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Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2434 KP) rated The Right Sort of Man in Books
Sep 29, 2023 (Updated Sep 29, 2023)
Match Made for Murder
Its 1946 London, and people are looking to get back to normal after the end of World War II. Miss Iris Sparks and Mrs. Gwendolyn Bainbridge and formed an unlikely partnership in a marriage bureau, both of them looking for something new in their lives. They’ve been opened a few months and are beginning to see some successes, but all that is threatened when one of their clients is murdered and the man they’d matched her with is arrested for the crime. With their personal and professional reputations on the line, they set about trying to prove he is innocent. Can they do it?
When I first heard about this series, I was drawn to the time in history and the premise. I truly appreciated how that time in history is brought to life. I did find the book hard to get into, but once I did, I was hooked. The mystery is good, with some surprises along the way to the suspenseful climax. The characters grow on you, and the sub-plots both of the leads get make them into fully developed characters. What I wasn’t expecting was the humor, which had me laughing as I read. This is more a traditional mystery due to some of the content, but it is still mild. I will definitely be back to see what happens to these characters next.
When I first heard about this series, I was drawn to the time in history and the premise. I truly appreciated how that time in history is brought to life. I did find the book hard to get into, but once I did, I was hooked. The mystery is good, with some surprises along the way to the suspenseful climax. The characters grow on you, and the sub-plots both of the leads get make them into fully developed characters. What I wasn’t expecting was the humor, which had me laughing as I read. This is more a traditional mystery due to some of the content, but it is still mild. I will definitely be back to see what happens to these characters next.
Lyndsey Gollogly (2893 KP) rated Other Words for Smoke in Books
Jun 11, 2023
75 of 235
Kindle
Other Words for Smoke
By Sarah Maria Griffin
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Twins Mae and Rossa’s summer away from home becomes life altering when they discover a house full of witches, experience devastating first love, and face a dark power beyond any imagining.
Sarah Maria Griffin’s haunting and literary sophomore novel explores the balance between love and fear, weakness and power, and the lengths one will go to claim one’s freedom. For fans of Libba Bray’s The Diviners and Maggie Stiefvater’s All the Crooked Saints.
When the women from the house at the end of the lane went missing, none of the townspeople knew what happened. A tragedy, they called it. Only twins Mae and Rossa know the truth about that fateful summer.
Only they know about the owl in the wall, the uncanny cat, the insidious creatures that devour love and fear. Only they know the trials of loving someone who longs for power, for freedom, for magic. Only they know what brought everything tumbling down around them. And they’ll never, ever breathe a word.
This was the strangest book I think I’ve read in a long time. I really enjoyed it. The story was so strange but had you needing to read more. At first I have to admit I did think of not continuing with it but I’m so glad I did. The talking cat completely through me well worth a read.
Kindle
Other Words for Smoke
By Sarah Maria Griffin
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Twins Mae and Rossa’s summer away from home becomes life altering when they discover a house full of witches, experience devastating first love, and face a dark power beyond any imagining.
Sarah Maria Griffin’s haunting and literary sophomore novel explores the balance between love and fear, weakness and power, and the lengths one will go to claim one’s freedom. For fans of Libba Bray’s The Diviners and Maggie Stiefvater’s All the Crooked Saints.
When the women from the house at the end of the lane went missing, none of the townspeople knew what happened. A tragedy, they called it. Only twins Mae and Rossa know the truth about that fateful summer.
Only they know about the owl in the wall, the uncanny cat, the insidious creatures that devour love and fear. Only they know the trials of loving someone who longs for power, for freedom, for magic. Only they know what brought everything tumbling down around them. And they’ll never, ever breathe a word.
This was the strangest book I think I’ve read in a long time. I really enjoyed it. The story was so strange but had you needing to read more. At first I have to admit I did think of not continuing with it but I’m so glad I did. The talking cat completely through me well worth a read.
Debbiereadsbook (1554 KP) rated Who Said Witness Protection Was Boring? (Mobster Mayhem #2) in Books
Feb 14, 2025
fun and flirty with some danger thrown in!
Independent reviewer for GRR, I was gifted my copy of this book.
This is book 2 in the Mobster Mayhem series, and I have not read book 1. I didn't think I was missing anything, honestly, until Leo and Chai turn up in this book and now I wanna read their story!
While the undertone of this book is dark, people are killed keeping the secrets that Matt and Kieran are discovering, the general tone is light and fluffy and these guys are a lot of fun.
Matt and Kieran find themselves on the run from the CIA and Lord knows who else, cos Matt's aunt and uncle are keeping an asset for the CIA. The CIA! Matt is dumbfounded when he discovers that his auntie and uncle, and indeed, his parents, have been keeping such secrets from him, but when he finds himself wound up in it all, he understands.
I did NOT see the twist with Kieran's parents coming at me, so well played with that one!
And you know what?? I did not realise its first person, present tense AND multi point of view until I was filing it, so SUPER well with that!
From what I can see, this is the first I've read of these authors, so they are firmly in my crosshairs!
4 fun and flirty stars
*same worded review will appear elsewhere
This is book 2 in the Mobster Mayhem series, and I have not read book 1. I didn't think I was missing anything, honestly, until Leo and Chai turn up in this book and now I wanna read their story!
While the undertone of this book is dark, people are killed keeping the secrets that Matt and Kieran are discovering, the general tone is light and fluffy and these guys are a lot of fun.
Matt and Kieran find themselves on the run from the CIA and Lord knows who else, cos Matt's aunt and uncle are keeping an asset for the CIA. The CIA! Matt is dumbfounded when he discovers that his auntie and uncle, and indeed, his parents, have been keeping such secrets from him, but when he finds himself wound up in it all, he understands.
I did NOT see the twist with Kieran's parents coming at me, so well played with that one!
And you know what?? I did not realise its first person, present tense AND multi point of view until I was filing it, so SUPER well with that!
From what I can see, this is the first I've read of these authors, so they are firmly in my crosshairs!
4 fun and flirty stars
*same worded review will appear elsewhere
Rodney Barnes (472 KP) rated Avengers: Infinity War (2018) in Movies
Mar 5, 2019
The Finale..Part 1
Contains spoilers, click to show
Thanos did what? Yes this is what MCU was building up to.....A final battle with our favorite heroes and Thanos. This movie was well done and well balanced. It had so many heroes in this movie but it wasn't all cluttered up and all run together. That being said, the combined might of the Avengers, Black Panther, Dr. Strange and The Guardians of the Galaxy was not enough to stop Thanos. Thanos had a strong resolve to bring balance to the universe. A villain with a resolve like that of our heroes is a dangerous one. His argument is so convincing that it will have you almost agreeing with him. In the end, Thanos' resolve makes him victorious as he gets all of the Infinity Stones and wipes out half of the universe, including some of our favorite heroes. Will there be anyway the remaining Avengers can undo Thanos' Decimation? We have to wait till the next movie.
Lilyn G - Sci-Fi & Scary (91 KP) rated Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017) in Movies
Jan 31, 2018
Forced humor, cliches, and way too many jokes about male anatomy.
Contains spoilers, click to show
Okay, I'll start by saying that I did legit chuckle a few times watching Jumanji. I can't even recall why at this point, but there was definitely some laughter involved.
What stands out to me though (I watched the movie a few weeks ago) was all the things that annoyed me.
Like the African American kid from what appeared to be upper middle class whose mother made it seem like the team was his only hope of succeeding.
Also, the fact that it's of course the African American character in the game that is the one who loves alcohol and gets plastered without exercising any common sense.
Or, you know, the fact that it was just so funny to see Jack Black overplaying the 'female trapped in a man's body' thing to limp-wristing levels.
This movie could have been so much better than it was. But it was almost painful to watch. I was hoping we were moving past thinking that laughing at this type of crap was a good thing.
What stands out to me though (I watched the movie a few weeks ago) was all the things that annoyed me.
Like the African American kid from what appeared to be upper middle class whose mother made it seem like the team was his only hope of succeeding.
Also, the fact that it's of course the African American character in the game that is the one who loves alcohol and gets plastered without exercising any common sense.
Or, you know, the fact that it was just so funny to see Jack Black overplaying the 'female trapped in a man's body' thing to limp-wristing levels.
This movie could have been so much better than it was. But it was almost painful to watch. I was hoping we were moving past thinking that laughing at this type of crap was a good thing.
This was what I was looking for in an adult suspense novel. It was thrilling. The characters were not likable in a way you were still somehow rooting for. I honestly have no idea why I like Amy, why she is my favorite character in this book even though she is cunning and manipulative and sadistic, but I do. Flynn did a phenomenal job writing these characters in a way that I hate to love them, and love to hate them.
There were not many slow parts to this book. The plot twists just kept coming, hitting me in the face over and over and over which was so brilliant. I loved it.
I love not knowing what is going to happen next. I think it worked very well in this book, because thinking back, I could see where it was going. But in the moment, I had no idea. It was brilliant.
Overall, I very much enjoyed this book and I cannot wait to read more of Gillian Flynn's books.
There were not many slow parts to this book. The plot twists just kept coming, hitting me in the face over and over and over which was so brilliant. I loved it.
I love not knowing what is going to happen next. I think it worked very well in this book, because thinking back, I could see where it was going. But in the moment, I had no idea. It was brilliant.
Overall, I very much enjoyed this book and I cannot wait to read more of Gillian Flynn's books.
LittleBit (2 KP) rated Ready Player One in Books
Mar 16, 2018
A love letter to the 80s and all things geek!
I love this book more than I can say. I think this is one of my favorite books of all time, to be honest. Ernest Cline did a great job at giving much needed kudos to the 80s and all things geek.
I have the physical, electronic, and audio editions of this book. I can’t get enough.
This book is fantastic for many reasons: the fact that there is something for the techy, the geek, the pop-culture guru, the romantic, or even the adventure seeker.
Set in the future where our world is lived in VR, Ernest Cline takes us on an adventure that teaches many of us to sit and think “Oh, man! Do I spend that much time with technology!?”, “What would I do with more cash than any sane person should have??”, or even “What would you do for love and friendship??”
This is an easy and fun read and I think that almost anyone would get some type of joy from reading(or listening) to Ready Player One.
I have the physical, electronic, and audio editions of this book. I can’t get enough.
This book is fantastic for many reasons: the fact that there is something for the techy, the geek, the pop-culture guru, the romantic, or even the adventure seeker.
Set in the future where our world is lived in VR, Ernest Cline takes us on an adventure that teaches many of us to sit and think “Oh, man! Do I spend that much time with technology!?”, “What would I do with more cash than any sane person should have??”, or even “What would you do for love and friendship??”
This is an easy and fun read and I think that almost anyone would get some type of joy from reading(or listening) to Ready Player One.
Lindsay (1779 KP) rated Great & Small Prayers for Babies in Books
Aug 16, 2019
Great and Small Prayers for Babies is really sweet and cute. It easy to read. It got a rhyme to when you are reading the book. It great for little toddlers or little children to pick up and play with. I did notice this love it. That I wanted for a family member of mine.
My mom though otherwise, she wants for a friend of hers that having a baby. My thoughts exactly is why I picked it up was for cousin of mine. It is better for the newest members of the family. It for babies, ages 0-3. They can open the flap to read and see what under the flap, It cute and fun to read what it says under the flap.
Came brand new and closed ready to be opened by little hands. Pictures are done well and sweet to look and see. Words that go with animal makes. Great for parents looking for a gift for a new baby coming into the family or even for themselves.
My mom though otherwise, she wants for a friend of hers that having a baby. My thoughts exactly is why I picked it up was for cousin of mine. It is better for the newest members of the family. It for babies, ages 0-3. They can open the flap to read and see what under the flap, It cute and fun to read what it says under the flap.
Came brand new and closed ready to be opened by little hands. Pictures are done well and sweet to look and see. Words that go with animal makes. Great for parents looking for a gift for a new baby coming into the family or even for themselves.
Sara Cox (1845 KP) rated The Psychology of Time Travel in Books
Feb 8, 2020
When I first started reading this book, what I did not expect was it to be a murder-mystery!
Four women have invented a time machine and this book explores how time travel effects the women and their different personalities. There is a running theme of death within the story - and let's be honest, that's what everyone would be asking themselves about their own future. I really like the thoughtfulness of the language, the slang that time travellers would use, for example "green self" is used to describe yourself from a time period before where you are and "silver self" the opposite. I really enjoyed reading this and found the jumping through time quite easy, I even forgot to read the date on some chapters and still managed to figure out where in the timeline the chapter stood pretty quickly without getting confused. The writing is clear and easy to read. I found the murder-mystery especially interesting! And how motives jump through time as well as the detective who has to solve it without altering the timeline. Highly recommend.
Four women have invented a time machine and this book explores how time travel effects the women and their different personalities. There is a running theme of death within the story - and let's be honest, that's what everyone would be asking themselves about their own future. I really like the thoughtfulness of the language, the slang that time travellers would use, for example "green self" is used to describe yourself from a time period before where you are and "silver self" the opposite. I really enjoyed reading this and found the jumping through time quite easy, I even forgot to read the date on some chapters and still managed to figure out where in the timeline the chapter stood pretty quickly without getting confused. The writing is clear and easy to read. I found the murder-mystery especially interesting! And how motives jump through time as well as the detective who has to solve it without altering the timeline. Highly recommend.
