Search
Search results
I really liked Albus in this novel, he is different from Harry, and I would absolutely love to read more of his adventures in Hogwarts. I really liked the way characters were interacting, I liked the different friendships made in this story. It was unexpected and refreshing to me. In the series my No1 was Harry, but in this book, I didn’t really like him that much, even though he is a great father, I think he lost his charm. I loved Ron’s personality, his carelessness and fun made the whole story livelier.
I really enjoyed the storyline. I loved the adventure it had to offer as well as all the unexpected turns and twists. I really liked the topics it was discussing as well, such as father-son relationship, not fitting in, friendships etc. It was very easy to read this play, the acts are pretty short, so it was a quick and enjoyable read for me. I liked the ending of this book, I think it rounded up the story pretty nicely. The setting of this book was constantly changing, and I am very curious, how they managed to portray all this on the stage.
So, to conclude, if you enjoyed the Harry Potter series, you might like this book as well. It is different, it introduces new, unfamiliar characters as well as brings back the old and beloved ones, and it has a little bit less magic, but it is still stunning nevertheless.
I really enjoyed the storyline. I loved the adventure it had to offer as well as all the unexpected turns and twists. I really liked the topics it was discussing as well, such as father-son relationship, not fitting in, friendships etc. It was very easy to read this play, the acts are pretty short, so it was a quick and enjoyable read for me. I liked the ending of this book, I think it rounded up the story pretty nicely. The setting of this book was constantly changing, and I am very curious, how they managed to portray all this on the stage.
So, to conclude, if you enjoyed the Harry Potter series, you might like this book as well. It is different, it introduces new, unfamiliar characters as well as brings back the old and beloved ones, and it has a little bit less magic, but it is still stunning nevertheless.
Unicorn Moms
Social Networking and Lifestyle
App
Unicorn Moms is a social community where moms can give and get the real-scoop on anything and...
Acanthea Grimscythe (300 KP) rated 100 Fathoms Below in Books
Jan 31, 2019
Contains spoilers, click to show
I love books that take place under the sea–particularly horror books. If you’ve read my review on Something’s Alive on the Titanic, you probably already know that. (It’s a great book by the way, and its author is Robert Serling–brother to Rod Serling.) It’s only natural that I selected 100 Fathoms Below when I read its nautical, and eerie, description.
And here’s where my spoiler comes in, because I’m about to go on a mini-rant. The synopsis hints at a mysterious, evil monster hunting the crew of the ship, but it does not say what that creature is. Therefore, I feel that revealing this is a book about vampires is, in fact, a spoiler–contrary to popular belief of other reviewers. It’s pretty obvious early on, with the first hint coming in at 8%, however if I’d known this was a vampire book before I chose it, I wouldn’t have taken the time to read it. The key word there is BEFORE. Because I had it spoiled by a straight up summary of the prologue on Goodreads, coupled with a pretty hearty description about the… well, vampires. So, now that you know that overly used trope is here, let’s take a moment to discuss what Kent and Kaufmann do right, shall we?
The vampires in 100 Fathoms Below are good ol’ classic boys, in the sense that they’re bloodthirsty and want nothing more than to maim and breed more of their kind. They aren’t romanticized, either–and that’s a great thing. In fact, they’re written well enough that, despite having been spoiled by a fellow reviewer, I enjoyed the book enough to finish it. Mostly because I wanted to see how things ended.
Something else Kent and Kaufmann excel at is creating a connection between the readers and characters. I found myself sharing the hopes and dreams of many of the figures we meet. That made some of the deaths a lot more difficult on me.
The plot is quick, making it an easy read; however, the sense of intrigue isn’t really there. The whole discovering a prototype Soviet submarine takes the back burner with an occasional mention and even when it does come back into play toward the end of the book, there’s not exactly any excitement or fear of them being caught. I found that to be a bit disappointing.
Overall, it’s an entertaining read, but I probably wouldn’t take the time to re-read it. I’d like to thank NetGalley and Blackstone Publishing for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
And here’s where my spoiler comes in, because I’m about to go on a mini-rant. The synopsis hints at a mysterious, evil monster hunting the crew of the ship, but it does not say what that creature is. Therefore, I feel that revealing this is a book about vampires is, in fact, a spoiler–contrary to popular belief of other reviewers. It’s pretty obvious early on, with the first hint coming in at 8%, however if I’d known this was a vampire book before I chose it, I wouldn’t have taken the time to read it. The key word there is BEFORE. Because I had it spoiled by a straight up summary of the prologue on Goodreads, coupled with a pretty hearty description about the… well, vampires. So, now that you know that overly used trope is here, let’s take a moment to discuss what Kent and Kaufmann do right, shall we?
The vampires in 100 Fathoms Below are good ol’ classic boys, in the sense that they’re bloodthirsty and want nothing more than to maim and breed more of their kind. They aren’t romanticized, either–and that’s a great thing. In fact, they’re written well enough that, despite having been spoiled by a fellow reviewer, I enjoyed the book enough to finish it. Mostly because I wanted to see how things ended.
Something else Kent and Kaufmann excel at is creating a connection between the readers and characters. I found myself sharing the hopes and dreams of many of the figures we meet. That made some of the deaths a lot more difficult on me.
The plot is quick, making it an easy read; however, the sense of intrigue isn’t really there. The whole discovering a prototype Soviet submarine takes the back burner with an occasional mention and even when it does come back into play toward the end of the book, there’s not exactly any excitement or fear of them being caught. I found that to be a bit disappointing.
Overall, it’s an entertaining read, but I probably wouldn’t take the time to re-read it. I’d like to thank NetGalley and Blackstone Publishing for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Talking as Fast as I Can: From Gilmore Girls to Gilmore Girls, and Everything in Between
9.2
Rate It
Book
A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER In this collection of personal essays, the beloved star of Gilmore Girls...
memoir celebrity
Becca Major (96 KP) rated Love O2O in TV
Jan 21, 2019
Characters (Main and Side) (2 more)
The Story
I like the basic premise.
A Simple Meet-Cute
Contains spoilers, click to show
One of the best things about Netflix is that there are a plethora of media that would otherwise be practically unavailable for viewing otherwise. For me, that primarily means Asian dramas, though I know many people discovered anime or other foreign television the same way. One of the most recent shows I watched via Netflix was a 2016 Chinese drama called Love 020. While it is not my favorite drama ever (that distinction belongs to Bromance) it is pretty good.
The story follows university students Bei Weiwei and Xiao Nai, who are computer technology majors at Qing University and both have a passion for game design. One day Weiwei has to log into her preferred MMORPG from a public computer and is spotted by Nai. He later finds her in-game and they begin a relationship between their characters. It isn’t long before Weiwei and Nai begin to develop real feelings, and Nai goes out of his way to pass by Weiwei in real life. Their eventual official IRL meeting is sufficiently exciting.
The best part is that Xiao Nai, while ruffling a few of my feathers for his more stalker-y actions, is not an asshole! He is nice to Weiwei from the start and is a devoted and engaged boyfriend. Weiwei herself is smart and sassy, though aloof online. One of my favorite scenes involves her putting her ex-in-game-husband in his place once they meet IRL. It also doesn’t help that these two are practically the perfect couple.
All of the characters, in fact, are fairly interesting. Both sets of roommates have different but very dynamic relationships with each other; it feels very organic. My personal favorites were K.O, Hao Mei, and Weiwei’s roommate Erxi. Though my attachments may be because they are the central characters to my favorite side-plots. If there was a character I had to choose to dislike, it would probably be Nana, the character who does the most bad in the plot but doesn’t suffer any real consequences for her actions.
I don’t want to spoil the ending for you, but most of my criticisms concern how the story wraps up, so if you want to watch the series, then go for it! It is a very simple, easy story that hits all the right buttons if you just finished a heart-wringer.
|SPOILERS|
My main points of contention with Love O2O stem almost entirely from the way the series ends. As a brief summary, Xiao Nai’s game development company goes head to head with a rival, more established company, over the right to develop a particular game that both companies really really want, and (extra spoilers) they win. The side-plot of Erxi and Cao Guang comes to a head as the two realize the misunderstanding that’s been happening for the last few months. And Hao Mei still doesn’t realize that K.O has a huge crush on him!
Ordinarily, I wouldn’t mind this ending because it flows with the narrative, every story thread is tied, and it ends on a happy note with the main couple en-route to a wedding. It’s just… Where are the stakes?! The tension, where it exists, doesn’t stem from Xiao Nai or Weiwei or their relationship with each other, like what happens in most other dramas that I watch. Almost all of that drama and tension seemed to be relegated to other characters.
Everything is wrapped up so easily, the antagonists (for what little they did to advance the plot) simply admitted to the leads that they were wrong and they’re sorry. Additionally, the final “threat” that Xiao Nai and Weiwei face is meeting Weiwei’s parents, in which Weiwei’s father doesn’t like Nai because of course he doesn’t; and that is solved easily by Nai reminiscing with his future father-in-law about Weiwei as a child and how adorable their future children will be.
I wish I could have enjoyed this series a lot more than I did, but the ending means a lot for me because it’s the last thing I tend to remember, and the emotions that go with those endings tend to stick. So, yes I enjoyed this series, but the ending left a disappointing aftertaste.
The story follows university students Bei Weiwei and Xiao Nai, who are computer technology majors at Qing University and both have a passion for game design. One day Weiwei has to log into her preferred MMORPG from a public computer and is spotted by Nai. He later finds her in-game and they begin a relationship between their characters. It isn’t long before Weiwei and Nai begin to develop real feelings, and Nai goes out of his way to pass by Weiwei in real life. Their eventual official IRL meeting is sufficiently exciting.
The best part is that Xiao Nai, while ruffling a few of my feathers for his more stalker-y actions, is not an asshole! He is nice to Weiwei from the start and is a devoted and engaged boyfriend. Weiwei herself is smart and sassy, though aloof online. One of my favorite scenes involves her putting her ex-in-game-husband in his place once they meet IRL. It also doesn’t help that these two are practically the perfect couple.
All of the characters, in fact, are fairly interesting. Both sets of roommates have different but very dynamic relationships with each other; it feels very organic. My personal favorites were K.O, Hao Mei, and Weiwei’s roommate Erxi. Though my attachments may be because they are the central characters to my favorite side-plots. If there was a character I had to choose to dislike, it would probably be Nana, the character who does the most bad in the plot but doesn’t suffer any real consequences for her actions.
I don’t want to spoil the ending for you, but most of my criticisms concern how the story wraps up, so if you want to watch the series, then go for it! It is a very simple, easy story that hits all the right buttons if you just finished a heart-wringer.
|SPOILERS|
My main points of contention with Love O2O stem almost entirely from the way the series ends. As a brief summary, Xiao Nai’s game development company goes head to head with a rival, more established company, over the right to develop a particular game that both companies really really want, and (extra spoilers) they win. The side-plot of Erxi and Cao Guang comes to a head as the two realize the misunderstanding that’s been happening for the last few months. And Hao Mei still doesn’t realize that K.O has a huge crush on him!
Ordinarily, I wouldn’t mind this ending because it flows with the narrative, every story thread is tied, and it ends on a happy note with the main couple en-route to a wedding. It’s just… Where are the stakes?! The tension, where it exists, doesn’t stem from Xiao Nai or Weiwei or their relationship with each other, like what happens in most other dramas that I watch. Almost all of that drama and tension seemed to be relegated to other characters.
Everything is wrapped up so easily, the antagonists (for what little they did to advance the plot) simply admitted to the leads that they were wrong and they’re sorry. Additionally, the final “threat” that Xiao Nai and Weiwei face is meeting Weiwei’s parents, in which Weiwei’s father doesn’t like Nai because of course he doesn’t; and that is solved easily by Nai reminiscing with his future father-in-law about Weiwei as a child and how adorable their future children will be.
I wish I could have enjoyed this series a lot more than I did, but the ending means a lot for me because it’s the last thing I tend to remember, and the emotions that go with those endings tend to stick. So, yes I enjoyed this series, but the ending left a disappointing aftertaste.
Kirk Bage (1775 KP) rated Okja (2017) in Movies
Mar 3, 2020 (Updated Mar 3, 2020)
Okja (pronounced ok-cha, as far as I can discern from hearing it said) was a film I had on my radar from its release, but it took the impetus of Parasite and director Bong Joon Ho winning the Oscar to kick me into settling down to watch it. It is the kind of film I would have seen as a matter of course when I worked at the beloved Cameo Cinema, Edinburgh, back in the day… but the kind of film it takes me a while to get around to these days.
What I had heard was that it was quirky, had a very black humour and involved a giant pig. Other than that I was going in blind. Which is always preferable, with almost any film! Hype and too much information can ruin your experience of a thing, simply by putting preconceptions and ideas in your head that may influence your thinking and true reaction to something. I was very grateful then to avoid too much information regarding this unique movie.
The cast is full of people I like, outside of the Korean cast that were strangers to me, in all honesty. Jake Gyllenhaal and Paul Dano, especially, are two actors that have been high on my list of consistent performers you can trust for some years; both making interesting and compelling career choices in terms of subject matter and working with strong directors. Tilda Swinton too is usually good value for a promising watch, almost guaranteeing something slightly leftfield and worth thinking about.
Dano gets away with being the one likeable, if morally ambiguous, character out of the three; with Swinton and Gyllenhaal giving bizarre, heightened comic performances that it is hard to reference to anything else! As the main story of eco-consciousness and a girl’s love for her giant pig progresses in charming fashion, it is these starkly bonkers performances that stick out like very sore thumbs – sometimes raising awkward chuckles, but mostly making you go “what the hell is going on!?”
Well, what is going on is an exploration of corporate evil, the lies, deviousness and manipulation used to make a profit that ignores life and nature as anything worth preserving, or even loving. It wants us to look at meat eating for what it is, and imagines how we might think more about it as a species if we truly accept that animals have rights, personalities, even souls. Of course many people watching wouldn’t need to be converted to this way of thinking at all, so I am very curious (as a non vegetarian / vegan) what reaction a person whose consciousness of these things has been awake for years might have…?
It is possible to watch this without involving yourself too much in that whole debate, however. At its heart, it is a film about innocent love, and a rescue movie that sets unlikely heroes against a gargantuan nemesis against all odds. Naturally, it is a very smart script, that doesn’t ignore the notion of making fun of itself and keeping it mostly fun. In many ways, it seems like a family friendly film, apart from the underlying seriousness of the subject of cruelty, torture and, essentially, murder for the private gain of unscrupulous suits who would watch the world burn in the name of profit.
At the time of watching it, I caught myself in the right mood and really enjoyed it for what it was. Seo-Hyun Ahn as Mija is utterly lovely, and you do find yourself falling for Okja (rendered with marvelous CGI work) and sympathising with the warmth of their relationship as friends. The moments of the film that show nature and the calm of a non-modern world are the most compelling. The parts of the film with cities and noise and guns are more jarring – which, perhaps, is the point and fully intentional. Clearly, this is a director with serious vision and talent that was almost, if not quite, getting it right. As we now know, with Parasite he nailed it…
This is a film I’d be a little cautious of recommending to some people. It is just too odd in parts. It is a good film, not a great one. And perhaps more likely to impress in the hands of viewers that are already converted to the cause and way of thinking it champions.
What I had heard was that it was quirky, had a very black humour and involved a giant pig. Other than that I was going in blind. Which is always preferable, with almost any film! Hype and too much information can ruin your experience of a thing, simply by putting preconceptions and ideas in your head that may influence your thinking and true reaction to something. I was very grateful then to avoid too much information regarding this unique movie.
The cast is full of people I like, outside of the Korean cast that were strangers to me, in all honesty. Jake Gyllenhaal and Paul Dano, especially, are two actors that have been high on my list of consistent performers you can trust for some years; both making interesting and compelling career choices in terms of subject matter and working with strong directors. Tilda Swinton too is usually good value for a promising watch, almost guaranteeing something slightly leftfield and worth thinking about.
Dano gets away with being the one likeable, if morally ambiguous, character out of the three; with Swinton and Gyllenhaal giving bizarre, heightened comic performances that it is hard to reference to anything else! As the main story of eco-consciousness and a girl’s love for her giant pig progresses in charming fashion, it is these starkly bonkers performances that stick out like very sore thumbs – sometimes raising awkward chuckles, but mostly making you go “what the hell is going on!?”
Well, what is going on is an exploration of corporate evil, the lies, deviousness and manipulation used to make a profit that ignores life and nature as anything worth preserving, or even loving. It wants us to look at meat eating for what it is, and imagines how we might think more about it as a species if we truly accept that animals have rights, personalities, even souls. Of course many people watching wouldn’t need to be converted to this way of thinking at all, so I am very curious (as a non vegetarian / vegan) what reaction a person whose consciousness of these things has been awake for years might have…?
It is possible to watch this without involving yourself too much in that whole debate, however. At its heart, it is a film about innocent love, and a rescue movie that sets unlikely heroes against a gargantuan nemesis against all odds. Naturally, it is a very smart script, that doesn’t ignore the notion of making fun of itself and keeping it mostly fun. In many ways, it seems like a family friendly film, apart from the underlying seriousness of the subject of cruelty, torture and, essentially, murder for the private gain of unscrupulous suits who would watch the world burn in the name of profit.
At the time of watching it, I caught myself in the right mood and really enjoyed it for what it was. Seo-Hyun Ahn as Mija is utterly lovely, and you do find yourself falling for Okja (rendered with marvelous CGI work) and sympathising with the warmth of their relationship as friends. The moments of the film that show nature and the calm of a non-modern world are the most compelling. The parts of the film with cities and noise and guns are more jarring – which, perhaps, is the point and fully intentional. Clearly, this is a director with serious vision and talent that was almost, if not quite, getting it right. As we now know, with Parasite he nailed it…
This is a film I’d be a little cautious of recommending to some people. It is just too odd in parts. It is a good film, not a great one. And perhaps more likely to impress in the hands of viewers that are already converted to the cause and way of thinking it champions.
Cinderella Fairy Tale Dress Up and Storybook HD
Book and Games
App
Playful animations enhance a classic, captivating story with loads of interactive graphics Dress up...
The Marinated Meeple (1853 KP) rated Newton in Tabletop Games
Feb 12, 2019
balance (3 more)
Travel vs Work
Learning vs Technology
the game is all about being efficent in your combos.
Lots of good choices, I love the Learning curve, good meatier game.
I really enjoyed this game. So much so that we played it again directly after playing it the first time. This game is really about combos and efficiency of your decisions. your get 3 turns and each turn takes 3 or 4 seconds, so really the play time is based around the time to make decisions, which is where the game slows down. there is a lot to consider to play it well, the first game we played we scoried in the 50's, the 2nd game around 100, so we doubled our score in learning after the first game. I hesitate to say too much here because the discovery of the game was a big part of the fun for me and my wife. This is not a cop out from leaving a review. But the more I talk specifically the less you will discover. Just know that there a lot of push and pull on your options. This game feels like nothing else specifically, but has fragmented feelings of Lewis and Clark, T'zolkin, and maybe Castles of Burgundy..... I don't mean it's an amalgomation of those games, more that those games give me the feelings of playing this game. I hope this helps and I hope you give it a try, it's got the best kind of brain burn.
Laura Doe (1350 KP) rated The Switch in Books
Jul 31, 2021
This book had me giggling from the start, much like The Flat Share. I know a lot of the time when you’ve loved an author’s first book so much that their second doesn’t always live up to the expectations, but this one really exceeded them.
The book is split between chapters for Leena and Eileen, a granddaughter and grandmother who are grieving the loss of Leena’s sister. Leena threw herself into work in London while Eileen threw herself into looking after her daughter and Leena’s mother, Marian. After Leena is told by her boss that she must take a two month sabbatical, her and Eileen decide to swap lives for the two months. Leena moving to a tiny, sleepy village in Yorkshire, full of nosey old people and Neighbourhood Watch meetings, while Eileen moves to a tiny little flat in West London and tries online dating whilst making friends with everyone she comes across (whether they want to or not).
Beth O’Leary’s humour is brilliant, and so many situations had me giggling and rereading them multiple times and starting to giggle all over again (my favourite being when asked how a dog ended up in someone’s garden). It is so ridiculous, but not far fetched, and so you can actually imagine the events that make you laugh actually unfolding.
This book has just continued my love for Beth O’Leary and I will definitely be continuing to read her work and looking forward to new releases of hers in the future.
The book is split between chapters for Leena and Eileen, a granddaughter and grandmother who are grieving the loss of Leena’s sister. Leena threw herself into work in London while Eileen threw herself into looking after her daughter and Leena’s mother, Marian. After Leena is told by her boss that she must take a two month sabbatical, her and Eileen decide to swap lives for the two months. Leena moving to a tiny, sleepy village in Yorkshire, full of nosey old people and Neighbourhood Watch meetings, while Eileen moves to a tiny little flat in West London and tries online dating whilst making friends with everyone she comes across (whether they want to or not).
Beth O’Leary’s humour is brilliant, and so many situations had me giggling and rereading them multiple times and starting to giggle all over again (my favourite being when asked how a dog ended up in someone’s garden). It is so ridiculous, but not far fetched, and so you can actually imagine the events that make you laugh actually unfolding.
This book has just continued my love for Beth O’Leary and I will definitely be continuing to read her work and looking forward to new releases of hers in the future.
Covered in Flour: 1968: A Young Boy's Perspective on School, Family, and Changing Times
Book
It's 1968 in Whisper Haven, and 8-year-old Carl Pozzi's world is about to change. For...
Biographical Historical Fiction