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Sugar: My Life as a Sugar Babe
Sugar: My Life as a Sugar Babe
Monique X | 2018 | Erotica, Romance
10
5.3 (3 Ratings)
Book Rating
A fun, fast and interesting read. (2 more)
Fascinating to read about Monique's travels to different countries.
Intense and emotional
Nothing. (0 more)
Very Steamy!
Sugar was beckoning at me to be read, initially by the eye-catching and attractive cover and that it looked like it would be a very steamy read, as indeed it was. I was definitely not disappointed! I was smitten from the very first, right until the last page.

Monique is a loving single mother, who is trying to create a happy home for her two daughters and she's also a Sugar Babe, dating wealthy men, a practice known as Sugar Daddy dating. She mostly meets her Sugar Daddies during the day, when the children are at school or when they are with their father. Monique finds a thousand pounds in her purse after one night of passionate and very hot sex, and she realises that Sugar Daddy dating could be her way to survive as a single mother.

A heady life of wealthy men, luxury hotels and glamorous experiences ensue. One of my favourites was Iranian engineer Farshad, who liked to lavish Monique with gifts such as expensive jewellery and leather boots and wine and dine her in exotic restaurants.

Dates with Sugar Daddies see her flying to Paris, Barcelona, Vienna, Milan, Japan, Singapore and Hong Kong and skydiving in Dubai. Thanks to her Sugar Daddies, Monique can provide for her children, she has some independence, and experiences a whole new range of sexual fantasies.
 
She deactivates her account with her agency, Seeking Arrangement, and her ex-husband stops paying for the children's' upkeep. She is then prepared to do anything for the sake of her children. Money becomes her top priority and she starts living in the dangerous waters of the escort world. Now she realises that she must find a way out before this hollow existence becomes a habit.
  
I absolutely loved reading Sugar. Maybe it was the novelty of reading a book told as memoirs and based on true events. It was fascinating to read about Monique's travels to different countries and about the different nationalities, cultures and personalities of the gentlemen she dated. However, she ends up working as an escort rather than a Sugar Babe, as it's all about basic survival instincts, money and very spicy sex.
 
Sugar is steamy and hot, passionate and caring, intense and emotional and there are definitely moments where you will laugh. It is such a fun, fast and interesting read.

Monique X is a brilliant storyteller and really draws you in with her descriptiveness.

Thanks to NetGalley and Thistle Publishing for my ARC.
  
Futurama: Bender's Game (2008)
Futurama: Bender's Game (2008)
2008 | Action, Animation, Comedy
8
7.3 (6 Ratings)
Movie Rating
The third of the straight to DVD Futurama movies, “Futurama: Bender’s Game” has arrived and continues the winning formula of the television series and two previous films.

This time the film starts out as a standard episode rather than continue the events of the past film. In true Futurama style, there are references to past characters and pop culture gags throughout. The early focus of the story is on the Dark Matter fuel shortage that is controlled by the greedy Mom and her corporation. Mom insists that prices are way up so she has to charge more for the precious starship fuel, but avoids any questions related to her record profits related to the ever rising fuel prices.

With the rising fuel costs the Planetary Express Office, is put on a very strict flight schedule that causes havoc amongst the crew. Fry (Billy West), still drifts aimlessly about life, Amy (Lauren Tom) is as shallow as ever and Leela (Katey Sagal), has an ager issue and is outfitted with a shock collar that jolts her whenever she loses her temper.

Bender (John Di Maggio), has a larger issue as he spots some of the staff children and their friends playing Dungeons and Dragons and wants to be a part of the action. It is learned that robots were not built for imagination so when Bender takes up the game and becomes the entity Titanius, he soon has a hard time distinguishing between reality and fantasy. Combine this with Leela’s entry of the Planet Express ship into a Demo Derby and you get a premise ripe with laughter.

The story shifts into high gear when Professor Farnsworth (Billy West), decides to use his anti-backwards crystal to end his old flame Moms hold on the fuel industry. The Crew make a startling discovery as they battle mom, and thanks to the power of the crystal and Bender, find themselves in a strange medieval world where each of them has new identities in this alternate universe.

In a race against time, the Planet Express staff must not only survive the alternate universe, but defeat Mom and her plans for universal domination.

With sharp picture and sound, this is a very enjoyable new adventure for fans.
There are loads of extras which include deleted scenes, commentaries, and a look at the next film “Into The Wild Green Yonder”.

All in all a welcome and satisfying film that should delight fans and help keep us happy until the new film arrives next year.
  
From Russia With Love (1964)
From Russia With Love (1964)
1964 | Action, Classics, Mystery
Characters – James Bond is forced into his next mission which includes seducing a spy that is wanting to turn on Russia, he shows us again just how skilled he is when it comes to dealing with life and death situations and his awareness of dangers around him. Tatiana Romanova is the Russian spy that has offered to give up information for safety to England, she might not be as true as James is told about, even though we know she is being forced into this mission. Rosa Klebb is the one that is recruiting the agents with Tatiana and Grant being her picks to help SPECTRE eliminate James Bond. Grant is the newest recruit assassin, hard as nails, resourceful and everything James will find difficult to beat in a fight.

Performances – Sean Connery has grown into this role being even better than the first film, he become the superstar name after this outing. Daniela Bianchi is good for a Bond girl, she is stronger than the first one and now we know what type of women will get in this role. Robert Shaw as the villain is great, he looks cold calculated through every single scene.

Story – The story here is a lot more interesting than the first film, we learn early on about the SPECTRE plan which shows us how we have a growing villainous threat for Bond to tackle. This helps make the franchise even more enjoyable because it isn’t just Bond solving a case, it is him trying to stay ahead while we know the twists coming. The story leaves us open to learn more about SPECTRE in future film which again is a pleasure for the audience to be seeing. How everything unfolds well we know Bond can solve the problems he is facing and we get to see the start of the infamous gadgets.

Action/Adventure – The action in the film is bigger, the fights last longer and the adventure that Bond must go on is showing us just how big the terrorist battle will be.

Settings – The film takes place for the most part in Turkey, which shows us another neutral country in the middle of the battle, the train sequences could be argued to be the most enjoyable though.


Scene of the Movie – The gadgets being introduced.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – James Bond attitude toward women.

Final Thoughts – This is a wonderful second instalment in the franchise, it gives us a bigger threat for long term villains in SPECTRE and does have big action throughout.

 

Overall: The sequel that makes things bigger.
  
I think I'm reading books too fast for the following reasons:

~ It was spring break. I probably got cabin fever. 101°F most likely
~ It was short, compared to a lot of other books I typically really, which are usually 350+
~ It really was action-packed and suspenseful

The last part is a fact, and to my embarrassment, I didn't realize April Henry was the exact same author who wrote Girl, Stolen which I actually loved (I forgot if it was Book Battle, Truman Readers Award Nominee, or both). Or maybe I just forgot who the author was. Whoops.

The Body in the Woods follows multiple perspectives – Alexis, Nick, Ruby, and why yes, the murderer on the occasional basis of creepiness. e_e *ominous music* Alexis' is someone who doesn't let others become close to her (sounds like me) and has a delusional mother who hates her medication, Nick had no father figure for most of his life and tries getting attention just to fit in, and Ruby has interests no one else seems to understand. But while all of that is true, there seems to be one thing in common between the three: they're odd and simply want to fit in with the world.

All three are part of Portland's Search and Rescue, which is actually mainly made up of teen volunteers who search for missing people. While on the search for a missing man in Forest Park – no, not the one in Missouri where the Muny is at – they end up finding a girl... dead.

The multiple POVs actually had a handy advantage: it pretty much kept me at the edge of my seat. A chapter ends at a suspenseful part, I turn the page in hopes of finding out what happens and I end up with a different person entirely. Unfortunately though... there were these random POVs from other people that just seem to pop out of nowhere and proved to be a bit of a distraction from the main 4.

Well written and page turning, The Body in the Woods reminded me of CSI from a witnesses' and murderer's point of view instead of law enforcement. Not bad for April Henry's latest novel, even if I only read one other book. It'll be great for mystery peeps though!
-----------------
ARC copy provided by publisher
Original review posted on <a href="http://bookwyrming-thoughts.blogspot.com/2014/06/arc-review-the-body-in-the-woods-by-april-henry.html">Bookwyrming Thoughts</a>
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Half a War (Shattered Sea, Book 3)
Half a War (Shattered Sea, Book 3)
Joe Abercrombie | 2016 | Science Fiction/Fantasy
10
9.3 (3 Ratings)
Book Rating
My poor little heart! I think this is my favourite book in the trilogy. It's going to be hard to do a spoiler-free review so just in case: Might contain LIGHT SPOILERS

Things I liked:

-In book two on of my complaints was that the base of the story plot resembled a lot the story plot of the first one. Well, this one was completely different. This one is about different kingdoms coming together to defeat the enemy.

-I loved how the characters evolve in this book, more than the previous two. I love seeing Skara turned into a powerful Queen, I love seeing other character falling from hight. And Yarvi. Although it's not one of our main POV we see a lot of him and how much he has changed since book one.

-What I like in Abercrombie writing is that he right the relationship between characters in a way that they feel true to life. If two characters are not meant to be together for X or Y reason he will not come up with a plot or excuse to pair those characters just because this is what our heart wants. And I always appreciate that no matter how much it hurts.

-Raith! I loved this character so much. I have a sweet spot for bad boys that deep down are good. Especially when we get to see this side of them come out naturally.

-I rarely cry when reading books or watching movies, and I still didn't while reading this book but it did manage to make my heart feel sad. Well done!

-Raith and Skara. Oh, my little heart. I loved those two together.

-We got to see even more magic than book two!

-They where a couple of big twists that I didn't see coming. Especially the one with the traitor. Kept me guessing throughout the book and when we learn how it was I wasn't expecting it.

Things I didn't like

It was very hard to find things that I didn't like but here some nitpicking

-So you know how I said that I loved the plot twist with the traitor. I did I'm not taking it back but... If you look closely I feel like maybe there are some tiny plothole that I can't really discuss without spoiling everything.

-The elves. Although we see way more elf-magic we still don't really get a lot of information about them. At the end of this trilogy, a still feel that I wanted to know more about them.
  
The Banana Splits Movie (2019)
The Banana Splits Movie (2019)
2019 | Horror
9
6.0 (10 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Poppy’s storyline (0 more)
Contains spoilers, click to show
The Banana Splits Movie
Isn’t it nice when a network tries to reboot an old children’s favourite? It seems to be happening a lot these days with Netflix reviving Voltron, She-Ra and the Dark Crystal. They have taken a different approach with the Banana Splits though. The starting premise is that the Banana Splits show was never cancelled and, for his ninth birthday Harley is taken to a live filming of the show. Drooper, Fleegle, Snorky and Bingo are all there but the actors have been replaced with animatronics and they have three human friends they interact with (Paige, Stevie and Thadd). The show is still the same as when it first started way back in the 1960s with silly sketches, fun catchphrases and an assault course for the kids although the show has gathered a cult following (as it would in real life) and half the audience are adults.
As the live filming gets under way the actors are informed that this will be the final show as the network has cancelled it, this news is met with mixed reactions from the crew. The Banana splits however only have one reaction, they are programmed that ‘The Show Must Go On’ so, during the back stage tour they begin to make sure that it will never stop. They kidnap all the children, after all the show will always need an audience, and they start to kill or torture all the adults.
Yes, that’s right, someone took a beloved children’s show and added a splash of the ‘Child's Play’ remake and a whole ton of ‘Five Nights At Freddy’s’. To be clear this is a horror/slasher that’s rated 18 (R rated in the USA) that features a group of 60’s children’s characters going on a killing spree because their show got cancelled. It’s campy, it’s dark, it actually builds up to the kills and it has some really good characters and scenes, I especially like Poppy’s story line.
So, we have a film based on a 60’s children’s series that’s been turned into a horror whilst still sticking to its roots that is defiantly not for kids and isn’t a total pile of rubbish.
As a side note I did read that the Banana Splits movie came about because Warner Bros wanted to make a ‘Five Nights At Freddie’s’ movie but they couldn’t get the rights so they made this. not sure how true it is but there are similarities.
  
Pokémon Shield
Pokémon Shield
Action/Adventure, Fighting
New Pokemon! (2 more)
New feature when battling mixes up the formula.
Exploration is fun.
Feels all too familiar with previous entries. (2 more)
Missing tonnes of original Pokemon.
Nothing new to excite fans.
Pokemon is no doubt a global phenomenon in both its television series, books, merchandise and especially in its games, both card and electronically. I started my Gameboy life with Pokemon Yellow, and it still remains my favourite. Over the years, I drifted in and out of the various entries, but with the Nintendo Switch, I gladly bought Pokemon: Let's Go Pikachu, as its technically a remaster of Pokemon Yellow. However, I realised at the time that Game Freak had never moved on and created anything new with their Pokemon games, that being ever so more correct with Pokemon Shield and Sword, which as usual is exactly the same game with about five percent difference.

The good? Well it's the same Pokemon games that everyone knows and loves. Turn based battles, exploring and catching Pokemon, and collecting Gym Badges to become the greatest Pokemon trainer. The formula does work though, as they still remain as relevant and popular with their fans. I did genuinely have fun with Shield within my first fifteen hours. The variations of Pokemon (Four hundred altogether) is enough to keep you playing to catch them all, the locations are detailed brimming with vibrancy, and even the battles with new abilities to make your Pokemon become a giant, is really cool concept.

Yet, once I looked back at my time playing both games, they are incredibly disappointing. Game Freak doesn't seem to want to expand and create new ideas with their games, as they are the same games made over twenty years ago. The different areas look stunning, taking much inspiration from British locations, but there's nothing to do apart from battle the Gym leader. The whole game feels hollow and bare. Yes, Four hundred Pokemon is a roster to make any fan jump for joy, but the brand has been going for over twenty years. Where is the original one hundred and fifty? Theres only fifty three. The promise of a new Pokemon experience, a next generation experience even, is just not true.

The sales of both games speak for themselves with Pokemon Shield and Sword, they are an astounding success. Both games however, as a fan of the original games on Gameboy, are dense and lacking new ideas. I would much rather pull out my Gameboy Advance SP, and play Pokemon Yellow.
  
Inside Out (2015)
Inside Out (2015)
2015 | Animation, Comedy, Drama
Have you ever wondered what goes on inside that noggin of yours when your feeling angry, scared, sad or happy even? The producers and directors of Up and Toy Story have delved inside these emotions with their new film Inside Out. It is the latest and greatest film from Disney’s Pixar to open this summer. The film brought in some of the best comedic actors together and strategically placed them in the mind of an eleven year old girl.

 Riley is an eleven year old girl from Minnesota. Her parents have made the difficult decision to uproot her and move to San Francisco for her fathers new job. Riley’s life is flipped upside down and inside out. She is guided only by her emotions as most of us are. Her thoughts are being manned by a control room of sorts. Joy (Amy Poehler) keeps everything at bay. As it is her soul purpose to keep Riley happy and all the other emotions away from the controls as much as possible. Although other emotions like Fear (Bill Hader), Anger (Lewis Black), Disgust (Mindy Kaling) and Sadness (Phyllis Smith) tend to creep in from time to time.

Her memories are color-coded specific to each emotion. Core memories are glowing. Sadness has become quite enamored with these glowing core memories and can’t help herself from touching the orbs turning all of the happy core memories into sad memories. As her mind short circuits it paves the path for fear, disgust and anger to take over. Joy must stop this from happening and retrieve core memories that are almost lost. Guiding them along the way is Bing Bong (Richard Kind), Riley’s imaginary friend who was thought to be forgotten.

 Inside Out will literally give you a seat on the train of thought and will wind through all the twists and turns of the mind. With such an ambitious idea Pixar has proved once again that they can make a film that can relate to both young and old. It will definitely tug at the heartstrings. It did for me as I was about Riley’s age when I was uprooted to Costa Rica so I hold this film close to my heart. Lots of surprises, laughs and maybe even a few sniffles await you with this film and really shouldn’t be missed. A few hidden surprises also await the true Disney fan. Skip the 3D version not worth the extra couple dollars.