
The Pantomime Prince
Book
When Teddy agrees to pretend to be his famous sister and take her role in a Christmas panto, he...
Historical Romance MM Victorian Short Story Seasonal

Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2389 KP) rated What Comes Around in Books
May 22, 2025 (Updated May 22, 2025)
Because this storyline has been brewing in the background for multiple books now, I was hooked from the moment I picked up this one, always have a hard time putting it down. I didn’t expect the ending, but it made perfect sense when Zoe figured it out. As always, the characters are entertaining, new and old alike. Zoe and Pete split the point of view character duties, and the shifts are always clear. This series is darker than the cozies I often read, but don’t let that stop you from reading these books. Sadly, this is the final book (sob!), at least for now. Fortunately, the author is working on other things to entertain us. If you are already a fan of Zoe and Pete, you’ll love this book. If you aren’t yet a fan, dive in today. You’ll be hooked in no time.

Drum Pads Machine 2 - Beat maker app
Music and Utilities
App
Drum Pads Machine 2 - virtual drum machine, step sequencer and groovebox for createing music and...

Sarah (7800 KP) rated A Monster Calls (2016) in Movies
Dec 30, 2018
This is a heartwrenching story about grief, and doesn’t shy away about being stark and honest about a very brutal and difficult subject. And it deals with this subject matter in such an elegant way. The film really surpasses the book when it comes to the visuals. The monster looks and sounds amazing, and is sinister looking without being too scary, and the stories he tells are animated brilliantly - looking very similar to the Deathly Hallows animation. The colours and effects are truly impressive. And it helps that the film sticks very true to the book.
Conor is a relatable young character and is played brilliantly in this. The rest of the supporting cast are also excellent, although one of my few criticisms is that Toby Kebbell is underused. He’s a fantastic actor and I appreciate that there isn’t much room to include his character more, I just always wish to see him more no matter what film he’s in.
This is a beautifully made heartwrenching film, that deals with a very difficult subject in a fitting matter. I can’t find anything bad to say about this Not a dry eye around when it got to the ending.

Awix (3310 KP) rated The Two Popes (2019) in Movies
Dec 6, 2019 (Updated Dec 6, 2019)
The question is what that is. No doubt the decision to make the film a comedy-drama was partly inspired by concerns it could be offputtingly talky, but the talk works when it's delivered by two actors like Pryce and Hopkins, working with a very good script. The film is arguably biased in favour of Jorge Bergoglio, who is presented as warm, human, and compassionate; his life story is explored in much more detail than that of Joseph Ratzinger - but then again you could say the film does Ratzinger a big favour by largely ignoring the elephant in the room and his role in covering it up. Most of the film is very plausible, and it's only near the end that you begin to suspect how much of it is complete fiction. Still, it's engaging and plausible fiction, and - some distracting hand-held camerawork aside - mostly very well played and filmed.

The Curated House: Creating Style, Beauty, and Balance
Book
Michael S. Smith's first collection of new interiors work in seven years. ?Appearing at a seminal...

Adventures of a Wonky-Eyed Boy: The Short-Arse Years: Jason Byrne's Memoir
Book
'"Mrs Byrne, you've a beautiful, very pale, ginger-haired baby boy with a wonky eye." As she was...

A Dead Hand: A Crime in Calcutta
Book
A Dead Hand is a dark tale of crime in Calcutta, by Paul Theroux. Jerry Delfont is a travel writer...

Elizabeth (1521 KP) rated Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street in Shows
Jul 20, 2020 (Updated Jul 20, 2020)
It was a tiny little theater with a stage smaller than I've seen in some schools so you couldn't help but feel like you were part of the show. Because of its small size, it was a fixed stage, with no room for set changes. There were different sections of the stage to make it feel as though you were in the pie shop or the barber shop.
During some of the dance numbers, the cast would dance on the tables we were seated at. Even if you opted for the stadium seats, there was some movement of the cast through those seats as well.
When buying the tickets, you had the option to purchase tickets with or without pies. They had both meat pies and vegetarian pies. When we arrived, they had run out of pies even though we'd purchased ahead. Instead of being able to eat them prior to the show, we had to pick them up after the show was over. It wasn't a huge deal, but when you're hungry and can smell other people's pies, it can be a bit distracting.
