
Lyndsey Gollogly (2893 KP) rated Legendary: Caraval Book 2 in Books
Jun 17, 2020
Book
Legendary ( Caraval book 2)
By Stephanie Garber
A heart to protect. A debt to repay. A game to win.
After being swept up in the magical world of Caraval, Donatella Dragna has finally escaped her father and saved her sister Scarlett from a disastrous arranged marriage. The girls should be celebrating, but Tella isn’t yet free. She made a desperate bargain with a mysterious criminal, and what Tella owes him no one has ever been able to deliver: Caraval Master Legend’s true name.
The only chance of uncovering Legend’s identity is to win Caraval, so Tella throws herself into the legendary competition once more—and into the path of the murderous heir to the throne, a doomed love story, and a web of secrets…including her sister's. Caraval has always demanded bravery, cunning, and sacrifice. But now the game is asking for more. If Tella can’t fulfill her bargain and deliver Legend’s name, she’ll lose everything she cares about—maybe even her life. But if she wins, Legend and Caraval will be destroyed forever.
Welcome, welcome to Caraval...the games have only just begun.
Another great book from Stephanie Garber! This time game became real and it brought with it so much more than the first one. Think most people would have guessed who legend was half way through the book. We are also playing from Tella’s perspective instead of Scarlets. The fates are so intriguing I love their stories and can’t wait to see them and legend develop! Also how with their mother be after being stuck in a card for so long.

Sarah (7800 KP) rated Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga (2020) in Movies
Jun 28, 2020
This film really knows how to channel the Eurovision spirit. There's a lot of great cheesy songs and costumes, some great over the top performances (Dan Stevens was a hoot) and a decent amount of heart. The songs are very good, from the hilariously cheesy to the impressive ballads. The acting was good although i felt Will Ferrell was a little of a letdown. It was great to see Dan Stevens camping it up though and a nice (but sadly too short) role for Natasia Demetriou from What We Do in the Shadows, and I loved the cameos from existing real life Eurovision acts.
The problem with this film is the humour is lacking when it's not cheesy Eurovision fun. And the jokes that were there fell pretty flat for me. The film is also rather longer than you'd expect and did drag a little in the middle.
I had been expecting a Eurovision spoof comedy, but instead what I got was almost a homage to everything we love about Eurovision. It's not great but definitely an enjoyable bit of fun. I've been debating whether to score this a 6 or 7 and in the end, I've decided to be rather generous as it is a lot of fun.

Bostonian916 (449 KP) rated The Hunt (2020) in Movies
Jun 29, 2020
Perhaps what's the most disturbing in reflection is that in the climate of the world today, I can actually see something similar being played out in real life. Obviously without the twists and turns of Hollywood, but suffice it so say that there are some bonkers things going on in the universe we live in.
Back to the movie...
Incredible acting by everyone involved. I can think of at least three different occasions where I began to really track and follow a character thinking that they were going to be a main protagonist (or antagonist, depending on your point of view) only to then almost immediately watch them get snuffed quicker than a bag of nails at a hammer convention. Pretty interesting way to approach it. But honestly, it worked well for this particular movie.
The choreography of the final sequence was remarkable. Humor was appropriately injected and the scene made you actually believe that it could happen under similar circumstances, to a degree, of course.
All in all, I'm thankful that everyone involved finally had the fortitude to release this movie. Regardless of what side of the political fence you fall on, there are lessons to be learned, even though it might be uncomfortable to do so. And to be frank, at the end of the day, just a bit of compassion and understanding would have prevented the events of this film from unfolding. But that wouldn't have made for much of a movie.

Cate Le Bon recommended Hunky Dory by David Bowie in Music (curated)

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Lyndsey Gollogly (2893 KP) rated The Source of Magic (Academy of Falling Kingdoms #1) in Books
Mar 1, 2021
Kindle
The Source of Magic ( Academy of Falling Kingdoms book1)
By Drake Mason and Marisa Mills
Once read a review will be written via Smashbomb and link posted in comments
I can speak to demons. The punishment is death.
The mission: put on a dress, pretend to be a lady, and infiltrate the academy of mages to steal a journal from the forbidden archives.
The problem: I’m no mage and I’ve never worn a dress in my life.
But it’s not like I have a choice. My bastard of an uncle basically sold me to a dangerously pretty nobleman, and they can’t pull off this heist without me. Unfortunately, once I fake my way through the entrance exam with a piece of hacked mage tech, and reach the floating kingdom of Reverie, my problems are only just beginning.
Keeping my secret identity is hard enough without a suspicious prince following me around, and the jealous rich girl who wants to marry him threatening me at every turn. But I know I’m in real trouble when my magic sword starts to talk to me. If I can survive the demon attacks, the backstabbing nobles, and the piles of homework long enough, I may discover the source of magic… and if the truth gets out, it will shatter everything.
This showed so much potential but for me book 1 didn’t deliver in some areas! I got a little bored but ploughed on as I don’t like giving up! It was a 2.5 until the end which gave me a bit of a boost to try book 2!