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Haley Mathiot (9 KP) rated The Fire Lord's Lover (The Elven Lords, #1) in Books

Apr 27, 2018  
TF
The Fire Lord's Lover (The Elven Lords, #1)
Kathryne Kennedy | 2010
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Dominic has spent years perfecting his rock-hard shell, keeping his human heart under lock and key, for fear of getting hurt again. His brutal horrible father has tortured him for his softness and lack of black fire magic for years, and Dominic can’t handle any more. So he isn’t prepared for a kind, sweet, tender-hearted wife…

Cassandra has been raised in the catholic school, but trained in to fight in the rebellion as a death-dance assassin. She is sent to marry the son of the Imperial Fire Lord, so that she can get close enough to the Fire Lord to kill him. She knows it’s a death mission, and she’s fully prepared… but she’s not so sure she wants to part with Dominic once she breaks down his hard exterior shell.

As Dominic and Cassandra begin to love each other, Dominic starts to worry about Cassandra’s mission, and Cassandra worries about Dominic’s father trying to kill him. How can two people who love each other protect each other, if protection of the one ends with death for the other? And what of the evil Fire Lord’s hate towards the people and the rebellion against the elves?

I enjoyed The Fire Lord’s Lover from start to finish. The characters were developed quickly and I liked them, the dialogue felt right, and the pacing was great.

The most important thing about The Fire Lord’s Lover, the thing that made it good, was the character’s love for each other. It didn’t feel sappy and fake, centered around physical attraction. It was real and it had reason behind it. Cassandra and Dominic needed each other, and the people needed them together.

At first, I didn’t really like the ending. I almost got a little annoyed at it… but the more I thought about it, the more I liked it—a lot like It’s Not Summer Without You. I didn’t quite like it at first, even though I knew why Kennedy had done what she did… but then I thought back over it again, envisioned in my mind how it would play out, and was very pleased. I won’t spoil it! But I will say that it was surprisingly satisfying.

Content: I thought the love scenes were slightly overkill… I was literally skipping chunks of pages at a time (I don’t read the scenes). There was a little bit of language, but it wasn’t bad and I felt it was appropriate.

Recommendation: Ages 18+

I’ve got a giveaway for 2 copies of The Fire Lord’s Lover up for grabs, and (soon) my ARC will be available for swap at ARC Swap.
  
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Darren (1599 KP) rated Knives Out (2019) in Movies

Nov 26, 2019  
Knives Out (2019)
Knives Out (2019)
2019 | Comedy, Crime, Drama
9
8.3 (84 Ratings)
Movie Rating Watch
Verdict: Pure Fun

Story: Knives Out starts with the apparent suicide of Harlan Thrombey (Plummer) on his 85th birthday, the family Linda (Curtis), Walt (Shannon), Richard (Johnson), Joni (Collette) Meg (Langford), Jacob (Martell) and Ransom (Evans) were all in attendance along with Harlan’s nurse Marta (Armas).
Lieutenant Elliott (Stanfield) lets private investigator Benoit Blanc (Craig) look at the events of the night after he gets an anonymous request to investigate the death believing it was murder, with the whole family have cause to potentially murder.

Thoughts on Knives Out

Characters – Benoit Blanc is a private investigator that has a connection to the family and has been given an anonymous letter to investigate the death, he has his way which unlike the normal police will push the family for the truth, knowing most are lying when they talk to him. Marta Cabrera is the nurse to Harlan, she has the closest relationship to him, knowing most of the family secrets, while just working to make sure her family is secure. Harlan is the self-made millionaire author that has started to get disappointed by the behaviour of his own children. Linda is the eldest daughter who has her own real estate business that she is proud of her work, believing she has done better than the other siblings. Walt is the youngest son who runs the publication of the books, which has always seen him try to push his father into selling the rights to entertainment sources. Richard is the husband to Linda that has been caught by Harlan being forced into telling the truth or being exposed. Joni is the daughter in the law of the deceased son that is an influencer and has been getting an allowance since her husband’s death. Ransom is the black sheep of the family, son of Linda and Richard, he has always lived the life of luxury never having to work on anything himself. Meg is the daughter of Joni that is the closest of any of the younger family members to Marta, she has seen herself be put through school but Harlan. LT Elliott is leading the investigation to the death, he is happy to put it down as suicide, but will let Benoit lead his own investigate.
Performances – The performances here are a pure joy, Daniel Craig gives us a career best, Ana De Armas continues to rise up the Hollywood name list, proving herself with a sweet innocent figure, Chris Evans brings to light a character complete against the type we are used to seeing form him. Jamie Lee Curtis, Michael Shannon, Don Johnson and Toni Collette are wonderful too showing they can become anybody like we know from them. Everybody in this film is wonderful to watch.
Story – The story here follows a private investigator who decides to investigate an apparent suicide where he will dig up the family secrets to learn there might have been foul play. This story is a who-dun-it where everybody could be a suspect as nobody wants to tell the truth and everybody is hiding the truth too. There is a unique way of telling the story that will surprise you and turn the usual flow on its head, almost pointing out just how predictable certain TV shows involving a murder are. We do have plenty to unpack through the story, though there is a slight drag through the middle of the film.
Comedy/Crime/Mystery – The comedy comes from the colourful characters we get to meet and their actions, while the crime mystery mix together to keep us guessing to the complete truth of what happened, we get plenty of references to other crime stories too.
Settings – The film is mostly set on the grounds of the death, we have the luxury mansion, when we stay in this location everything does feel like ‘Clue’ but whether we leave it does take a little bit away from the quirky style.

Scene of the Movie – Ambulance arrives.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – We never learn where Marta is from, with the on running joke she is South American, each character claims she is from a different country.
Final Thoughts – This is a quirky joyful comedy that leaves you guessing to the truth with performances that shine throughout the film.

Overall: Entertaining Mystery.