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Merissa (12911 KP) rated It's a Match in Books

May 2, 2022 (Updated Jun 20, 2023)  
It's a Match
It's a Match
Samantha Cheah | 2021 | Romance, Science Fiction/Fantasy
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
IT'S A MATCH was an intriguing story from beginning to end, not going in the direction I thought it would, and oh-so-better for it!

Sarah is living in a world where AI is all around, reminding her of appointments and even advising her on what to wear. Her friends all use it to one degree or another. Her love life is not what she wants it to be so she comes up with the crazy idea of using her AI to sort out her matches for her. This opens a can of worms that deals with just how much is too much, whilst giving an insight into the various supporting and main characters.

There is a lot here about being part Chinese (and other nationalities) but all living together in London. It was an insight into how their lives may be and what the perfect qualities in a partner might be. I say might because I'm not Chinese and so don't know for sure! Some of it seemed quite picky but I'm positive that part is 100% true from what I've heard from friends.

Told mainly from Sarah's perspective, it did throw me slightly when I would get someone else start speaking. My review copy didn't have any headings on the chapters, so it only became clear who was 'speaking' as the chapter continued.

An intriguing story that will have you question what is right and wrong. How much morality exists in AI? Anyway, I thoroughly enjoyed it and have no hesitation in recommending it.

** same worded review will appear elsewhere **

* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and the comments here are my honest opinion. *

Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Apr 26, 2022
  
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ClareR (5879 KP) rated Haverscroft in Books

Sep 6, 2020  
Haverscroft
Haverscroft
S. A. Harris | 2019 | Fiction & Poetry, Horror, Thriller
6
6.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
This has been described as a ghost/ horror story, but I think it was more of a suspense. Coupled with an unreliable main character, the reader is never sure that what is happening IS actually happening.

Kate Keeling moves to Haverscroft with her twins and her husband, in the hope that she can rescue her marriage from mistakes that have been made. Kate also seems to be recovering from a breakdown - and this, I think, is a major piece of information in unlocking what is happening to her.

Timelines seem to be a bit fluid, whether this was intended or not, it did make it confusing. This may have been a device to portray Kate’s mental health, but to be honest, I’m not sure.

There is something definitely not quite right about the house: noises, things moving, lightbulbs breaking, figures moving out of the corner of your eye that aren’t there when you look. More interesting is how Kate and her husbands (Matt) marriage deteriorates over the course of the book, and the reason why (which I won’t go in to, because spoilers!).

There are what appears to be a lot of editing issues: words missed out or misspelt, and wonky timelines (but I’m really not sure whether this was intended), but I still enjoyed reading it.

Many thanks to The Pigeonhole for serialising this book.
  
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Matthew Krueger (10051 KP) rated London Has Fallen (2016) in Movies

Aug 19, 2019 (Updated Aug 19, 2019)  
London Has Fallen (2016)
London Has Fallen (2016)
2016 | Action
4
6.1 (22 Ratings)
Movie Rating
London's: Big Ben Bridge
I forgot that olympus has fallen got a sequel and this was the sequel. Did anyone remeber that this movie came out? Does anyone remeber this movie and what happened in it. No, well thats what happens when a forgetable sequel to a fogetable movie with forgetable chacters comes out. So in words its forgetable.

The plot: After the death of the British prime minister, the world's most powerful leaders gather in London to pay their respects. Without warning, terrorists unleash a devastating attack that leaves the city in chaos and ruins. Secret Service agent Mike Banning (Gerard Butler) springs into action to bring U.S. President Benjamin Asher (Aaron Eckhart) to safety. When Asher falls into the hands of the sinister organization, it's up to Banning to save his commander in chief from a horrible fate.

What was the last Gerard Butler movie that was good and you can watch from beginning to end and think its not stupid. Oh 300, right. That came out in 2007, so ever movie since has been bad and cant watch watch the whole film without thinking its stupid and dumb.

Wait a 3rd movie is coming out this coming week, why? Were the first 2 movies succesful, i guess so because "Angel Has Fallen" is coming out this friday.
  
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Merissa (12911 KP) rated What He Finds (Desires: New Beginnings #2) in Books

Apr 7, 2023 (Updated Apr 10, 2023)  
What He Finds (Desires: New Beginnings #2)
What He Finds (Desires: New Beginnings #2)
E.M. Denning | 2023 | Contemporary, LGBTQ+, Romance
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
WHAT HE FINDS is the second book in the Desires: New Beginnings series but it can be read as a standalone, as I did. We meet with Quentin and Toby, two men who work in the same building. Toby has liked Quentin for months but hasn't made a move. Quentin has seen him but didn't think anything of it until Toby buys him a sandwich before it runs out.

This is a low-angst book with cinnamon roll main characters. Both of them have hang-ups from their pasts - Toby because he felt as though he pushed his college boyfriend away by being too needy, and Quentin by being too controlling. Put them together and you have an inexperienced sub who knows what he likes but is prepared to experiment and a Dom who knows exactly what to do to make his kitten shine. Although Toby has to deal with the death of his college ex, there is no real drama here.

A thoroughly enjoyable book I read in one sitting. I definitely recommend it and would read more in this series and by this author.

** same worded review will appear elsewhere **

* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book; the comments here are my honest opinion. *

Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
April 7, 2023
  
Cult Of Chucky (2017)
Cult Of Chucky (2017)
2017 | Horror
It was a fun time (2 more)
Original cast members reunite
Surprisingly good Going
Good Guy, bad guy, you still don't Fuck with the Chuck!!
Going into the seventh installment of a film franchise I usually don't get impressed as much as I did with this movie.
To say a killer doll has had me chomping at the bit for the next installment of a movie is an understatement. I seen Child's Play the day it came out in 88. I was 12 at the time and begged my parents to take me to see it.
I became enthralled with Chucky. I wanted the doll and I wanted him to be real.
30 years later. Chucky is still going strong. Still killing with some creativity and fever. And still cracking one liners like Hannibal Burress.
When and if Brad DOURIF passes away, I hope they saved his amazing voice on some kind of hard drive, because no one will ever be able to voice Chucky like he can.
I can definitely recommend this movie to fans of the franchise. Much like the movie before is, Curse of Chucky, Cult brings him back to what he was in the 80's. A deeply disturbing psychopath who kills without regret. And while I loved the Bride and Seed of Chucky films. I am happy to see and hear him not trying to be a stand up comedian anymore. What New Nightmare did to bring the fear back to the Freddy character, the past two movies have done for Chucky.
  
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Kate (493 KP) rated The Little Death in Books

Jul 14, 2020  
The Little Death
The Little Death
Sarah Till | 2020 | Crime, Romance
9
9.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
It gripped the reader (0 more)
Can get a bit confusing (0 more)
This book was interesting but also a little confusing. There was quite a few stories going in which did slightly affect it. You have to keep track who the new chapters were about. When it was on Polly's story the chapters did tend to follow on from each other.
I couldn't of guessed what happened at the end of the book and it was a little sad. The only other disappointing thing with the book was some parts of the story went unanswered (I tend to like things all tied up) but I suppose that was one of the messages in the story - not everything has an answer.
The book genre was crime, a little romance and something else and these are all genres I would generally read and the blurb grabbed my attention. Once I got over the first few chapters I couldn't put the book down. I was hooked and couldn't wait to see what happened next.
As well as the changing on the story the other thing that affected the flow of the book was the spelling mistakes (but this could be corrected) in a further copy.
I like a book where the characters grow as people as this was definitely one of those. The main character, Patti, grew so much with the help of Polly.
I would purchase another book by the author.
I received a complimentary copy of the book from the author via Voracious Readers Only.
  
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Karl Hyde recommended Last Poets by The Last Poets in Music (curated)

 
Last Poets by The Last Poets
Last Poets by The Last Poets
1970 | Rhythm And Blues
8.0 (2 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"It’s virtually impossible to find their early records. This particular record – their first album – I’ve tried to play on radio shows before, but it’s difficult because the language that they use is banned on radio. They use words that were then commonplace to describe their brothers and sisters, but are now not seen in the same way. Words that were in common usage in the sixties and now are not and for very good reason. But then they carried a very different potency. The thing I love about The Last Poets is that they are very direct, they pull no punches, they’re speaking to their community in way that Gil Scott-Heron did a lot. He also wasn’t afraid to say exactly how he felt about how his community was living. And The Last Poets did that too, with rhythmical words set to a very simple beat, in this case played on congas. One of their later albums even had Jimi Hendrix on it, and Buddy Miles. But this is the rawest, just a group of voices. They were the forerunners of rap. Using voices in unison to underline phrases and to make certain phrases more forceful, and all of this to an infectious groove. That’s all of what I love about rap music and urban poetry. It became part of what Underworld assimilated in our eclectic nature. The Last Poets throw the gauntlet down. If you want to write about the urban condition, there’s your benchmark. I can’t come close."

Source
  
Army of Thieves (2021)
Army of Thieves (2021)
2021 | Action, Comedy, Crime, Horror, Thriller
4
6.3 (6 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Not going to sit and bash the bad points and big up what it does well but this is a film that wasn't needed. There was talk in the past to make a film with Tom Cruises character in Tropic Thunder as the lead and thankfully it wasn't made as they saw sense, the character as good as he was and memorable was because less is more. The screen time he got was well used and all lines hit the mark. Now moving back to Army of Thieves, the makers decided to make a prequel to Army of the Dead using the safe cracker character as he was 1 of the better points of that film but again was better due to limited screen time and there was enough about him in that film for what was required. Army of Thirves tries to use something that fits for 15 - 20 mins and stretch it out for a 127 minute film. It also wouldn't have been so bad if there was more to the film but it was the same thing 3 times over so after the 1st safe break you can switch off as that's all you're pretty much getting. It had some good set pieces and Matthias Schweighöfer did a pretty good job with a pretty thin on the ground character. Usually I would give this film an average review as it did enough to keep me entertained but due to the repetitiveness of the story and reminding me it was like Sucker Punch. Sorry but in this case less isn't more.
  
One Ordinary Day at a Time
One Ordinary Day at a Time
Sarah J Harris | 2021 | Contemporary, Fiction & Poetry
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
One Ordinary Day at a time is an ultimately uplifting story and I loved it. It’s not all plain sailing though.

Jodie has been in numerous foster placements as a child and a disastrous adult relationship. The only good things to have come out of it are her son Zak, and her drive to succeed and get into Cambridge University. But Jodie is living in one room with Zak and working at Prince Burger whilst she finishes her college course - and life is hard.

She meets Simon Sparks at Prince Burger and once she finds out that he has been to Cambridge, she’s determined to convince him to tutor her for her entrance interview. But Simon has a lot of secrets and has endured hardships and abuse of his own.

The narrators on the audiobook really brought this to life for me. Jodie’s narrator (Ayesha Kala) was spot on, but I did struggle a little with Simon’s narrator (Victor Oshin), and found that I had to speed the narration up more on his chapters. I do realise that he was probably trying to show how disconnected from real life Simon was, but it did annoy me 🤷🏼‍♀️. I liked that the narrative swapped between Jodie and Simon, so I often saw the same things from both of their viewpoints.

This is a really heartwarming story of overcoming adversity and working hard to get what you want out of life. A story of what being a good friend is all about.