to see how she got to be that way. I am always a little hesitant to read the villain backstories because a lot of times, authors will make them out to be the heroes and completely go against what the audiences know about these beloved villains. While Meyer does have some instances of this, she also is able to build up the story enough to the point where it may be believable.

So there are going to be some plot spoilers in this paragraph, so if you do not want to read them, skip to the next paragraph! Okay, so the plot goes like this: Catherine doesn't want to be queen, she wants to bake, but the King of Hearts, as well as her parents, want her to be the queen. Cue the Joker, Jest, who is the wrong guy to fall for, but she does it anyway which eventually gets him killed and will make Cath want revenge and become the killer we know her as. There were a lot of moments throughout the plot that I was not as engaged with because they felt like they had been too much. Of course Cath would fall for Jest and of course a man would be her turning point. I was not the biggest fan of those aspects of the story. I wanted her to have more agency in why she becomes the Queen of Hearts, not just that she wants to use her power to avenge her lost love.

There was a prophecy in this book, I won't say what it was, but I will say that it wasn't my favorite because it takes any and all tension out of the story.

I loved the play on names from Meyer. Hatta being the Mad Hatter and Haigher being the March Hair, loved it!

The characters were pretty interesting, but they weren't as gripping or memorable as I would have like them to be.

I usually adore Marissa Meyer's books, but this one fell a little flat for me. Overall, it was enjoyable, but I am not sure if I would read it again.
  
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Sarah (7800 KP) rated The Boys in TV

Aug 18, 2019  
The Boys
The Boys
2019 | Action, Crime, Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Thriller
A refreshing take on superheroes
I’ve never read the comics, so took a punt on this as it’s been recommended by a few of my friends, and i absolutely loved it.

It’s the perfect antidote to the homely, suitable for kids superhero films like Marvel that bombard our screens every year. Instead The Boys is rude, crude, dark and downright hilarious at times. It’s full of blood and gore too that you’d never find anywhere near any Marvel films. There’s something beyond refreshing watching a show with superheroes behaving badly like villains, and the take on superheroes being owned and represented by a massive corporation is rather brilliant. You can almost imagine that this is how superheroes would turn out if they lived in today’s society.

This has a great cast too, and there are some wonderful performances in this. I adore Karl Urban and he’s good in this, although I feel like he’s let down a little by the fact that they’ve made him a cliched cockney. Antony Starr is seriously creepy and yet charming as Homelander, and he was great to watch. Although my favourite had to be Chace Crawford as The Deep. I feel like he was a little under-utilised in the main plot, but he provided some of the funniest scenes in the entire series and I really wanted to see more of him.

The ending was good and a nice reveal, although I wanted more and felt like it ended maybe a little too abruptly. Aside from Karl Urban’s English accent, the superhero names grate a little after a while because they are super cheesy and cringey (which I’m assuming they’re meant to be). And I felt like the character of Black Noir was a complete mystery and whilst this may be intentional, I do there has been a little bit more of him.

Aside from these little niggles though, this is a refreshingly entertaining series. So much so I’d love to watch a second series, like now.
  
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Lee KM Pallatina (951 KP) Sep 30, 2019

Its a given that the hero's in this show are somewhat spoofs of Marvel/DC characters which I guess Black noir is a jab at Snake eyes from G.I. Joe (very similar) the cockney accent was probably easier to learn and probably sounds more gritty and formal to a U.S audience.

Halloween II (1981)
Halloween II (1981)
1981 | Horror
6
7.4 (23 Ratings)
Movie Rating
There's a fair amount to love about Halloween II, a sequel set on the same night as the original, immediately following that films ending.
For instance, I can admire the style that director Rick Rosenthal was going for, attempting to make his sequel feel as much like the first film as possible, the idea being that you could watch both back to back.
There a few creepy shots here and there. One that really sticks is the shot of Michael in the darkness just before the poor nurse get killed with a syringe. Another is Michael on the CCTV when he first enters the hospital. Another is when Laurie see Michael across the parking lot underneath a red light. and then there's Michael with blood running out of the eye holes in his mask, followed by him walking out of that one room completely ablaze. It's all to do with Michael then! Once again, this movie showcases how his straightforward design is striking and rightly iconic.
It's nice to see Jamie Lee Curtis back as Laurie, and Donald Pleasance back as Loomis. All in all, it does truly feel like a sequel, but there's something missing.

The original is one of my favourite horrors ever made, and Halloween II, despite its positives, just fails to capture the same essence. This is partly to do with the script. It feels like a lot of the actors were just told to ad lib all their lines or something. The tension building scenes go on for a little too long also, ironically voiding a few scenes of said tension. It's feels like the first film in everything but execution pretty much.

It's a heavily flawed sequel, but it's still a decent watch, and is certainly one of the better sequels in this long running series. It deserves credit for the bit near the beginning where Loomis shouts "you don't know what death is!" before the synth heavy version of the theme tune kicks in, that was badass.
  
    The Fat Lip

    The Fat Lip

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    The Fat Lip is a podcast for and about fat people. In some ways fat people are living in a...

Pee-wee&#039;s Big Adventure (1985)
Pee-wee's Big Adventure (1985)
1985 | Comedy, Family

"My personal favorite comedy growing up, and something that really influenced me, was Pee-wee’s Big Adventure, directed by Tim Burton. I love this movie because Paul Reubens is just brilliant; [he] plays this character Pee-wee Herman, and the creativity that’s put into this movie, it was like, what else can you add to make this movie [funnier]? Just the opening shot of him waking up, and there’s like a Rube Goldberg contraption of how he makes toast and breakfast in the morning; he drops a ping-pong ball, it hits a candle that turns on and burns a rope that breaks and swings a hammer… It was so creative. I remember being a kid, I watched that movie probably 300 times. I memorized it. I used to do the voice; I had to stop doing it. It’s a movie, to me, about how far can you dream. Someone steals his bike, and he tries to get his bike back, and through this adventure he ends up pitching his story to a movie studio, which makes his adventure into a feature film at the end. It’s just great that he thought this movie up and wrote it, with Phil Hartman, who was one of my favorites from Saturday Night Live. It’s for kids, but it’s for adults. He’s just such a good actor in this movie – Paul Reubens should have gotten an Oscar for this."

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