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Whatchareadin (174 KP) rated The Truth and Other Lies in Books
May 10, 2018
Henry Hayden is a best selling author in Germany. He and his wife live a somewhat modest lifestyle. He is adored by women and envied by men. Henry is in the process of "writing" his next great novel, when his editor gives him some disturbing news. This news sets off a chain of events that will forever alter the lives of everyone who knows Henry.
The Truth and Other Lies, had me on the edge of my seat from the very beginning. Henry Hayden is a character you love to hate. I was afraid of him from the start and very glad he is not someone I would ever have to come in contact with. With a friend like Henry, who needs enemies.
Everyone loves Henry, but why? He's not really good at anything, including the writing that has made him so famous. He's not especially nice to anyone, least of all his wife. He love her, that is for sure for without her, he would be nothing. But he struggles to remain faithful and to treat her in the same manner she treats him.
This is one of the best books I have read so far this year. Highly recommended.
**I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.**
The Truth and Other Lies, had me on the edge of my seat from the very beginning. Henry Hayden is a character you love to hate. I was afraid of him from the start and very glad he is not someone I would ever have to come in contact with. With a friend like Henry, who needs enemies.
Everyone loves Henry, but why? He's not really good at anything, including the writing that has made him so famous. He's not especially nice to anyone, least of all his wife. He love her, that is for sure for without her, he would be nothing. But he struggles to remain faithful and to treat her in the same manner she treats him.
This is one of the best books I have read so far this year. Highly recommended.
**I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.**
Sam (74 KP) rated A Thousand Perfect Notes in Books
Mar 27, 2019
I was so excited to start this. To begin with, I liked Beck and I loved August and I really felt for both of the characters.
But overall, the book just didn’t feel right. The language used was very poetic, almost as if C.G. Drews was just trying to make Instagram-worthy quotes. The language seemed really forced and really out of context. I can’t understand how a story about an abused teen would use very romanticised and literary language.
In any other context, I think I would quite like her writing style, but I feel that it really didn’t fit in at all here.
And then there’s the way that every few pages the lines
are
like
this
For absolutely no reason at all, and then for about fifty pages you see no use of this writing style almost as if the author has forgotten that she was trying to use this as a feature.
I get that this is a debut, but it just seemed really amateurish and didn’t flow at all. I started off liking the characters, and I finished hating them.
The only reason that this is two stars instead of one is that I did actually manage to finish it.
But overall, the book just didn’t feel right. The language used was very poetic, almost as if C.G. Drews was just trying to make Instagram-worthy quotes. The language seemed really forced and really out of context. I can’t understand how a story about an abused teen would use very romanticised and literary language.
In any other context, I think I would quite like her writing style, but I feel that it really didn’t fit in at all here.
And then there’s the way that every few pages the lines
are
like
this
For absolutely no reason at all, and then for about fifty pages you see no use of this writing style almost as if the author has forgotten that she was trying to use this as a feature.
I get that this is a debut, but it just seemed really amateurish and didn’t flow at all. I started off liking the characters, and I finished hating them.
The only reason that this is two stars instead of one is that I did actually manage to finish it.
Tamsin Clark (15 KP) rated La Belle Sauvage: The Book of Dust in Books
Jan 19, 2018
Storyline (5 more)
Characters
Setting
Writing standard
Depth of character relationships
Tie in with His Dark Materials
Worth the wait since His Dark Materials
I could honestly not put this book down at all. Of course we needed another His Dark Materials book! We need many, many more! There's still so much to understand about their world and The Book of Dust thrusts us right in at the crux of it.
We meet Malcolm (who, if anyone wants to check, is indeed in the Dark Materials trilogy) as a young boy, living life in his parent's inn and being generally as curious as a young child naturally is about his world. A world which, with the arrival of a baby at the local convent, will become entirely ripped apart at the seams.
I don't do spoilers but from the very first page, I was hooked. I bought this in hardback and even the cover is a pure delight to touch and hold (something important to my reading experience). Pullman is his usual, exceptional self with his writing, forcing us face first into some uncomfortable realities and even more uncomfortable impossibilities. This series will certainly be much darker than the last but I cannot wait for the second to come out!
We meet Malcolm (who, if anyone wants to check, is indeed in the Dark Materials trilogy) as a young boy, living life in his parent's inn and being generally as curious as a young child naturally is about his world. A world which, with the arrival of a baby at the local convent, will become entirely ripped apart at the seams.
I don't do spoilers but from the very first page, I was hooked. I bought this in hardback and even the cover is a pure delight to touch and hold (something important to my reading experience). Pullman is his usual, exceptional self with his writing, forcing us face first into some uncomfortable realities and even more uncomfortable impossibilities. This series will certainly be much darker than the last but I cannot wait for the second to come out!
Erika Kehlet (21 KP) rated Beyond the Ice Limit (Gideon Crew, #4; Ice Limit #2) in Books
Feb 21, 2018
I have always been a fan of Douglas Preston and Lincoln child, writing together or individually, and The Ice Limit is one of my favorite stand-alones from the duo.
Gideon Crew, however, is not my favorite of their characters. As street smart as one would expect him to be considering his past, he always seems a bit naive, especially when it comes to women. This isnt a flaw in the writing, just a character trait that I dont particularly care for.
With that said, I was a little apprehensive going into this I wanted to go back to the ice limit to see what would happen, but I wasnt sure I wanted Gideon to come along. I shouldnt have worried though this turned out to be my favorite Gideon Crew novel so far. He had a skill set that made him a logical choice for the mission, and he fit right in with the rest of the highly-specialized crew.
The story really felt like a continuation of the original book, and thats exactly what I was hoping for. It offers an interesting, if not entirely expected, conclusion to the story. If youve read and enjoyed The Ice Limit, you should definitely read this one.
Gideon Crew, however, is not my favorite of their characters. As street smart as one would expect him to be considering his past, he always seems a bit naive, especially when it comes to women. This isnt a flaw in the writing, just a character trait that I dont particularly care for.
With that said, I was a little apprehensive going into this I wanted to go back to the ice limit to see what would happen, but I wasnt sure I wanted Gideon to come along. I shouldnt have worried though this turned out to be my favorite Gideon Crew novel so far. He had a skill set that made him a logical choice for the mission, and he fit right in with the rest of the highly-specialized crew.
The story really felt like a continuation of the original book, and thats exactly what I was hoping for. It offers an interesting, if not entirely expected, conclusion to the story. If youve read and enjoyed The Ice Limit, you should definitely read this one.
Kevin Wilson (179 KP) rated The Impossible (2012) in Movies
Aug 12, 2018
A true story (3 more)
Amazing cast, incredible performances
Fantastic writing
Great effects
Wow, such a powerful, intense movie!
Wow this is 1 of the most intense and powerful movies I've seen in such a long time.
I love disaster movies and the fact this is actually a true story adds so much to it. You can feel a lot more emotion throughout knowing this actually happened to someone and the characters are a real family that this actually happened to.
This is also thanks to such an incredible cast with amazing writing and acting. There is not 1 actor that is not phenomenal. Naomi Watts, Ewan McGregor and a young Tom Holland are all fantastic. Their chemistry is natural and believable and give so much intensity and emotion to all their performances.
The effects are fantastic. The tsunami and the injuries all look great and real. Has a great score and it all makes you think and wonder what it must have been like for the people actually involved.
Absolutely fantastic and can definitely recommend. I paid £1 for the blu ray and it's 1 I will not get rid of and will watch again. If you get chance, watch it.
I love disaster movies and the fact this is actually a true story adds so much to it. You can feel a lot more emotion throughout knowing this actually happened to someone and the characters are a real family that this actually happened to.
This is also thanks to such an incredible cast with amazing writing and acting. There is not 1 actor that is not phenomenal. Naomi Watts, Ewan McGregor and a young Tom Holland are all fantastic. Their chemistry is natural and believable and give so much intensity and emotion to all their performances.
The effects are fantastic. The tsunami and the injuries all look great and real. Has a great score and it all makes you think and wonder what it must have been like for the people actually involved.
Absolutely fantastic and can definitely recommend. I paid £1 for the blu ray and it's 1 I will not get rid of and will watch again. If you get chance, watch it.
The plot wasn’t memorable (2 more)
The characters weren’t great
A forced love triangle between people with no chemistry
Not a Big Fan
I was not a big fan of this book. It’s not so much that it was a horrible book, it was simply completely forgettable. I read it about two years ago, and then in the last year I started to here a lot about it. I watched reviews for it and read blog posts discussing it. The problem is, that as I watched the reviews, I had no idea that I had already read the book. The plot was so generic that what they were describing made no impact on my memory. It wasn’t until I watched a detailed spoiler review that I realized I had been researching a book I had already read. Mare, the protagonist, has little personality and her desires are not really clear. There is an incredibly forced love triangle. I saw no reason for the love triangle as there was no chemistry between any of the characters. The plus side that I liked was the twist at the end. The writing was also fairly good. The plot was just not there for me.
Dianne Robbins (1738 KP) rated Unmentionable: The Victorian Lady's Guide to Sex, Marriage, and Manners in Books
Oct 31, 2018 (Updated Oct 31, 2018)
Such glorious fun!
I love this author's writing style. It isn't a recitation of dry facts as some historical nonfiction books can be. She really takes you into the daily rituals associated with fashion, hygiene, sex, marriage, and manners by immersing you in the culture as a virtual time traveler visiting the Victorian era. It brushes away the romance of the time period and gets you into the nitty-gritty, down-and-dirty history but in a fun and frivolous way as she takes you into her confidence and shares the secrets of the past. It's a delightful romp written with light sarcasm that brought tears from laughter into my eyes. I highly recommend this book and this author. She has written another book on the history of child-rearing called Ungovernable: The Victorian Parent's Guide to Raising Flawless Children (Hardcover), which will be available April 16, 2019. Though I don't have children, I'm tempted to buy this book because the other was so much fun.
Oh, and if you like this book, you might also enjoy The Dirt on Clean: An Unsanitized History by Katherine Ashenburg.
Oh, and if you like this book, you might also enjoy The Dirt on Clean: An Unsanitized History by Katherine Ashenburg.
Lyndsey Gollogly (2893 KP) rated An Easy Death (Gunnie Rose, #1) in Books
Aug 7, 2019
Not an easy death
Contains spoilers, click to show
Set in a fractured United States, in the southwestern country now known as Texoma. A world where magic is acknowledged but mistrusted, especially by a young gunslinger named Lizbeth Rose. Battered by a run across the border to Mexico Lizbeth Rose takes a job offer from a pair of Russian wizards to be their local guide and gunnie. For the wizards, Gunnie Rose has already acquired a fearsome reputation and they’re at a desperate crossroad, even if they won’t admit it. They’re searching through the small border towns near Mexico, trying to locate a low-level magic practitioner, Oleg Karkarov. The wizards believe Oleg is a direct descendant of Grigori Rasputin, and that Oleg’s blood can save the young tsar’s life.
I'm not one for writing negative reviews and I really really wanted to like this book. Bit omg can someone tell me why Charlaine Harris is constantly writing about stupid annoying women? Considering the girl losses pretty much her love and friends in the first chapter she hardly has any emotional response. I just don't get the storyline or world building either. I won't be going on to book 2 😢 Definitely not an easy death
⭐⭐

I'm not one for writing negative reviews and I really really wanted to like this book. Bit omg can someone tell me why Charlaine Harris is constantly writing about stupid annoying women? Considering the girl losses pretty much her love and friends in the first chapter she hardly has any emotional response. I just don't get the storyline or world building either. I won't be going on to book 2 😢 Definitely not an easy death
⭐⭐

Hazel (2934 KP) rated A Beautiful Corpse (Harper McClain #2) in Books
Dec 14, 2019
An enjoyable and addictive read
This is book two in the series but I haven't read the first and, to be honest, I don't think it mattered that much however, there is likely to be additional background to the main characters which I have missed out on and which will likely add to this story but I feel this can easily be read as a standalone.
Harper is a great lead female character; strong, courageous and feisty but with a vulnerability that makes her more convincing but all the characters are well developed and believable ... even the cat, Zuzu!
The main story line of the murder and subsequent investigation is great but the side-stories are equally as good and with the writing flowing with ease, this makes this an enjoyable and addictive read that I devoured in just over a day.
Definitely recommended reading for you readers out there who love a strong, female character, a great mystery, engaging investigation and some scenes of peril.
I am very much looking forward to the next instalment and hope that Ms Daugherty is locked away somewhere feverishly writing!
Thank you to HarperCollins UK, Harperfiction via NetGalley for my copy in return for my honest and unbiased opinion.
Harper is a great lead female character; strong, courageous and feisty but with a vulnerability that makes her more convincing but all the characters are well developed and believable ... even the cat, Zuzu!
The main story line of the murder and subsequent investigation is great but the side-stories are equally as good and with the writing flowing with ease, this makes this an enjoyable and addictive read that I devoured in just over a day.
Definitely recommended reading for you readers out there who love a strong, female character, a great mystery, engaging investigation and some scenes of peril.
I am very much looking forward to the next instalment and hope that Ms Daugherty is locked away somewhere feverishly writing!
Thank you to HarperCollins UK, Harperfiction via NetGalley for my copy in return for my honest and unbiased opinion.
Irenaeus on the Christian Faith: A Condensation of Against Heresies
Book
Irenaeus of Lyons (c. 130 - 202) is heralded as one of the greatest theologians of the...