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Seeing Beyond the Scars (The Manx Cat Guardians #1)
Seeing Beyond the Scars (The Manx Cat Guardians #1)
JP Sayle | 2018 | LGBTQ+, Romance, Science Fiction/Fantasy
6
6.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
a good solid 3 stars
Independent reviewer for Archaeolibrarian, I was gifted my copy of this book.

For the most part, I quite enjoyed this, but there was one issue that very nearly ruined it for me.

EDITING.

This book needs a major edit. Almost every other page there were words, while spelt correctly, did not fit in the sentence. Images, when it should have said imagine. Little things, that mount up, and because of this, I very nearly dumped it. It NEEDS mentioning, because it did effect my reading pleasure.

THAT SAID!

 I did enjoy it, mostly. The tale of a little cat, looking after her charge. A damaged man, and a disillusioned man, coming together. Brad is pretty much a recluse, only going out his house when he HAS to. His new neighbour and his naughty cat have him all a-dither. Martin is hit with that "MINE" moment you usually get with shifters (there are no shifters in this book!) and the attraction is instant and powerful. HOT too! But I found it a little too much, too soon, you know?? Brad is damaged, emotionally and physically, by his history, and I would have expected him to be way more skittish.

I would have liked some more of Princess, more specifically, about HER, and her sort of being and her people (for want of a better word!) We get hints and clues, but I'm left feeling like I missed something, you know?? Something important about her.

A first time author and in places, it shows. BUT!!! One to watch out for, I think. A good start, as a new author, AND as the first in a series. I'd like to follow it, maybe I'll get what I'm missing from Princess.

3 solid GOOD stars

**same worded review will appear elsewhere**
  
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Emma @ The Movies (1786 KP) rated Welcome to Marwen (2018) in Movies

Jun 22, 2019 (Updated Sep 25, 2019)  
Welcome to Marwen (2018)
Welcome to Marwen (2018)
2018 | Biography, Drama
I knew what I'd be seeing on the screen for this one but it was still intriguing to watch.

When we're seeing the dolls in action you can tell that every detail has been taken into account. The way they move their limbs, the articulation and their reactions are all spot on. If you listen during the fight scenes you can even hear the plastic on plastic thunking. The little touches in Marwen itself are wonderful too.

Transitions between the fictional town and the real town are done in a surprisingly smooth way. The shifts through the bar's frontage keep the action flowing in the busier points of the movie and are a nice change of pace from the camera and photographs.

You end up thinking about a lot of things. It took me longer than it probably should have done to work a few things out (no spoilers), but when I did it opened up a whole other train of thought and even a day later I'm still thinking about it.

Steve Carell does an amazing job of conveying the trauma that Mark is having to deal with, and the moments where his anxieties take him are so horribly real. The film overall punches you in the face with emotions. There's one particular moment with Kurt and his car that made me anxious myself and I actually wanted to scream at the screen, if I'd been at home I would have been screaming. Before you ask, of course I was crying! So much at one point I thought I was going to choke on the lump in my throat.

What you should do

I have no doubt this one will be under appreciated as it is a little unusual, but it is worth a watch at some point.

Movie thing you wish you could take home

I'd quite like to try those meatballs.
  
Hen, His Wife (1990)
Hen, His Wife (1990)
1990 | Animation, Comedy
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Movie Rating
My Wife Is a Hen!
Wow! I have to say that even though I have watched lots of surreal shorts over the years, none of them quite compared to how weird this short was! It was interesting to see an animated short that is about domestic problems and one that has so much symbolism to it. There are so many different interpretations about what is really going on in this short and what kind of message it's trying to send to the viewers. So it would be almost impossible for me to describe to you about what I think the ulterior meaning behind this short really is. But, I'm going to give it my best shot and tell you guys what I think that this short is trying to say.

My Interpretation:

So apparently, the couple has been happy together until the husband's friend comes in and tells him that his wife is a hen. Now, it's quite obvious to the audience that the wife is a hen, so how come the husband didn't notice this until his friend told him? Did the wife looked way different when she and her husband first met or did the husband just ignore the obvious signs over the years? So, when the husband finally notices that his wife is a hen, he turns her out of the house. Maybe the husband was more upset about his wife deceiving him for all of these years and that's why he turned her out because she had betrayed his trust in her. So, the husband tried to live life the way it was before, but he missed his wife and he starts hallucinating his situation. It was then that he called her over the phone and begged her to come back to him. But then the ending comes up and... well, you have to see the ending of this short for yourself!

I just loved the way that Igor Kovaliov weaved this bizarre world as all the characters look so strange, what with the blue colored husband and the humanoid hen wife. And let's not forget the half human, half worm pet that the couple has! I also loved the fact that there is so much symbolism and random moments going on in this short as it made the narrative so disoriented yet creative at the same time!

I was a bit thrown off by the mysterious plot of this short. I wasn't sure what to make of the situation that happened between the couple or the various symbolism that jumped out at you with no warning. So, there were times where I was a bit confused about what was really going on and I even had to read several different interpretations from other people who have seen this short in order to understand what was really going on in this short.

Overall, "Hen, His Wife" is a great surreal animated short that gives us a more literal description of marriage problems and anyone who loves watching Russian cartoons or just really weird shorts will definitely enjoy this short!
  
    Eat This Much - Meal Planner

    Eat This Much - Meal Planner

    Health & Fitness and Food & Drink

    (0 Ratings) Rate It

    App

    Put your diet on autopilot with Eat This Much. Tell us your diet goals, the foods you like, your...

The Walking Dead - A TellTale Games Series: Season 1
The Walking Dead - A TellTale Games Series: Season 1
2014 | Role-Playing
Just another good Telltale game (0 more)
Very Good Prequel
Contains spoilers, click to show
Whether this game is "canon" or not, they did a good job telling this story. I am not a hard core Walking Dead fan, but I watched enough to know what was going on in the game. This story covers the adventures of Lee and Clementine. The two go through many good times and through some bad times. As with the Telltale series, your decisions and actions decide the outcome of the game to an extent. Lee and Clementine find different friends along the way that help them get through the apocalyptic world. They also run across some not so friendly people. For instance a family that turned to cannibalism to survive...yikes! Lee protects Clem and Clem protects Lee. Of course you heart is ripped out when Lee is attacked by a walker and bitten only to get infected. In his dying breath he tells Clem to stay strong and be smart. You can also have a negative effect on Clem and your friends. It's all up to you. You even run into Glenn at one point. In the end...I recommend this game, especially if you are a fan of the Walking Dead series
  
    Anatomy Quiz Pro

    Anatomy Quiz Pro

    Medical and Education

    (0 Ratings) Rate It

    App

    Learn anatomy easily with this unique quiz app that features traditional multiple-choice quizzes on...

The Art of Death
The Art of Death
David Fennell | 2021 | Crime
8
8.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
Characters and twist on the murder genre (0 more)
Typos! (0 more)
Read in 2 days!
I knew I was going to like this book from the First Impression. I read quite a few crime novels and some can be quite "samey" but this was a bit different. The concept of murder victims displayed as artworks by the killer was an interesting twist on the genre. Also unnerving was the way he chose his victims by stalking them on social media and dating sites. It makes you think about what you put online.

Several characters could have been the killer. You decide who it is and then some small action or comment makes you think "Hang on, they just did........ maybe it's actually them?"

The two main police officers were well written, and I would like to see them again in another book. I really wanted to know Detective Inspector Grace Archer's back story from when she was a child and you do get to find out, but perhaps this will be explored further in future?

(A bit of a niggle is the number of typos in the text, at least 10-15!)

Overall, easy to get into, keeps your interest and I'd definitely read more by this author.