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ClareR (6054 KP) rated The Lady of the Ravens in Books

Jan 7, 2020

The Lady of the Ravens

Joanna Hickson | 2020 | Fiction & Poetry, History & Politics

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.

Kudos

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

Apr 25, 2020 (Updated Apr 25, 2020)

The Mummy (2017)

2017 | Action, Adventure

5.1

(122 Ratings)

Movie Rating

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.