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Farm Rescue
Farm Rescue
2019 | Memory
The Kids Table series from Purple Phoenix Games seeks to lightly explore games that are focused toward children and families. We will do our best to give some good insight, but not bog your down with the millions of rules…

Farm Rescue is a cute little memory game with pretty excellent components, especially for a kids game. Though the box says 4+ my 3 year old picked it up pretty quickly and is surprisingly good at it.

The game comes in a box with a really great insert where the components can really only go in one spot. This is so wonderful for parents of younger kids who enjoy setting up and tearing down games. So thank you for that consideration, Brain Games! Anyway, the idea behind the game is to setup a 5 x 5 grid of face-up farm animal squares inside the provided picket fence border tiles. Each player will roll the two dice (one is color and one is an animal) and flip over the corresponding tile – like green chicken or purple cow. If a purple cow is rolled again in the future you must remember which tile featured the purple cow and flip it back over. If correct, then the farmer mini is moved closer to catching the wolf mini. If incorrect, the wolf mini is moved closer to the fence entrance. The game ends when either all tiles are flipped to their backs, the farmer catches the wolf, or the wolf gets into the fence to gobble up the remaining animals.

This game is surprisingly good! When my son picked it out at our FLGS (as recommended by the attendant) I didn’t know what to expect. I honestly, and foolishly, don’t keep kids games on my radar. When we brought it home, and after his nap, we were able to get a play in right away with Gramps as our third player. Ultimately we allowed the wolf to gobble up the animals, but we had a great time rolling the dice and flipping the animals (no Midwest cow tipping jokes please). My son also showed us that young children have far better memory skills than middle-aged dads and slightly older (you’re welcome) grandfathers.

My son LOVES his new game and I am so sure we are going to be playing it often. He even invited the farmer and wolf minis to the dinner table with him. He also took the following action shots of the game (which he never really offers to do, so this is big for him). Farm Rescue is a hit with our family, and if you are looking for a memory game with some meat on the bones (I had to), then check it out for your family.

PS – I often make mention of games that rely on color recognition that also play well with colorblindness. Though nobody in my family is colorblind, each of the colors in Farm Rescue also has an associated graphic – red circles, blue stars, purple plus signs. This is very much appreciated, and another high-five to Brain Games for having more inclusive components. Good on you!
  
The Lost Causes of Bleak Creek
The Lost Causes of Bleak Creek
Rhett McLaughlin, Link Neal | 2019 | Mystery, Thriller
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Likable characters (1 more)
Great storyline
The overuse of 'said' (0 more)
If your best friend was sent away to a reform school, what would you do? You'd either let them do their 'time,' or you would come up with a plan to help them escape, and with a pinch of the supernatural, this is what 'The Lost Causes of Bleak Creek' is all about.

When you read this novel by two of the most well-known YouTube personalities (Rhett and Link of Good Mythical Morning), be sure you have plenty of time to spare because this is a book you won't want to put down. The novel follows three best friends of a small town in North Carolina in the early 1990's, when one of them gets sent to a infamous reform school for an accident, they start to uncover mysterious deaths that have taken place there, and begin to fear that their friend is going to be a victim of one.

In 'The Lost Causes of Bleak Creek,' the main characters, Rex, Leif and Alicia, make their debut at a pig roasting to raise funds for a church, whose copper organ pipes had been stolen days before. It's here we learn that the three are making a film called PolterDog, which leads to Alicia getting sent away after a near-deadly accident with the owner and headmaster of the local Whitewood Reform School.

Soon after, Rex and Leif run into an escapee from the school (Ben), who tells them that their friend's life is in danger while she's at Whitewood. While the three come up with a plan to rescue Alicia, a woman who's visiting the town of Bleak Creek, who is trying to film a documentary about kidney stones, becomes a valuable part of their rescue mission.

Not only do we get to see from Rex and Leif's point of view, but we also get to see from inside the Whitewood Reform School from Alicia's view. This view point is much needed to help readers experience the abuse that goes on inside the school (and to realize that Ben was telling the truth) and also to help readers root for the main characters' success in their rescue mission. Even though the majority of the story is the main characters getting everything together for this mission, the writing was done so well that all of it makes sense leading up to the end.

To not give too much away about this book, I have to cut my review short of it. The writing is really good, with the pace continuously keeping the reader going and wanting more.This story also encompasses everything that makes a great novel: best friends trying to save another, small town mysteries, well-placed humor and murder. I found all of the characters likable, and the situations they found themselves in made complete sense in the story. This will be one that readers can pick up more than once and enjoy it each time they read it. As a horror book, this story is high on my scale with scenarios happening that I couldn't see coming.
  
Make Me Hunger (Isle of the Forgotten #2)
Make Me Hunger (Isle of the Forgotten #2)
Tiffany Roberts | 2016 | Fiction & Poetry
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Make Me Hunger (Isle of the Forgotten #2) by Tiffany Roberts
Make Me Hunger is the second book in the Isle of the Forgotten series, and we start with the High Mage giving one of his Justicars a job to do on the quiet. He feels that some of the prisoners have been sent there without proper trial, and wants Amnestria to find out for sure. Along in the group though, as their commander, is the one person who Amnestria has a one night history with! The one person who wants that one night again, even though she isn't interested. The others in the team pick up on this, and try to help her any which way they can. During a fight with some of those who have lost their humanity on the island, Amnestria is separated from the rest of them, and Baltherus comes to her rescue - if you can call cuffing and kidnapping her rescue! Although they both have histories and secrets, they seem to be working things out. It isn't just them on the Island though, and real life has a way of intruding...

After meeting Baltherus in the first book, I was hopeful of him turning out to be an alright guy, but I wasn't sure. Amnestria was a strong and sassy female, whilst also having her vulnerabilities. Together, these two are strong and will fight for each other AND what is right. Their story is very well written, with plenty of feels (figuratively and literally!). The pace is smooth and yet it is full of action in all the right places. There were no editing or grammatical errors to disrupt the reading flow, and this book pretty much read itself as I got lost within the pages. It will be interesting to find out what comes next in The Order, and I would personally love to hear more about our happy couples and how life is treating them. Definitely recommended by me.

* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and my comments here are my honest opinion. *

Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
  
We All Fall Down
We All Fall Down
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
...**THIS IS A GOVERNMENT ALERT**IF YOU EXHIBIT SYMPTOMS, STAY IN YOUR HOMES**PLEASE REMAIN CALM AND DO NOT ATTEMPT THE RESCUE OF OTHERS**THIS IS A GOVERNMENT ALERT**IF YOU EXHIBIT SYMPTOMS, STAY IN YOUR HOMES**PLEASE REMAIN CALM AND DO NOT ATTEMPT THE RESCUE OF OTHERS**THIS IS A GOVERNMENT ALERT**...
IT STARTS WITH ONE PATIENT
A woman is dying in an Italian hospital, coughing up blood, convulsing and barely conscious.
BEFORE IT SPREADS TO THE TOWN
Dr Alana Vaughn, an expert from NATO, confirms everyone’s worst fears: the woman has the highly infectious disease that swept through Europe eight hundred years ago. The Black Death.
AND TAKES THE CITY
The sickness is spreading so quickly that soon the outbreak becomes a global pandemic. Markets crash and governments fall as quickly as the citizens they govern.
THEN THE COUNTRY
As panic takes hold and the death toll climbs, the consequences become horrifically clear – Alana must discover a way to stop the disease or it will be the end of us all.
THEN THE WORLD - AND WE ALL FALL DOWN.

The book is fast paced and had me on the edge of my seat wondering if Alana, Nico, Byron and company were going to be able to get to the bottom of who unleashed the plague and when or if they could get it under control.
The book was well written with believable and interesting characters.
I really liked the medical aspect of the book and how the scientists and doctors react to a dormant disease suddenly becoming active all over again and with them struggling to cope with the lack of vaccines available and also the consideration of the disease used as a bio-weapon was really interesting.
This is scary to think, could biological terrorism really happen, how fast can viruses spread and how safe are we?
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and look forward to reading more from this author.
Highly Recommend reading!

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for this e-book ARC to read and review. I enjoyed this so much that I intend to seek out the other books written by this author.
  
The Maze Runner: The Death Cure (2018)
The Maze Runner: The Death Cure (2018)
2018 | Action, Sci-Fi
6
7.7 (33 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Originally slated to appear in Feb. 2017, but delayed due to the onset
injury of Dylan O”Brien; the final part of the “Maze Runner” trilogy has
arrived with the release of “Maze Runner: The Death Cure”. The film picks
up shortly after the events of the previous film where the heroes are
trying to rescue their friend MinHo from the forces of WCKD who are
looking to find a cure for a devastating virus in his blood. Since Minho
and his fellow “Gladers” are immune, the hope is that they hold the key to
the future of humanity, so WCKD is willing to do whatever it takes to find
the cure even if it means torture and killing individuals and other
captives I n their lab.

Against the wishes of his newly found comrades, Thomas, Newt, and their
friends set off to the last city to rescue their friend even though they
know they will face legions of troops and fortified defenses as well as
swarms of infected individuals along the way.

At the same time, Teresa is busy working with WCKD on a cure and seems to
have had little lasting effecting from betraying Thomas and his friends.
Ava and Rat Man seem to be in a perpetual state of conflict over their
next course of action and with time to find a cure growing shorter and
shorter, desperation begins to grow.

The arrival of Thomas only worsens the situation as the characters find
themselves in a very complicated situation fighting not only for their own
survival but for that of their friends and society as a whole.

The film is over two hours long and at times drags, but does have some
good action sequences and does up the action compared to prior films in
the series.

While it remains to be seen if either of the two prequel books that
followed the trilogy will be adapted, the final film in the trilogy does
offer a satisfying and at times exciting conclusion to the series, as long
as you are willing to be patient with the long run time and slower
portions of the story.

http://sknr.net/2018/01/24/maze-runner-death-cure/
  
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LeftSideCut (3778 KP) rated Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness in TV

Mar 31, 2020 (Updated Mar 31, 2020)  
Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness
Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness
2020 | Crime, Documentary
Tiger King is a true story. That in itself is an absurd thought. The story of Joe Exotic and his self built zoo, housing no less than 227 live tigers is something I never knew I wanted to hear until it was too late.
This well put together documentary took approximately 15 minutes to draw me in, and before I knew it, I had watched the whole thing.

The story in question revolves around Joe's constant rivalry and back-and-forth lawsuits with Carole Baskin, and her Big Cat Rescue sanctuary. It doesn't take long for everything to escalate to dangerous silliness, and the show documents Joe's eventual incarceration, where he is still residing currently.

This deep look into this cult like practice is fascinating to say the least. Some, including me, will argue that wild animals bred in captivity purely for profit is cruel, but it's genuinely difficult to see Joe Exotic as a bad person. His heart seems in the right place, and its sad to see him get so caught up in the money side of things, to the point where his intentions start to stray.
On the flip side, Carole Baskin on the surface doesn't agree with these kind of zoos and aims to rescue these animals, but in reality, she is still turning profit and her sanctuary is arguably just as bad.
These characters that we meet throughout all have layers and secrets, and ensures that the narrative being told through archive footage and interviews never stops throwing curve balls, as what starts as an animal park feud, devolves into embezzlement, attempted murder, suicide, missing persons, million-dollar legal battles... It's honestly hectic.
I'm incredibly interested to see what happens as a result of this series, and I personally don't think Joe will be incarcerated for too much longer.

The limited series could have benefited from losing an episode I feel, as it did drag a little towards the end, but overall, Tiger King is a fantastic documentary that's edited and put together to draw you in, and not let go.
  
San Andreas (2015)
San Andreas (2015)
2015 | Action
The new Warner Brothers movie San Andreas stars Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson as Chief Ray Gaines, Carla Gugino as Emma Gaines, Alexandra Daddario as their daughter Blake Gaines, Paul Giamatti as scientist Lawrence, Ioan Gruffudd as Daniel (Emma’s new love interest, as she & Chief Gaines are about to finalize their divorce), and Archie Panjabi as Serena, a reporter.

The movie opens with a gut-wrenching helicopter rescue lead by Chief Gaines where he rescues a girl from a car that has careened off the edge of a cliff and is hanging precariously over a river. He manages to sweep her out of the car just barely before the car crashes the rest of the way down the cliff which would have surely killed her.

In my opinion, the movie never stops delivering gut wrenching, edge of your set moments. I was holding my breath and on edge thru the entirety of the film.

This is definitely a movie that you absolutely do NOT want to wait and see at home, it NEEDS ‘the big screen’. I think it probably is also better in 3D as well, I think the 3D adds to the special effects and helps pull you into the movie.

I was able to connect to the characters and while some of the situations were really really far fetched (Gaines rescuing Emma off the top of a collapsing building in a rescue helicopter as it literally crumbled away beneath her), the dedication that his character showed in trying to get her to safety, really made the story work for me.

There were moments of cute comedy in the film, mostly in the interactions between Blake Gaines and the brothers Ben and Ollie (Hugo Johnstone-Burt and Art Parkinson) that helped break up some of the tension imposed by the continuous onslaught of the disasters caused by the biggest earthquakes ever recorded.

If you like action / disaster movies, and a decent story, you will like this film.

Rated PG-13, I wouldn’t bring young children, but I would bring older kids, aged 13 and up, as the rating suggests.

I would give this movie 4 out of 5 stars for a good story and edge of your seat action throughout.
  
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Clare Parrott (294 KP) rated After the Storm (KGI, #8) in Books

Nov 9, 2017 (Updated Nov 9, 2017)  
After the Storm (KGI, #8)
After the Storm (KGI, #8)
Maya Banks | 2017 | Romance, Thriller
10
9.2 (5 Ratings)
Book Rating
Ok so I get why some people didn't like the latest adventure in the KGI series. Yes it wasn't set in so far flung place, God knows where. Killing bad guys to rescue the damsel in distress but you got to see Donovan how he really is, his passion for rescuing women and children from the clutches of evil and his longing to settle down with his own girl and play happy families just like his brothers.

Donovan for all his muscles and hardness is a pussycat really.


"Donovan wouldn't hurt a hair on your head, nor would he hurt you emotionally. He's just not wired that way"


I loved "After The Storm" it's just as good as the others in the series but just different :-)


Page 210, O.M.G that was fabulous and Rusty's story is going to be great, I can't wait for that.


For those who DNF shame on you, you missed the best bits. Oh well, your loss. <br/>


Roll on the next in the series Maya can't write fast enough for me x
  
The Librarians  - Season 1
The Librarians - Season 1
2014 | Adventure, Drama, Fantasy
Cast chemistry, fantastic adventures, narrative (0 more)
Some effects are off as it is a first season cable show (0 more)
A gem of a find
After watching The Librarians, I have a love for the magical fantasy show. Revolving around the secret actions of the Librarian to collect and protect magic artifacts from the common population. Most people don't know that magic even exists.

When the Library becomes threatened, the current Librarian and his new guardian must rescue some past candidates as well as save the Library itself.


The show is a blast, the team heads out to so many awesome places and whole yes, some of the effects are bit stretched, they do an admirable job for a first season cable show.


There's many a cameo to be had in the show as, including past cast mates from Leverage, the show main star Christian Kane was on. Look for cult icon Bruce Campbell in a great role.


I have binged all three seasons on Hulu and am trying to blaze thru the current season 4 now. Go watch folks!