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Goddess in the Stacks (553 KP) rated To All the Boys I've Loved Before in Books
Dec 20, 2018
I picked this up mostly because the trailer for the Netflix adaptation looked AMAZING. It's the first book in a trilogy, and I really want to read the other two now! Lara Jean is the middle daughter in a house of three daughters, being raised by their widower father. The relationships between the four of them play a large part in the book, as they are all adjusting to the eldest daughter being away at college. Everyone's roles are changing, and in the middle of that, Lara Jean's private love letters get mailed to the boys she wrote them to, throwing her love life into chaos as well.
I loved almost every character in this book - even Lara's troublemaking best friend has a good heart. I definitely need to watch the Netflix show now, because I really want to see how Chris - aforementioned best friend - is represented!
The family scenes around Christmas really tugged at my heart - Christmas has always been my favorite holiday, and the author absolutely NAILED the nostalgic, slightly dreamy, loving holiday atmosphere.
To All The Boys I've Loved Before was a cute, sweet read, and really my only negative thing to say about it is the ending left me hanging! Which is part of why I really need to read the other two books, so I suppose it was a good strategy. But man I hate cliffhangers!
You can find all my reviews at http://goddessinthestacks.com
I loved almost every character in this book - even Lara's troublemaking best friend has a good heart. I definitely need to watch the Netflix show now, because I really want to see how Chris - aforementioned best friend - is represented!
The family scenes around Christmas really tugged at my heart - Christmas has always been my favorite holiday, and the author absolutely NAILED the nostalgic, slightly dreamy, loving holiday atmosphere.
To All The Boys I've Loved Before was a cute, sweet read, and really my only negative thing to say about it is the ending left me hanging! Which is part of why I really need to read the other two books, so I suppose it was a good strategy. But man I hate cliffhangers!
You can find all my reviews at http://goddessinthestacks.com
Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2340 KP) rated Not a Creature was Stirring in Books
Jan 24, 2019
Who was Enough of a Scrooge to Leave the Dead Body in Merry's Motorhome?
Merry is hoping to turn her Christmas crafting business into a full-time job, and as part of that plan, she's purchased a motorhome from her ex-step-daughter. The hope is she can use it as a mobile crafting studio and a place to show her stuff at some of the more popular craft shows. She's trying it out at the Christmas Holiday Bazaar, one of her favorite events of the year. However, when she's unloading her products, she finds the dead body of her ex-husband in one of the storage compartments. How did his dead body get into the RV?
With as much as I love Christmas, this book was a lot of fun. We got lots of talk about everything Christmas, even comparing characters to famous fictional Christmas characters. I did feel the book needed another polish to flesh a few things out, and I found Merry's concern for her ex-husband's family a little hard to believe considering how short her marriage had been. On the other hand, I loved the majority of the characters, and Merry's relationships with her own kids was fabulous. The plot was good with many twists and turns. I figured out a couple of things early, but I was left guessing about the rest of it until the end.
With as much as I love Christmas, this book was a lot of fun. We got lots of talk about everything Christmas, even comparing characters to famous fictional Christmas characters. I did feel the book needed another polish to flesh a few things out, and I found Merry's concern for her ex-husband's family a little hard to believe considering how short her marriage had been. On the other hand, I loved the majority of the characters, and Merry's relationships with her own kids was fabulous. The plot was good with many twists and turns. I figured out a couple of things early, but I was left guessing about the rest of it until the end.
Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2340 KP) rated The Last Dragon in Books
Nov 18, 2019
Fort’s Continued Hunt for His Father
It’s been six months since the attack that took Fort’s father from him, but the recent hope that his father might be alive has given Fort a goal. Rescuing him is all Fort thinks about, and now he has a plan to steal the magic book he needs. But complications come from unexpected places, including a new roommate he is expected to spend all his time helping. Then there are the nightmares where the Old One promises Fort his father back in exchange for the last dragon. Can Fort find the last dragon? Should he make the trade? Or will his original plan work?
For me, it had been six months since I read the first book in this series, so it was nice to see how this book eased us back into Fort’s world without slowing down the action. I was soon caught back up in his story. I do find the tone a little darker than author James Riley’s previous books and I miss the lighter tones those books had. Still, that’s a minor complaint as I raced through this book to find out what happened next. I enjoyed seeing Fort grow and his relationship with his friends change. In fact, I found those relationships something that helped ground the book since they dealt with some stuff realistically. I will definitely be back for more. How can I not come back after the ending of this book?
For me, it had been six months since I read the first book in this series, so it was nice to see how this book eased us back into Fort’s world without slowing down the action. I was soon caught back up in his story. I do find the tone a little darker than author James Riley’s previous books and I miss the lighter tones those books had. Still, that’s a minor complaint as I raced through this book to find out what happened next. I enjoyed seeing Fort grow and his relationship with his friends change. In fact, I found those relationships something that helped ground the book since they dealt with some stuff realistically. I will definitely be back for more. How can I not come back after the ending of this book?
Cassy Klindt (5 KP) rated Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker (2019) in Movies
Dec 20, 2019
This ending of the trilogy closed many of the plot lines and the characters story lines played out well. (3 more)
Visually beautiful. The scenery was absolutely wonderful
The pace of the movie was very consistent. There wasn't a great place to get up and get refills or go to the bathroom because it was very consistent.
The score was wonderful, consistently for the scenes.
The ending felt a bit forced. They were trying to make all fans happy but in attempting to do so messed with relationships a bit more than necessary. The movie wasthis (1 more)
Some of the characters' story lines at the end felt out of character. They just didn't seem to connect.
This movie was much better than the last. Abrams did a good job bringing the story back to its original direction for the most part. I love how some of the characters followed previous ones in their story lines, but not enough to negate the character. The scenery was absolutely wonderful! The places they visited were very well done. Visually beautiful. The ending felt a bit forced as they were trying to close all story lines and make everyone happy and some of the things that happened didn't really feel like they fit the original story, but making everyone happy is impossible. Overall I think it was a good closing the the story line and the characters stories. I enjoyed seeing this movie and would definitely go see it again!
Ronnie (304 KP) rated We Are Young in Books
Jan 26, 2020
Recently I have been struggling to find a good book but 'We Are Young' hooked me in immediately! I loved that the book started in such a dramatic way, leaving the reader with a need to find out what happened.
I loved seeing the changes in all the relationships throughout the book, but the two loved in particular were Evan’s with her Dad and her relationship with Lewis.
Evan needed to know what happened that night because no one in the car had any reason to be there with those people and with Lewis being the sole survivor, Evan had to find out what happened on her own. I loved Evan’s hard work to find out what had happened, and it made me love her.
Clarke has an amazing way of changing the way feel about certain characters change throughout the book and that is something I love because it helps you see that some people are just misunderstood… or evil.
I have to say that my favourite element of the book was the casual use of LGBT+. Many authors would make a big deal out of it, but Clarke was not like that. I have been trying to find a book with casual mentions of LGBT+ and I managed to stumble upon it here!
Overall, it was an amazing book and I look forward to reading more by Cat Clarke in the future!
I loved seeing the changes in all the relationships throughout the book, but the two loved in particular were Evan’s with her Dad and her relationship with Lewis.
Evan needed to know what happened that night because no one in the car had any reason to be there with those people and with Lewis being the sole survivor, Evan had to find out what happened on her own. I loved Evan’s hard work to find out what had happened, and it made me love her.
Clarke has an amazing way of changing the way feel about certain characters change throughout the book and that is something I love because it helps you see that some people are just misunderstood… or evil.
I have to say that my favourite element of the book was the casual use of LGBT+. Many authors would make a big deal out of it, but Clarke was not like that. I have been trying to find a book with casual mentions of LGBT+ and I managed to stumble upon it here!
Overall, it was an amazing book and I look forward to reading more by Cat Clarke in the future!
Ronnie (304 KP) rated Hollow City: The Second Novel of Miss Peregrine's Children in Books
Mar 2, 2020
setting (1 more)
characters
so visibly you feel as though you are there
After their loop is raided and Miss Peregrine is captured, the children flee to London, chasing after their only hope of getting her back. Throughout the journey, relationships are tested, enemies are defeated, and new friends are made. Dangerous hide around every corner and Jacob must make a life altering decision about his love for Emma.
Throughout the book Riggs once again manages to weave a story so intriguing you can’t put it down and describes scenes so visibly you feel as though you are there. I loved this book, more than the first. Having different settings made the book very interesting and enjoyable for me and I loved how, no matter how dark the story was, there is still comedy woven through the book. I also loved that new characters were added into this book, adding another dimension. It was also amazing to watch Jacob grow more comfortable and confident with his peculiarity. The only negative thing I have to say about the book is that I don’t like Emma and Jacob’s relationship. I often forget about it and the whole thing seems uncomfortable and unnecessary, only being used when it’s convenient. Another reason the relationship didn’t sit well with me because Emma used to be with Jacob’s grandad, so the whole relationship feels a bit wrong to me. Despite this, I still loved the book and can’t wait to start reading ‘Library Of Souls’.
Throughout the book Riggs once again manages to weave a story so intriguing you can’t put it down and describes scenes so visibly you feel as though you are there. I loved this book, more than the first. Having different settings made the book very interesting and enjoyable for me and I loved how, no matter how dark the story was, there is still comedy woven through the book. I also loved that new characters were added into this book, adding another dimension. It was also amazing to watch Jacob grow more comfortable and confident with his peculiarity. The only negative thing I have to say about the book is that I don’t like Emma and Jacob’s relationship. I often forget about it and the whole thing seems uncomfortable and unnecessary, only being used when it’s convenient. Another reason the relationship didn’t sit well with me because Emma used to be with Jacob’s grandad, so the whole relationship feels a bit wrong to me. Despite this, I still loved the book and can’t wait to start reading ‘Library Of Souls’.
Lee KM Pallatina (951 KP) rated the Xbox 360 version of Red Dead Redemption in Video Games
Feb 24, 2020
Grand theft old west
With the release of Red dead redemption 2 and plenty of praising the game received I decided to give this a go.
Although the game's story suffered the old "do this or your family gets it" story it was dealt with nicely.
Playing as a character who's trying to leave his criminal past behind (again, another rinse & recycle) the plot does include some nice closure to the protagonists past & some interesting characters to sell plenty of side quests through the 'stranger' options.
A vast open world experience with some fantastic detail was a nice input, but I felt that although it's set in the old west, definitely should have had more areas to visit/explore, as it lacked this, it did at times feel empty (through personal experience).
The short relationships between the characters felt unnecessary which if hadn't have happened would have made up for this rather empty sand box.
Definitely not a bad experience overall, but was happy with the main plots ending not having the "villain" explain in mind numbing detail why as it was fairly obvious but was also quite a weak ending at that, would've been better to have a shoot out before being caught off guard.
Still, I recommend this to anyone with a GTA addiction (that's why I'm recommending it to my brother).
Although the game's story suffered the old "do this or your family gets it" story it was dealt with nicely.
Playing as a character who's trying to leave his criminal past behind (again, another rinse & recycle) the plot does include some nice closure to the protagonists past & some interesting characters to sell plenty of side quests through the 'stranger' options.
A vast open world experience with some fantastic detail was a nice input, but I felt that although it's set in the old west, definitely should have had more areas to visit/explore, as it lacked this, it did at times feel empty (through personal experience).
The short relationships between the characters felt unnecessary which if hadn't have happened would have made up for this rather empty sand box.
Definitely not a bad experience overall, but was happy with the main plots ending not having the "villain" explain in mind numbing detail why as it was fairly obvious but was also quite a weak ending at that, would've been better to have a shoot out before being caught off guard.
Still, I recommend this to anyone with a GTA addiction (that's why I'm recommending it to my brother).
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