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Making Money (Discworld #36; Moist Von Lipwig #2)
Making Money (Discworld #36; Moist Von Lipwig #2)
Terry Pratchett, Stephen Briggs | 2007 | Fiction & Poetry
8
8.8 (4 Ratings)
Book Rating
The second - and, following his untimely death in 2015, last - of the late, great Sir Terry Pratchett's Moist von Lipwig sub-series of Discworld novels (after 'Going Postal'), that see's Moist himself put in charge of the ailing Ankh-Morpork central bank, and introducing - shock! gasp! - a new form of paper currency.

To my recollection, this also is one of the few Discworld novels (41 in total, of which this was number 36) in which the Patrician plays a central role - he's in more than a few, yes, but not always to this extent - and in which he is fleshed out as a character. I would loved to have seen where his plans for Moist would have taken him ...
  
FT
Fright Train (Weirdville, #3)
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Fright Train by Majanka Verstraete
Reviewed by Kaila for CBR

I read this to my 8 and 7 yr old girls and they loved it. We didnt have to read the first two to understand this one. They loved how scary and yet not scary it was. They are asking me to read the rest of the series with them. The characters didn't scare them enough to cause issues with them but scared them enough to talk about how books aren't real. lol They also loved the adventure in the story and the characters were very fun. We will recommend this author to our friends with kids. So glad the author allowed us to read it for review.
  
SG
Shadow Game (GhostWalkers, #1)
4
5.3 (3 Ratings)
Book Rating
It's taken me forever to read this. I struggled with it from the start. I've drifted from my love of Paranormal Romances into Contemporary Romance and Urban Fantasy Romances so this just seemed too focused on the romance side of things. Sounds strange, I know, considering that's all I read but...I just couldn't get into it.

The writing seemed so old fashioned in the chemistry/romance parts. It was written back in 2003, when I was 12 and I would probably have loved it back then, but I'm now 28 and I prefer a more modern wording to my romances.

I have a few more paperbacks from this series but I'm not in any hurry to read them.
  
Men in Black International (2019)
Men in Black International (2019)
2019 | Action, Sci-Fi
This turned out to be pretty much what I expected: the weakest movie in the series.

This may be an unpopular opinion, but I'm not the biggest fan of Tessa Thompson to begin with. She's very bland, and this movie did nothing to change my opinion. I guess it was nice to look at Chris Hemsworth for a couple of hours, and there were a couple of moments that gave me a chuckle, but I found myself wistfully flashing back to that first MIB movie and wishing Hollywood would stop ruining things.

I mean, it was ok. By no means a bad movie, and at the very least it was mildly entertaining....but meh.
  
Chroma Crossing Chronicles: Blood Moon Part 2
Chroma Crossing Chronicles: Blood Moon Part 2
S. Yurvati | 2020 | Science Fiction/Fantasy
4
4.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Blood Moon: Part 2 is the continuation of Blood Moon: Part 1. The second part starts where the first book ended. Candy entered a world with no colour and met a very handsome hunter, who tells her of the dangers she will face on the “Needing Moon”.

First of all - we have this monochromatic world covered in just beige colour and no other colours. The author made sure to note this a couple of times throughout the book, with no explanation whatsoever on why this is happening. Not even a clue or an event to prompt some curiosity in my way. I simply did not care about this colourless world.

Then, we have Candy in a new world and this man, her saviour, makes her his mate and becomes overprotective of her for no apparent reason. Yes, they have a passion bond forming, but he decides to keep her away from anyone, not let her get out of his palace and is about to kill anyone that even looks at her the wrong way. Yes - this is how males behave in this beige-world, but this still counts as captivity. She never addressed a wish to leave, but if she did - do you honestly think he will let her? Ha! I doubt it!

Then we have the “Needing Moon”.

Every full moon is a needing moon, where everything is about intercourse. And not just that, but devouring women and taking their dignity in the most harsh way. Apparently it affects everyone and no one can resist this sudden urge, and suddenly we have scenes of orgies and what not, and I am not sure what to think of all this…

During this Needing Moon event, Candy and this hunter spend a night or two having coitus, and then Candy has an accident that makes her forget everything about him. But the hunter needs to go on a journey, and not wanting to leave his missus at the palace, he makes her come with him and his soldiers - all men who think of her as a prey, but are too afraid to do anything because of their fear from the hunter, who also happens to be a king.

During the journey, they start to get to know each other again, playing a game of ego and arrogance. There is passion they have for each other but neither of them will confess first. And on top of that, in the end we find out that Candy did remember a little bit about him, after all. So she was lying throughout the book.

Which is slightly annoying.

And on top of all this, we don’t even see the characters that were mentioned in the first book. The end was somewhat unfinished, and it left things to reveal itself in the next book.

So it seemed that the first book was a prequel to the second, but the second book is a prequel to the third, and to be quite honest with you, I wouldn’t read the third book just to find out. I have gambled enough and I didn’t get what I came for in two books, so I don’t see myself finishing this series in this lifetime. Or the next.

I had really high hopes for this series, because even though the first book wasn’t my favourite, it did capture my attention, which is why I gave this book a chance. But this one disappointed me too much.
  
GS
Grave Secret (Harper Connelly, #4)
6
5.3 (3 Ratings)
Book Rating
I'd say that wraps it up for this series. No, I won't tell you why I'm saying that, or it'll ruin the book for you.

The Harper Connelly series hasn't ever been as strong as the Southern Vampire series, in my opinion, but it wasn't too bad in comparison to some of her earlier work, like the Aurora Teagarden and Shakespeare mysteries. She seemed to be experimenting with something darker this time around. I haven't looked at the Amazon rank or any other figures for the series, but it's my gut feeling that they never took off in comparison to the Sookie Stackhouse series, especially since True Blood has gotten so much attention with the television series. I have to wonder what that feels like for Ms. Harris, as this really was a decent concept with some promise, and it doesn't seem to have been given that much of a chance to blossom.

In any case, Harper and her brother are prickly characters and not very easy to relate to, and they don't get any easier in this book. They are back in their home town, and we get to now a lot more about their origins this time around. We finally get the whole story about their missing sister, and we meet the two little sisters who live with an aunt and uncle.

The portrayal of the devout blue-collar people with their working-man's faith is absolutely smack on. I came from those people, and I could taste the sweet tea and see the linoleum and the absolutely clean Formica dinette, feel the cracked chairs the characters sat on and look around at the carefully kept house. Harris did a great job with that town and those people, so much so that I'm sure she either came from a similar place or has spent plenty of time in one.

There isn't as much new magic/plot stuff as there are answers this time. The sexy gypsy boy-almost-man is back, to my delight. Harper's love interest is still a bit of a squick, but I suppose it makes sense for the characters. I have to wonder how many authors would stick with that kind of decision, knowing the backlash they'd get from their readers?

If you've read the other Harper Connelly books, read this one for closure. If you haven't, this isn't the place to start!