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Merissa (13373 KP) rated The Blood of Four Gods and Other Stories in Books
Dec 17, 2018
The Blood of Four Gods and Other Stories is a collection of short stories by Jamie Lackey, with a strong Asian/Native American theme. None of the stories are guaranteed a HAE, and in fact, I would say at least half have their own particular ending. These stories are all very vivid when you read them, which is excellent - Jamie Lackey's descriptive voice is in full flow. However, some of them are not so 'nice' to read, and so the descriptions can make you swallow slightly as you read them. Some only seem like snippets, and I would love to know more about the characters and the worlds in which they live.
With no editing or grammatical errors to disrupt my reading flow, I thoroughly enjoyed each of these stories. With smooth pacing, well rounded characters, and with individual stories for each and every one, this is a wonderful collection of stories, sure to delight. Absolutely 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!
With no editing or grammatical errors to disrupt my reading flow, I thoroughly enjoyed each of these stories. With smooth pacing, well rounded characters, and with individual stories for each and every one, this is a wonderful collection of stories, sure to delight. Absolutely 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!
Deborah (162 KP) rated For You Alone (Frederick Wentworth, Captain, #2) in Books
Dec 19, 2018
I really enjoyed the first book, None But You, and really wanted to like this one as much..... just looking down at some of the other reviews, it seems I'm not alone in not caring much for the ending.
In fact, the whole wrapping up of the story seems to drag on for longer than needs be, in my opinion, and the ending didn't seem to me realistic. Considering [i:]Persuasion[/i:] is Austen's most romantic novel, the chosen ending was decidely unromantic in many ways!
There are also a few things that don't seem to be satisfactorily concluded; I expected to hear more of the future planned for George Tuggins for one. Also I expected to hear of Mr Elliot running off with Mrs Clay and the Wentworths having something to say about that! I wasn't clear about Mr Elliot being seen earlier visiting Westgate Buildings, as in [i:]Persuasion[/i:] Mrs Smith indicates she hasn't seen him in sometime.
Overall, I liked it better than a lost of Austen sequels out there, but it could have been concluded more satisfactorily to my mind.
In fact, the whole wrapping up of the story seems to drag on for longer than needs be, in my opinion, and the ending didn't seem to me realistic. Considering [i:]Persuasion[/i:] is Austen's most romantic novel, the chosen ending was decidely unromantic in many ways!
There are also a few things that don't seem to be satisfactorily concluded; I expected to hear more of the future planned for George Tuggins for one. Also I expected to hear of Mr Elliot running off with Mrs Clay and the Wentworths having something to say about that! I wasn't clear about Mr Elliot being seen earlier visiting Westgate Buildings, as in [i:]Persuasion[/i:] Mrs Smith indicates she hasn't seen him in sometime.
Overall, I liked it better than a lost of Austen sequels out there, but it could have been concluded more satisfactorily to my mind.
Andy K (10823 KP) rated Lords of Chaos (2018) in Movies
Dec 14, 2019
ANARCHY!
Every once and a while a film comes along that truly surprises you (I love it when that happens) and Lords of Chaos did that for me tonight. I was thinking going in was going to be a metal version of This is Spinal Tap maybe or an anti version of Bohemian Rhapsody, or definitely a film I would have to keep the volume turned down as not to annoy my wife with the extremely booming soundtrack, but none of those were true.
Instead we get a supposedly true, or mostly true, story of the 90s Norwegian Black Metal band, Mayhem, its members, its music, its tragedy. I knew there would be horror and it delivered on that for sure. There are some truly graphic scenes which are not for the squeamish or for those who get offended easily. Having said that, it is also about friendship, mental illness, bullying, fitting in, being different than the rest, anarchy, paganism, relationships and how true (or fake) are your convictions.
For those that enjoy the out of the ordinary, I would highly recommend.
Instead we get a supposedly true, or mostly true, story of the 90s Norwegian Black Metal band, Mayhem, its members, its music, its tragedy. I knew there would be horror and it delivered on that for sure. There are some truly graphic scenes which are not for the squeamish or for those who get offended easily. Having said that, it is also about friendship, mental illness, bullying, fitting in, being different than the rest, anarchy, paganism, relationships and how true (or fake) are your convictions.
For those that enjoy the out of the ordinary, I would highly recommend.
Sarah (7800 KP) rated Nightmares and Dreamscapes in Books
Mar 8, 2020
A varied mix of stories
It's no secret that Stephen King is my all time favourite author, and I'm especially fond of his anthology books filled with a variety of short stories.
I'd read Nightmares & Dreamscapes manybyeats ago, and decided it was about time to read it again. This really is a varied bunch of stories, all well written as you'd always expect from King, but with plots ranging from an alright 6/10 to an exception 10/10. None of the stories are bad at all, but I did struggle getting through this book at times, especially as it's a rather hefty tome with some seriously small writing. But there are some noteworthy excellent stories in here, such as Dolan's Cadillac, The Ten O'clock People, The Night Flier and Umney's Last Case. There's even a surprise appearance from Holmes and Watson, which whilst it seems oddly out of place in a book of King short stories, it's a very welcome and pretty good story to mix things up a little.
Overall this isn't my King book of short stories (that accolade goes to Night Shift), but it's still a very good offering.
I'd read Nightmares & Dreamscapes manybyeats ago, and decided it was about time to read it again. This really is a varied bunch of stories, all well written as you'd always expect from King, but with plots ranging from an alright 6/10 to an exception 10/10. None of the stories are bad at all, but I did struggle getting through this book at times, especially as it's a rather hefty tome with some seriously small writing. But there are some noteworthy excellent stories in here, such as Dolan's Cadillac, The Ten O'clock People, The Night Flier and Umney's Last Case. There's even a surprise appearance from Holmes and Watson, which whilst it seems oddly out of place in a book of King short stories, it's a very welcome and pretty good story to mix things up a little.
Overall this isn't my King book of short stories (that accolade goes to Night Shift), but it's still a very good offering.
Veronica Pena (690 KP) rated Midway (2019) in Movies
Feb 19, 2020
I'm a bit conflicted about this film. I thought the actors were great, I was attached to them and their story and that made this film enjoyable and heart wrenching at the same time. I wasn't in love with the scope of the timeline, I feel like it was a lot to remember - not that you have to remember the dates, but part of you feels kind of guilty if you don't, or is that just me? The hard part about that though is that none of it feels unnecessary. I feel like you get a well-rounded look at how we got to that point and all the events that led up to it. Obviously you could include so much more but then we'd be talking about a 6-hour movie and that'd be ridiculous.
I loved this cast. Luke Evans, Nick Jonas, Woody Harrelson, Mandy Moore, Dennis Quaid, Darren Criss, everyone was phenomenal and they played their parts well. Do I think I'll ever watch this film again? Hmmm, probably not. But I'm glad I spent the time to watch it and learn a little bit more too. It's definitely a great story.
I loved this cast. Luke Evans, Nick Jonas, Woody Harrelson, Mandy Moore, Dennis Quaid, Darren Criss, everyone was phenomenal and they played their parts well. Do I think I'll ever watch this film again? Hmmm, probably not. But I'm glad I spent the time to watch it and learn a little bit more too. It's definitely a great story.
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