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Gangster School
Gangster School
Kate Wiseman | 2018 | Young Adult (YA)
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
There was a while since I had so much fun while reading a book. I would describe this book something like Hogwarts meets “Despicable Me”.

Our main characters in this book were Milly and Charlie, two year seven students, who just started a school for future villains. The whole book was told from these two people’s perspectives, sharing their thoughts and adventures. Like in most of the books about schools, there are plenty of various characters to choose from, but my favorite in this novel was Milly. I loved her personality and smartness, and I think she was a great young female lead. She is a very intelligent and observant girl indeed.

The plot of this book was about how Milly and Charlie had to stop an evil villain, who wants to ruin their school. It was filled with quite a lot of action and interesting details, but as an adult, I found the plot was quite predictable. I think that the idea and the setting are very original, but the “good vs. bad” thing was quite unimpressive. But this book directed at children so, I believe, they would love it. 🙂

I really enjoyed the light and funny writing style of this book, where the chapters are pretty short, bringing in something new in every chapter. I don’t think this book is suitable for very young children, it is all about how to be a good villain and it encourages the use of lying and deceit, so I would not want to encourage that in my 6-year-old nephew… However, I noticed that children’s books about thieves and villains are kind of on the “wave” right now… 😕

So, to conclude, as an adult I had great fun while reading this book. I found the characters very charming and the whole idea of gangster’s school pretty intriguing, and I would recommend this book if you (or your child/sibling/nephew/niece etc.) are into villains and saving the world (in this case saving the school). This book is a first in a series, and I will be waiting for more books to come. Please do give this a try and hopefully, you will enjoy it. 🙂
  
Thirteen Reasons Why
Thirteen Reasons Why
Jay Asher | 2009 | Children
10
8.4 (49 Ratings)
Book Rating
It hurts. I hurt - my heart, most of all. Thirteen Reasons Why spoke to me on a deep and personal level, one I try to ignore more often than not. Listening to Hannah Baker explain, in great detail, the stories, events, and people, that lead to her decision to commit suicide, was jarring. The way she chose to reveal her past, to expose the cause, was more effective than if she had just walked through the story in real time. Reading the discoveries through Clay's point of view made things more interesting. From Hanna's first official kiss, to the rumors that spread afterward (and who can honestly say they've never had a single rumor said about them?), to out of control parties and signs of depression ignored, we're lead through a sort of "treasure hunt". Each moment builds and builds as her tolerance withers away, crumbling under thoughts of not being wanted or cared about. This book, Hannah's story, is something that should open every eye to who we are as people, how we act, what we believe without verification, and how we treat others. Some events in Thirteen Reasons Why are textbook examples of bullying, while others are moments where, if they had happened separately from all the other moments, probably wouldn't have amounted to much. It should make you realize how every little thing can effect someone. Your words have an effect; your actions have an effect; your behavior has an effect. If you don't stop to think to how you've treated people throughout your life, or even wondered if something you have said or done has ever meant more to another person than they did to you, then perhaps you need to reevaluate your life. Thirteen Reasons Why is a breath of truth, if not a breath of fresh air. Nothing has slapped me in the face as serious or as hard as this book. Please, if you feel like you didn't feel the same reaction, reread this book and try to look at it through a different mindset. Because each word is important and the moral of this particular story is life changing.
  
The Surrogate (Brennan & Esposito #1)
The Surrogate (Brennan & Esposito #1)
Tania Carver | 2009 | Thriller
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Contains spoilers, click to show
4 of 250
Book
The Surrogate ( Brennan & Esposito book1)
By Tania Carver

Once read a review will be written via Smashbomb and link posted in comments

A shocking double-murder scene greets Detective Inspector Philip Brennan when he is called to a flat in Colchester. Two women are viciously cut open and laying spreadeagled, one tied to the bed, one on the floor. The woman on the bed has had her stomach cut into and her unborn child is missing. But this is the third time Phil and his team have seen such an atrocity. Two other pregnant women have been killed in this way and their babies taken from them. No-one can imagine what sort of person would want to commit such evil acts. When psychologist Marina Esposito is brought in, Phil has to put aside his feelings about their shared past and get on with the job. But can they find the killer before another woman is targeted?



This is definitely a strange one for me! How I got through it I will never know I had to keep putting it down and regather my thoughts. Several times I asked myself do I want to keep going! This is not me taking anything away from the authors as the book was very well written, fast paced with short but well packed chapters. This was difficult for so many reasons dealing with delicate issues. Murder of both women and babies, mutilation , sexual and physical abuse, mental illness on so many levels as well as a few more I missed. The book had this draw to it you didn’t want to go on but you needed to go on! For the first book I. A series it kicks you in the gut straight away! A few times I thought I would physically throw up. So many emotions packed into 438 pages! I needed that last chapter I needed to see him get his woman I think after everything you go through you need that ending!!

Would I recommend this book? Without a doubt but it needs a trigger warning and it’s definitely NOT for the faint hearted!!
  
The Burning Girls
The Burning Girls
C. J. Tudor | 2021 | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
10
9.5 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
The protagonist in this book is Jack, a female vicar, that has been sent to a little village to take over the church that has been vacant. Her daughter Flo is a teenager that had to change her life from Nottingham to Chapel Croft. I really loved the brilliant selection of characters. They are all mysterious, intriguing and different. I thoroughly enjoyed Jacks thoughts about being a priest, the church’s role and religion in general. It was very modern and stigma defining. I really liked Flo as well, she seems like a very smart young lady, full of curiosity and teenage rebellion. 🙂

Like always, the narrative is creepy, mysterious and very well planned out. There are multiple stories running through this book. This book is told from multiple perspectives, and I absolutely adored that. Jack’s perspective investigates a story of two young ladies that disappeared thirty years ago and a mysterious suicide of the previous vicar. And Flo’s perspective shares very creepy encounters with local youth. The whole book is covered in a mysterious shroud, suspense is seeping through the pages, and the story simply had me absorbed. The topics discussed in this book are religion, evil youth, parenting issues, over the top religiousness, church work, vicar’s life, tight community nuances, murder and many more.

The writing style of this book is impeccable. C.J. Tudor’s writing is evolving with every single book. The setting and the mood of this book is perfect for horror, and the mystery just drives suspense through this novel. The chapters are pretty short, so it is a fast and gripping book. The culmination and the ending are brilliant, and I loved how the book was rounded up. I have to warn the reader, that this book has murders, pretty gross stories, burning people and psychopaths.

So, to conclude, this was my first book of 2021 and is going straight to my top 10 of this year. I loved everything about this novel, it has very unique and complex characters as well as an amazingly delivered plot full of twists, intriguing stories and mystery. I strongly recommend to anyone who loves Stephen King or a good mystery.
  
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Ross (3284 KP) rated Legacy of Ash in Books

Dec 21, 2020  
Legacy of Ash
Legacy of Ash
Matthew Ward | 2019 | Science Fiction/Fantasy
7
7.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Epic but too lengthy
A very ambitious debut novel, epic in scope, cast of characters and plot. However, I found myself struggling to pick it up too often.
The book takes place in an empire with far-from-happy constituent parts and angry neighbours. The heirs of the traitorous Southweald "phoenix" are held captive as figureheads warning off any thoughts of rebellion. Meanwhile, a cliched corrupt council tries to keep the empire safe from impending invasion.
The book is filled with interesting magical creatures and abilities, with a demon, witches, crow-themed goth assassins and ancient spirits. These were at the fore nowhere near often enough, treated as curses and cast aside in favour of political plotting and old fashioned battle.
The first third of the book was awesome: learning about the richness of the world, its history, politics and magic. It really was set up to be an epic story of political intrigue, deception, plotting and underhand nastiness.
Sadly, this all lead to a battle sequence that lasted far too long. It was really like Joe Abercrombie had taken one of the First Law books and shoved The Heroes into the middle of it. I really struggled to get past this long, fairly boring conflict.
The second half of the book then calms down and focuses once again before taking a massive left-turn and changing to something very different.
As with many books of this size, the cast was massive and a number of characters not distinct enough to remember by name. And so many had such promising abilities to offer but were largely absent when they would have been so useful. It was like having a superstar in an amateur dramatic society and leaving them out of most of the script. Having said that, I once saw a pantomime with David Van Day in the cast and it was in everyone's best interests that he was largely absent.
The book finished well, but it was an 800-page book that read like a 1200-page one, taking me 5 weeks to read.
  
Juliet, Naked (2018)
Juliet, Naked (2018)
2018 | Comedy, Drama, Musical
If there's one thing you can guarantee it's that Nick Hornby can write a good book that turns into a good movie. While they never usually hit my favourites list they're always consistent.

This year has seen the romcom take a step back to something more traditional, and I'm loving it. So many have been more about the comedy, but while this one is funny it's very much focused on the relationships.

The movie opens with Duncan's video that sets up part of the background really well and goes a long way to explaining his life's obsession. What follows is a really well implemented flow with the voice overs mixed in.

I went off and read some comments people had been writing about some of my thoughts on Juliet, Naked. It made me remember that a film like this is only ever as good as your own personal experience. It depicts mild obsession in such a realistic way. Watching Chris O'Dowd reactions to Annie and then later Tucker was really on point, and as his behaviour starts to really cause the split between him and Annie her reaction too was just right. In fact I felt the three of them were brilliant on screen throughout.

As a focus for the film, Annie is a wonderful character. Rose Byrne really brings an honesty out of her. You can feel her exacerbation with Duncan's behaviour, her nervousness around Tucker as well as her joy and sadness. That accompanied with the way Tucker changes around her is really beautiful to watch.

Overall there wasn't much to grumble about in this film... but... there's always a but! I didn't feel that the supporting cast were quite as essential. Annie's sister was a little over the top for me, and the diversion around Duncan's affair didn't really match up to the calibre of the rest of the film either.

What you should do

It's definitely one to watch, and remember to watching into the credits!

Movie thing you wish you could take home

I actually wouldn't mind taking home my own Tucker Crowe.
  
Salt and Fire (2016)
Salt and Fire (2016)
2016 |
3
3.0 (1 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Characters – Laura Sommerfeld is the lead UN doctor on the latest mission, but she gets taken hostage by a radical group that want to take down a cooperation that has accidently started the end of the world, she must learn about the salt plain that could end the world. Matt Riley is the man behind the hostage taking as he knows about the potential threat to the world. Doctor Cavani is the loud mouth of the team that is also cowardly, he works with Laura but is sick for most of the film. we don’t get very much from any of the supporting characters in this film.

Performances – Veronica Ferres is the main actress, she is in every scene as we see how she learns about the story unfold, she is solid in the leading role but never enough to hold our attention. Michael Shannon is good in his role but we just don’t get enough from him character, this can be said for most of the cast we just needed more from their characters.

Story – The story follows one doctor that must learn of an impending disaster which needs solving even though it is considered unsolvable. This story is dull and slow, but it does have meaning when you look at the message trying to be sent, other than that it is too preachy for its own good. It tries to make us feel guilty for a new threat to the world that is manmade but is slowly becoming too much.

Thriller – This film tries to keep us on edge but in the end, you just don’t hit the edge of your seat by a long way.

Settings – The film is set in an unknown location in South America, it is designed to make us feel like it could be anywhere in the world that this could happen.


Scene of the Movie – Photo time.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – Overly preachy.

Final Thoughts – This is a film that doesn’t hit the marks it should, it could be breath-taking but in the end just sends you to sleep.

 

Overall: This movie was just painfully boring to watch from start to finish
  
Beast of Burden (2018)
Beast of Burden (2018)
2018 | Action, Crime, Drama
Characters – Laura Sommerfeld is the lead UN doctor on the latest mission, but she gets taken hostage by a radical group that want to take down a cooperation that has accidently started the end of the world, she must learn about the salt plain that could end the world. Matt Riley is the man behind the hostage taking as he knows about the potential threat to the world. Doctor Cavani is the loud mouth of the team that is also cowardly, he works with Laura but is sick for most of the film. we don’t get very much from any of the supporting characters in this film.

Performances – Veronica Ferres is the main actress, she is in every scene as we see how she learns about the story unfold, she is solid in the leading role but never enough to hold our attention. Michael Shannon is good in his role but we just don’t get enough from him character, this can be said for most of the cast we just needed more from their characters.

Story – The story follows one doctor that must learn of an impending disaster which needs solving even though it is considered unsolvable. This story is dull and slow, but it does have meaning when you look at the message trying to be sent, other than that it is too preachy for its own good. It tries to make us feel guilty for a new threat to the world that is manmade but is slowly becoming too much.

Thriller – This film tries to keep us on edge but in the end, you just don’t hit the edge of your seat by a long way.

Settings – The film is set in an unknown location in South America, it is designed to make us feel like it could be anywhere in the world that this could happen.


Scene of the Movie – Photo time.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – Overly preachy.

Final Thoughts – This is a film that doesn’t hit the marks it should, it could be breath-taking but in the end just sends you to sleep.

 

Overall: This movie was just painfully boring to watch from start to finish
  
Into The Forest (2016)
Into The Forest (2016)
2016 | Drama, International, Sci-Fi
Characters/Performance – Nell is the elder sister that doesn’t want to stay waiting for everything to blow over but must take responsibility once her father dies, she fills the big sister role needing to keep everything together even when she has a chance to leave. Eva is the younger sister and once promising dancer, she wants to continue her dancing even without the power but must learn to be more responsible. The male characters all offer different visions on the good and bad in life when a power outage would happen.

Performance wise, I feel one of the big problem here is that Ellen Page and Evan Rachel Wood are nearly ten years older than the characters they are playing, this does make it harder to see the teenage nativity needed in the role but sadly this takes away the strength in the performance needed.

Story – The story does focus on what could happen if the world stopped have power, this could also help show us how the world could fall apart and not cope like it once did. This also doesn’t just give us the undead being a threat which is important as it is mostly about the struggle of what is meant to be two teenage girls through this sudden change. I think the story is refreshing even if it is slightly slow.

Sci-Fi/Thriller – The power is go and now the end of the world that creates us the sci-fi side of the story well, we also deal with wondering just what will be thrown at the girls next for the thrilling side of things.

Settings – The film is set mostly in and around the home in the forest which gives us the isolation needed for a potential end of the world type of problems the girls must work through.

Final Thoughts – This is a good watch even if it is slightly slow in places, we do struggle to get the most out of the deeper side of things but we are kept interested in where things could go next.

 

Overall: Slow but strong thriller.
  
Hellions (2015)
Hellions (2015)
2015 | Horror
6
6.0 (1 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Characters/Performance – Nell is the elder sister that doesn’t want to stay waiting for everything to blow over but must take responsibility once her father dies, she fills the big sister role needing to keep everything together even when she has a chance to leave. Eva is the younger sister and once promising dancer, she wants to continue her dancing even without the power but must learn to be more responsible. The male characters all offer different visions on the good and bad in life when a power outage would happen.

Performance wise, I feel one of the big problem here is that Ellen Page and Evan Rachel Wood are nearly ten years older than the characters they are playing, this does make it harder to see the teenage nativity needed in the role but sadly this takes away the strength in the performance needed.

Story – The story does focus on what could happen if the world stopped have power, this could also help show us how the world could fall apart and not cope like it once did. This also doesn’t just give us the undead being a threat which is important as it is mostly about the struggle of what is meant to be two teenage girls through this sudden change. I think the story is refreshing even if it is slightly slow.

Sci-Fi/Thriller – The power is go and now the end of the world that creates us the sci-fi side of the story well, we also deal with wondering just what will be thrown at the girls next for the thrilling side of things.

Settings – The film is set mostly in and around the home in the forest which gives us the isolation needed for a potential end of the world type of problems the girls must work through.

Final Thoughts – This is a good watch even if it is slightly slow in places, we do struggle to get the most out of the deeper side of things but we are kept interested in where things could go next.

 

Overall: Slow but strong thriller.