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Lyndsey Gollogly (2893 KP) rated Danje in Books
Dec 5, 2023
185 of 235
Kindle
Book sirens arc
Danje
By Gitte Tamar
⭐️⭐️
In a small Louisiana Bayou town during mid-September 1965, Albert Gilly frantically prepares his family's fishing store for an impending hurricane. Amid the chaos, he notices Adonis, a drifter, lying motionless on the street. With the wind raging and debris swirling violently around them, Albert's mind is consumed with thoughts of his family and their dependence on him as the sole breadwinner. Knowing that they would be destitute without him, he makes the painful decision to prioritize his own safety over rescuing the stranger. As Albert stands in his shop's doorway, the weight of his guilt is almost suffocating, causing him to hesitate before locking himself inside. He shouts one last time, urging the young man to seek shelter in his late father's houseboat at the end of the pier. Adonis is startled awake by his words, his mind still hazy, as he struggles through the strong winds until arriving at the floating sanctuary. However, his relief is short-lived upon discovering the sinister secrets concealed within the old wooden walls.
It was a strange read I’m not 100% sure on how I actually feel about it. The story was had good basis and the writing was pretty decent the ending just seemed a little rushed and it needed more I think! It just didn’t feel finished.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
Kindle
Book sirens arc
Danje
By Gitte Tamar
⭐️⭐️
In a small Louisiana Bayou town during mid-September 1965, Albert Gilly frantically prepares his family's fishing store for an impending hurricane. Amid the chaos, he notices Adonis, a drifter, lying motionless on the street. With the wind raging and debris swirling violently around them, Albert's mind is consumed with thoughts of his family and their dependence on him as the sole breadwinner. Knowing that they would be destitute without him, he makes the painful decision to prioritize his own safety over rescuing the stranger. As Albert stands in his shop's doorway, the weight of his guilt is almost suffocating, causing him to hesitate before locking himself inside. He shouts one last time, urging the young man to seek shelter in his late father's houseboat at the end of the pier. Adonis is startled awake by his words, his mind still hazy, as he struggles through the strong winds until arriving at the floating sanctuary. However, his relief is short-lived upon discovering the sinister secrets concealed within the old wooden walls.
It was a strange read I’m not 100% sure on how I actually feel about it. The story was had good basis and the writing was pretty decent the ending just seemed a little rushed and it needed more I think! It just didn’t feel finished.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
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Heather Cranmer (2721 KP) created a post
Mar 1, 2023
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8.0
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Acanthea Grimscythe (300 KP) rated Covenant in Books
May 16, 2018
I was disappointed, to say the least. The synopsis of the story is interesting enough: fairly young married couple move to small town and buy a house with a history. That history is dark and twisted, centering upon a previous owner that moonlighted as a serial killer. When the husband dies in a freak accident, all suspicion falls upon the surviving wife... and then all Hell breaks loose.
Many of the books I've read lately have had a fairly substantial cast of characters. Covenant does not; in fact, I can count the amount of characters in this book on my fingers. Normally one might expect that to be a good thing, as it opens up the opportunity for extremely developed characters. Because this is a short work of fiction, that depth does not exist. The characters are flat and their pasts are, with the exception of the Padgett brothers, a bit too perfect. The Coopers have been together since they were twenty and twenty-one, and their marriage has been perfect bliss. They are joined by a run-of-the-mill detective, an aging medium, and Lindie Cooper's boss, Debra Moynihan. Considering that the Padgett brothers play an extremely small role, - one of them is only mentioned, - I can't help but feel a bit put off by the fact that they appear to be more complete than the main characters are.
As for the story's plot, I truly feel that Leverone could have done a lot more with it than he did. Covenant was a quick read, which worked to its disadvantage. Rather than rise to the climax like most books, Covenant jumped - and it did it in a manner that didn't quite make sense: freak accident, to mild haunting, to sudden inferno - literally. There were also too many inconsistencies, most notably in the latter portion of the book where most of the action takes place. Lindie manages to knock herself out in a manner that simply is not possible, for example. I won't delve further into the specifics there, because then I'd be crossing into spoiler territory.
In regards to the style of Leverone's writing, it definitely isn't to my taste. Much of it felt too clunky and there were far too many sentence fragments. That's not to say sentence fragments are a bad thing, because they aren't. There's a method to the way they are applied though, and leaving off pronouns entirely is not the way to do it. Some of the writing felt a bit too forced at times, and others it read a bit too much like an over cliched, badly written comedy.
<spoiler>My final complaint has to do with something that occurs at the end of the book, and I feel that it isn't a spoiler for me to bring it up so I'm going to. After everything is said and done, Lindie compares herself to Hester Prynne. While she is referring to how others see her, I find myself extremely vexed that this comparison was made - largely because Lindie is nothing like Hester Prynne. For anyone that hasn't read The Scarlet Letter, which is still on the curriculum for most high schools, Hester Prynne was an adulteress that became pregnant with another man's child while her husband was away. As a result, she was forced to where a red "A" upon her breast and was shunned by her community. Hester Prynne's suffering at small town gossip should not be trivialized by a character's poorly conceived notion of how others view her.</spoiler>
I found Covenant to be a quick and easy read, but it definitely didn't hit the spot for me, so to speak. I'd like to thank NetGalley and the publisher, DarkFuse, for providing me with an advanced copy in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.
Many of the books I've read lately have had a fairly substantial cast of characters. Covenant does not; in fact, I can count the amount of characters in this book on my fingers. Normally one might expect that to be a good thing, as it opens up the opportunity for extremely developed characters. Because this is a short work of fiction, that depth does not exist. The characters are flat and their pasts are, with the exception of the Padgett brothers, a bit too perfect. The Coopers have been together since they were twenty and twenty-one, and their marriage has been perfect bliss. They are joined by a run-of-the-mill detective, an aging medium, and Lindie Cooper's boss, Debra Moynihan. Considering that the Padgett brothers play an extremely small role, - one of them is only mentioned, - I can't help but feel a bit put off by the fact that they appear to be more complete than the main characters are.
As for the story's plot, I truly feel that Leverone could have done a lot more with it than he did. Covenant was a quick read, which worked to its disadvantage. Rather than rise to the climax like most books, Covenant jumped - and it did it in a manner that didn't quite make sense: freak accident, to mild haunting, to sudden inferno - literally. There were also too many inconsistencies, most notably in the latter portion of the book where most of the action takes place. Lindie manages to knock herself out in a manner that simply is not possible, for example. I won't delve further into the specifics there, because then I'd be crossing into spoiler territory.
In regards to the style of Leverone's writing, it definitely isn't to my taste. Much of it felt too clunky and there were far too many sentence fragments. That's not to say sentence fragments are a bad thing, because they aren't. There's a method to the way they are applied though, and leaving off pronouns entirely is not the way to do it. Some of the writing felt a bit too forced at times, and others it read a bit too much like an over cliched, badly written comedy.
<spoiler>My final complaint has to do with something that occurs at the end of the book, and I feel that it isn't a spoiler for me to bring it up so I'm going to. After everything is said and done, Lindie compares herself to Hester Prynne. While she is referring to how others see her, I find myself extremely vexed that this comparison was made - largely because Lindie is nothing like Hester Prynne. For anyone that hasn't read The Scarlet Letter, which is still on the curriculum for most high schools, Hester Prynne was an adulteress that became pregnant with another man's child while her husband was away. As a result, she was forced to where a red "A" upon her breast and was shunned by her community. Hester Prynne's suffering at small town gossip should not be trivialized by a character's poorly conceived notion of how others view her.</spoiler>
I found Covenant to be a quick and easy read, but it definitely didn't hit the spot for me, so to speak. I'd like to thank NetGalley and the publisher, DarkFuse, for providing me with an advanced copy in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.
Heather Cranmer (2721 KP) rated The Gingerbread House in Books
Jun 7, 2018
(This review can also be found on my blog <a href="http://themisadventuresofatwentysomething.blogspot.com/">The (Mis)Adventures of a Twenty-Something Year Old Girl</a>).
I didn't know what to expect with The Gingerbread House by Nell Carson. I'm not really a big romance reader because I'm not really one for all that mushy stuff. In fact, I try to stay away from strictly romance books (unless they are YA). However, after reading this book, I've been swayed. I loved this book, and I think it may be my favorite adult romance that I've read. Okay, I haven't read many, but this one is definitely one of the best I've read.
Greta runs a bridal shop out of her historic home. It's just not the history that Greta loves about it, but it's also her mother's home since her childhood and the source of many great memories. So when Stephanie Harwood of Harwood Development wants to tear it down to make way for a mall, Greta is devastated. Enter Gray Daniels. Greta finds him extremely attractive. Too bad he's engaged to Stephanie. Will Greta be able to save her workplace and her mother's home? What will happen with Gray?
I think the title of this book is incredibly cute (just like the story)! I love the uniqueness of the title, yet it describes a major plot point in the story. I'm super thrilled the author decided to call her book The Gingerbread House. I must admit that the title is what definitely caught my attention.
I'm not really a fan of the cover. For me, it's just too plain. I felt like the cover is very underwhelming which is a shame because the story is so good. When I first saw the cover, I was a little put off thinking it'd be a really boring story. How wrong was I!?! I felt that maybe an actual photo/picture of the house itself on the cover would've caught my eye. All I can say is please don't judge this book by its cover. Otherwise, you'll be missing out on a little gem of a book.
The world building was fantastic as was the setting. This story is set in a small town just outside of Aspen, Colorado. Being from a small town, I tend to be critical when authors use small towns as their setting. However, Carson definitely hit the nail on the head with her descriptions of life in a small town. I liked how there was no insta-love. The characters took their time falling in love with each other. In other words, the relationship between the main character and her love interest just felt natural instead of forced.
The pacing was brilliant in this book! In fact, I breezed through this in less than 3 hours. (It would've been less than that, but I had a few things to do in the mean time). Yes, it is a short read, but it's definitely a book that holds your attention right up until the very end. Not once did I become bored while reading The Gingerbread House.
I felt that the characters were very well written to the point that they could actually be someone you know. I was feeling what Greta was feeling all throughout the book. I loved how determined she was when it came to saving her home. I loved how she seemed very real and how her emotions related well to what was going on. Gray was definitely an interesting character. I loved the moral battle he was fighting. I could actually feel how torn up inside he was about what was going on. I thought the author did an excellent job portraying Stephanie. We want to hate Stephanie, and there were times I did, but the author reminds us that Stephanie is fighting her own battle as well and has her reasons for being the way she is. I just wish we would've heard a bit more about Stephanie. I'd go into more detail, but I don't want to spoil anything. I absolutely adored Adele. I loved this sweet woman and just wanted to hug her every time she was mentioned in the book.
The dialogue was perfect and fit each scene perfect. The dialogue between the characters was interesting to read and never felt forced or dull. Even though this is an adult book, there are no swear words and no sexual situations which I was extremely happy about, so if you're after a clean romance adult book, this is perfect.
Overall, I definitely enjoyed reading The Gingerbread House by Nell Carson. I would've liked to hear more about Stephanie and the mall (again, not going into detail as not to ruin anything), but those are just little minor annoyances. I enjoyed what a sweet, fun and cute read this was. Almost everything about this book was written perfectly. One thing I also loved a lot was how tastefully this book was written.
I'd recommend this book to everyone aged 18+ (or any age really as it's a really clean read) who is after a light and sweet romantic read.
The Gingerbread House by Nell Carson gets a 4.75 out of 5 from me.
~~~
I'd like to thank the author for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.
I didn't know what to expect with The Gingerbread House by Nell Carson. I'm not really a big romance reader because I'm not really one for all that mushy stuff. In fact, I try to stay away from strictly romance books (unless they are YA). However, after reading this book, I've been swayed. I loved this book, and I think it may be my favorite adult romance that I've read. Okay, I haven't read many, but this one is definitely one of the best I've read.
Greta runs a bridal shop out of her historic home. It's just not the history that Greta loves about it, but it's also her mother's home since her childhood and the source of many great memories. So when Stephanie Harwood of Harwood Development wants to tear it down to make way for a mall, Greta is devastated. Enter Gray Daniels. Greta finds him extremely attractive. Too bad he's engaged to Stephanie. Will Greta be able to save her workplace and her mother's home? What will happen with Gray?
I think the title of this book is incredibly cute (just like the story)! I love the uniqueness of the title, yet it describes a major plot point in the story. I'm super thrilled the author decided to call her book The Gingerbread House. I must admit that the title is what definitely caught my attention.
I'm not really a fan of the cover. For me, it's just too plain. I felt like the cover is very underwhelming which is a shame because the story is so good. When I first saw the cover, I was a little put off thinking it'd be a really boring story. How wrong was I!?! I felt that maybe an actual photo/picture of the house itself on the cover would've caught my eye. All I can say is please don't judge this book by its cover. Otherwise, you'll be missing out on a little gem of a book.
The world building was fantastic as was the setting. This story is set in a small town just outside of Aspen, Colorado. Being from a small town, I tend to be critical when authors use small towns as their setting. However, Carson definitely hit the nail on the head with her descriptions of life in a small town. I liked how there was no insta-love. The characters took their time falling in love with each other. In other words, the relationship between the main character and her love interest just felt natural instead of forced.
The pacing was brilliant in this book! In fact, I breezed through this in less than 3 hours. (It would've been less than that, but I had a few things to do in the mean time). Yes, it is a short read, but it's definitely a book that holds your attention right up until the very end. Not once did I become bored while reading The Gingerbread House.
I felt that the characters were very well written to the point that they could actually be someone you know. I was feeling what Greta was feeling all throughout the book. I loved how determined she was when it came to saving her home. I loved how she seemed very real and how her emotions related well to what was going on. Gray was definitely an interesting character. I loved the moral battle he was fighting. I could actually feel how torn up inside he was about what was going on. I thought the author did an excellent job portraying Stephanie. We want to hate Stephanie, and there were times I did, but the author reminds us that Stephanie is fighting her own battle as well and has her reasons for being the way she is. I just wish we would've heard a bit more about Stephanie. I'd go into more detail, but I don't want to spoil anything. I absolutely adored Adele. I loved this sweet woman and just wanted to hug her every time she was mentioned in the book.
The dialogue was perfect and fit each scene perfect. The dialogue between the characters was interesting to read and never felt forced or dull. Even though this is an adult book, there are no swear words and no sexual situations which I was extremely happy about, so if you're after a clean romance adult book, this is perfect.
Overall, I definitely enjoyed reading The Gingerbread House by Nell Carson. I would've liked to hear more about Stephanie and the mall (again, not going into detail as not to ruin anything), but those are just little minor annoyances. I enjoyed what a sweet, fun and cute read this was. Almost everything about this book was written perfectly. One thing I also loved a lot was how tastefully this book was written.
I'd recommend this book to everyone aged 18+ (or any age really as it's a really clean read) who is after a light and sweet romantic read.
The Gingerbread House by Nell Carson gets a 4.75 out of 5 from me.
~~~
I'd like to thank the author for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.
JT (287 KP) rated The Hunt (2012) in Movies
Mar 10, 2020
The Hunt is a gripping yet dramatic look at the persecution of one man in a small Danish town, after he is accused of sexually assaulting a young girl.
With such subject matter being so delicate it needed a careful approach as its something that is so true to life it can resonate with peoples moral views in quite a significant way. Lucas (Mikkelsen) is a nursery teacher, quiet and reclusive he lives alone trying to come to terms with the fact that he is not able to see his son as much as he would like to.
Lucas clearly has a fond affection for the children that he looks after, but his life is torn apart one day by a small white lie that sets the wheels in motion for a real life witch hunt.
The film is hard to watch at times and rightly so, it’s dealing with something that occurs in the real world and it can be stomach churning. But director Thomas Vinterberg gets to the heart of the matter quickly and in such a way that it creates compelling interest.
Former Bond villain and TV Hannibal star Mikkelsen is an exceptional centre piece as a loving father desperate for a way out, and in such a small environment it seems to be a hard task to accomplish. It’s at times like this that you know who your real friends are, and Lucas comes to realise that in the harshest of circumstances as he is slowly but surely chased down by a hunting pack of townsfolk.
How apt it is that Mikkelsen seen hunting deer in the forest at the start, now knows himself what that feeling is like as the hunter now becomes the hunted. It’s a film that genuinely makes you angry, your emotions are pulled one way and then the next as you try to put yourself in the shoes of a number of different people, but at the end of the day it comes down to one thing, guilty until proven innocent.
At the start we’re quite sure that Lucas is innocent, but there is enough in the narrative that at times we question ourselves in what is a slow burning story executed with the highest precision. The supporting cast are all brilliant, and do themselves credit to subject matter that must be hard to act against, especially when there are children involved.
People will do evil things when pushed to the limit by what they feel is right or wrong as the case maybe, and its a journey that Vinterberg takes us on in horrifying consequences.
The Hunt expels emotions such as paranoia, guilt and suspicion, all in a community bonded closely by long lasting friendships they have with each other. The closing scene proves that even after time has passed some things are gone but certainly not forgotten.
With such subject matter being so delicate it needed a careful approach as its something that is so true to life it can resonate with peoples moral views in quite a significant way. Lucas (Mikkelsen) is a nursery teacher, quiet and reclusive he lives alone trying to come to terms with the fact that he is not able to see his son as much as he would like to.
Lucas clearly has a fond affection for the children that he looks after, but his life is torn apart one day by a small white lie that sets the wheels in motion for a real life witch hunt.
The film is hard to watch at times and rightly so, it’s dealing with something that occurs in the real world and it can be stomach churning. But director Thomas Vinterberg gets to the heart of the matter quickly and in such a way that it creates compelling interest.
Former Bond villain and TV Hannibal star Mikkelsen is an exceptional centre piece as a loving father desperate for a way out, and in such a small environment it seems to be a hard task to accomplish. It’s at times like this that you know who your real friends are, and Lucas comes to realise that in the harshest of circumstances as he is slowly but surely chased down by a hunting pack of townsfolk.
How apt it is that Mikkelsen seen hunting deer in the forest at the start, now knows himself what that feeling is like as the hunter now becomes the hunted. It’s a film that genuinely makes you angry, your emotions are pulled one way and then the next as you try to put yourself in the shoes of a number of different people, but at the end of the day it comes down to one thing, guilty until proven innocent.
At the start we’re quite sure that Lucas is innocent, but there is enough in the narrative that at times we question ourselves in what is a slow burning story executed with the highest precision. The supporting cast are all brilliant, and do themselves credit to subject matter that must be hard to act against, especially when there are children involved.
People will do evil things when pushed to the limit by what they feel is right or wrong as the case maybe, and its a journey that Vinterberg takes us on in horrifying consequences.
The Hunt expels emotions such as paranoia, guilt and suspicion, all in a community bonded closely by long lasting friendships they have with each other. The closing scene proves that even after time has passed some things are gone but certainly not forgotten.