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Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2125 KP) rated A Red Herring Without Mustard (Flavia de Luce, #3) in Books

Mar 9, 2018

A gypsy woman is traveling through the village where eleven-year-old Flavia de Luce lives, and Flavia invites the woman to set up camp in the pasture on the edge of the family property. Late that night, someone attacks the woman, and Flavia feels responsible for figuring out what exactly happened to her guest. Can she do it?

Flavia is a different character for a series aimed at adults, and I find I do enjoy spending time with her. Unfortunately, she can get annoying at times, and I definitely found that the case here as I wanted to slap some sense into her. Other characters tried, so that made me feel better. The story can get a bit bogged down in Flavia’s side stories in the narration, but it was a pleasure seeing how the various threads were all brought together for the climax.

Read my full review at <a href="http://carstairsconsiders.blogspot.com/2015/12/book-review-red-herring-without-mustard.html">Carstairs Considers</a>.

Kudos

Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2125 KP) rated Don't Look Back in Books

Mar 9, 2018

Eve Hardaway takes a trip to the jungles of southern Mexico in order to rediscover herself. Instead, she discovers something truly horrifying, a mad man bent on killing her and everyone else at the remote camp where she is staying. With the weather conspiring against them, will they be able to get out to safety?

The book took a little while to set up the story, introducing us to the characters and the landscape we’d spend the rest of the book in. But once it gets going, this is another page turner from a talented thriller author. The villain was a bit over the top early on, but he became more human as the book progressed – not that I ever liked him. The rest of the characters are interesting to watch as they rise to the challenge or cave under the pressure.

Read my full review at <a href="http://carstairsconsiders.blogspot.com/2016/01/book-review-dont-look-back-by-gregg.html">Carstairs Considers</a>.

Kudos

Sarah (7798 KP) rated Are We All Lemmings and Snowflakes? in Books

Dec 5, 2018

Are We All Lemmings and Snowflakes?

Holly Bourne | 2018 | Fiction & Poetry, Young Adult (YA)

9.3

(3 Ratings)

Book Rating

A moving insight into mental health

While it has a fairly fun and playful sounding title, this book is far from being fun and playful. It’s a very interesting but definitely serious take on mental health in teenagers. I’d dare anyone to read this and not find something in common with one of the characters currently residing at Camp Reset. Olive herself is a tormented yet intriguing main character, however she does make for difficult reading at times. As a reader, you can see what’s going on with her even thought she can’t see it herself, and it makes reading quite frustrating, although this is the true reality of mental illness. The book also has a very good message, and almost had me in tears at the end, especially with the letter from the writer Holly Bourne. This is definitely not a feel good story, but definitely one that gets you thinking.

Kudos

David McK (3291 KP) rated Batman: The Dark Knight Returns in Books

Jan 28, 2019

Commonly cited as one of the best Batman graphic novels, this is the one that turned Batman from the Camp Crusader of the Adam West years into the growling anti-hero of the Tim Burton and (later) Christopher Nolan films (leaving aside the Schumacher mis-steps in the middle).

Written in the 80s but set in the near-future, this sees Bruce Wayne return to his role as the vigilante 10 years after unspecified events that saw him hang up his cape. His return, however, also sees the return of some old foes, alongside that of some new.

While - as it was written in the 80s - some of the subject matter is now out of date (most noticeably, the Cold War between America and the USSR), this still holds up surprisingly well. I also have to say that, with some crowded art panels, language and the violence throughout, this is also not one for the kiddies!

Kudos

Vegas (725 KP) rated the Xbox One version of Red Dead Redemption 2 in Video Games

Jul 7, 2019 (Updated Jul 8, 2019)

Red Dead Redemption 2

2018 | Action/Adventure

9.2

(65 Ratings)

Video Game Rating Watch

The story (1 more)

The gameplay

Nothing (0 more)

Improvement on the original

The long awaited sequel (prequel) to red dead doesn't disappoint in the solo game, the story is an epic adventure travelling through the open plains to the growing towns and cities, railroads, carriages, and horseback are all ways of getting around the massive map. Build up your camp, help the gang, or rob stores and banks the choice is yours, you can even spend time fishing or hunting...

The cast of characters you meet are diverse, funny, serious, violent or just odd but whoever you meet, you do find yourself caring one way or another about the people in the game you interact with...

I will say I did struggle to get as engaged in the multi player game side of it, but that is just a personal thing as I do prefer solo gaming...

For shear enjoyment aspect and length of game, this is one of the best games of recent times.