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Flaming Bags of Crap and the Rarity of Clarity: Not Your Mother's Romantic Comedy
Book
What’s worse? To want something desperately but never be able to have it or to have it but feel as...
Lyndsey Gollogly (2893 KP) rated Under the Blue in Books
Jul 7, 2024
131 of 220
Book
Under the Blue
By Oana Aristide
⭐️⭐️⭐️
A road trip beneath clear blue skies and a blazing sun: a reclusive artist is forced to abandon his home and follow two young sisters across a post-pandemic Europe in search of a safe place. Is this the end of the world?
Meanwhile two computer scientists have been educating their baby in a remote location. Their baby is called Talos, and he is an advanced AI program. Every week they feed him data, starting from the beginning of written history, era by era, and ask him to predict what will happen next to the human race. At the same time they're involved in an increasingly fraught philosophical debate about why human life is sacred and why the purpose for which he was built - to predict threats to human life to help us avoid them - is a worthwhile and ethical pursuit.
These two strands come together in a way that is always suspenseful, surprising and intellectually provocative: this is an extraordinarily prescient and vital work of fiction - an apocalyptic road novel to frighten and thrill.
This was a case of don’t judge a book by its cover I wasn’t expecting much from it to be honest. But I actually liked it. We follow two different stories that some how come together in the end one of 3 people trying to escape the pandemic and nuclear fall out and then 2 scientists developing an AI. While I liked it the ending left me feeling a bit flat! But it is worth a read.
Book
Under the Blue
By Oana Aristide
⭐️⭐️⭐️
A road trip beneath clear blue skies and a blazing sun: a reclusive artist is forced to abandon his home and follow two young sisters across a post-pandemic Europe in search of a safe place. Is this the end of the world?
Meanwhile two computer scientists have been educating their baby in a remote location. Their baby is called Talos, and he is an advanced AI program. Every week they feed him data, starting from the beginning of written history, era by era, and ask him to predict what will happen next to the human race. At the same time they're involved in an increasingly fraught philosophical debate about why human life is sacred and why the purpose for which he was built - to predict threats to human life to help us avoid them - is a worthwhile and ethical pursuit.
These two strands come together in a way that is always suspenseful, surprising and intellectually provocative: this is an extraordinarily prescient and vital work of fiction - an apocalyptic road novel to frighten and thrill.
This was a case of don’t judge a book by its cover I wasn’t expecting much from it to be honest. But I actually liked it. We follow two different stories that some how come together in the end one of 3 people trying to escape the pandemic and nuclear fall out and then 2 scientists developing an AI. While I liked it the ending left me feeling a bit flat! But it is worth a read.
Laura Doe (1350 KP) rated Evil Thing: A Villains Novel (Villains #7) in Books
Jan 14, 2022
I absolutely adore the Villains series. They are such good, quick reads and give an insight into how circumstances in someone’s life can make them into a villain. Evil Thing is no different.
Evil Thing is Cruella De Vil’s story, but not the story that we all think we know. It is styled as a memoir starting with Cruella’s childhood, or the childhood she remembers with rose tinted glasses from the age of eleven onwards. We see how she knew Anita Darling (before she married Roger) and how they were childhood friends who even went to finishing school together for a while. We see how Anita came to have Perdita. And we see exactly how Cruella ended up descending into madness in Hell Hall.
I was a little disappointed that we didn’t have anymore of the Odd Sisters story in this book, but I suppose it was left on a little bit of a cliffhanger, so I can only hope that Serena Valentino will revisit them in the future. But I also realise that it wouldn’t make sense to have them in this book, with Cruella’s life being in London and not in the realm of fairies and witches. It is however referenced as Cruella and Anita’s favourite fairytale book, where they follow Circe and Princess Tulip, which did make me smile.
While this isn’t my favourite of the Villains series (Mistress of All Evil takes that title!) I do like how it is just that little bit different from the others. I wonder if Cold Hearted will be written in the same style or another different style? It will be interesting to find out.
Evil Thing is Cruella De Vil’s story, but not the story that we all think we know. It is styled as a memoir starting with Cruella’s childhood, or the childhood she remembers with rose tinted glasses from the age of eleven onwards. We see how she knew Anita Darling (before she married Roger) and how they were childhood friends who even went to finishing school together for a while. We see how Anita came to have Perdita. And we see exactly how Cruella ended up descending into madness in Hell Hall.
I was a little disappointed that we didn’t have anymore of the Odd Sisters story in this book, but I suppose it was left on a little bit of a cliffhanger, so I can only hope that Serena Valentino will revisit them in the future. But I also realise that it wouldn’t make sense to have them in this book, with Cruella’s life being in London and not in the realm of fairies and witches. It is however referenced as Cruella and Anita’s favourite fairytale book, where they follow Circe and Princess Tulip, which did make me smile.
While this isn’t my favourite of the Villains series (Mistress of All Evil takes that title!) I do like how it is just that little bit different from the others. I wonder if Cold Hearted will be written in the same style or another different style? It will be interesting to find out.
ClareR (6238 KP) rated Once There Were Wolves in Books
Oct 24, 2023
Animal protection, Climate Change and a mystery - perfect Clare reading fodder! The relationship between the two sisters, Inti and Aggie, was touching, and the relationship between the main character (Inti) and the townsfolk was tense, to say the least.
The idea of reintroducing wolves to the Highlands of Scotland in order to enrich and preserve the ecosystems there, is fascinating and exciting as a reader - and as someone who doesn’t have to farm under those circumstances. The writing was sensitive to every side of the story, but as Inti was leading the project to reintroduce wild wolves, the novel leant more in her favour - and I enjoyed that.
Aggie, Inti’s twin, has had a very traumatic experience, and she has severe depression along with other mental health problems. Inti hopes that by living in the wilds of Scotland, the isolation and wild country will begin to heal her.
But when one of the townsfolk is hurt, it’s hard to know who is safe - not the wolves, that’s for sure.
There are some really deep, involved themes in this: climate change, ecology, domestic abuse, violence, relationships.
Incidentally, I went on holiday in the Cairngorms this summer. We stayed in a cottage, away from all the other cottages on the estate (we couldn’t even see them), surrounded by fields containing alpacas and deer, with the odd buzzard, peregrine and even an osprey! I half expected to see a wolf-pack!! Sadly, there aren’t any wild wolves in Scotland now, but that estate was a weeks worth of heaven for me and my family - and would have fed a wolf pack for about that long, too!
The idea of reintroducing wolves to the Highlands of Scotland in order to enrich and preserve the ecosystems there, is fascinating and exciting as a reader - and as someone who doesn’t have to farm under those circumstances. The writing was sensitive to every side of the story, but as Inti was leading the project to reintroduce wild wolves, the novel leant more in her favour - and I enjoyed that.
Aggie, Inti’s twin, has had a very traumatic experience, and she has severe depression along with other mental health problems. Inti hopes that by living in the wilds of Scotland, the isolation and wild country will begin to heal her.
But when one of the townsfolk is hurt, it’s hard to know who is safe - not the wolves, that’s for sure.
There are some really deep, involved themes in this: climate change, ecology, domestic abuse, violence, relationships.
Incidentally, I went on holiday in the Cairngorms this summer. We stayed in a cottage, away from all the other cottages on the estate (we couldn’t even see them), surrounded by fields containing alpacas and deer, with the odd buzzard, peregrine and even an osprey! I half expected to see a wolf-pack!! Sadly, there aren’t any wild wolves in Scotland now, but that estate was a weeks worth of heaven for me and my family - and would have fed a wolf pack for about that long, too!
Merissa (14024 KP) rated Protector (Kensley Panthers #5) in Books
Dec 10, 2023
PROTECTOR is the final book in the Kensley Panthers series and it is the FIRST that I have read! Although I would like to read the others in this series, I can't say as I felt I missed too much when reading this story.
Adam and Zach are best friends, coming to the end of their school lives, and wondering what the future will hold. Adam wants to stay and work on the farm. It's all he's ever wanted to do and has a love of the land. Zach isn't sure what to do. He has a bad home life but doesn't think about leaving because of his two younger sisters.
I loved how natural these two were, how they wanted to help the other, and would be there no matter what. Their relationship was so smooth, once you got over the initial stumbling step when neither knew what to do. I loved Adam's finding of himself, and Zach's acceptance.
The pacing was smooth, and the world-building was enough-even in the last book of the series-that I felt as though I knew the town and the characters that live there. If there were any errors, I didn't see them as I was too engrossed in the story.
A sweet and spicy tale that I read in one sitting, and have no hesitation in recommending.
** 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; the comments here are my honest opinion. *
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Dec 9, 2023
Adam and Zach are best friends, coming to the end of their school lives, and wondering what the future will hold. Adam wants to stay and work on the farm. It's all he's ever wanted to do and has a love of the land. Zach isn't sure what to do. He has a bad home life but doesn't think about leaving because of his two younger sisters.
I loved how natural these two were, how they wanted to help the other, and would be there no matter what. Their relationship was so smooth, once you got over the initial stumbling step when neither knew what to do. I loved Adam's finding of himself, and Zach's acceptance.
The pacing was smooth, and the world-building was enough-even in the last book of the series-that I felt as though I knew the town and the characters that live there. If there were any errors, I didn't see them as I was too engrossed in the story.
A sweet and spicy tale that I read in one sitting, and have no hesitation in recommending.
** 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; the comments here are my honest opinion. *
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Dec 9, 2023
tonidavis (353 KP) rated Charmed - Season 1 in TV
Jan 5, 2018
Déjà Vu All Over Again (4 more)
Phoebe
Grimlocks
Is there a Woogey in the house
Barbas
Prue Andy realationship
As a huge Buffy fan when charmed originally came out i was a little skeptical that it would be anywhere near as good some seasons lived up to the hype others didn't quiet do it for me. The sisters relationship was good and i always liked Phoebe.
Season one held some of my favorite episode of all the charmed episode. De Ja Vu all over again saw the dramatic climax to Prue and Andy relationship. It rare that i tend to hope a couple get together as much as i was routing for Prue and Andy but this final episode knew how to attack ever emotion. It also introduced one of the best villains of the series Tempest how great it would be to constantly be able to turn back time to rectify the mistake you make that day,
From fear to Eternity brought us Barabas a clever demon who occurrences in the series always made me want to watch more. His villainy is brilliant and portrayal is one of the best that the show produced.
The grimlocks where other creatures that came in this show and for some reason i really like them as a demon.
Out of all the charmed sister no matter the series Phoebe has always been my favorite this series is no exception Is There a woogey in the house is the first time we see her get possessed and turn dark. I always enjoy dark phoebe and the primal fear of the dark creature hiding under the house always makes a great premise for a show like charmed so it made an excellent epsiode.
Season one held some of my favorite episode of all the charmed episode. De Ja Vu all over again saw the dramatic climax to Prue and Andy relationship. It rare that i tend to hope a couple get together as much as i was routing for Prue and Andy but this final episode knew how to attack ever emotion. It also introduced one of the best villains of the series Tempest how great it would be to constantly be able to turn back time to rectify the mistake you make that day,
From fear to Eternity brought us Barabas a clever demon who occurrences in the series always made me want to watch more. His villainy is brilliant and portrayal is one of the best that the show produced.
The grimlocks where other creatures that came in this show and for some reason i really like them as a demon.
Out of all the charmed sister no matter the series Phoebe has always been my favorite this series is no exception Is There a woogey in the house is the first time we see her get possessed and turn dark. I always enjoy dark phoebe and the primal fear of the dark creature hiding under the house always makes a great premise for a show like charmed so it made an excellent epsiode.
Amy Christmas (171 KP) rated My Sister, the Serial Killer in Books
Feb 4, 2019
Short and sweet (1 more)
Characters are well built and easy to connect with
The ending (1 more)
Lack of retribution
Infuriatingly good
Contains spoilers, click to show
I loved this book, in fact I read it in one sitting I just couldn't let the anger it infused in me settle.
Korede is our main character, she's a nurse and her sister is a narcissistic selfish serial killer. The book opens with Korede cleaning up one of her Ayoolas messes.
At first you might be mistaken thinking that Ayoola is just nïave, you'd be wrong. We come to learn that she knows exactly what she's doing and it is killing Korede, the big sister that will forever love her little sister, even if it pains the reader.
Korede is fine with her sisters killing it's seems though the last one unsettled something within her,raising a question that must be answered; should she tell the police?
Most with siblings might say no because they're family, this is at first the stance Korede takes. However when Ayoola, possibly trying to make up for inconveniencing her sister via a dead body visits her at work and settles her eyes on Tade.
I loved Tade to begin with. Slowly you learn he's just as much of an arsehole as the next berating Korede for being mean to her sister, even when Korede warns him she's dangerous.
While all of this is going on Korede confides all her secrets to a coma patient it calms her, but when he wakes up who knows what he's remembered.
In the end the question of whether to turn Ayoola in or not returns, and this is where the story went downhill for me, as Korede herself allows Ayoola to manipulate her, only to bring home a new man the next day.
Will I read it again?
Maybe, who's to know?
Korede is our main character, she's a nurse and her sister is a narcissistic selfish serial killer. The book opens with Korede cleaning up one of her Ayoolas messes.
At first you might be mistaken thinking that Ayoola is just nïave, you'd be wrong. We come to learn that she knows exactly what she's doing and it is killing Korede, the big sister that will forever love her little sister, even if it pains the reader.
Korede is fine with her sisters killing it's seems though the last one unsettled something within her,raising a question that must be answered; should she tell the police?
Most with siblings might say no because they're family, this is at first the stance Korede takes. However when Ayoola, possibly trying to make up for inconveniencing her sister via a dead body visits her at work and settles her eyes on Tade.
I loved Tade to begin with. Slowly you learn he's just as much of an arsehole as the next berating Korede for being mean to her sister, even when Korede warns him she's dangerous.
While all of this is going on Korede confides all her secrets to a coma patient it calms her, but when he wakes up who knows what he's remembered.
In the end the question of whether to turn Ayoola in or not returns, and this is where the story went downhill for me, as Korede herself allows Ayoola to manipulate her, only to bring home a new man the next day.
Will I read it again?
Maybe, who's to know?
Kyera (8 KP) rated Geekerella (Once Upon a Con #1) in Books
Jan 31, 2018
Geekerella is a modern day retelling of the classic fairytale, Cinderella. Our protagonist is Ella and the most important thing in her life is fandom, specifically her love of Starfleet. It was a show that she watched on re-runs with her dad and fell in love with. Her father even started a convention called Excelsicon because of his love of Starfleet. After her mother died when she was a small child, it was just Ella and her dad. Unfortunately, her father got remarried and later died in a car accident leaving Ella with her step-mother and two step-sisters. They didn’t understand her love of the sci-fi cult hit and treated her more like a servant than a sister.
Geekerella is a cute contemporary novel that will speak to your fandom loving heart. Even if you’re not super into sci-fi, comics, comic con, cosplay or those types of things, I think you will enjoy the classic human experience portrayed in this book. The Cinderella retelling aspect of the story was the least relevant to my reading experience. I personally enjoyed the development of friendly and romantic relationships, the geeking out over fandoms and the personal growth seen in this novel.
The main characters are likable and relatable, despite the fact that one of them is famous. He alternates between wanting to be normal, or down to earth, and succumbing to the intoxicating appeal of being famous. Even though you generally know the bones of the story if you’re familiar with Cinderella, the story itself doesn’t feel incredibly formulaic and can surprise you at times.
Highly recommended to young adult/teen fan of contemporary books, teen romance, nerd/geekdom, comic con, cosplay, fairytale retellings and simple, cute reads.
Geekerella is a cute contemporary novel that will speak to your fandom loving heart. Even if you’re not super into sci-fi, comics, comic con, cosplay or those types of things, I think you will enjoy the classic human experience portrayed in this book. The Cinderella retelling aspect of the story was the least relevant to my reading experience. I personally enjoyed the development of friendly and romantic relationships, the geeking out over fandoms and the personal growth seen in this novel.
The main characters are likable and relatable, despite the fact that one of them is famous. He alternates between wanting to be normal, or down to earth, and succumbing to the intoxicating appeal of being famous. Even though you generally know the bones of the story if you’re familiar with Cinderella, the story itself doesn’t feel incredibly formulaic and can surprise you at times.
Highly recommended to young adult/teen fan of contemporary books, teen romance, nerd/geekdom, comic con, cosplay, fairytale retellings and simple, cute reads.
Roxanne (13 KP) rated The Undertaker's Daughter in Books
Nov 9, 2018
4 Stars
I have always been interested in looking into the ins and outs of funeral homes and so this book definitely caught my interest. I found it very difficult to put down and found that it was quite well written. The combination of eccentric characters were thought provoking and at times inspirational.
There are, however, some reasons why I could not give this book five stars. The first reason is because of the depth when it came to certain aspects of the process of preparing the bodies for the funerals. The lead character seemed to be very interested at times in her father's work yet when he chose to explain it in detail she backed out and didn't want to know anymore...often to do with her feeling uncomfortable. This was a little frustrating as admittedly I wanted to know all of the details. The second reason is the distance created between the lead character, Kate, and the reader. After I had finished the book I had to look at the front of the book to read the author's name as I couldn't remember it. Kate is not called or mentioned by her name within the book, this for me created a distance. The third and final reason is the lack of ages being mentioned. Time often moved back and forwards within the book telling us about different times in Kate's life, but it didn't give us her age. There were times when I just thought...so when did that happen? How old was she? How old were her sisters when that happened? This led to some of the back stories being a bit muddled and unclear but they were still very interesting to read.
I have always been interested in looking into the ins and outs of funeral homes and so this book definitely caught my interest. I found it very difficult to put down and found that it was quite well written. The combination of eccentric characters were thought provoking and at times inspirational.
There are, however, some reasons why I could not give this book five stars. The first reason is because of the depth when it came to certain aspects of the process of preparing the bodies for the funerals. The lead character seemed to be very interested at times in her father's work yet when he chose to explain it in detail she backed out and didn't want to know anymore...often to do with her feeling uncomfortable. This was a little frustrating as admittedly I wanted to know all of the details. The second reason is the distance created between the lead character, Kate, and the reader. After I had finished the book I had to look at the front of the book to read the author's name as I couldn't remember it. Kate is not called or mentioned by her name within the book, this for me created a distance. The third and final reason is the lack of ages being mentioned. Time often moved back and forwards within the book telling us about different times in Kate's life, but it didn't give us her age. There were times when I just thought...so when did that happen? How old was she? How old were her sisters when that happened? This led to some of the back stories being a bit muddled and unclear but they were still very interesting to read.
Debbiereadsbook (1764 KP) rated Altered (The Made Ones Saga #1) in Books
Aug 14, 2019
wonderful read!
Independent reviewer for Archaeolibrarian, I was gifted my copy of this book.
The Eleutians are a dying race, their female number has dropped so low, there are few children born anymore. So the Alchemic Clan devise a scheme to take women from the alternate universes they have discovered. Kit is one such woman. After falling down, she wakes up in a place she doesn't know, in a body she doesn't remember having. Rafe, of the Wolf Clan, finds Kit and makes her his. But there are bigger forces at work here, and Kit makes the difficult decision to walk away from Race, even though the thought kills her inside.
Different!! Very good different too.
A bit paranormal, a bit magic, a bit sci fi too. Quite a tricky one to tag outright.
There is, quite clearly, a much MUCH bigger picture to this story, and sometimes, it's so bloody hard to see it! Everyone has a say, Rafe and Kit mostly, but some others who really do need that voice to give you a bit of that bigger picture, for things to mostly make sense.
I did get a bit lost sometimes, though, in the world as a whole, and the people in it.
BUT!!!
A very well written, well delivered tale that I would love to follow up on, since the book is labelled as a saga, there will be more to come. How many?? I don't know, but I suspect at least 2 more, to include Kit's sisters. Couple of hints to other pairings, that may or may not be wishful thinking on my part, but we can only wait and see!
A good solid 4 star read
**same worded review will appear elsewhere**
The Eleutians are a dying race, their female number has dropped so low, there are few children born anymore. So the Alchemic Clan devise a scheme to take women from the alternate universes they have discovered. Kit is one such woman. After falling down, she wakes up in a place she doesn't know, in a body she doesn't remember having. Rafe, of the Wolf Clan, finds Kit and makes her his. But there are bigger forces at work here, and Kit makes the difficult decision to walk away from Race, even though the thought kills her inside.
Different!! Very good different too.
A bit paranormal, a bit magic, a bit sci fi too. Quite a tricky one to tag outright.
There is, quite clearly, a much MUCH bigger picture to this story, and sometimes, it's so bloody hard to see it! Everyone has a say, Rafe and Kit mostly, but some others who really do need that voice to give you a bit of that bigger picture, for things to mostly make sense.
I did get a bit lost sometimes, though, in the world as a whole, and the people in it.
BUT!!!
A very well written, well delivered tale that I would love to follow up on, since the book is labelled as a saga, there will be more to come. How many?? I don't know, but I suspect at least 2 more, to include Kit's sisters. Couple of hints to other pairings, that may or may not be wishful thinking on my part, but we can only wait and see!
A good solid 4 star read
**same worded review will appear elsewhere**