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Meagan’s life ended 2 years ago when her husband walked out the door and died in the war. She had to keep it together for her children and make a life for them to grow and thrive in. She never thought her broken heart would heal until one day the missing piece came back.

Edward left his family to go off to war, thinking he was making the right choice, he knows now it was for selfish reasons not legitimate ones. He was left for dead on the battlefield and now has a second chance at this family. He just has to believe he is worth the second chance.

Meagan has to work hard to get Edward to see that his life was spared for a reason. A reason to fight for his family this time and not fight for the country. He has some limitations with his injuries but she knows in her heart that her Edward is strong as ever. No matter how much Edward objects to her observations.

Edward must work past his own limitations to find his strength within. Seeing his children in a new light reaches deep in his soul and gives him the will to survive and thrive. Together they mend his broken spirit and remind each other of their love and strengths.
  
The Lady Ghost (The Decoders #2)
The Lady Ghost (The Decoders #2)
Alba Arango | 2018 | Children
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
You looking for an adventure book for your child or children to enjoy? Well, the series called “The Decoders” by Alba Arango is a good one. It seems to focus on helping others out but also doing what they love to do. Which is solve cases. I have rated it 4.5 Moons – (Stars).

It about three smart kids, how they have adventures. They seem to help their friends and family out. Though in this book it about “The Lady Ghost”. What is happening on the movie set? Why are they scaring people to leave? Is the ghost real or is it fake?

The plot is done well. The characters are developed well. Matt, Steve, and Jenny seem to have different skills that they use to solve mysteries. The stories and mysteries are different. They seem to find someone or a few that seem to help them out.

The adventures seem enjoyable. I enjoy each one. I love that the mysteries are entertaining but not overwhelmed. They are really good for middle graders and children. It one that children can read and fall in love with.

The author does a wonderful job of this and keeping it suitable for children. I just think the story could have been a bit more with the ghost and with movie set. It was a good read. I hope to able to read the next one. I want to read the other adventures of the decoders.
  
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ClareR (6001 KP) rated The Rising Tide in Books

Sep 14, 2021  
The Rising Tide
The Rising Tide
Sam Lloyd | 2021 | Contemporary, Crime, Mystery, Thriller
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
The Rising Tide is a fast paced thriller, a race against time. Lucy must find her children before something terrible happens to them - provided that the terrible thing hasn’t already happened.

The finger of blame is pointed firmly at Lucy’s husband, but even when he’s arrested the police still can’t find the children, and Daniel isn’t going to tell them. Abraham Rose, who is terminally ill, is the detective in charge of the investigation and the hunt for the children. He’s quite some force of nature: a quiet, dedicated man, he’s determined to bring Lucy’s children home to her. This determination and his now wavering faith, are the driving force for a man who should really be in hospital. He wants to be the one to run and solve the case, though.

There’s a lot going on under the surface of this book. Is Lucy the person she says she is? Is something not quite right in her marriage with Daniel? What is going on with Daniel’s business partner?

This book constantly surprised me, and the tension was immense! I really enjoyed Sam Lloyd’s first novel (The Memory Wood), and this book, whilst completely different, didn’t disappoint at all. My emotions throughout this book were as turbulent as the weather (which was pretty bad!). I loved it!

Many thanks to The Pigeonhole for serialising this and to Sam Lloyd for joining in with the discussion.
  
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Hadley (567 KP) rated The Institute in Books

Oct 24, 2019  
The Institute
The Institute
Stephen King | 2019 | Science Fiction/Fantasy, Thriller
7
7.8 (8 Ratings)
Book Rating
Likable characters (1 more)
Paranormal
Sexualizing children (1 more)
Not a regular King story
At around 95 novels, Stephen King, who is one of the most well-known authors of our time, debuts a possible new novel series about psychic children. 'The Institute' mostly takes place in a hidden facility located in a wooded area of Maine,where readers follow a kidnapped child prodigy named Luke Ellis, and the government experiments that are inflicted on him to heighten his psychic powers.

So why is the government kidnapping children to conduct psychic research on them? At first, it may seem just that: psychic research, because psychic powers seem to be more powerful in young children than adults, but nothing is what it seems. As the boss of this Institute says to the children: " ' There's a war going on, and you have been called upon to serve your country.' " A few sentences later, and she explains it a little more in depth for Ellis: " ' This is not an arms race but a mind race, and if we lose, the consequences would be more than dire; they would be unimaginable. You may only be twelve, but you are a soldier in an undeclared war. The same is true of Kalisha and the others. Do you like it? Of course not. Draftees never do, and draftees sometimes need to be taught that there are consequences for not following orders. I believe you've already had one lesson in that regard. If you're as bright as your records say you are, perhaps you won't need another. If you do, however, you'll get it. This is not your home. This is not your school. You will not simply be given an extra chore or sent to the principal's office or given detention; you will be punished. Clear? ' "

King writes in a third-person point-of-view, which makes it a little disturbing that when any female character he introduces (including girls as young as 11-years-old) are usually introduced by their breast size. It's not uncommon for male writers to introduce female characters this way, but when most of them are children, it can be very off putting for readers. One scene, King makes Ellis notice that Kalisha has 'her hands on her mostly nonexistent hips,' then writes about the character Helen in the same scene: " Another door opened and Helen Simms appeared, clad - - - sort of - - - in what Luke believed were called babydoll pajamas. She had hips, plus other interesting equipment. " Both of these characters are only twelve-years-old.

Aside from the children, King also introduces an important character named Tim Jamieson. This character starts the novel off before readers meet Ellis; we learn that he is a former cop who is traveling to New York while taking odd jobs on his way there, including a night knocker job in DuPray, South Carolina (which becomes very important later on in the story) .

Avery, my personal favorite character in the book, is a ten-year-old who acts like a five-year-old, " The screamer was a little boy in Star Wars pajamas, hammering on doors with small fists that went up and down like pistons. Ten? Avery Dixon looked six, seven at most. The crotch and one leg of his pajama pants were wet and sticking to him. " Dixon and Kalisha are both in the Institute for telepathy. " 'You know so,' Kalisha said, and began to stroke the little boy's [Dixon] hair again. Like had a sense - - - maybe bullshit, maybe not - - - that a lot was going on between them. Inside traffic. " And quickly, the group of children become protective of Dixon, " 'But you need to take care of this one for as long as you can. When I think of Tony or Zeke or that bitch Winona hitting Avery, it makes me want to cry. ' " Kalisha confides in Ellis.

Kalisha, one of the other children that has been kidnapped, is another very likable character that seems to keep all of the other kids' spirits up by either keeping them out of trouble with advice or stopping small fights between them. Another kid named Nicky, the troublemaker of the group, is the stereo-typical bad boy. He gets involved in fistfights with the orderlies that work at the Institute, taking quite a bit of abuse in return. But eventually, the rebelliousness catches up with him, leading him to be moved from Front Half to the dreaded Back Half.

Readers later learn that Back Half is worse than Front Half. Most questions we may have about why the Institute is abusing these children are all answered when readers get to see into Back Half from Kalisha's point-of-view. But what is left unanswered is exactly how many children have been through the Institute? From the amount of children seen just in this story, the numbers could be in the hundreds of thousands!

But, as expected, the children come up with a plan to escape - - - with giving as little detail as possible, an orderlie at the Institute is helped by one of the children with a personal problem, and in return, this orderlie decides to help one of them escape and reveal everything that is the Institute. The instance the escape starts being discussed is when the book really picks up.

King's writing of the abuse our characters sustain is very real (" When Stevie Whipple asked where he'd been and what was wrong, Luke just shook his head. He didn't want to talk about the tank. Not now, not ever. He supposed it was like being in a war. You got drafted, you went, but you didn't want to talk about what you'd seen, or what had happened to you there." ) The scene in which Ellis refuses to speak of is where the orderlie Zeke is trying to make Ellis confess that he is not only telekinesis, but also telepathic: "Zeke hauled him up by the hair. His white tunic was soaked. He looked fixedly at Luke. 'I'm going to put you down again, Luke. Again and again and again. I'll put you down until you drown and then we'll resuscitate you and drown you again and resuscitate you again. Last chance: what number am I thinking of?' "

King brings up a fictional belief that strikes fear in parents everywhere: children being kidnapped for government experiments. Readers witness Ellis' parents being killed, Kalisha being a surrogate mother to kids she barely knows, Nicky being beaten by adults when he refuses to get 'shots for dots,' night terrors, suicide, zap sticks and murder.

This book doesn't read like a regular King book; even with the paranormal aspects occurring in it, it doesn't add up to much. The horror aspect is more in the form of child abuse then paranormal moments. I would only recommend this book to fans of Netflix's 'Stranger Things' and Patterson's 'Maximum Ride.' I don't think I would read this again.
  
As far as erotica novels go, this novel is one of the worst that I have ever read. Not only was it vague in any erotic descriptions the author decided to give use, but the actually erotica content was almost absent. It was like reading a fairy tale written for adults with all the gore and vulgarity instead the sunshine and smiles, although the happy endings were present.

When I want erotica, I want <i>erotica</i>. If I wanted some fairy tales told for adults instead children, I would read the Grimm's Fairy Tales.
  
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ClareR (6001 KP) rated Smashbomb in Apps

May 27, 2018  
Smashbomb
Smashbomb
Entertainment, Lifestyle, Social Networking
10
8.8 (122 Ratings)
App Rating
It’s addictive!
I read books, I like to write about the books I read. Smashbomb is great for people like me - I’m always recommending books to my ‘real life’ friends (both by their request and just because I can’t shut up about some books), and now I can recommend books to complete strangers! What’s not to like!! Oh, and I like how I can ‘dabble! In some of the other things on here (film, apps etc). Quite handy to read up on films to share with my children and for myself too.