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Emma @ The Movies (1786 KP) rated Justice League (2017) in Movies
Sep 25, 2019
A powerful force is hidden on Earth, three Mother Boxes, previously used by Steppenwolf and his army of Parademons in an attempt to conquer Earth. As the planet mourns the loss of Superman the power is ignited again and triggers Steppenwolf's return to Earth. When Themyscira is attacked and their Mother Box is stolen, Queen Hippolyta warns her daughter of what is to come.
Bruce Wayne (Batman, shhhh don't tell anyone) enlists Diana Prince to help him gather other metahumans in an effort to stop the impending destruction of the Earth. It's time to meet the new recruits: Arthur Curry AKA Aquaman, Barry Allen AKA The Flash, and Victor Stone AKA Cyborg.
My worry here was that they couldn't come close to how well they did with Wonder Woman. Thankfully, while not everything was quite right, I really enjoyed this film and I barely felt any pain at watching this... all the pain happened when I rewatched Batman Vs Superman before going to see Justice League.
Let me get the gripes out of the way. The CGI, which seems to be a quibble from a lot of people. I'm not really sure how you manage to successfully do so much of it, and yet the villain... quite a major part of the film... looked terrible. In all honesty he kind of looked like they'd tried to recreate Liam Neeson in some shots so why not just get Liam Neeson in and wack some makeup on him. I'd totally have watched that. As for CGIing off Henry Cavill's moustache, admittedly some of the shots looked a little bit off, but I'm not convinced that if we hadn't known about it that most of us would have been able to tell, because who is going to be staring at that unless you have a fetish for his upper lip?
They also tried to make Batman/Bruce Wayne funny, which felt a little odd, and slightly forced at times. You can understand it to some degree, when you're bringing in Flash who is generally regarded as the comedian of the bunch then you're going to have to add some humour in so that he doesn't stick out like a sore thumb.
Obviously we know that I love Wonder Woman, so there isn't a lot I need to say there, she still rocked. I enjoyed Jason Momoa as Aquaman, and yes, a significant portion of that was looking at his half naked body. But I thought he played the part really well, and I loved him getting caught out by Diana's lasso. With the other two I was worried that me knowing them from other things would make it difficult getting to grips with these new incarnations. Thankfully it wasn't too bad though. As it happens I'm not a fan of either Grant Gustin or Ezra Miller in the role of Flash. This film version is probably more how I picture his character, but neither actor really brings it across to me quite how I'd hope. Finally, Ray Fisher as Cyborg, mock me if you must, but I've only seen the character in action as part of Teen Titans Go! In that he's a somewhat happy go lucky chap who loves his food, and this one is a bit more angsty as his creation is quite fresh. I enjoyed him as a character though, it was interesting to see how he developed as his powers did.
I'm not really sure how I felt about the Superman regeneration part of the story, I suppose at least he did a David Tennant and regenerated into himself.
Not a bad offering after Wonder Woman, and I'm looking forward to the follow up films that'll be coming out over the next few years.
Bruce Wayne (Batman, shhhh don't tell anyone) enlists Diana Prince to help him gather other metahumans in an effort to stop the impending destruction of the Earth. It's time to meet the new recruits: Arthur Curry AKA Aquaman, Barry Allen AKA The Flash, and Victor Stone AKA Cyborg.
My worry here was that they couldn't come close to how well they did with Wonder Woman. Thankfully, while not everything was quite right, I really enjoyed this film and I barely felt any pain at watching this... all the pain happened when I rewatched Batman Vs Superman before going to see Justice League.
Let me get the gripes out of the way. The CGI, which seems to be a quibble from a lot of people. I'm not really sure how you manage to successfully do so much of it, and yet the villain... quite a major part of the film... looked terrible. In all honesty he kind of looked like they'd tried to recreate Liam Neeson in some shots so why not just get Liam Neeson in and wack some makeup on him. I'd totally have watched that. As for CGIing off Henry Cavill's moustache, admittedly some of the shots looked a little bit off, but I'm not convinced that if we hadn't known about it that most of us would have been able to tell, because who is going to be staring at that unless you have a fetish for his upper lip?
They also tried to make Batman/Bruce Wayne funny, which felt a little odd, and slightly forced at times. You can understand it to some degree, when you're bringing in Flash who is generally regarded as the comedian of the bunch then you're going to have to add some humour in so that he doesn't stick out like a sore thumb.
Obviously we know that I love Wonder Woman, so there isn't a lot I need to say there, she still rocked. I enjoyed Jason Momoa as Aquaman, and yes, a significant portion of that was looking at his half naked body. But I thought he played the part really well, and I loved him getting caught out by Diana's lasso. With the other two I was worried that me knowing them from other things would make it difficult getting to grips with these new incarnations. Thankfully it wasn't too bad though. As it happens I'm not a fan of either Grant Gustin or Ezra Miller in the role of Flash. This film version is probably more how I picture his character, but neither actor really brings it across to me quite how I'd hope. Finally, Ray Fisher as Cyborg, mock me if you must, but I've only seen the character in action as part of Teen Titans Go! In that he's a somewhat happy go lucky chap who loves his food, and this one is a bit more angsty as his creation is quite fresh. I enjoyed him as a character though, it was interesting to see how he developed as his powers did.
I'm not really sure how I felt about the Superman regeneration part of the story, I suppose at least he did a David Tennant and regenerated into himself.
Not a bad offering after Wonder Woman, and I'm looking forward to the follow up films that'll be coming out over the next few years.
Ivana A. | Diary of Difference (1171 KP) rated The Night Circus in Books
Oct 2, 2020
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I don’t even know how to start my book review for The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern. It was too magical, that I feel like everything I write will not do this book justice. To me, it felt like I was a part of one big secret. And in this book, Widget has something to say about secrets:
<b><i>“Secrets have power," Widget begins. "And that power diminishes when they are shared, so they are best kept and kept well. Sharing secrets, real secrets, important ones, with even one other person, will change them. Writing them down is worse, because who can tell how many eyes might see them inscribed on paper, no matter how careful you might be with it. So it’s really best to keep your secrets when you have them, for their own good, as well as yours.”</i></b>
Therefore, I feel like everything I might say will make this magical book a little less magical than it already is. I feel like this is an experience that you need to read for yourself, get acquainted with this Circus, with its characters, and feel like a part of it.
Two people, brought up in different circumstances, have been getting ready for the challenge all their lives. They can’t avoid it, they are bonded to it. Their task is to be better than the other person, be a better magician, be a better illusionist. Their destiny is magical and dangerous, and the circus is their arena.
<b><i>“You need to understand your limitations so you can overcome them.”</i></b>
The circus is a beautiful place.It is magical. It is everything you’ve ever wanted as a kid. The lights, the music, the mystery, the performers… Everything that happens in the circus has its own story. Many characters involved and their own adventures mix, get tangled and interfere with the two competitor’s destiny. I loved the descriptions of the different tents, the ice garden, the labyrinth, the cloud maze, the tent with the bottles...
<b><i>“People see what they wish to see. And in most cases, what they are told that they see.”</i></b>
The writing in The Night Circus is beautiful. It is slow-paced and very imaginative. Slowly, it takes you to a place where people perform illusions, read tarot and foresee the destiny, tell stories, build magical clocks. If you’ve ever been to a circus, you will feel like you are there again. If you haven’t experienced that before, this book will give you the best possible introduction. A story of magic, love, destiny and storytelling like you’ve never seen before and you’re unlikely to see soon. It’s no wonder this book receives such hype.
<b><i>"A dreamer is one who can only find his way by moonlight, and his punishment is that he sees the dawn before the rest of the world."
- Oscar Wilde, 1888</i></b>
The Night Circus is a favourite. The ultimate favorite. Today, tomorrow, and probably until the rest of my life. For all the characters inside it that mattered. For the happy ever afters. But most importantly, for the storytellers. For my grandma, for Widget and for Erin. And for the other storytellers like them - because without them, we wouldn’t be able to truly find magic.
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I don’t even know how to start my book review for The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern. It was too magical, that I feel like everything I write will not do this book justice. To me, it felt like I was a part of one big secret. And in this book, Widget has something to say about secrets:
<b><i>“Secrets have power," Widget begins. "And that power diminishes when they are shared, so they are best kept and kept well. Sharing secrets, real secrets, important ones, with even one other person, will change them. Writing them down is worse, because who can tell how many eyes might see them inscribed on paper, no matter how careful you might be with it. So it’s really best to keep your secrets when you have them, for their own good, as well as yours.”</i></b>
Therefore, I feel like everything I might say will make this magical book a little less magical than it already is. I feel like this is an experience that you need to read for yourself, get acquainted with this Circus, with its characters, and feel like a part of it.
Two people, brought up in different circumstances, have been getting ready for the challenge all their lives. They can’t avoid it, they are bonded to it. Their task is to be better than the other person, be a better magician, be a better illusionist. Their destiny is magical and dangerous, and the circus is their arena.
<b><i>“You need to understand your limitations so you can overcome them.”</i></b>
The circus is a beautiful place.It is magical. It is everything you’ve ever wanted as a kid. The lights, the music, the mystery, the performers… Everything that happens in the circus has its own story. Many characters involved and their own adventures mix, get tangled and interfere with the two competitor’s destiny. I loved the descriptions of the different tents, the ice garden, the labyrinth, the cloud maze, the tent with the bottles...
<b><i>“People see what they wish to see. And in most cases, what they are told that they see.”</i></b>
The writing in The Night Circus is beautiful. It is slow-paced and very imaginative. Slowly, it takes you to a place where people perform illusions, read tarot and foresee the destiny, tell stories, build magical clocks. If you’ve ever been to a circus, you will feel like you are there again. If you haven’t experienced that before, this book will give you the best possible introduction. A story of magic, love, destiny and storytelling like you’ve never seen before and you’re unlikely to see soon. It’s no wonder this book receives such hype.
<b><i>"A dreamer is one who can only find his way by moonlight, and his punishment is that he sees the dawn before the rest of the world."
- Oscar Wilde, 1888</i></b>
The Night Circus is a favourite. The ultimate favorite. Today, tomorrow, and probably until the rest of my life. For all the characters inside it that mattered. For the happy ever afters. But most importantly, for the storytellers. For my grandma, for Widget and for Erin. And for the other storytellers like them - because without them, we wouldn’t be able to truly find magic.
BankofMarquis (1832 KP) rated The French Dispatch (2021) in Movies
Jan 4, 2022
Weak Stories Can't Support the STUNNING Visuals
Filmmaker Wes Anderson is an acquired taste. He is one of the most visually stunning filmmakers working today, but his films are often time difficult to grasp and can get lost in their own weirdness.
Such is the case with his latest effort THE FRENCH DISPATCH. It is a visually STUNNING film that you can turn the sound off and just drink in the images depicted on screen with your eyes - but the story these pictures tell was, unfortunately, not all that compelling.
Starring Bill Murray, Tilda Swinton, Frances McDormand, Jeffrey Wright and a whole bundle of known stars, THE FRENCH DISPATCH tells the story of a Sunday Newspaper insert called THE FRENCH DISPATCH (think PARADE MAGAZINE). The quirk of the FRENCH DISPATCH is that this insert in the Liberty, Kansas paper in the 1930’s(or so) focuses solely on the goings-on of the French town of Enui. Stories told in the flavor of the New Yorker.
So…this setup is just, really, an excuse to tell 3 different short stories and tie them together with an overarching theme - getting the French Dispatch ready to publish. A good enough excuse for a movie - provided that the 3 stories being told are interesting enough - which they are not (and therein lies the issue with this film).
Bill Murray is a congenial enough host of this party as the Editor of The French Dispatch. His character is the “through line” of this film and if you are going to anchor an anthology film with a character/actor, then Bill Murray is a pretty good anchor.
The first story, telling of a life-imprisoned person (Benicio Del Toro) who finds a muse (Lea Seydoux) and becomes a world famous artist, thanks to the efforts of his patron (Adrian Brody) is the best of the bunch. This story is written/narrated by a character played by Tilda Swinton and it is her performance that is the highlight of the film for me. Because of this narration - and because this is the best written/most interesting and best acted of the 3 stories (by Del Toro, Seydoux and Brody), I was excited as to where this film was going to go from here.
Unfortunately, that direction was down.
The 3rd story - narrated by a character played by Jeffrey Wright about a Police Commissioner’s son who is kidnapped is absurb - and almost succeeds when Anderson decides to animate the car chase - but ultimately isn’t quite as good as the first piece.
And then there is the middle part that stars Timothee Chalamet as a student that starts a rebellion. This part is written/narrated by a character played by Frances McDormand and while these 2 are “game” for what is given to them, the story is not compelling and, to be honest, a bit boring. This middle story (the longest of the 3 tales) is where the movie loses it’s footing.
And that’s too bad for Anderson - as is his custom - fills every frame with interesting pictures/visuals that are a marvel to look at and fills almost every minor role with some sort of major star looking to work with him. Almost the best part of this film was to spot the star in a cameo role. Willem DaFoe, Saoirse Ronan, Liev Schrieber, the “Fonz” himself, Henry Winkler, Cristoph Walz and Anderson “regulars” Jason Schwartman, Edward Norton and Owen Wilson (amongst others) all show up - briefly - to lend their talents to this absurdity.
Well worth checking out for the visuals, just don’t look for much in the way of plot or drama.
Letter Grade: B (did I mention that the visuals are STUNNING?)
7 stars (out of 10) and you can take that to the Bank(ofMarquis)
Such is the case with his latest effort THE FRENCH DISPATCH. It is a visually STUNNING film that you can turn the sound off and just drink in the images depicted on screen with your eyes - but the story these pictures tell was, unfortunately, not all that compelling.
Starring Bill Murray, Tilda Swinton, Frances McDormand, Jeffrey Wright and a whole bundle of known stars, THE FRENCH DISPATCH tells the story of a Sunday Newspaper insert called THE FRENCH DISPATCH (think PARADE MAGAZINE). The quirk of the FRENCH DISPATCH is that this insert in the Liberty, Kansas paper in the 1930’s(or so) focuses solely on the goings-on of the French town of Enui. Stories told in the flavor of the New Yorker.
So…this setup is just, really, an excuse to tell 3 different short stories and tie them together with an overarching theme - getting the French Dispatch ready to publish. A good enough excuse for a movie - provided that the 3 stories being told are interesting enough - which they are not (and therein lies the issue with this film).
Bill Murray is a congenial enough host of this party as the Editor of The French Dispatch. His character is the “through line” of this film and if you are going to anchor an anthology film with a character/actor, then Bill Murray is a pretty good anchor.
The first story, telling of a life-imprisoned person (Benicio Del Toro) who finds a muse (Lea Seydoux) and becomes a world famous artist, thanks to the efforts of his patron (Adrian Brody) is the best of the bunch. This story is written/narrated by a character played by Tilda Swinton and it is her performance that is the highlight of the film for me. Because of this narration - and because this is the best written/most interesting and best acted of the 3 stories (by Del Toro, Seydoux and Brody), I was excited as to where this film was going to go from here.
Unfortunately, that direction was down.
The 3rd story - narrated by a character played by Jeffrey Wright about a Police Commissioner’s son who is kidnapped is absurb - and almost succeeds when Anderson decides to animate the car chase - but ultimately isn’t quite as good as the first piece.
And then there is the middle part that stars Timothee Chalamet as a student that starts a rebellion. This part is written/narrated by a character played by Frances McDormand and while these 2 are “game” for what is given to them, the story is not compelling and, to be honest, a bit boring. This middle story (the longest of the 3 tales) is where the movie loses it’s footing.
And that’s too bad for Anderson - as is his custom - fills every frame with interesting pictures/visuals that are a marvel to look at and fills almost every minor role with some sort of major star looking to work with him. Almost the best part of this film was to spot the star in a cameo role. Willem DaFoe, Saoirse Ronan, Liev Schrieber, the “Fonz” himself, Henry Winkler, Cristoph Walz and Anderson “regulars” Jason Schwartman, Edward Norton and Owen Wilson (amongst others) all show up - briefly - to lend their talents to this absurdity.
Well worth checking out for the visuals, just don’t look for much in the way of plot or drama.
Letter Grade: B (did I mention that the visuals are STUNNING?)
7 stars (out of 10) and you can take that to the Bank(ofMarquis)
Connor Sheffield (293 KP) rated Arrow in TV
May 13, 2018
Closer to the comics than people think (5 more)
Great cast
Intriguing characters
Brilliant character development
Great drama
Great references to the comics
Some characters become annoying (1 more)
Not all seasons are consistent with quality
You Have (not) failed this series!
First of all I should tell you that Green Arrow is my all time favourite comic character so this review might have some bias but I'll keep it to a minimum because I am not blinded by this shows faults of which it's had quite a few.
When I first saw the trailer for Arrow I was hooked. Finally, a show about Green Arrow, one of the less popular heroes these days and one of the many heroes that makes the people who only watch comic book films, say "Who the hell is that?".
Series one had me hooked with great drama, and incredible action that made the week long wait for each episode painful. The drama was intense as we watch Oliver Queen trying to juggle his two lives as both Oliver Queen and Arrow (currently called the Vigilante or The Hood during season 1), as he tries to keep his night time activities as a vigilante a secret.
The faults of this series reside in some of the dialogue and characters who I won't name because it's not really down to one particular character as others do the same though some get more blame than others. The point is, some of the drama in the show is unnecessary and sometimes it's all over the place going from "I love you" to "never talk to me again" within seconds for very stupid reasons. If you can get past that though, you'll see a lot more of Green Arrow in the show than you realise.
One of the main things I love about this show is seeing Oliver Queen take on real life issues as well as comic book villains. Issues such as his sister taking drugs which, due to her childhood nickname being 'Speedy', is a reference to Green Lantern/Green Arrow #85 and #86 where Green Arrow finds out that Roy Harper is a drug addict. By making the series version about his sister however, makes the situation more personal which means it messes with Olivers head when he's out hunting the drug suppliers.
The villains have all been great in the series, even though not all have been praised. Malcom Merlyn as the first villain was a good choice because he's one of the few original Green Arrow Villains from comics and John Barrowman was a brilliant choice of casting. Deathstroke then took it up a notch and really made the series great, and his season is possibly still one of the best seasons (season 2). Ras Al Ghul was a very intense series and although everyone moaned that Arrow had become too much like Batman, but Arrow made it their own and made a brilliantly intense series with some great twists that at the time I was like "please don't end it like this...." Or... "Where do they go from here?" And Everytime I thought they might have made a mistake with a certain plot point, they proved me wrong.
Damien Darkh was probably one of the lesser great villains. The casting was perfect, because Damien Darkh was so menacing and so brilliantly evil with a human side to him at certain points, but I don't think personally, they should have brought magic into Arrow, because it added too many scenes where you thought "why would you even try this?" Or "why did he not do this and this moment". But unlike many I actually enjoyed Damien Darkh as a villain because the characters and intense story were brilliantly chosen and executed.
The last two seasons (5 & 6) have been really intense and incredibly action packed as Green Arrow and Team Arrow try to take on what feels like the world.
The downfalls of the series include some of the drama being not entirely necessary. We understand as an audience that tensions build and everyone has a thousand and one problems that they have to deal with, but everyone seems to unleash them all at once. I understand wanting to build the feeling that everything is falling apart, but it happens soooo much, and it's hard to sympathise with certain scenarios because of it.
Another slight issue is the love interests. If you know Green Arrow, then you know he's a bit of a ladies man and that he can often be caught flirting and more with many women, in the show, we see this done well but at the end of the day it aaaallllwaayyyss comes back to Olicity. Oliver and Felicity's love story has had so many ups and downs and they've fallen in and out of love so many times and whilst I love Felicity as a character and a member of the team, the love rollercoaster she is on with Oliver reaaalllyyy annoys me at times, but I try to look past it and everything's seems to be okay.
Overall though this is one of my favourite shows and I prefer it to The Flash though The Flash has had some better seasons than Arrow has. I can't wait to see what else the show brings to the screen as it has already brought many obscure characters such as Cupid, Vigilante, Prometheus, Bronze Tiger and more!
When I first saw the trailer for Arrow I was hooked. Finally, a show about Green Arrow, one of the less popular heroes these days and one of the many heroes that makes the people who only watch comic book films, say "Who the hell is that?".
Series one had me hooked with great drama, and incredible action that made the week long wait for each episode painful. The drama was intense as we watch Oliver Queen trying to juggle his two lives as both Oliver Queen and Arrow (currently called the Vigilante or The Hood during season 1), as he tries to keep his night time activities as a vigilante a secret.
The faults of this series reside in some of the dialogue and characters who I won't name because it's not really down to one particular character as others do the same though some get more blame than others. The point is, some of the drama in the show is unnecessary and sometimes it's all over the place going from "I love you" to "never talk to me again" within seconds for very stupid reasons. If you can get past that though, you'll see a lot more of Green Arrow in the show than you realise.
One of the main things I love about this show is seeing Oliver Queen take on real life issues as well as comic book villains. Issues such as his sister taking drugs which, due to her childhood nickname being 'Speedy', is a reference to Green Lantern/Green Arrow #85 and #86 where Green Arrow finds out that Roy Harper is a drug addict. By making the series version about his sister however, makes the situation more personal which means it messes with Olivers head when he's out hunting the drug suppliers.
The villains have all been great in the series, even though not all have been praised. Malcom Merlyn as the first villain was a good choice because he's one of the few original Green Arrow Villains from comics and John Barrowman was a brilliant choice of casting. Deathstroke then took it up a notch and really made the series great, and his season is possibly still one of the best seasons (season 2). Ras Al Ghul was a very intense series and although everyone moaned that Arrow had become too much like Batman, but Arrow made it their own and made a brilliantly intense series with some great twists that at the time I was like "please don't end it like this...." Or... "Where do they go from here?" And Everytime I thought they might have made a mistake with a certain plot point, they proved me wrong.
Damien Darkh was probably one of the lesser great villains. The casting was perfect, because Damien Darkh was so menacing and so brilliantly evil with a human side to him at certain points, but I don't think personally, they should have brought magic into Arrow, because it added too many scenes where you thought "why would you even try this?" Or "why did he not do this and this moment". But unlike many I actually enjoyed Damien Darkh as a villain because the characters and intense story were brilliantly chosen and executed.
The last two seasons (5 & 6) have been really intense and incredibly action packed as Green Arrow and Team Arrow try to take on what feels like the world.
The downfalls of the series include some of the drama being not entirely necessary. We understand as an audience that tensions build and everyone has a thousand and one problems that they have to deal with, but everyone seems to unleash them all at once. I understand wanting to build the feeling that everything is falling apart, but it happens soooo much, and it's hard to sympathise with certain scenarios because of it.
Another slight issue is the love interests. If you know Green Arrow, then you know he's a bit of a ladies man and that he can often be caught flirting and more with many women, in the show, we see this done well but at the end of the day it aaaallllwaayyyss comes back to Olicity. Oliver and Felicity's love story has had so many ups and downs and they've fallen in and out of love so many times and whilst I love Felicity as a character and a member of the team, the love rollercoaster she is on with Oliver reaaalllyyy annoys me at times, but I try to look past it and everything's seems to be okay.
Overall though this is one of my favourite shows and I prefer it to The Flash though The Flash has had some better seasons than Arrow has. I can't wait to see what else the show brings to the screen as it has already brought many obscure characters such as Cupid, Vigilante, Prometheus, Bronze Tiger and more!
Debbiereadsbook (1454 KP) rated From A Jack To A King in Books
Jul 3, 2018 (Updated Jan 31, 2019)
bloody LOVED this book! and the narration!
Independent reviewer for Divine Magazine, I was gifted both the ebook AND audio version of this book.
First half of this review is from when I READ it, the second half is the audio bit.
Oh it's been a while since I had my Scotty Cade fix, and this proper hit THAT spot!
Bay is, by his own words, pretty much a recluse. Save for promoting his latest book and getting his gambling hit, he doesn't get out much. And when he DOES, he uses his character Jack as his alter ego. Winning escort King in a card game, and coming face to face with the spitting image of Jack knocks Bay off his axis. Just as meeting Bay knocks King off of his. King doesn't see Jack, he sees BAY. He also sees that Bay might be the one to halt his recovery.
I will be honest here, cos ya'll know I'm all about sharing, and tell you, I walked into this one a little wary. I've read a couple of other porn star books and had pretty much decided that I didn't like that particular troupe, and I wouldn't read any more. But this came up, and, I mean, its' Scotty Cade for heaven's sake! So I signed up and I was so very NOT disappointed!
What this one did, what made it stand out, was there was very little "work" time for King, once he and Bay had met. There is a scene before, and one after. But the one after is a huge part of the story; a necessary and integral part.
I loved that it's nearly to the end of the book before Bay and King come together properly. Loved that Bay put his research skills to good use; both for helping King with his recovery and watching all those videos to further his relationship with King.
Loved that while previously only ever having been with women, Bay didn't seem overly perturbed by his attraction to King. OH, he questioned his sexuality, many many times, but he wasn't particularly bothered by it!
There are some difficult topics dealt with here. Bullying and how that effects Bay as an adult. Sex addiction and how that makes King so very wary of what he feels for Bay so very VERY early on. Both topics are dealt with well and with sensitivity, but some readers may struggle with them.
I have just one teeny tiny niggle, but it doesn't affect my rating or my overall enjoyment of this book. It's just ME, being a little bit picky!
I would have liked, just once, while Bay and King are up close and personal, for Bay to have used King's given name, and not his "stage" name. That's all! Told you it was me being picky!
Mr Cade has a particular knack of writing with emotion; of being able to make you cry in really random places along with his characters; of being able to grab at your heart strings, tug them, snap them and put them back together again! And I bloody loved this book for that!!
I read this in one sitting, stayed up way past my bedtime to finish this! Loved it!!
5 full and shiny stars!
AUDIO REVIEW
Kenneth Obi narrates. And Mr Obi is growing on me for several reasons. As I see more and more books narrated by him, I can see his skill set growing. A quick search shows far more books that I expected, but the oldest is only November 2017, so he is still fairly new at this, and in the time since I listened to the other one he narrated that is in my library, I can hear a difference.
Obi's voice for Bay was. . . unexpected. I've no idea WHY, but that was my first thought. He sounds almost too young, but as I listened, I realised it fit Bay, PERFECTLY, it really did. I LOVED Bay's voice, I really did.
Obi's reading voice is clear and even, his voices for ALL the characters are clear and distinct enough for my crappy hearing to make them out. It was my only real criticism in the last book I listened to of his work, the voices were too similar for my crappy hearing to keep up. NOT so here.
The scenes for King and Bay getting up close and personal came over way more. . .what's the word. . . whats. . . .the. . .word. . . intense? maybe? I dunno, can't find that right word, and I hate not being able to do that, but they came across all kinds of different to when I read it. An AMAZING different though, cos Obi got out all the emotions that you don't always pick up when reading. The hitches and dips in the voices, the little noises, they don't always come across well on paper but HEARING them?? Oh yes Sir, intense is the right word!
I stand by what I said in my read review though! I would have liked, just once, while Bay and King are up close and personal, for Bay to have used King's given name, and not his "stage" name. That's all!
Watch out for Mr Obi, he's now firmly on my list!!
5 stars for the book
5 stars for the narration
5 stars overall.
**same worded review will appear elsewhere**
First half of this review is from when I READ it, the second half is the audio bit.
Oh it's been a while since I had my Scotty Cade fix, and this proper hit THAT spot!
Bay is, by his own words, pretty much a recluse. Save for promoting his latest book and getting his gambling hit, he doesn't get out much. And when he DOES, he uses his character Jack as his alter ego. Winning escort King in a card game, and coming face to face with the spitting image of Jack knocks Bay off his axis. Just as meeting Bay knocks King off of his. King doesn't see Jack, he sees BAY. He also sees that Bay might be the one to halt his recovery.
I will be honest here, cos ya'll know I'm all about sharing, and tell you, I walked into this one a little wary. I've read a couple of other porn star books and had pretty much decided that I didn't like that particular troupe, and I wouldn't read any more. But this came up, and, I mean, its' Scotty Cade for heaven's sake! So I signed up and I was so very NOT disappointed!
What this one did, what made it stand out, was there was very little "work" time for King, once he and Bay had met. There is a scene before, and one after. But the one after is a huge part of the story; a necessary and integral part.
I loved that it's nearly to the end of the book before Bay and King come together properly. Loved that Bay put his research skills to good use; both for helping King with his recovery and watching all those videos to further his relationship with King.
Loved that while previously only ever having been with women, Bay didn't seem overly perturbed by his attraction to King. OH, he questioned his sexuality, many many times, but he wasn't particularly bothered by it!
There are some difficult topics dealt with here. Bullying and how that effects Bay as an adult. Sex addiction and how that makes King so very wary of what he feels for Bay so very VERY early on. Both topics are dealt with well and with sensitivity, but some readers may struggle with them.
I have just one teeny tiny niggle, but it doesn't affect my rating or my overall enjoyment of this book. It's just ME, being a little bit picky!
I would have liked, just once, while Bay and King are up close and personal, for Bay to have used King's given name, and not his "stage" name. That's all! Told you it was me being picky!
Mr Cade has a particular knack of writing with emotion; of being able to make you cry in really random places along with his characters; of being able to grab at your heart strings, tug them, snap them and put them back together again! And I bloody loved this book for that!!
I read this in one sitting, stayed up way past my bedtime to finish this! Loved it!!
5 full and shiny stars!
AUDIO REVIEW
Kenneth Obi narrates. And Mr Obi is growing on me for several reasons. As I see more and more books narrated by him, I can see his skill set growing. A quick search shows far more books that I expected, but the oldest is only November 2017, so he is still fairly new at this, and in the time since I listened to the other one he narrated that is in my library, I can hear a difference.
Obi's voice for Bay was. . . unexpected. I've no idea WHY, but that was my first thought. He sounds almost too young, but as I listened, I realised it fit Bay, PERFECTLY, it really did. I LOVED Bay's voice, I really did.
Obi's reading voice is clear and even, his voices for ALL the characters are clear and distinct enough for my crappy hearing to make them out. It was my only real criticism in the last book I listened to of his work, the voices were too similar for my crappy hearing to keep up. NOT so here.
The scenes for King and Bay getting up close and personal came over way more. . .what's the word. . . whats. . . .the. . .word. . . intense? maybe? I dunno, can't find that right word, and I hate not being able to do that, but they came across all kinds of different to when I read it. An AMAZING different though, cos Obi got out all the emotions that you don't always pick up when reading. The hitches and dips in the voices, the little noises, they don't always come across well on paper but HEARING them?? Oh yes Sir, intense is the right word!
I stand by what I said in my read review though! I would have liked, just once, while Bay and King are up close and personal, for Bay to have used King's given name, and not his "stage" name. That's all!
Watch out for Mr Obi, he's now firmly on my list!!
5 stars for the book
5 stars for the narration
5 stars overall.
**same worded review will appear elsewhere**
Chris Sawin (602 KP) rated Good Boys (2019) in Movies
Aug 14, 2019
Repetitive. (1 more)
Too similar to other R-rated teen comedies.
Thor Casts Anal Bead Nunchucks
“Bean Bag Boys for life!” In Good Boys, that’s the motto for three 12-year-old best friends that are finding the sixth grade way more profound and coercing than the fifth grade or any other grade before it ever was. Max (Jacob Tremblay) is at the age where girls aren’t so gross and are actually quite arousing, Thor (Brady Noon) is giving up on who he is and what he loves in a bold attempt to try to fit in with kids who he thinks are cool, and Lucas (Keith L. Williams) mostly just loves Magic: The Gathering, treating women with respect, and being honest.
Two weeks into sixth grade and the boys find themselves invited to their first party, but the catch is that it’s a kissing party and none of them know how to kiss. They use Max’s dad’s drone to spy on high school girls Hannah (Molly Gordon) and Lily (Midori Francis), but the girls end up capturing the drone and holding it for ransom. After a face-to-face meeting goes south, Thor steals Hannah’s purse which includes two capsules of Molly/ecstasy in a kid’s chewy vitamins bottle. Now in possession of illegal drugs after skipping school and using Max’s dad’s drone without permission while he’s out of town, the boys need to figure out a way to get the drone back home without his dad knowing so Max won’t get grounded all so they can still attend the kissing party and become legends of the sixth grade.
Good Boys is co-written and co-directed (only Stupnitsky received credit) by Gene Stupnitsky and Lee Eisenberg (writers of Year One and Bad Teacher). The film is produced by Seth Green’s Point Grey Pictures and Good Universe (both Neighbors films, The Disaster Artist, Long Shot). This is all worth mentioning to get an idea of what you’re diving into if you plan on seeing this film. The R-rated comedy attempts to capture what Superbad did for teenagers over a decade ago, but replaces the teenage element with tweens. Whether they’re successful or not is entirely up to you.
There are some decent laugh-out-loud moments in Good Boys, but their long-lasting effect is short-lived because Stupnitsky and Eisenberg decided to repeat those laugh out loud moments over and over again to the point of annoyance. The main laughs of the film come from the boys trying to talk about adult things they don’t fully understand (cum pronounced as koom, a sex doll being a CPR dummy, a nymphomaniac is someone who likes to have sex at sea and on land, etc), thinking sex toys are weapons, and still not being able to get past the child proof lid on a vitamin bottle. These are all funny at first, but all the gags in the film fall under the same handful of categories and essentially feel like Stupnitsky and Eisenberg didn’t have enough creativity in the script writing process to think outside a smattering of raunch.
The typo’d “porb” sequence where the boys attempt to look up how to kiss on the internet, the crossing the busy highway on the way to the mall sequence, and Lucas being so adamant about a woman’s consent are more humorous elements because they’re not as overplayed into the ground; even the opening where Max is on the verge of masturbation seems like a cheap knock off of what Not Another Teen Movie did in its opening sequence nearly 20 years ago. In comparison, Olivia Wilde’s Booksmart from earlier this year was labeled as a female version of Superbad. The Superbad influence is there, but Booksmart adds a refreshing female perspective and explores what the future means for the main characters to a more satisfying extent.
Growing up and what that means to a 12-year-old is explored in Good Boys, but it seems awkward. You’re on the verge of becoming a teenager, which shouldn’t mean all that much for you other than attending a new school. Lucas’ parents are in the middle of a divorce and Thor is trying to be something he isn’t just for his reputation. The characters learn something over the course of the film because of this, but the entire maturing angle doesn’t feel right. Part of it is meant to be ridiculous, especially after Lucas says something like, “I’ve grown up a lot in the past two hours,” and it’s cool that the film goes out of its way to tell the audience to never be ashamed of what you love, but it all feels sloppy and thrown together at the last minute.
This is the first R-rated film to ever have a rating that includes, “all involving tweens,” and this could be seen as the Superbad of this generation, but Good Boys simply doesn’t differentiate itself from the high school and college R-rated comedies that came before it to be memorable or enjoyable. It will likely be a crowd pleaser anyway since the theater I was in was full of laughs from the general public, but its charm is ruined so early on and that’s a painful thing to say when your film is only 90 minutes long. Good Boys may be outrageous and funny at times, but its generic formula destroys what little entertainment value it potentially had.
Two weeks into sixth grade and the boys find themselves invited to their first party, but the catch is that it’s a kissing party and none of them know how to kiss. They use Max’s dad’s drone to spy on high school girls Hannah (Molly Gordon) and Lily (Midori Francis), but the girls end up capturing the drone and holding it for ransom. After a face-to-face meeting goes south, Thor steals Hannah’s purse which includes two capsules of Molly/ecstasy in a kid’s chewy vitamins bottle. Now in possession of illegal drugs after skipping school and using Max’s dad’s drone without permission while he’s out of town, the boys need to figure out a way to get the drone back home without his dad knowing so Max won’t get grounded all so they can still attend the kissing party and become legends of the sixth grade.
Good Boys is co-written and co-directed (only Stupnitsky received credit) by Gene Stupnitsky and Lee Eisenberg (writers of Year One and Bad Teacher). The film is produced by Seth Green’s Point Grey Pictures and Good Universe (both Neighbors films, The Disaster Artist, Long Shot). This is all worth mentioning to get an idea of what you’re diving into if you plan on seeing this film. The R-rated comedy attempts to capture what Superbad did for teenagers over a decade ago, but replaces the teenage element with tweens. Whether they’re successful or not is entirely up to you.
There are some decent laugh-out-loud moments in Good Boys, but their long-lasting effect is short-lived because Stupnitsky and Eisenberg decided to repeat those laugh out loud moments over and over again to the point of annoyance. The main laughs of the film come from the boys trying to talk about adult things they don’t fully understand (cum pronounced as koom, a sex doll being a CPR dummy, a nymphomaniac is someone who likes to have sex at sea and on land, etc), thinking sex toys are weapons, and still not being able to get past the child proof lid on a vitamin bottle. These are all funny at first, but all the gags in the film fall under the same handful of categories and essentially feel like Stupnitsky and Eisenberg didn’t have enough creativity in the script writing process to think outside a smattering of raunch.
The typo’d “porb” sequence where the boys attempt to look up how to kiss on the internet, the crossing the busy highway on the way to the mall sequence, and Lucas being so adamant about a woman’s consent are more humorous elements because they’re not as overplayed into the ground; even the opening where Max is on the verge of masturbation seems like a cheap knock off of what Not Another Teen Movie did in its opening sequence nearly 20 years ago. In comparison, Olivia Wilde’s Booksmart from earlier this year was labeled as a female version of Superbad. The Superbad influence is there, but Booksmart adds a refreshing female perspective and explores what the future means for the main characters to a more satisfying extent.
Growing up and what that means to a 12-year-old is explored in Good Boys, but it seems awkward. You’re on the verge of becoming a teenager, which shouldn’t mean all that much for you other than attending a new school. Lucas’ parents are in the middle of a divorce and Thor is trying to be something he isn’t just for his reputation. The characters learn something over the course of the film because of this, but the entire maturing angle doesn’t feel right. Part of it is meant to be ridiculous, especially after Lucas says something like, “I’ve grown up a lot in the past two hours,” and it’s cool that the film goes out of its way to tell the audience to never be ashamed of what you love, but it all feels sloppy and thrown together at the last minute.
This is the first R-rated film to ever have a rating that includes, “all involving tweens,” and this could be seen as the Superbad of this generation, but Good Boys simply doesn’t differentiate itself from the high school and college R-rated comedies that came before it to be memorable or enjoyable. It will likely be a crowd pleaser anyway since the theater I was in was full of laughs from the general public, but its charm is ruined so early on and that’s a painful thing to say when your film is only 90 minutes long. Good Boys may be outrageous and funny at times, but its generic formula destroys what little entertainment value it potentially had.
Matthew Krueger (10051 KP) rated A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) in Movies
Jul 3, 2020
Introduce a horror icon (3 more)
Robert Englund
Freddy
Wes Craven
Whatever you do, don’t fall asleep!
Contains spoilers, click to show
A Nightmare on Elm Street- is one of my all time favorite horror films. Its also one of the greatest horror movies of all time. That being said, the ending sucks and i will get to that, but first lets talk more about the film.
I just love the idea of someone who appears in your dreams. Someone who stalks you, someone who messes with you, someone who kills you in your dreams. Now Wes got the idea from several newspaper articles printed in the Los Angeles Times in the 1970s about Southeast Asian refugees, who, after fleeing to the United States because of war and genocide in Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam, suffered disturbing nightmares and refused to sleep. Some of the men died in their sleep soon after and some of his own childhood nightmares.
The idea of Freddy was Craven's early life. One night, a young Craven saw an elderly man walking on the sidepath outside the window of his home. The man stopped to glance at a startled Craven and walked off. Now Initially, Fred Krueger was intended to be a child molester, but Craven eventually characterized him as a child murderer to avoid being accused of exploiting a spate of highly publicized child molestation cases that occurred in California around the time of production of the film. This idea happened in the 2010 remake.
Lets talk about the plot: In Wes Craven's classic slasher film, several Midwestern teenagers fall prey to Freddy Krueger (Robert Englund), a disfigured midnight mangler who preys on the teenagers in their dreams -- which, in turn, kills them in reality. After investigating the phenomenon, Nancy (Heather Langenkamp) begins to suspect that a dark secret kept by her and her friends' parents may be the key to unraveling the mystery, but can Nancy and her boyfriend Glen (Johnny Depp) solve the puzzle before it's too late?
The plot/story is excellent, the mystery surrounded of Krueger. Who he exactly is, why is he do this, what made him do this, how do the parnets know about Krueger? All of these questions and more your trying to figure out and the movie does a excellent job explaining them.
The deaths: the death scenes are excellent. Tina revolving around her room, Rod's bed sheets wrapping around him while he is in a prison cell and dies hanging and Glen getting pulled through his bed and then his blood gushes to the ceiling. Excellent deaths and memorable.
The Ending: Craven originally planned for the film to have a more evocative ending: Nancy kills Krueger by ceasing to believe in him, then awakens to discover that everything that happened in the film was an elongated nightmare. However, New Line leader Robert Shaye demanded a twist ending, in which Krueger disappears and all seems to have been a dream, only for the audience to discover that it was a dream-within-a-dream-within-a-dream.
According to Craven, "The original ending of the script has Nancy come out the door. It's an unusually cloudy and foggy day. A car pulls up with her dead friends in it. She's startled. She goes out and gets in the car wondering what the hell is going on, and they drive off into the fog, with the mother left standing on the doorstep and that's it. It was very brief, and suggestive that maybe life is sort of dream-like too. Shaye wanted Freddy Krueger to be driving the car, and have the kids screaming. It all became very negative. I felt a philosophical tension to my ending. Shaye said, "That's so 60s, it's stupid." I refused to have Freddy in the driver's seat, and we thought up about five different endings. The one we used, with Freddy pulling the mother through the doorway amused us all so much, we couldn't not use it."
Heather Langenkamp states that "there always was this sense that Freddy was the car", while according to Sara Risher, "it was always Wes' idea to pan to the little girls' jumping rope". Both a happy ending and a twist ending were filmed, but the final film used the twist ending. As a result, Craven who never wanted the film to be an ongoing franchise, did not work on the first sequel, Freddy's Revenge (1985).
Also Nancy's mom getting pulles through the window door was wierd and you can tell it was a blow up doll.
The Music: The lyrics for Freddy's theme song, sung by the jumprope children throughout the series and based on One, Two, Buckle My Shoe, was already written and included in the script when Bernstein started writing the soundtrack, while the melody for it was not set by Bernstein, but by Heather Langenkamp's boyfriend and soon-to-be husband at the time, Alan Pasqua, who was a musician himself. One of the three girls who recorded the vocal part of the theme was Robert Shaye's then 14-year-old daughter. Per the script, the lyrics are as follow: One two, Freddie's coming for you.Three four, better lock your door. Five six, grab your crucifix. Seven eight, gonna stay up late. Nine ten, never sleep again.
End Thoughts: A Nightmare on Elm Street is a excellent horror movie, it introduces a horror icon, has great charcters, has great death scenes and above all is perfect. Thank you Wes for giving us this movie.
I just love the idea of someone who appears in your dreams. Someone who stalks you, someone who messes with you, someone who kills you in your dreams. Now Wes got the idea from several newspaper articles printed in the Los Angeles Times in the 1970s about Southeast Asian refugees, who, after fleeing to the United States because of war and genocide in Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam, suffered disturbing nightmares and refused to sleep. Some of the men died in their sleep soon after and some of his own childhood nightmares.
The idea of Freddy was Craven's early life. One night, a young Craven saw an elderly man walking on the sidepath outside the window of his home. The man stopped to glance at a startled Craven and walked off. Now Initially, Fred Krueger was intended to be a child molester, but Craven eventually characterized him as a child murderer to avoid being accused of exploiting a spate of highly publicized child molestation cases that occurred in California around the time of production of the film. This idea happened in the 2010 remake.
Lets talk about the plot: In Wes Craven's classic slasher film, several Midwestern teenagers fall prey to Freddy Krueger (Robert Englund), a disfigured midnight mangler who preys on the teenagers in their dreams -- which, in turn, kills them in reality. After investigating the phenomenon, Nancy (Heather Langenkamp) begins to suspect that a dark secret kept by her and her friends' parents may be the key to unraveling the mystery, but can Nancy and her boyfriend Glen (Johnny Depp) solve the puzzle before it's too late?
The plot/story is excellent, the mystery surrounded of Krueger. Who he exactly is, why is he do this, what made him do this, how do the parnets know about Krueger? All of these questions and more your trying to figure out and the movie does a excellent job explaining them.
The deaths: the death scenes are excellent. Tina revolving around her room, Rod's bed sheets wrapping around him while he is in a prison cell and dies hanging and Glen getting pulled through his bed and then his blood gushes to the ceiling. Excellent deaths and memorable.
The Ending: Craven originally planned for the film to have a more evocative ending: Nancy kills Krueger by ceasing to believe in him, then awakens to discover that everything that happened in the film was an elongated nightmare. However, New Line leader Robert Shaye demanded a twist ending, in which Krueger disappears and all seems to have been a dream, only for the audience to discover that it was a dream-within-a-dream-within-a-dream.
According to Craven, "The original ending of the script has Nancy come out the door. It's an unusually cloudy and foggy day. A car pulls up with her dead friends in it. She's startled. She goes out and gets in the car wondering what the hell is going on, and they drive off into the fog, with the mother left standing on the doorstep and that's it. It was very brief, and suggestive that maybe life is sort of dream-like too. Shaye wanted Freddy Krueger to be driving the car, and have the kids screaming. It all became very negative. I felt a philosophical tension to my ending. Shaye said, "That's so 60s, it's stupid." I refused to have Freddy in the driver's seat, and we thought up about five different endings. The one we used, with Freddy pulling the mother through the doorway amused us all so much, we couldn't not use it."
Heather Langenkamp states that "there always was this sense that Freddy was the car", while according to Sara Risher, "it was always Wes' idea to pan to the little girls' jumping rope". Both a happy ending and a twist ending were filmed, but the final film used the twist ending. As a result, Craven who never wanted the film to be an ongoing franchise, did not work on the first sequel, Freddy's Revenge (1985).
Also Nancy's mom getting pulles through the window door was wierd and you can tell it was a blow up doll.
The Music: The lyrics for Freddy's theme song, sung by the jumprope children throughout the series and based on One, Two, Buckle My Shoe, was already written and included in the script when Bernstein started writing the soundtrack, while the melody for it was not set by Bernstein, but by Heather Langenkamp's boyfriend and soon-to-be husband at the time, Alan Pasqua, who was a musician himself. One of the three girls who recorded the vocal part of the theme was Robert Shaye's then 14-year-old daughter. Per the script, the lyrics are as follow: One two, Freddie's coming for you.Three four, better lock your door. Five six, grab your crucifix. Seven eight, gonna stay up late. Nine ten, never sleep again.
End Thoughts: A Nightmare on Elm Street is a excellent horror movie, it introduces a horror icon, has great charcters, has great death scenes and above all is perfect. Thank you Wes for giving us this movie.
Heather Cranmer (2721 KP) rated Angel Thieves in Books
Sep 8, 2019
I really enjoyed Kathi Appelt's writing style in her children's picture book Max Attacks, so when the chance to read and review her Young Adult novel Angel Thieves presented itself, I decided to give it a read. I'm really glad I did because I fell head over heels in love with this book!
I very much enjoyed the plot of Angel Thieves and found myself immersed in the story from the very first page. It is told from different perspectives including humans, an ocelot, and a bayou which definitely made this book even more interesting! The narrative is told from 1845 through to present time. It all takes place in Houston, Texas. Every perspective is interwoven with each other. We learn about a teenage crush, a father and son duo who steal marble angel statues to make a living, an ocelot who was poached from her home and caught in a hurricane where she's left starving and unable to escape from her cage, a former slave who is trying to help her young daughters escape from being slaves themselves, a bayou who has seen it all, and some other points of view from others throughout Angel Thieves. I was constantly memorized by each chapter, and I was on pins and needles wondering what would happen next. It also helps that the author, Kathi Appelt, is such a fabulous writer who makes all her words come to life with her extraordinary talent! There weren't any major plot twists, but this isn't a book that needs to rely on plot twists to keep it interesting. The writing itself is strong enough to hold its own. There are no cliff hangers, but I would have liked to know a little more about Achsah and her children. There is some mention of them at the end, but I was heavily invested in Achsah's story where I really wanted to know more. However, this doesn't take away from the appeal of the book by no means. Because the prose is so beautifully written, the pacing flows very well. The chapters are mostly all short as well, so it's easy to read this book in one sitting. The world building was done fantastically, and it was obvious that Kathi Appelt had done her research when it came to the plot of her story. In fact, I even learned something when it came to Texas history! I'm also grateful that Kathi Appelt included an author's note at the end of Angel Thieves. It's definitely worth reading even if you don't normally read author's notes. This will give you more of an insight about the real life history that her book is based upon.
I felt like the characters in Angel Thieves were well written and fleshed out perfectly. Kathi Appelt even made a bayou feel like a real person which goes to show how much of a talented writer she really is! I felt Soleil's frustrations with trying to get Cade's attention and her hurt when it came to losing someone close to her. I felt her joy when she was happy. Cade was a great character too. I loved his relationship with his dad. It was obvious how close the two were. It was interesting to see Cade's conflicting emotions when it came to stealing marble angels. One one hand, he wanted to make his dad happy, but he also knew that what they were doing wasn't right. I enjoyed reading about how he dealt with his feelings about that. Zorra, I absolutely loved. My heart went out to this lovely little ocelot who was helpless and taken from everything she'd ever known. I was always hoping she'd be rescued when her next chapter was up. Out of all the characters, my favorite to read about was Achsah. As a mother, I could relate to wanting to keep her children safe no matter what. As a former slave, she had her freedom when her master died, but her daughters were to become slaves to her master's friend. Achsah couldn't and wouldn't let this happen, so she risked everything to keep her girls safe. I felt like Achsah had the most interesting story to tell. I was constantly wishing good things for Achsah and her two little girls. Unfortunately, Achsah's story is based in truth on what happened with a lot of slaves during that horrible period in American history.
Trigger warnings for Angel Thieves include slavery, minor profanity, stealing, a mention of child rape (although not graphic), and some violence (nothing too graphic).
All in all, Angel Thieves is highly interesting read that is also partly educational. It definitely taught me things about Texas that I didn't even know, and I grew up in Texas! Angel Thieves also has such strong characters, and Kathi Appelt's love for this story is apparent on each page. I would definitely recommend Angel Thieves by Kathi Appelt to those aged 14 and older who love getting lost in a good book. This is one book that's very easy to get lost in! An easy 5 out of 5 stars for Angel Thieves!
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(A special thank you to Kathi Appelt for providing me with a hardback of Angel Thieves in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.)
I very much enjoyed the plot of Angel Thieves and found myself immersed in the story from the very first page. It is told from different perspectives including humans, an ocelot, and a bayou which definitely made this book even more interesting! The narrative is told from 1845 through to present time. It all takes place in Houston, Texas. Every perspective is interwoven with each other. We learn about a teenage crush, a father and son duo who steal marble angel statues to make a living, an ocelot who was poached from her home and caught in a hurricane where she's left starving and unable to escape from her cage, a former slave who is trying to help her young daughters escape from being slaves themselves, a bayou who has seen it all, and some other points of view from others throughout Angel Thieves. I was constantly memorized by each chapter, and I was on pins and needles wondering what would happen next. It also helps that the author, Kathi Appelt, is such a fabulous writer who makes all her words come to life with her extraordinary talent! There weren't any major plot twists, but this isn't a book that needs to rely on plot twists to keep it interesting. The writing itself is strong enough to hold its own. There are no cliff hangers, but I would have liked to know a little more about Achsah and her children. There is some mention of them at the end, but I was heavily invested in Achsah's story where I really wanted to know more. However, this doesn't take away from the appeal of the book by no means. Because the prose is so beautifully written, the pacing flows very well. The chapters are mostly all short as well, so it's easy to read this book in one sitting. The world building was done fantastically, and it was obvious that Kathi Appelt had done her research when it came to the plot of her story. In fact, I even learned something when it came to Texas history! I'm also grateful that Kathi Appelt included an author's note at the end of Angel Thieves. It's definitely worth reading even if you don't normally read author's notes. This will give you more of an insight about the real life history that her book is based upon.
I felt like the characters in Angel Thieves were well written and fleshed out perfectly. Kathi Appelt even made a bayou feel like a real person which goes to show how much of a talented writer she really is! I felt Soleil's frustrations with trying to get Cade's attention and her hurt when it came to losing someone close to her. I felt her joy when she was happy. Cade was a great character too. I loved his relationship with his dad. It was obvious how close the two were. It was interesting to see Cade's conflicting emotions when it came to stealing marble angels. One one hand, he wanted to make his dad happy, but he also knew that what they were doing wasn't right. I enjoyed reading about how he dealt with his feelings about that. Zorra, I absolutely loved. My heart went out to this lovely little ocelot who was helpless and taken from everything she'd ever known. I was always hoping she'd be rescued when her next chapter was up. Out of all the characters, my favorite to read about was Achsah. As a mother, I could relate to wanting to keep her children safe no matter what. As a former slave, she had her freedom when her master died, but her daughters were to become slaves to her master's friend. Achsah couldn't and wouldn't let this happen, so she risked everything to keep her girls safe. I felt like Achsah had the most interesting story to tell. I was constantly wishing good things for Achsah and her two little girls. Unfortunately, Achsah's story is based in truth on what happened with a lot of slaves during that horrible period in American history.
Trigger warnings for Angel Thieves include slavery, minor profanity, stealing, a mention of child rape (although not graphic), and some violence (nothing too graphic).
All in all, Angel Thieves is highly interesting read that is also partly educational. It definitely taught me things about Texas that I didn't even know, and I grew up in Texas! Angel Thieves also has such strong characters, and Kathi Appelt's love for this story is apparent on each page. I would definitely recommend Angel Thieves by Kathi Appelt to those aged 14 and older who love getting lost in a good book. This is one book that's very easy to get lost in! An easy 5 out of 5 stars for Angel Thieves!
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(A special thank you to Kathi Appelt for providing me with a hardback of Angel Thieves in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.)
Heather Cranmer (2721 KP) rated Pretty Girl-13 in Books
Jun 7, 2018
(This review can be found on my blog <a href="http://themisadventuresofatwentysomething.blogspot.com/">The (Mis)Adventures of a Twenty-Something Year Old Girl</a> in September).
Pretty Girl-13 by Liz Coley was a book that I was dying to read. It was at the top of my TBR pile, so I was thrilled when I discovered that my local library had it. This turned out to be a fascinating read.
I'm not really a fan of the title. Yes, the main character is called Pretty Girl by her captor and at least one of her alters, but that's it. I, personally, think Gone Girl or some other title would've been better.
I do like the cover. I love how it shows Angie walking out of a cabin in the woods which ties in with the story. That cabin, as well as being real, is also symbolic.
I thought the author did an excellent job with making Angie's world come alive. Liz Coley wrote each alter well enough that they actually came across as being a different person with their own personality. The setting was fantastic too.
The pacing was fantastic! I pretty much breezed through this book in one day. It was held my attention the whole time, and I found it super interesting!
\I thought the plot of this book would mostly focus on Angie's kidnapping, but it focuses mainly on her Dissociative Identity Disorder. While we do learn about Angie's kidnapping and everything that happened, we learn it through each of her alters. The plot focuses on how Angie deals which each alter more than anything.
The characters are written very richly. Angie is a broken girl, and I ended up feeling like I wanted to protect her. There were some times when I felt really annoyed with her like when she wouldn't tell people certain key elements of what had happened to her. On one hand, I realize that she was kind of scared, but in one scene, she doesn't tell her mom something simply because she's angry at her. Now, all of this could probably be explained since she's been abused since she was 13, but it still just annoyed me. Overall, Angie is a great character. As I've said before, even her alters have personalities of her own, and the author does a great job at conveying that these alters are supposed to be their own person so to speak. Even the minor characters are done well such as Abraim. Abraim seemed like such a sweet guy and very accepting.
The dialogue was easy to understand although at some points, I felt as if Angie was older then 16. There is some swearing in this book if that's not your thing.
Overall, Pretty Girl-13 by Liz Coley is an enjoyable book. I found it fascinating to read about Dissociative Identity Disorder as well as trying to solve Angie's kidnapping.
I'd recommend this book to those aged 16+ (due to language and themes) who are interested in mental health as well as mysteries.
I'd give Pretty Girl-13 by Liz Coley a 4.5 out of 5.
Pretty Girl-13 by Liz Coley was a book that I was dying to read. It was at the top of my TBR pile, so I was thrilled when I discovered that my local library had it. This turned out to be a fascinating read.
I'm not really a fan of the title. Yes, the main character is called Pretty Girl by her captor and at least one of her alters, but that's it. I, personally, think Gone Girl or some other title would've been better.
I do like the cover. I love how it shows Angie walking out of a cabin in the woods which ties in with the story. That cabin, as well as being real, is also symbolic.
I thought the author did an excellent job with making Angie's world come alive. Liz Coley wrote each alter well enough that they actually came across as being a different person with their own personality. The setting was fantastic too.
The pacing was fantastic! I pretty much breezed through this book in one day. It was held my attention the whole time, and I found it super interesting!
\I thought the plot of this book would mostly focus on Angie's kidnapping, but it focuses mainly on her Dissociative Identity Disorder. While we do learn about Angie's kidnapping and everything that happened, we learn it through each of her alters. The plot focuses on how Angie deals which each alter more than anything.
The characters are written very richly. Angie is a broken girl, and I ended up feeling like I wanted to protect her. There were some times when I felt really annoyed with her like when she wouldn't tell people certain key elements of what had happened to her. On one hand, I realize that she was kind of scared, but in one scene, she doesn't tell her mom something simply because she's angry at her. Now, all of this could probably be explained since she's been abused since she was 13, but it still just annoyed me. Overall, Angie is a great character. As I've said before, even her alters have personalities of her own, and the author does a great job at conveying that these alters are supposed to be their own person so to speak. Even the minor characters are done well such as Abraim. Abraim seemed like such a sweet guy and very accepting.
The dialogue was easy to understand although at some points, I felt as if Angie was older then 16. There is some swearing in this book if that's not your thing.
Overall, Pretty Girl-13 by Liz Coley is an enjoyable book. I found it fascinating to read about Dissociative Identity Disorder as well as trying to solve Angie's kidnapping.
I'd recommend this book to those aged 16+ (due to language and themes) who are interested in mental health as well as mysteries.
I'd give Pretty Girl-13 by Liz Coley a 4.5 out of 5.
Debbiereadsbook (1454 KP) rated Becoming His Perfect Daddy (Unlikely Daddies #1) in Books
May 19, 2024
bloody LOVED this book!
Independent reviewer for GRR, I was gifted my copy of this book.
Let me just put this out there, Ok?? I'm a straight cis woman, on the wrong side of 50. I read a lot of MM books, and have read some with trans main characters. I have not ever read a T4T (my apologies if this is incorrect, but I'm trying!) book, never. So I went into this with an open mind and an open heart and an open book brain.
But let me tell you about this book!
There is a bit at the beginning of this book, that the author wrote. I don't usually bother with those, unles my book feelings tell me to read it, so I did and it gave me a much better insight into Sam and Cameron, but also into this author, as some of this book is their story. (again, apologies is this is incorrect, but I couldn't find your preferred pronouns, so went with the best option!)
And what that bit does, my good peeps, is set it all out for you, in a way a lay person like myself can understand the terms, words and difficulties being a trans person comes with.
While this book is set over a long period of time, over a year, I was surprised at the speed at which things moved for Sam, once he made the decision to become himself. I know in the UK these take a long, LONG time, so that surprised me.
Sam and Cameron are perfect for each other! Cameron has already transitioned, and Sam has the dawning realisation that he is not in the right body after reading one of Cameron's books. That CAMERON makes him see who he really should be, a man and a Daddy. These two are absolutely perfect for each other, they really are! Loved how the D/b relationship developed.
I will be honest, I wasn't sure the smexy times would work, I don't know WHY I thought that, but you know me and my book brain, but bloody hell! They work, trust me! Super spicy smexy times!! Loved that!
You get deep into the psyche of being trans with these two. The emotions are deep and heavy in places. Made me cry in some places, it really did, the weight of feelings that these men have about themselves. It's really painful reading in parts, and I think you need to be aware if you have any triggers regarding body dysmophia.
I LOVED this book, in case I didn't say it yet!
I see two pairings among the side characters, one set have their book next and I will be reading that book, and any more that come along! I also found that this is only the author's second book, with a short before this one. And bloody hell, they smashed it out the park!
I cannot give it anything other than. . .
5 full and super shiny stars
*same worded review will appear elsewhere
Let me just put this out there, Ok?? I'm a straight cis woman, on the wrong side of 50. I read a lot of MM books, and have read some with trans main characters. I have not ever read a T4T (my apologies if this is incorrect, but I'm trying!) book, never. So I went into this with an open mind and an open heart and an open book brain.
But let me tell you about this book!
There is a bit at the beginning of this book, that the author wrote. I don't usually bother with those, unles my book feelings tell me to read it, so I did and it gave me a much better insight into Sam and Cameron, but also into this author, as some of this book is their story. (again, apologies is this is incorrect, but I couldn't find your preferred pronouns, so went with the best option!)
And what that bit does, my good peeps, is set it all out for you, in a way a lay person like myself can understand the terms, words and difficulties being a trans person comes with.
While this book is set over a long period of time, over a year, I was surprised at the speed at which things moved for Sam, once he made the decision to become himself. I know in the UK these take a long, LONG time, so that surprised me.
Sam and Cameron are perfect for each other! Cameron has already transitioned, and Sam has the dawning realisation that he is not in the right body after reading one of Cameron's books. That CAMERON makes him see who he really should be, a man and a Daddy. These two are absolutely perfect for each other, they really are! Loved how the D/b relationship developed.
I will be honest, I wasn't sure the smexy times would work, I don't know WHY I thought that, but you know me and my book brain, but bloody hell! They work, trust me! Super spicy smexy times!! Loved that!
You get deep into the psyche of being trans with these two. The emotions are deep and heavy in places. Made me cry in some places, it really did, the weight of feelings that these men have about themselves. It's really painful reading in parts, and I think you need to be aware if you have any triggers regarding body dysmophia.
I LOVED this book, in case I didn't say it yet!
I see two pairings among the side characters, one set have their book next and I will be reading that book, and any more that come along! I also found that this is only the author's second book, with a short before this one. And bloody hell, they smashed it out the park!
I cannot give it anything other than. . .
5 full and super shiny stars
*same worded review will appear elsewhere