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Debbiereadsbook (1757 KP) rated Valley of Secrets (Death's Embrace #4) in Books
Apr 18, 2026
so very well done, Ms Moore!!
Independent reviewer for Archaeolibrarian, I was gifted my copy of this book.
THis is book 4 in the Death's Embrace series and it cannot be read as a stand alone. You need to know how Grace and Nathaniel got to this point in time, and everything is not recapped and you really do need it!
Grace is on the run, and she has to trust to man who killed her mother. But she has no one else. Her father, Doran, is dead. Her closest friend, Tsa Lien is dead and those who want her dead grow in number by the minute. The only solution is to get to the valley, to Eamon, the High Druid of Arajon. But getting there might cost her and Nathaniel their lives.
OK so! Doran had the voice in book 1, Nathaniel was added in book 2, Grace in book 3 and here we get someone else as well and I loved the surprises she threw at me!! So we get everyone here and I loved that.
I said in a previous review, that I loved and hated that I couldn't see where this story was going. I think what I meant was, I couldn't see HOW it was going to get where it was going! Grace was always meant to rule, I just couldn't see how she was going to get there. She takes quite the long way round, but I think she really did need to, to ensure she stays there this time.
Grace needed Nathaniel (oooh! I just realised! Only Doran calls him Nate!) even if she hated him. And she learns a lot about him on their journey to the valley, and it makes her see a deeper side to the man who has her father's heart. I loved that Eamon won Grace's heart. He surprised me too!
Doran has quite an adventure too, after his tumble off the side of a cliff! There were some surprises for him in the valley, as well!
Oh dear Lord, I wanna rant and rave about this book but it would really be full of spoilers and I don't want to do that, because I really LOVED the surprises this book threw at me, and you need those surprises too, but when you are reading.
I have absolutely no idea what Samael has to do with anything in these books! Can someone explain, please??
This is book 4, the final book, in the Death's Embrace series. But as I was reading, the ending felt unfinished. It felt like there was move to come for this group of people, for Grace especially. And then I read the bit the author wrote at the end. It appears there are 2 more books to come! And I hope I can get my hands on them!
I have to commend Ms Moore. I usually read books heavy on the smexy side and these books are very lacking in that department. Not a bad thing, not at all. But for Ms Moore to keep me fully engaged for 4 very VERY long books?? Outstanding work, really outstanding. So much so, I've added this book to my Masterpieces shelf!
I can't fault this, or any of the books in this series. So it can only get. . . .
5 full and shiny stars
*same worded review will appear elsewhere
THis is book 4 in the Death's Embrace series and it cannot be read as a stand alone. You need to know how Grace and Nathaniel got to this point in time, and everything is not recapped and you really do need it!
Grace is on the run, and she has to trust to man who killed her mother. But she has no one else. Her father, Doran, is dead. Her closest friend, Tsa Lien is dead and those who want her dead grow in number by the minute. The only solution is to get to the valley, to Eamon, the High Druid of Arajon. But getting there might cost her and Nathaniel their lives.
OK so! Doran had the voice in book 1, Nathaniel was added in book 2, Grace in book 3 and here we get someone else as well and I loved the surprises she threw at me!! So we get everyone here and I loved that.
I said in a previous review, that I loved and hated that I couldn't see where this story was going. I think what I meant was, I couldn't see HOW it was going to get where it was going! Grace was always meant to rule, I just couldn't see how she was going to get there. She takes quite the long way round, but I think she really did need to, to ensure she stays there this time.
Grace needed Nathaniel (oooh! I just realised! Only Doran calls him Nate!) even if she hated him. And she learns a lot about him on their journey to the valley, and it makes her see a deeper side to the man who has her father's heart. I loved that Eamon won Grace's heart. He surprised me too!
Doran has quite an adventure too, after his tumble off the side of a cliff! There were some surprises for him in the valley, as well!
Oh dear Lord, I wanna rant and rave about this book but it would really be full of spoilers and I don't want to do that, because I really LOVED the surprises this book threw at me, and you need those surprises too, but when you are reading.
I have absolutely no idea what Samael has to do with anything in these books! Can someone explain, please??
This is book 4, the final book, in the Death's Embrace series. But as I was reading, the ending felt unfinished. It felt like there was move to come for this group of people, for Grace especially. And then I read the bit the author wrote at the end. It appears there are 2 more books to come! And I hope I can get my hands on them!
I have to commend Ms Moore. I usually read books heavy on the smexy side and these books are very lacking in that department. Not a bad thing, not at all. But for Ms Moore to keep me fully engaged for 4 very VERY long books?? Outstanding work, really outstanding. So much so, I've added this book to my Masterpieces shelf!
I can't fault this, or any of the books in this series. So it can only get. . . .
5 full and shiny stars
*same worded review will appear elsewhere
BankofMarquis (1832 KP) rated Licorice Pizza (2021) in Movies
Mar 9, 2022
Disjointed
The films of Director Paul Thomas Anderson is a bit of an “acquired taste”, moviegoers generally fall into one of 2 camps. (1) those that LOVE what he does (and thinks he is one of the greatest Directors of All Time) and (2) those that don’t.
I thought I fell into the 2nd camp, but upon reviewing his portfolio of work for this review (HARD EIGHT, BOOGIE NIGHTS, PUNCH-DRUNK LOVE and THERE WILL BE BLOOD), I realized that I pretty much liked whatever he had done, but with his last few films (THE MASTER, INHERENT VICE, THE PHANTOM THREAD) I am finding that “PTA” (as his fans call him) is becoming just a little too “artsy” and pretentious for my tastes. He has fallen too in love with his material - and artistic style - to objectively look at a film and realize that it needs to move along at a brisker pace.
Such is the case with his latest film, LICORICE PIZZA.
A memory of his youth, LICORICE PIZZA follows the relationship of a pair of mismatched young adults as they work their way through the early 1970’s in search of themselves and love.
This film is a series of scenes stitched together to tell a story and the problem with it is that it made this film seem disjointed. The central “get together already” love story of the main 2 characters is supposed to be the through-line of the film, but when this through-line breaks (as it often does here) it is detrimental to the flow of the story.
Based, loosely, on the real-life exploits of PTA’s friend, Producer Gary Goetzman, LICORICE PIZZA stars Cooper Hoffman (son of Phillip Seymour Hoffman) as Gary Valentine and Alana Haim (of the Sister Act Musical Group HAIM) as Alana as they have an on-again/off-again friendship that SHOULD BE a romance, but isn’t (kind of like WHEN HARRY MET SALLY). They circumnavigate circa 1973 Los Angeles running into fictionalized portrayals of famous people like Producer Jon Peters (Bradley Cooper) and Film Actor Jack Holden (Sean Penn) an amalgamation of William Holden and Steve McQueen.
The central performances of Hoffman and Haim are competent enough, but never rises to anything more than that, which pulls this film down for one or the other of them is in every scene . The various actors doing extended cameos (like Cooper and Penn) seem to be having fun chewing up the scenery, but they are acting in a completely different style of film than Hoffman and Haim are and our 2 leads don’t stand a chance of standing out compared to these over-the-top performances.
Blame for all of this needs to be laid on Anderson (Oscar Nominated for his Direction in this film). He tried to give us a “slice of life” nostalgia piece like AMERICAN GRAFFITI or ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD, but he just doesn’t pull it off.
An Oscar Nominee for Best Picture, LICORICE PIZZA seems to be riding the wave of nostalgia both for the times depicted - and the artist who put this film on the screen - but it just isn’t that good of a film.
Letter Grade B- (for Cooper’s and Penn’s scenes in this)
6 stars (out of 10) and you can take this to the Bank(ofMarquis)
I thought I fell into the 2nd camp, but upon reviewing his portfolio of work for this review (HARD EIGHT, BOOGIE NIGHTS, PUNCH-DRUNK LOVE and THERE WILL BE BLOOD), I realized that I pretty much liked whatever he had done, but with his last few films (THE MASTER, INHERENT VICE, THE PHANTOM THREAD) I am finding that “PTA” (as his fans call him) is becoming just a little too “artsy” and pretentious for my tastes. He has fallen too in love with his material - and artistic style - to objectively look at a film and realize that it needs to move along at a brisker pace.
Such is the case with his latest film, LICORICE PIZZA.
A memory of his youth, LICORICE PIZZA follows the relationship of a pair of mismatched young adults as they work their way through the early 1970’s in search of themselves and love.
This film is a series of scenes stitched together to tell a story and the problem with it is that it made this film seem disjointed. The central “get together already” love story of the main 2 characters is supposed to be the through-line of the film, but when this through-line breaks (as it often does here) it is detrimental to the flow of the story.
Based, loosely, on the real-life exploits of PTA’s friend, Producer Gary Goetzman, LICORICE PIZZA stars Cooper Hoffman (son of Phillip Seymour Hoffman) as Gary Valentine and Alana Haim (of the Sister Act Musical Group HAIM) as Alana as they have an on-again/off-again friendship that SHOULD BE a romance, but isn’t (kind of like WHEN HARRY MET SALLY). They circumnavigate circa 1973 Los Angeles running into fictionalized portrayals of famous people like Producer Jon Peters (Bradley Cooper) and Film Actor Jack Holden (Sean Penn) an amalgamation of William Holden and Steve McQueen.
The central performances of Hoffman and Haim are competent enough, but never rises to anything more than that, which pulls this film down for one or the other of them is in every scene . The various actors doing extended cameos (like Cooper and Penn) seem to be having fun chewing up the scenery, but they are acting in a completely different style of film than Hoffman and Haim are and our 2 leads don’t stand a chance of standing out compared to these over-the-top performances.
Blame for all of this needs to be laid on Anderson (Oscar Nominated for his Direction in this film). He tried to give us a “slice of life” nostalgia piece like AMERICAN GRAFFITI or ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD, but he just doesn’t pull it off.
An Oscar Nominee for Best Picture, LICORICE PIZZA seems to be riding the wave of nostalgia both for the times depicted - and the artist who put this film on the screen - but it just isn’t that good of a film.
Letter Grade B- (for Cooper’s and Penn’s scenes in this)
6 stars (out of 10) and you can take this to the Bank(ofMarquis)