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Merissa (11961 KP) rated Voodoo Butterfly (Voodoo Butterfly #1) in Books
Jul 12, 2018
Voodoo Butterfly (Voodoo Butterfly #1) by Camille Faye
Voodoo Butterfly is the first book in the Voodoo Butterfly series, and from the start you can tell that research has been done for this story. Sophia is alone in the world, or at least she thinks she is. Her mother moved away from New Orleans, and told Sophia everyone was dead. However, after her mother's death, Sophia finds out that her grandmother had been alive, but no longer. She is told she has inherited half of a shop, and goes to the funeral to pay her last respects to a woman she never knew about.
This is a gripping and interesting story, with many facets to keep your attention. It is well written, with plenty of character development throughout. And come on, admit it, if you were handed a voodoo shop in New Orleans, you'd be sceptical too! I loved the interaction between all the characters, although I was unsure of just what Jacques was playing at.
There were no editing or grammatical errors that disrupted my reading flow, and I definitely would like to continue with this series. A fantastic start that leaves you wanting more. Absolutely recommended by me.
* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and my comments here are my honest opinion. *
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
This is a gripping and interesting story, with many facets to keep your attention. It is well written, with plenty of character development throughout. And come on, admit it, if you were handed a voodoo shop in New Orleans, you'd be sceptical too! I loved the interaction between all the characters, although I was unsure of just what Jacques was playing at.
There were no editing or grammatical errors that disrupted my reading flow, and I definitely would like to continue with this series. A fantastic start that leaves you wanting more. Absolutely recommended by me.
* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and my comments here are my honest opinion. *
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Conehead (3 KP) rated Star Trek: Discovery in TV
Jul 9, 2018
New Trek
So I'm a huge Star trek fan. Wouldn't call myself a trekie but I did grow up watching TNG VOYAGER DS9 ENTERPRISE and for the newest addition DISCOVERY. Though not your typical star trek, I like how the producers put their own twist on it. I like the darkness of the series so far. Yeah I know star trek is about new life forms and what not but I like how we have war. There has always been a gap between Enterprise and TOS. Such as what happened during those times and how did the Federation finally come to be what it was by the time TOS happened. There have been many many many fan made films about the gap from Enterprise and TOS. The romulan war the Klingon war. Like what is the back story to all of it. Im just glad that someone took it upon themselves to finally tell us that story. The mirror universe such a popular side story to Star Trek. Love how they brought back character and ship thought dead and destroyed during the battle at the bianaries. Now for season two that's coming what more do we get. Speculation is we get more of section 31. I can't wait to see how they develop these stores as we get closer towards the TOS era.
Christine A. (965 KP) rated Tell Me No Lies in Books
Nov 17, 2018
A bit slow in the middle but worth reading.
I was provided with a complimentary copy of this book so I could give an honest review.
"Tell Me No Lies" by Alex Sinclair starts as a love story but quickly becomes a psychological thriller that questions how well we really know those around us, especially those close to us. How well do you know your husband, wife, or significant other?
Leaving a dinner celebrating their 5th anniversary, John Dalton is a victim of a hit and run. He dies in the arms of his wife, Grace.
Desperate and grief stricken, Grace vows to figure out the meaning of John's last words to her. In doing so, she learns she did not know her husband at all. How much of her marriage was true?
I enjoyed the premise and much of the story. However, Grace's many of her actions were unbelievable and far fetched. The story did include an interesting and surprising twist which made the story worth finishing.
In the beginning of the novel, I sympathized with Grace. However, her actions made me stop rooting for her and just wanted to finish the book. I am glad I finished it and would read a different book by the author and have added one of his three other works to my "want to read" list on Goodreads.
"Tell Me No Lies" by Alex Sinclair starts as a love story but quickly becomes a psychological thriller that questions how well we really know those around us, especially those close to us. How well do you know your husband, wife, or significant other?
Leaving a dinner celebrating their 5th anniversary, John Dalton is a victim of a hit and run. He dies in the arms of his wife, Grace.
Desperate and grief stricken, Grace vows to figure out the meaning of John's last words to her. In doing so, she learns she did not know her husband at all. How much of her marriage was true?
I enjoyed the premise and much of the story. However, Grace's many of her actions were unbelievable and far fetched. The story did include an interesting and surprising twist which made the story worth finishing.
In the beginning of the novel, I sympathized with Grace. However, her actions made me stop rooting for her and just wanted to finish the book. I am glad I finished it and would read a different book by the author and have added one of his three other works to my "want to read" list on Goodreads.
Sarah (7798 KP) rated X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014) in Movies
Jun 19, 2019
One of the best X-Men films
The X-Men have always been some of my favourite superheroes, and I loved the original 2 films (and I refuse to mention The Last Stand). Whilst First Class was a nice introduction to the younger versions of the X-Men, it wasnt great. X-Men really needed this next film to be something special, and for me it really is.
Bryan Singer really knows how to work his magic when it comes to the X-Men films and you can tell. He did it with the originals and he did it with this too. The idea to work a plot involving the original X-Men and the younger versions is a genius idea and gives us the best of both worlds. Admittedly I do wish they'd shown us more of the originals, but I dont think my heart could take much seeing them get picked off by the Sentinels.
Putting Wolverine into this works really well and new addition Quicksilver gets possibly the best scene of the entire film. And we've also got Magneto being his usual sneaky self with some great scenes of him really using his powers. Don't get me wrong the actual minute details in the plot are a little bit ridiculous and farfetched but this can be ignored for the most part as it's just an all round enjoyable film. Just a shame it's the last decent X-Men film that they've made.
Bryan Singer really knows how to work his magic when it comes to the X-Men films and you can tell. He did it with the originals and he did it with this too. The idea to work a plot involving the original X-Men and the younger versions is a genius idea and gives us the best of both worlds. Admittedly I do wish they'd shown us more of the originals, but I dont think my heart could take much seeing them get picked off by the Sentinels.
Putting Wolverine into this works really well and new addition Quicksilver gets possibly the best scene of the entire film. And we've also got Magneto being his usual sneaky self with some great scenes of him really using his powers. Don't get me wrong the actual minute details in the plot are a little bit ridiculous and farfetched but this can be ignored for the most part as it's just an all round enjoyable film. Just a shame it's the last decent X-Men film that they've made.
BookwormMama14 (18 KP) rated The Crown (The Selection, #5) in Books
Jan 2, 2019
Oh...My...I can not tell you the crazy rollercoaster ride of emotions Kiera Cass took me on in this series. Now that it is all said and done and I look back, I am SO glad I finally picked up The Selection. I will say that the first three books (America's selection) are the BEST part of the series. I totally binge read them and would probably do so again in the future. However, I was disappointed with the Eadlyn's selection story. The Heir and The Crown have a very different feel than the first three books. Eadlyn is a very different person than America and that is to be expected. I did enjoy watching Eadlyn mature and become her own person. She has a strength that I admire. And I was happy with the final result of her selection, however the story as a whole felt a little too forced. There was a lot of fluff that wasn't wholly necessary. That being said, although I think it would have been better to end the series with The One, it was good to read the continuing stories of so many characters from the original books. I doubt I will read The Heir and The Crown again, but the first three book of The Selection series are among my favorite books I have read this year. Overall, I did not enjoy The Crown...It fell very short of my expectations.
David McK (3377 KP) rated The Last Hero (Discworld, #27; Rincewind #7) in Books
Jan 28, 2019
<i>Fable (noun): a story about supernatural or extraordinary persons or incidents; legend: the fables of gods and heroes.
[from http://dictionary.reference.com]</i>;
This short story by Terry Pratchett ticks all those boxes with the blurb on my edition reading:
"He's been a legend in his own lifetime.
He can remember the great days of high adventure.
He can remember when a hero didn't have to worry about fences and lawyers and civilisation.
He can remember when people didn't tell you off for killing dragons.
But he can't alwyas remember, these days, where he put his teeth ...
He's not really happy about that bit.
.... He's going to climb the highest mountain in the Discworld and meet his gods. He doesn't like the way they let men grow old and die ... "
What ensues is, by the standards of Discworld novels, perhaps a return to the earlier novels that featured the gods (and Cohen the Barbarian) more prominently than the more recent. Also involved prominently in this story are the Wiz(z)ard Rincewind, Captain Carrot and Leonard of Quirm, with that latter character given more of a role than in the few previous he has been in (excepting, maybe, Jingo).
This is also unusual in that it is an illustrated story: whereas I've always found illustrations to be inferior to imagination when it comes to visualising events and characters, it does add an extra layer to this story - particularly where it concerns Leonard's creations.
[from http://dictionary.reference.com]</i>;
This short story by Terry Pratchett ticks all those boxes with the blurb on my edition reading:
"He's been a legend in his own lifetime.
He can remember the great days of high adventure.
He can remember when a hero didn't have to worry about fences and lawyers and civilisation.
He can remember when people didn't tell you off for killing dragons.
But he can't alwyas remember, these days, where he put his teeth ...
He's not really happy about that bit.
.... He's going to climb the highest mountain in the Discworld and meet his gods. He doesn't like the way they let men grow old and die ... "
What ensues is, by the standards of Discworld novels, perhaps a return to the earlier novels that featured the gods (and Cohen the Barbarian) more prominently than the more recent. Also involved prominently in this story are the Wiz(z)ard Rincewind, Captain Carrot and Leonard of Quirm, with that latter character given more of a role than in the few previous he has been in (excepting, maybe, Jingo).
This is also unusual in that it is an illustrated story: whereas I've always found illustrations to be inferior to imagination when it comes to visualising events and characters, it does add an extra layer to this story - particularly where it concerns Leonard's creations.
Sarah (7798 KP) rated Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (1999) in Movies
Jan 29, 2019
Great music, shame about the rest
I loved Joseph when I was a child, and I haven’t seen the stage show since I was in primary school either, so I had to watch this when I saw it had been added to Netflix.
I spent the entire of this film trying to figure out if this was a stage show they’d recorded and made look like a film, or if they’d intentionally made it as a film like this. Looking it up afterwards, I’ve discovered this was a direct to video film and boy can you tell. For a purposely made film, the production values in this are really cheesy and cheap, and the costumes are pretty bad even with it being the late 90s. I also can’t stand the narrator in this, I just found her very irritating - the last scene especially. Donny Osmond is alright but his hair looks so fake I couldn’t help laughing every time there was a close up. The highlight of the cast by far is Richard Attenborough, it’s just a shame he isn't in it very much.
What saves this is the all round entertainment factor and the soundtrack. You can’t question the Lloyd Webber music, it’s truly fantastic and so varied (from country to Elvis rock) and catchy. I just wished the rest of the film lived up to this - they really should have just filmed a stage version.
I spent the entire of this film trying to figure out if this was a stage show they’d recorded and made look like a film, or if they’d intentionally made it as a film like this. Looking it up afterwards, I’ve discovered this was a direct to video film and boy can you tell. For a purposely made film, the production values in this are really cheesy and cheap, and the costumes are pretty bad even with it being the late 90s. I also can’t stand the narrator in this, I just found her very irritating - the last scene especially. Donny Osmond is alright but his hair looks so fake I couldn’t help laughing every time there was a close up. The highlight of the cast by far is Richard Attenborough, it’s just a shame he isn't in it very much.
What saves this is the all round entertainment factor and the soundtrack. You can’t question the Lloyd Webber music, it’s truly fantastic and so varied (from country to Elvis rock) and catchy. I just wished the rest of the film lived up to this - they really should have just filmed a stage version.
Faye Jeffries (1 KP) rated Bird Box (2018) in Movies
Dec 30, 2018
Underwhelmed
Contains spoilers, click to show
After the recent hype all over my social media about this film, I was extremely giddy to find myself with a few hours free after my little womb gnome had gone to bed and the fella was off to play Fifa. Finally, I could see what the drama was about.
The concept of the film is intriguing and it does get you gripped within the first 10 minutes. Similar to The Happening, sure, but the fact that it is seeing something which makes someone commit suicide rather than just being out in wind made it a bit more...tense. You know when you get the 'ohh nooo don't do that!!', you get that a lot in this film.
Sandra Bullock's performance is amazing. It's heartbreaking to see her emotionally cut herself off from the children to help them survive in the long run.
For me though, I felt like there was something missing. There wasn't much of a build up to anything because nothing really happens. It's just watching how it started and then their journey to a safe haven.
I am a bit miffed at the ending. So basically, they grew plants above the open spaces and that's enough? Why not just tell them that little golden nugget over the radio.
I won't watch it again but I did enjoy it, just left feeling a bit frustrated.
The concept of the film is intriguing and it does get you gripped within the first 10 minutes. Similar to The Happening, sure, but the fact that it is seeing something which makes someone commit suicide rather than just being out in wind made it a bit more...tense. You know when you get the 'ohh nooo don't do that!!', you get that a lot in this film.
Sandra Bullock's performance is amazing. It's heartbreaking to see her emotionally cut herself off from the children to help them survive in the long run.
For me though, I felt like there was something missing. There wasn't much of a build up to anything because nothing really happens. It's just watching how it started and then their journey to a safe haven.
I am a bit miffed at the ending. So basically, they grew plants above the open spaces and that's enough? Why not just tell them that little golden nugget over the radio.
I won't watch it again but I did enjoy it, just left feeling a bit frustrated.
Whatchareadin (174 KP) rated The Glass Castle in Books
Jun 21, 2019
Jeannette Walls led a very interesting life. Living most of it way below the poverty line and "doing the skedaddle" all over the country. Her parents didn't care much for rules or parenting. The book starts off with Jeannette burning herself at the age of 3 making herself food to eat. What three year old is using a stove? The book continues through her life with some outrageous and mind blowing events. This was a very interesting story that made me hug my kids a little tighter and be thankful for the family I have.
I have heard a lot about this book and the movie, and I wanted to read it before I saw it. What really grabbed my attention during this book was the blatant disregard Rex & Rose Mary for their children was incredible.
I love that Ms. Walls had the courage to tell her story. She was able to make something of her life, despite the circumstances that she was raised in. Some people may see the situation and decide this is the life they have and they can't do anything better. Forced to grow up before she had to and become a parent when hers didn't seem to care that their children had no food to eat. Even though both of her parents were educated, they were more of free thinkers letting the world take them through life.
I enjoyed this book.
I have heard a lot about this book and the movie, and I wanted to read it before I saw it. What really grabbed my attention during this book was the blatant disregard Rex & Rose Mary for their children was incredible.
I love that Ms. Walls had the courage to tell her story. She was able to make something of her life, despite the circumstances that she was raised in. Some people may see the situation and decide this is the life they have and they can't do anything better. Forced to grow up before she had to and become a parent when hers didn't seem to care that their children had no food to eat. Even though both of her parents were educated, they were more of free thinkers letting the world take them through life.
I enjoyed this book.
Bong Mines Entertainment (15 KP) rated Cult Classic by Fiona Grey in Music
Jun 21, 2019
Fiona Grey is an LA-based singer-songwriter from Chicago, Illinois. Not too long ago, she released a music video for her “Saviour” single featuring Emma Cole.
The Sean Berger-music video was choreographed by Kevin Stea (Madonna, Michael Jackson).
The visuals are an ode to Felini, Marie Antoinette, and the dark and dreamy black and white films of the ‘60s.
‘Saviour’ contains a relatable storyline, pleasing vocals, and charismatic instrumentation flavored with an indie-alternative aroma.
Also, the likable tune is featured on Fiona Grey’s latest EP, entitled, “Cult Classic”.
“Each song has its own identity and story it wants to tell.” – Fiona Grey
‘Cult Classic’ vocalizes cultural issues and expresses Fiona Grey’s vulnerability. Also, it highlights her anger towards the world we are living in and her desires for the world we are shaping.
Grammy Award-Winning Mike Schuppan (Paramore, M83, Ziggy Marley) produced the 6-track project. Also, Dave Cooley (Fitz & The Tantrums, Stone Temple Pilots) mastered it.
“There is a lot about living in a pop culture centered world that we deem as ‘normal behavior’. Also, I hope that the music can remind the listener that this follower-centric, alternate persona universe we live in is all temporary happiness.” – Fiona Grey
Fiona Grey draws inspiration from the world of Hollywood, it’s unrealistic expectations and the vices that people use as a form of escapism.
She hopes her music will help listeners aim to be the purest and honest versions of themselves.
The Sean Berger-music video was choreographed by Kevin Stea (Madonna, Michael Jackson).
The visuals are an ode to Felini, Marie Antoinette, and the dark and dreamy black and white films of the ‘60s.
‘Saviour’ contains a relatable storyline, pleasing vocals, and charismatic instrumentation flavored with an indie-alternative aroma.
Also, the likable tune is featured on Fiona Grey’s latest EP, entitled, “Cult Classic”.
“Each song has its own identity and story it wants to tell.” – Fiona Grey
‘Cult Classic’ vocalizes cultural issues and expresses Fiona Grey’s vulnerability. Also, it highlights her anger towards the world we are living in and her desires for the world we are shaping.
Grammy Award-Winning Mike Schuppan (Paramore, M83, Ziggy Marley) produced the 6-track project. Also, Dave Cooley (Fitz & The Tantrums, Stone Temple Pilots) mastered it.
“There is a lot about living in a pop culture centered world that we deem as ‘normal behavior’. Also, I hope that the music can remind the listener that this follower-centric, alternate persona universe we live in is all temporary happiness.” – Fiona Grey
Fiona Grey draws inspiration from the world of Hollywood, it’s unrealistic expectations and the vices that people use as a form of escapism.
She hopes her music will help listeners aim to be the purest and honest versions of themselves.