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Haley Mathiot (9 KP) rated Chimera (Parasitology, #3) in Books
Apr 27, 2018
This was the final book in the Parasitology series that I started reading back when the first book came out. I really have the same thing to say about it as I did the other two books.
This whole book was filled with great plot twists and great characters. I didn’t expect the curveballs that were thrown at me, and I enjoyed the discovery and the unfolding of the story.
My complaints were the same as the other books as well. The series was a good concept with poor execution. I was frustrated on a regular basis by the writing style, grammar, and sentince structure (or lack therof). It was repetitive, exhausting, and at times, quite petty. I normally don’t comment on the writing style, except when it’s a problem. And in this case, it did distract from the story, and Sal’s constant interior monologue made me want to slap her. Don’t get me wrong; I enjoyed the book, I just would have enoyed it more if it had been written well.
The ending was somewhat lacking, and I would have liked to see more finality and more resolution from some of the characters. The plot ending itself was everything it needed to be, it was just a few little things that were missing; conversations that were never had, conflicts that were never resolved, characters that never fixed (or ended) their relationship. It wasn’t at all an “open ending,” but it wasn’t as closed as it could have been.
All in all I gave it the 3 star rating because it wasn’t a bad book and it wasn’t a waste of my time, it just wasn’t a good book either.
This whole book was filled with great plot twists and great characters. I didn’t expect the curveballs that were thrown at me, and I enjoyed the discovery and the unfolding of the story.
My complaints were the same as the other books as well. The series was a good concept with poor execution. I was frustrated on a regular basis by the writing style, grammar, and sentince structure (or lack therof). It was repetitive, exhausting, and at times, quite petty. I normally don’t comment on the writing style, except when it’s a problem. And in this case, it did distract from the story, and Sal’s constant interior monologue made me want to slap her. Don’t get me wrong; I enjoyed the book, I just would have enoyed it more if it had been written well.
The ending was somewhat lacking, and I would have liked to see more finality and more resolution from some of the characters. The plot ending itself was everything it needed to be, it was just a few little things that were missing; conversations that were never had, conflicts that were never resolved, characters that never fixed (or ended) their relationship. It wasn’t at all an “open ending,” but it wasn’t as closed as it could have been.
All in all I gave it the 3 star rating because it wasn’t a bad book and it wasn’t a waste of my time, it just wasn’t a good book either.
Daniel Boyd (1066 KP) rated Love, Death & Robots in TV
Apr 4, 2019 (Updated Apr 4, 2019)
A breezy pace throughout the series (1 more)
Some incredible animation work
Now For Something Completely Different
Love Death & Robots is an animated anthology series from David Fincher and Tim Miller, made up of 18 short films, with each one done in a completely different animation style, ranging from stylistic 2D to hyper realistic 3D. I felt compelled to watch this series, not only as a fan of Fincher's and Miller's previous respective works, but as an aspiring animator myself.
My favourite thing about this series is how brief each episode is. Even if there is a story that you aren't enjoying so much, it is over promptly and you are onto the next one. I also like the idea of this series perhaps being a way for filmmakers to pitch their ideas in the form of these short stories and then, - if they are well received, - they could maybe go on to be developed into a longer more fleshed out feature length movie.
The style of animation varies wildly and everyone who watches the series will no doubt have their own personal preference. My favourite of the series was episode 13, which was titled "Lucky 13." It was based around a spaceship owned by a pilot played by Samira Wiley, who gave an phenomenal performance throughout the short film.
If you are looking for something fresh and different to anything else on Netflix, give this one a go. You may not enjoy every single episode, but I guarantee you there will be at least a few that you like. I really hope that this gets a second series and I am looking forward to anything else that is coming in the future from this creative team.
My favourite thing about this series is how brief each episode is. Even if there is a story that you aren't enjoying so much, it is over promptly and you are onto the next one. I also like the idea of this series perhaps being a way for filmmakers to pitch their ideas in the form of these short stories and then, - if they are well received, - they could maybe go on to be developed into a longer more fleshed out feature length movie.
The style of animation varies wildly and everyone who watches the series will no doubt have their own personal preference. My favourite of the series was episode 13, which was titled "Lucky 13." It was based around a spaceship owned by a pilot played by Samira Wiley, who gave an phenomenal performance throughout the short film.
If you are looking for something fresh and different to anything else on Netflix, give this one a go. You may not enjoy every single episode, but I guarantee you there will be at least a few that you like. I really hope that this gets a second series and I am looking forward to anything else that is coming in the future from this creative team.
Kyera (8 KP) rated The Star-Touched Queen (The Star-Touched Queen, #1) in Books
Feb 1, 2018
The Star-Touched Queen is a little slow to start, but once it finds a groove the story will draw you in and you won't want to put it down. The writing style is very poetic and descriptive, which is absolutely gorgeous but can sometimes slow down the story. Those pacing issues continue throughout the story. Sometimes the book flows well and you find yourself reading through chapters in no time, while other times the writing or plot trips you up and slows down the story.
I was very intrigued by the premise of the story, as not only does it include elements of Indian folklore but it is a re-telling of the Hades and Persephone myth. As a huge fan of Greek mythology, that was the aspect of the story that I was most excited to experience. Amar and Maya are our Hades and Persephone, although it is a unique story and you don't feel like you're reading a re-telling.
As strange as it seems, my favourite character was actually the demon horse Kamala. Although she could be really creepy when she salivated over eating people, she could be funny and made some of the scenes for me. Although I liked Amar, Maya and the other supporting characters I didn't relate strongly to any of them so it made me less invested in the book. I wish I did like them more because I would have loved to have stronger feelings about this gorgeous book.
Overall, I really enjoyed reading this book and would recommend it - but it didn't make any strong or lasting impact on me. Readers who are fans of flowery prose and very descriptive writing will enjoy Roshani Chokshi's writing style, but if you are a fan of more simple sentences you might have difficultly getting through this book.
I was very intrigued by the premise of the story, as not only does it include elements of Indian folklore but it is a re-telling of the Hades and Persephone myth. As a huge fan of Greek mythology, that was the aspect of the story that I was most excited to experience. Amar and Maya are our Hades and Persephone, although it is a unique story and you don't feel like you're reading a re-telling.
As strange as it seems, my favourite character was actually the demon horse Kamala. Although she could be really creepy when she salivated over eating people, she could be funny and made some of the scenes for me. Although I liked Amar, Maya and the other supporting characters I didn't relate strongly to any of them so it made me less invested in the book. I wish I did like them more because I would have loved to have stronger feelings about this gorgeous book.
Overall, I really enjoyed reading this book and would recommend it - but it didn't make any strong or lasting impact on me. Readers who are fans of flowery prose and very descriptive writing will enjoy Roshani Chokshi's writing style, but if you are a fan of more simple sentences you might have difficultly getting through this book.
KatieLouCreate (162 KP) rated Wuthering Heights in Books
Jun 8, 2018
Narrative Frame Format (2 more)
Accurate Depiction of human life
Beautiful writing style
horrible characters (2 more)
no character development
over rated
For a full review you can check out my book review on my blog: https://katieloucreateblog.wordpress.com/2018/06/07/book-review-wuthering-heights/
:) but here are the overall points I thought about the book if you're not up for that ?
I first read this book in college and detested it. I don't know whether it was because I genuinely did not like the book or whether it was because it was being used in academic circumstances. So this year, I decided to re-read the book and settle once and for all whether I like the book.
Overall consensus? It was alright. I certainly enjoyed reading it more the second time around than I did when I first read it. But was it amazing? Was it great? In all honesty, not really.
I enjoyed the writing style and the way Bronte describes things. I like how the story is told, through the eye witness accounts of Nelly Dean to Mr. Lockwood when he comes to visit the Grange. It adds to the question-ability of truth and how stories are told.
But the story itself did not pull me in the way it has done for many other people. The 'love' between Heathcliff and Catherine is nothing less than toxic to me. No matter how much I wanted to invest in it, I just couldn't. Not only that, but all the characters are horrible. They are malicious and selfish humans and although I appreciate the accurate depiction of the human condition, it is hard to like any of the characters when you have no compassion for them and cannot relate to them in any way.
:) but here are the overall points I thought about the book if you're not up for that ?
I first read this book in college and detested it. I don't know whether it was because I genuinely did not like the book or whether it was because it was being used in academic circumstances. So this year, I decided to re-read the book and settle once and for all whether I like the book.
Overall consensus? It was alright. I certainly enjoyed reading it more the second time around than I did when I first read it. But was it amazing? Was it great? In all honesty, not really.
I enjoyed the writing style and the way Bronte describes things. I like how the story is told, through the eye witness accounts of Nelly Dean to Mr. Lockwood when he comes to visit the Grange. It adds to the question-ability of truth and how stories are told.
But the story itself did not pull me in the way it has done for many other people. The 'love' between Heathcliff and Catherine is nothing less than toxic to me. No matter how much I wanted to invest in it, I just couldn't. Not only that, but all the characters are horrible. They are malicious and selfish humans and although I appreciate the accurate depiction of the human condition, it is hard to like any of the characters when you have no compassion for them and cannot relate to them in any way.
Cassie Osbourne (6 KP) rated An Officer and a Spy in Books
Nov 9, 2018
The Dreyfus Affair was one of the biggest miscarriages of justice that France (and possibly the world) has ever seen and this book presents the story through the eyes of Colonel Georges Picquart.
Towards the beginning, I was a little disappointed in the book. The writing style is brilliant and how faithful it is to actual events is great but in some ways, this is also its downfall. The conspiracy went on for years which makes the pacing very slow in parts and incredibly quick and exciting in others. All the characters in this book, even the tiny bit characters, were real people tied up in the affair; however, none of these characters has any real development until the very end and only for a short amount of time. As someone who favours character-driven story arcs rather than plot-driven ones, this was very frustrating for me to read as they all seemed to be very one dimensional (with the exception, perhaps, of Henry) and it doesn't really make any of them terribly likeable.
All that being said, I did very much enjoy the last two hundred or so pages where the pace really picked up and became exciting as everything seemed to come together rather than people sitting on files and information - but this is, of course, the nature of courtrooms and trials.
Although I probably won't read this book again, I am glad that I did as it introduced me to an interesting army conspiracy in France that I will definitely be doing more research in to.
Characters - 6/10
Atmosphere - 9/10
Writing Style - 8/10
Plot - 7/10 (score majorly affected by pacing)
Intrigue - 6.5/10 (as above)
Logic - 10/10 (real events so difficult to score lower)
Enjoyment - 6.5/10 (again pacing and lack of character development)
Score average - 7.8/10
Towards the beginning, I was a little disappointed in the book. The writing style is brilliant and how faithful it is to actual events is great but in some ways, this is also its downfall. The conspiracy went on for years which makes the pacing very slow in parts and incredibly quick and exciting in others. All the characters in this book, even the tiny bit characters, were real people tied up in the affair; however, none of these characters has any real development until the very end and only for a short amount of time. As someone who favours character-driven story arcs rather than plot-driven ones, this was very frustrating for me to read as they all seemed to be very one dimensional (with the exception, perhaps, of Henry) and it doesn't really make any of them terribly likeable.
All that being said, I did very much enjoy the last two hundred or so pages where the pace really picked up and became exciting as everything seemed to come together rather than people sitting on files and information - but this is, of course, the nature of courtrooms and trials.
Although I probably won't read this book again, I am glad that I did as it introduced me to an interesting army conspiracy in France that I will definitely be doing more research in to.
Characters - 6/10
Atmosphere - 9/10
Writing Style - 8/10
Plot - 7/10 (score majorly affected by pacing)
Intrigue - 6.5/10 (as above)
Logic - 10/10 (real events so difficult to score lower)
Enjoyment - 6.5/10 (again pacing and lack of character development)
Score average - 7.8/10
Scott Tostik (389 KP) rated Three on A Meathook (1972) in Movies
Jan 6, 2019
The Porno 70's Soundtrack (1 more)
The Dad character
About a million gratuitous boob shots (1 more)
The plot is somewhat absent...ish
Huh.... Kinda cool...ish
Contains spoilers, click to show
When you review cheesy horror films for fun while your fiancee is alseep.... And you have to keep the volune down so you can barely hear the drivel that most scripted movies spew out... Captions are always an option.
When they work...
This movie is sorta bad to begin with. The camera work is sub par. Tue acting is all around shite. And lets be honest here.... The only good part about this film was the creativity of the kills for the time it was made.
The movie breaks down at the halfway point when it turns into Billy goes to tue city lookin for love and all he finds is a brunette skank who wants to come to his farm after knowing him for 15 seconds in a bar.... But its true love
Lobg story short... Billy's Daddy is a psychopath... Blood is spilt... Carnage insues... And boobs are flashed a plenty....
But not even glorious tan lined hooters can save this thing.... Only reason i rated it what i did... Is because i could see how modern day horror film writers and directors would use this as source material for writing their own slasher style scripts. Its groundbreaking... I admit that... It's just not... Well... It's not Black Christmas enough to be considered the first slasher style film of the 70's... Watch it if you want to.... I recommend it to those who want to go into horror directing or writing as both things to do and not to do.
On to the next....
When they work...
This movie is sorta bad to begin with. The camera work is sub par. Tue acting is all around shite. And lets be honest here.... The only good part about this film was the creativity of the kills for the time it was made.
The movie breaks down at the halfway point when it turns into Billy goes to tue city lookin for love and all he finds is a brunette skank who wants to come to his farm after knowing him for 15 seconds in a bar.... But its true love
Lobg story short... Billy's Daddy is a psychopath... Blood is spilt... Carnage insues... And boobs are flashed a plenty....
But not even glorious tan lined hooters can save this thing.... Only reason i rated it what i did... Is because i could see how modern day horror film writers and directors would use this as source material for writing their own slasher style scripts. Its groundbreaking... I admit that... It's just not... Well... It's not Black Christmas enough to be considered the first slasher style film of the 70's... Watch it if you want to.... I recommend it to those who want to go into horror directing or writing as both things to do and not to do.
On to the next....
Midge (525 KP) rated Batter Off Dead in Books
Dec 11, 2018 (Updated Dec 20, 2018)
Thoroughly enjoyable read (3 more)
I liked the author's descriptive style
Great for foodies - you can almost smell the cakes baking while you are reading!
Good portrayal of the lead character's relationship with her best friend
Absolutely Delightful!
Sophia Cummings, the owner of For Goodness Cakes, is catering for a charity fundraiser at Grape Valley Winery and must make it a successful event to win more catering jobs and pay the bills. Ray Peel, the Winery's landlord, has pledged to pay off a library loan in her hometown of Rumford, however, the event turns sour and Ray is murdered before the loan and Sophia can be paid. Can she figure out who the murderer is before the bakery collapses?
I have never read any of Maymee Bell's novels before, but I thoroughly enjoyed this. I particularly liked the author's descriptive style, especially the many references to the cakes sold at the bakery which were described so well that you could almost smell them baking in the oven! The portrayal of Sophia's relationships, especially Madison, her best friend, and Bitsy, her mother were also very good, although I think that there could have been a little more spark between Sophia and Carter Kincaid, her sheriff boyfriend. You were introduced to many characters very quickly at the start of the book which was a little confusing at first, however, I like that I was kept guessing all the way through as to the identity of the murderer. The ending to the book was finished off very nicely and I will be reading more Maymee Bell novels in the future.
I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this book, supplied by Netgalley.
I have never read any of Maymee Bell's novels before, but I thoroughly enjoyed this. I particularly liked the author's descriptive style, especially the many references to the cakes sold at the bakery which were described so well that you could almost smell them baking in the oven! The portrayal of Sophia's relationships, especially Madison, her best friend, and Bitsy, her mother were also very good, although I think that there could have been a little more spark between Sophia and Carter Kincaid, her sheriff boyfriend. You were introduced to many characters very quickly at the start of the book which was a little confusing at first, however, I like that I was kept guessing all the way through as to the identity of the murderer. The ending to the book was finished off very nicely and I will be reading more Maymee Bell novels in the future.
I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this book, supplied by Netgalley.
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