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    Dark Water

    Dark Water

    Koji Suzuki

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    A selection of deliciously spooky short stories from the Japanese master of suspense, the acclaimed...

Love on the Edge (Mindful Writers Retreat Series #3)
Love on the Edge (Mindful Writers Retreat Series #3)
Kathleen Shoop | 2021 | Fiction & Poetry, Romance
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
You may be looking for a book that has some stories of love. This book has a few different tiers of redemption of love. It got stories about the loss of love and a few others; there are even poems about love.

The stories are all sweet and enjoyable. Some occur around the Pittsburgh area. I know the names of the rivers around my neighborhood, and they signify mentioned in this book. They are featured in some of the stories as well.

Here seems like an excellent book to have around for Valentine's day. You can read this book anytime; You can pick and choose a story here or there. There is no reason to read the whole book at one time. They are all sweet.

There are various authors, and they all write differently. Primarily the stories are focused on love or a form of love. This one is not as a promise to me as the second book in the series. But it is decent and enjoyable to read.

The short stories focused on the writer's love stories or their meaning of love to them. I enjoyed each story, though. There was not one the stuck out from the rest. This book is rated four and a half stars (Moons) for me. This book can be for anyone who might have lost a loved one or loves to read some romance.
  
Abducted in Plain Sight (2017)
Abducted in Plain Sight (2017)
2017 | Biography, Crime, Documentary
Now this one has to be seen to be believed! It is a short documentary film of about 90 minutes, not a series, but it plays like a longer episode of a series – except by the end there is no more to tell. In and out, thankfully! It is the story of Jan Broberg, a relatively successful Hollywood supporting actress, who wrote a book about her abduction by a close family friend when she was a child in the 70s. As the story unfolds, especially if you are a parent yourself, you will be screaming at the screen in total disbelief and indignation every ten minutes, and twice as loud at the end!

I can’t go into the details without ruining it, but suffice to say that the series of events is one of the strangest stories, fact or fiction, that I have ever heard! The audacity and total manipulation of the offender, in conjunction with the insane naivety of Jan and her parents is mind-blowing! How he got away with it in any way for longer than a day is unfathomable enough, but this was abuse that went on unpunished for years. Is it the bible belt attitude to blame? I am… still… scratching my head on this one! How did these events and crimes ever happen? Just, wow! Do yourself a favour if you want to be shocked and have a good rant at the TV, watch this and see for yourself.
  
Hank Brodt Holocaust Memoirs: A Candle and a Promise
Hank Brodt Holocaust Memoirs: A Candle and a Promise
Deborah Donnelly | 2017 | History & Politics
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
For me, it is always incredibly sad to read holocaust memoirs or any memoirs related to concentration camps. The amount of suffering it has brought to the innocent people, it is hard to comprehend.

The description of this book is pretty accurate. This book is a story of a poor polish- Jewish boy called Hank, and how he survived the Holocaust. The story starts with Hank’s childhood to post survival activities. After being taken to the concentration camp, Hank did not stay for long in one place, he was transported many times to different camps, and he shared the events he had to endure and people he met.

The book is accompanied by plenty of photos of different events, different concentration camps which Hank was transported to, and also pictures of Hank’s family. I loved the short chapters, and I finished this memoir in one sitting. For me it was gripping and I really wanted to find out what happened next after each chapter. So, to conclude, I am very happy that Hank had a chance to survive and shared his experiences with all the readers. It was a horrible period in human history, and I believe that it should not be left forgotten. So, if you into WWII books, give this book a go, it is a chilling read, filled with pain and sorrow, but it shows, that even in the worst of times, some people can still keep their kindness.
  
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Otway93 (567 KP) rated the PlayStation 4 version of Assassin's Creed: The Ezio Collection in Video Games

Dec 8, 2020  
Assassin's Creed: The Ezio Collection
Assassin's Creed: The Ezio Collection
Action/Adventure
Story (5 more)
Extras
Characters
Character development
Voice acting
Graphics
What a journey...
What can I say about this game? Apart from the fact that the trilogy is a masterpiece of modern gaming.

I must admit that after the first game, which was enjoyable but somewhat repetitive, that I bought way back shortly after release way back I didn't play an Assassin's Creed game until late last year, where I began the whole game franchise from the start.

After getting through the original as quickly as possible, I bought The Ezio Collection cheap, not expecting anything too groundbreaking. Boy was I wrong!

Ezio's story is incredible. With everything from hilarity to heartbreak, every emotion is in there, with voice performances making it feel all the more real.

Also included in the collection are two short films, a prologue and an epilogue, which are absolutely superb (and certainly provide closure)!

With so many improvements added since the original it was a whole new game, which paved the way for so many brilliant games.

I have now played every AC game currently available on the PlayStation 4 (including Valhalla, loved every one), but the only one in the series to match the quality of this game so far in my opinion is Odyssey. I believe this says a lot about the trilogy, as there have now been 11 games in the series since the last of the trilogy, which is a rather impressive feat!

Keep up the good work, Ubisoft!
  
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Merissa (11943 KP) rated Two Souls United (Etherya's Earth #5.5) in Books

Apr 4, 2022 (Updated Jun 26, 2023)  
Two Souls United (Etherya's Earth #5.5)
Two Souls United (Etherya's Earth #5.5)
Rebecca Hefner | 2021 | Romance, Science Fiction/Fantasy
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
TWO SOULS UNITED is a short and sweet novella that fills the gap between books 5 and 6 and tells of the courtship between Glarys and Sam.

Glarys has been looking after the Royals for years but time has moved on, and they now have their own lives and families away from the Mansion. Glarys liked Sam when she first spoke to him at Latimus and Lila's bonding ceremony but she thought he was only speaking to her to be nice. Sam wanted to be more than nice but when he suggested they meet up, Glarys suggested he bring Jack. Sam took this to mean she wasn't interested and years passed.

Even during this novella, you not only catch up on the others but also see two deamon attacks by Bakari, which keeps the whole series moving along nicely. It moves along at a fast pace, giving you the story and not lingering over certain acts or thoughts for too long.

For a novella, you get a lot of story -- from romance to PTSD, from deamon attacks to a spa day. Definitely recommended by me, but PLEASE read it in order or you'll get spoilers.

** same worded review will appear elsewhere **

* 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 31, 2022
  
Awaken Online: Retribution (Side Quest)
Awaken Online: Retribution (Side Quest)
Travis Bagwell | 2017 | Science Fiction/Fantasy
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
A nice little side-story but a different feel to the main books
Retribution is a side-story from the LitRPG Awaken Online series, where Riley, one of the main characters, takes some time out to carry out a quest of her own.
The brilliance of Awaken Online, aside from the storytelling and the novelty of having a main character with an "evil" alignment, is the sheer scale of it. Jason, the main character, summons zombies and skeletons to engage in large scale battles and assaults, and the focus of the books quickly became quite large-scale. The action is very much strategic where Jason orchestrates the attacks and defences from a distance, using all the weapons at his disposal to great, at time devastating, effect.
It is refreshing here to take a bit of a breather from all of that and focus more on a smaller scale. At the end of the second AO book, Riley was rewarded with an intriguing bow as a prize for completing an epic dungeon task. That reward came with a quest to complete to maximise the weapon's abilities. This book tells the story of Riley on that quest alone. Due to that reason, and her not being the same class as Jason, the book has a very different feel to it. The action is not large-scale and strategic, it is small-scale and pretty frantic at times.
The first half rattles along really well, with us getting more appreciation for Riley's personal life outside the game of Awaken Online, and the troubles she is facing at school. On her quest she quickly falls in with a gang of other players heading the same way, and she helps them to improve their skills. Once in the magic city of Vaerwald, the book takes on a different feel again, as the city feels more like early industrial than medieval. Here Riley sets out investigating an apparent "magic plague" that seems to have struck down some children and is spreading.
There are some thrilling set piece action sequences in the later stages of the book, and some great character development for Riley.
I hope the story here has more of a bearing on the final book in the main series as I can see some scope for this.
Overall, an engaging distraction from the somewhat heavier main books, with a different feel. While the book itself is quite short, it felt like a dragged a little in places, but has continued the overall world's story.