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Haley Mathiot (9 KP) rated Birthmarked (Birthmarked, #1) in Books
Apr 27, 2018
Gaia is a midwife, apprentice to her mother. But her job is not just to deliver the babies: it’s to take the first three of the month to the city within the wall away from their families, to “Advance” them and let them join the government there. Gaia has never questioned the government—until she has to advance a baby herself, until her innocent parents are taken away, until she sees the injustice that happens behind the wall… Gaia’s only wish is to get her parents back, safely outside the wall, and then flee to the Dead Forest—which may or may not exist—but when she finally gets in, a series of events makes her question what is really right, who she loves, and what she lives for.
When I first started Birthmarked, I had a hard time getting through the first chapter. The thought of these people taking the newborn babies away from their parents to live in the richer society but away from the ones who loved them made me sick to my stomach, and I almost put it down completely. It also struck me as familiar, and I realized later that it was the whole concept of taking the children away. It reminded me of The Hunger Games, and I didn’t want a lousy play-off. But I couldn’t stop reading, because it was just so good. Good thing I didn’t stop.
The plot had me guessing every step of the way. It was completely unpredictable and I’m still reeling from it.
The writing was beautiful and descriptive, so visual that I could see everything exactly. It almost had a rhythmic feel to it.
The characters were wonderful. Gaia is a strong willed girl, willing to do anything for the people she loves. The other characters are quickly defined and unique. Gaia’s father is a sweet wonderful man, and her mother was strong and beautiful like Gaia herself.
One of the things I love about this book is the realness behind everything—the dialogue, the feelings, even the romance. Especially the romance. I hate it when the main characters get crushes for each other within the first paragraph of the book. In Birthmarked, I didn’t see it coming until maybe halfway through the book (and that was only because the character just kept reappearing). I love that!
The ending, though, left me hanging a little. It wasn’t as horrible as The Hunger Games endings have been (hurry up, Suzanne!) but it did leave me saying “but… but… but….awww dang….” I shall be sitting on the edge of my seat, waiting for the sequel. And there better be a sequel.
Content: Clean of sex, language, and violence.
Recommendation: Ages 12+ Adults will love it, too!
When I first started Birthmarked, I had a hard time getting through the first chapter. The thought of these people taking the newborn babies away from their parents to live in the richer society but away from the ones who loved them made me sick to my stomach, and I almost put it down completely. It also struck me as familiar, and I realized later that it was the whole concept of taking the children away. It reminded me of The Hunger Games, and I didn’t want a lousy play-off. But I couldn’t stop reading, because it was just so good. Good thing I didn’t stop.
The plot had me guessing every step of the way. It was completely unpredictable and I’m still reeling from it.
The writing was beautiful and descriptive, so visual that I could see everything exactly. It almost had a rhythmic feel to it.
The characters were wonderful. Gaia is a strong willed girl, willing to do anything for the people she loves. The other characters are quickly defined and unique. Gaia’s father is a sweet wonderful man, and her mother was strong and beautiful like Gaia herself.
One of the things I love about this book is the realness behind everything—the dialogue, the feelings, even the romance. Especially the romance. I hate it when the main characters get crushes for each other within the first paragraph of the book. In Birthmarked, I didn’t see it coming until maybe halfway through the book (and that was only because the character just kept reappearing). I love that!
The ending, though, left me hanging a little. It wasn’t as horrible as The Hunger Games endings have been (hurry up, Suzanne!) but it did leave me saying “but… but… but….awww dang….” I shall be sitting on the edge of my seat, waiting for the sequel. And there better be a sequel.
Content: Clean of sex, language, and violence.
Recommendation: Ages 12+ Adults will love it, too!
The Cases That Haunt Us
John Douglas and Mark Olshaker
8.3
Rate It
Book
America's foremost expert on criminal profiling provides his uniquely gripping analysis of seven of...
crime unsolved cases cold cases
Daniel Boyd (1066 KP) rated Just Cause 3 in Video Games
Jul 20, 2017
Terrible dialogue (1 more)
Excruciatingly long loading screens
Into the fire, or just a flash in the pan?
I have always been a huge fan of the Just Cause games, I played the hell out of the first one on PS2 and I have great memories of it and of being blown away by the sheer scope and beauty of the game’s environment. Then the follow up was even crazier and even more fun. The explosions were bigger, the characters were more bombastic, the map was massive and the game was amazing. So, I think it’s fair to say I had been fairly excited for a while for the series’ third entry. Unfortunately, as has been the case with a number of big AAA games released in 2015, it is a disappointment. It’s not a bad game by any standard, it just fails to improve on it’s predecessors in any way. When I’m weighing up my opinion on a game, the first thing I always ask myself is, is it fun? And is Just Cause 3 a fun game? Hell yes it is. The explosions feel and look just as good as you would hope they would and the addition of the wingsuit is awesome. Flying around the map like a superhero feels truly epic, it really does give you a sense of being Godlike and it is without doubt the highlight of the game’s new mechanics. However, when you take those two things away, the wingsuit and the explosions, all that is left is a very mediocre third person shooter with mediocre graphics and a cheesy, poorly written script read by voice actors playing uninteresting stereotypes. But hey, this is a Just Cause game, it isn’t exactly known for it’s reputation of telling deep stories about the evolution of a certain character’s psyche, this is the game where you ride missiles and grapple launch into a man with a dropkick, so as long as the fundamental Just Cause functions are present, then surely that’s all that matters. Then you run into the problem with loading times. Now I don’t actually mind games with long load times all that much, within reason, but Just Cause is the type of game where it gives you so many insane mechanics that you naturally feel the need to experiment, but sometimes these experiments end up in Rico’s violent death, which in turn results in another long load screen. After four or five times of this happening within the space of a single mission, the frustration is at boiling point and the game becomes a chore and any fun you were having is quickly lost. It’s as if the game actually punishes you for trying crazy things, yet it claims to be the game that encourages insanity! Also the ways in which you die are so inconsistent that they become massively unpredictable. For example, after dying 3 or 4 times while trying to liberate a base using a madman zipline/parachute combination technique, I finally decided to just play it safe and get the liberation over and done with, so I used a missile mounted chopper. I blew up a bunch of fuel tanks etc and then a couple of SAM’s blew some holes in my chopper, most of the time the game gives you a minute to jump out of the chopper before it explodes, but sometimes at random, it will just blow up instantly and kill you dead, leaving you with another 5 minute loading screen and even more despair. Also Rico can sometimes take fall damage of up to a good few hundred feet, but sometimes a small drop from a roof to the ground of a bungalow will kill him instantly. This wouldn’t be so much of a problem if it wasn’t coupled with long ass load times, which is what really makes the process excruciating. Like I said before, I don’t mind long load screens all that much, but when they are coupled with frequent random chance instadeath, then I have a problem. There is a website that I use frequently called HowLongToBeat.com and it essentially gives you the average amount of time that it takes to beat a game’s campaign. For Just Cause the website says 15.5 hours to beat, which is about right, but I reckon that if you shorten the load times and fixed the random occurrences of instadeath, you could beat it in 11 or 12 hours. That’s 4 hours of sitting through frustrating load screens that you are never going to get back.
It really sucks actually, I wanted to love this game so much and it’s done it’s damndest to prevent me from doing so. To put it bluntly there are better open world games out there and you won’t have to wait half as long to load them up.
It really sucks actually, I wanted to love this game so much and it’s done it’s damndest to prevent me from doing so. To put it bluntly there are better open world games out there and you won’t have to wait half as long to load them up.
Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated Moneyball (2011) in Movies
Aug 7, 2019
Baseball economics has long a source of serious debate amongst fans, players, and teams. The contentious issues of how to divide the revenue in an equitable manner led to the cancellation of the playoffs and World Series in 1994 and is still largely unresolved today. While smaller market teams are given funds from a luxury tax imposed on larger payroll teams, it still fails to provide an even competitive playing field when large market teams, such as the New York Yankees, can field teams with a $225 million-plus payroll while the smaller market teams have to make do with budgets often under $40 million.
Naturally, this has put many teams at a competitive disadvantage and most feel that they have no chance to win long-term, even as they develop cheap homegrown talent in their minor-league systems. They lose said talent to the larger market clubs once players become eligible for free agency. It is against this backdrop that the new film “Moneyball” starring Brad Pitt is set.
The film was based on the book of the same name which tells the story and philosophy of Oakland A’s general manager Billy Beane. Beane was a highly recruited baseball player at a high school who turned down a scholarship to Stanford for his shot at the major leagues. Unfortunately for Beane, his career was a major disappointment punctuated with numerous stops between the pros and the minor leagues which resulted in a very mediocre and forgettable career.
Beane got himself a job as a scout and in time worked his way to being the general manager of the Oakland A’s. As the film opens, Oakland has just lost a deciding Game 5 the New York Yankees, whose payroll at the time was almost $120 million greater than Oaklands. Adding further insult to injury, Oakland is unable to re-sign its three biggest stars as they accept large contracts with the Yankees, Red Sox, and other large market teams.
Unable to get any additional funds from his owner, Beane travels to Cleveland in an attempt to find affordable talent via trades. Beane is categorically rebuffed and told that he couldn’t afford many of the players that he’s asking about and that the ones he can afford are not be available to him.
Beane notices a young man, Peter Brand (Jonah Hill) during the negotiations, whose quiet input was heeded by the Indians, even though this is Peter’s first job since graduating from Yale with an economics degree. Beane gets Peter to confide in him about his beliefs that the traditional baseball method for evaluating talent is all wrong and that there is a better way to do it.
Intrigued, Beane hires Brand to be his assistant general manager and the two set out to rebuild the Oakland A’s on a budget. Needless to say this does not sit well with many of the talent scouts or manager Art Howe (a very believable Phillip Seymour Hoffman), who sees the recruiting of washed-up has-beens and never-weres by Beane as misguided and ridiculous.
But Beane and Brand are determined, and using statistical formula that looks at such things as on-base percentages and runs scored as opposed to batting average, home runs, and RBIs, the A’s quickly put together an unlikely team. It doesn’t immediately play out well for the hopeful general manager because Howe is unwilling to play many of the new players that have been brought on. Oakland quickly sinks to the bottom of the league, and many begin to question the sanity of Bean’s approach, to the point that even his young daughter worries that his days as a general manager are numbered.
The film does a good job at showing the inner workings of baseball and Pitt does an amazing job showing the complex nature of Beane. He is a single father dealing with the failure of his playing career, and his inability to get Oakland to be a consistant winner. He puts everything he has into this so-called outrageous scheme and is willing to see it through no matter the cost. Chris Pratt does great supporting work as Scott Hatteberg, one of Beane’s reclamation projects as does Stephen Bisop as aging major-league slugger David Justice.
The film stays very true to historical events and shows the characters as they are, flaws and all. While a true story, Peter Brand, is a fictional charcter based on Paul DePodesta who introduced Beane to the analytical principles of sabermetrics. The movie remains a very interesting character study as well as an examination of the delicate relationships between players, front offices, and ownership where wins and dollars are paramount even when many teams are struggling to make do with less.
That being said the film was a very enjoyable and realistic look at the inner workings of baseball that should not be missed.
Naturally, this has put many teams at a competitive disadvantage and most feel that they have no chance to win long-term, even as they develop cheap homegrown talent in their minor-league systems. They lose said talent to the larger market clubs once players become eligible for free agency. It is against this backdrop that the new film “Moneyball” starring Brad Pitt is set.
The film was based on the book of the same name which tells the story and philosophy of Oakland A’s general manager Billy Beane. Beane was a highly recruited baseball player at a high school who turned down a scholarship to Stanford for his shot at the major leagues. Unfortunately for Beane, his career was a major disappointment punctuated with numerous stops between the pros and the minor leagues which resulted in a very mediocre and forgettable career.
Beane got himself a job as a scout and in time worked his way to being the general manager of the Oakland A’s. As the film opens, Oakland has just lost a deciding Game 5 the New York Yankees, whose payroll at the time was almost $120 million greater than Oaklands. Adding further insult to injury, Oakland is unable to re-sign its three biggest stars as they accept large contracts with the Yankees, Red Sox, and other large market teams.
Unable to get any additional funds from his owner, Beane travels to Cleveland in an attempt to find affordable talent via trades. Beane is categorically rebuffed and told that he couldn’t afford many of the players that he’s asking about and that the ones he can afford are not be available to him.
Beane notices a young man, Peter Brand (Jonah Hill) during the negotiations, whose quiet input was heeded by the Indians, even though this is Peter’s first job since graduating from Yale with an economics degree. Beane gets Peter to confide in him about his beliefs that the traditional baseball method for evaluating talent is all wrong and that there is a better way to do it.
Intrigued, Beane hires Brand to be his assistant general manager and the two set out to rebuild the Oakland A’s on a budget. Needless to say this does not sit well with many of the talent scouts or manager Art Howe (a very believable Phillip Seymour Hoffman), who sees the recruiting of washed-up has-beens and never-weres by Beane as misguided and ridiculous.
But Beane and Brand are determined, and using statistical formula that looks at such things as on-base percentages and runs scored as opposed to batting average, home runs, and RBIs, the A’s quickly put together an unlikely team. It doesn’t immediately play out well for the hopeful general manager because Howe is unwilling to play many of the new players that have been brought on. Oakland quickly sinks to the bottom of the league, and many begin to question the sanity of Bean’s approach, to the point that even his young daughter worries that his days as a general manager are numbered.
The film does a good job at showing the inner workings of baseball and Pitt does an amazing job showing the complex nature of Beane. He is a single father dealing with the failure of his playing career, and his inability to get Oakland to be a consistant winner. He puts everything he has into this so-called outrageous scheme and is willing to see it through no matter the cost. Chris Pratt does great supporting work as Scott Hatteberg, one of Beane’s reclamation projects as does Stephen Bisop as aging major-league slugger David Justice.
The film stays very true to historical events and shows the characters as they are, flaws and all. While a true story, Peter Brand, is a fictional charcter based on Paul DePodesta who introduced Beane to the analytical principles of sabermetrics. The movie remains a very interesting character study as well as an examination of the delicate relationships between players, front offices, and ownership where wins and dollars are paramount even when many teams are struggling to make do with less.
That being said the film was a very enjoyable and realistic look at the inner workings of baseball that should not be missed.
Kristina (502 KP) rated The Consequences Series Box Set (Consequences, #1-5) in Books
Dec 7, 2020
It may not be completely fair, but most of my ratings include how I feel about the grammar - if there are several punctuation errors, mispelled words, and other mistakes. Because of the grammatical errors in the majority of the Consequences series, these books did not receive the star rating I would have preferred to give them. Consequences and Truth both received 3 stars, but can become a 3.5 rating with corrections. Convicted I gave 3.5 stars, but could easily be 4 stars after editing. Revealed earned 4 stars from me - the grammar, punctuation and spelling were much, much better, therefore this was the highest rating I will give it. Beyond the Consequences was only given 3 stars.
Below I have included my separate reviews for each book.
Truth: I'll be perfectly honest. I've become so familiar with reading from the first person perspective, it's a little difficult to fully immerse myself in a story written in third person; partly because the point of views change so quickly, sometimes without warning, and there are so many, it's hard to keep up with. In Truth, we read (in third person) through Claire's, Tony's, Harry's, Phil's, Sophia's, Derek's, Nathaniel's, Marie's, and Catherine's point of view. In fact, there may even be one or two I'm forgetting. The point is, it was kind of hard to concentrate, especially when the POV changed without any real consistency. However, despite this and some easy to overlook, but not completely dismissed, grammatical errors, I truly enjoyed Truth. I read Consequences over a year ago and have been desperate to find out how the story continues. The first book left me appalled, disgusted, and just as determined to seek revenge as Claire. However, this book left me completely shocked. There were so many twists and turns, so many events that I was in no way prepared for - I loved it. Aleatha kept me on my toes and I couldn't have predicted anything that happened. Of course, my one real worry is that Claire took Tony back. I told myself that, if one were to pretend the events in Consequences didn't occur, Tony's attempts to rekindle his marriage with Claire would be sweet. However, I can't just forget those things happened. Tony hit her, he isolated her, he kidnapped her and controlled every aspect of her life, he manipulated her and abused her more ways than physically. He raped her. In candor, the first of his several sins could probably be overlooked if he were completely and totally dedicated to not only making it up to Claire, but to making sure those moments never occurred again. However, I absolutely cannot get over the fact that he raped her, repeatedly. Something like that can't, and shouldn't, be forgiven. In the first book, I assumed he had successfully brainwashed her into believe she loved him, so I could forgive her for forgiving him. But in Truth, she was able to step away and realize just how much power she could wield over him, yet she fell right back into his arms. I look forward to reading from Tony's point of view to see whether or not I can be persuaded to agree with Claire and her love for him. Until then, I will continue to have my reservations.
Convicted: Man, what a roller coaster! Romig kept me guessing throughout the whole book and, honestly, worried about how everything would turn out. I had my fears from the beginning - with each new chapter, they grew and grew. I actually caught myself hoping Claire would get the happily ever after she so desperately wanted, even if that included Tony. In reality, I still find it hard to chew that the fact Tony raped her could actually be overlooked. However, there is this magical sense of self-preservation called "suspension of belief", which allows us readers to, well, suspend our beliefs to morally accept something from a book that we most certainly wouldn't in real life. I even found myself cheering the couple on, completely forgetting about the past, only to be reminded and question myself. Whether it's absurd for me to have eventually made peace with Claire's decision to love and forgive Tony for his trangressions, that's what happened. Despite the typical grammatical and punctuation errors dotted throughout the book, I rated Convicted with 3.5 stars instead of 3, because I was truly enthralled from beginning to end. It was a worthy read and, as usual, I'm a little sad to be officially parted with Claire and Tony (if you don't include Tony's POV books), but I'm happy with the way their story ended.
Beyond the Consequences: The grammar matched that of Revealed - much improved from the first 3 Consequences books - but I felt incredibly bored throughout most of it. I felt like it was being dragged out; if Aleatha had made it so Patricia and Rudolf were working together, I believe it would have made this story shorter and, therefore, more enjoyable.
Below I have included my separate reviews for each book.
Truth: I'll be perfectly honest. I've become so familiar with reading from the first person perspective, it's a little difficult to fully immerse myself in a story written in third person; partly because the point of views change so quickly, sometimes without warning, and there are so many, it's hard to keep up with. In Truth, we read (in third person) through Claire's, Tony's, Harry's, Phil's, Sophia's, Derek's, Nathaniel's, Marie's, and Catherine's point of view. In fact, there may even be one or two I'm forgetting. The point is, it was kind of hard to concentrate, especially when the POV changed without any real consistency. However, despite this and some easy to overlook, but not completely dismissed, grammatical errors, I truly enjoyed Truth. I read Consequences over a year ago and have been desperate to find out how the story continues. The first book left me appalled, disgusted, and just as determined to seek revenge as Claire. However, this book left me completely shocked. There were so many twists and turns, so many events that I was in no way prepared for - I loved it. Aleatha kept me on my toes and I couldn't have predicted anything that happened. Of course, my one real worry is that Claire took Tony back. I told myself that, if one were to pretend the events in Consequences didn't occur, Tony's attempts to rekindle his marriage with Claire would be sweet. However, I can't just forget those things happened. Tony hit her, he isolated her, he kidnapped her and controlled every aspect of her life, he manipulated her and abused her more ways than physically. He raped her. In candor, the first of his several sins could probably be overlooked if he were completely and totally dedicated to not only making it up to Claire, but to making sure those moments never occurred again. However, I absolutely cannot get over the fact that he raped her, repeatedly. Something like that can't, and shouldn't, be forgiven. In the first book, I assumed he had successfully brainwashed her into believe she loved him, so I could forgive her for forgiving him. But in Truth, she was able to step away and realize just how much power she could wield over him, yet she fell right back into his arms. I look forward to reading from Tony's point of view to see whether or not I can be persuaded to agree with Claire and her love for him. Until then, I will continue to have my reservations.
Convicted: Man, what a roller coaster! Romig kept me guessing throughout the whole book and, honestly, worried about how everything would turn out. I had my fears from the beginning - with each new chapter, they grew and grew. I actually caught myself hoping Claire would get the happily ever after she so desperately wanted, even if that included Tony. In reality, I still find it hard to chew that the fact Tony raped her could actually be overlooked. However, there is this magical sense of self-preservation called "suspension of belief", which allows us readers to, well, suspend our beliefs to morally accept something from a book that we most certainly wouldn't in real life. I even found myself cheering the couple on, completely forgetting about the past, only to be reminded and question myself. Whether it's absurd for me to have eventually made peace with Claire's decision to love and forgive Tony for his trangressions, that's what happened. Despite the typical grammatical and punctuation errors dotted throughout the book, I rated Convicted with 3.5 stars instead of 3, because I was truly enthralled from beginning to end. It was a worthy read and, as usual, I'm a little sad to be officially parted with Claire and Tony (if you don't include Tony's POV books), but I'm happy with the way their story ended.
Beyond the Consequences: The grammar matched that of Revealed - much improved from the first 3 Consequences books - but I felt incredibly bored throughout most of it. I felt like it was being dragged out; if Aleatha had made it so Patricia and Rudolf were working together, I believe it would have made this story shorter and, therefore, more enjoyable.
Chris Sawin (602 KP) rated The Northman (2022) in Movies
Apr 30, 2022
The bloody action. (2 more)
The rhythmic, pounding score.
Amleth's visions and strange encounters.
May be too weird or slow for some. (2 more)
Won't change your opinion of Robert Eggers if you already dislike him as a filmmaker.
...Did you say fart sniffing?
A Gory Viking Epic Forged in Boisterous Greatness
The Northman is director Robert Eggers third feature length film after The Witch and The Lighthouse. The film is written by Eggers and Sjón (Lamb, frequent collaborator with Björk). The Northman is described as an epic historical action drama, but is essentially a Viking revenge film. Taking place in AD 895, King Aurvandill War-Raven (Ethan Hawke) is killed by his brother, Fjölnir (Claes Bang). Aurvandill’s son, Amleth (Oscar Novak portrays young Amleth) flees and swears revenge on his uncle while vowing to save his mother Queen Gudrún (Nicole Kidman).
In AD 914, a now adult Amleth (Alexander Skarsgård) has been raised as a Viking and was enlisted as a berserker. Seemingly losing his focus in furious battle, Amleth is reminded of his vengeful mission a few years later by a Seeress (Björk) that predicts that Amleth will soon get his sought after revenge on his uncle.
The film is based on the story of Amleth, which was written sometime before the year 1200 and inspired Shakespeare’s Hamlet. The Northman feels like it’s forged by the same cinematic swordsmith that created the likes of Conan the Barbarian, Beowulf, and Gladiator, but with a bloodier, and slightly trippier ambiance Robert Eggers tends to be known for.
Amleth’s opening voiceover as the film opens with a monstrously intimidating volcano on the verge of erupting is haunting. Alexander Skarsgård has this gruff and nearly grunt-like growl to his speech that you can feel reverberate in your chest as he speaks. The score to the film is also just as memorable and incredible. On paper, it’s just a series of loud drumming or pounding, a fancy string arrangement, and some harmless chanting. But all of those elements together suddenly become this impressive musical declaration of war. The score constantly crescendos and always finds a way to ignite a fire within you.
It’s humorous to think that most will have seen Willem Dafoe last in Spider-Man: No Way Home. Dafoe’s role as Heimir the Fool is also a leap in a different direction even when compared to his role as Thomas Wake in The Lighthouse. Heimir’s key role in the story is to oversee the spiritual journey Almeth takes with Aurvandill right before his death. It’s a bizarre sequence as both grown men and young boy are dressed in nothing but loin cloths as they act like dogs, get on their hands and knees, drink water from a bowl, belch, and take turns sniffing each other’s farts. It’s an intriguing role for Dafoe as he’s this crowd pleasing jester one minute and a spiritual guide the next.
The barbaric action is fairly straightforward in The Northman, but what complicates things are Amleth’s visions. Beginning with his encounter with the Seeress, Amleth also battles an undead spirit for the Night Blade, has a vision of a Valkyrie taking him to Valhalla, and sees his unborn children in rare glimpses of the future. These surreal sequences have a palpable dream-like quality to them. It makes you wonder if they’re actually occurring or are only in Amleth’s head.
Nicole Kidman is exceptional as Queen Gudrún. The character is written in a way that makes her seem like a damsel in distress, but she’s much more evil and manipulative. At first, she seems like the typical Queen character that is pushed aside in order to give the spotlight to the king. But once Gudrún comes face to face with an adult Amleth, she strikes like a snake with venomous words that pierce Amleth deeper than any weapon actually could. Kidman shines in the role as well as you seem to love the fact that a mother could be so cruel to one of her children.
Spoiling a film is no fun, but since The Northman is kind of bombing at the box office right now ($23.5 million opening weekend on a $70-$90 million budget) this is worth mentioning. The finale of the film takes place at the volcano Hekla, which resides at the Gates of Hel. Lava is spilling out everywhere as smoke fills the air and two grown men sword duel to the death. That’s right, the ending of The Northman has two naked men sword fighting at the base of an erupting volcano. It’s freaking nuts.
The Northman is a bloody and ferocious battle cry of a revenge film. The action is brutal and the performances are extraordinary. This is Robert Eggers at his most savage and masterful.
In AD 914, a now adult Amleth (Alexander Skarsgård) has been raised as a Viking and was enlisted as a berserker. Seemingly losing his focus in furious battle, Amleth is reminded of his vengeful mission a few years later by a Seeress (Björk) that predicts that Amleth will soon get his sought after revenge on his uncle.
The film is based on the story of Amleth, which was written sometime before the year 1200 and inspired Shakespeare’s Hamlet. The Northman feels like it’s forged by the same cinematic swordsmith that created the likes of Conan the Barbarian, Beowulf, and Gladiator, but with a bloodier, and slightly trippier ambiance Robert Eggers tends to be known for.
Amleth’s opening voiceover as the film opens with a monstrously intimidating volcano on the verge of erupting is haunting. Alexander Skarsgård has this gruff and nearly grunt-like growl to his speech that you can feel reverberate in your chest as he speaks. The score to the film is also just as memorable and incredible. On paper, it’s just a series of loud drumming or pounding, a fancy string arrangement, and some harmless chanting. But all of those elements together suddenly become this impressive musical declaration of war. The score constantly crescendos and always finds a way to ignite a fire within you.
It’s humorous to think that most will have seen Willem Dafoe last in Spider-Man: No Way Home. Dafoe’s role as Heimir the Fool is also a leap in a different direction even when compared to his role as Thomas Wake in The Lighthouse. Heimir’s key role in the story is to oversee the spiritual journey Almeth takes with Aurvandill right before his death. It’s a bizarre sequence as both grown men and young boy are dressed in nothing but loin cloths as they act like dogs, get on their hands and knees, drink water from a bowl, belch, and take turns sniffing each other’s farts. It’s an intriguing role for Dafoe as he’s this crowd pleasing jester one minute and a spiritual guide the next.
The barbaric action is fairly straightforward in The Northman, but what complicates things are Amleth’s visions. Beginning with his encounter with the Seeress, Amleth also battles an undead spirit for the Night Blade, has a vision of a Valkyrie taking him to Valhalla, and sees his unborn children in rare glimpses of the future. These surreal sequences have a palpable dream-like quality to them. It makes you wonder if they’re actually occurring or are only in Amleth’s head.
Nicole Kidman is exceptional as Queen Gudrún. The character is written in a way that makes her seem like a damsel in distress, but she’s much more evil and manipulative. At first, she seems like the typical Queen character that is pushed aside in order to give the spotlight to the king. But once Gudrún comes face to face with an adult Amleth, she strikes like a snake with venomous words that pierce Amleth deeper than any weapon actually could. Kidman shines in the role as well as you seem to love the fact that a mother could be so cruel to one of her children.
Spoiling a film is no fun, but since The Northman is kind of bombing at the box office right now ($23.5 million opening weekend on a $70-$90 million budget) this is worth mentioning. The finale of the film takes place at the volcano Hekla, which resides at the Gates of Hel. Lava is spilling out everywhere as smoke fills the air and two grown men sword duel to the death. That’s right, the ending of The Northman has two naked men sword fighting at the base of an erupting volcano. It’s freaking nuts.
The Northman is a bloody and ferocious battle cry of a revenge film. The action is brutal and the performances are extraordinary. This is Robert Eggers at his most savage and masterful.
Movie Metropolis (309 KP) rated Vacation (2015) in Movies
Jun 11, 2019
Family holidays will never be the same
It was 1983 when Chevy Chase and Beverly D’Angelo made the infamous decision to take their family across the US to “America’s Favourite Family Fun Park” in National Lampoon’s Vacation.
Being the best in the long-running series, it seemed natural for it to receive a fully-fledged sequel of some kind, but it has taken up until now to get the balance right, but does Vacation evoke memories of that brilliant road-trip comedy?
Ed Helms takes on the role of an adult Rusty Griswold as he, like his father makes the epic trip to Walley World theme park alongside his long-suffering wife Debbie (Christina Applegate) and his two sons James and Kevin, played by Skyler Gisondo and Steele Stebbins respectively.
Everybody’s favourite thunder-god, Chris Hemsworth makes a rather revealing cameo as Rusty’s brother-in-law and ladies’ man, Stone Crandall, and helps lift Vacation out of what could have been a half-way lull.
Naturally, there are many tasteful references to its predecessor but this isn’t just a lesson in comedy history. Writers Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley inject some much-needed modern humour into the film – this is most definitely a movie from the 21st Century.
Ed Helms and Christina Applegate have real chemistry as the married couple but it is in their children that most of the laughs are. James and Kevin are the stereotypical, bickering siblings but like everything in Vacation they are turned up to eleven.
From raw sewage infested hot springs to a would-be maniac truck driver, the gags on the whole hit the spot every single time – by no means an easy feat when writing a comedy over 90 minutes in length. There are a couple of ill-placed laughs like a Four Corners police brawl that threaten to stop the film in its tracks, but thankfully these are few and far between.
Short but sweet cameos for Chevy Chase and Beverly D’Angelo towards the climax anchor Vacation to what came before it and it’s nice that the writers didn’t forget to honour those roots in more ways than sickly nostalgia.
The direction is also positively inspired. Acting like a tourist brochure for the USA, Vacation makes you feel like you’re part of the vast locations. From desolate highways to bustling cities, it’s all here and beautifully shot.
Unfortunately the plot seems to run a little out of steam towards the end. After all, there’s only so much déjà vu a story can take and it seems that the writers put all their best work in the first two thirds of the movie, as is the case with many films in the genre.
Nevertheless, Vacation is a confident film that knows exactly what it’s trying to be. Acting as a standalone comedy for newcomers and a decent sequel for fans of the original, it has something for everyone.
The acting is sublime and the casting choices are spot on, only a lacklustre final third pull it back from the edge of glory.
I probably won’t be planning that road trip any time soon.
https://moviemetropolis.net/2015/08/23/family-holidays-will-never-be-the-same-vacation-review/
Being the best in the long-running series, it seemed natural for it to receive a fully-fledged sequel of some kind, but it has taken up until now to get the balance right, but does Vacation evoke memories of that brilliant road-trip comedy?
Ed Helms takes on the role of an adult Rusty Griswold as he, like his father makes the epic trip to Walley World theme park alongside his long-suffering wife Debbie (Christina Applegate) and his two sons James and Kevin, played by Skyler Gisondo and Steele Stebbins respectively.
Everybody’s favourite thunder-god, Chris Hemsworth makes a rather revealing cameo as Rusty’s brother-in-law and ladies’ man, Stone Crandall, and helps lift Vacation out of what could have been a half-way lull.
Naturally, there are many tasteful references to its predecessor but this isn’t just a lesson in comedy history. Writers Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley inject some much-needed modern humour into the film – this is most definitely a movie from the 21st Century.
Ed Helms and Christina Applegate have real chemistry as the married couple but it is in their children that most of the laughs are. James and Kevin are the stereotypical, bickering siblings but like everything in Vacation they are turned up to eleven.
From raw sewage infested hot springs to a would-be maniac truck driver, the gags on the whole hit the spot every single time – by no means an easy feat when writing a comedy over 90 minutes in length. There are a couple of ill-placed laughs like a Four Corners police brawl that threaten to stop the film in its tracks, but thankfully these are few and far between.
Short but sweet cameos for Chevy Chase and Beverly D’Angelo towards the climax anchor Vacation to what came before it and it’s nice that the writers didn’t forget to honour those roots in more ways than sickly nostalgia.
The direction is also positively inspired. Acting like a tourist brochure for the USA, Vacation makes you feel like you’re part of the vast locations. From desolate highways to bustling cities, it’s all here and beautifully shot.
Unfortunately the plot seems to run a little out of steam towards the end. After all, there’s only so much déjà vu a story can take and it seems that the writers put all their best work in the first two thirds of the movie, as is the case with many films in the genre.
Nevertheless, Vacation is a confident film that knows exactly what it’s trying to be. Acting as a standalone comedy for newcomers and a decent sequel for fans of the original, it has something for everyone.
The acting is sublime and the casting choices are spot on, only a lacklustre final third pull it back from the edge of glory.
I probably won’t be planning that road trip any time soon.
https://moviemetropolis.net/2015/08/23/family-holidays-will-never-be-the-same-vacation-review/
Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated The Jacket (2005) in Movies
Aug 14, 2019
The human mind is a deep and complex organ that to this day is not fully understood by the best scientific minds on the planet. It is known that only a small percentage of the mind is actually used, with the vast majority of the unused portion presenting a mystery. There are those who have suggested that those individuals who show paranormal abilities are simply individuals who have learned to use areas of the brain that are normally dormant.
In the new psychological thriller The Jacket, Adrian Brody plays Jack Starks, a Gulf war soldier who is shot in the head in 1991 during combat operations.
Jack survives this ordeal as he awakens during medical triage despite being classified as dead by the attending medics. Flash forward to late 1992, and Jack is on his way to Canada through a cold and remote section of Vermont It is learned that Jack has some mental blocks in his head via a series of flashbacks, but when he comes to the aid of a stranded motorist and her young daughter, Jack soon finds his life taking an unexpected turn.
Despite being a good Samaritan, Jack is forced to accept a ride from a passing drifter miles later, when the mother refuses to assist him. Flash forward again and Jack is being charged with the murder of a police officer who Jack insists was killed by the man who picked them up. Since Jack has a mental condition, his claims of the driver who picked him up are dismissed as mental delusions.
Jack is committed to a mental institution where under the treatment of Dr. Becker (Kris Kristofferson), Jack is bound in a straight jacket and locked in a storage shelf in the basement morgue. While in the box, Jack travels 17 years into the future where he is reunited with Jackie (Kiera Knightley), the little girl he helped years earlier. Jackie has fallen upon hard times and refuses to believe that the person before her is the same Jack Starks who helped her years ago, as she claims that Jack Starks died years ago in the asylum.
As Jack comes in and out of treatment his perception of the events in the box comes into question due to his condition, and only the supportive Dr. Lorenson (Jennifer Jason Leigh), seems sympathetic to his concerns that he is going to die in the next few days.
The film jumps between the past, present, future where Jack attempts to uncover what happened to him with the help of Jackie so that he can try to prevent it from happening or at the very least, make the future a better place for those in the past who can avoid their fates.
The strength of the film is the solid work by the two leads as Brody and Knightley work well with one another and infuses their characters with compassion and humanity while showing their flaws as they attempt to deal with the hardships of their situations.
While some may take exception to the dark tone of the film, I preferred to look at the interesting twists to the story and how the film makes you think and interpret situations and outcomes rather than handing it to the audience in a tidy package.
In the new psychological thriller The Jacket, Adrian Brody plays Jack Starks, a Gulf war soldier who is shot in the head in 1991 during combat operations.
Jack survives this ordeal as he awakens during medical triage despite being classified as dead by the attending medics. Flash forward to late 1992, and Jack is on his way to Canada through a cold and remote section of Vermont It is learned that Jack has some mental blocks in his head via a series of flashbacks, but when he comes to the aid of a stranded motorist and her young daughter, Jack soon finds his life taking an unexpected turn.
Despite being a good Samaritan, Jack is forced to accept a ride from a passing drifter miles later, when the mother refuses to assist him. Flash forward again and Jack is being charged with the murder of a police officer who Jack insists was killed by the man who picked them up. Since Jack has a mental condition, his claims of the driver who picked him up are dismissed as mental delusions.
Jack is committed to a mental institution where under the treatment of Dr. Becker (Kris Kristofferson), Jack is bound in a straight jacket and locked in a storage shelf in the basement morgue. While in the box, Jack travels 17 years into the future where he is reunited with Jackie (Kiera Knightley), the little girl he helped years earlier. Jackie has fallen upon hard times and refuses to believe that the person before her is the same Jack Starks who helped her years ago, as she claims that Jack Starks died years ago in the asylum.
As Jack comes in and out of treatment his perception of the events in the box comes into question due to his condition, and only the supportive Dr. Lorenson (Jennifer Jason Leigh), seems sympathetic to his concerns that he is going to die in the next few days.
The film jumps between the past, present, future where Jack attempts to uncover what happened to him with the help of Jackie so that he can try to prevent it from happening or at the very least, make the future a better place for those in the past who can avoid their fates.
The strength of the film is the solid work by the two leads as Brody and Knightley work well with one another and infuses their characters with compassion and humanity while showing their flaws as they attempt to deal with the hardships of their situations.
While some may take exception to the dark tone of the film, I preferred to look at the interesting twists to the story and how the film makes you think and interpret situations and outcomes rather than handing it to the audience in a tidy package.
Bob Mann (459 KP) rated Wordslingers: The Story of Self-Publishing (2021) in Movies
Sep 28, 2021
They say that everyone has a book in them. I guess the key question is whether anyone else wants to read it. Such is the subject of this new documentary from A. Brooks Bennett. As a publisher says at one point “Writing a book is a creative act; publishing a book is a business”.
The democratization of publishing
The internet has brought many advantages to modern life, but perhaps one of the most interesting is the democratization of publishing. No longer is control in the hands of publishing houses, who might glance at and immediately dismiss new ideas in literature. It’s worth remembering that 12 publishing houses turned down J.K. Rowling’s draft for Harry Potter! Now anyone can be creative in writing and self-publish on the web. My own wife – Sue Mann – did just this, self-publishing the WW1 poems and reminiscences of two of her great-uncles. (It’s available from all good bookshops… oh, no…. actually just from here!) Are the poems artistically any good? I have no idea! Will it sell many copies? Clearly not! Was it a personal goal achieved in honouring their memory? Absolutely! Different people want different things from the medium.
Very ‘American’.
It’s probably down to the pioneer spirit, but as a generalisation Americans seem far more ambitious than Brits: or at least, more OPENLY ambitious. Whereas most Brits will quietly get on with building their careers, some Americans will go hell-for-leather towards their vision of “success” no matter the cost: no guts; no glory; and be noisy about it!
But for every J.K. Rowling or Bill Bryson there are several thousand writers who have ‘failed to launch’.
Here we follow two budding authors – one from California; the other from North Carolina – self-publishing their work and seeking sales.
One – Giles A (“Andy”) Anderson – has self-published a seemingly disturbing work called “Vidu” – the first of what he hopes will be a five-part series. He first talks from a ghoulish bookstore, speaking psycho-babble with the requisite hyperbole of an ‘artiste’. (It suggests how the books might read… but perhaps that’s misjudging). It comes then as a surprise when we find he doesn’t live alone in a coffin playing video games on his own, but has a lovely wife and two young and perfectly normal children. So his book is an “off the beaten track kinda book”, but the man seems well-grounded and following his dream in bite-size pieces.
Moral: Avoid the Travel Books
As is often the case though, the documentary homes in on, and spends most of its time with, the other author – Adam Shephard. Shephard is struggling to launch as an author and also – in parallel – wrestling with the Green Card process for his supportive and vivacious Croatian wife Ivana. The problem is that Shephard has written an extended travel blog: ten-a-penny on sites like WordPress.
I read a Forbes article last year that reported that – astonishingly – in a survey 11% of American respondents had never travelled outside of their home state and 40% had never left the country. For such a well-heeled country, the US is incredibly insular. So Shephard’s vision is to encourage youngsters to step outside of their comfort zone and jump on that plane to Guatemala. It’s a fine objective. But does anyone want to listen? And – crucially – is the book any good and commercial enough? As the famous ‘founder of self-publishing’, the late Dan Poynter (to who the film is dedicated) says “You can’t make any money off a travel book”.
The film never goes as far as having either of the featured books critically reviewed: that might have added some extra spice to the story (and possibly provoked some painful reactions). But the piles of unopened boxes in Adam’s clinically white storage facility rather speaks for itself. Since Shephard never seems to do anything by halves, the boxes are piled high and thus the fall from grace is hard, long…. and absolutely riveting. (Ivana’s support and love in such difficult circumstances is commendable: he is a truly blessed man).
Jaw-dropping Walmart scene
At least at the start of the film, Adam’s self-belief and confidence in himself is infectious. The peak of his bravado, and a jaw-dropping highpoint in the movie for me, was a scene filmed in Walmart. Shephard, in a case of “reverse shoplifting”, sneaks HIS books onto the bookshelves of Walmart. What happens when they then try to buy one? It’s a real eye-opener and worth watching the documentary for in its own right.
It’s an interesting legal position: if Walmart were to be upset about this scene, what on earth could they charge them with!? Littering?
Highs and lows.
Shephard seems to have talent as a speaker, and it struck me that he would be genuinely suited to a job in sales. In the movie we see him performing self-confidence-building pitches to young people (and, boy, could we sometimes use that in the UK post-Brexit). A few books sold. But another event barely breaking even. The pattern becomes familiar and, in a way, rather tragic.
There are unexpected highs and lows for Adam and Ivana along the way though, unrelated to the publishing story, and the filmmaker skillfully weaves them into the narrative to good effect.
Thought-provoking.
I watched this on a whim and thought I’d probably switch off after 10 minutes. Documentaries normally are not my thing! But no. It had me gripped to see how things would turn out – like watching a slow-motion car crash! The journey was well-worth the ride: a real page-turner you might say.
The democratization of publishing
The internet has brought many advantages to modern life, but perhaps one of the most interesting is the democratization of publishing. No longer is control in the hands of publishing houses, who might glance at and immediately dismiss new ideas in literature. It’s worth remembering that 12 publishing houses turned down J.K. Rowling’s draft for Harry Potter! Now anyone can be creative in writing and self-publish on the web. My own wife – Sue Mann – did just this, self-publishing the WW1 poems and reminiscences of two of her great-uncles. (It’s available from all good bookshops… oh, no…. actually just from here!) Are the poems artistically any good? I have no idea! Will it sell many copies? Clearly not! Was it a personal goal achieved in honouring their memory? Absolutely! Different people want different things from the medium.
Very ‘American’.
It’s probably down to the pioneer spirit, but as a generalisation Americans seem far more ambitious than Brits: or at least, more OPENLY ambitious. Whereas most Brits will quietly get on with building their careers, some Americans will go hell-for-leather towards their vision of “success” no matter the cost: no guts; no glory; and be noisy about it!
But for every J.K. Rowling or Bill Bryson there are several thousand writers who have ‘failed to launch’.
Here we follow two budding authors – one from California; the other from North Carolina – self-publishing their work and seeking sales.
One – Giles A (“Andy”) Anderson – has self-published a seemingly disturbing work called “Vidu” – the first of what he hopes will be a five-part series. He first talks from a ghoulish bookstore, speaking psycho-babble with the requisite hyperbole of an ‘artiste’. (It suggests how the books might read… but perhaps that’s misjudging). It comes then as a surprise when we find he doesn’t live alone in a coffin playing video games on his own, but has a lovely wife and two young and perfectly normal children. So his book is an “off the beaten track kinda book”, but the man seems well-grounded and following his dream in bite-size pieces.
Moral: Avoid the Travel Books
As is often the case though, the documentary homes in on, and spends most of its time with, the other author – Adam Shephard. Shephard is struggling to launch as an author and also – in parallel – wrestling with the Green Card process for his supportive and vivacious Croatian wife Ivana. The problem is that Shephard has written an extended travel blog: ten-a-penny on sites like WordPress.
I read a Forbes article last year that reported that – astonishingly – in a survey 11% of American respondents had never travelled outside of their home state and 40% had never left the country. For such a well-heeled country, the US is incredibly insular. So Shephard’s vision is to encourage youngsters to step outside of their comfort zone and jump on that plane to Guatemala. It’s a fine objective. But does anyone want to listen? And – crucially – is the book any good and commercial enough? As the famous ‘founder of self-publishing’, the late Dan Poynter (to who the film is dedicated) says “You can’t make any money off a travel book”.
The film never goes as far as having either of the featured books critically reviewed: that might have added some extra spice to the story (and possibly provoked some painful reactions). But the piles of unopened boxes in Adam’s clinically white storage facility rather speaks for itself. Since Shephard never seems to do anything by halves, the boxes are piled high and thus the fall from grace is hard, long…. and absolutely riveting. (Ivana’s support and love in such difficult circumstances is commendable: he is a truly blessed man).
Jaw-dropping Walmart scene
At least at the start of the film, Adam’s self-belief and confidence in himself is infectious. The peak of his bravado, and a jaw-dropping highpoint in the movie for me, was a scene filmed in Walmart. Shephard, in a case of “reverse shoplifting”, sneaks HIS books onto the bookshelves of Walmart. What happens when they then try to buy one? It’s a real eye-opener and worth watching the documentary for in its own right.
It’s an interesting legal position: if Walmart were to be upset about this scene, what on earth could they charge them with!? Littering?
Highs and lows.
Shephard seems to have talent as a speaker, and it struck me that he would be genuinely suited to a job in sales. In the movie we see him performing self-confidence-building pitches to young people (and, boy, could we sometimes use that in the UK post-Brexit). A few books sold. But another event barely breaking even. The pattern becomes familiar and, in a way, rather tragic.
There are unexpected highs and lows for Adam and Ivana along the way though, unrelated to the publishing story, and the filmmaker skillfully weaves them into the narrative to good effect.
Thought-provoking.
I watched this on a whim and thought I’d probably switch off after 10 minutes. Documentaries normally are not my thing! But no. It had me gripped to see how things would turn out – like watching a slow-motion car crash! The journey was well-worth the ride: a real page-turner you might say.
Lottie disney bookworm (1056 KP) rated Scarlet Princess in Books
Aug 30, 2021
Death was a hefty price to pay for vodka.
I mean with an opening line like that you know it’s going to be a great book right?!
Regular readers will know I’m a bit of an ElBin fangirl and often devour their books in 1 or 2 days. Scarlet Princess was no exception: I kept my kids fed and held down my full-time job for the day but the rest of the time was spent reading this amazing return into the Lochlann world.
Scarlet Princess is the first in the Lochlann Feuds series which is based approximately 20 years after Autumn’s Reign, the final in the Lochlann Treaty series. However, you don’t have to read the Lochlann Treaty in order to read Scarlet Princess: the world building, plot and characters shine just as brightly for this to be a standalone novel.
“It’s a lotus flower. They’re rare, complex flowers. Difficult to keep alive.”
“That doesn’t sound like anyone I know”
Scarlet Princess introduces us to Rowan, the Princess of Lochlann and her cousin Davin, whom we briefly met in the Lochlann Treaty. The cousins give the impression that they either go looking for trouble, or trouble just finds them! Therefore, it shouldn’t be so surprising that when we meet them, Rowan and Davin are just about to find themselves imprisoned in the neighbouring kingdom of Socair.
Sadly, Socair and Lochlann don’t have the friendliest history so getting home will be no easy feat for the cousins, if they can escape death first.
“Amicable and accommodating, Princess. I wonder if you are capable of either.“
Rowan is, without a doubt, a product of her parents: with her fiery red curls and equally fiery attitude it is easy for us to assume that Rowan takes after her father but then you find yourself internally shouting (or externally- no judgement) “why did you do that?!” and suddenly you see her mother's emotional, impulsive nature.
The smart mouth and the booziness? Well that’s just what makes Rowan, Rowan! And we love her for it!
“Am I boring you Princess Rowan?” He sighed.
“Always”
As Rowan’s journey continues though we see that she has been deeply affected by her parents’ quest for love. Our princess is quite closed off to love and is happy for a marriage to be arranged for her. At her young age Rowan equates love with warring kingdoms, losing children, losing husbands: ultimately, she equates love with loss.
Maybe that is why Rowan hides behind a mask of sarcasm and glib comments, seldom ever facing the reality of her predicament until it is too late.
I didn’t want the kind of love that could break you.
Behind her sarcasm though it is clear Rowan cares deeply about issues such as poverty and equality. She is forced to see that her life is very different in Lochlann, where villagers are not suffering and are looked after by their leaders; women are not seen as quiet mice who need protecting as they are in Socair. Maybe, just maybe, her life in Lochlann wasn’t as bad as she thought? But will Rowan ever see Lochlann again?
Besides, I never had been good at making the smart choice.
The cast of characters surrounding Rowan are equally as amazing as our princess. Davin is a ladies’ man just like his father, Iiro is authoritative one minute but then casually tortures his brother sensibilities the next and Mila is a great friend who comes swooping into Rowan’s life – there is definitely more to Mila than meets the eye though.
Rowan’s escort through Socair and the poor soul on the other end of most of her sarcasm is Lord Theodore, her captor and the heir to the Elk clan. Theo is fair where Rowan is fiery; stoic where she is scandalous and the tension between them …. oof it’s enough to make you swoon!
“You know when something just catches your attention and you can’t explain it?“
I loved revisiting Lochlann only to be immersed in the Kingdom of Socair: the mysterious enemy lurking behind the mountain. The 9 clans created a whole new dynamic from the previous books and the plot arc could have easily got lost within all the clan politics but it flowed beautifully.
All I will say is that I really shouldn’t trust Robin and Elle with happy endings – they will always rip it away with a few chapters to go. These two are the Queens of cliff-hangers!
Grab your copy of Scarlet Princess on August 27th 2021. Devour it in one day and then join me anxiously anticipating the sequel, Tarnished Crown in November 2021.
I mean with an opening line like that you know it’s going to be a great book right?!
Regular readers will know I’m a bit of an ElBin fangirl and often devour their books in 1 or 2 days. Scarlet Princess was no exception: I kept my kids fed and held down my full-time job for the day but the rest of the time was spent reading this amazing return into the Lochlann world.
Scarlet Princess is the first in the Lochlann Feuds series which is based approximately 20 years after Autumn’s Reign, the final in the Lochlann Treaty series. However, you don’t have to read the Lochlann Treaty in order to read Scarlet Princess: the world building, plot and characters shine just as brightly for this to be a standalone novel.
“It’s a lotus flower. They’re rare, complex flowers. Difficult to keep alive.”
“That doesn’t sound like anyone I know”
Scarlet Princess introduces us to Rowan, the Princess of Lochlann and her cousin Davin, whom we briefly met in the Lochlann Treaty. The cousins give the impression that they either go looking for trouble, or trouble just finds them! Therefore, it shouldn’t be so surprising that when we meet them, Rowan and Davin are just about to find themselves imprisoned in the neighbouring kingdom of Socair.
Sadly, Socair and Lochlann don’t have the friendliest history so getting home will be no easy feat for the cousins, if they can escape death first.
“Amicable and accommodating, Princess. I wonder if you are capable of either.“
Rowan is, without a doubt, a product of her parents: with her fiery red curls and equally fiery attitude it is easy for us to assume that Rowan takes after her father but then you find yourself internally shouting (or externally- no judgement) “why did you do that?!” and suddenly you see her mother's emotional, impulsive nature.
The smart mouth and the booziness? Well that’s just what makes Rowan, Rowan! And we love her for it!
“Am I boring you Princess Rowan?” He sighed.
“Always”
As Rowan’s journey continues though we see that she has been deeply affected by her parents’ quest for love. Our princess is quite closed off to love and is happy for a marriage to be arranged for her. At her young age Rowan equates love with warring kingdoms, losing children, losing husbands: ultimately, she equates love with loss.
Maybe that is why Rowan hides behind a mask of sarcasm and glib comments, seldom ever facing the reality of her predicament until it is too late.
I didn’t want the kind of love that could break you.
Behind her sarcasm though it is clear Rowan cares deeply about issues such as poverty and equality. She is forced to see that her life is very different in Lochlann, where villagers are not suffering and are looked after by their leaders; women are not seen as quiet mice who need protecting as they are in Socair. Maybe, just maybe, her life in Lochlann wasn’t as bad as she thought? But will Rowan ever see Lochlann again?
Besides, I never had been good at making the smart choice.
The cast of characters surrounding Rowan are equally as amazing as our princess. Davin is a ladies’ man just like his father, Iiro is authoritative one minute but then casually tortures his brother sensibilities the next and Mila is a great friend who comes swooping into Rowan’s life – there is definitely more to Mila than meets the eye though.
Rowan’s escort through Socair and the poor soul on the other end of most of her sarcasm is Lord Theodore, her captor and the heir to the Elk clan. Theo is fair where Rowan is fiery; stoic where she is scandalous and the tension between them …. oof it’s enough to make you swoon!
“You know when something just catches your attention and you can’t explain it?“
I loved revisiting Lochlann only to be immersed in the Kingdom of Socair: the mysterious enemy lurking behind the mountain. The 9 clans created a whole new dynamic from the previous books and the plot arc could have easily got lost within all the clan politics but it flowed beautifully.
All I will say is that I really shouldn’t trust Robin and Elle with happy endings – they will always rip it away with a few chapters to go. These two are the Queens of cliff-hangers!
Grab your copy of Scarlet Princess on August 27th 2021. Devour it in one day and then join me anxiously anticipating the sequel, Tarnished Crown in November 2021.