Search

Search only in certain items:

The Raven King
The Raven King
Maggie Stiefvater | 2016 | LGBTQ+, Science Fiction/Fantasy, Young Adult (YA)
8
8.3 (15 Ratings)
Book Rating
The fourth and final book in Stiefvater's "Raven Cycle" series picks up shortly after the third. Obviously, if you haven't read the three previous books, you should, and you shouldn't continue reading this review, as there will be spoilers. Gansey, of course, is still after the elusive Glendower, a buried king whom he believes will change his life. Blue, daughter of a psychic, is not-psychic, but still an amplifier of those who are, and still destined to kill her true love upon their first kiss. The pair--now in love--are joined by their usual gang: Ronan Lynch, dreamer of all things magical; Adam, a survivor, who is tied to the magical forest of Cabeswater in mysterious ways; Noah, who is dead; Maura, Blue's mother; and many more. In fact, we gain several more characters in this final installment, namely far more involvement from fellow Aglionby Academy student, Henry. Together, this group is focusing on the frenzied search to find Gansey's beloved king.

I'm not really even sure what I can say about this book. This whole series is amazing and crazy. I need to re-read all four books at some point, now that all are released. This novel actually started out a bit slow for me. It was, as weird as it sounds, almost a bit too fantastical, filled with almost too bizarre magic and plot. However, as things continued to unfold, pieces fell into place, and I was consumed by the story and its characters, per usual. Overall, I found this a fitting end to a beloved series. I will insert a caveat that it doesn't tie up loose ends for some of the ancillary characters and some pieces may leave you a bit befuddled. But some of the magic of these books is that everything doesn't make sense to the characters, so I give it a pass when it doesn't all make sense to us as well. I'd recommend the series-- it's an amazing trip to another world, and I certainly have grown to love the characters. I'll miss them!
  
40x40

Kristy H (1252 KP) rated The Rumour in Books

Feb 13, 2018  
The Rumour
The Rumour
Elin Hilderbrand | 2016 | Fiction & Poetry
6
7.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
It's a busy time on Nantucket and the rumor mill is churning away. Their focus? Best friends Madeline and Grace and their families. Madeline, a writer, is struggling to follow up on her last novel, or risk returning her (already spent) advance. She's also pretty upset that Grace's husband hasn't returned the money she invested in him a few months ago. Meanwhile, her son, Brick, is having troubles of his own, while dating one of Grace's twins: Allegra. Grace is busy on turning her yard into the talk of the town -- a beautiful garden escape, but she's also focusing a little too much on her landscape architect, Benton Coe. Her husband, real estate agent, Eddie, is over his head with several spec houses and is trying to make back the money in some unusual ways. And neither Grace nor Eddie have any idea what their teenage twins Allegra or Hope are up to... As the rumor mill gets busy in Nantucket, how much of what is swirling around is true? Are these two families headed for a fall?

There is a small group of novelists who write about Nantucket, and I tend to get them confused, because I'm awful like that, but this book had been on my "hold" list at the library forever, so I probably read a review of it somewhere. It was a pleasant and refreshingly enjoyable read; I would categorize it as an ideal beach book. It's not going to win any writing prizes, but it was a surprisingly captivating tale of these two families on Nantucket. There was no one real identifiable character (both Grace and Madeline have their strengths and weaknesses and could be rather irksome at times) but it was still enjoyable. Even better, while the plot was silly and a little ridiculous at times, with the families still having far too much money, they also had some real problems and issues, which they actually had to address. It also wasn't completely predictable, nor did it just focus on a love story, which was nice for this genre.

Overall, 3.5 stars: put a paperback of this in your beach or pool bag this summer; it will be a fun diversion.
  
HF
Hello From the Gillespies
6
6.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
McInerney's new novel, Hello from the Gillespies, takes place in Australia, and focuses on Angela Gillespie, a displaced Londoner, living with her husband on a station in the Australian outback. Every year, Angela sends out a sunny Christmas card (now email) with the title "Hello from the Gillespies" chronicling life with her husband Nick, their three daughters, and young son. This year, though, her life has gone a bit awry and the typical happy words don't flow. She ends up writing a bitter (but true) diatribe (think way personal journal entry) and not sending it. When she's called away to tend to her injured son, she doesn't close down the computer. Her husband finds it later that evening--and knowing how much the Christmas letter means to his wife--sends her innermost personal thoughts out to a 100 of their closest family and friends without even reading it.


From there, the story unfolds in somewhat predictable ways - I mean, you sort of know how the tale will end. There's a little bit of an outlandish twist, as well. However, having read previous McInerney books, I think that's a bit of what you come for. Some comforting, family tales that are believable despite their craziness. The novel is completely engrossing. Personally, I was fascinated by the relationship of her older twin daughters (having two year-old twin daughters myself and wondering what they'll be like as adults - hopefully not as confused and wayward as Angela's girls, although they had good hearts!). McInerney is wonderful at creating completely different and believable characters that you can completely picture - each of the daughters and the son, "Ig" were perfectly drawn. Overall, I think McInerney captures the ups and downs of marriage and family life quite accurately and poignantly and reminds us never to take things (or our loved ones) for granted -- even if our day-to-day lives aren't quite as fantastical as the Gillespies. I'd rate this 3.5 stars on 5 star scale.

(Note: I received an advanced copy from Netgalley in return for an unbiased review.)
  
True Romance (1993)
True Romance (1993)
1993 | Action, Drama, Mystery
I know people that hate this film, but I know far more that love it.
Contains spoilers, click to show
The film was written by Quentin Tarantino, and it really shows with the sharp dialogue and crazy plot. The film centres around Clarence (Christian Slater) who meets and marries Alabama (Patricia Arquette). After Clarence goes to get Alabama's belongings, through a series of mishaps, he ends up with suitcase of coke and they decide to sell it. This leads to a wild adventure involving drug dealers, police and movie executives.

The casting in this film is amazing with Hollywood greats turning up and each one adds something special to the film. But by far the best performance is by Brad Pitt as the roommate of Clarence's friend Dick. He is on screen for a total of about 5 minutes but steals every scene he is in. However every one of the characters in the film brings something special. The performances by Hollywood greats, including Dennis Hopper, Christopher Walken and Gary Oldman all come so close to being over the top, but the incredible script and brilliant directing manage to hold back just enough to stop it going too far.

This film is a true masterpiece where everything just falls in to place. The film is not for the faint of heart though. There are very graphic scenes of violence. One particular scene involving a woman getting severely beaten. The perpetrator definitely gets his comeuppance though. While the violence is very graphic, as with most of Tarantino's films, it is very bloody but also portrayed in a realistic manor. This adds to the shock and also to bring you closer to the victims.

I cannot praise this film enough. It is one of the greats that has been overlooked by many including Hollywood. Almost all of the performances are worthy of Oscar nomination, as with the script. But this film was overlooked by all the major awards.

If you are a fan of Tarantino films, or films with a good cast and great story give this film a try. I know people that hate this film, but I know far more that love it.
  
Spelled (The Storymakers, #1)
Spelled (The Storymakers, #1)
Betsy Schow | 2015 | Science Fiction/Fantasy, Young Adult (YA)
9
8.3 (4 Ratings)
Book Rating
Oh Pix this went wrong
All Dorthea ever wanted was to be free from responsibilities, free from her mother, and free from the curse. She wanted to be able to leave the Emerald Palace without everyone thinking she would turn into a wicked creature. She wanted to be able to make her own choices about the future. She mostly wanted to matter to her mother more than being the queen.

In a fit of selfish anger Dorthea attempts to make her desires come true when she uses a gift she received earlier to make a wish where she doesn't have to live up to parents' ideas, where she doesn't have to marry a prince, and everything is not how it is; however, the wishing star is cursed and it backfires tremendously. Everything is turned upside down. Magic doesn't work quite right anymore. What should be isn't and what isn't is. Her parents are gone. Her home is destroyed. She's stuck with a snarky servant, Rexi, and her betrothed, Kota, has turned into a chimera. Worst of all, Griz the Gray Witch is hunting her down.

So, Dorthea sets out to fix what she has done. The problem is knowing who she can and cannot trust. Oh, and trying to travel through the lands when the rules no longer exist. Can she or her friends survive? Are those who appear to have her best interest at heart people she can trust? Or is it those she would have previously looked down on the ones she needs to be put her life into?

Schow has a new take on fairy tales in Spelled in a world where Storymakers have written what shall and shall not be. Princess will find their Princes. The villains will always lose in the end. Yet she has made them better with her characters from well known tales we grew up with to new ones all of which bring to life the story she's written. Best of all it is filled with sass, wit, and cleverness to keep the pages turning while trying to see if Dorthea will make it to the end as the hero, dead, or wicked.

Forget what you know about Grimm and get ready for this book.
  
Wow. What an amazing book and an amazing story. This book was suggested to me by my therapist, who is also a past-life regression specialist. It had been on my shelf for years, but needing to get in touch with my spiritual side, I decided to give it a read. I was hooked from the first page and was thoroughly engaged throughout. When Dr Weiss hypnotised Catherine and took her back to where her symptoms of anxiety and panic attacks, as well as the beginnings of her sensations of choking and fear of the dark and enclosed places, it brought my recurrent nightmares of drowning, dying in childbirth, being injured in an automobile accident where my abdomen was severed to my mind. I wondered about my own past lives and I desire to delve more deeply to discover the beginnings of my own issues and symptoms. I found Catherine's past lives fascinating and could see parallels between her experiences and my own memories of past lives.

The wisdom from the Masters in between her lives was incredible. Could it be that it really exists? I had a near death experience several years ago and was suspended between this life and the next in the most glorious of places; among the stars in an iolite-colored sky, being held by a golden string in the presence of the Goddess. It was the most beautiful and peaceful place I have ever known. I don't fear death anymore.

I have always said that the difficulties I'm going through in this life are just something I need to experience and learn this time around. I've always said it in an offhand way, semi-believing it, but could it be true? I would like to think that it is and that if I learn the truth about my previous lives that the problems in my current life could be resolved or at least understood and I could experience a cessation of my emotional and psychological issues.

This book inspired me to look deeper inside myself and at humankind. I don't doubt it does the same for whoever reads it. You will be moved and will grow from reading it
  
A Whole New World
A Whole New World
Liz Braswell | 2015 | Young Adult (YA)
7
7.0 (11 Ratings)
Book Rating
Book Review by Cari Mayhew. Rating 7/10.

This book is a much darker retelling of Disney’s Aladdin, and is the first in a series of darker Disney retellings! It starts off pretty much the same as the film – Princess Jasmine meets petty thief “Street Rat” Aladdin while sneaking out of the Palace, and later the conniving Jafar tricks Aladdin into obtaining the lamp - but things go a whole lot worse once Jafar gets hold of it!


Jafar wishes himself to be made the Sultan, and the most powerful sorcerer of the world. But that’s not enough – Jafar seeks to break the genie’s rules of magic, in order to bring the dead back to life to raise an army of the undead! Jafar kills the former Sultan and declares he wants to wed Princess Jasmine, who, meanwhile, meets up with the Street Rats to lead a full-on rebellion. They attempt to intercept the delivery of magic book sought by Jafar, but things don’t go according to plan!


Braswell imitates the original Disney tale for the first third of the book and really fleshes it out with scene description and attention to Aladdin’s and Jasmine’s thoughts. Some of these scenes are different, yet the first half remains very true to the original. After this point the action really heats up!


The genie took a less prominent role in the latter part of the book than he did in the film. The inclusion of more minor characters added a depth to the novel that was missing in the film, and allowed the underlying themes to develop. There was a strong theme on the grey area between right and wrong, and how doing a minor wrong can help the greater good.


Fortunately (IMO) the book didn’t include the lyrics to the musical numbers! Unfortunately, however, the book is only available in paperback. Some of the story was predictable, including how it ended, but there was the odd surprise in there - all in all, I feel this book has got the Twisted Tales series off to a great start!

You can follow all my book news and reviews on bookblogbycari.com
  
The Lemon Sisters (Wildstone, #3)
The Lemon Sisters (Wildstone, #3)
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
I absolutely love reading Jill Shalvis books. She has the uncanny ability to get right into my head and thought process to lead me on an extraordinary adventure from the first page. The Lemon Sisters is no exception, with life quotes on every chapter and stories like “popcorn farting”, this is a true to life story.

Brooke and Mindy are the Lemon Sisters. Separated by time and distance, they each are settled into their own crazy lives. Brooke is busy adventure journalist who had a little hiccup in her career and Mindy is a mom to 3 wild kids. Mindy shows up and Brooke’s door and needs a break so Brooke agrees to take the kids home for a couple days to give Mindy the time she needs. Not wanting to mention to Mindy how close the edge Brooke was herself, she keeps her mouth shut and helps get Mindy’s life back on track.

Wildstone is a place Brooke never wanted to head back to, ever. She ran fast and far as soon as she could seven years ago and never looked back. Putting Garrett out of her every thought has been the hardest part of living away from home. This could get very interesting.

Garrett has lived next door to Mindy and Linc for years, he loves being a psuedo uncle to their 3 kids. He’s tried hard to keep Brooke from encroaching on his daily thoughts, but that has proven to be futile. Now with her next door again for who knows how long, his thoughts are no longer his own.

I love the flow of storylines from Brooke to Mindy to Linc and Garrett. Add in a quirky OCD like storyline with Brooke and her niece and you have a perfect flow of characters both main and secondary. Telling storylines within the main storyline including lines like “Popcorn Farts” and the cool quotes Ms. Shalvis puts at the beginning of chapters is just one of the many reasons I flock to books by this author. 5 out of 5 stars for a book I voluntarily read and reviewed without expectations. Wildstone hooked me again, toss me back and I’ll get hooked again I’m sure.
  
Samantha is looking forward to her wedding day, the day all her dreams will come true. The morning of dawns with a missing groom and a Dear Jane letter explaining how the groom fell in love……with the best man. Samantha decides to go on her honeymoon to the mountains of Colorado by herself to get away and regroup. A hike in the woods one day to clear her head, quickly turns into a nightmare.

Weston hasn’t yet come to terms with the loss of his wife 4 years ago. He was a horrible husband and father, fueled by the need for making more money and growing his family business into something bigger and bigger. He realized too late just how much he was giving up each and every day. After his loss, he moved with his son to the mountains of Colorado. Cheryl had always talked about moving there to just get away and back to their family roots. He felt as if he owed that too her for the very least. One day while exercising his horses in a rainstorm he comes across and unconscious woman in the woods. He brings her home and they nurse her back to health.

Samantha wakes up in a house in the woods after getting lost in the woods. A man, his son and housekeeper wait on her hand and foot and she is starting to feel a little more normal. They invite her to spend the night and she happily accepts hoping to come out on the other side of this nightmare.

Weston and Samantha find themselves interested in each other but not really knowing where the other one stands. Weston knows she was just left on her wedding day and she sees he is still wearing his wedding ring. Can they have and honest talk with one another and lay all their cards on the table?

I enjoyed this novel, as I have from the other novels I’ve read by the author. There are some parts I felt are a little lacking of content but words to just have words to count. Aside from that the story moves well and the flow is satisfying, 4 stars.
  
MB
Maggie Bright: A Novel of Dunkirk
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
The entire history of the world is about to change as Hitler marches his troops across Europe. Can the actions of one person make a difference?

Clare Childs has mysteriously inherited the Maggie Bright. Her suspicions that Maggie holds a secret are proven when a thief comes aboard. Clare is suddenly thrown into the middle of a Scotland Yard investigation that could finally expose one of Hitler's darkest schemes. While on the other side of the channel, Private Jamie Elliot has been tasked with the mission of returning a wounded captain home. The captain has suffered a head injury and the only words he speaks are quotes from John Milton's Paradise Lost. When Churchill calls for civilians to help rescue the stranded British Army from Dunkirk, Clare knows that Maggie must go. Piloted by William Percy, a detective inspector and Murray Vance, a world renowned cartoonist, the Maggie Bright goes to war.

“You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me.” - C.S. Lewis

Never have these words rung more true for me than when I finished reading Maggie Bright. I wish the story would go on and on. I absolutely love reading about World War II. There is so much evil during this period, but there is also hope and light. Nations coming together with a singular purpose. Fighting and dying side by side. I am ashamed to admit that most of my knowledge of WWII begins with D-Day and America's involvement. My eyes have been opened wide with England's trials at the beginning of the war. I cried four times while reading this book! The horror is real, the fight unbearable, yet the men and women who sacrificed everything did so for us today. So that we might have hope and know that no matter how dark things become, we shall press on to victory.

"God towards thee hath done his part, do thine" - John Milton, Paradise Lost

I received a free copy of Maggie Bright from Tyndale House Publishers in exchange for my honest review.