The Story of Sex: From Apes to Robots
Philippe Brenot, Laetitia Coryn and Will McMorran
Book
*The French Best-seller* 'The book France won't stop talking about...undoubtedly a lovely Christmas...
Debating Darwin
Robert J. Richards and Michael Ruse
Book
Charles Darwin is easily the most famous scientist of the modern age, and his theory of evolution is...
BookInspector (124 KP) rated Deity in Books
Jul 1, 2021
The narrative of this book is extremely addictive. Every perspective brings something different and new to the overall view of the case, that is why I simply could not put down this book. There are plenty of twists and turns and the whole story is shrouded in mystery and ghosts. For me, the story had some similarities to real celebrities and some of the allegations I have read in the past. The whole story sounds so realistic, that I actually wanted to google Zach Crystal in case he was real. š The topics discussed in this book are child abuse, mental illness, wish to control, mystical creatures, fanaticism, religion, the life of rich and famous, family relations, and many more.
I loved the atmosphere of this novel, it is creepy and very intriguing. The writing style is impeccable as always. The chapters are pretty long, but they are so absorbing, that the pages just fly by. The ending of this novel was phenomenal, but I still have unanswered questions about the whole storyā¦ Even though this book is fifth in the series, it can easily be read as a stand-alone. I can not wait for the next book, because this case was a really sensitive one, and I am very excited to see what Scott King will investigate next.
So, to conclude, this book has brilliant characters and a plot that always kept me guessing. I think this book was amazing, and I would recommend it to anyone. I hope you will like it as well. š
The Dream of Enlightenment: The Rise of Modern Philosophy
Book
Western philosophy is now two and a half millennia old, but much of it came in just two staccato...
Philosophy
That Reminds Me
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WINNER OF THE DESMOND ELLIOTT PRIZE 2020 ___________________________________ 'A dreamy,...
Flannery
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The landscape of American literature was fundamentally changed when Flannery O'Connor stepped onto...
Let The Bad Times Rolls by The Offspring
Album
The Offspring is a punk rock band from Garden Grove, California, formed in 1984. The band's current...
Cards Against Humanity
Tabletop Game Watch
"A party game for horrible people." Play begins with a judge, known as the "Card Czar", choosing...
BoardGames PartyGames
Goddess in the Stacks (553 KP) rated The Priory of the Orange Tree in Books
May 3, 2019
So the basic premise of this world is that The Nameless One (some gigantic evil dragon) was locked away a thousand years ago, and all his minions with him. The exact details of how and who did it have been mostly lost to history. Itās said that as long as the House of Berethnet rules Inys, heāll never rise again, and Berethnet queens always have one child, a daughter. The current queen, however, is unwed, and minions of The Nameless One have begun rising, and in fact have conquered a few neighboring nations. We have three main factions of countries; The East, who have dragon riders, but make a distinction between their dragons, who are aquatic and identify with the stars, and the evil minions of The Nameless One, who are full of fire. Then we have Virtudom, which is headed by Inys, and is a coalition of countries who have made a religion of the Knightly Virtues. This is the West, and they make no distinction between the draconic servants of The Nameless One and the water dragons of the East. This has forced a split between the West and the East, because Virtudom wonāt have anything to do with countries that have anything to do with dragons, because most of what they see is the third faction ā the Draconic countries. These are countries conquered by minions of the Nameless One, and they are full of chaos, fire, evil, and plague.
This is the world the book opens on. Most of our main characters ā Queen Sabran, her handmaiden Ead, the dragonrider TanĆ© ā are women, but we also have Doctor Niclays Roos, an alchemist, and Lord Arteloth Beck, a friend of the Queen. In this world, women are just as capable as men, and are treated as such. There are female knights, and same-sex relationships are just as ordinary as opposite-sex ones. There is a bit too much moral emphasis placed on monogamy/sex within the bounds of marriage, but I guess thatās āKnightly Virtueā for you. Skin color is only mentioned a couple of times, but I seem to remember Lord Arteloth being described as very dark-skinned, and Ead as golden-brown. Rather nice to see a fantasy NOT all caught up in racial and gender differences. Not to say there isnāt a fair amount of bigotry, but in this book itās based pretty much solely on nationality and religion. And when the biggest sticking point is ādo you like evil dragons or notā that kind of makes sense!
I think the only thing I didnāt like about this book was its size. Itās unwieldy to read, at over 800 pages! Iām not sure why they didnāt break it into a duology. Regardless, if you have the choice, Iād read it on Kindle. It would be far easier to handle. Iām not complaining about the amount of text, mind you. Just the sheer physical size. I canāt imagine the story being told in less time. Thereās So. Much. Here.
This book goes from Queen Sabranās court to the dragonrider academy in the East, to the draconic kingdom of Yscalin, to the Abyss where the Nameless One sleeps. We see glittering courts, hidden islands, sweltering tunnels through volcanic mountains, and deep valleys with secret magic trees. We battle wyrms and cockatrices, swim through endless seas with dragonriders, sail through storms with pirate crews, and navigate the trickiest of diplomatic matters with courtiers. The Priory of the Orange Tree paints an elaborate, incredibly complex world and I am absolutely here for it.
Okay, so one tiny quibble ā while I liked the romance, I feel like it started kind of oddly. I didnāt see any reason for the initial spark. From there, it progressed perfectly, but I just didnāt get the beginning.
This book has multiple queer couples! Thereās at least one same-sex couple mentioned as attending a party; Doctor Roos spends a lot of time mourning his dead lover, and thereās the lesbian romance between a couple of main characters. And one character has at least strong affection for a man before falling in love with a woman; I think she was in love with both. No trans or ace rep, but plenty of gay, lesbian, and bi!
This is hands-down the best book Iāve read so far this year. It took me three days ā itās a big book ā but it is absolutely fantastic.
You can find all my reviews at http://goddessinthestacks.com
Acanthea Grimscythe (300 KP) rated Little Heaven: A Novel in Books
May 16, 2018
Little Heaven plays host to an interesting cast of characters that range from three extremely different and unlikely heroes, to your typical, run of the mill, religious zealot. Heavily influenced by the Jonestown Massacre in some regards, I found Cutter's book to be a delightful and fresh read, in the most fiendishly way possible.
Our "heroes" are hired by a concerned woman after her nephew is taken into Little Heaven, a religious compound run by Reverend Amos Flesher. The motley crew quickly find themselves caught up in what can only be described as a nightmare; Reverend Flesher's obsession with his religion, coupled with an ancient evil, wrought a terrifying tale that is worth every minute I spent reading it.
I also have to admit that I was awestruck by Nick Cutter's style of writing. If you read my blog often enough, you're likely aware that I am no stranger to the macabre. The more gruesome, terrifying, and gore-filled a story or movie is, the happier I am. In that regard, Cutter exceeded my expectations. He paints such a vivid picture that there are times I actually found myself feeling squeamish - and that is a feat when it comes to the written word. Other times, I found myself on the verge of an anxiety attack, even if it was action driven, rather than by suspense.
The only thing I really didn't care for was the manner in which it went back and forth between two different time periods, especially since the latter period, 1980, could probably have been largely left out of the equation - or at least implemented into a smoother transition. The part of the story taking place in the 80s felt largely pointless to me up until the end, and even then it didn't have as much of a "wow" factor as I had hoped for. Nonetheless, it was still an excellent read.
Little Heaven is, undoubtedly, one of my favorite books so far this year - or rather, next year if you go by the publication date. I can't wait to read more from this author!