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Tiny Farm: Animal & Tractor App for Kids

Book and Games

(0 Ratings) Rate It

App

You in the farmyard: animals, tractors and lots of adventures. Explore life in the country in our...

Avengers: Standoff

Nick Spencer, Jesus Saiz and Mark Bagley

6.7 (3 Ratings) Rate It

Book

On his 75th anniversary, Captain America is about to face a challenge unlike any other. Prepare for...

Goddess in the Stacks (553 KP) rated The Star-Touched Queen (The Star-Touched Queen, #1) in Books

Mar 22, 2019

I've had this on my TBR shelf for quite a while, but only got around to reading it because the library finally really wants it back. Oops! And now I'm regretting not reading it sooner because it is OH MY GOD FANTASTIC. This is one of those books that's going to be hard to talk about without giving things away about the plot, but I'm going to try. Maya is the main character, a princess with a horoscope full of doom for whoever marries her.

She's in for a surprise when she does marry, though, as she is whisked away from her father's kingdom to a palace full of hidden doors and a husband who is more than he seems. She's quickly embroiled in a mystery to find out not only the secrets her husband's kingdom is hiding, but the secrets behind her own history.

I absolutely love reading non-western fantasy because there are NEW fantasy elements to discover. This book makes heavy use of reincarnation, which is not a common trope in western fantasy. Not reincarnation as karma, anyway. There is fate, and horoscopes, and choosing your own destiny despite those things, and spirit worlds, and OH IT'S JUST SO GOOD.

The second book, about Maya's sister, came out last March, so I need to read that too. The same author has written another book set in Paris, The Gilded Wolves, which came out in January and immediately hit the bestseller list. I'm glad, this author is fantastic. I'm not sure I'll read it though, as the description doesn't really intrigue me. But The Star-Touched Queen and its sequel, A Crown of Wishes - these are just my cup of tea!

You can read all my book reviews at http://goddessinthestacks.com

Kudos

Pepper: More Than 45 Recipes Using the 'King of Spices' from the Aromatic to the Fiery

Valerie Aikman-Smith

(0 Ratings) Rate It

Book

More than 45 deliciously innovative recipes that showcase pepper as a seasoning and ingredient, from...

JT (287 KP) rated Ready or Not (2019) in Movies

Mar 3, 2020

Ready or Not (2019)

2019 | Comedy, Horror, Mystery

7.6

(46 Ratings)

Movie Rating Watch

Original story (1 more)

Solid tension

The ending might not be appreciated (0 more)

White wedding goes full bloodshed

Grace (Samara Weaving) is about to marry the man of her dreams, Alex Le Domas (Mark O’Brien). But her new in-laws, as it turns out, are going to be a real nightmare.

After a long sweeping shot through a gothic house 30-years earlier which sets up the back story to what is going to unfold, Grace is tasked with drawing a card from a mysterious mechanical box.

The premise is simple, whatever game is on the card she has to play in order to be accepted into the family – a tradition which must be accepted.

Innocently believing that it is just a harmless game of Hide-and-Seek Grace sets off to hide. The family, however, arming themselves with a variety of antique weaponry, must kill poor Grace before sunrise or they will all perish.

The family is an eclectic mix of batshit crazed parents, eccentric grandparents, troublesome daughters and drunken sons. When merged they come across as a psychopath’s answer to the Keystone Cops, all flair but no clue whatsoever.

Ready or Not manages to balance horror and comedy nicely. It is gory when it needs to be with several grotesque and humorous scenes that will leave viewers squirming in their seats.

The remainder of the film is a tense game of cat and mouse with Grace now realising what the real motives of the family are. She must hold her nerve to see out the night and make it to morning.

The setting is perfect for this type of caper and the gothic mansion provides plenty of twists and turns; from secret doors and passages to outhouses filled with decaying corpses.

Grace turns from the bride in white to the bride in blood as she battles the family – the tension rarely lets up for a second. Ready or Not gets just about everything spot on and it never suffers from horror cliches or boredom.

Weaving gives a good account of herself as a modern-day scream queen turned badass, running around in a torn wedding dress and trainers dispelling the myth ‘till death do us part‘.