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The Girl on the Velvet Swing: Sex, Murder, and Madness at the Dawn of the Twentieth Century
6.5
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From New York Times bestselling author Simon Baatz, the first comprehensive account of the murder...
crime non-fiction
The Billionaire's Sham Girlfriend
10.0
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Book
Gregor Beaumont is in a world of hurt that all the charm in his gorgeous, well-toned body can’t...
Louis Theroux’s Weird Weekends - Series 3
7.9
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TV Show
Documentaries by writer and presenter Louis Theroux which delve into the weirder fringes of American...
Merissa (11731 KP) rated Left (Reflections #12) in Books
May 23, 2023
Left is about Jess, simple as that. We've had Isaac's side of the story in Lost, so I was happy to read Jess' side, even though I'm not her biggest fan.
Jess lost her memories when Oblivion got his hands on her. Since then, she has had to deal with other people's memories of her, trying to fit her back into a box that she no longer remembers. She reacted by pushing those that knew her away, and going with Wyatt on an 'adventure'.
Now, I've already said that I'm not her biggest fan. I thought she came across as incredibly self-centred, petty and selfish. The best bit about this book is when Jess realised that for herself! To acknowledge your faults takes courage. To try and better yourself is hard work, but Jess is prepared to try her best. Wyatt - there's more to this playboy than meets the eye, but I just couldn't warm to him. I won't give spoilers, but I will say that I'm not disappointed with how his story turned out.
There is an awful lot of information in this book, from descriptions of their surroundings to the history of the Graves line, to politics within the pack. It does feel a bit heavy during these parts, but stick with it as there is information in there that you need to know.
This is an exceptional series that I have thoroughly enjoyed. I am wondering where Dean will take it next! For this book as a whole, I will give it 4-stars. However, for the ending, that is definitely 5-stars! This is part of a series, so I would definitely recommend that you start from the beginning and immerse yourself in this world.
* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and the comments here are my honest opinion. *
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Feb 24, 2016
Jess lost her memories when Oblivion got his hands on her. Since then, she has had to deal with other people's memories of her, trying to fit her back into a box that she no longer remembers. She reacted by pushing those that knew her away, and going with Wyatt on an 'adventure'.
Now, I've already said that I'm not her biggest fan. I thought she came across as incredibly self-centred, petty and selfish. The best bit about this book is when Jess realised that for herself! To acknowledge your faults takes courage. To try and better yourself is hard work, but Jess is prepared to try her best. Wyatt - there's more to this playboy than meets the eye, but I just couldn't warm to him. I won't give spoilers, but I will say that I'm not disappointed with how his story turned out.
There is an awful lot of information in this book, from descriptions of their surroundings to the history of the Graves line, to politics within the pack. It does feel a bit heavy during these parts, but stick with it as there is information in there that you need to know.
This is an exceptional series that I have thoroughly enjoyed. I am wondering where Dean will take it next! For this book as a whole, I will give it 4-stars. However, for the ending, that is definitely 5-stars! This is part of a series, so I would definitely recommend that you start from the beginning and immerse yourself in this world.
* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and the comments here are my honest opinion. *
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Feb 24, 2016
Goddess in the Stacks (553 KP) rated Gentleman's Guide To Vice And Virtue in Books
Jun 8, 2018
This was excellent! First, all the diversity here - between the bisexual main character, his best friend, who is biracial, has an "invisible" disability, and also likes men (or at least likes Monty!) and his seemingly asexual sister - the book covers so many facets, it's great.
Given that it's historical fiction, set in Victorian Europe, Percy's biracial heritage has him just seen as black to most people they encounter. Monty doesn't seem to understand what that means, most of the time, and is a little blinded by his rich white boy privilege. He gets talked to a couple of times about how he's being blind to the problems his friend is facing.
I liked that we got to peek under Monty's playboy facade a few times, when being punched has him flashing back to being beaten by his father for being a "disappointment." An interaction between him and a pirate captain was particularly sweet, teaching him to fight back because he's worth defending.
I LOVE Felicity, Monty's sister, and I'm really eager to read her story in the sequel to this book, The Lady's Guide to Petticoats and Piracy. She is so badass, and incredibly intelligent.
The writing was fun, the action well-paced, and the dialogue clever. I was a little put off at first by the size of the book, but I flew through it quickly. I especially liked Monty's bisexuality - how he just cheerfully perved on practically everyone his age. It definitely reminded me of a few people I know!
Something that I noted, near the end of the book, was Percy not asking Monty to stop his perving. What he said was "if you ever go behind my back..." which implies as long as Percy knows, it's not an issue. Yay for non-monogamy being present in YA! It's nice to see alternative relationship structures being presented, though I wish it had been more than just implied.
This was an excellent read for Pride Month, and I loved the amount of diversity and intersectionality present in it.
You can find all my reviews at http://goddessinthestacks.wordpress.com
Given that it's historical fiction, set in Victorian Europe, Percy's biracial heritage has him just seen as black to most people they encounter. Monty doesn't seem to understand what that means, most of the time, and is a little blinded by his rich white boy privilege. He gets talked to a couple of times about how he's being blind to the problems his friend is facing.
I liked that we got to peek under Monty's playboy facade a few times, when being punched has him flashing back to being beaten by his father for being a "disappointment." An interaction between him and a pirate captain was particularly sweet, teaching him to fight back because he's worth defending.
I LOVE Felicity, Monty's sister, and I'm really eager to read her story in the sequel to this book, The Lady's Guide to Petticoats and Piracy. She is so badass, and incredibly intelligent.
The writing was fun, the action well-paced, and the dialogue clever. I was a little put off at first by the size of the book, but I flew through it quickly. I especially liked Monty's bisexuality - how he just cheerfully perved on practically everyone his age. It definitely reminded me of a few people I know!
Something that I noted, near the end of the book, was Percy not asking Monty to stop his perving. What he said was "if you ever go behind my back..." which implies as long as Percy knows, it's not an issue. Yay for non-monogamy being present in YA! It's nice to see alternative relationship structures being presented, though I wish it had been more than just implied.
This was an excellent read for Pride Month, and I loved the amount of diversity and intersectionality present in it.
You can find all my reviews at http://goddessinthestacks.wordpress.com
Gareth von Kallenbach (971 KP) rated The Lincoln Lawyer (2011) in Movies
Aug 7, 2019
Mick Haller (Matthew McConaughey) is a criminal defense attorney who works out of his Lincoln Town Car in Los Angeles, hence the title of the movie and book “The Lincoln Lawyer” by Michael Connelly. Mickey defends all kinds of criminals and all he expects from his clients is that they pay him. While he may be a rather shifty lawyer, he is a loving father to his daughter Hayley (Mackenzie Aladjem) and he obviously still cares for her mother Maggie McPherson (Marisa Tomei).
Now although he has many clients, none are really big money clients. That changes one day when Louis Roulet (Ryan Phillippe), a rich Beverly Hills playboy, is arrested for assault & attempted rape and he wants Mick to defend him. At first Mick believes that he will be able to easily get his client acquitted, but as he and his investigator Frank Levin (William H. Macy) dig deeper, they discovery disturbing information about the case and it’s possible link to another.
In his quest to win the all mighty “Not Guilty” verdict, Mick has many obstacles (both professional and personal) placed before him that he must successfully navigate around, and treachery hiding in the shadows that he must bring into the light or else he may lose more than just a case.
While the entire cast was incredible, Matthew McConaughey and Ryan Phillippe gave equally amazing performances (this is especially true for any scene that they were both in). The characters were well-developed, believable and for the most part likable, heck I even liked the biker Eddie (Trace Adkins). The storyline was intriguing with a twist or two that I did not see coming and it also had some very nice humor sprinkled in. I did find that in a few scenes the dialogue seemed to be a bit unnatural for what was going on but it didn’t really detract from the overall scenes in question. Personally I hope this film does well enough that they make a sequel (I believe the book’s sequel is The Reversal) because I would like to see more of these characters in action.
Now although he has many clients, none are really big money clients. That changes one day when Louis Roulet (Ryan Phillippe), a rich Beverly Hills playboy, is arrested for assault & attempted rape and he wants Mick to defend him. At first Mick believes that he will be able to easily get his client acquitted, but as he and his investigator Frank Levin (William H. Macy) dig deeper, they discovery disturbing information about the case and it’s possible link to another.
In his quest to win the all mighty “Not Guilty” verdict, Mick has many obstacles (both professional and personal) placed before him that he must successfully navigate around, and treachery hiding in the shadows that he must bring into the light or else he may lose more than just a case.
While the entire cast was incredible, Matthew McConaughey and Ryan Phillippe gave equally amazing performances (this is especially true for any scene that they were both in). The characters were well-developed, believable and for the most part likable, heck I even liked the biker Eddie (Trace Adkins). The storyline was intriguing with a twist or two that I did not see coming and it also had some very nice humor sprinkled in. I did find that in a few scenes the dialogue seemed to be a bit unnatural for what was going on but it didn’t really detract from the overall scenes in question. Personally I hope this film does well enough that they make a sequel (I believe the book’s sequel is The Reversal) because I would like to see more of these characters in action.
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Quick Hit Slots™ is THE #1 casino game! CRAVING the suspense of Vegas slots games? Quick Hit’s...
Queer Saint: The Cultured Life of Peter Watson
Adrian Clark and Jeremy Dronfield
Book
When Peter Watson was murdered in his bath by a jealous boyfriend in 1956, the art world lost one of...
