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The Assassin's Blade: The Throne of Glass Novellas
The Assassin's Blade: The Throne of Glass Novellas
Sarah J. Maas | 2014 | Children
10
8.6 (21 Ratings)
Book Rating
Oh my god. I really liked being able to see where Celaena came from in these five short stories.

I loved how all of the stories were connected. This was basically another novel in the series, so that got me all excited.

I had to read this before I got Queen of Shadows because I felt like I needed to be able to better understand Celaena's character even more than I did with reading the other three books.

Like always, Sarah J Maas's plot and character development were on point. There weren't very many slow parts in the plot line. The characters were very well fleshed out. I absolutely adored getting to learn about how Celaena and Arobbyn interacted. I think that was one of my favorite parts of the novellas.

The story does end about a year before the actual series begins, so it was really fun to be able to go back and see everything that had happened before knowing exactly what was going to happen later in the series.

I recommend this to anyone who has been enjoying the Throne of Glass series. Those of you who haven't started the series, do it. I don't think you will regret it. :)
  
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Sean Farrell (9 KP) rated Unbroken in Books

Mar 15, 2018  
Unbroken
Unbroken
Laura Hillenbrand | 2016 | Biography
10
9.6 (9 Ratings)
Book Rating
Considering that this book has been out for quite a while, and the movie has already hit theaters, I am going to assume that anyone who is interested is already aware of the plot. And I am going to guess there isn't really much left to say about this rather popular book that hasn't already been said, so just let me say that if you haven't read it yet, you really should. While primarily being about Louis Zamperini, it does touch on the lives of other soldiers on both sides of the war to varying levels of detail, which really helps one to understand the mindsets of those involved, a necessary achievement when dealing with some of the atrocities committed in these pages. And those atrocities are quite shocking. A lot of attention has been given to what the Germans did during World War II (and rightly so), but very few of us really know about some of the shocking violence carried out by the Japanese. This is an important chapter of world history that we all should remember, and it is told here in a very compelling style that should make it easy to get into for anyone. One of the best non-fiction stories of recent years.
  
Ready Player One (2018)
Ready Player One (2018)
2018 | Sci-Fi
So many references to games and movies (2 more)
Great story
Visually beautiful
Perfect movie for gamers and movie buffs!
I want to start off by saying I've never read the book so I can't make comparisons like so many have. For the movie it's self it's incredible.

Visually it's beautiful. So much action and set pieces. It felt like a video game most times but as it kept going back to the real world, the CGI ended up being a little distracting at times but it never put me off. They did an amazing job with it. It was probably even intended to keep reminding you it wasn't real. To differentiate between was was real and what was not.

So much references and it's fun to spot them. I saw the back to the future delorian, iron giant, tracer from overwatch, master chief.....I can keep going. I was quite surprised at a lot of them though, especially of the shining.

The cast is great, the plot was great, the environments were great. It makes you want this world to be real.

I really hope a sequel is considered. I'd be happy with the same cast as long as the story is right. I had a lot of fun with this movie.
  
Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice
Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice
2017 | Action/Adventure
Incredible story (3 more)
Fun combat
Amazing audio
Great environment design
Puzzles repetitive and sometimes too confusing (2 more)
Short game
I needed to constantly have breaks
Incredible game worth a play
This is an incredible game. It is graphically beautiful and the story is fantastic. The acting is by far some of the best you will find and you can see the developers took their time to make sure that mental illness was portrayed correctly. Because of this and the audio I felt I had to take breaks from time to time as I felt emotionally drained and exhausted after a while. Because of this even for a short game it took me a few days.

The collectibles were interesting and the lore was interesting to me. The combat was fun but I found the puzzles to be very hit and miss. They felt like a chore sometimes and too challenging at times.

The audio is where this game excels greatly and it is strongly recommended to play the game with headphones to get the full effect. The environments were gorgeous to look at.

Overall I'd recommend this to anyone and this did make me think a lot about it and what it symbolises days after finishing.
  
Go Set A Watchman
Go Set A Watchman
Harper Lee | 2015 | Fiction & Poetry
3
6.0 (13 Ratings)
Book Rating
What happened to the sequel to To Kill a Mockingbird we were promised? (0 more)
I was very disappointed in this book. I read To Kill a Mockingbird in high school, and it became one of my favorite books of all time because it tackled many issues of the time through the eyes of a child and it gave us one of Gregory Peck's most memorable characters of all time, Atticus Finch.

This book doesn't even sound like a sequel to To Kill a Mockingbird. The cozy atmosphere is not there. The town drama is not there. Atticus Finch is now a washed up body in the book. The old characters are not there, or at least, not mentioned that often. Even Scout, or her real name Jean Louise, became hateable (I know that's not word), and that upsets me because Scout was a really awesome character from the original book. How do you turn a curious child into a twat? I would love to know!

I'm so angry because how does someone set up an American classic for failure like this? I'm sorry, Harper Lee. I still love you for the original known as To Kill a Mockingbird, but Go Set a Watchman did not do justice, not by a long shot.
  
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Merissa (13822 KP) rated Wildfire in Books

Dec 17, 2018  
W
Wildfire
Mina Khan | 2013
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
I received this book free from StoryCartel in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I love books about shifters and if you throw in a bit of romance as well then I'm happy. I wasn't too sure about the mystery part of this book but I thought I'd give it a try. I'm glad I did. This is a fast paced, funny, action packed book.

Lynn is a wonderful main female who is trying to figure out how to go one when the one rock in her life has been killed and she was accused of killing her. Then she gets a feeling that her best friend is in danger so of she goes. Lynn spends a lot of time second-guessing herself, both as human and as dragon, but seriously, if you've been through what she has, I think you'd take a step backwards too.

I loved the "tempting firefighter" and hated the "flirty city developer" so it didn't really come as a surprise that he was the bad guy. However, how it was wrapped into the story was wonderful and a delight to read.

If you want to read about dragons, firefighters, hormones, mystery then give this one a go!

http://archaeolibrarianologist.blogspot.de/2014/02/wildfire-paranormal-mystery-with.html
  
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Jordan Binkerd (567 KP) rated Holmes and Watson (2018) in Movies

Aug 5, 2019 (Updated Aug 6, 2019)  
Holmes and Watson (2018)
Holmes and Watson (2018)
2018 | Adventure, Comedy, Mystery
Decent cast (1 more)
The Billy Zane cameo was good.
Awful script, from concept to execution (0 more)
This film is the one thing a Sherlock Holmes film should never be - dumb
Sherlock Holmes is a versatile character. You can try drama, action, even comedy, but there is one thing a Sherlock Holmes film should never be: stupid. Unfortunately, that's right where this one lands. Will Ferrell is capable of doing intelligent comedy, though it doesn't happen often - just look at Stranger Than Fiction. I have every belief that this could have been good if they'd chucked the script out the window and started over. As it is, Sherlock Holmes comes off as a moron half the time, which could be an interesting take if they committed to it, but they don't. The result is a muddled vehicle for jokes about Donald Trump, selfies, and sexting via telegram. A couple scenes seem to be trying to do for (to?) Guy Ritchie's Holmes movies what Men in Tights did for other Robin Hood films, but even that falls short. I'm not going to tell you to avoid the movie like the plague - I'm sure SOMEONE out there will enjoy it. I'm just not sure I care to associate with that person.
  
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Hazel (2934 KP) rated The Resident in Books

Jun 28, 2020  
The Resident
The Resident
David Jackson | 2020 | Crime, Thriller
9
9.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
This is the first David Jackson book I have read and it certainly won't be the last ... The Resident is a deliciously eerie and unnerving read which I thoroughly enjoyed however I did have to send my husband up to the attic to make sure there were no gaps between us and the next door neighbours as I live in a terrace!!!

This is a totally engrossing psychological thriller told from the perspective of the main protagonist Brogan and what an excellent character he is ... a perfect bad guy but with a vulnerable side to him that almost makes you feel sorry for him ... I say almost because he is one sick and deranged individual who enjoys playing with his victims before inflicting pain and suffering.

There is plenty of dark humour to lighten this dark book and with a simple and straight forward plot written at a good pace, this is a great read that I have no hesitation to recommend to readers out there who enjoy a book that takes the mundane of daily life and turns it into something sinister.

Thank you Serpents Tail / Profile Books / Viper Books via NetGalley for my advance copy in return for an unbiased and unedited review.