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TravelersWife4Life (31 KP) rated The Blue Cloak (True Colors) in Books
Feb 24, 2021
Where to start on a book that sucks you in and doesn’t let go…
The Blue Cloak by Shannon McNear summed up in one word is: STUNNING. When I started reading this book I could not stop thinking about the characters and their plights, Shannon McNear brought their thoughts and feeling to life in an almost tangible way that made me feel like I was right there experiencing the haunting twists and realizations with the characters. She weaved in such a thread of hope and light amidst all that happened for her characters that were a true reflection of the hope we need to pray for in our fallen world.
I was captivated from the first chapter of this true-crime story in a way that I do not think I have ever been by a book before. The historical detail and research that went into the writing of this book were phenomenal, it made the story even more eye-opening for me. I loved how Shannon McNear took the time at the end (in the author’s note) to explain several different aspects of the story and the historical documentation to back them up.
I truly loved the setting, the plot, and the three main characters in this book. When combined I think they made a truly stunning and captivating story that weaves a tale of faith, perseverance, trust, and hope amid unknowable tragedy. Shannon McNear did a great job portraying the darkness in our world but expressing the hope that we have in Jesus’ name.
I give this book a resounding 5 out of 5 stars for the amazing storyline, the historical details, and the great characters. I highly recommend reading this book and I am personally ordering a physical copy for my book collection.
*I volunteered to read this book in return for my honest opinion. The thoughts and opinions expressed within are my own.
The Blue Cloak by Shannon McNear summed up in one word is: STUNNING. When I started reading this book I could not stop thinking about the characters and their plights, Shannon McNear brought their thoughts and feeling to life in an almost tangible way that made me feel like I was right there experiencing the haunting twists and realizations with the characters. She weaved in such a thread of hope and light amidst all that happened for her characters that were a true reflection of the hope we need to pray for in our fallen world.
I was captivated from the first chapter of this true-crime story in a way that I do not think I have ever been by a book before. The historical detail and research that went into the writing of this book were phenomenal, it made the story even more eye-opening for me. I loved how Shannon McNear took the time at the end (in the author’s note) to explain several different aspects of the story and the historical documentation to back them up.
I truly loved the setting, the plot, and the three main characters in this book. When combined I think they made a truly stunning and captivating story that weaves a tale of faith, perseverance, trust, and hope amid unknowable tragedy. Shannon McNear did a great job portraying the darkness in our world but expressing the hope that we have in Jesus’ name.
I give this book a resounding 5 out of 5 stars for the amazing storyline, the historical details, and the great characters. I highly recommend reading this book and I am personally ordering a physical copy for my book collection.
*I volunteered to read this book in return for my honest opinion. The thoughts and opinions expressed within are my own.
Empire Games: Book 1
Book
A time of ambition, treachery and dangerous secrets ...Rita Douglas is plucked from her dead-end job...
Empire Games: Empire Games: Book One
Book
A time of ambition, treachery and dangerous secrets ...Rita Douglas is plucked from her dead-end job...
The Cardinal's Whores
8.0
Rate It
Book
Blackmail. Betrayal. Lust. Just standard fare in the court of Henry the Eighth. Joan Larke...
Historical Romance Suspense
Lee (2222 KP) rated Mary Queen of Scots (2018) in Movies
Jan 20, 2019
Mary (Saoirse Ronan), having lived in France where she was recently widowed, returns home to Scotland to claim her rightful place as queen. But she is not exactly welcomed with open arms in the world of men and when she also decides to set her sights on becoming successor to the crown of England, a power struggle ensues. Both at home, and with her cousin Queen Elizabeth I (Margot Robbie).
There's not very much that I enjoyed about this movie to be honest. An important and intriguing period in history, involving two extremely interesting and strong women, this should have been so much better. It tries to cover so much ground in its two hour runtime, barely focusing on any particular element for very long. Vast numbers of characters are introduced, none of which are given enough time for you to feel any kind of interest or emotional investment in and at times it drastically shifts between varying tones with confusing editing.
What the movie does manage to portray is that all the men are complete bastards. Scheming, plotting and murdering, all for their own gains. It's sad that, aside from the murdering (I hope), not much has changed in modern politics.
Both female leads, especially Saoirse, are actually very good in this, despite everything, and probably the best scene in the movie is when they meet alone towards the end (something which didn't actually happen in real life!). Sadly though, I was fidgeting in my seat up until that point just waiting for it to end.
There's not very much that I enjoyed about this movie to be honest. An important and intriguing period in history, involving two extremely interesting and strong women, this should have been so much better. It tries to cover so much ground in its two hour runtime, barely focusing on any particular element for very long. Vast numbers of characters are introduced, none of which are given enough time for you to feel any kind of interest or emotional investment in and at times it drastically shifts between varying tones with confusing editing.
What the movie does manage to portray is that all the men are complete bastards. Scheming, plotting and murdering, all for their own gains. It's sad that, aside from the murdering (I hope), not much has changed in modern politics.
Both female leads, especially Saoirse, are actually very good in this, despite everything, and probably the best scene in the movie is when they meet alone towards the end (something which didn't actually happen in real life!). Sadly though, I was fidgeting in my seat up until that point just waiting for it to end.
Isle of Skye: From Chieftain to King
8.5
Rate It
Tabletop Game
Isle of Skye is one of the most beautiful places in the world, with soft sand beaches, gently...
BoardGames IrishGames TileLayingGames
Alice (12 KP) rated The Silver Tide (The Copper Cat, #3) in Books
Jul 3, 2018
My 200th book of the year was the final installment in Jen Williams’ The Copper Cat trilogy The Silver Tide and was it a doozie! The Copper Cat trilogy has got to be the best series I’ve read this year, so much so that I devoured it easily. It was without a doubt the best book of the trilogy with characters we’d only heard passing mentions of in the previous ones coming full circle and smacking us in the face. Devinia the Red? FTW!
The Silver Tide brought several running story arcs to a close nicely with just the right amount of action, drama and hate. Now I use the term hate lightly because it wasn’t hate from me but hate of some of the characters who originally I thought were good people – boy was I wrong.
The Silver Tide was the best title and I waited until right near the end to find out what the relevance of that was. Oh it was so good! I tweeted Jen Williams just before I got there grumbling because Sebastian was being abused in the book as a character and then I read the ending and my decision changed entirely.
This book had the same easy flow of dialogue and prose with character descriptions and world building in abundance – by world building, I don’t mean the standard Ede but a new “world” called Euriale where all sorts of weird and wonderful beasties and plants to die for – literally. This new world had some wonderful if slightly psychotic characters in it and there were pirates everywhere, several of those were psychotic as well.
The storyline for this book was based around Euriale and involved time travel, long dead gods and characters who have died and been reborn; Estenn a character who is half-mad at the beginning of the book and completely mad by the time Wydrin kicked her psycho butt is a new one, she’s entirely consumed by the Twins – Res’ni and Res’na – and believes herself to the their Emissary and it is because of Estenn that things happen in this book: good and innocent people die for her cause and Y’Gria followed by Y’Ruen, Res’ni and Res’na aid her in slaughtering the mages in a time gone by.
The ending, although sad because it ended, was brilliant. It was lovely seeing Sebastian finally get his happily ever after especially after the few disastrous attempts he made in the first two books – Oster and Sebastian I ship it. Dragon with dragon-kin oh yes! There was also a major overabundance of dragons and dragon-kin in this book and some pretty sweet new magical powers for Frith which was super.
Wydrin had her moments as always and this book was fantastically British in a lot of ways; including copious use of the words “fuck” and “mum” which I liked. I really can’t fault Wydrin Threefellows character in any way, shape or form and she went through some particularly freaky things in this book (when comparing the other books to this one, definitely freaky-deaky).
In all, this series was brilliant, it was a fantastic read all round and I’ve already got two people I know wanting to steal the series from me so they can read it on their own.
The Silver Tide brought several running story arcs to a close nicely with just the right amount of action, drama and hate. Now I use the term hate lightly because it wasn’t hate from me but hate of some of the characters who originally I thought were good people – boy was I wrong.
The Silver Tide was the best title and I waited until right near the end to find out what the relevance of that was. Oh it was so good! I tweeted Jen Williams just before I got there grumbling because Sebastian was being abused in the book as a character and then I read the ending and my decision changed entirely.
This book had the same easy flow of dialogue and prose with character descriptions and world building in abundance – by world building, I don’t mean the standard Ede but a new “world” called Euriale where all sorts of weird and wonderful beasties and plants to die for – literally. This new world had some wonderful if slightly psychotic characters in it and there were pirates everywhere, several of those were psychotic as well.
The storyline for this book was based around Euriale and involved time travel, long dead gods and characters who have died and been reborn; Estenn a character who is half-mad at the beginning of the book and completely mad by the time Wydrin kicked her psycho butt is a new one, she’s entirely consumed by the Twins – Res’ni and Res’na – and believes herself to the their Emissary and it is because of Estenn that things happen in this book: good and innocent people die for her cause and Y’Gria followed by Y’Ruen, Res’ni and Res’na aid her in slaughtering the mages in a time gone by.
The ending, although sad because it ended, was brilliant. It was lovely seeing Sebastian finally get his happily ever after especially after the few disastrous attempts he made in the first two books – Oster and Sebastian I ship it. Dragon with dragon-kin oh yes! There was also a major overabundance of dragons and dragon-kin in this book and some pretty sweet new magical powers for Frith which was super.
Wydrin had her moments as always and this book was fantastically British in a lot of ways; including copious use of the words “fuck” and “mum” which I liked. I really can’t fault Wydrin Threefellows character in any way, shape or form and she went through some particularly freaky things in this book (when comparing the other books to this one, definitely freaky-deaky).
In all, this series was brilliant, it was a fantastic read all round and I’ve already got two people I know wanting to steal the series from me so they can read it on their own.
Merissa (13749 KP) rated Rook (Bridge & Sword: Awakenings #1) in Books
Sep 18, 2017
Rook (Bridge & Sword: Awakenings #1) by J.C. Andrijeski
Rook has a very interesting premise, with a dystopian world setting. The main character in this is Alyson, or Allie. She is a normal human, and has the tests and the tattoo to prove it. However, this doesn't stop her from being kidnapped by someone, who turns out to be a seer. Not only that but other factions are after her too.
All of this is simple enough to follow, but the book itself becomes quite confusing. You see, Alyson is the Bridge... except, just what this is, is never fully explained. Apart from the fact that she may bring about a further apocalypse that is. The seers don't see the future (that I could tell), but are able to 'see' things differently. However, there are factions within factions within the seers.
Revik plays a major role in this book too. I think he is supposed to also be the love interest, but that didn't work at all for me. There was no communication from him to help Allie find her way in this crazy new world in which she finds herself. Not only that, but when something happens between the two of them, and Allie (and the reader) is left in the dark, not only does he NOT explain anything, but he forbids anyone else to speak of it too! And THEN he gets pissy when she does something 'wrong', but once again, won't tell her what. Not only that, but it is physically painful for these two to be near each other.
Throw in clones, pyramids, and Tibetan monks - sorry, I mean seers - and you get an idea of this book. The description in the book says it is "A psychic end of the world story with romance, a cyberpunk flair and apocalyptic, metaphysical leanings akin to the Matrix." Personally, I don't quite see that, but to each their own.
This book is a Marmite book for me - I can see some people loving it, some people hating it. As for me, I enjoyed it, but I'm not interested in this world or the characters to go any further with it.
* 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!
All of this is simple enough to follow, but the book itself becomes quite confusing. You see, Alyson is the Bridge... except, just what this is, is never fully explained. Apart from the fact that she may bring about a further apocalypse that is. The seers don't see the future (that I could tell), but are able to 'see' things differently. However, there are factions within factions within the seers.
Revik plays a major role in this book too. I think he is supposed to also be the love interest, but that didn't work at all for me. There was no communication from him to help Allie find her way in this crazy new world in which she finds herself. Not only that, but when something happens between the two of them, and Allie (and the reader) is left in the dark, not only does he NOT explain anything, but he forbids anyone else to speak of it too! And THEN he gets pissy when she does something 'wrong', but once again, won't tell her what. Not only that, but it is physically painful for these two to be near each other.
Throw in clones, pyramids, and Tibetan monks - sorry, I mean seers - and you get an idea of this book. The description in the book says it is "A psychic end of the world story with romance, a cyberpunk flair and apocalyptic, metaphysical leanings akin to the Matrix." Personally, I don't quite see that, but to each their own.
This book is a Marmite book for me - I can see some people loving it, some people hating it. As for me, I enjoyed it, but I'm not interested in this world or the characters to go any further with it.
* 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!
Death Need Not be Fatal
Malachy McCourt and Brian McDonald
Book
In his book, DEATH NEED NOT BE FATAL, McCourt explores the role death has played and continues to...
Oracle 11i E-Business Suite from the Front Lines
Book
Oracle 11i E-Business Suite from the Front Lines is the first book to compile the tips, techniques,...