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Who Okayed This?! The Riveting Life of Grant Davis
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"A must-read thriller! Based on true events!" You know the saying ” Keep your friends close but...
thriller true crime bookbuzz
Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2200 KP) rated Death by Bubble Tea in Books
Jul 13, 2022
Deadly Drink in the Dark
Yale Yee is not thrilled that her cousin, Celine, is coming for a visit and even less thrilled when her father suggests the two of them work together to represent his restaurant at the new night market in her neighborhood of L.A. However, she is will to admit by the end of the first night that things went well. That’s before she finds a dead body on her way back to her apartment. The young woman is lying next to one of the distinctive glasses that Yale and Celine served their drinks in, so the police zero in on them as their prime suspects. Can Yale figure out what really happened?
Like many firsts in series, this one has to do a juggling act of introducing characters and setting while also getting the story going. It does a good job, especially since some of the things introduced early on do come into play later. The pacing did lag a little in the middle before we reached the logical solution. The characters did a few things that felt like they were more plot driven than coming from real characterizations. On the other hand, I really did like the characters and their relationships kept me reading. I found Yale’s aversion to technology interesting and fitting her character. Naturally, we get a couple recipes at the end of the book. I’m looking forward to visiting these characters again when the second book comes out.
Like many firsts in series, this one has to do a juggling act of introducing characters and setting while also getting the story going. It does a good job, especially since some of the things introduced early on do come into play later. The pacing did lag a little in the middle before we reached the logical solution. The characters did a few things that felt like they were more plot driven than coming from real characterizations. On the other hand, I really did like the characters and their relationships kept me reading. I found Yale’s aversion to technology interesting and fitting her character. Naturally, we get a couple recipes at the end of the book. I’m looking forward to visiting these characters again when the second book comes out.
Stumbling Stones
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"Alice knew that Selma sometimes felt judged by their mother and didn't always like it when Alice...
Historical Fiction Jewish History Family History WWII
Whatchareadin (174 KP) rated By What We Love (A New Start, #3) in Books
May 10, 2018
Eloise has almost everything she ever dreamed of. A great job that pays well, a family that loves her, and a man who loves her unconditionally. None of these things came without hard work. Eloise grew up without her mother and then raised and put through school her younger brother and sister.
Mostes and Eloise have been together for years. Now, Eloise has the most amazing opportunity with her job and she wants nothing more than for Moses and her sister, Lori, to join her on the journey. Even though Lori and Moses love Eloise, they may not be ready to move to the other side of the world with her. Will Eloise be able to choose her family over her work? Which is really more important to her?
Charlene Carr writes about relatable characters. Any career driven woman could sympathize with Eloise. Maybe she is a bit more extreme than some, but she is still in a position a lot of women find themselves in, having to choose between their career and their family.
Eloise tends to make her decisions before consulting the rest of her family. Asking for forgiveness later. She has been this way for so long, she just assumes that they are going to go along with her. I personally, have never been one to put my work over my family. That is just me, but recently going from being a stay at home mom to a working mom, I can see how sometimes that sacrifice must be made. Charlene Carr does a great job of drawing you into the story and you can see yourself in the main characters shoes. You put yourself in the story.
This book is about discovering what exactly is most important. Hopefully we will come to that realization before it is too late and we lose out on those things we love the most.
**I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for my honest review**
Mostes and Eloise have been together for years. Now, Eloise has the most amazing opportunity with her job and she wants nothing more than for Moses and her sister, Lori, to join her on the journey. Even though Lori and Moses love Eloise, they may not be ready to move to the other side of the world with her. Will Eloise be able to choose her family over her work? Which is really more important to her?
Charlene Carr writes about relatable characters. Any career driven woman could sympathize with Eloise. Maybe she is a bit more extreme than some, but she is still in a position a lot of women find themselves in, having to choose between their career and their family.
Eloise tends to make her decisions before consulting the rest of her family. Asking for forgiveness later. She has been this way for so long, she just assumes that they are going to go along with her. I personally, have never been one to put my work over my family. That is just me, but recently going from being a stay at home mom to a working mom, I can see how sometimes that sacrifice must be made. Charlene Carr does a great job of drawing you into the story and you can see yourself in the main characters shoes. You put yourself in the story.
This book is about discovering what exactly is most important. Hopefully we will come to that realization before it is too late and we lose out on those things we love the most.
**I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for my honest review**
Sheridan (209 KP) rated Bird Box (2018) in Movies
Feb 4, 2019
Beautiful visuals (1 more)
Good acting
If this happened for real, you'd never make it. (1 more)
More questions than answers in the end
If you take off your blindfold you will die.
Contains spoilers, click to show
Welcome to the apocalypse bitches! Whatever this asshole is it takes over your brain and makes you off yourself. I love the idea, I love the concept. There's no way you'd achieve half the stuff they manage but lets just suspend belief for a minute because it was a good film. I like how they told the story by starting at the trip and going back to the beginning until they catch you up, it keeps the story interesting and appropriately paced. Though I enjoyed it, it does leave more questions than answers. Here's just a few that bothered me;
Why don't they come inside? Do the age old vampire rules apply, I wonder.
There is no way they could have driven blind from the house to the supermarket using just GPS and parking sensors. (Not really a question, it just annoyed me)
How were the birds in the supermarket still alive? (It's clearly been weeks since someone was there) And also on this note, Why were they there? Supermarkets don't sell birds...
Where did the girl and the blond guy go? They stole the car but you never see them again - wth happened there? Are they alive, dead? What?
How did she not run into the side of the river every five minutes? She's blindfolded and has never been there before. Have you ever tried to walk from your bedroom to the bathroom in the middle of the night? It ain't easy even when you know the place.
Why is there a blind school in the middle of nowhere? It feels end of the world cultish...
A good movie, but there are many questions that never get answers that left it a little confusing. Probably would watch it again just to see if I missed anything.
Why don't they come inside? Do the age old vampire rules apply, I wonder.
There is no way they could have driven blind from the house to the supermarket using just GPS and parking sensors. (Not really a question, it just annoyed me)
How were the birds in the supermarket still alive? (It's clearly been weeks since someone was there) And also on this note, Why were they there? Supermarkets don't sell birds...
Where did the girl and the blond guy go? They stole the car but you never see them again - wth happened there? Are they alive, dead? What?
How did she not run into the side of the river every five minutes? She's blindfolded and has never been there before. Have you ever tried to walk from your bedroom to the bathroom in the middle of the night? It ain't easy even when you know the place.
Why is there a blind school in the middle of nowhere? It feels end of the world cultish...
A good movie, but there are many questions that never get answers that left it a little confusing. Probably would watch it again just to see if I missed anything.
Sassy Brit (97 KP) rated Beneath the Skin in Books
Jun 5, 2019
Beneath the Skin by Caroline England, is a dark, complex domestic drama, which takes a peek into the lives of four couples whose lives are shrouded with mystery and drama just waiting to be revealed.
In this character driven story, we’re privy to what is going on surrounding four women Anotonia (Toni), Sophie, Helen, and Olivia and the secrets they keep. There is a lot going on, and although the biggest twist is at the ending, which wasn’t really a shock after all, I found myself enveloped in the journey towards it, and enjoyed seeing how their lives melded together. Especially when tragedy struck.
Originally, I found the story went at a much slower pace than I expected, and there are at first a lot of characters to get your head around. However, Caroline England has supplied a huge amount of detail to soak up, which made for a compelling read. I love it when I read a book and hear all these questions building up in my head. Why are these things were happening? What’s the real truth behind their spiteful deeds and their strange relationships? Is there something which binds them? A common interest perhaps?
None of these characters where what I’d call true friends, they were constantly throwing each other under the bus, and more like ‘friend-enemies’, which made some characters not very likeable, yet very entertaining to read about!
In addition, the book deals with a lot of sensitive issues and as the title, ‘Beneath the Skin’, would suggest, self harming is one of them. It’s woven very cleverly into the plot alongside other issues like alcoholism and abuse.
This is a perceptive book showing how manipulative and deceitful some people can be, and how actions have consequences but not necessarily for the same person. I’m looking forward to seeing what the author comes up with next book.
In this character driven story, we’re privy to what is going on surrounding four women Anotonia (Toni), Sophie, Helen, and Olivia and the secrets they keep. There is a lot going on, and although the biggest twist is at the ending, which wasn’t really a shock after all, I found myself enveloped in the journey towards it, and enjoyed seeing how their lives melded together. Especially when tragedy struck.
Originally, I found the story went at a much slower pace than I expected, and there are at first a lot of characters to get your head around. However, Caroline England has supplied a huge amount of detail to soak up, which made for a compelling read. I love it when I read a book and hear all these questions building up in my head. Why are these things were happening? What’s the real truth behind their spiteful deeds and their strange relationships? Is there something which binds them? A common interest perhaps?
None of these characters where what I’d call true friends, they were constantly throwing each other under the bus, and more like ‘friend-enemies’, which made some characters not very likeable, yet very entertaining to read about!
In addition, the book deals with a lot of sensitive issues and as the title, ‘Beneath the Skin’, would suggest, self harming is one of them. It’s woven very cleverly into the plot alongside other issues like alcoholism and abuse.
This is a perceptive book showing how manipulative and deceitful some people can be, and how actions have consequences but not necessarily for the same person. I’m looking forward to seeing what the author comes up with next book.
Sarah (7798 KP) rated The Haunting of Hill House in TV
Oct 21, 2018
Good but not enough scares or horror
I’ve really struggled rating this show. On the one hand it is a truly fantastic and enthralling character study, but on the other it’s a horror show that has one major flaw; there’s not enough horror.
I’ll start with stating that I’ve never read the book or seen any other films about Hill House (except the 1999 film House on Haunted Hill which I’m pretty sure doesn’t count), so I went into this with a fairly open mind. From a character point of view, this show is truly marvellous. The development and the depth that has gone into each and every member of the Crain family is impressive and choosing to have each episode mainly based around one member of the family was a smart move. Each of these episodes goes into the back story of each character and helps explain how the became who they are, whilst also slowly revealing what happened at Hill House during their childhood. There are some great performances from the cast here, notably Carla Gugino and Michiel Huisman - I’d love to see more of him after this and his turn as Daario Naharis in Game of Thrones. It is this character driven story that kept me watching for the entire series, and also to find out what happened to the family. There was also some very good effects throughout.
The main issue I have with this show is that it’s meant to be a horror show, but for me there just wasn’t enough horror. Don’t get me wrong, there are a few creepy and slightly scary moments but sadly these were few and far between. Whilst I’m glad it didn’t go OTT on the jump scares, it needed a lot more horror. I love scary shows and films, so for me it was a huge disappointment that there wasn’t enough scares and I probably would’ve marked this a lot higher (a 9 maybe?) if they had just thrown a little more horror in.
I’ll start with stating that I’ve never read the book or seen any other films about Hill House (except the 1999 film House on Haunted Hill which I’m pretty sure doesn’t count), so I went into this with a fairly open mind. From a character point of view, this show is truly marvellous. The development and the depth that has gone into each and every member of the Crain family is impressive and choosing to have each episode mainly based around one member of the family was a smart move. Each of these episodes goes into the back story of each character and helps explain how the became who they are, whilst also slowly revealing what happened at Hill House during their childhood. There are some great performances from the cast here, notably Carla Gugino and Michiel Huisman - I’d love to see more of him after this and his turn as Daario Naharis in Game of Thrones. It is this character driven story that kept me watching for the entire series, and also to find out what happened to the family. There was also some very good effects throughout.
The main issue I have with this show is that it’s meant to be a horror show, but for me there just wasn’t enough horror. Don’t get me wrong, there are a few creepy and slightly scary moments but sadly these were few and far between. Whilst I’m glad it didn’t go OTT on the jump scares, it needed a lot more horror. I love scary shows and films, so for me it was a huge disappointment that there wasn’t enough scares and I probably would’ve marked this a lot higher (a 9 maybe?) if they had just thrown a little more horror in.
ClareR (5721 KP) rated Haven’t They Grown in Books
Jan 23, 2020
A compelling story, with an unguessable ending - well, for me, anyway!
Haven’t They Grown starts off with what can only be described as a bizarre incident. Beth decides to go and see what her rich ex-best friend’s house looks like before she drops her son off at his football match - after all, its kind-of on the way. What she is confronted with though, is unbelievable: her friend, Flora, with her two children. Her two SMALL children. Which sounds perfectly normal, but the children look exactly the same as they did 12 years ago.
Beth becomes obsessed by this conundrum, and is determined to find out what is going on. Honestly, at several points I thought I might have picked up a science fiction novel, and there was going to be some rational, clone-based explanation (of course these kinds of explanations are ALWAYS rational in my world!). But there wasn’t. There is a perfectly TWISTED reason behind all of this (and you’ll have to read it to find out!). I didn’t for one moment guess the reason behind the ageless children.
Beth is a determined woman - luckily she seems to have a husband who backs down, supports her and lets her get on with it. Her daughter seems as persistent and driven as her mother - except for when her GCSE revision is involved. Living with a teenager in his final year at school, I can empathise with Beth here - my son will do anything to avoid his revision as well! But Beth’s daughter is a good sounding board for her, and pushes her to do things and ask people questions that her character probably wouldn’t have done on her own.
I really very much enjoyed this. The big reveal at the end completely floored me, and I most definitely hadn’t seen it coming. This is a great, entertaining story, and had me gripped throughout.
Many thanks to Readers First for my copy of this book to read and honestly review.
Beth becomes obsessed by this conundrum, and is determined to find out what is going on. Honestly, at several points I thought I might have picked up a science fiction novel, and there was going to be some rational, clone-based explanation (of course these kinds of explanations are ALWAYS rational in my world!). But there wasn’t. There is a perfectly TWISTED reason behind all of this (and you’ll have to read it to find out!). I didn’t for one moment guess the reason behind the ageless children.
Beth is a determined woman - luckily she seems to have a husband who backs down, supports her and lets her get on with it. Her daughter seems as persistent and driven as her mother - except for when her GCSE revision is involved. Living with a teenager in his final year at school, I can empathise with Beth here - my son will do anything to avoid his revision as well! But Beth’s daughter is a good sounding board for her, and pushes her to do things and ask people questions that her character probably wouldn’t have done on her own.
I really very much enjoyed this. The big reveal at the end completely floored me, and I most definitely hadn’t seen it coming. This is a great, entertaining story, and had me gripped throughout.
Many thanks to Readers First for my copy of this book to read and honestly review.
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