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Lyndsey Gollogly (2893 KP) rated Passions Promise in Books
Jul 7, 2021
of 250
Book
Passions Promise (Golden Moments)
By Danielle Steel
Once read a review will be written via Smashbomb and link posted in comments
Smart, beautiful, and very rich, Kezia Saint Martin leads two lives: one as a glamorous socialite jetting between the poshest places in Europe and America; the other, under a false name, as a dicated journalist committed to justice and her profession.
But the two worlds are pulling her apart, leaving her conflicted about her identity and the lies she tells to every man she meets. Then she meets Lucas Johns, a bold, dynamic crusader for social change - and an ex-con. Their attraction is immediate, but their love may be just one step from tragedy at any time.
Honestly I got bored! There were just bits of this book that didn’t need so many words! I think she was trying to push the social divide too hard yes we get how rich and famous she is and how he’s so not! Plus we saw the budding romance coming at the end!
Still with an auth so huge you expect a few bumps in the road!
Book
Passions Promise (Golden Moments)
By Danielle Steel
Once read a review will be written via Smashbomb and link posted in comments
Smart, beautiful, and very rich, Kezia Saint Martin leads two lives: one as a glamorous socialite jetting between the poshest places in Europe and America; the other, under a false name, as a dicated journalist committed to justice and her profession.
But the two worlds are pulling her apart, leaving her conflicted about her identity and the lies she tells to every man she meets. Then she meets Lucas Johns, a bold, dynamic crusader for social change - and an ex-con. Their attraction is immediate, but their love may be just one step from tragedy at any time.
Honestly I got bored! There were just bits of this book that didn’t need so many words! I think she was trying to push the social divide too hard yes we get how rich and famous she is and how he’s so not! Plus we saw the budding romance coming at the end!
Still with an auth so huge you expect a few bumps in the road!
Andrew Thomas (363 KP) rated Spiral: From the Book of Saw (2021) in Movies
Mar 17, 2022
Flawed but enjoyable!
It's been a little more than 10 years since the death of John Kramer aka The Jigsaw Killer! A new killer emerges from the shadows, with a very different agenda and is hellbent on continuing Jigsaw's legacy. Detective Zeke Banks is assigned to the case and finds himself thrust into a vast conspiracy involving the dark deeds of the corrupt system he once swore to protect!
In reality the killer is very uninspired, the traps are not as elegantly designed and there is very little of the SAW DNA present in the film. The main reasons to watch SPIRAL are Chris Rock and Sam Jackson!
In reality the killer is very uninspired, the traps are not as elegantly designed and there is very little of the SAW DNA present in the film. The main reasons to watch SPIRAL are Chris Rock and Sam Jackson!
Jamie (131 KP) rated An Eccentric Engagement in Books
May 24, 2017
Sweet romance (1 more)
Good commentary about social justice
Does more telling than showing (1 more)
Felt more like a lecture than a love story
A sweet regency romance
So this was a bit of a non-traditional romance as it takes place after the courtship. Sorrow and Bertram are engaged to be married and the two return to Sorrow’s country home for the wedding. The two are very clearly in the early stages of excitement over a new relationship, stealing kissing and admiring each other — the “puppy love” stage. Neither of the two truly love each other but are already prepared for marriage. The actual romance was more told than shown and it unfortunately just didn’t work for me. The romantic aspect seemed to take a back seat to the other two major plot lines: Sorrow’s altruistic family and Bert’s difficult relationship with his overbearing father.
Both of these plot lines are actually really good, but I felt that they both needed more time to be developed and would have been better in a full length novel. All of the conflict was resolved in a few pages with barely any resistance and the discussion felt more like a lecture that was repeated multiple times. Not that the message was bad, I appreciated the way they approach discussing the mentally ill and the elderly, and I actually liked the Marchand’s way of life, but I think it could have been delivered better.
It also didn’t help that Sorrow kind of annoyed me. When she talks to other people to try and explain her views it again turns into a mildly pretentious lecture. Her insistence on absolute harmony and willingness to throw everything out of the window if she didn’t get her way was also extremely grating. Creating needless drama for the sake of drama is not a good way of filling up pages.
Overall its not bad, it’s a cute and clean love story that will appeal to folks with a strong sense of social justice. It was a fluffy and pleasant way to pass the time, but I didn’t feel much of anything while reading it.
Both of these plot lines are actually really good, but I felt that they both needed more time to be developed and would have been better in a full length novel. All of the conflict was resolved in a few pages with barely any resistance and the discussion felt more like a lecture that was repeated multiple times. Not that the message was bad, I appreciated the way they approach discussing the mentally ill and the elderly, and I actually liked the Marchand’s way of life, but I think it could have been delivered better.
It also didn’t help that Sorrow kind of annoyed me. When she talks to other people to try and explain her views it again turns into a mildly pretentious lecture. Her insistence on absolute harmony and willingness to throw everything out of the window if she didn’t get her way was also extremely grating. Creating needless drama for the sake of drama is not a good way of filling up pages.
Overall its not bad, it’s a cute and clean love story that will appeal to folks with a strong sense of social justice. It was a fluffy and pleasant way to pass the time, but I didn’t feel much of anything while reading it.
lurkykitty (3 KP) rated The Only Good Indians in Books
Mar 25, 2020 (Updated Mar 25, 2020)
A well written and superbly crafted horror story
The Only Good Indians is a well written and superbly crafted horror story which takes place in the northwestern US and has characters from the Blackfeet and Crow tribes. Four young Blackfeet men embark on a badly planned and illegal elk hunt which results in a violation of tribal values and the desecration of nature. Ten years later, an entity exacts her revenge in a chilling, suspenseful and brutal fashion. The characters are incredibly well developed given the length of the novel, and the reader develops sympathy for them. The reader also empathizes with the perspective of the entity who pursues the four men. This story has great depth in its exploration of themes of cultural identity, tradition, social justice, revenge and respect for the natural world. Horror readers will love this, but I would also recommend this book for readers of fiction in general. I can see why this The Only Good Indians is receiving so much critical acclaim.
Gareth von Kallenbach (968 KP) rated Fun Size (2012) in Movies
Aug 7, 2019
While this may be your typical Nickelodeon movie, it will bring you back to those days when the Beasties reigned supreme and Elizabeth Shue was having her Adventures in Babysitting. Wren (Victoria Justice) is your typical, slightly geeky, fairly hot high school student who thinks that going out for Halloween dressed as a Supreme Court justice is cool. Her friend April (Jane Leavy) is more in tune with high school social status and wants them to go to the popular boy’s party. They are actually discussing how this will never happen; when he rolls up and invites them to come. He may even sing a song for Wren.
Wren is getting ready to leave for the party when her mother (Chelsey Handler) tells her she needs to take Albert trick-or-treating. Albert is almost your typical little brother; there is an opening montage of all the sweaters he has destroyed of Wren’s. The small catch: Albert doesn’t talk. Wren takes Albert out and he gets into your usual mischief, but it’s not until they get separated in a haunted house that things really start to go wrong.
Wren realizes she has lost Albert and must find him and various hijinks ensue as Albert is exposed to the adult world of Halloween. Wren and her friends are caught up in all sorts of trouble looking for Albert, including their Volvo having an intimate encounter with a giant mechanized chicken.
Appearances by Kerri Kenney and Ana Gasteyer as the “moms” as well as Johnny Knoxville as the guy everybody can’t stand round out the cast and add some more adult humor to the story. All in all a cute movie, Fun Size will be enjoyed most by the Nickelodeon set, but parents will laugh as well. I laughed throughout the whole thing.
Wren is getting ready to leave for the party when her mother (Chelsey Handler) tells her she needs to take Albert trick-or-treating. Albert is almost your typical little brother; there is an opening montage of all the sweaters he has destroyed of Wren’s. The small catch: Albert doesn’t talk. Wren takes Albert out and he gets into your usual mischief, but it’s not until they get separated in a haunted house that things really start to go wrong.
Wren realizes she has lost Albert and must find him and various hijinks ensue as Albert is exposed to the adult world of Halloween. Wren and her friends are caught up in all sorts of trouble looking for Albert, including their Volvo having an intimate encounter with a giant mechanized chicken.
Appearances by Kerri Kenney and Ana Gasteyer as the “moms” as well as Johnny Knoxville as the guy everybody can’t stand round out the cast and add some more adult humor to the story. All in all a cute movie, Fun Size will be enjoyed most by the Nickelodeon set, but parents will laugh as well. I laughed throughout the whole thing.
Andy K (10821 KP) rated Peppermint (2018) in Movies
Apr 14, 2019
You've seen it all before
I hate to sound like a broken record here, but these movies are all starting to run together for me.
The premise, innocent woman has her family gunned down in front of her eyes. She goes off the grid for several years and then returns to track down and administer her own form of private justice in her complete transformation into a hardened killer. Along the way she encounters the usual sympathetic cop, dirty cop, innocent bystanders and becomes a social media sensation.
It is all too familiar like the recent Death Wish and Equalizer remakes it feels like this story has been told too many times recently and better than this one. The characters (especially the villains) are so generic and unmemorable they just blend into the background.
These "take the law into your own hands" films really have to go above and beyond to deliver something unique for me to be memorable since they are so formula these days and this one definitely did not.
I did enjoy watching Jennifer Garner kick some bad guy ass, but even that was done better in the recent Atomic Blonde.
Overall, meh.
The premise, innocent woman has her family gunned down in front of her eyes. She goes off the grid for several years and then returns to track down and administer her own form of private justice in her complete transformation into a hardened killer. Along the way she encounters the usual sympathetic cop, dirty cop, innocent bystanders and becomes a social media sensation.
It is all too familiar like the recent Death Wish and Equalizer remakes it feels like this story has been told too many times recently and better than this one. The characters (especially the villains) are so generic and unmemorable they just blend into the background.
These "take the law into your own hands" films really have to go above and beyond to deliver something unique for me to be memorable since they are so formula these days and this one definitely did not.
I did enjoy watching Jennifer Garner kick some bad guy ass, but even that was done better in the recent Atomic Blonde.
Overall, meh.
Lyndsey Gollogly (2893 KP) rated Right to Kill ( DS Joe Romano 1) in Books
May 6, 2024
86 of 220
Right to Kill ( DS Joe Romano 1)
By John Barlow
⭐️⭐️
On a Thursday night in February, DS Joe Romano finds himself back on home turf in Wortley, West Leeds. He’s following up on the disappearance of drug dealer Craig Shaw.
It’s the start of a case that could make or break Romano’s career. Because Shaw is about to go from missing to murdered.
While some don’t think Shaw’s killer should be brought to justice, Romano believes every life counts. But he’s running out of time.
The killer is ready to strike again. And Romano will be forced to question whether anyone has the right to kill.
Oh gosh I don’t know where to start. This started well death by pencil is something different and I was excited to see where this was going. Interesting premise and I thought I was going to love it. Then it all went downhill a little, the character Rita yea rubbed me the wrong way I got to the point where I just couldn’t read her. The communication between a few characters was so cringy I should have stopped there. Also a social media scene not needed by this time I’d got to the point I just wanted to reach the end and not for a good reason. I had high hopes!
Right to Kill ( DS Joe Romano 1)
By John Barlow
⭐️⭐️
On a Thursday night in February, DS Joe Romano finds himself back on home turf in Wortley, West Leeds. He’s following up on the disappearance of drug dealer Craig Shaw.
It’s the start of a case that could make or break Romano’s career. Because Shaw is about to go from missing to murdered.
While some don’t think Shaw’s killer should be brought to justice, Romano believes every life counts. But he’s running out of time.
The killer is ready to strike again. And Romano will be forced to question whether anyone has the right to kill.
Oh gosh I don’t know where to start. This started well death by pencil is something different and I was excited to see where this was going. Interesting premise and I thought I was going to love it. Then it all went downhill a little, the character Rita yea rubbed me the wrong way I got to the point where I just couldn’t read her. The communication between a few characters was so cringy I should have stopped there. Also a social media scene not needed by this time I’d got to the point I just wanted to reach the end and not for a good reason. I had high hopes!
Allison Knapp (118 KP) rated Public Secrets in Books
Jan 22, 2019
Well written and complex characters (7 more)
Covers a broad range of social topics such as addiction, domestic violence, and homosexuality in a way which is both well written and accurate with the times
Strong character dynamics
Not nearly as cheesy as the romance novels of which she is known for writing
At times creepy or psychologically disturbing in a way which makes you care even more about the life of the main character
Strong ensemble cast
Great nostalgic look at music and cinema from the 60s up through the 90s
Excellent and unpredictable plot twists
Murder Mystery set in the world of the Music Industry
The illegitimate daughter of a young rock star witnesses the accidental murder of her baby brother when she is still very young, and due to a case of isolated amnesia, cannot identify the murderer. As she grows up under the public eye, amidst the tragedy and its effects on her family, struggling to let go of her nightmares of that fateful night while struggling to find her own identity aside from the shadow of her father and the legendary status of her family, she faces many struggles and challenges just to prove an identity of her own. Yet as she grows up into a mature young woman, she learns that there are some tragedies from her past which were worth suffering through if she were to finally help bring justice for her brother and their family.
Rachel King (13 KP) rated Extras (Uglies, #4) in Books
Feb 11, 2019
I enjoyed this book as an epilogue to the Ugly Trilogy. It resolved the one aspect that I thought was left hanging in Specials, the fate of the planet Earth itself in regards to how the current human race treated it, as opposed to how the Rusties were notorious for destroying it. I liked that I got to see how Tally and the other Cutters were viewed from an outsider with the viewpoint of Aya Fuse. In addition, the reputation economy that Aya lived in was unnervingly familiar to our own Western society of blogging, social networking, computer and television-centered lifestyles. Of the four books, I found this one the most enlightening and original, in the same genre as other dystopian literature. It seeks to reveal the truth through a piece of fiction, or as one character in the book proclaims, "I guess you sometimes have to lie to find the truth."
I did find the resolution that the Extras came up with regarding the protection of the wild to be a bit far-fetched and lacking detail and explanation - it takes much, much more to train for life in outer space than just floating around on zero-gravity attachments. The lightness with which this topic is approached in the novel does not do it justice by any means, but I had to remind myself that this is still a Young Adult novel. At the same time, this concept opens up a whole new plotline that Westerfeld could pursue in the Ugly series, should he want to, which I do appreciate.
I did find the resolution that the Extras came up with regarding the protection of the wild to be a bit far-fetched and lacking detail and explanation - it takes much, much more to train for life in outer space than just floating around on zero-gravity attachments. The lightness with which this topic is approached in the novel does not do it justice by any means, but I had to remind myself that this is still a Young Adult novel. At the same time, this concept opens up a whole new plotline that Westerfeld could pursue in the Ugly series, should he want to, which I do appreciate.
Kirk Bage (1775 KP) rated The Trials of Gabriel Fernández in TV
Apr 8, 2021
This incredibly powerful six part mini series from last February is almost impossible to watch, but once started it feels important that you do see it through to the end. It details a case of child cruelty, abuse and torture leading to eventual death that the entire childcare support system first ignored and then failed to prevent. It shows the exact ways that the support system and then the legal system let down a young boy that may have been saved were it not for a series of shocking professional negligence. The recounting of the story and visual details of the abuse are sickening and beyond any reasonable estimation of tragic. If attempting to watch this, be sure of the reasons you are doing so and approach it with extreme caution.
There is so much natural outrage and actual anger towards the parents who were responsible for these crimes when we see them in court, but also towards the social and justice systems themselves for showcasing their many failings so graphically. The lessons learned are vital in preventing this kind of thing happening elsewhere, and so the drive of watching this is to seek the scraps of hope that emerge by understanding what went wrong and how the law might address the issue to prevent it happening again. Watching this one has an entirely different and sober feel for me. This was in no way entertainment, but it was educational, so I don’t regret going through it, as I feel entirely better informed than I was before.
There is so much natural outrage and actual anger towards the parents who were responsible for these crimes when we see them in court, but also towards the social and justice systems themselves for showcasing their many failings so graphically. The lessons learned are vital in preventing this kind of thing happening elsewhere, and so the drive of watching this is to seek the scraps of hope that emerge by understanding what went wrong and how the law might address the issue to prevent it happening again. Watching this one has an entirely different and sober feel for me. This was in no way entertainment, but it was educational, so I don’t regret going through it, as I feel entirely better informed than I was before.