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The Survival Game
The Survival Game
Nicky Singer | 2018 | Dystopia, Science Fiction/Fantasy, Young Adult (YA)
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Global warming from a child's perspective.
I know it's necessary to have differentiation between the age groups for the protection of those who are youngest, but in this case, knowing that this is a child's/ young person's book, may put adults off reading this - and that would be a shame. All of the themes in this novel are very current. Set against the backdrop of a global climate disaster, we see how the displaced are treated: in a word, badly. We see the devastation that global warming wreaks, and the terrifying journey that a 14 year old girl, Mhairi Anne Bain (Mab, for short, which is interesting, as she is a symbol of freedom in Shakespeare and Mab Darogan in Welsh folklore was someone who was prophesied to come and save the Welsh from the English by forcing them out, as the Scots have forced the English out in this story, I suppose. Don't ask me how I remember this kind of information) makes on her own from the Sudan to the Isle of Arran. On her journey, she meets a young boy who doesn't speak, and she finds herself feeling responsible for him. I think he gives her some hope and a reason to keep going, to be honest. She decides to take him home with her, but of course, it isn't that easy.
Everything in this novel is plausible - the way in which Scotland and other countries decide how to control population, global warming and its consequences, and the resultant mass movement of people affected by drought and flooding.
I really enjoyed this: Mhairi has a very mature voice, as would any child who had seen and experienced what she had, and she is believable. We don't see all of the horrors she experiences, but they are alluded to, which is probably a very good idea when children are going to be the target audience. To be honest, there are a lot of adults that really don't want or need the gory details.
This is a timely novel, and one that is important to read. I could see that there would be a lot of discussion arising from this book in a classroom.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my copy of this book to read and to give an honest review.
  
BT
Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex
Mary Roach | 2008 | Science & Mathematics
9
7.8 (4 Ratings)
Book Rating
Hysterically funny (1 more)
Laugh-out-loud footnotes
It's not often a nonfiction book has me laughing out loud, but this one did it. This is the first of Roach's books I've read, but her voice makes me want to read everything she's ever written! Bonk is the story of sexual research - how scientists have made discoveries about a topic that is awkward at best, and taboo or even criminal at worst. Roach takes research seriously, volunteering as a research subject more than once (and convincing her husband to help, in at least one case!) Her wordplay is clever and her footnotes are HILARIOUS - this was a nonfiction book I kept having to pause and read to my husband between snickers.

Even her chapter titles are giggle-inducing - with titles like "The Princess and Her Pea - The Woman Who Moved Her Clitoris, and Other Ruminations on Intercourse Orgasms" and "Re-member Me - Transplants, Implants, and Other Penises Of Last Resort."

Roach writes about some truly awkward sexual encounters in the name of science:

On the bed are a man and a woman. They are making the familiar movements made by millions of other couples on a bed that night, yet they look nothing like those couples. They have EKG wires leading from their thighs and arms, like a pair of lustful marionettes who managed to escape the puppet show and check into a cheap motel. Their mouths are covered by snorkel-type mouthpieces with valves. Trailing from each mouthpiece is a length of flexible tubing that runs through the wall to the room next door, where Bartlett is measuring their breathing rate. To ensure that they don't breathe through their noses, the noses have been "lightly clamped."

Another passage mentions two gymnasts who have sex in an MRI tube. (For science!) I'm impressed these people can perform under these conditions at all!

There's only one passage that squicked me out a little bit - there's a few paragraphs describing a urologist performing surgery on a penis and it's...a little disturbing. That aside, though, this is a delightful book on an uncommon topic. It's an easy read, which I don't say about much nonfiction. It might be awkward to explain why you're snickering over this book, though!

You can find all my reviews at http://goddessinthestacks.com
  
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Caffeinated Fae (464 KP) Sep 19, 2018

I really need to read this book! It looks hilarious!

The year is 1812, and the search for a missing treasure commences. Mystery and intrigue are found around every corner. A thrilling new regency book!

Jonathan Gilchrist is on a mission to recover The Bevoy, a ruby of immense value, stolen from his father. Jonathan's family needs The Bevoy in order to save their home. But the last thing he expected was Camille Iverness. Camille has grown up in a shady part of London and has learned how to fend for herself. Running her father's curiosity shop, she has encountered many people of different characters. When strange and threatening events occur, she must rely on the help of Mr. Gilchrist, a stranger. But can she trust him? Running from her past, Camille seeks refuge in the village of Fellsworth. As her attachment for the village grows, she begins to feel as though she can begin a new life at last. But when her past literally shows up in Fellsworth, her hopes for a new life are dashed to pieces. Will Jonathan and Camille ever be able to find peace? Will events that unfold push them apart or draw them closer together?

"It is not just a ruby, as you say. It is large as a quail's egg, still untouched and unpolished. And it is rumored to either bless or curse whomever possess it."

The Curiosity Keeper was a book that I had been looking forward to reading for quite a while. And I was not disappointed! It is a thrilling story that kept me engaged from beginning to end. It has all of the elements expected for a regency romance, with a few interesting surprises, mystery being one of them. Sarah Ladd does a brilliant job of drawing you into the story. I could feel my heart racing when tensions rose and sighed with relief on more than one occasion. Throughout the book we can clearly see the underlying message: And we know that in all things, God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28 NIV) I highly recommend The Curiosity Keeper, and I look forward to the next book in the Treasures of Surrey series.

I received a free digital copy of The Curiosity Keeper from NetGalley courtesy of Thomas Nelson, Inc. in exchange for my honest review.
  
American Hippo (River of Teeth, #1-2)
American Hippo (River of Teeth, #1-2)
Sarah Gailey | 2018 | Fiction & Poetry, LGBTQ+, Science Fiction/Fantasy
8
8.0 (3 Ratings)
Book Rating
I actually read these volumes as separate books, so I have two separate reviews here.

River of Teeth (Part 1):
I somehow missed that this was a novella, every time I looked at it online. It wasn't until I checked it out from the library and was shocked at how small it was that I made that discovery. It was a welcome one, since I checked out seven other books that day, and finding something short was a relief!

And I AM SO GLAD I finally read this, because it's AMAZING. It opens on Winslow seducing a federal agent, and quickly moves to him gathering up a crew to drive feral hippos out of a marsh in Louisiana. I was expected a fun hippo-cowboy romp, and I got that - what I wasn't expected was strong, deadly women, a bisexual male hero, a nonbinary love interest, and hippo steeds. I don't know why hippo steeds didn't occur to me - it's not like they could wrangle hippos from atop horses! There is so much goodness packed into this little volume.

River of Teeth: short and sweet, action-packed with amazing characters and a fascinating, bizarre, but historical premise.

Taste of Marrow (Part 2):
Another quick novella, Taste of Marrow is the sequel to the bizarre alternate history novella River of Teeth. It picks up a few months after the ending of the first - people have had a chance to heal their injuries from the explosive ending of the first book, and hippos have begun to spread to previously safe waterways. The cast of this book consists of the surviving characters from the first, plus only one more semi-important character.

It's not quite as good as the first - no explosions and it's less of a rollercoaster - but there is some character development, and a deeper exploration of a few characters than we saw in the first book. I wish my library had the omnibus edition, because it includes two short stories set in the same world, and I'm very curious which aspects of the world she explored in those.

But this is a fun pair of books, very quick, easy reads, and it's just fun to say you're reading a book about hippos and cowboys!

You can find all my reviews at http://goddessinthestacks.com
  
The Marlowe Papers
The Marlowe Papers
Ros Barber | 2013 | Fiction & Poetry
6
8.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
I thought this was a really interesting idea; a 'novel (if that's even the right word!) written entirely in Blank Verse. Obviously the subject matter was also one that interested me.

The book apparently formed part of Barber's PhD and her central theory is the one that playwright and intelligencer Christopher Marlowe did not in fact die in Deptford as supposed. Subsidiary to this is the idea that William Shakespeare was just a front man for a whole host of plays written by an exiled Marlowe. Despite appearing in a production of Doctor Faustus as a teenager, I will admit that I am not terribly au fait with the details of Marlowe's life but having read Barber's work and the notes at the back, I can see there is some mileage in the idea of him having not actually died as reported; certainly there appears something fishy going on. I'm less convinced by the idea that someone else 'must' have written Shakespeare's plays. If Marlowe could be successful as the son of a Kentish Cobbler, why can't we believe the same of the son of a Stratford glover? Be that as it may, that is the stance Barber has chosen to take and I can accept what she gives me for the purpose of her 'entertainment' of 'what might have happened'.

As to the book itself, it's about 400 pages long and I think it took about 100 of those before I felt I was really getting into it. I'm not sure if it was adjusting to the style of the work (I read some plays in Blank Verse, but I'm not a great poetry lover) or if the early section was more chronologically disjointed and more tricky to get into the swing of the action? I am glad I persevered though, as I did end up enjoying it. On the other hand, I can more than understand that some people won't find it their cup of tea at all - I don't think there is any other work, at least not in English, that is written in quite the same way. It certainly must have been a labour of love getting exactly the right words to make all that Iambic Pentameter work, so hats off to Barber on this score.

Now I feel like seeing if I can find a decent biography of Marlowe, and surely that can only be a good thing.
  
The First Mistake
The First Mistake
Sandie Jones | 2019 | Thriller
8
7.8 (4 Ratings)
Book Rating
Alice's life hasn't been the same since she lost her husband, Tom. When Nathan comes into her life, she feels like she can conquer anything with him by her side. She has two beautiful daughters and a best friend who always has her back. Then, in the blink of an eye, her whole world comes crashing down and she is questioning everything she knows to be true. Who can she trust and will she find out the truth before it's too late.

Thank you to Minotaur Books for the opportunity to read and review this book.

When I first started reading this book, I thought I knew exactly what was going to happen. All the clues were laid out for you right there in the open. But what actually happened was quite different and it had me shocked all the way until the end. There were some parts to my theory that were correct and others that were way off.

Alice and Beth as well as their daughters are best friends. Even though they have only known each other for a few years, they share similar interests and disinterests(where other school moms are concerned). When strange things start to happen that Alice can't explain, she turns to her best friend for help. But when Beth gives her information that she never expected to hear, she's not sure who to believe or trust. Trying to keep her daughters in the dark about what is really going on in their house is not easy and when it all comes to the surface, will Beth have anyone she can lean on?

I can understand Alice's position. I don't have a lot of close friends where I currently live and those friends I do have, we all have children in the same grade. So I can see myself confiding in them. These people are more likely to know my husband since he grew up in the area we now live in. So it's interesting to see women I talk to mention my husband if they went to school with him. But if he was dead and someone didn't know him brought him up, I would be very wary of that. Beth thinks she knows Alice's dead husband. But how could she. And why does he now have an active Facebook page. This is all becoming too much, but Alice has to know what is going on.
  
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Phil Leader (619 KP) rated Hiding in Books

Nov 14, 2019  
Hiding
Hiding
Jenny Morton Potts | 2018 | Thriller
9
9.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Keller Baye is the son of a murderer, a man he is about to watch die for his crime. A man who only wants one thing from his son: revenge.

Rebecca Brown is an orphan who has been brought up by relatives in a remote Scottish house and who's thirst for knowledge about her parents and the car crash in which they died only grows keener the less those around her are prepared to talk about it.

Despite the miles between these two people they are connected by a single thread, and that thread is set to bring them together and reveal the truth.

Roughly the first part of the book tells the backgrounds of the two main characters, gradually revealing one event at a time exactly who Baye and Brown are, what drives them and how the loss of their parents has had an indelible effect on both their lives. The second half relates the events that unfold once fate has driven them together.

Both characters feel very real, especially because of the care that has clearly gone into each of their back stories. Baye in particular could have just been a mere cipher of a child who went off the rails after his father went to prison. But that one event alone conspires with many others to shape Baye into the urgent tool of his father's revenge that he decides to be.

The stories of the character's very different childhoods is engrossing, effectively told a series of anecdotes. Baye delivering justice for his cat. Brown burning the playing cards. All these seem very real because they could really happen.

When the tension starts to build in the second half of the book it's not like a spring winding up; it is more like a boiler that is getting hotter and hotter and the pressure is rising all the time. It's not clear when something is going to break but it's clear that something will go very wrong at some point.

This is a superb thriller with an excellent plot, some very good twists and written at a perfect pace, fast enough to keep the momentum up but slow enough to ratchet the tension up at the end of each chapter. An easy 5 stars and a new J Morton Potts fan.

Rating: Scenes of sadistic violence and some others of a sexual nature
  
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Neon's Nerd Nexus (360 KP) rated Frozen II (2019) in Movies

Dec 2, 2019 (Updated Dec 2, 2019)  
Frozen II (2019)
Frozen II (2019)
2019 | Adventure, Animation, Fantasy
The Cucumber
Frozen 2 is not only better than Frozen but it also manages to develop its characters futher, delves deeper into its lore and overall tells a tale thats much darker and way more mature. Its apparent from the start of the movie that this sequel has more to say than just being a cheap cash in and as we check in on Elsa we see that although at first everything might seem happy it becomes aparent shes still struggling with demons and troubled on the inside. They clearly are not children anymore and thus dealing with the loss of both their parents is really starting to hit home as they enter the grieving process. This seems to effect Elsa in more ways than she can begin to process and as she struggles to tame her depression and get a hold on her mental health she closes up and alienates the people that are close to her. Its all incredibly dark stuff and at times it became so bleak that it had both adults and children in our screening breaking out in tears. Olaf does lighten things up occasionally however with some genuinely funny comedy, silly facts and some nice philosophy too with a role that feels important this time rather than there for comic relief. Pact with cool mythology and stuning visuals the film also manages to create not only a great coldness but an incredible warmth to really drive home its message of the importance of family and heritage. Elemental effects are extremely impressive too as is the improved animation quality and while the songs arnt as catchy this time they flow with more heart/meaning and with way more creativity visually too. Frozen 2 might not be perfect but as an adult it spoke to me more than the last one did and seeing it have the guts to mature and progress rather than replicate is a bold move I really respected. A truly magical fable full to the brim with lore and mythology that deals with such grown up isuess so respectfully and realistically that it will speak way more this time to adults than it does kids. Frozen 2 successfully teaches us all the message that we dont have to 'let It Go' or deal with our problems alone and by remembering and talking about those that are gone warms the heart and keeps them alive in us.
  
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Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated the PC version of Terminator: Resistance in Video Games

Dec 15, 2019  
Terminator: Resistance
Terminator: Resistance
2019 | Shooter
Reef Entertainment and Teyon are to be congratulated for bringing one of the best Terminator games ever to fans.

The game casts players as a member of the Resistance in the post-apocalypse L.A. area who must content with a nightmare world of cybernetic killers.
Playing from a First Person Perspective; players must explore, salvage, construct, and survive a series of missions ranging from recon, salvage, exploration and others.

Players will find themselves in the company of civilians looking to simply survive and thanks to a branching dialogue option; players will also have some control over whom they interact with and the direction of the story as well as how those characters will view and interact with you in the future.

Naturally players expect some action in a Terminator game and the game delivers plenty of it. Starting with pistols and rifles; players can take down Drones and Silverfish; but the larger Terminator units require something more advanced. When you finally get a Phased Plasma Rifle in the 40 Watt Range; it is a true delight to mow down the T-800 and other units but you will quickly learn that they can and do take a great deal of punishment before they go down and that your ammunition supply is not infinite.

As such; players often have to resort to stealth options and I can think of missions through a hospital and decimated town where the enemies were abundant and required some real tactics to evade.

The story also offers plenty of side missions for players looking for an optional challenge as well. I especially liked the references to people and events that were hinted at or mentioned in the film series as it really added an extra thrill to the gameplay.

The graphics are solid but not groundbreaking but capture the world and characters well which helps add to the immersion in the game.

I would have liked to have seen a multiplayer option as it would be great fun to do a Co-Op mission with other players where some would have to distract and engage enemies while others used a Stealth option.

Regardless; Terminator: Resistance is a solid and enjoyable game which provides gamers with a solid and enjoyable Terminator experience.
4 stars out of 5.
  
It's a Bright World to Feel Lost In
It's a Bright World to Feel Lost In
2
2.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
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<b><i>I love cute little books, especially when they contain something emotional or motivating around them.</i></b>

This book was one of those cute little books that you pick up now and then, have a quick read through and then go on with your life. And that is the reason why I chose to review it. 

The book is supposedly written by a bear called Mawson that gives life advice. And it's meant for adults, not children. It doesn’t follow any particular story - in fact - it all seems to be a bit of randomly places throughout the pages, with a lot of adorable pictures of a teddy bear doing things. However, I was having some troubles understanding this book. 

The teddy bear is so cute and the images are indeed adorable, but I found the text depressing, rather than motivating. Yes - it is a bright world to feel lost in, and we do find ourselves lost all the time. But what can we do about it? What is the teddy bear doing about it? I just didn’t get it. I don’t think the messaging was there. I am not sure the author delivered everything that he wanted to say in this book. 

The words had random capital letters, a few spelling errors, and they were also randomly places on the pages, alongside the images, which to some people might be appealing, but to me - it just puts me off. I understand this is the bear typing..... but as I said - definitely annoyed me and I found it ridiculous. 

<b>I know I am supposed to love this book, because it has a teddy bear on the cover - but I just didn’t. </b>

Thank you to the author (bear's guardian) Mark O'Dwyer for sending across this book to me in exchange for an honest review. 

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