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The Strain  - Season 4
The Strain - Season 4
2017 | Sci-Fi
Fantastic finish (2 more)
Twists and turns, you never see what's coming
Bring the band back together
A little to much drama (0 more)
Heart stopping ending to an amazing show
Contains spoilers, click to show
I thought I should come back and write a review for the completion of the 4th and final season of The Strain. Overall this was a fantastic season and finale. After the 3rd season ended you just thought the vampires were just going to win the whole thing and take over the world. It left you wondering where everyone was going to end up and if they were even going to fight back.

Well fight back they did. The season did start out fairly slow, learning where everyone ended up and what they were doing to win the war. Eff was the one that just gave up until running into some resistance fighters. I guess having your son start a nuclear war will do that. The rest of the team broke off to find was to fight back and kill the master. By episode 4 you saw were everyone was and they were working their way back to New York to kill the Master.


One of the coolest thing I think I got to learn about this season was some back story on Quilan and why he was in the fight. The flashbacks was something I didn't think we were going to get this season.


There were a lot of sad parts to the final 2 episode. Losing the professor I think was the hardest part. Even though he was kranky, everyone still loved him and wanted to see him finally kill the Master, but his did the next best thing and kill his Nazi enemy.


I won't tell you who dies at the end, but if you followed the comics you already know. If you have never watched the show pick it up or stream it. This was a fantastic show and sorry to see it come to a close, but it was a great closing episode, that is so rare sometimes. Happy hunting and if you see a big old wooden coffin, don't open it.
  
KW
Knitting with Gigi
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Knitting with Gigi is an awesome kid’s book for any child (or adult!) who wants to learn to knit. There are good instructions and wonderful illustrations to help learn the basic cast-on (starting), knit stitch, decreasing (making it a different shape), and bind-off (ending). Some knitting books are very difficult to learn how to knit from, but the instructions in Knitting with Gigi are very clear. 8 kid-friendly projects make up the second half of the book, all of them easy to follow and perfect for a beginner.

Gigi also has a website where kids can join the “Gigi’s kindness corps” and knit for those in need. Her website also includes videos of instructions to get to “the next step” so to speak. The videos explain the purl stitch, different cast-on methods, and techniques of finishing. By the time a young knitter has finished the projects in the book and watched and learned the information in the videos, they will be ready to go further into the knitting world.

I want to point out a wonderful thing that Gigi (who speaks in verse) has said: “Practice makes perfect will never apply. We all make mistakes, no matter how hard we try. So be of good cheer and do not despair. With time and some care you’ll have something to wear.” Every young knitter should hear this—and experienced ones, too!

The only thing I wish this book had touched on (but didn’t mention) is gauge. Gauge is important because everyone knits differently (example: I knit loose with wool and tight with double pointed needles, so my hat or mittens or whatever else I made might not fit, even if i followed the instructions 100%) so sometimes yarn or needle changes have to be made to make sure things fit. The patterns in the book were not dependent on gauge, (which is probably why it wasn’t brought up) but it is still an important thing for any knitter to learn.

Recommendation: boys and girls ages 6+. Adults could learn to knit with their kids with this book too!

**Thank you to Martingale and Company for providing my review copy!**
  
St. Vincent (2014)
St. Vincent (2014)
2014 | Comedy
9
7.8 (10 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Another Murray Classic
When a single mother moves into a new neighborhood and gets overwhelmed with her taxing job, she relies on her crude, foul-mouthed neighbor Vincent (Bill Murray) to watch over her kid while she's gone.

Acting: 10

Beginning: 6

Characters: 10

Cinematography/Visuals: 7

Conflict: 9
Vincent basically creates conflict everywhere he goes. Between his actions, decisions, and mouth, something is always getting him into trouble with those around him. It's hard to watch at times, funny during other times. His life is crumbling, but he brings most of it on himself. Throw in Maggie's (Melissa McCarthy) custody battle for her son and the film gives you more than enough conflict to drive the story.

Genre: 9
St. Vincent hails itself as a comedy. It's certainly going to make you laugh, but it succeeds in how dark and truthful it can be at times. I love that the film never cuts corners with Vincent's character. His life is cringeworthy and sad, yet the audience is still given avenues to laughter.

Memorability: 8
Once again, Murray manages to make a film memorable with his character alone. He doesn't care about the people he hurts or at least that's what he would have you believe. His destructive attitude oftentimes results in a finished product that will either make you shake your head or bust out laughing. I enjoyed watching the relationship develop between him and Oliver (Jaeden Lieberher). They were made for each other yet neither one of them realize it at first. The film as a whole makes you contemplate what constitutes being a good person versus a bad person.

Pace: 10

Plot: 10
Even as Vincent's life tailspins out of control, he manages to touch the lives of those around them in ways they never imagined. He is a ball of chaos, but in the heart of that chaos, the plot shows the semblance of a good man. Again, it's ugly but real at the same time. And that's what makes it beautiful.

Resolution: 10

Overall: 89
If nothing else, St. Vincent shows us that sometimes the funniest things are those mired in reality. Another Murray classic.
  
Lovemurder
Lovemurder
Saul Black | 2018 | Mystery, Thriller
9
9.0 (3 Ratings)
Book Rating
Tension and head games galore!
This can be read as a stand alone if you come across this book although it’s highly encouraged to read the first one only because it’s just as good!

This time around, Valerie doesn’t get pummelled all over the place and you don’t cringe as much when she gets hit by something (whether it’s a bullet or a hit to the head). The plot held up to the same standards as the first; fast paced, filled with scenes of gratuitous violence and some sexual content here and there. This may not be for some readers as it does get graphic but I think without it, it would be hard to describe how heinous the crimes are.

Throughout the novel, Valerie has these tete a tetes with Katherine and they’re well written. You feel the tension between them and the mind games Katherine plays are subtle and sometimes even frustrating because she’s maddingly brilliant and manipulative. You’re running along with Valerie trying to catch this killer and you follow through the chase filled with puzzles and cryptic notes and gifts (none very nice gifts either…). The killer is brilliant and when you think he’s this one person, he ends up being someone you didn’t realize and it’s mind blowing considering who this killer ends up kidnapping.

And just when you think everything’s done there’s more extra twists happening. This is what makes this novel so quick and fast to read. You’re deeply engrossed in the plot and in the chase to find this killer but you forget he most likely has a plan B and you’re blindsided again. This is what makes this book so good!!!!!! I loved every minute of it!!!

The only concern I have is, how much more can happen in this series before this starts getting repetitive. I love the way it’s going and I hope the series can stay fresh and exciting like it’s been so far. I am looking forward to seeing what happens next, given there’s a bit of a teaser at the very last page of the book.
  
Snowed In: Ross and Ashton
Snowed In: Ross and Ashton
J.V. Speyer | 2019 | Contemporary, LGBTQ+, Romance
10
10.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
kinda fell into this one, loved it!
Totally unprepared for the snow storm, Ash drives to his new job. Or at least, he tries to. He runs his car off the road and is found by Ross. The same Ross who broke his heart in college. But Ross doesn't recognise Ash straight away, although he thinks him familiar. When the penny finally drops, all the heartbreak that both suffered all those years ago comes rushing back, along with the intense chemistry they had. Can they survive the monster storm? Could they try again?

I REALLY enjoyed this! It was a great easy read, and I mean that in a good way!

Sometimes, you just need a book that isn't too complicate, not to taxing on the old brain. A book that throws enough hints at you that you know there was something that happened, but you aren't sure what. A book that pulls you in, and doesn't let you in for the next hour or so, the 90 pages that this book is.

Ash knows his rescuer straight away but it takes time for Ross to know it's Ash. But Ross hasn't seen Ash since college, and Ash has been dropping into Ross' social media from time to time, cos he's a sucker for punishment.

What I particularly liked about this book, was how much BOTH men were affected by what happened all those years ago. For very different reasons. But they are different men now. I'm not going into spoiler, really I'm not, but it's great reading the same situation from both sides, and seeing both of them realise just what could have been.

It's not overly explicit but that's not needed here. The whole book takes place over a matter of HOURS so there really isn't a lot of hot and steamy stuff. It is sexy though, what's here.

I just FELL into this book and I really REALLY enjoyed it!

Ah sod it! I wrote 4 stars at the top of the page when I wrote this review, but now I'm typing it up? Can't figure out a single reason why!

So!

5 full and snow covered stars

**same worded review will appear elsewhere**
  
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Daniel Boyd (1066 KP) rated Polar (2019) in Movies

Feb 7, 2019 (Updated Feb 7, 2019)  
Polar (2019)
Polar (2019)
2019 | Action, Crime
Mads Mikkelsen (0 more)
Everything Else (0 more)
Extremely Polarizing
Wow, what a train wreck this turned out to be..


Think diet John Wick meets an immature, garish comic book full of pantomime villains and you have Polar. Sometimes you see a movie and can't help but wonder, "What the hell were they thinking?" Unfortunately this is one of those times. There are folks out there that have crafted a solid script and are struggling to get their movie funded and made, meanwhile there is low level trash like this being paid for and distributed by a huge platform like Netflix?! It is an outrageous and pretty sad state of affairs.

Without a doubt the worst part of this thing is the god awful assortment of villains. They are so annoying and infuriating in every scene they are in and only get worse as the movie goes on. Half the movie is spent following this massively irritating group as they hunt for Mads Mikkelsen's character and they are so unlikable, but not in the way that they are supposed to be. They all work for the main villain, who is inexplicably played by Matt Lucas from Little Britain. That's right, Vicky Pollard is this movie's main antagonist. He is god awful here and I genuinely don't even know what they were attempting to do with this character. Every scene that he is in feels like a discarded Little Britain sketch.

The one bright spot in the film is Mads Mikkelsen's turn as Duncan, the ex-hitman being hunted throughout the film by his ex-employers who serves as our main protagonist. I love seeing Mads in anything he appears in, so I actually found the scenes with him in them pretty enjoyable, and frankly they were the only thing that stopped this movie from being scored a pathetic 1/10.

Overall, this is total mess. It is the worst type of comic book movie and doesn't seem appealing to anyone over the age of 12. Please don't waste your time with this garbage, there are much better movies out there based on graphic novels that don't only cater to horny, brain-dead teenagers.
  
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Andy K (10823 KP) Feb 7, 2019

Studios will continue to dump their crap on Netflix as long as they continue to buy.

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Amailen (1 KP) Feb 11, 2019

Train wreck is the perfect phrase for this movie! I kept waiting for it to get good, but then there was another boob..

SA
Summers at Castle Auburn
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
With all of the series that I constantly fight to keep up with, this was a nice change with an all-in-one plot. The story is told entirely from Coriel Halsing's point of view, so the reader only gets to know things when she learns of them. Sometimes first person P.O.V. is limiting and somewhat claustrophobic, but in this case it simplified the story line and helped me to better get inside the mind of Coriel.
I grew to love Coriel as her story progressed and she matured into a strong, independent young woman. I love that she is not just a pretty face, but possesses both intelligence and wit. In many ways, this book is her coming-of-age story with a fantasy background that could have easily been traded for some other setting without compromising the character of Coriel Halsing.
I also love that Coriel is not the center of royal attention - like her sister, Elisandra - and the "handsome prince" is neither meant for her nor remotely appealing to me, the reader. It was quite entertaining for me to be constantly guessing as to whom Coriel would eventually wind up with. When the man was finally revealed, I was very happy with the results, though I would have enjoyed a bit more wooing on his part.
All of the different characters are well-developed and unique, from the narcissistic handsome prince Bryan, to the always-composed Elisandra, to the many aliora that populate the book. The aliora are quite fascinating, comparable to fairies or elves in description, but still unique to Sharon Shinn's design. In many ways, the aliora act as catalysts for political intrigue within Castle Auburn, as well as Coriel's personal development and maturation.
As an adult fairy-tale, this book can easily appeal to both teens and adults, as the romance is tastefully done and the risque topics, such as slavery, suicide, and illigitimacy, are handled with care and respect. Personally, I loved this book as much as I have loved everything else I have read from Sharon Shinn.
  
Hmm...how to start? The first graphic novel featuring Mercy Thompson is a mixed bag; the story as a whole is perfectly fine, it may not be great but it's serviceable. The illustrations are very good and attractive, however Mercy herself is not. Well, okay, the girl(s) is actually drawn well, but she's not Mercy. My first thought was, "When did Mercy go from being Native American/white to Hispanic?" Even though there are different artists and styles of Mercy used in this book, like many graphic novels employ, none of them come close to matching her description. Save the cover illustration which is done by the same artist who does the full-length novel covers, Dan Dos Santos. Since she is the main character, I really think that is vital and hope the artists work on that for the next book. As for the dialogue, it's rather mediocre, sometimes choppy, and a few times didn't follow a logical sequence. I'd be reading along, then a sentence or statement would pop up that made me think I missed something somehow, so I'd proceed to go back, then find out I didn't miss anything after-all, and it just didn't make sense with everything around it. My last complaint has to do with how the book reads and the panel progression. The way the panels and speech balloons were set led to much confusion, I'd read one panel, move on to the next just to find out I should have read that one first. I have read graphic novels before and never had as many problems with them as I did with this one. I felt that more panels would have helped tell the story and there wouldn't be so much confusion as to what had actually happened. Still, the book isn't totally bad, it's a good starting place, but hopefully everyone involved will learn from this first graphic novel so the next will be better executed. I'd say that if you're not into graphic novels, that you should give it a pass unless you absolutely must read everything Mercy Thompson related.
  
BI
Before I Saw You
10
10.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
Wow! This is my first ever Amy K. Sorrells novel and it most definitely will not be my last one. This book, it's setting, it's characters, it's messages......all of it absolutely gripped me and took me on an emotional roller coaster ride. I was up, down, sideways, in and out while reading this novel, and it left me with a feeling I haven't had with a book in a long, long time.

As a former street drug abuser, I related with this book on so many levels, with it's work of opioid abuse weaved into the story line. It's a very real thing now a days, and so many people are dying from the use of it. Thankfully, with God's love and kind forgiveness, I was saved and have been drug free for more than 15 years now, and this novel brought with the flood of emotions. Watching Jaycee struggle with certain decisions, watching her and her faith grow stronger through the novel, really made me see myself in her.

Throughout these pages, Ms. Sorrells has woven a message of the utmost importance from our God.......true love. I love my children more than life itself, but my truest love of all comes from, and for, our God. I could feel that message unweaving with each page turn, felt it envelope me and keep me hooked to the story.

This is more than a 5 star book. This is one that I highly recommend to everyone. This book is emotional, gripping, and may not be an easy read for some, but it's one that will forever be on my shelf and one that I will turn to when I need a reminder that sometimes struggles are what are needed to over come the mountains that God puts in my life. Faith,hope, love and more make up this novel and I can't wait to dive into another amazingly chiseled creation from this talented author! Well done, Ms. Sorrell!

*I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher and was under no obligation to post a review, positive or negative.*
  
We all have struggles and challenges in life. Whether they are of our own making or not, things don’t always work out. Sometimes, we just give up on our dreams and goals. But it doesn’t have to be that way! God is a God of new beginnings, and throughout the entire Bible, we read about people who were stuck, disappointed, and faced impossible situations—people God freed. Rosalinda Torres Rivera challenges us to Dare to Begin Again. Using stories from her own life, other people, and biblical times, Rosalinda offers inspirational, down-to-earth advice on beginning again. Each chapter tackles a different issue where you may be “stuck”—such as an inability to forgive, trust, or hope—and examples of people who overcame similar challenges. Practical tasks at the end of each chapter walk you through a DARE challenge (Decide, Allow, Rise, Enjoy) to help you move closer to a fresh start. Rosalinda is the daughter of Victor Torres, an ex-gang member from Brooklyn, New York, and his wife, Carmen, founders of the New Life For Youth ministry. She has seen more than twenty thousand people get out of tough situations and turn their lives around. “They’re people whose tales of transformation prove God is still at work,” she says. “He’s written and re-written their life’s chapters—and He’s willing to do the same for you.” It takes a commitment, but with the help of God, inspiring, true stories, and practical applications, you can Dare to Begin Again.



My Thoughts: Everyone struggles with life. It doesn't matter if you're coming out of addiction, a bad marriage, or just coping with change. Maybe you are having difficulty making a dream come alive; stuck in a rut. This book is full of encouragement! The author Rosalinda Torres Rivera, takes a real-life example and then examines a similar situation through the Bible, on topics such as hope, forgiveness, sacrifice to name a few. The reader learns to let go and to rely on God to help them through the struggle.



Such a well written and useful book, that I think every reader could use at some point in their lives or know someone who does.