Search
Mike Allred recommended Charade (1963) in Movies (curated)
Merissa (12051 KP) rated Primal Instinct (Prowlers #1) in Books
Sep 17, 2019
Primal Instinct is the first book in the Prowlers series, and we dive straight in with Kenzie. She is being blackmailed to do all sorts of nefarious acts, just to keep her sister alive. She isn't proud of what she's done or doing, but will do whatever it takes to keep her sister alive. Jaxx is a born shifter, complete with self-filling glyph that shows just how much humanity he has left. Here's a hint - it isn't much. The only thing that will save him from going rogue is to find his fated mate.
This story is full of twists and turns, with bad guys who are evil and yet you have sympathy toward them. Then there are good guys who do bad things, plus bad guys who appear all bad (I'm reserving judgment on them though!). With dodgy companies, weres going missing, blackmailing brothers, a new player for Kenzie when she isn't sure if she is friend or foe, there is an awful lot going on in here. It all works though.
It is a fast-paced story, and if you're anything like me, you will find it hard to put down. With no editing or grammatical errors that I noticed, I thoroughly enjoyed this first foray in the Prowlers world. Absolutely recommended by me.
* 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!
This story is full of twists and turns, with bad guys who are evil and yet you have sympathy toward them. Then there are good guys who do bad things, plus bad guys who appear all bad (I'm reserving judgment on them though!). With dodgy companies, weres going missing, blackmailing brothers, a new player for Kenzie when she isn't sure if she is friend or foe, there is an awful lot going on in here. It all works though.
It is a fast-paced story, and if you're anything like me, you will find it hard to put down. With no editing or grammatical errors that I noticed, I thoroughly enjoyed this first foray in the Prowlers world. Absolutely recommended by me.
* 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!
Alice (12 KP) rated Godblind (The Godblind Trilogy #1) in Books
Jul 3, 2018
Well well well I'm mightily impressed Mrs Stephens. Mightily impressed. Easily up there on top as one of the best debuts I've read this year. Easily.
Great characters and plot work. A even balance between omg how cute (<i>that</i> chapter and holy shit how EVIL!
Evil being the overruling theme of this book with a great set of bad guys and an even greater set of good guys - let the Dancer's Light be upon you s'all I'm sayin'
Godblind had it's own flair for the dramatic and the quick switching between points of view gave the book it's own edge.
Can I have book 2 now?
Great characters and plot work. A even balance between omg how cute (<i>that</i> chapter and holy shit how EVIL!
Evil being the overruling theme of this book with a great set of bad guys and an even greater set of good guys - let the Dancer's Light be upon you s'all I'm sayin'
Godblind had it's own flair for the dramatic and the quick switching between points of view gave the book it's own edge.
Can I have book 2 now?
Purple Phoenix Games (2266 KP) rated The Resistance: Avalon in Tabletop Games
Jun 12, 2019
Do you appreciate your friends and your relationships with them? If so, please read no further. Do you want to dissolve your friendships and cause your family members to wonder what went wrong with you and never trust you again? Play The Resistance: Avalon with them.
The Resistance: Avalon (which we always just refer to as simply Avalon) is a game of hidden roles played over several rounds where the “good guys” from King Arthur’s court are pitted against the “bad guys” in Mordred’s thrall. The number of players at the table determines the number of players to be assigned to the good and bad guys squads and the required goals for victory for each team.
To begin, role cards are divvied up and players secretly find out which team they are on for the game. Blue background cards are good guys, red are bad guys. ALERT! Yes, already. I cannot tell you how many times games have been voided because a player was not quite sure what team they were on, so make sure your players know what’s up before continuing. From here a narrator player reads the script in the rulebook to give instructions to players with their eyes closed (a la Mafia or Werewolf). This allows different members of each team to know certain information about their own team or even the opposite team. Players are then instructed to open their eyes simultaneously and thus begins the game of facades.
A player is chosen at random to be the quest giver for now. This person then assigns other players to go on a quest. The “quest” is just a generic quest where it will either succeed or fail. Once the quest giver has made their choices, everyone at the table has a chance to vote to approve the quest team or deny the quest team. Simple majority vote wins. If the team is approved, the quest happens. If the team is denied, the next player in the circle becomes the quest giver and must create a new team of players to go questing.
Once approved, the quest team players are each given two cards: Success and Fail. Secretly, under the table works best, the players make their choices. ALERT! All good guys MUST CHOOSE SUCCESS CARDS so the quest can succeed. Bad guys can choose either one. The questers then pass their cards to an uninvolved player who will then shuffle the cards without looking at them. Once completed, the cards are revealed and thus the success or failure of the quest. If all cards are Success, then the quest was a success and the good guys mark this on the main board. If even just one Fail card appears the quest fails and the bad guys mark it on the main board. This continues until either the good guys win or the bad guys claim victory!
Components. The box is small (akin to the Tiny Epic size boxes). I’m not sure if the game comes with an insert because I won mine from a BGG auction. The cards included in the game are fine, and I sleeved mine because they get held quite a bit. The other miscellaneous tokens are nice and do the job well. This is a game that is less reliant on components, and much more so on game play.
If my intro seemed dark a foreboding, it was completely intentional. Have I witnessed friendships dissolving as a result of this game? Ok not entirely, but there have been some pretty amazing head turns and surprise reveals coupled with slapping and yelling. Not me, mind you, but others. In any case, this game is definitely one to check out if you are a fan of hidden role games and if you want to add tons of tension to your game night. I honestly have no idea why this game (or its older sibling The Resistance if you are more into that theme) isn’t in every game collection. Yes, I know, there are now TONS of hidden role games out there. But this is my favorite of the lot. By far.
We at Purple Phoenix Games are split somehow, giving this one 18 / 24. Obviously it is because Josh is a minion of Mordred and wants our review to fail.
https://purplephoenixgames.wordpress.com/2019/04/24/the-resistance-avalon-review/
The Resistance: Avalon (which we always just refer to as simply Avalon) is a game of hidden roles played over several rounds where the “good guys” from King Arthur’s court are pitted against the “bad guys” in Mordred’s thrall. The number of players at the table determines the number of players to be assigned to the good and bad guys squads and the required goals for victory for each team.
To begin, role cards are divvied up and players secretly find out which team they are on for the game. Blue background cards are good guys, red are bad guys. ALERT! Yes, already. I cannot tell you how many times games have been voided because a player was not quite sure what team they were on, so make sure your players know what’s up before continuing. From here a narrator player reads the script in the rulebook to give instructions to players with their eyes closed (a la Mafia or Werewolf). This allows different members of each team to know certain information about their own team or even the opposite team. Players are then instructed to open their eyes simultaneously and thus begins the game of facades.
A player is chosen at random to be the quest giver for now. This person then assigns other players to go on a quest. The “quest” is just a generic quest where it will either succeed or fail. Once the quest giver has made their choices, everyone at the table has a chance to vote to approve the quest team or deny the quest team. Simple majority vote wins. If the team is approved, the quest happens. If the team is denied, the next player in the circle becomes the quest giver and must create a new team of players to go questing.
Once approved, the quest team players are each given two cards: Success and Fail. Secretly, under the table works best, the players make their choices. ALERT! All good guys MUST CHOOSE SUCCESS CARDS so the quest can succeed. Bad guys can choose either one. The questers then pass their cards to an uninvolved player who will then shuffle the cards without looking at them. Once completed, the cards are revealed and thus the success or failure of the quest. If all cards are Success, then the quest was a success and the good guys mark this on the main board. If even just one Fail card appears the quest fails and the bad guys mark it on the main board. This continues until either the good guys win or the bad guys claim victory!
Components. The box is small (akin to the Tiny Epic size boxes). I’m not sure if the game comes with an insert because I won mine from a BGG auction. The cards included in the game are fine, and I sleeved mine because they get held quite a bit. The other miscellaneous tokens are nice and do the job well. This is a game that is less reliant on components, and much more so on game play.
If my intro seemed dark a foreboding, it was completely intentional. Have I witnessed friendships dissolving as a result of this game? Ok not entirely, but there have been some pretty amazing head turns and surprise reveals coupled with slapping and yelling. Not me, mind you, but others. In any case, this game is definitely one to check out if you are a fan of hidden role games and if you want to add tons of tension to your game night. I honestly have no idea why this game (or its older sibling The Resistance if you are more into that theme) isn’t in every game collection. Yes, I know, there are now TONS of hidden role games out there. But this is my favorite of the lot. By far.
We at Purple Phoenix Games are split somehow, giving this one 18 / 24. Obviously it is because Josh is a minion of Mordred and wants our review to fail.
https://purplephoenixgames.wordpress.com/2019/04/24/the-resistance-avalon-review/
Clare Parrott (294 KP) rated The Pleasures of Spring (Pleasures, #4) in Books
Feb 13, 2018
What a great read.
This book never has a dull moment with suspense, humour and just the right amount of kink to keep you turning the pages.
Ex Domme and thief, Roz Spring is witness to a murder. Andy McTavish is trying to get her to go into protective custody before the murderer, Ex navy seal turn bad, Hall, gets his evil hands on her. But Roz has other ideas as she tries to raise the money to help her low life dad pay off the bad guys so after he is released from prison they don't put him six feet under.
This book never has a dull moment with suspense, humour and just the right amount of kink to keep you turning the pages.
Ex Domme and thief, Roz Spring is witness to a murder. Andy McTavish is trying to get her to go into protective custody before the murderer, Ex navy seal turn bad, Hall, gets his evil hands on her. But Roz has other ideas as she tries to raise the money to help her low life dad pay off the bad guys so after he is released from prison they don't put him six feet under.
momoknowsbest (14 KP) rated Throne of Glass in Books
Dec 19, 2017
good character development (2 more)
pretty funny moments
the bad guys are genuinely evil
Contains spoilers, click to show
I loved this book. I'm sad it took me so long to pick it up. I finished the whole thing in a day. I love me some of the guard. the Prince is nice and all but until he stands up to his father or becomes king then he isn't really with her time.
Kevin Phillipson (10018 KP) rated The Equalizer (2014) in Movies
Aug 9, 2018
First time i saw this at the cinema wasnt sure i would like the movie cause i remember watching the edward woodward version in the 80s and being a fan of the tv show. I wasnt disappointed by the movie very voient especally the DIy fight scene between him and the bad guys denzel washington is perfectly cast as mccall. All i can say bring on the sequel
James Koppert (2698 KP) rated Paradox (2017) in Movies
Feb 7, 2020
Hong Kong/Thai action thriller
The fight scenes in this film are up there with some of the best in any film made. It's let down by some cheesy bad guys with one liners who stand there and send the lackies in, but other than that this Hong Kong thriller set in Thailand is a heck of a fun action packed ride.
Auburn (57 KP) rated Forbidden Thirteen (Forbidden Legacy, #1) in Books
Apr 10, 2019
13 is a number that can be both good or bad for someone. For Aria it tends to bring out her powers. Yup powers... See she is actually magical and doesn't know it until two hot guys show up and show her the way. You may be wondering, but no this isn't a 2 guys 1 girl story. Sure a love triangle is inevitable but it does get resolved.
In that time we get an adventure, magic, romance, and plots upon plots. One can never know till the end who is on which side and where to put your trust.
Truly this was a well written and inviting story with all the fantasy elements one could want.
In that time we get an adventure, magic, romance, and plots upon plots. One can never know till the end who is on which side and where to put your trust.
Truly this was a well written and inviting story with all the fantasy elements one could want.
Merissa (12051 KP) rated Clara (Stories of Lorst #1) in Books
May 15, 2018
Clara (Stories of Lorst #1) by Suzanna J. Linton
Clara is a young girl of ten when we first meet her, enjoying her last day of freedom although she doesn't realise that. Her life is about to change for the worst, but there is also a spark of hope in the form of Emmerich, a gypsy boy she meets. Clara loses many things, including her voice, during her trials and tribulations but it looks like her life is changing for the better when she meets Emmerich again. Is everything as it seems, or has Emmerich changed in ways too many to be ignored?
This is a well-written historical fantasy with a hint of romance. With good guys doing bad things, bad guys turning over new leaves (possibly), plus evil dudes without any form of redemption, this story captured my imagination as I read through.
Well-written and smoothly paced, this was a good, solid book. Definitely recommended.
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
This is a well-written historical fantasy with a hint of romance. With good guys doing bad things, bad guys turning over new leaves (possibly), plus evil dudes without any form of redemption, this story captured my imagination as I read through.
Well-written and smoothly paced, this was a good, solid book. Definitely recommended.
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!