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When You Burn Me (Enchanted Hearts #1)

Lorelei Johnson

8.0 (1 Ratings) Rate It

Book

When fate strikes, love ignites—and some flames are meant to burn. Sienna found a family in her...

Urban Fantasy Romance Series

postapocalypticplayground (27 KP) rated The Hazel Wood in Books

Feb 28, 2018

The Hazel Wood

Melissa Albert | 2017 | Mystery, Paranormal, Science Fiction/Fantasy

7.4

(33 Ratings)

Book Rating

Review of The Hazel Wood

"Seventeen-year-old Alice and her mother have spent most of Alice's life on the road, always a step ahead of the strange bad luck biting at their heels. But when Alice's grandmother, the reclusive author of a book of pitch-dark fairy tales, dies alone on her estate - the Hazel Wood - Alice learns how bad her luck can really get. Her mother is stolen away - by a figure who claims to come from the cruel supernatural world where her grandmother's stories are set. Alice's only lead is the message her mother left behind: STAY AWAY FROM THE HAZEL WOOD.

To retrieve her mother, Alice must venture first to the Hazel Wood, then into the world where her grandmother's tales began . . ."

I'm not to sure how to start with this review. I found The Hazel Wood a real book of 2 halves, one half was very contemporary and not what I would have traditionally expected from a fantasy whereas the other was dark, twisted and incredibly chilling to read at times. I found that not only did I feel this way with the story but also with the characters too. I struggled immensely with the main protagonist Alice, I really couldn't warm to her at all and given her character arc perhaps there is good reason for her being written that way. Whilst she has clearly had to build up walls from the nomadic existence she has had with her mother, I just found her very frustrating in her manner. Juxtaposed with Ellery Finch, her partner in crime of sorts, it really brings out her brattish qualities. Ellery is fabulous though and despite his privilege and flaws I just really enjoyed his character. His fanboy status in relation to the book written by Alice's grandmother also gives us an insight into a few of the dark stories themselves, as he re-tells them to Alice in his own words.

For me the contemporary element was a bit too overwhelming, the breadcrumbs had to be laid and followed in true Hansel and Gretel style but I felt that it took a bit too long to get to where it needed to go. However, when it reached that point I really started to enjoy it more, the pace picked up and I got a sense of both excitement and dread as I was reading. The story telling becomes darker and you know you are very much in the Grimm fairy tale camp rather than Disney. Tricks and twists are plenty as Alice tries to fulfil an almost prophetic course to an ending which isn't quite what you may be expecting.

Whilst I enjoyed it immensely in places, at times I found it a bit of a slog - I need more fantasy in my fantasy. I think it would have been lovely as well to actually have more of the "Tales from the Hinterland" stories within the book as I feel that could have really added an extra dimension to the latter part of the story. From me, The Hazel Wood gets 3*

Kudos

Bound (Dark Reflections #1)

Dean Murray

8.0 (1 Ratings) Rate It

Book

The only thing worse than having no family at all, is having a family that is out to hurt you. That...

Young Adult Paranormal Romance Urban Fantasy

Sean Farrell (9 KP) rated The Girl on the Train in Books

Mar 15, 2018

The Girl on the Train

Paula Hawkins | 2016 | Mystery, Thriller

7.6

(173 Ratings)

Book Rating

2015 has only just begun, and already we may have one of the year's best suspense novels on our hands. This book follows Rachel, an alcoholic who has developed a fantasy life in her head for an attractive couple she sees in their home from her commuter train every day. When the wife of said couple goes missing, she can't help but involve herself in the mystery, which rather unsurprisingly winds up further complicating her life. The story moves back and forth in time, and is told from the perspectives of Rachel, her ex-husband's new wife Anna, and the missing woman Megan (who Rachel initially refers to as Jess in her fantasy). No one in the story seems to be trustworthy, as they all hide information and/or outright lie to each other in order to achieve their goals, which makes getting to the bottom of things that much more challenging for everyone, including the reader. Despite all the characters being heavily flawed, most of them come across sympathetically, which helps one actually care about their fates. Rachel in particular is well fleshed out, and comes the closest to being outright likable, which is quite a feat considering how unbalanced she is. The plot moves along at a very brisk pace and builds up to such a suspenseful conclusion that it is a hard book to put down. It may be a little dark for some people's tastes, but I found it to be one of the most entertaining books I've read in a long time.

Kudos

Jordan Binkerd (567 KP) rated Excalibur (1981) in Movies

Sep 4, 2019

Excalibur (1981)

1981 | Action, Sci-Fi

7.7

(10 Ratings)

Movie Rating

Lush, beautiful visuals (1 more)

Stellar performances from all involved

Long movie, but feels like it rushes from highlight to highlight without fleshing out the story. (1 more)

More mythic fantasy of "knights in shining armor" as my younger self would have conceived it than anything grounded in reality.

Long on visuals, short on narrative cohesion and characterization

Excalibur is a classic, and deservedly so. The visuals and performances from the entire cast are outstanding, and you get to see early appearances from the likes of a then-unknown Patrick Stewart or Liam Neeson. The film is epic in scope, and that's part of the problem--in trying to tell the entire Arthurian legend, the film only has time (even at nearly two and a half hours) to hit the highlights without adding sufficient connective tissue to make sure that we care about the characters. Then there's the fact that the film caters to more of a child's fantasy version of knights in shining armor than anything else. I don't mind the anachronism of plate armor in the "dark ages," but characters living in their plate day on and day out, in peacetime, in the middle of their fortress? That crap is uncomfortable! Ten year old me would have bought that reality, but this film would have been (and in fact specifically WAS) denied to ten year old me based on the nudity and gore. I'm not asking for gritty realism, but I also wasn't expecting a return to the fantasties of my youth. Worth seeing, to be sure, but not timeless or without it's flaws.