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The Princess Diarist
The Princess Diarist
Carrie Fisher | 2017 | Biography
10
7.5 (22 Ratings)
Book Rating
I want to start off by saying that I was so saddened to hear about Carrie's passing. She was a childhood hero of mine, so to see that she was gone was devastating.

Carrie Fisher was a brilliant woman, but like was not always kind to her. She battled with addiction, depression, and so many other things, but I would have never guessed it.

It was interesting to actually read what she thought of herself when she was younger. With her self worth and self-esteem issues, it was very easy to identify with her journal pages. Now, having read the whole book, I know she would tell me to buck up and don't give a damn about what other people think of me. Which is something I am trying to do now. It honestly hurt to read these things because I can see myself in these pages. People are so quick to put these famous people on pedestals and forget that they are human too. I can say that I did the same thing.

Yes, we get information on her affair with Harrison, but I don't necessarily want to get into that. If you want information on it, feel free to pick up the book.

We also get an understanding of how fame affected her. She often speaks of her own mortality, talking about how people will see her after her death. Many of these things have already started happening. For example, she talked about how she would be forever immortalized by her pictures as Princess Leia with those buns she hated so much. Oh, and she loved fan interactions because it showed why her work was important to others.

I loved reading this book and I am going to pick up some of her other biographies.
  
The Crown Of Draga (Draga Court #2)
The Crown Of Draga (Draga Court #2)
Emma Dean, Jillian Ashe | 2017 | LGBTQ+, Romance, Science Fiction/Fantasy
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
burning hotter!
Independent reviewer for Archaeolibrarian, I was gifted my copy of this book.

This is book two in the Draga Court series, and you really SHOULD read Princess of Draga before reading this one. It will give you a better picture of who is who, and what they are all up to. Not everything is recapped.

I found this a much better read! Maybe because I was able to read it in one sitting, I dunno. But it certainly held my attention far better.

We again get almost everyone, but I really wanted to hear from Raena, Adelina's eldest sister, who places the restrictions on Lina about Nash. I wanted to know what was going through her mind when she did that!

On the blurb bit of this book it says "This is a slow-burn, reverse harem series" Now, it IS a whole lot sexier than the first book, I'll give you that, but the reverse harem bit?? Still not clear how that is gonna pan out! Not that Adelina doesn't have any suitors, cos she does, I just don't know who will end up in her bed next!

Across the galaxy, on the outer rim, the Neprijat have made their first move. The galaxy is at war with these monsters. We meet them too, along with their (almost) human handlers, and are introduced to their *quite literal* mind bending powers.

I can't see where this is going, or how many books it will take to get there, but I KNOW I want to follow the series. I just hope I don't have to wait for a long time!

Creeping up to...

4 stars

**same worded review will appear elsewhere**
  
The One (The Selection, #3)
The One (The Selection, #3)
Kiera Cass | 2014 | Romance, Science Fiction/Fantasy, Young Adult (YA)
8
8.4 (23 Ratings)
Book Rating
<i>This eBook was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

The One</i> is the third book in <i>The Selection</i> series by Kiera Cass. With only four girls remaining, the competition to become Prince Maxon’s bride is nearing its conclusion. Being from a lower caste, America is the least unlikely girl in the whole of the selection to have made it this far. But although sometimes his intentions are confusing, it appears Maxon is in love with her. As the title suggests this will be the book where Maxon makes his important decision, but will America be the one?

Of the three books, <i>The One</i> is the most interesting by far. Although the key storyline is about the selection itself, there is more interaction with other aspects of the story. The southern rebels are getting even more violent as they determine to overthrow the king, however America learns a lot more about the northern rebels, including something extremely surprising, which makes them seem a lot less threatening than they previously were.

With America as the narrator, readers can suspect which girl will be chosen as princess, however there are still some things that could completely change the competition. For example the relationship between America and her former boyfriend, Aspen; also the hatred King Clarkson has for America.

The will they, won’t they questions plague the readers from beginning until its dramatic conclusion. The shocking ending could move readers to tears, proving just how gripping the story actually is.

With its happy, sad ending <i>The One</i> is a brilliant continuation of the young adult dystopian romance. Although the selection has come to an end, there is still so much the reader wants to know, making the next book, <i>The Heir</i>, a top priority to read.
  
One of the biggest casualties to come out of Disney's acquisisiton of LucasArts back in 2012 was the abolition of the old 'Expanded Universe' content: suddenly, all those connected stories, comics and video-games were no longer considered in-canon; no longer relevant.

While understandable in light of their plans to create new movies (of which we have had one so far - 'The Force Awakens' - with another off-shoot to come this year in 'Rogue One') my sense is that there was a bit of a back-lash to this (hence the reason for these 'Legends Epic collections'): I'm even guilty of it myself a bit, in that I would quite have liked to see a movie based on either [a: Timothy Zahn|12479|Timothy Zahn|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1215545810p2/12479.jpg]'s [b: Heir to the Empire|216443|Heir to the Empire (Star Wars The Thrawn Trilogy #1)|Timothy Zahn|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1398253847s/216443.jpg|1133995] trilogy, or even on any of the X-Wing books/comics.

It's those comics that comprise this collection, which consists of the following stories:

X-Wing: Rogue Leader 1-3
X-Wing: Rogue Squadron: The Rebel Opposition (1-4)
X-Wing: Rogue Sqaudron: The Phantom Affair (1-4)
X-Wing: Rogue Sqaudron: Battleground: Tattoine (1-4)
X-Wing: Rogue Squadron: The Warrior Princess (1-4)
X-Wing: Rogue Sqaudron Special
 
as well as some content from 'Star Wars Tales' #12 and #23

As this is a compilation of such, the art style is not consistent throughout (although it is consistent in-story: I found some tales to have better, clearer art than others. I'm also somewhat surprised that the left out those stories connected to Baron Soontir Fel in this collection!
  
<b><i>I received this book for free from Author in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.</i></b>Like many classics, I'm not a huge fan of <i>Oedipus Rex </i>(let's just say it was a little boring here and there and maybe I needed Shmoop to help me understand what was going on).

Anyways, despite the fact I struggled with writing an essay over Oedipus, <i>Prophecy </i>seemed interesting enough simply because of the fact Oedipus isn't the main character. Prophecy tells the story of Antigone, one of Oedipus’ daughters, and a princess of Thebes who is believed to be both blessed and cursed (the former being the most popular with the latter being an internal admission) by the gods at the same time - at least in McBurnie’s version.

There does, however, seem to be a bit of a repetition that irked me after it occurred a few times - everyone keeps telling Antigone she's blessed by the gods and she has a gift, yada yada, and it really just made the story feel much slower than it was actually going. (I mean, I totally get why but still….)

I really enjoyed McBurnie’s take of <i>Oedipus Rex</i> in <i>Prophecy </i>- the author breaks down the original story and simplifies it, yet she takes her own spin of the tale from a different perspective (Antigone). It's a refreshing take and from the way McBurnie ends the story, I'm extremely curious where and what the sequel will lead to.

<a href="https://bookwyrmingthoughts.com/review-prophecy-by-coreena-mcburnie/"; target="_blank">This review was originally posted on Bookwyrming Thoughts</a>
  
The Lady of the Ravens
The Lady of the Ravens
Joanna Hickson | 2020 | Fiction & Poetry, History & Politics
8
7.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
The Lady of the Ravens is based on the real historical character of Joan Vaux. I find historical fiction fascinating, especially those books which have a foot firmly placed in what was the real world.

Joan and her mother are taken in to the care of Margaret Beaufort, Henry VII’s mother, during the end years of the Wars of the Roses. She becomes a good friend to Princess Elizabeth in the time before she marries Henry, and goes on to be a Lady in Waiting and eventually the Lady Governess to the Princesses Margaret and Mary.

I really enjoyed all of the historical detail and what life was really like in Tudor England: the preoccupation with death and the many ways that a woman especially, could die, and the precariousness of children’s lives.

I had never really thought about the Ravens in the Tower of London (you’re never interested about the places that are on your doorstep as you’re growing up, I fear 🤷🏼‍♀️), assumed they’d always been there and that they’d always been seen as important to the realm. But in this novel, we learn that they were actually seen as vermin by the nobility and soldiers stationed there, until Joan and her servant looked after them, convincing others - royalty especially - of their significance to the safety of England and the Royal Family.

I haven’t read Joanna Hickson books before, but I really enjoyed the characters, the insights into the royal family, the uncertainty around the possible sons of York (Perkin Warbeck for one), the descriptions of everyday life - and just the evocative styled her writing.

Many thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins for my copy of this great book to read and review.
  
40x40

Matthew Krueger (10051 KP) rated The Mummy (2017) in Movies

Apr 25, 2020 (Updated Apr 25, 2020)  
The Mummy (2017)
The Mummy (2017)
2017 | Action, Adventure
Epic Fail
People forget that universal started this whole shared universe concept. So the MCU, the DCU, The Conjuring franchise and DC Shared TV shows all copied unverisal. Now universal is trying to copy them, but failed, failed epic.

The plot: Nick Morton is a soldier of fortune who plunders ancient sites for timeless artifacts and sells them to the highest bidder. When Nick and his partner come under attack in the Middle East, the ensuing battle accidentally unearths Ahmanet, a betrayed Egyptian princess who was entombed under the desert for thousands of years. With her powers constantly evolving, Morton must now stop the resurrected monster as she embarks on a furious rampage through the streets of London.

The Dark Universe was a failure, the Dark Universe came and went so fast, it was a blink of a eye and proof it disappeared. Never to be seen or heard from again.

If the dark universe did happpen, their were going to have Javier Bardem as the Frankenstein's Monster, and Johnny Depp as The Invisible Man. And Russell Crowe as Dr. Jekyll, aka the Nick Fury of this franchise.

This movie tryed to setup five different films with one film, while having like six different plot lines, seven differney genres. This movie didnt know what is was. And thats why it failed.


 @Awix, @Erika , @Ross and @LeftSideCut. Said it perfectly in their reviews.

Dont watch this movie, it will put you to sleep and you will forgot about it, when the credits hit. Watch The Mummy trilogy instead or the oringal one, or the hammer studio one.