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Blood Communion: A Tale of Prince Lestat (The Vampire Chronicles, #13)
7.7
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The Vampire Chronicles continue with a riveting, rich saga--part adventure, part suspense--of Prince...
Vampire horror
SM
So Much Life Left Over
10.0
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A POWERFULLY EVOCATIVE AND EMOTIONALLY CHARGED NOVEL FROM THE ACCLAIMED AUTHOR OF CORELLI'S MANDOLIN...
Historical Fiction First World War Family Saga
Six Ages: Ride Like the Wind
Games
App
Life between myths. Clans, cows, choices. The spiritual successor to King of Dragon Pass, Six...
BoardGames BoardGameApp StoryGames
I Was Anastasia
9.5
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In an enthralling new feat of historical suspense, Ariel Lawhon unravels the extraordinary twists...
Anastasia Romanov Russian Revolution insane historical fiction Anna Anderson
Bob Mann (459 KP) rated Star Trek Into Darkness (2013) in Movies
Sep 28, 2021
This one seems to have received a very mixed reception among Trek fans, but I absolutely loved it when it first came out, giving it 4.5/5 in one of my early One Mann’s Movies reviews.
I find the pre-titles sequence on this one a real blast, both thrilling in content and enormously funny with the primitive stone age race trashing their previous relic in favour of their new Enterprise-shaped deity! And then the dramatic pseudo-blackmailing of Harewood, (an impressive Noel Clarke, when he was being given better roles that he is at the moment), to Michael Giacchino’s awesome “London Calling” music, is a truly memorable bit of movie-making.
The cast have all settled into their roles nicely. Chris Pine’s Kirk is still the arrogant ladies man (e.g. bedding twin aliens and chatting up the starfleet totty…. “Hi Ladies… Jim Kirk”), but learning the hard way that with great power comes at least a modicum of responsibility. He actually needs to act in this movie. And I find Scotty (Simon Pegg) slightly less grating in this outing (though his sidekick Keenser (Deep Roy) is still the annoying Jar Jar Binks of these films).
Benedict Cumberbatch adds great gravitas as the arch villain, and his announcement of his name was one of those “I am your father” movie-moments for me on first viewing.
It’s also the last screen appearance of Leonard Nimoy as Spock Prime – indeed, his last movie appearance period. A nice and fitting way to bow out.
My rating here is a little lower than my previous OMM rating. It’s attempts to shoehorn-in scenes and dialogue from an earlier Trek movie are a misstep by the writers, and grate on repeat viewing. But it’s still a cracking episode in the Trek saga, and another of my personal favourites.
I find the pre-titles sequence on this one a real blast, both thrilling in content and enormously funny with the primitive stone age race trashing their previous relic in favour of their new Enterprise-shaped deity! And then the dramatic pseudo-blackmailing of Harewood, (an impressive Noel Clarke, when he was being given better roles that he is at the moment), to Michael Giacchino’s awesome “London Calling” music, is a truly memorable bit of movie-making.
The cast have all settled into their roles nicely. Chris Pine’s Kirk is still the arrogant ladies man (e.g. bedding twin aliens and chatting up the starfleet totty…. “Hi Ladies… Jim Kirk”), but learning the hard way that with great power comes at least a modicum of responsibility. He actually needs to act in this movie. And I find Scotty (Simon Pegg) slightly less grating in this outing (though his sidekick Keenser (Deep Roy) is still the annoying Jar Jar Binks of these films).
Benedict Cumberbatch adds great gravitas as the arch villain, and his announcement of his name was one of those “I am your father” movie-moments for me on first viewing.
It’s also the last screen appearance of Leonard Nimoy as Spock Prime – indeed, his last movie appearance period. A nice and fitting way to bow out.
My rating here is a little lower than my previous OMM rating. It’s attempts to shoehorn-in scenes and dialogue from an earlier Trek movie are a misstep by the writers, and grate on repeat viewing. But it’s still a cracking episode in the Trek saga, and another of my personal favourites.
Merissa (12330 KP) rated The Mayfair Moon (The Darkwoods Trilogy #1) in Books
Mar 31, 2023 (Updated Apr 10, 2023)
About a week ago I was lamenting the fact that I am so behind on reading the books that I have downloaded onto my Kindle, and that I have so many now (over a thousand) that I can't remember what they are about. I have now come to realise that this is not always a bad thing. For hidden in the middle of August 2012, I have just read a book that is absolutely fantastic.
I will start by saying that it is the Paranormal genre, which as most of you know, is a favourite of mine. It has been compared to the Twilight Saga and admittedly, if you have read the books - not just seen the films - there are similarities and not just for the fact that there are werewolves. But there are also striking differences which make this book stand alone and not just in the shadow of Twilight.
This is a gritty, fast-paced book with well-rounded characters that you can get your teeth into (pardon the pun). There are twists and turns, revelations and mysteries, good guys who are not saccharine sweet and evil guys that you really do dislike. The relationships between the characters are believable and I know I had a best friend like Harry and still do.
There is violence and blood in this book but it does not take over the story and becomes unnecessary. This actually makes a nice change from the loveable, cuddly werewolves that you normally get who are so soft they can't fight out of a wet paper bag.
Recommended for anyone who was Team Jacob, who like Paranormal with a hint of romance and for all who like reading about werewolves.
* Verified Purchase ~ August 2012 *
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
July 27, 2016
I will start by saying that it is the Paranormal genre, which as most of you know, is a favourite of mine. It has been compared to the Twilight Saga and admittedly, if you have read the books - not just seen the films - there are similarities and not just for the fact that there are werewolves. But there are also striking differences which make this book stand alone and not just in the shadow of Twilight.
This is a gritty, fast-paced book with well-rounded characters that you can get your teeth into (pardon the pun). There are twists and turns, revelations and mysteries, good guys who are not saccharine sweet and evil guys that you really do dislike. The relationships between the characters are believable and I know I had a best friend like Harry and still do.
There is violence and blood in this book but it does not take over the story and becomes unnecessary. This actually makes a nice change from the loveable, cuddly werewolves that you normally get who are so soft they can't fight out of a wet paper bag.
Recommended for anyone who was Team Jacob, who like Paranormal with a hint of romance and for all who like reading about werewolves.
* Verified Purchase ~ August 2012 *
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
July 27, 2016
Merissa (12330 KP) rated Brink of Eternity (Guardians of Ascension #2.5) in Books
Apr 14, 2023
I managed to confuse myself a bit with this book because I have recently read Awakening (Rapture's Edge #1) and managed to completely miss the following Reader's Advisory - "Awakening is a paranormal romance novel, a vampire romance with a fantasy edge, of the Rapture’s Edge Series. The series is preceded by two related books: BRINK OF ETERNITY and THE DARKENING. RAPTURE’S EDGE is part of the Guardians of Ascension Saga!"
So starting this book, I immediately travelled back in time to before Rachel and Duncan got together, as Elise and Gideon try to figure out just what it is that's going on with them, dealing with death vampires and going through Elise's ascension.
This book is full of intensity and action, both between the sheets and out of it. Elise is a feisty character who knows what she wants and how to get it. The only difficulty she has is figuring out if someone can be by her side or if she will continue to walk alone. Elise and Gideon have already had a relationship which ended by mutual consent, but they both still feel the attraction. Secrets and personal fears though have a way of getting involved and in the way as they try to figure out what is going on between them.
The characters in this book are all wonderfully written and it was actually really good to read about them in a different context, even if it was from an earlier time than what I had already read. Definitely recommended.
* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book; the comments here are my honest opinion. *
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Jul 14, 2015
So starting this book, I immediately travelled back in time to before Rachel and Duncan got together, as Elise and Gideon try to figure out just what it is that's going on with them, dealing with death vampires and going through Elise's ascension.
This book is full of intensity and action, both between the sheets and out of it. Elise is a feisty character who knows what she wants and how to get it. The only difficulty she has is figuring out if someone can be by her side or if she will continue to walk alone. Elise and Gideon have already had a relationship which ended by mutual consent, but they both still feel the attraction. Secrets and personal fears though have a way of getting involved and in the way as they try to figure out what is going on between them.
The characters in this book are all wonderfully written and it was actually really good to read about them in a different context, even if it was from an earlier time than what I had already read. Definitely recommended.
* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book; the comments here are my honest opinion. *
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Jul 14, 2015
Under the Emerald Sky (The Irish Fortune #1)
Book
Escape to 19th century Ireland in the first book in the Irish Fortune Series, a historical fiction...
Historical Fiction Ireland Irish History Great Famine
The Rabbit's Foot (Hartford Manor #3)
Book
1885 North Devon, England Mr Edward Snell was more than a little curious when Robert Fellwood,...
Historical Fiction Family Saga Romance
Merissa (12330 KP) rated Life Support (Crush #6) in Books
Mar 11, 2021 (Updated Aug 2, 2023)
LIFE SUPPORT is the sixth book in the Crush series, although I didn't know this originally. In it, we meet Casey, a paramedic who is being harassed at work, but he doesn't report it because the other person is higher up on the career ladder than he is, and Luke, who is a Fitness Trainer who specialises in self-defence/awareness.
This is a book I would definitely say is NOT standalone. There are so many characters and situations mentioned that I presume are relevant to previous storylines. Not only that, but with the number of characters, I had no idea about who was with whom, when, and how. This made the reading quite difficult as references were constantly made. Throw in Casey and Luke both coming from big families with siblings galore, and I had no idea what was going on!
In the middle of everything else, you can find the story of Casey and Luke, although not as much as I would have liked. They are quick with the 'I love you's', but I never really felt much connection between them. I also would have liked more from Acker as I felt that part was also lost in the mix.
I feel if you have read this series, then you will be delighted by what you read. I enjoyed it, but it didn't wow me and left me confused. So prepare yourself for a saga with a huge amount of intermingling storylines and characters.
* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and the comments here are my honest opinion. *
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Mar 11, 2021
This is a book I would definitely say is NOT standalone. There are so many characters and situations mentioned that I presume are relevant to previous storylines. Not only that, but with the number of characters, I had no idea about who was with whom, when, and how. This made the reading quite difficult as references were constantly made. Throw in Casey and Luke both coming from big families with siblings galore, and I had no idea what was going on!
In the middle of everything else, you can find the story of Casey and Luke, although not as much as I would have liked. They are quick with the 'I love you's', but I never really felt much connection between them. I also would have liked more from Acker as I felt that part was also lost in the mix.
I feel if you have read this series, then you will be delighted by what you read. I enjoyed it, but it didn't wow me and left me confused. So prepare yourself for a saga with a huge amount of intermingling storylines and characters.
* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and the comments here are my honest opinion. *
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Mar 11, 2021