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Billie Wichkan (118 KP) rated Only Daughter in Books
May 22, 2019
Kat experiences every mothers worst nightmare when her little girl is found dead. And then the police add the word suicide. But Kat refuses to believe them.
Even when they show her the familiar looping handwriting and smudged ink on the note Grace left behind. She knows her bubbly, bright daughter would never take her own life.
But as she searches Graces perfume-scented room, filled with smiling photos, she uncovers secrets her daughter had been hiding. Secrets that make her wonder how well she really knew the woman her only child was becoming.
Kats determined to find out what really happened to Grace on the night she died, even if it means confronting her own troubled past. But as she gets closer to the terrible truth, Kat is faced with an unthinkable question: there was no way she could have protected Grace or was there?
This book was filled with so many twists, turns, and shocks that had me hanging off of every page.
This is the story of Kat, wife, mother, sociopath. Her teenage daughter has just been found dead at the bottom of a quarry, and the police are calling it a suicide.
The writing is superb in this compelling story and the characters are totally believable and seem so believable as they have their faults and secrets also.
There were jaw dropping twists and I truly felt like I was on this emotional roller coaster with Kat.
The opening of this book is just heartbreaking and I cannot imagine anything worse than the loss of my child and some of the story description of events was just so emotional.
This story is an emotional look at the relationships between mother and child, wife and husband; very heart wrenching at times but what a ride it was!
Only Daughter is a riveting read filled with twists and turns at every corner that I couldn't put down. I'm looking forward to reading more from this author in the future.
Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture for an ARC. This did not influence my review. All opinions are my own.
Even when they show her the familiar looping handwriting and smudged ink on the note Grace left behind. She knows her bubbly, bright daughter would never take her own life.
But as she searches Graces perfume-scented room, filled with smiling photos, she uncovers secrets her daughter had been hiding. Secrets that make her wonder how well she really knew the woman her only child was becoming.
Kats determined to find out what really happened to Grace on the night she died, even if it means confronting her own troubled past. But as she gets closer to the terrible truth, Kat is faced with an unthinkable question: there was no way she could have protected Grace or was there?
This book was filled with so many twists, turns, and shocks that had me hanging off of every page.
This is the story of Kat, wife, mother, sociopath. Her teenage daughter has just been found dead at the bottom of a quarry, and the police are calling it a suicide.
The writing is superb in this compelling story and the characters are totally believable and seem so believable as they have their faults and secrets also.
There were jaw dropping twists and I truly felt like I was on this emotional roller coaster with Kat.
The opening of this book is just heartbreaking and I cannot imagine anything worse than the loss of my child and some of the story description of events was just so emotional.
This story is an emotional look at the relationships between mother and child, wife and husband; very heart wrenching at times but what a ride it was!
Only Daughter is a riveting read filled with twists and turns at every corner that I couldn't put down. I'm looking forward to reading more from this author in the future.
Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture for an ARC. This did not influence my review. All opinions are my own.
I think I'm becoming quite the Ali Smith fan
I absolutely loved this book. I'm becoming quite a fan, and I think I need to read more of Ali Smith's back catalogue. This novel is witty, current, heartfelt with a full-on family! Ali Smith has a lot of political dross and general misery in the news lately to find material from (unfortunately!), but she does so much good WITH it. In the blurb it says about this book that it's "The season that teaches us survival", and the characters in this certainly do just that.
There is a lot of jumping around in time: things that happened in the past that have a bearing on the presents of the characters, and the occasional toe-dip into their futures too. A lot can happen in the few days over Christmas. We're never quite sure if the mother in this is losing her mind or not (it would be a safe bet to say "yes", but then her son isn't particularly stable during the time period that the book is set in either).
I love the wittiness of Smith's writing. For the Brits reading this, you'll probably get this one straight away, but for everyone else, she's referring to Boris Johnson our current (2018) Foreign Secretary (although I think this would probably apply to any politician, regardless of political party or country! Call me a cynic!): "The man who wrote the dictionary. Johnson. Not Boris. The opposite of Boris. A man interested in the meanings of words, not one whose interests leave words meaningless."
And just a quote to finish with. One that represents both the season that the book is set in, and also one of the main story arcs:
"Cymbeline, he says. The one about poison, mess, bitterness, then the balance coming back. The lies revealed. The losses compensated".
Ali Smiths style can take a bit of getting used to (you'll probably have noticed the lack of speech marks - that's not a mistake on my part, by the way), but her books are so worth the effort.
There is a lot of jumping around in time: things that happened in the past that have a bearing on the presents of the characters, and the occasional toe-dip into their futures too. A lot can happen in the few days over Christmas. We're never quite sure if the mother in this is losing her mind or not (it would be a safe bet to say "yes", but then her son isn't particularly stable during the time period that the book is set in either).
I love the wittiness of Smith's writing. For the Brits reading this, you'll probably get this one straight away, but for everyone else, she's referring to Boris Johnson our current (2018) Foreign Secretary (although I think this would probably apply to any politician, regardless of political party or country! Call me a cynic!): "The man who wrote the dictionary. Johnson. Not Boris. The opposite of Boris. A man interested in the meanings of words, not one whose interests leave words meaningless."
And just a quote to finish with. One that represents both the season that the book is set in, and also one of the main story arcs:
"Cymbeline, he says. The one about poison, mess, bitterness, then the balance coming back. The lies revealed. The losses compensated".
Ali Smiths style can take a bit of getting used to (you'll probably have noticed the lack of speech marks - that's not a mistake on my part, by the way), but her books are so worth the effort.
Lee (2222 KP) rated Pacific Rim: Uprising (2018) in Movies
Mar 27, 2018
More of the same... not that there's anything wrong with that
It's 10 years since the apocalypse was cancelled. The son of the man who uttered those immortal words is Jake Pentecost (John Boyega), currently doing anything but follow in his fathers footsteps. Scavenging fallen Jaegers for parts in order to sell to the highest bidder and living a carefree party lifestyle.
His hunt for a highly expensive Jaeger part leads him to a 15 year old girl called Amara, who is a bit of a mechanical hacking genius and has managed to use old spare parts she has scavenged (including the big one that Jake had his eye on) to build her own, much smaller, Jaeger. Rogue Jaegers are illegal, so after a bit of a tussle with one of the official, bigger Jaegers, Jake and Amara find themselves in trouble with the law. Thanks to Jakes sister stepping in though, they find themselves paying for their crime by being sent to the PPDC (Pan Pacific Defense Corps) where they begin training for a possible return of a Kaiju related world threat. And, coincidentally, one of those just happens to be right around the corner!
John Boyega manages to carry this movie with his lovable roguish charm for quite a while, in what is otherwise a pretty average movie. But, we're here for Jaegers and the Kaiju (well, I was anyway), and once that action kicks in, that's when the movie really steps up a gear. To be fair, if you enjoyed the original Pacific Rim, then you know exactly what you're in for and really should enjoy this second outing. For me, I enjoyed it just as much as the first.
Something that many other reviews have commented on is the fact that the fight scenes in Uprising tend to take place during daylight, whereas the original tended to favour night. I found the daylight scenes to be a huge improvement, allowing for much greater enjoyment of the incredible fight choreography on display, along with the gloriously detailed CGI destruction of Tokyo!
His hunt for a highly expensive Jaeger part leads him to a 15 year old girl called Amara, who is a bit of a mechanical hacking genius and has managed to use old spare parts she has scavenged (including the big one that Jake had his eye on) to build her own, much smaller, Jaeger. Rogue Jaegers are illegal, so after a bit of a tussle with one of the official, bigger Jaegers, Jake and Amara find themselves in trouble with the law. Thanks to Jakes sister stepping in though, they find themselves paying for their crime by being sent to the PPDC (Pan Pacific Defense Corps) where they begin training for a possible return of a Kaiju related world threat. And, coincidentally, one of those just happens to be right around the corner!
John Boyega manages to carry this movie with his lovable roguish charm for quite a while, in what is otherwise a pretty average movie. But, we're here for Jaegers and the Kaiju (well, I was anyway), and once that action kicks in, that's when the movie really steps up a gear. To be fair, if you enjoyed the original Pacific Rim, then you know exactly what you're in for and really should enjoy this second outing. For me, I enjoyed it just as much as the first.
Something that many other reviews have commented on is the fact that the fight scenes in Uprising tend to take place during daylight, whereas the original tended to favour night. I found the daylight scenes to be a huge improvement, allowing for much greater enjoyment of the incredible fight choreography on display, along with the gloriously detailed CGI destruction of Tokyo!
Sarah (7800 KP) rated Mario Kart 8 Deluxe in Video Games
Aug 20, 2018
Still one of the best
Mario Kart is one of the classics. Despite now on its 8th iteration, it’s still as good as it ever was and is one of the best games out there to play. No matter which version of Mario Kart I’ve played, I never really have a bad word to say about it, and 8 is no different.
The graphics are fantastic, and a great step up to those I was previously used to on the last version available on the Wii. The gameplay is as you’d expect from Mario Kart and this isn’t a bad thing. Why fix what isn’t broken? I also love the fact that you can now play this online properly against anyone in the world - it’s such a great feature and brings a whole new level of fun to the game. It can get a little dull and predictable if you’re playing locally as a couch co-op (or at least that’s what my other half says as I always win ?), but being able to play online multiplayer is so entertaining and we can play it for hours. Yes it is very frustrating, as sadly real players are a lot more ruthless than the computer players you’re up against locally, but it’s still a lot more fun.
My only criticisms about this game are that whilst it has quite a lot of levels/courses, for me it still isn’t enough. They’re not exactly long races and you can get through them all fairly quickly, and there’s only so many times you can do the same courses. And the only other criticism relates specifically to online play. Online play gives you points, but some players have a lot more points than others (i.e. 5k+, 10k+) which indicates they’ve been playing for a lot longer. The online match ups take no account of points and you can potentially end up playing against players with a huge difference in skill and points level. It’d be nice if they could try and match players together within a certain points, as it might make it more of a fairer race and a little more challenging if players are all similarly matched.
The graphics are fantastic, and a great step up to those I was previously used to on the last version available on the Wii. The gameplay is as you’d expect from Mario Kart and this isn’t a bad thing. Why fix what isn’t broken? I also love the fact that you can now play this online properly against anyone in the world - it’s such a great feature and brings a whole new level of fun to the game. It can get a little dull and predictable if you’re playing locally as a couch co-op (or at least that’s what my other half says as I always win ?), but being able to play online multiplayer is so entertaining and we can play it for hours. Yes it is very frustrating, as sadly real players are a lot more ruthless than the computer players you’re up against locally, but it’s still a lot more fun.
My only criticisms about this game are that whilst it has quite a lot of levels/courses, for me it still isn’t enough. They’re not exactly long races and you can get through them all fairly quickly, and there’s only so many times you can do the same courses. And the only other criticism relates specifically to online play. Online play gives you points, but some players have a lot more points than others (i.e. 5k+, 10k+) which indicates they’ve been playing for a lot longer. The online match ups take no account of points and you can potentially end up playing against players with a huge difference in skill and points level. It’d be nice if they could try and match players together within a certain points, as it might make it more of a fairer race and a little more challenging if players are all similarly matched.
Debbiereadsbook (1633 KP) rated Escaping Solitude (Escape Trilogy #2) in Books
Oct 29, 2018
desperately wanted to hear from Edmund!
I was gifted my copy of this book, direct from the author, that I write a review was not required.
Andrew takes Edmund back to civilization, to his home in New Orleans. Andrew's coven has some members who wish to harm Edmund, to take him away from Andrew and Andrew will not have it. To turn Edmund, Andrew needs an Elder so Edmund is let lose in the coven's library to find him. Then Andrew is called home to England, so the trip to find the Elder is put on hold. That is, til a terrible accident on board.
Again, written only from Andrew's point of view, in the first person/present tense, same as book one. Knowing this going in, made it easier to overlook that personal quirk that I don't much care for books written as such.
And of COURSE I wanted to hear from Edmund! There were several keys points along the way that I really needed to hear what he was thinking.
Andrew introduces Edmund to some of his more baser pleasures, several of them, in the club with the red door, and oh that was such a surprise cos I did not see that one coming at me! So bloody hot! He also introduces Edmund to his coven's parties. But rather than Andrew go all ALPHA-protect-what-is-mine, it's Edmund who goes all don't-touch-what-isn't-yours on Felix, the one who touches Edmund. Oh of course Andrew wanted to rip Felix' head off for that, but he left Edmund stake the claim of Andrew, rather than the other way round.
The trip home to England brought some more surprises, but also tragedy, when there is a storm.
And we're left hanging!
Cliff hanger, people, of the highest order! Not QUITE the one I was expecting, but still a massive one, that could still go either way! And I have to wait til Jan next year for the final part, and Lord is that gonna be a wait!!
So, ONLY, only because Edmund doesn't have his say, because I think if he had, this may well have been a 5 star review...
4 stars
Andrew takes Edmund back to civilization, to his home in New Orleans. Andrew's coven has some members who wish to harm Edmund, to take him away from Andrew and Andrew will not have it. To turn Edmund, Andrew needs an Elder so Edmund is let lose in the coven's library to find him. Then Andrew is called home to England, so the trip to find the Elder is put on hold. That is, til a terrible accident on board.
Again, written only from Andrew's point of view, in the first person/present tense, same as book one. Knowing this going in, made it easier to overlook that personal quirk that I don't much care for books written as such.
And of COURSE I wanted to hear from Edmund! There were several keys points along the way that I really needed to hear what he was thinking.
Andrew introduces Edmund to some of his more baser pleasures, several of them, in the club with the red door, and oh that was such a surprise cos I did not see that one coming at me! So bloody hot! He also introduces Edmund to his coven's parties. But rather than Andrew go all ALPHA-protect-what-is-mine, it's Edmund who goes all don't-touch-what-isn't-yours on Felix, the one who touches Edmund. Oh of course Andrew wanted to rip Felix' head off for that, but he left Edmund stake the claim of Andrew, rather than the other way round.
The trip home to England brought some more surprises, but also tragedy, when there is a storm.
And we're left hanging!
Cliff hanger, people, of the highest order! Not QUITE the one I was expecting, but still a massive one, that could still go either way! And I have to wait til Jan next year for the final part, and Lord is that gonna be a wait!!
So, ONLY, only because Edmund doesn't have his say, because I think if he had, this may well have been a 5 star review...
4 stars
Sensitivemuse (246 KP) rated Radical in Books
Nov 5, 2018
Good plot, good character development but disappointing
This one was off to a slow start, and it was pretty much slow throughout. What compelled me to finish this book to the end was wondering whether this Clearview group was legit or if there was something more to them.
You also follow through Bex and her life at home, which doesn’t seem very pleasant to start with. Her mom tries to change her despite her orientation, there’s financial issues at the home, and her brother is, quite frankly, an ahole. You quickly figure out Bex is into guns, and survival training. There’s extensive description on how she takes care of the guns, how she loads them, fires them, and we can go on. It gets tedious and lets the plot slow to a crawl. If you want intrigue and surprises, this isn’t going to happen until much later. Much much later.
There’s also focus on Bex and Lucy. They both seem to compliment each other and there is slight chemistry between the two of them but it’s not a romantic type of love story that you get if that’s what you’re looking for. They’re polar opposites and compliment one another but you also get that feeling it’s nice while it lasts.
There isn’t much to the plot until the last third of the novel, which is disappointing. However it’s jarring to see how much of the concept of survivalism is drilled into Bex and pushes her to the edge to the point of becoming paranoid over every minute detail. It’s sad to see what her parents attempt to make her do, when it comes to the subject of her brother. It’s also disappointing to see hardly any mention of Clearview except for smidgens here and there and although it plays a part in the plot, it’s not what you think and you wish there was more to it. It would have made the book much more interesting.
It wasn’t the best, but not the worst either. I’d suggest to take this out from the library instead of a purchase.
You also follow through Bex and her life at home, which doesn’t seem very pleasant to start with. Her mom tries to change her despite her orientation, there’s financial issues at the home, and her brother is, quite frankly, an ahole. You quickly figure out Bex is into guns, and survival training. There’s extensive description on how she takes care of the guns, how she loads them, fires them, and we can go on. It gets tedious and lets the plot slow to a crawl. If you want intrigue and surprises, this isn’t going to happen until much later. Much much later.
There’s also focus on Bex and Lucy. They both seem to compliment each other and there is slight chemistry between the two of them but it’s not a romantic type of love story that you get if that’s what you’re looking for. They’re polar opposites and compliment one another but you also get that feeling it’s nice while it lasts.
There isn’t much to the plot until the last third of the novel, which is disappointing. However it’s jarring to see how much of the concept of survivalism is drilled into Bex and pushes her to the edge to the point of becoming paranoid over every minute detail. It’s sad to see what her parents attempt to make her do, when it comes to the subject of her brother. It’s also disappointing to see hardly any mention of Clearview except for smidgens here and there and although it plays a part in the plot, it’s not what you think and you wish there was more to it. It would have made the book much more interesting.
It wasn’t the best, but not the worst either. I’d suggest to take this out from the library instead of a purchase.
The Woman Who Stole My Life
8.0
Rate It
Book
Ever wish you could trade your life in for a better one? The Woman Who Stole My Life is a story full...
LeftSideCut (3776 KP) rated Titans - Season 1 in TV
Sep 26, 2019 (Updated Jan 7, 2020)
A silly good surprise
Contains spoilers, click to show
In a world awash with CW shows based on DC comics (don't get me wrong, I have a small space in my heart for the 'Arrowverse'), who would have thought that a live action series based on Teen Titans would absolutely smash it out of the park!?
When the trailers dropped for Titans, I was intrigued, slightly worried that it would be linked to the sub par DCEU - it's not by the way, and it's also seperate from CW universe, allowing Titans to do its own thing, and do it well.
Titans is both gritty and colourful, both humourous and emotional, and hugely enjoyable.
The main cast are introduced slowly, but it doesn't take long for the group to matter to you.
Brenton Thwaites (Robin), Teegan Croft (Raven), Anna Diop (Starfire), and Ryan Potter (Beast Boy) form the core team and are all extremely likable.
Alan Ritchson and Minka Kelly (Hawk and Dove respectively) drop in from time to time to flesh out the team, and provide some of the series more emotional moments. In fact, one episode is dedicated entirely to their origins and how they met, and it's one of the seasons strong points.
Another great episode early on introduced us to the Doom Patrol (who includes bloody Brendan Fraser!) providing the jump off episode for the Doom Patrol spin off show. This episode is probably the funniest episode in the series.
Elsewhere we are introduced to other DC characters such as Jason Todd, Wonder Girl, Trigon, Superboy, and the Nuclear Family, and it shows that Titans has been able to establish a far reaching universe in the space of 11 episodes.
The season finale is a real treat, which is sort of based in Gotham. We are treated to Batman references galore, given glimpses of his rogues gallery, and absolutely crazy climatic action scene involving the Bat himself.
Titans is drenched in bad language, and moments of nasty violence, flexing itself as an adult show from the get go, and it's a huge strength.
I can't wait to see where it goes in the future!
When the trailers dropped for Titans, I was intrigued, slightly worried that it would be linked to the sub par DCEU - it's not by the way, and it's also seperate from CW universe, allowing Titans to do its own thing, and do it well.
Titans is both gritty and colourful, both humourous and emotional, and hugely enjoyable.
The main cast are introduced slowly, but it doesn't take long for the group to matter to you.
Brenton Thwaites (Robin), Teegan Croft (Raven), Anna Diop (Starfire), and Ryan Potter (Beast Boy) form the core team and are all extremely likable.
Alan Ritchson and Minka Kelly (Hawk and Dove respectively) drop in from time to time to flesh out the team, and provide some of the series more emotional moments. In fact, one episode is dedicated entirely to their origins and how they met, and it's one of the seasons strong points.
Another great episode early on introduced us to the Doom Patrol (who includes bloody Brendan Fraser!) providing the jump off episode for the Doom Patrol spin off show. This episode is probably the funniest episode in the series.
Elsewhere we are introduced to other DC characters such as Jason Todd, Wonder Girl, Trigon, Superboy, and the Nuclear Family, and it shows that Titans has been able to establish a far reaching universe in the space of 11 episodes.
The season finale is a real treat, which is sort of based in Gotham. We are treated to Batman references galore, given glimpses of his rogues gallery, and absolutely crazy climatic action scene involving the Bat himself.
Titans is drenched in bad language, and moments of nasty violence, flexing itself as an adult show from the get go, and it's a huge strength.
I can't wait to see where it goes in the future!
Becs (244 KP) rated 1984 Nineteen Eighty-Four in Books
Oct 2, 2019
1984 by George Orwell, one of my favorite literary classic novels to this date! This was a monster to get through but once I finished, I was able to take the novel as a whole and learn from it. And man, what a loaded punch it throws at you. George Orwell is a favorite of mine and his writing style is just exactly what I expect from an author from his era.
1984 is about a government that controls everything a citizen of Oceania does, says, etc. If you rebel, you get kidnapped, tortured and then broken down to the point where they are able to rebuild you into the ideal citizen. That’s pretty much exactly what happens in this 328-page novel. But trust me when I say, this is worth a read through!
Genre: Sci-Fi, Dystopian, Literary Classic
Reading Level: High School +
Interests: Dystopian worlds, politics, science fiction, totalitarian systems.
Difficulty Reading: Like putting butter on a soft piece of bread. Not kidding, 1984 was difficult to read but the meaning behind it is what counts.
Promise: Dystopian, Sci-Fi world with a totalitarian system that runs your life until you are no longer a rebellious individual and instead under their complete control. A bit like being a slave.
Favorite Quotes: “Perhaps one did not want to be loved so much as to be understood.”
“Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past.”
“If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face—for ever.”
What Will You Gain: Knowledge on what the world could turn into when the government decides to rule over all a certain way. Where everything you do is controlled and if you do anything differently or that goes against what the government says, you end up dead.
Aesthetics: The entirety of the novel. The cover. How Orwell pretty much has the real world mixed in with a fantasy world. I mean, you just have to read it to know.
“The best books… are those that tell you what you know already.”
1984 is about a government that controls everything a citizen of Oceania does, says, etc. If you rebel, you get kidnapped, tortured and then broken down to the point where they are able to rebuild you into the ideal citizen. That’s pretty much exactly what happens in this 328-page novel. But trust me when I say, this is worth a read through!
Genre: Sci-Fi, Dystopian, Literary Classic
Reading Level: High School +
Interests: Dystopian worlds, politics, science fiction, totalitarian systems.
Difficulty Reading: Like putting butter on a soft piece of bread. Not kidding, 1984 was difficult to read but the meaning behind it is what counts.
Promise: Dystopian, Sci-Fi world with a totalitarian system that runs your life until you are no longer a rebellious individual and instead under their complete control. A bit like being a slave.
Favorite Quotes: “Perhaps one did not want to be loved so much as to be understood.”
“Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past.”
“If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face—for ever.”
What Will You Gain: Knowledge on what the world could turn into when the government decides to rule over all a certain way. Where everything you do is controlled and if you do anything differently or that goes against what the government says, you end up dead.
Aesthetics: The entirety of the novel. The cover. How Orwell pretty much has the real world mixed in with a fantasy world. I mean, you just have to read it to know.
“The best books… are those that tell you what you know already.”
