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Nine Dead (2009)
Nine Dead (2009)
2009 | Horror, Thriller
5
6.5 (2 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Saw wannabe
An average at best thriller, which is a mix of Cube, Saw films where a group of strangers wake up and wondered where they are and what their connection is. This time if they don't figure it out, one of them will be shot every 10 mins.
This films works on some levels but it's not that dramatic, the abductor isn't that menacing or scary and it fails to create the tension and suspense needed for a film like this to work. I have to add it's really low budget and the acting quite poor, Sabrina the teenage witch (Melissa Joan Hart) appears to have grown up quick, but no wonder I've not seen her in much since those days. To cap it all it has an odd ending which didn't fit.
  
This is the story of Caislyn and Jax, two very different women with attitude!

Jax has run away from an abusive relationship and started a new life. She considers herself wholly human in a world where the 'paranormal' exists.

Caislyn is a witch whose parents are missing and the world, including her lawyer, presume dead although she refuses to believe this.

Throw them together and what have you got? A fast-paced, punchy book that made me laugh with their humour and search along with them for answers. Vampires are "alive and kicking" in this book but are not, for once, in the hot seat but more a back seat driver which makes a nice change.

Will definitely be getting the second and third books in this series.
  
American Gods
American Gods
Neil Gaiman | 2005 | Fiction & Poetry, Science Fiction/Fantasy
I don't get it: what's all the fuss about?

Written by an English-man now living in America, I'm aware that this has won numerous awards and is on the top of many peoples favourite reads, but for me? Not so much.

I found it tedious, dull, and un-involving, with the idea of new and old Gods fighting it out itself done better (and more enjoyably) elsewhere.

I'm sorry, but I wouldn't recommend this to anyone who asked for a Neil Gaiman book, pointing them instead towards the far superior (IMO) [b:Stardust|16793|Stardust|Neil Gaiman|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1328433738s/16793.jpg|3166179] or (even better!) [b:Good Omens|12067|Good Omens The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch|Terry Pratchett|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1392528568s/12067.jpg|4110990].
  
CT
Conan the Barbarian
4
4.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
A collection of classic Conan tales, repackaged with a new jacket to tie-in to the new movie coming out. This edition includes:

The Tower of the Elephant (pg 1)
Rogues in the House (pg 27)
The Frost-Giant's Daughter (pg 54)
Queen of the Black Coast (pg 63)
A Witch Shall Be Born (pg 95)
The People of the Black Circle (pg 141)
Red Nails (pg 226)
Beyond the Black River (pg 212)
The Hyborian Age (pg 372)
Cimmeria (verse) (pg 397)

and, to be honest, I'd be more inclined to give the book 1.5 stars (except GR doesn't do 1/2 stars) than 2: I preferred some of my other 2-star rated books, but this wasn't as bad as some of my 1-star rated books either.
  
Just William (Just William #1)
Just William (Just William #1)
6
6.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
The first in Richmal Compton's classic 1920s comedy series, about a young child who causes chaos wherever he goes, all the time whilst thinking that he is helping.

Yes, it's very much a product of its time - complete with clear distinction between the Upper, Middle and Lower classes and, yes, this particular entry (the very first) is really more a collection of short(ish) stories rather than having an over-arching plot but, for all that - and once you get into the right frame of mind - there is a reason these are enduring stories!

(Oh, and if you want to see the impact William has had on English literature? Try Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch and tell me you don't spot the similarities ...)
  
The Familiars
The Familiars
Stacey Halls | 2019 | Fiction & Poetry, History & Politics, Thriller
7
8.7 (9 Ratings)
Book Rating
Historically accurate (1 more)
Overall plot
Some character development a bit lacking (1 more)
Verbiage hard to grasp
It's a good book, but a bit of a struggle
The book is set in the 1600’s and depicts a young lady, Fleetwood, who has had the misfortune of loosing 3 pregnancies, and is pregnant with her third. Worried she is unable to sustain a pregnancy, after finding a letter to her husband stating it could kill her, she turns to a mysterious stranger for support.

Although not historically accurate in terms of the characters story, the book is set around the time of the Pendle Witch Trials in 1612. Some of the characters themselves are named after real people of historical significance. The relevance of this, is that her mysterious stranger / employed midwife becomes an object of suspicion herself.