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Lyndsey Gollogly (2893 KP) rated Moonville ( Gold Prophecy 1-4) in Books
Mar 1, 2024
40 of 220
Kindle
Booksirens arc
Moonville (Gold Blood Prophecy 1-4)
By K.J Devoir
⭐️⭐️
Please check Trigger warnings
Psycho gets the girl.
Leena Sperling has fallen into darkness. Darkness has a name...
ZAND BYRON
He’s larger than life. He’s also a deeply dangerous, twisted soul, a textbook psychopath. But, somehow...she makes him feel.
"You can run, Leena. But I will find you."
Leena: When I arrived to the City of Souls, the tiny cemetery town wrapping the Bay Area foothills where Moonvine Manor is located, I had no idea what to expect or how insane my life would become after moving into the former, Queen Anne, funeral home that belonged to my missing sister. I should have known that being greeted by a tombstone-shaped granite welcome sign was either a sick joke or a bad omen. But I could never have predicted that I would fall in love with the darkness.
Zand: I don’t want to ever stop making her cry. Her tears are full of human feelings, and I love the taste. She makes me feel, but part of me wants to end the human in her that brings out the human in me. In a heartbeat, I could make her nightmares infinitely darker. I'm a bad man, trying to be good.
Ok so this premise was good it gave me very much Morganville vibes but a little darker and steamy. The characters were ok and certainly lived up to the dark paranormal romance vibe.
But I had a few issues and I can only be honest. There were bits of the book that didn’t quite add up and there was something really off about it all. A few times I wanted to stop reading. It just wasn’t for me.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
Please check Trigger warnings
Kindle
Booksirens arc
Moonville (Gold Blood Prophecy 1-4)
By K.J Devoir
⭐️⭐️
Please check Trigger warnings
Psycho gets the girl.
Leena Sperling has fallen into darkness. Darkness has a name...
ZAND BYRON
He’s larger than life. He’s also a deeply dangerous, twisted soul, a textbook psychopath. But, somehow...she makes him feel.
"You can run, Leena. But I will find you."
Leena: When I arrived to the City of Souls, the tiny cemetery town wrapping the Bay Area foothills where Moonvine Manor is located, I had no idea what to expect or how insane my life would become after moving into the former, Queen Anne, funeral home that belonged to my missing sister. I should have known that being greeted by a tombstone-shaped granite welcome sign was either a sick joke or a bad omen. But I could never have predicted that I would fall in love with the darkness.
Zand: I don’t want to ever stop making her cry. Her tears are full of human feelings, and I love the taste. She makes me feel, but part of me wants to end the human in her that brings out the human in me. In a heartbeat, I could make her nightmares infinitely darker. I'm a bad man, trying to be good.
Ok so this premise was good it gave me very much Morganville vibes but a little darker and steamy. The characters were ok and certainly lived up to the dark paranormal romance vibe.
But I had a few issues and I can only be honest. There were bits of the book that didn’t quite add up and there was something really off about it all. A few times I wanted to stop reading. It just wasn’t for me.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
Please check Trigger warnings
The Cross of Ciarán (The Cross of Ciarán #1)
Book
When a fifth century pagan priest is unearthed in Ireland fifteen hundred years after being...
Timeslip Historical Irish Celtic Romance
Ebb and Flow (Ebb & Flow #1)
6.0
Rate It
Book
Only weeks after witnessing the massacre of nearly half his pack, Quinn Boucher is finding his...
Fantasy Romance MM
Haley Mathiot (9 KP) rated The Lovely Bones in Books
Apr 27, 2018
**Spoiler Alert!**
First of all, let me say this. I really wanted to love The Lovely Bones. But I didn’t. I didn’t like it very much.
This comes as a surprise to me, because while I was reading it, I found it almost impossible to put down. It was cryptic and mysterious. The problem is that at the end, it still felt cryptic and mysterious—like I’d missed something. I felt throughout the book that I’d find a plot line, or a key, or something, and it would all fit together perfectly. But it didn’t. The writing was hard to read, and I had to really focus to understand the words. The plot was very original and creative, but there just seemed to be something missing through the whole book. When I got to the end, I was very disappointed.
I didn’t feel engaged in The Lovely Bones. I felt like an outsider looking in. I related to the characters on a certain level—but then again I felt totally disconnected and withdrawn while reading.
I didn’t at all like what happened to Mr. Harvey. He needed to be caught and put in jail, or killed by the father, or something a little more than getting an icicle in his back and falling into a ravine. His death was very unsatisfactory.
I didn’t like the end at all. As I said earlier, it felt like something was missing. I got to the end and said “Hu? Did I miss something? Maybe I skipped some pages, or missed a paragraph…” and literally flipped back through the past few pages. Nothing. It was like the end of a chapter, not the end of a book. There are unanswered questions sitting right in front of you, and there are blank endings for some of the characters. By blank I mean empty, like it’s not an ending at all. Like there is another few chapters to read and then maybe it will all make sense.
As I said above, find it very difficult to stop until I got about halfway through. When I got to the halfway point, it started to feel like it wasn’t going anywhere and I put it off for about a month. The book felt like it was boring, and dead like Susie. The mystery wasn’t going to be solved. It got old. Blech.
But some of it was very fast paced and exciting, and the characters are very well developed. The dialogue flows freely and comfortably.
Also, however painful Mrs. Salmon’s leaving was, and watching the family get torn apart, it was beautiful in the end when she came back. And I loved the interaction between the characters, and I loved the characters themselves. Lindsey and Samuel were wonderful, and her baby was wonderful, and the grandma was wonderful. Poor, sweet little Buckley who grows up too fast and too hard…
So I rest closer to the negative side than the positive side. This was a good (depending on your definition) book—I just wasn’t connected to it. There were some things that I liked about The Lovely Bones. However, most of it I didn’t like. If I’m not connected to a book, how can I read it? Will I read this one again? probably not. Will I read the sequel? Not unless I get it in the mail for review and I’m really really bored.
I wish I could say more good things about this book. I wanted to love it. My friends all loved it and my mom loved it. But it felt odd and foreign and uncomfortable to me, and the ending was awful. If you consider it an ending.
Audio Review: The audio-book was read by the author, who read incredibly slow and seemingly forced. Wouldn't an author take some joy in reading their book out loud, even if it was as depressing as this one? wouldn’t the author, of all people, read with a little more energy? Alice sounded tired. Tired of her book, tired of Susie and Lindsey and Mr. Salmon and everyone else. If you’re going to read The Lovely Bones, read The Lovely Bones.
First of all, let me say this. I really wanted to love The Lovely Bones. But I didn’t. I didn’t like it very much.
This comes as a surprise to me, because while I was reading it, I found it almost impossible to put down. It was cryptic and mysterious. The problem is that at the end, it still felt cryptic and mysterious—like I’d missed something. I felt throughout the book that I’d find a plot line, or a key, or something, and it would all fit together perfectly. But it didn’t. The writing was hard to read, and I had to really focus to understand the words. The plot was very original and creative, but there just seemed to be something missing through the whole book. When I got to the end, I was very disappointed.
I didn’t feel engaged in The Lovely Bones. I felt like an outsider looking in. I related to the characters on a certain level—but then again I felt totally disconnected and withdrawn while reading.
I didn’t at all like what happened to Mr. Harvey. He needed to be caught and put in jail, or killed by the father, or something a little more than getting an icicle in his back and falling into a ravine. His death was very unsatisfactory.
I didn’t like the end at all. As I said earlier, it felt like something was missing. I got to the end and said “Hu? Did I miss something? Maybe I skipped some pages, or missed a paragraph…” and literally flipped back through the past few pages. Nothing. It was like the end of a chapter, not the end of a book. There are unanswered questions sitting right in front of you, and there are blank endings for some of the characters. By blank I mean empty, like it’s not an ending at all. Like there is another few chapters to read and then maybe it will all make sense.
As I said above, find it very difficult to stop until I got about halfway through. When I got to the halfway point, it started to feel like it wasn’t going anywhere and I put it off for about a month. The book felt like it was boring, and dead like Susie. The mystery wasn’t going to be solved. It got old. Blech.
But some of it was very fast paced and exciting, and the characters are very well developed. The dialogue flows freely and comfortably.
Also, however painful Mrs. Salmon’s leaving was, and watching the family get torn apart, it was beautiful in the end when she came back. And I loved the interaction between the characters, and I loved the characters themselves. Lindsey and Samuel were wonderful, and her baby was wonderful, and the grandma was wonderful. Poor, sweet little Buckley who grows up too fast and too hard…
So I rest closer to the negative side than the positive side. This was a good (depending on your definition) book—I just wasn’t connected to it. There were some things that I liked about The Lovely Bones. However, most of it I didn’t like. If I’m not connected to a book, how can I read it? Will I read this one again? probably not. Will I read the sequel? Not unless I get it in the mail for review and I’m really really bored.
I wish I could say more good things about this book. I wanted to love it. My friends all loved it and my mom loved it. But it felt odd and foreign and uncomfortable to me, and the ending was awful. If you consider it an ending.
Audio Review: The audio-book was read by the author, who read incredibly slow and seemingly forced. Wouldn't an author take some joy in reading their book out loud, even if it was as depressing as this one? wouldn’t the author, of all people, read with a little more energy? Alice sounded tired. Tired of her book, tired of Susie and Lindsey and Mr. Salmon and everyone else. If you’re going to read The Lovely Bones, read The Lovely Bones.
Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated Neofeud in Video Games
Jun 19, 2019
Some of the most popular games to be released in the mid 80’s to mid 90’s were the point and click adventure games. Sierra Online ruled the 80’s with games such as Kings Quest and Leisure Suit Larry, while the 90’s was dominated by Lucasarts with their release of titles such as Day of the Tentacle and Full Throttle. These games were puzzle driven stories, where the main character interacted with their environment by clicking on items, pressing a button, and occasional mini games to complete the level. Sadly, except for very few remastered greats, there has been little to be excited about in this once popular and well-loved genre. This is where Neofued hopes to fill the gap with its mix of Blade Runner and District 9 storyline.
Neofeud is set in the not too distant future, a dystopian society where 1% of the wealthy Pureblood human megacorporation’s live in floating cities, and the other 99%, a mix of humans (Pure or otherwise), cyborgs and androids are barely able scrape by. Purebloods (those completely human) hold down low wage jobs, where those from the mechanical genepool (robots, androids, etc.) are treated as lower class citizens, living in Section 8 housing and off government food stamps.
You are Karl Carbon, a dishonorably discharged cop who now makes a living as social worker for Sentient Services. Karl is tasked by his boss (who for better or worse looks and sounds a lot like Emilio Estevez) to travel to a local ghetto to checkup on Johnny, an at-risk youth (artificial person). This will catapult Karl into an adventure, with a gangsta robot named Proto-J and Princess Cybil, a wealthy aristocrat who believes in equality for all sentient beings. Karl also travels to “The Arcade”, where robot gangsters and drug dealers hang out, and will even do a little time-traveling, but not more than 24 hours.
The game play is standard fare for this type of genre. The cursor can be changed from an eye icon to look at an item or object, hand icon to use an item, you get the idea. You collect various items that you then use on something in the environment to advance the story. Find a door knob on the ground? There will certainly be a door missing a knob to use it on. For any who have played point and click games in the past, the controls will be second nature to you.
The visuals are good, they aren’t great, but they are vibrant and gritty. There is a mix of 2D and 3D objects in the environment to tell the story. You will see lots of nods to the 80’s if you look close enough…”You made a time machine out of a DeLorean?”, Yes Marty, he did. I feel that someone familiar enough with classic 80’s movies will get more out of these little quips than those less familiar. That isn’t to say you can’t appreciate the game without this knowledge, you’ll just be missing a lot of the inside jokes that abound.
The voice acting is a mixed bag here. Some of the characters nail the dialog and help with character development. Unfortunately, the main character Karl tends to deliver an inconsistent performance which can seriously distract you during key moments in the game. That being said though, all the characters are voiced (no reading endless dialog boxes as you did in the 80’s) which is an achievement for any game. So while the voice acting isn’t always amazing, it’s still preferred to reading line after line of text when the characters speak.
The game clocks in around 15 hours, which is a pretty astonishing feat when you realize that the story, gameplay and art work was all done by one guy.
Is the game worth $14.99 on Steam? That depends on your nostalgia for a point and click adventure with a lot of references to 80’s films. The story is interesting, albeit a bit convoluted at times, and the characters range from likeable to annoying, but still have you rooting for them until the end.
http://sknr.net/2017/11/16/neofued/
Neofeud is set in the not too distant future, a dystopian society where 1% of the wealthy Pureblood human megacorporation’s live in floating cities, and the other 99%, a mix of humans (Pure or otherwise), cyborgs and androids are barely able scrape by. Purebloods (those completely human) hold down low wage jobs, where those from the mechanical genepool (robots, androids, etc.) are treated as lower class citizens, living in Section 8 housing and off government food stamps.
You are Karl Carbon, a dishonorably discharged cop who now makes a living as social worker for Sentient Services. Karl is tasked by his boss (who for better or worse looks and sounds a lot like Emilio Estevez) to travel to a local ghetto to checkup on Johnny, an at-risk youth (artificial person). This will catapult Karl into an adventure, with a gangsta robot named Proto-J and Princess Cybil, a wealthy aristocrat who believes in equality for all sentient beings. Karl also travels to “The Arcade”, where robot gangsters and drug dealers hang out, and will even do a little time-traveling, but not more than 24 hours.
The game play is standard fare for this type of genre. The cursor can be changed from an eye icon to look at an item or object, hand icon to use an item, you get the idea. You collect various items that you then use on something in the environment to advance the story. Find a door knob on the ground? There will certainly be a door missing a knob to use it on. For any who have played point and click games in the past, the controls will be second nature to you.
The visuals are good, they aren’t great, but they are vibrant and gritty. There is a mix of 2D and 3D objects in the environment to tell the story. You will see lots of nods to the 80’s if you look close enough…”You made a time machine out of a DeLorean?”, Yes Marty, he did. I feel that someone familiar enough with classic 80’s movies will get more out of these little quips than those less familiar. That isn’t to say you can’t appreciate the game without this knowledge, you’ll just be missing a lot of the inside jokes that abound.
The voice acting is a mixed bag here. Some of the characters nail the dialog and help with character development. Unfortunately, the main character Karl tends to deliver an inconsistent performance which can seriously distract you during key moments in the game. That being said though, all the characters are voiced (no reading endless dialog boxes as you did in the 80’s) which is an achievement for any game. So while the voice acting isn’t always amazing, it’s still preferred to reading line after line of text when the characters speak.
The game clocks in around 15 hours, which is a pretty astonishing feat when you realize that the story, gameplay and art work was all done by one guy.
Is the game worth $14.99 on Steam? That depends on your nostalgia for a point and click adventure with a lot of references to 80’s films. The story is interesting, albeit a bit convoluted at times, and the characters range from likeable to annoying, but still have you rooting for them until the end.
http://sknr.net/2017/11/16/neofued/
Emma @ The Movies (1786 KP) rated Greta (2019) in Movies
Jun 22, 2019 (Updated Sep 25, 2019)
I sat down to write up my notes for the weekend's films and I had already forgotten this one. I quite enjoyed it and yet it hasn't really stuck with me at all.
Frances, played by Chloë Grace Moretz, finds a handbag on the subway, unable to hand it in to lost property she takes it home with the intention of returning it the next day. Greta is a lonely widow whose daughter is abroad and she has nothing but her piano and photos for company. When the pair meet they connect immediately and their friendship grows. To say Greta is clingy would be an understatement and when Frances discovers a cupboard full of identical "missing" handbags she knows she needs to get some distance.
Right, so, the idea here relies on someone returning her handbag, admittedly a handbag is less suspicious than a rucksack or a suitcase, but I'm still not convinced. It relies on no one seeing her leave it when she gets up to leave, and no one spotting it when they get on at the stop, and then not a single member of staff being in the subway station to take the bag. Erica says it best, "you call the bomb squad"... yes you do, Erica.
I very much enjoyed the idea of this film, as thrillers go it's a good set up. I'm becoming increasingly frustrated by trailers though, and in this instance I think they gave you too many moments that would have given a greater impact as a surprise. It also exposed an inconsistency.
The trailer shows Frances stuck in a lift as it's being crushed. In the context of the full film it made sense, sort of, but it left the question in the trailer of whether it was slightly sci-fi. While I knew what the whole scene was trying to achieve I felt that it was too confusing given the tone everywhere else.
Isabelle Huppert gives her character of Greta a delightfully creepy vibe, always pleasant and threatening at the same time and Chloë Grace Moretz played the naive Frances convincingly, but... I didn't think either particularly hit the spot. Greta was crazy but not devious enough and Frances was bordering on cliche when it came to her naivety.
There are lots of things that caused me issues, the passage of time being a major one. There's no clear idea of how long anything takes, how long their friendship went for, how long she was kidnapped, and it's surprisingly frustrating. I also am at a loss as to why her father resorts to a private investigator over the police, in my head it's because the police are saying she's a grown up and the messages suggest she's fine, but I don't think that's ever explicitly said.
I was getting very mixed tones from the film, first it was a drama, then a thriller, and then it seemed to want to be a horror. There's one point where it gets a little gruesome and it stuck out like a sore thumb. The very end as well, without trying to give spoilers, shows something I would fully expect to see in a horror movie, and in that setting it's a great way to finish it but in Greta seemed like a step in the wrong direction.
I've mentioned before that I don't over think the film while I'm watching it, I try not to look for the twists in advance, but I actually wrote the ending in my notes. While it was satisfying I was right, it was irritating that it was so obvious.
Like I mentioned above, the concept was great and it left a lot of opportunities for a brilliant thriller, but I feel like it just kept missing the point. A lot of the intrigue was stolen by the trailer and the identity crisis with the genre just held it back from what it could have achieved.
What you should do
It's not a bad watch, certainly catch it when it goes to streaming services.
Movie thing you wish you could take home
The ability to keep a home clutter free like Erica and Frances.
Frances, played by Chloë Grace Moretz, finds a handbag on the subway, unable to hand it in to lost property she takes it home with the intention of returning it the next day. Greta is a lonely widow whose daughter is abroad and she has nothing but her piano and photos for company. When the pair meet they connect immediately and their friendship grows. To say Greta is clingy would be an understatement and when Frances discovers a cupboard full of identical "missing" handbags she knows she needs to get some distance.
Right, so, the idea here relies on someone returning her handbag, admittedly a handbag is less suspicious than a rucksack or a suitcase, but I'm still not convinced. It relies on no one seeing her leave it when she gets up to leave, and no one spotting it when they get on at the stop, and then not a single member of staff being in the subway station to take the bag. Erica says it best, "you call the bomb squad"... yes you do, Erica.
I very much enjoyed the idea of this film, as thrillers go it's a good set up. I'm becoming increasingly frustrated by trailers though, and in this instance I think they gave you too many moments that would have given a greater impact as a surprise. It also exposed an inconsistency.
The trailer shows Frances stuck in a lift as it's being crushed. In the context of the full film it made sense, sort of, but it left the question in the trailer of whether it was slightly sci-fi. While I knew what the whole scene was trying to achieve I felt that it was too confusing given the tone everywhere else.
Isabelle Huppert gives her character of Greta a delightfully creepy vibe, always pleasant and threatening at the same time and Chloë Grace Moretz played the naive Frances convincingly, but... I didn't think either particularly hit the spot. Greta was crazy but not devious enough and Frances was bordering on cliche when it came to her naivety.
There are lots of things that caused me issues, the passage of time being a major one. There's no clear idea of how long anything takes, how long their friendship went for, how long she was kidnapped, and it's surprisingly frustrating. I also am at a loss as to why her father resorts to a private investigator over the police, in my head it's because the police are saying she's a grown up and the messages suggest she's fine, but I don't think that's ever explicitly said.
I was getting very mixed tones from the film, first it was a drama, then a thriller, and then it seemed to want to be a horror. There's one point where it gets a little gruesome and it stuck out like a sore thumb. The very end as well, without trying to give spoilers, shows something I would fully expect to see in a horror movie, and in that setting it's a great way to finish it but in Greta seemed like a step in the wrong direction.
I've mentioned before that I don't over think the film while I'm watching it, I try not to look for the twists in advance, but I actually wrote the ending in my notes. While it was satisfying I was right, it was irritating that it was so obvious.
Like I mentioned above, the concept was great and it left a lot of opportunities for a brilliant thriller, but I feel like it just kept missing the point. A lot of the intrigue was stolen by the trailer and the identity crisis with the genre just held it back from what it could have achieved.
What you should do
It's not a bad watch, certainly catch it when it goes to streaming services.
Movie thing you wish you could take home
The ability to keep a home clutter free like Erica and Frances.
Hey Duggee: The Big Outdoor App
Games and Education
App
**** As seen on Nick Jr. **** Welcome to the Big Outdoors, Squirrels! Introducing the latest app...
Merissa (13358 KP) rated To Touch You (Mates #4) in Books
Dec 7, 2017
To Touch You (Mates #4) by Cardeno C.
To Touch You is the fourth book in the Mates series, and this time it is Yoram and Salvatore's story. Now, this one is a bit different because Yoram first meets Salvatore when he is only 7-years-old. He makes his claim clear to Ethan and Miguel, although he only sees Salvatore as his friend. The years pass and Yoram and Salvatore don't really have many interactions, apart from Salvatore pushing Yoram away. Salvatore is turned by Miguel, but doesn't have much to do with the vampires in Vegas where he lives, so he is mostly clueless when it comes to vampires and shifters - especially true mates.
Yoram has more responsibilities piled onto him than he bargained for, and this means that he is unable to help Salvatore like he has been. Salvatore make the trip to find out what is wrong, and through various interactions with Yoram's family, learns just what exactly Yoram has done for him, and what being a true mate means.
This was a brilliant story. Salvatore is not a very nice character to start with, but you are with him as he realises the error of his ways, and finds out what he has to do to make it right. Yoram is a (HOT) sweetie, and tries to do the right thing no matter what. There is a bit of an overlay between the Yoram/Salvatore story, and that of Samuel and Korban. You don't need to have read the Samuel/Korban story to understand this one, but you will be missing out on a great book if you don't!
There were no editing or grammatical errors that I noticed to disrupt my reading flow. I found the book to be exceptionally written, with plenty of character development, especially for Salvatore. I loved how their story was spread out over so many years, and loved seeing them both change. A fantastic addition to the Mates series, and highly recommended by me.
* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and my comments here are my honest opinion. *
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Yoram has more responsibilities piled onto him than he bargained for, and this means that he is unable to help Salvatore like he has been. Salvatore make the trip to find out what is wrong, and through various interactions with Yoram's family, learns just what exactly Yoram has done for him, and what being a true mate means.
This was a brilliant story. Salvatore is not a very nice character to start with, but you are with him as he realises the error of his ways, and finds out what he has to do to make it right. Yoram is a (HOT) sweetie, and tries to do the right thing no matter what. There is a bit of an overlay between the Yoram/Salvatore story, and that of Samuel and Korban. You don't need to have read the Samuel/Korban story to understand this one, but you will be missing out on a great book if you don't!
There were no editing or grammatical errors that I noticed to disrupt my reading flow. I found the book to be exceptionally written, with plenty of character development, especially for Salvatore. I loved how their story was spread out over so many years, and loved seeing them both change. A fantastic addition to the Mates series, and highly recommended by me.
* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and my comments here are my honest opinion. *
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Uptown Oracle (24 KP) rated Darien in Books
Jun 30, 2017
A good venture into the fantasy genre
Darien starts slow as every person is introduced. Side characters are introduced and the world is built up. Iggulden has a world filled with detail. With his past of historical fiction this isn't surprising. The detail is extremely immersive and you get to know the world really well. I loved the world it was set in, it was an old world, with problems for the lower classes. I also enjoyed that we weren't following one of the royals or twelve houses that are the higher classes within Darien.
At times, Darien is a struggle to read. The writing style is complex and full of intricacies. A lot of focus is needed when reading Darien because of this. I often read before bed, but when I'm winding down this is not the right book. Changing POV's kept confusing me because of lack of focus. It's very similar to Lord of the Rings or ASOIAF books in that sense.
What I enjoyed was the characters are not labelled good or bad. They all have both good and bad traits which are shown throughout the book. This gave the characters so much depth. There was the problem that I didn't know who I was routing for though as sometimes the characters were on opposing 'sides' of the conflict.
The character's storylines could have also been more entwined than they were. Although it was nice to see different POV's from each character, often I questioned whether it was necessary for the overarching plot. For example, the old man, Tellius, did we really need his part of the story for the story to make sense? I don't think we needed the background information. For some characters it was just a mention of missing each other at the same place by mere minutes. I would have been more coherent if it was all interlinked somehow.
Overall, Darien was a nice read. Iggulden has used his historical fiction background to ensure descriptive world building and well written politics. There were just some aspects that I personally didn't enjoy as much as others would.
At times, Darien is a struggle to read. The writing style is complex and full of intricacies. A lot of focus is needed when reading Darien because of this. I often read before bed, but when I'm winding down this is not the right book. Changing POV's kept confusing me because of lack of focus. It's very similar to Lord of the Rings or ASOIAF books in that sense.
What I enjoyed was the characters are not labelled good or bad. They all have both good and bad traits which are shown throughout the book. This gave the characters so much depth. There was the problem that I didn't know who I was routing for though as sometimes the characters were on opposing 'sides' of the conflict.
The character's storylines could have also been more entwined than they were. Although it was nice to see different POV's from each character, often I questioned whether it was necessary for the overarching plot. For example, the old man, Tellius, did we really need his part of the story for the story to make sense? I don't think we needed the background information. For some characters it was just a mention of missing each other at the same place by mere minutes. I would have been more coherent if it was all interlinked somehow.
Overall, Darien was a nice read. Iggulden has used his historical fiction background to ensure descriptive world building and well written politics. There were just some aspects that I personally didn't enjoy as much as others would.
Merissa (13358 KP) rated Dustwalker in Books
Aug 25, 2017
Dustwalker by Tiffany Roberts
Dustwalker is a post-apocalyptic dystopian novel, set around the community of Cheyenne. The humans scrimp through their living as best as they can, ruled over by the bot Warlord. Our main female, Lara, is worried about her missing sister, and surviving the best way she can, by finding scraps and trading them for food. Ronin is a dustwalker, a bot who goes out into the Dust. Some say the dustwalkers are a crazy lot, but Ronin knows that he is alone. No one will come looking for him if something happens to him out there. Through fate, Lara and Ronin's live connect, and what happens next is something that neither of them saw coming.
This is an amazing story, with world-building that is second to none. Every scene is 'real' and completely believable, even when they involve bots ;) This book is a bit of a slowburner, but in the best possible way. You get drawn into Lara's world, with all the hunger and pain and loss that goes with it. You feel for Ronin as he tries to understand what he has said to upset Lara! Most of all, you root for these two, and everyone else in Cheyenne, to get their HEA. After all they have been through, they deserve it; and as a reader, you will want it for them.
The pace is smooth, slow and gentle to entice you into their world, and building up as the story progresses. There were no editing or grammatical errors that disrupted my reading flow. The characters are all highly developed and completely distinct. There is simply no way you could confuse one character with another. There are some steamy bits but they are completely in keeping with the story, not superfluous in any way. This book had me right up until the last word - which I had to reread once I had wiped my eyes! Absolutely outstanding, I am so pleased I was given the opportunity to read this book. Highly recommended by me.
* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and my comments here are my honest opinion. *
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
This is an amazing story, with world-building that is second to none. Every scene is 'real' and completely believable, even when they involve bots ;) This book is a bit of a slowburner, but in the best possible way. You get drawn into Lara's world, with all the hunger and pain and loss that goes with it. You feel for Ronin as he tries to understand what he has said to upset Lara! Most of all, you root for these two, and everyone else in Cheyenne, to get their HEA. After all they have been through, they deserve it; and as a reader, you will want it for them.
The pace is smooth, slow and gentle to entice you into their world, and building up as the story progresses. There were no editing or grammatical errors that disrupted my reading flow. The characters are all highly developed and completely distinct. There is simply no way you could confuse one character with another. There are some steamy bits but they are completely in keeping with the story, not superfluous in any way. This book had me right up until the last word - which I had to reread once I had wiped my eyes! Absolutely outstanding, I am so pleased I was given the opportunity to read this book. Highly recommended by me.
* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and my comments here are my honest opinion. *
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!