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Callisto 2.0
Callisto 2.0
Susan English | 2020 | LGBTQ+, Science Fiction/Fantasy
6
6.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
not really my thing.
Independent reviewer for Archaeolibrarian, I was gifted my copy of this book.

This will be a short review, and for that I am sorry, My brain is shutting down, and I'm struggling to put much sense into my reviews!

I liked this enough to finish it, so that's a good thing right now!

I liked Callisto, I found her interesting and engaging. Her first person voice is clear and defined. I liked her!

There is much science in this book. MUCH. I found it a little hard work at times, and easy going at others. But I did find myself skimming over some parts too.

There is romance here, but I'm not tagging as such. Its very much in the background. I would have liked more, to be honest, it might have broken up the science.

There is some repetition of the same point: that men are ruining the world and only women can fix it. It got a bit much.

So, I did finish it, and I can only really stretch to:

3 stars

*same worded review will appear elsewhere
  
The Day After Tomorrow (2004)
The Day After Tomorrow (2004)
2004 | Action, Drama, Mystery
The Day After Tomorrow is probably one of the better big-disaster-blockbusters out there. Roland Emmerich manages to show a sliver of artisctic restraint for once, by which I mean that this one doesn't have a scene where a small dog Crash Bandicoots its way to safety. There's still a fair chunk of unnecessary silliness here and there, the scene with the wolves for example, but for the most part TDAT is well paced and engaging. The big disaster moments are well crafted. Los Angeles getting torn apart by massive tornadoes is suitably horrifying to watch unfold, and the massive flash flooding of Manhattan Island is well built up. They forgo the more cooky elements of other Emmerich projects and are all the better for it.
As per usual, it's hard to give two shits about any of the human characters in these things, but Jake Gyllenhaal at least provides a sniff of acting chops.

The Day After Tomorrow isn't perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but it's entertaining enough, and provides the weird catharsis that comes with watching Earth get destroyed to a satisfying degree.
  
40x40

Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2355 KP) rated Her Dying Day in Books

May 19, 2023 (Updated May 19, 2023)  
Her Dying Day
Her Dying Day
Mindy Carlson | 2022 | Mystery
7
7.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
What Really Happened to Greer Larkin?
Documentary graduate student June Masterson has finally hit upon the perfect topic for her final project – the disappearance twenty years ago of Greer Larkin. Greer had burst onto the mystery scene with six well received books before she disappeared, never to be seen again. With the principles in Greer’s life agreeing to talk to June, she fantasizes about solving the case, making for the perfect end to her documentary. Can she do that? Will she even finish it in time?

I struggled with part of this book – a subplot in June’s life that I truly didn’t like. I can understand her choices, but still, it bothered me. I did appreciate the character growth we got. And the mystery itself was very well done. It kept me guessing all the way to the satisfying ending. There was one aspect that was left opened, but it could propel a follow up book. This book has some content that definitely keeps it from being a cozy; it’s honestly a little hard to place outside of just plain mystery. If you enjoy an engaging mystery, you’ll be glad you picked up this book.
  
The Beasts of Paris
The Beasts of Paris
Stef Penney | 2023 | Fiction & Poetry
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
What I love most about historical fiction, is that I get to learn something new about the history of a place or a time I didn’t know about. I mean, I’d never heard of the Siege of Paris in 1870, and yet I now know a lot more about it through the characters in The Beasts of Paris.

There’s Victor, the assistant vet at the Menagerie; Anne has been an inmate at the women’s Salpetriere asylum for many years, provided entertainment for paying Parisians thanks to the immoral Dr. Jospin, and now comes to work as the Chief Vet’s maid at the Menagerie; Ellis is hiding his trauma from the American Civil War where he was a doctor, and is attempting to become a poet; and Lawrence is a Canadian Photographer.

We learn of the horrors of the siege and the further horrors of its aftermath. The descriptions of these events and how the Parisians both live through and cope with deprivation and fear, are emotional and engaging.

I was left wondering who exactly the Parisian beasts were; those inside or outside the menagerie?

Just an excellent story.