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Sim 299 (I Am Sleepless #1)
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The planet Ethos is at war with a savage enemy known as the Splicers. Their only successful defense...
Young Adult Science Fiction Dystopian Mystery
ClareR (5879 KP) rated Savage Beasts in Books
Jul 4, 2023
Savage Beasts is a re-imagining of the story of Medea. This time, Meena (not Medea) betrays her father, the Nawab of Bengal, and runs away with an adventurer called James Chilcott. But Meena’s initial feelings of adventure and excitement soon wear off when she realises that the man she took to be an adventurer, was just an opportunist who spends her money and betrays her in turn.
I thought it was really clever how the Greek myth was woven into Meena’s story, and showed the impact of colonialism. Great Britain doesn’t come out of this well. James’ uncle, Sir Peter Chilcott, is a powerful man in the East India Company. He’s cold, unforgiving, and sees Meena, Indians, Bengali’s, and anyone from anywhere foreign, as below him and little better than an animal.
It made for really uncomfortable reading, and made me so angry!
Meena comes across as being so young but desperate to be older. She’s determined to make a good life for herself and her child - despite how difficult James and his reprehensible family make it for her.
Honestly, by the end I firmly believed they deserved whatever was coming their way!
I listened to this on audiobook, kindly sent to me via NetGalley by HarperCollins UK Audio. The narrator, Shazia Nicholls, really was outstanding. It always amazes me how a good narrator can make all the characters sound so different - especially in this case, the men. Sir Peter came across as a sneering, superior, calculating monster, and in contrast, Meena was both young and wise - and it felt as though she was really there, speaking for herself. Shazia read with such emotion that it became entirely believable. This could well have been an historical memoir as much as a piece of fiction.
Yes, this is described as a Greek retelling, but it has been made into something all of its own. If you know the story of Medea, then you’ll see where in particular it is borrowing from that story - but this is a great story in its own right. It’s powerful, feminist and it’s about colonialism. It’s a story about family, trust and the devastation of betrayal.
Highly recommended!
I thought it was really clever how the Greek myth was woven into Meena’s story, and showed the impact of colonialism. Great Britain doesn’t come out of this well. James’ uncle, Sir Peter Chilcott, is a powerful man in the East India Company. He’s cold, unforgiving, and sees Meena, Indians, Bengali’s, and anyone from anywhere foreign, as below him and little better than an animal.
It made for really uncomfortable reading, and made me so angry!
Meena comes across as being so young but desperate to be older. She’s determined to make a good life for herself and her child - despite how difficult James and his reprehensible family make it for her.
Honestly, by the end I firmly believed they deserved whatever was coming their way!
I listened to this on audiobook, kindly sent to me via NetGalley by HarperCollins UK Audio. The narrator, Shazia Nicholls, really was outstanding. It always amazes me how a good narrator can make all the characters sound so different - especially in this case, the men. Sir Peter came across as a sneering, superior, calculating monster, and in contrast, Meena was both young and wise - and it felt as though she was really there, speaking for herself. Shazia read with such emotion that it became entirely believable. This could well have been an historical memoir as much as a piece of fiction.
Yes, this is described as a Greek retelling, but it has been made into something all of its own. If you know the story of Medea, then you’ll see where in particular it is borrowing from that story - but this is a great story in its own right. It’s powerful, feminist and it’s about colonialism. It’s a story about family, trust and the devastation of betrayal.
Highly recommended!
Beckie Shelton (40 KP) rated The End (The Stained Duet #2) in Books
Oct 6, 2017
What the hell did I just read and how did Blaine Jacobs make me fall hook line and sinker for his cruelly sadistic Arse when in real-time I would be running screaming for the hills.
Five Stars and more if I could give more, sooo fantastically addictive reading was this.
Charlotte Hart has achieved the impossible, actually crafting a story that shows this unapologetic sadist in an actual sympathetic warm light, don't ask me how she has achieved this I just know my feelings towards Blaine were akin to puppies and rainbows approaching the end of this story. I really wanted him to get his HEA with his little Dove like so so badly.
So this is the second part in The stained duet it is ironically and appropriately named "The End"
my review for the first novel "Once Upon A" is here
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I'm assuming that you've read Part 1 and as such should have a fairly good idea of the kind of content to expect from this as Despite me previously mentioning puppies and rainbows, well let's just say I wouldn't bank on anything remotely fluffy in this tale.
its More akin to whips, Blood and Pain with a side order of degradation and humiliation thrown in just for shit and giggles.
So "The End" begins where "Once Upon A" left off with Alana thinking she is ready to handle a relationship with Blaine, That she can provide what he needs while still not realising that it is something that she herself also finds necessary to quiet the noise inside.
So the next chapter for Blaine and Alana's unique love story begins and for every step forward Alana takes Blaine seems to take ten backward, so scared of the feelings emerging from the barren expanse that is his usually cold heart and his past heavily impacting on there future, Blaine desperately tries to lock down his emotions scared of the past repeating itself when this time around he has something of importance and value to lose, an irreplaceable, breakable and vulnerable Toy, irresistible to his monster
We are also introduced to Blaine's inner psyche's, he sees each mask as a separate persona all functioning as individuals, all identities performing a purpose he needs in what he explains as his madness and self-diagnosed insanity.
The Professor, The Magician and The monster.
one to adore and teach, one to manipulate and manoeuvre/Blaine's puppet master if you will and one to annihilate, play and devastate, unapologetic in its savagery and mercilessness
Can Alana his little Dove accept all of these faces leaving Blaine grounded in Alana's love and acceptance of his true nature.
Alana herself grows so much also, accepting her inner masochistic nature seems to give her a strength and also a peace she has struggled to find in her busy demanding life, surrendering to Blaine silences the noise if just for a little while.
It was interesting to see the dynamics between these two evolve as both slowly realise that they had found there soul in each other.
"The end" was such a deeply intense and emotional tale, exploring and dissecting the dynamics of the unconventional.
Though this was a hot read, for me it was more the emotion and obvious adoration here that drew me in, captivating and hooking me completely, there was a scene towards the end of the book where Blaine openly shows his love for Alana and to me, it was stunning in its intention and brutality, showcasing Blaine's commitment and intentions and cementing their relationship.
Oh, I could just go on and on exploring the blurred grey lines of this very unique love story it's just such delicious reading.
but all good things must come to an end sigh. So just to conclude this is a very dark love story with a sadist that only follows his own rules, Please do avoid if the darkness is a trigger for you, myself I love that Alana and Blaine stay true to there natures even in love, Sadist and Masachist a match made in heaven or maybe hell, there's no childhood trauma or rhyme or reason to this it just is what it is. Alana and Blaine laid bare. I raced through this in record time and loved every second of the experience. I adored "Once Upon A" but "The End" is in a league all of its own beguiling and thought-provoking in its originality.
Thank you so much, Charlotte E Hart for providing me with an arc of The End (The Stained Duet #2) This is my own honest unbiased opinion
Arc Reviewed By Beckie Bookworm
https://www.beckiebookworm.com/
https://www.facebook.com/beckiebookworm/
https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/9460945-bex-beckie-bookworm
Five Stars and more if I could give more, sooo fantastically addictive reading was this.
Charlotte Hart has achieved the impossible, actually crafting a story that shows this unapologetic sadist in an actual sympathetic warm light, don't ask me how she has achieved this I just know my feelings towards Blaine were akin to puppies and rainbows approaching the end of this story. I really wanted him to get his HEA with his little Dove like so so badly.
So this is the second part in The stained duet it is ironically and appropriately named "The End"
my review for the first novel "Once Upon A" is here
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I'm assuming that you've read Part 1 and as such should have a fairly good idea of the kind of content to expect from this as Despite me previously mentioning puppies and rainbows, well let's just say I wouldn't bank on anything remotely fluffy in this tale.
its More akin to whips, Blood and Pain with a side order of degradation and humiliation thrown in just for shit and giggles.
So "The End" begins where "Once Upon A" left off with Alana thinking she is ready to handle a relationship with Blaine, That she can provide what he needs while still not realising that it is something that she herself also finds necessary to quiet the noise inside.
So the next chapter for Blaine and Alana's unique love story begins and for every step forward Alana takes Blaine seems to take ten backward, so scared of the feelings emerging from the barren expanse that is his usually cold heart and his past heavily impacting on there future, Blaine desperately tries to lock down his emotions scared of the past repeating itself when this time around he has something of importance and value to lose, an irreplaceable, breakable and vulnerable Toy, irresistible to his monster
We are also introduced to Blaine's inner psyche's, he sees each mask as a separate persona all functioning as individuals, all identities performing a purpose he needs in what he explains as his madness and self-diagnosed insanity.
The Professor, The Magician and The monster.
one to adore and teach, one to manipulate and manoeuvre/Blaine's puppet master if you will and one to annihilate, play and devastate, unapologetic in its savagery and mercilessness
Can Alana his little Dove accept all of these faces leaving Blaine grounded in Alana's love and acceptance of his true nature.
Alana herself grows so much also, accepting her inner masochistic nature seems to give her a strength and also a peace she has struggled to find in her busy demanding life, surrendering to Blaine silences the noise if just for a little while.
It was interesting to see the dynamics between these two evolve as both slowly realise that they had found there soul in each other.
"The end" was such a deeply intense and emotional tale, exploring and dissecting the dynamics of the unconventional.
Though this was a hot read, for me it was more the emotion and obvious adoration here that drew me in, captivating and hooking me completely, there was a scene towards the end of the book where Blaine openly shows his love for Alana and to me, it was stunning in its intention and brutality, showcasing Blaine's commitment and intentions and cementing their relationship.
Oh, I could just go on and on exploring the blurred grey lines of this very unique love story it's just such delicious reading.
but all good things must come to an end sigh. So just to conclude this is a very dark love story with a sadist that only follows his own rules, Please do avoid if the darkness is a trigger for you, myself I love that Alana and Blaine stay true to there natures even in love, Sadist and Masachist a match made in heaven or maybe hell, there's no childhood trauma or rhyme or reason to this it just is what it is. Alana and Blaine laid bare. I raced through this in record time and loved every second of the experience. I adored "Once Upon A" but "The End" is in a league all of its own beguiling and thought-provoking in its originality.
Thank you so much, Charlotte E Hart for providing me with an arc of The End (The Stained Duet #2) This is my own honest unbiased opinion
Arc Reviewed By Beckie Bookworm
https://www.beckiebookworm.com/
https://www.facebook.com/beckiebookworm/
https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/9460945-bex-beckie-bookworm
Mothergamer (1568 KP) rated Dragon Quest Heroes: The World Tree's Woe and the Blight Below in Video Games
Apr 3, 2019
Let me get this out of the way first. I do like games like Dynasty Warriors and they are fun to play when I just want to relax and do a few minutes of hack and slash, so I didn't mind that Dragon Quest Heroes seemed to be a mashup of Dynasty Warriors, Tower Defense, and Hyrule Warriors. It was different and not like Dragon Quest 8 and 9 which I loved, but I did find myself having fun with it. The graphics are beautiful and you have over 10 characters from the various Dragon Quest games to choose from to be in your party. There are a lot of references to the Dragon Quest lore which is fun as well.
First fight with a dragon!
The tutorial for the controls is easy to follow and the game play controls handle really well. The battle system for the most part is pretty decently thought out and you can play a quick mission here and there. You can switch back and forth between your party members with a quick press of a button which is handy. The story isn't as good as previous Dragon Quest games with a pretty thin plot and a rather sub-par ending. The thing that really shines is the various special battle moves characters can do and the tension gauge. As your heroes land hits on monsters, the tension meter builds up and once it's full you can unleash a chain of powerful attacks that will defeat your enemies.
Tension attacks really pack a punch.
There are side quests you can do while doing the main story; mainly fetch quests or defeat a certain number of monsters. That can get tedious after a while because you revisit some of the same dungeon areas. There's a lack of exploration as you basically just go from one dungeon crawl area to another. Sure the airship town is cool, but I would have liked an opportunity to at least get to check out areas freely rather than have a go from point A to point B situation. Level grinding is pretty easy especially with the live weekend events they have where you can get extra EXP for your heroes (20% this weekend), rare items, and bonus gold. With all the battles your heroes do you can earn more than enough gold to buy weapons and gear for your party which is pretty great. The addition of monster medals is also a plus. Monster medals drop off any monsters you defeat and you can use the medals to summon those monsters to fight alongside you.
A town with everything you need all on one ship!
While I did like Dragon Quest Heroes, I did not love it the way I have the previous games. It is good, but it's not perfect. I understand they went in a different direction and for the most part it works and is fun up to a point. In many of the missions there's usually an object that must be protected from the onslaught of monsters and strategy is crucial here as well as deciding your party setup and which monsters to summon. However, sometimes the strategy isn't enough because there can be hordes of monsters that can overwhelm your party and as you're struggling to zip to and from different areas, it can be frustrating as you try to read a very cluttered map. Sometimes you will fail a mission and have to try again from the beginning. The one good thing about that is all your EXP and items you've gained carry over. It can get repetitive and I did find myself a little bored as I progressed. I tried different tactics if I had trouble with a mission and trying different things does help to an extent. The AI can also be incredibly stupid. There were a few times where I had a party member just standing there doing nothing while they would be attacked by enemies.
Early dungeons start out okay and then it gets complicated.
The game play overall is good, but it's not great. Dragon Quest Heroes is fun to play once and not at full price especially with only 30 hours of play time. I'd suggest waiting until it goes on sale or buying it used. It pains me to say that because I love the Dragon Quest series, but this game could have been better and it just felt so much like a Dynasty Warriors/Hyrule Warriors clone in places which left me a little disappointed.
First fight with a dragon!
The tutorial for the controls is easy to follow and the game play controls handle really well. The battle system for the most part is pretty decently thought out and you can play a quick mission here and there. You can switch back and forth between your party members with a quick press of a button which is handy. The story isn't as good as previous Dragon Quest games with a pretty thin plot and a rather sub-par ending. The thing that really shines is the various special battle moves characters can do and the tension gauge. As your heroes land hits on monsters, the tension meter builds up and once it's full you can unleash a chain of powerful attacks that will defeat your enemies.
Tension attacks really pack a punch.
There are side quests you can do while doing the main story; mainly fetch quests or defeat a certain number of monsters. That can get tedious after a while because you revisit some of the same dungeon areas. There's a lack of exploration as you basically just go from one dungeon crawl area to another. Sure the airship town is cool, but I would have liked an opportunity to at least get to check out areas freely rather than have a go from point A to point B situation. Level grinding is pretty easy especially with the live weekend events they have where you can get extra EXP for your heroes (20% this weekend), rare items, and bonus gold. With all the battles your heroes do you can earn more than enough gold to buy weapons and gear for your party which is pretty great. The addition of monster medals is also a plus. Monster medals drop off any monsters you defeat and you can use the medals to summon those monsters to fight alongside you.
A town with everything you need all on one ship!
While I did like Dragon Quest Heroes, I did not love it the way I have the previous games. It is good, but it's not perfect. I understand they went in a different direction and for the most part it works and is fun up to a point. In many of the missions there's usually an object that must be protected from the onslaught of monsters and strategy is crucial here as well as deciding your party setup and which monsters to summon. However, sometimes the strategy isn't enough because there can be hordes of monsters that can overwhelm your party and as you're struggling to zip to and from different areas, it can be frustrating as you try to read a very cluttered map. Sometimes you will fail a mission and have to try again from the beginning. The one good thing about that is all your EXP and items you've gained carry over. It can get repetitive and I did find myself a little bored as I progressed. I tried different tactics if I had trouble with a mission and trying different things does help to an extent. The AI can also be incredibly stupid. There were a few times where I had a party member just standing there doing nothing while they would be attacked by enemies.
Early dungeons start out okay and then it gets complicated.
The game play overall is good, but it's not great. Dragon Quest Heroes is fun to play once and not at full price especially with only 30 hours of play time. I'd suggest waiting until it goes on sale or buying it used. It pains me to say that because I love the Dragon Quest series, but this game could have been better and it just felt so much like a Dynasty Warriors/Hyrule Warriors clone in places which left me a little disappointed.
Lee (2222 KP) rated Rampage (2018) in Movies
Apr 13, 2018
Dwayne Johnson (2 more)
The Action
The Humour
Surprisingly enjoyable video game movie!
I have fond memories of playing the Rampage video game in my early teens. Me and my two brothers, huddled around my feeble ZX Spectrum, each of us taking control of one of three monsters. George the giant King-Kong style gorilla, Lizzie a dinosaur/Godzilla creature and Ralph the big wolf. The idea of the game was simple, but hugely satisfying - smash up city buildings until they collapse, while avoiding damage from the military who are out to stop you. Hitting your fellow monsters also takes out their energy, making it a great game for competitive brothers to be playing! Eating food you find, and even the soldiers trying to kill you, restores your energy. Lots of fun.
Rampage the movie begins out in space, where genetic editing experiments too dangerous/illegal are taking place onboard a space station. Things have gone badly wrong though and canisters containing an experimental genetic pathogen begin hurtling towards North America in what looks like a meteor shower. Back down on Earth we're introduced to Davis Okoye (Dwayne Johnson) - San Diego zoologist, ex-military (so, comfortable with guns, flying helicopters etc, could come in handy later...) and general all-round cool guy. In his care is an albino gorilla called George, who was rescued from poachers as a baby by Davis. They've built up a special bond ever since, communicating in sign language to the level where they are able to joke and generally take the piss out of each other. Overnight, one of the space canisters lands in the zoo and is released into the face of an inquisitive (or Curious?) George. From there he begins to grow bigger, and become increasingly violent.
Elsewhere, two other canisters have landed out in the wild. One right by a pack of wolves and another hitting a lake. The brother and sister team heading up Energyne, the company responsible for the space station and the genetic work (Malin Åkerman and Jake Lacy), dispatch a bunch of clean up guys with big guns to try and apprehend the wolf, which ends up going badly. Meanwhile, an ex employee of Energyne, Dr Kate Caldwell (Naomie Harris), who is also responsible for creating the pathogen, heads to the zoo. She wants to make amends for everything and bring down the company that fired her. Government agent Harvey Russell (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) also shows up at the zoo with a bunch of men of his own, looking to take George away by plane - something else which you just know is going to end badly. Morgan plays Harvey Russell as basically just a slightly toned down version of his Walking Dead character, Negan. Grinning cockily throughout the whole movie and when he first squares up to Davis, you fully expect him to start swaggering around, monologuing about swinging dicks or something. He tells Davis that "when science shits the bed, I'm the guy they call to change the sheets"!
The three monsters begin making their way to Chicago to start smashing stuff up, attracted by a beacon emitting a sound only they can hear. Something "the tech guys rustled up overnight" at Energyne. Davis and Dr Caldwell also head to Chicago to try and help George and end the destruction, eventually aided by Harvey Russell.
Rampage has the potential to be a trainwreck, another casualty in the long line of awful video game movies, especially when there are so many CGI-heavy monster-city-smash movies out there these days. It all works surprisingly well though. When the monsters begin trashing things, it's not an over the top assault on the senses where you can't even make out any sign of human life and the affect that all of this is having on them. The action is well done and enjoyable, and peppered with plenty of trademark Dwayne Johnson humour too. Outside of the action, it's also Johnson that holds the rest of the movie together and prevents it from dipping below average. Dr Caldwell is a very underused and forgettable character, serving only as sidekick to The Rock. Everyone else, aside from Harvey Russell, is also pretty forgettable too. But then at the end of the day, this is all about George and his monster buddies, and overall I found this to be a very enjoyable movie.
Rampage the movie begins out in space, where genetic editing experiments too dangerous/illegal are taking place onboard a space station. Things have gone badly wrong though and canisters containing an experimental genetic pathogen begin hurtling towards North America in what looks like a meteor shower. Back down on Earth we're introduced to Davis Okoye (Dwayne Johnson) - San Diego zoologist, ex-military (so, comfortable with guns, flying helicopters etc, could come in handy later...) and general all-round cool guy. In his care is an albino gorilla called George, who was rescued from poachers as a baby by Davis. They've built up a special bond ever since, communicating in sign language to the level where they are able to joke and generally take the piss out of each other. Overnight, one of the space canisters lands in the zoo and is released into the face of an inquisitive (or Curious?) George. From there he begins to grow bigger, and become increasingly violent.
Elsewhere, two other canisters have landed out in the wild. One right by a pack of wolves and another hitting a lake. The brother and sister team heading up Energyne, the company responsible for the space station and the genetic work (Malin Åkerman and Jake Lacy), dispatch a bunch of clean up guys with big guns to try and apprehend the wolf, which ends up going badly. Meanwhile, an ex employee of Energyne, Dr Kate Caldwell (Naomie Harris), who is also responsible for creating the pathogen, heads to the zoo. She wants to make amends for everything and bring down the company that fired her. Government agent Harvey Russell (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) also shows up at the zoo with a bunch of men of his own, looking to take George away by plane - something else which you just know is going to end badly. Morgan plays Harvey Russell as basically just a slightly toned down version of his Walking Dead character, Negan. Grinning cockily throughout the whole movie and when he first squares up to Davis, you fully expect him to start swaggering around, monologuing about swinging dicks or something. He tells Davis that "when science shits the bed, I'm the guy they call to change the sheets"!
The three monsters begin making their way to Chicago to start smashing stuff up, attracted by a beacon emitting a sound only they can hear. Something "the tech guys rustled up overnight" at Energyne. Davis and Dr Caldwell also head to Chicago to try and help George and end the destruction, eventually aided by Harvey Russell.
Rampage has the potential to be a trainwreck, another casualty in the long line of awful video game movies, especially when there are so many CGI-heavy monster-city-smash movies out there these days. It all works surprisingly well though. When the monsters begin trashing things, it's not an over the top assault on the senses where you can't even make out any sign of human life and the affect that all of this is having on them. The action is well done and enjoyable, and peppered with plenty of trademark Dwayne Johnson humour too. Outside of the action, it's also Johnson that holds the rest of the movie together and prevents it from dipping below average. Dr Caldwell is a very underused and forgettable character, serving only as sidekick to The Rock. Everyone else, aside from Harvey Russell, is also pretty forgettable too. But then at the end of the day, this is all about George and his monster buddies, and overall I found this to be a very enjoyable movie.
Sophia (Bookwyrming Thoughts) (530 KP) rated Bring Me Their Hearts (Bring Me Their Hearts, #1) in Books
Jan 23, 2020
<b><i>I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.</i></b>
<i><b>Bring Me Their Hearts</b></i><b> has plenty of sass, snark and </b><b>humor laced throughout</b>, which is no surprise considering one of the biggest reasons why I loved Sara Wolf's debut novel is the sass and humor (I can now officially count on Wolf to make me laugh). This book literally starts with Zera comparing the king's worth to a <i>potato</i>.
<h2>Potatoes aside, let's talk about Sara Wolf's dive from contemporary into fantasy, aka <b>how did </b><b><i>Bring Me Their Hearts</i></b><b> do???</b></h2>
Because that is the most important question: is the book good? Is it as bloodeh as the title? Let me give you the 411.
<h3><b>If you're looking for a good dose of sass, snark and humor, count on it.</b></h3>
Zera has a comeback for <i>everything</i>. Of course, she says she can't help herself because it's how she deals with it since she became Heartless, which is essentially a witch's pet monster. If you can't deal with her comebacks, then suck it up an drop off a cliff is what she'll likely tell you. But the amount of sass is 👌👌👌 and #100percentapproved.
<h3><b>But let's be a little honest here: sometimes Isis Blake appears too much in Zera.</b></h3>
Isis Blake is <a href="https://bookwyrmingthoughts.com/blog-tour-love-me-never-by-sara-wolf-arc-review-and-giveaway/">the main character of Wolf's <i>Lovely Vicious</i> series</a> and sometimes she appears way too much in Zera. Think two people stuck in one body = identity crisis much?
Maybe I am complaining too much here because regardless of how Isis seems to appear occasionally in Zera, <b>I still enjoyed Zera's voice.</b> And I still approve of snarkcisms used. So I'll just sit in a corner and hush up.
<h3><b>Let's take a moment to appreciate a side character (really, we should appreciate most side characters).</b></h3>
Meet Malachite, who is officially one of my favorite characters of <i>Bring Me Their Hearts</i> simply because he was wonderful and had no filter for being a royal bodyguard. 11/10 would adopt.
But we all know, Ms. Wolf, that you're going to kill Malachite later on, right? And kill my feels along with it?
<h3><b>There is this weird issue of the beginning being kind of out of place but used as a lovely hook.</b></h3>
<i>Bring Me Their Hearts</i> starts us in a court before backtracking a few weeks and then continuing. <i>Please note I am a very forgetful person</i> but we're in Zera's world of Heartless and witches and then Training101 for 30% of the book. I completely forgot everything by that point aside from a potato being involved.
But it's used as a lovely hook, so I'm not exactly complaining too much (someone fix my memory please and thank you).
<h3><b>Common Fantasy Plot #2927: Got 'em!</b></h3>
Eventually, you get to the point where you see the most common plotlines aka royalty is secretly venturing out in the world of plebians to be a badass and accidentally meets potential love interest aka the main character.
<h3><b>I was expecting this to be more bloody? I did not get more bloody.</b></h3>
I got a lot of court intrigue, sass, humor, but I was expecting more blood for some reason. I got more near the end though, because Heartless are monsters after all.
<h3><b>Hold up, this is the first novel?</b></h3>
I was expecting this to be a standalone but hahaha no nice try, Sophia. Come back in the future to satiate your curiosities in book two.
<i>Bring Me Their Hearts</i> wasn't horrible if you enjoy a snarky little monster who really just wants everything to be all good and dandy (but hahaha, life isn't going to be that nice) and a nice little note tacked on the end that says, "come back soon for more!"
While I wanted a little more blood because I'm smol and evil thoughts run through my brain sometimes, this was fun to read, and I have hopes for the second novel.
<a href="https://bookwyrmingthoughts.com/blog-tour-bring-me-their-hearts-by-sara-wolf-arc-review/"; target="_blank">This review was originally posted on Bookwyrming Thoughts</a>
<i><b>Bring Me Their Hearts</b></i><b> has plenty of sass, snark and </b><b>humor laced throughout</b>, which is no surprise considering one of the biggest reasons why I loved Sara Wolf's debut novel is the sass and humor (I can now officially count on Wolf to make me laugh). This book literally starts with Zera comparing the king's worth to a <i>potato</i>.
<h2>Potatoes aside, let's talk about Sara Wolf's dive from contemporary into fantasy, aka <b>how did </b><b><i>Bring Me Their Hearts</i></b><b> do???</b></h2>
Because that is the most important question: is the book good? Is it as bloodeh as the title? Let me give you the 411.
<h3><b>If you're looking for a good dose of sass, snark and humor, count on it.</b></h3>
Zera has a comeback for <i>everything</i>. Of course, she says she can't help herself because it's how she deals with it since she became Heartless, which is essentially a witch's pet monster. If you can't deal with her comebacks, then suck it up an drop off a cliff is what she'll likely tell you. But the amount of sass is 👌👌👌 and #100percentapproved.
<h3><b>But let's be a little honest here: sometimes Isis Blake appears too much in Zera.</b></h3>
Isis Blake is <a href="https://bookwyrmingthoughts.com/blog-tour-love-me-never-by-sara-wolf-arc-review-and-giveaway/">the main character of Wolf's <i>Lovely Vicious</i> series</a> and sometimes she appears way too much in Zera. Think two people stuck in one body = identity crisis much?
Maybe I am complaining too much here because regardless of how Isis seems to appear occasionally in Zera, <b>I still enjoyed Zera's voice.</b> And I still approve of snarkcisms used. So I'll just sit in a corner and hush up.
<h3><b>Let's take a moment to appreciate a side character (really, we should appreciate most side characters).</b></h3>
Meet Malachite, who is officially one of my favorite characters of <i>Bring Me Their Hearts</i> simply because he was wonderful and had no filter for being a royal bodyguard. 11/10 would adopt.
But we all know, Ms. Wolf, that you're going to kill Malachite later on, right? And kill my feels along with it?
<h3><b>There is this weird issue of the beginning being kind of out of place but used as a lovely hook.</b></h3>
<i>Bring Me Their Hearts</i> starts us in a court before backtracking a few weeks and then continuing. <i>Please note I am a very forgetful person</i> but we're in Zera's world of Heartless and witches and then Training101 for 30% of the book. I completely forgot everything by that point aside from a potato being involved.
But it's used as a lovely hook, so I'm not exactly complaining too much (someone fix my memory please and thank you).
<h3><b>Common Fantasy Plot #2927: Got 'em!</b></h3>
Eventually, you get to the point where you see the most common plotlines aka royalty is secretly venturing out in the world of plebians to be a badass and accidentally meets potential love interest aka the main character.
<h3><b>I was expecting this to be more bloody? I did not get more bloody.</b></h3>
I got a lot of court intrigue, sass, humor, but I was expecting more blood for some reason. I got more near the end though, because Heartless are monsters after all.
<h3><b>Hold up, this is the first novel?</b></h3>
I was expecting this to be a standalone but hahaha no nice try, Sophia. Come back in the future to satiate your curiosities in book two.
<i>Bring Me Their Hearts</i> wasn't horrible if you enjoy a snarky little monster who really just wants everything to be all good and dandy (but hahaha, life isn't going to be that nice) and a nice little note tacked on the end that says, "come back soon for more!"
While I wanted a little more blood because I'm smol and evil thoughts run through my brain sometimes, this was fun to read, and I have hopes for the second novel.
<a href="https://bookwyrmingthoughts.com/blog-tour-bring-me-their-hearts-by-sara-wolf-arc-review/"; target="_blank">This review was originally posted on Bookwyrming Thoughts</a>
Bob Mann (459 KP) rated Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018) in Movies
Sep 29, 2021
Greedy men + Dinosaurs = Lunch!
I’ve really had a rollercoaster of emotions on this one. As a general fan of dinosaurs running riot, since I saw the brilliant original in 1993, I was pretty disillusioned by the teaser trailer for this one: all over-the-top CGI. But as the lights dimmed and the Universal logo faded to ominous sonar sounds, the hairs stood up again and I thought J.A. Bayona (“A Monster Calls“) *might* deliver something really special here. Ultimately though, I left the theatre disappointed… but only slightly so.
With extreme topicality given what is happening on one of the Hawaiian islands at the moment, Isla Nublar – home to the now derelict Jurassic World theme park – is in serious trouble due to a volcanic eruption. Swayed by chaos theory expert Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum), a US senate committee decides to do…. absolutely nothing, letting the dinosaurs face re-extinction. This is much to the fury of our heroine from the first film, Claire Dearing (Bryce Dallas-Howard), who now runs a “Save the Dinosaurs” group. When all seems lost, help comes from the wallet of philanthropist Benjamin Lockwood (James Cromwell, “Babe”, “LA Confidential”) and his ops manager Eli Mills (Rafe Spall, “The Big Short“) who propose to fund a private rescue mission: a mission that requires the involvement of Velociraptor-wrangler Owen Grady (Chris Pratt, “Guardians of the Galaxy“, “Passengers“). But are their motives truly honourable?
The film has its moments, with some well-executed action scenes, some nice munching of bad people and a few scenes that are truly touching: shots of a brachiosauruses’ last moments is a memorable piece of cinema. But that said, the film is extremely patchy. An exciting (but not particularly logical) pre-title sequence seques into a very wordy and action-free first reel, headed up by Goldblum (always seated: did he have his legs chewed off by a raptor?) droning on (blah blah blah), no doubt for a huge fee but not for much purpose. The early part of the movie is good however at introducing new characters: specifically the geeky Franklin (Justice Smith) and the pre-requisite 2018 ‘Times Up” kick-ass female character Zia ( Daniella Pineda), who is actually very good. As a whole though it’s not terribly engaging, leading to even the reveal of the derelict theme park – which should have been a high point – falling somewhat flat.
The much trailered volcano scenes that follow are impressive but should have been left to impress in the film.
Things ratchet up again though when the action moves to the more confining environment of Lockwood’s estate, bringing in arch-villain Gunnar Eversol played by Toby Jones (“The Snowman“, “Atomic Blonde“), who really should have taken the stairs, and Lockwood’s granddaughter Maisie ( Isabella Sermon) who is excellent as the ‘child in peril’. Some of the character’s actions don’t make a lot of sense (laser-targeting Owen? Why?) but they do generate some memorable scenes, supported by Michael Giacchino’s stirring soundtrack.
So, it pretty much works as an action film, but in terms of character development it doesn’t go anywhere in particular: Claire and Owen come out in about the same condition as they came in. I was expecting something deeper from Bayona (with his “A Monster Calls” being my personal No. 2 film of last year) than just a ‘running and screaming’ film.
It’s also difficult to avoid the fact that after five of these films there’s nothing much new under the Isla Nublar sun. Some of the plot here is a retread of the genetic shenanigans of the last film, mixed with the ‘off-island’ antics of “The Lost World”. And most of the action scenes are just stripped and re-painted from the earlier films. For example, the “about to get eaten but saved by another dinosaur” trope so expertly done by Spielberg in the finale of JP1 is re-hashed not once but THREE times in this movie: leading to more yawning that excitement if I’m honest.
Overall though, it’s an effective summer blockbuster that mostly delivers on the thrills and should be a good crowd-pleaser. By the way, staying through the endless credits is worth it not just for getting the full force of Giacchino and Williams’ majestic themes: there is quite a nice “monkey” at the end, illustrating that gambling might involve more than just money in the future!
With extreme topicality given what is happening on one of the Hawaiian islands at the moment, Isla Nublar – home to the now derelict Jurassic World theme park – is in serious trouble due to a volcanic eruption. Swayed by chaos theory expert Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum), a US senate committee decides to do…. absolutely nothing, letting the dinosaurs face re-extinction. This is much to the fury of our heroine from the first film, Claire Dearing (Bryce Dallas-Howard), who now runs a “Save the Dinosaurs” group. When all seems lost, help comes from the wallet of philanthropist Benjamin Lockwood (James Cromwell, “Babe”, “LA Confidential”) and his ops manager Eli Mills (Rafe Spall, “The Big Short“) who propose to fund a private rescue mission: a mission that requires the involvement of Velociraptor-wrangler Owen Grady (Chris Pratt, “Guardians of the Galaxy“, “Passengers“). But are their motives truly honourable?
The film has its moments, with some well-executed action scenes, some nice munching of bad people and a few scenes that are truly touching: shots of a brachiosauruses’ last moments is a memorable piece of cinema. But that said, the film is extremely patchy. An exciting (but not particularly logical) pre-title sequence seques into a very wordy and action-free first reel, headed up by Goldblum (always seated: did he have his legs chewed off by a raptor?) droning on (blah blah blah), no doubt for a huge fee but not for much purpose. The early part of the movie is good however at introducing new characters: specifically the geeky Franklin (Justice Smith) and the pre-requisite 2018 ‘Times Up” kick-ass female character Zia ( Daniella Pineda), who is actually very good. As a whole though it’s not terribly engaging, leading to even the reveal of the derelict theme park – which should have been a high point – falling somewhat flat.
The much trailered volcano scenes that follow are impressive but should have been left to impress in the film.
Things ratchet up again though when the action moves to the more confining environment of Lockwood’s estate, bringing in arch-villain Gunnar Eversol played by Toby Jones (“The Snowman“, “Atomic Blonde“), who really should have taken the stairs, and Lockwood’s granddaughter Maisie ( Isabella Sermon) who is excellent as the ‘child in peril’. Some of the character’s actions don’t make a lot of sense (laser-targeting Owen? Why?) but they do generate some memorable scenes, supported by Michael Giacchino’s stirring soundtrack.
So, it pretty much works as an action film, but in terms of character development it doesn’t go anywhere in particular: Claire and Owen come out in about the same condition as they came in. I was expecting something deeper from Bayona (with his “A Monster Calls” being my personal No. 2 film of last year) than just a ‘running and screaming’ film.
It’s also difficult to avoid the fact that after five of these films there’s nothing much new under the Isla Nublar sun. Some of the plot here is a retread of the genetic shenanigans of the last film, mixed with the ‘off-island’ antics of “The Lost World”. And most of the action scenes are just stripped and re-painted from the earlier films. For example, the “about to get eaten but saved by another dinosaur” trope so expertly done by Spielberg in the finale of JP1 is re-hashed not once but THREE times in this movie: leading to more yawning that excitement if I’m honest.
Overall though, it’s an effective summer blockbuster that mostly delivers on the thrills and should be a good crowd-pleaser. By the way, staying through the endless credits is worth it not just for getting the full force of Giacchino and Williams’ majestic themes: there is quite a nice “monkey” at the end, illustrating that gambling might involve more than just money in the future!
Daniel Boyd (1066 KP) rated Wolfenstein: The Old Blood in Video Games
Nov 2, 2017
An Oldie but a Goodie
This game is the story DLC to the fantastic Wolfenstein: The New Order and it too is developed by Machine Games. It runs on the same engine as the New Order and carries over most of the same gameplay mechanics and like the New Order it too is a lot of fun. The graphics aren’t great here, some close up textures look more like they belong in the PS3 generation to be honest, but fun gameplay is what matters in the Wolfenstein games and this one has it in spades. The characters are interesting and well acted, the iconic Castle Wolfenstein environment is awesome to see fully realised in HD and the loot and weapons systems are well implemented throughout the game’s short runtime. Although you can play through this experience in a short time I do feel that you get your money’s worth here. Due to the impressive presentation and detail of major set pieces etc I feel that if the game was a little longer it could have been sold as a fully fledged new entry to the series. There were several times where the game slowed to a crawl though and took me hours to get through the one stage. Obviously this game has been designed as a homage to older games and is styled in that way and for the most part it is an awesome blast from the past, however it also carries across some of the negative traits for older games like monster closets and placing the player into a confined area with no obvious way forward, causing a frustrating amount of time to be spent backtracking and desperately trying to find progress and the way forward to the next stage of the game. This was also the worst part of The New Order and it really is detrimental to the flow of the game. The writing is quite good for what it is and the ‘nightmare’ sections of the game that allow you to explore the original castle of Wolfenstein 3D are awesome. Overall this is a really fun romp, if you like The New Order and want more then this is for you the weapons are awesome and blowing away Nazis never gets old, whether they are zombies or not.
Shaun Collins (3 KP) rated Star Wars: Vader Down in Books
Jan 12, 2018
Vader goes from hunter to hunted in this crossover event from Marvel.
Firstly, "crossover" is a bit of a misnomer, since he's already a character in STAR WARS, but the idea was to broad strokes fill in some of the details of what he was doing when he wasn't on camera. Since these series are set between New Hope and Empire, there's a lot more wiggle room. Secondly, crossover events tend to be gimmicky and difficult for comic readers to track since they span multiple titles. Fortunately, there are only two titles here to deal with, so its a bit easier, but it still took some detective work to figure out the individual issues involved.
* VERY MILD SPOILERS (like the kind on a dust jacket) FOLLOW...
Okay, with the rant over, lets get to the good stuff. This book was good. This is really the first time we've seen the fearsome dark lord of the Sith AS a fearsome dark lord of the Sith, and not a broken down mechanical mystery monster who is really just a shadow of his former legendary self. This feels more like Anakin at the height of his powers, just evil. Alone on a planet with an entire battalion of Rebels on his trail, and Imperial agents who want to usurp him close behind, he's not worried, phased or hell even concerned. They're just dead men to him, and he tells them as much. This Vader is BAD-ASS.
Unfortunately, the counter plot to the Vader story is lighter in tone (and normally when those characters show up in the Vader comic I'm exceedingly happy for their brief forays into comedy to lighten up the proceedings), but here they are over used and quite honestly, detract from the bloodbath the Emperor's Fist finds himself in. While a dose of comedy can be welcome, this feels like the authors were trying too hard, and the result comes out as very uneven. Especially when the subject of the humor is Han. Han should be cool and unintentionally funny when things don't go his way, not bungling Mr. Bean style funny because he's inept.
Bottom line, the plot drove me through the rough spots, and I still think this is a great series, I only hope the luster is not starting to tarnish on this one, but that's what this volume feels like...
Firstly, "crossover" is a bit of a misnomer, since he's already a character in STAR WARS, but the idea was to broad strokes fill in some of the details of what he was doing when he wasn't on camera. Since these series are set between New Hope and Empire, there's a lot more wiggle room. Secondly, crossover events tend to be gimmicky and difficult for comic readers to track since they span multiple titles. Fortunately, there are only two titles here to deal with, so its a bit easier, but it still took some detective work to figure out the individual issues involved.
* VERY MILD SPOILERS (like the kind on a dust jacket) FOLLOW...
Okay, with the rant over, lets get to the good stuff. This book was good. This is really the first time we've seen the fearsome dark lord of the Sith AS a fearsome dark lord of the Sith, and not a broken down mechanical mystery monster who is really just a shadow of his former legendary self. This feels more like Anakin at the height of his powers, just evil. Alone on a planet with an entire battalion of Rebels on his trail, and Imperial agents who want to usurp him close behind, he's not worried, phased or hell even concerned. They're just dead men to him, and he tells them as much. This Vader is BAD-ASS.
Unfortunately, the counter plot to the Vader story is lighter in tone (and normally when those characters show up in the Vader comic I'm exceedingly happy for their brief forays into comedy to lighten up the proceedings), but here they are over used and quite honestly, detract from the bloodbath the Emperor's Fist finds himself in. While a dose of comedy can be welcome, this feels like the authors were trying too hard, and the result comes out as very uneven. Especially when the subject of the humor is Han. Han should be cool and unintentionally funny when things don't go his way, not bungling Mr. Bean style funny because he's inept.
Bottom line, the plot drove me through the rough spots, and I still think this is a great series, I only hope the luster is not starting to tarnish on this one, but that's what this volume feels like...
Steven Sklansky (231 KP) rated A Quiet Place (2018) in Movies
Apr 5, 2018
Shhh. You Make a Sound You Die.
These types of movies are never really my favorite. Most of the time the trailer is what makes me not want to see a movie. This time was a little bit different. I didn't really know what to think of this trailer, it wasn't really appealing but I thought I might be good. So I broke the trend and went to see it. This was a fantastic movie and it was written and directed by a guy would not normally associate with horror. .John Krasinski, most known for comedy and sometime drama, made me really like this movie.
This movie is about a world taken over by monsters that find and kill you by sound. Could you live in a world of silence? I don't think I could, but in a movie with almost no dialogue they did an amazing job. Now there was sign language, which I thought was very smart, otherwise facial expressions and body language was the words of this movie. The grown up actors were great. The kids actually did a very good job with this. Sometimes kids do not have the emotional range to be able to pull something like this off.
There are several this in this movie that are never really answered. One of them is where the monster came from. Not that it really matters but I kind of would like to know if they are aliens or just monsters that just showed up one day. I think they came from the upside down. They really do look like demogorgons from Stranger Thing. I thought this was kind of a cheat, but the way they act and kill was very original.
It wasn't a bloody or gorey movie, which was just fine. The suspense was done just right,. making you jump in just the right places. The other cool thing with this movie was, being that there was no dialogue for about the first 45 minutes the theater was creepy quiet. Like you could hear a pin drop.
If you can go see this movie, you will not be disappointed. You might also be afraid to talk or make a noise upon leaving the theater. Until next time, enjoy the show.
This movie is about a world taken over by monsters that find and kill you by sound. Could you live in a world of silence? I don't think I could, but in a movie with almost no dialogue they did an amazing job. Now there was sign language, which I thought was very smart, otherwise facial expressions and body language was the words of this movie. The grown up actors were great. The kids actually did a very good job with this. Sometimes kids do not have the emotional range to be able to pull something like this off.
There are several this in this movie that are never really answered. One of them is where the monster came from. Not that it really matters but I kind of would like to know if they are aliens or just monsters that just showed up one day. I think they came from the upside down. They really do look like demogorgons from Stranger Thing. I thought this was kind of a cheat, but the way they act and kill was very original.
It wasn't a bloody or gorey movie, which was just fine. The suspense was done just right,. making you jump in just the right places. The other cool thing with this movie was, being that there was no dialogue for about the first 45 minutes the theater was creepy quiet. Like you could hear a pin drop.
If you can go see this movie, you will not be disappointed. You might also be afraid to talk or make a noise upon leaving the theater. Until next time, enjoy the show.