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Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated The Girl in the Spider's Web (2018) in Movies
Jul 2, 2019
There has definitely been a shift in the characters that women are portraying in the movies. No longer happy to be relegated to the damsel in distress who is looking for their Prince Charming to rescue them, they become bad-ass avengers who aren’t afraid to kick-butt and take names. There is no better example of this than Lisbeth Salander, everyone’s favorite goth super-hacker and vigilante. In The Girl in the Spider’s Web, based on the best-selling novel of the same name, we see Lisbeth at her finest and it is an action packed, butt kicking good time.
Lisbeth (Claire Foy) leads a life as a vigilante who targets men that abuse woman ensuring they pay for their evil deeds. She’s not afraid to play hardball and threaten their very existence to ensure that justice is served. In the middle of punishing all the right people, Lisbeth receives a hacking opportunity that she can’t refuse, involving an application where simply logging in allows you to take over the world’s nuclear weapons. This super application was originally created and sold to the NSA in Washington and Lisbeth is tasked with stealing it back and returning it to the original creator so that it can be properly destroyed. Lisbeth successfully steals the application but that then makes her the target of not only the NSA whom she had stolen it from originally, but also another secretive group who has their own nefarious plans.
The film quickly goes from Lisbeth and her “simple” vigilante ways to becoming a global thriller that spans multiple countries and agencies. Not only does the plot change quickly but Lisbeth’s character also morph’s from being a Black Canary type vigilante to becoming a female version of Mission Impossible’s Ethan Hunt. Even though playing a female Ethan Hunt is different from Lisbeth’s usual trope her skills fit nicely into her new role. Her ability to hack into any computer system comes in handy quite a few times and lets us have a tie to the Lisbeth we know and love, but we also get to see her flex her wits and general bad-assery a bit deeper during her “impossible mission”. The film was definitely not what I expected but I was still pleasantly surprised.
The Swedish setting where the movie takes place was gorgeous and varies from desolate abandoned buildings to chases in the middle of sprawling cities. It utilizes the snow-covered landscape and decrepit buildings to create a sense of isolation, even when the streets themselves are packed with cars. Along with the isolation from the setting we also see the use of both old and new technology, which gives a low-tech feel to what is an otherwise a high stakes mission. Both the setting and the technology allows us to see that Lisbeth is a force to be reckoned with no matter what type of adversity she faces.
Which brings me to the one of the best parts of the movie and that is Claire Foy’s absolutely amazing portrayal of Lisbeth. We already knew she did a great job playing a royal in The Crown and as the wife of astronaut Neil Armstrong in First Man but relinquishing her usual elegant and classy portrayals to spectacularly play one of the biggest, baddest female characters around shows the true depth of her talent. She is definitely the star of the show and now I am an even bigger fan of hers than I already was. I was also impressed with the other main characters, including investigative journalist Mikael Blomkvist (Sverrir Gudnason), who plays less of role than in the original The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo but does a great job nonetheless, and the young boy, August Balder (Christopher Convery) that holds the key to the entire mission excellently played by Christopher Convery. The trio make an unusual team, but how the characters (and actors) play on each other’s strengths and weaknesses to complement each other brings heart to a movie that could have easily been 100% an action adventure.
The one aspect I feel could (and should) have been fleshed out more, was Lisbeth’s character as a battered woman’s vigilante. The movie started off with a very strong vigilante scene, but the vigilante theme is quickly forgotten until the very end of the film where we find out it was the sole catalyst of the main adversary. This oversight sadly turned what could have been a woman’s justice vigilante movie into a more run-of-the-mill super spy movie. That’s not necessarily bad, it is still action packed and full of twists and turns, but it’s definitely a missed opportunity to show more of who Lisbeth is.
The Girl in the Spider’s Web is filled with action, gadgets, and car chases though beautiful scenery and it is an excellent movie to see if you are looking for something different than green grinches and Nazi zombies. It’s not the movie I went in expecting to see, but I’m not complaining as it is still a solid film. Even though it diverts away from the more artistic The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo it is a very good action-packed thriller that would stack up nicely next to the Mission Impossible movies it is reminiscent of. It’s definitely a movie I recommend to action movie fans everywhere.
Lisbeth (Claire Foy) leads a life as a vigilante who targets men that abuse woman ensuring they pay for their evil deeds. She’s not afraid to play hardball and threaten their very existence to ensure that justice is served. In the middle of punishing all the right people, Lisbeth receives a hacking opportunity that she can’t refuse, involving an application where simply logging in allows you to take over the world’s nuclear weapons. This super application was originally created and sold to the NSA in Washington and Lisbeth is tasked with stealing it back and returning it to the original creator so that it can be properly destroyed. Lisbeth successfully steals the application but that then makes her the target of not only the NSA whom she had stolen it from originally, but also another secretive group who has their own nefarious plans.
The film quickly goes from Lisbeth and her “simple” vigilante ways to becoming a global thriller that spans multiple countries and agencies. Not only does the plot change quickly but Lisbeth’s character also morph’s from being a Black Canary type vigilante to becoming a female version of Mission Impossible’s Ethan Hunt. Even though playing a female Ethan Hunt is different from Lisbeth’s usual trope her skills fit nicely into her new role. Her ability to hack into any computer system comes in handy quite a few times and lets us have a tie to the Lisbeth we know and love, but we also get to see her flex her wits and general bad-assery a bit deeper during her “impossible mission”. The film was definitely not what I expected but I was still pleasantly surprised.
The Swedish setting where the movie takes place was gorgeous and varies from desolate abandoned buildings to chases in the middle of sprawling cities. It utilizes the snow-covered landscape and decrepit buildings to create a sense of isolation, even when the streets themselves are packed with cars. Along with the isolation from the setting we also see the use of both old and new technology, which gives a low-tech feel to what is an otherwise a high stakes mission. Both the setting and the technology allows us to see that Lisbeth is a force to be reckoned with no matter what type of adversity she faces.
Which brings me to the one of the best parts of the movie and that is Claire Foy’s absolutely amazing portrayal of Lisbeth. We already knew she did a great job playing a royal in The Crown and as the wife of astronaut Neil Armstrong in First Man but relinquishing her usual elegant and classy portrayals to spectacularly play one of the biggest, baddest female characters around shows the true depth of her talent. She is definitely the star of the show and now I am an even bigger fan of hers than I already was. I was also impressed with the other main characters, including investigative journalist Mikael Blomkvist (Sverrir Gudnason), who plays less of role than in the original The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo but does a great job nonetheless, and the young boy, August Balder (Christopher Convery) that holds the key to the entire mission excellently played by Christopher Convery. The trio make an unusual team, but how the characters (and actors) play on each other’s strengths and weaknesses to complement each other brings heart to a movie that could have easily been 100% an action adventure.
The one aspect I feel could (and should) have been fleshed out more, was Lisbeth’s character as a battered woman’s vigilante. The movie started off with a very strong vigilante scene, but the vigilante theme is quickly forgotten until the very end of the film where we find out it was the sole catalyst of the main adversary. This oversight sadly turned what could have been a woman’s justice vigilante movie into a more run-of-the-mill super spy movie. That’s not necessarily bad, it is still action packed and full of twists and turns, but it’s definitely a missed opportunity to show more of who Lisbeth is.
The Girl in the Spider’s Web is filled with action, gadgets, and car chases though beautiful scenery and it is an excellent movie to see if you are looking for something different than green grinches and Nazi zombies. It’s not the movie I went in expecting to see, but I’m not complaining as it is still a solid film. Even though it diverts away from the more artistic The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo it is a very good action-packed thriller that would stack up nicely next to the Mission Impossible movies it is reminiscent of. It’s definitely a movie I recommend to action movie fans everywhere.
Goddess in the Stacks (553 KP) rated Black Panther (2018) in Movies
Feb 17, 2018
Diverse casting (no, seriously.) (6 more)
STRONG WOMEN
Subverting stereotypes all day long
Excellent soundtrack
Ambiguous "villain"
Representation
The seamless blending of tech and tradition
BEST. MARVEL. MOVIE.
Contains spoilers, click to show
OH my god. This was definitely the best Marvel movie yet. Chadwick Boseman was absolutely amazing as T'Challa. (Warning, SPOILERS AHEAD.)
I loved that the love interest was already established - there weren't any "falling in love butterflies" to distract from the plot. SO MANY STRONG WOMEN. All of T'Challa's support were strong, gorgeous women of color. His mother, his sister, his general, his love interest. The female guards. Absolutely fantastic.
The blending of technology and traditions was superbly done. People still tend crops and animals and tan hides and go to the marketplace in Wakanda - but they have vibranium armor and weapons, and technological wonders on their wrists that pop up virtual screens, and their medical care is the best in the world. Oh, and ships. Spaceships, basically.
THE CLOTHES. The dresses, the makeup, the armor, the weapons - the appearance of Wakanda was amazing.
And then the plot. The difference between "Well, we're Wakandan, and we look out for the Wakandan people" and "We should be looking out for ALL of our people (black people all over the world, not just Wakandans.)" That was where the real conflict arose in Black Panther - and it was interesting that the two leads, while opposing each other, actually felt the same about it. Just with different ideas of how to do so. (There's a lot to unpack about why they feel this way - some of it, I think, goes back to African-Americans having their nationalities forcibly stripped from them during the slave trade - so being black is the only thing white people left them with; while non-American Africans have their national identities to look to. So they might be Nigerian or Ethiopian instead of one unified black group. And the opposing lead was brought up in America.)
The differences between how the Wakandans viewed white people, and how the American prince viewed white people, are a very important conflict. You can watch the movie as just another superhero movie, and it'll be good. But watching it looking for the racial undertones makes it absolutely fantastic.
Also - the casting is diverse. Just because it's almost all black people doesn't mean it's not diverse. Again, that's a white American thing, looking at black people as one unified group. They're not. Also how many movies have been almost all white people with a token black guy? People complaining about "lack of diversity" in this movie need to take their white supremacist selves out of the theater and away from this amazing movie.
I loved that the love interest was already established - there weren't any "falling in love butterflies" to distract from the plot. SO MANY STRONG WOMEN. All of T'Challa's support were strong, gorgeous women of color. His mother, his sister, his general, his love interest. The female guards. Absolutely fantastic.
The blending of technology and traditions was superbly done. People still tend crops and animals and tan hides and go to the marketplace in Wakanda - but they have vibranium armor and weapons, and technological wonders on their wrists that pop up virtual screens, and their medical care is the best in the world. Oh, and ships. Spaceships, basically.
THE CLOTHES. The dresses, the makeup, the armor, the weapons - the appearance of Wakanda was amazing.
And then the plot. The difference between "Well, we're Wakandan, and we look out for the Wakandan people" and "We should be looking out for ALL of our people (black people all over the world, not just Wakandans.)" That was where the real conflict arose in Black Panther - and it was interesting that the two leads, while opposing each other, actually felt the same about it. Just with different ideas of how to do so. (There's a lot to unpack about why they feel this way - some of it, I think, goes back to African-Americans having their nationalities forcibly stripped from them during the slave trade - so being black is the only thing white people left them with; while non-American Africans have their national identities to look to. So they might be Nigerian or Ethiopian instead of one unified black group. And the opposing lead was brought up in America.)
The differences between how the Wakandans viewed white people, and how the American prince viewed white people, are a very important conflict. You can watch the movie as just another superhero movie, and it'll be good. But watching it looking for the racial undertones makes it absolutely fantastic.
Also - the casting is diverse. Just because it's almost all black people doesn't mean it's not diverse. Again, that's a white American thing, looking at black people as one unified group. They're not. Also how many movies have been almost all white people with a token black guy? People complaining about "lack of diversity" in this movie need to take their white supremacist selves out of the theater and away from this amazing movie.
Darren (1599 KP) rated 10,000 Days (2014) in Movies
Jun 20, 2019
Story: 10,000 Days starts as we enter the world 27-years after a comet struck Earth putting the survivors into a permanent ice age, we follow two groups of survivors, once together now at war, William Beck (Schneider) on one side, Remy Farnwell (Wingfield) on the other.
As the Beck’s discover moments of truth about the disaster and a potential cure, Remy is playing his attack to take their base, the race against time for human survival is on.
Thoughts on 10,000 Days
Characters – William Beck runs one of the clans in the frozen land, he has kept his people safe, always searching for the next way to survive, hopefully peacefully even against his enemy, he knew the world before the disaster and now he wants to return to it. Remy Farnwell leads the rival clan, living on the ice he fell out with the Beck’s wanting revenge for the betrayal as he sees it. He doesn’t mind killing people in the battle which he has made too personal. We do have a lot of characters in this film, William has three sons that all look exactly the same, we have the scientist figures which seems to be three different female characters, a pilot who failed to stop the comet who still lives with the nightmare. We get so many characters it truly is hard to keep up or invest in any of them.
Performances – The performances, well this is difficult because nearly all the actors and characters look the same, it is difficult to figure out who the lead is, nobody has any sort of emotional factor or strong moments to stand out.
Story – The story is the end of the world happened, we are now in an ice age which could be coming to an end, but two war driven clans want control of the best location. This sounds interesting enough, you would be wrong, we have moments of discovery, moments of war, though this just never knows which one is the most important. Sadly, this only ends feeling boring, we don’t get invested in the characters and for some reason the film kind of just ends with a massive cliff hanger.
Sci-Fi – The world has ended and now an ice-age has hit, well that is the sci-fi side of the film.
Settings – The film give us generic location which include ice area or cold looking warehouse.
Special Effects – The effects here are just terrible and look completely fake.
Scene of the Movie – The concept should work.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – The Effects.
Final Thoughts – This is a poor sci-fi movie that just doesn’t become interesting at any point in the film.
Overall: Boring throughout.
https://moviesreview101.com/2019/05/28/10000-days-2014/
As the Beck’s discover moments of truth about the disaster and a potential cure, Remy is playing his attack to take their base, the race against time for human survival is on.
Thoughts on 10,000 Days
Characters – William Beck runs one of the clans in the frozen land, he has kept his people safe, always searching for the next way to survive, hopefully peacefully even against his enemy, he knew the world before the disaster and now he wants to return to it. Remy Farnwell leads the rival clan, living on the ice he fell out with the Beck’s wanting revenge for the betrayal as he sees it. He doesn’t mind killing people in the battle which he has made too personal. We do have a lot of characters in this film, William has three sons that all look exactly the same, we have the scientist figures which seems to be three different female characters, a pilot who failed to stop the comet who still lives with the nightmare. We get so many characters it truly is hard to keep up or invest in any of them.
Performances – The performances, well this is difficult because nearly all the actors and characters look the same, it is difficult to figure out who the lead is, nobody has any sort of emotional factor or strong moments to stand out.
Story – The story is the end of the world happened, we are now in an ice age which could be coming to an end, but two war driven clans want control of the best location. This sounds interesting enough, you would be wrong, we have moments of discovery, moments of war, though this just never knows which one is the most important. Sadly, this only ends feeling boring, we don’t get invested in the characters and for some reason the film kind of just ends with a massive cliff hanger.
Sci-Fi – The world has ended and now an ice-age has hit, well that is the sci-fi side of the film.
Settings – The film give us generic location which include ice area or cold looking warehouse.
Special Effects – The effects here are just terrible and look completely fake.
Scene of the Movie – The concept should work.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – The Effects.
Final Thoughts – This is a poor sci-fi movie that just doesn’t become interesting at any point in the film.
Overall: Boring throughout.
https://moviesreview101.com/2019/05/28/10000-days-2014/
Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated Dreamgirls (2006) in Movies
Aug 14, 2019
The rise of Motown records is one of the music industries greatest tales. Berry Gordy Jr. in 1959 established the record label that not only made stars of numerous talents such as Diana Ross and the Supremes and the Jackson 5, but helped African American talents finds success in other markets and mainstream radio.
In the film Dreamgirls, Director/Screenwriter Bill Condon brings the book and musical of the same name to the big screen with style and energy, and tells an inspired and entertaining story.
Though the names have been changed, it does not take much effort to discover that many parts in the film are indeed based upon actual people, and situations, which only ads to the story and characters, as though seeing a work of fiction, there is some factual basis to what is being shown.
Beyonce’ Knowles stars as Deena Jones, who is the lead singer in a female trio who hope to get noticed at a local talent show. While the group fails to win, they do attract the attention of Curtis Taylor Jr. (Jaime Foxx), a local manager who runs a car dealership during the day.
Curtis takes the girls under his management and soon begins a relationship with Effie, (Jennifer Hudson), as the band begins to get notice. Curtis uses bribes to get the girls played on white radio stations and soon has a hit on his hands and forms his own record label in order for his talent.
While on tour with R&B legend James Thunder Early (Eddie Murphy), the decision is made to make Deena sing lead over Effie which leads to tensions in the band despite their growing success.
What follows is a tale full of love, loss, success, failure, redemption, and laughs as the dynamic tale of the girls and their career is told over the passage of several years.
While much has been made of the singing of Beyonce’ and Jennifer Hudson, Eddie Murphy was clearly the star of the film as he brought a dynamic energy to the film whenever he was on screen. Murphy amazingly blended comedy and music as he performed his own material as well as generated sympathy as the troubled singer, who is trying to hold onto fleeting fame amongst changing times and gives and Oscar worthy performance.
The songs of the film are very well done, though at times, some of them dragged on to long for my taste, and at times hampered the narrative portion of the film.
That being said, Dreamgirls is one of the best musical to hit the screen and if for no reason other than Murphy’s performance is must see film.
In the film Dreamgirls, Director/Screenwriter Bill Condon brings the book and musical of the same name to the big screen with style and energy, and tells an inspired and entertaining story.
Though the names have been changed, it does not take much effort to discover that many parts in the film are indeed based upon actual people, and situations, which only ads to the story and characters, as though seeing a work of fiction, there is some factual basis to what is being shown.
Beyonce’ Knowles stars as Deena Jones, who is the lead singer in a female trio who hope to get noticed at a local talent show. While the group fails to win, they do attract the attention of Curtis Taylor Jr. (Jaime Foxx), a local manager who runs a car dealership during the day.
Curtis takes the girls under his management and soon begins a relationship with Effie, (Jennifer Hudson), as the band begins to get notice. Curtis uses bribes to get the girls played on white radio stations and soon has a hit on his hands and forms his own record label in order for his talent.
While on tour with R&B legend James Thunder Early (Eddie Murphy), the decision is made to make Deena sing lead over Effie which leads to tensions in the band despite their growing success.
What follows is a tale full of love, loss, success, failure, redemption, and laughs as the dynamic tale of the girls and their career is told over the passage of several years.
While much has been made of the singing of Beyonce’ and Jennifer Hudson, Eddie Murphy was clearly the star of the film as he brought a dynamic energy to the film whenever he was on screen. Murphy amazingly blended comedy and music as he performed his own material as well as generated sympathy as the troubled singer, who is trying to hold onto fleeting fame amongst changing times and gives and Oscar worthy performance.
The songs of the film are very well done, though at times, some of them dragged on to long for my taste, and at times hampered the narrative portion of the film.
That being said, Dreamgirls is one of the best musical to hit the screen and if for no reason other than Murphy’s performance is must see film.
Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated Conan the Barbarian (2011) in Movies
Aug 7, 2019
Conan.
The name either evokes pictures of half naked body builders, and topless wenches, or a very tall man with red, quaffed hair. Well, hopefully the former is what you are all thinking about, because that is what you are going to get. Nobody goes to a Conan movie for the tall, red haired guy. Right?
Jason Momoa, who is not awful to look at for a couple of hours, plays Conan. Physically, he is much truer to the character in the original source material, than the former governor of California. He also has this interesting gravity that makes you sit up and pay attention. Or maybe that was because he was shirtless for most of the movie.
Conan’s story begins as a baby, who is “battle born” and whose first taste, a familiar narrator states, “is not his mother’s milk, but her blood.” He is better then many of his village’s best warrior candidates and joins in a test that ends up being a battle against savages. While the other candidates run back to camp; Conan stay and fights. Not only does he return to the camp having passed the test, but he carries three of the savage’s heads with him. His father (Ron Pearlman) decides it is time to forge a sword and begin to train, with the father imparting sage words like, “You cannot yield the sword until you understand it.”
Conan’s training is interrupted by the arrival of Khalar Zym (Stephen Lang), a ruthless warlord who brings death and destruction to Conan’s village. Zym’s on a a quest to to claim the final piece of a mask that will give him control of the magic of Asheron. Conan is left the sole survivor of his Cimmarian people, growing up to become a fierce warrior intent on avenging his father’s death. All the while, Zym and his daughter Marique continue on Zym’s quest to become a powerful god, in search of a “pureblood” – the one person whose blood will make the mask work. Inevitably, Zym and Conan’s paths cross again and swordfights ensue.
The best thing about this movie, for me, were the female leads. Rose McGowan as Marique and Rachel Nichols as Tamara (the pureblood) are both warriors. It was also excellent to have Conan acknowledge this in Tamara; even saying, “Cimmarian women are warriors, give her the leather and armor.” We would have never heard 1982’s Conan say anything like this.
Listening to people while leaving the movie I heard grumblings about how the Conan character never really had an origin story. This movie provides that, and because of this it also provides something that the original movies lacked: plot. Not that the plot is very rich, but again, nobody goes to a Conan movie for the story or the plot. Right?
The name either evokes pictures of half naked body builders, and topless wenches, or a very tall man with red, quaffed hair. Well, hopefully the former is what you are all thinking about, because that is what you are going to get. Nobody goes to a Conan movie for the tall, red haired guy. Right?
Jason Momoa, who is not awful to look at for a couple of hours, plays Conan. Physically, he is much truer to the character in the original source material, than the former governor of California. He also has this interesting gravity that makes you sit up and pay attention. Or maybe that was because he was shirtless for most of the movie.
Conan’s story begins as a baby, who is “battle born” and whose first taste, a familiar narrator states, “is not his mother’s milk, but her blood.” He is better then many of his village’s best warrior candidates and joins in a test that ends up being a battle against savages. While the other candidates run back to camp; Conan stay and fights. Not only does he return to the camp having passed the test, but he carries three of the savage’s heads with him. His father (Ron Pearlman) decides it is time to forge a sword and begin to train, with the father imparting sage words like, “You cannot yield the sword until you understand it.”
Conan’s training is interrupted by the arrival of Khalar Zym (Stephen Lang), a ruthless warlord who brings death and destruction to Conan’s village. Zym’s on a a quest to to claim the final piece of a mask that will give him control of the magic of Asheron. Conan is left the sole survivor of his Cimmarian people, growing up to become a fierce warrior intent on avenging his father’s death. All the while, Zym and his daughter Marique continue on Zym’s quest to become a powerful god, in search of a “pureblood” – the one person whose blood will make the mask work. Inevitably, Zym and Conan’s paths cross again and swordfights ensue.
The best thing about this movie, for me, were the female leads. Rose McGowan as Marique and Rachel Nichols as Tamara (the pureblood) are both warriors. It was also excellent to have Conan acknowledge this in Tamara; even saying, “Cimmarian women are warriors, give her the leather and armor.” We would have never heard 1982’s Conan say anything like this.
Listening to people while leaving the movie I heard grumblings about how the Conan character never really had an origin story. This movie provides that, and because of this it also provides something that the original movies lacked: plot. Not that the plot is very rich, but again, nobody goes to a Conan movie for the story or the plot. Right?
1st to Die (Women's Murder Club, #1)
7.9
Rate It
Book
James Patterson, bestselling author of the Alex Cross novels Along Came a Spider, Kiss the Girls,...
BookInspector (124 KP) rated The Craftsman (The Craftsman, #1) in Books
Sep 24, 2020
My Queen of crime and thrillers is back, with another marvelous story to tell. I read all her books, and every time she surprises me with something different and original.
The story is set in a small town with a hill, where witches were meeting since the 16th century. As you can see in the description above, this story is told in two different times – 1969 and 1999. In 1969 Florence was a WPC in the local police station, which she recently joined. Moreover, she was the first woman in that station, surrounded by men, who are not very friendly. She is assigned a disappearance of three teenagers, but what she discovers is way more complex and sinister than she could imagine.
Florence is the protagonist of this novel, and this story is told from her perspective. I love strong, smart and rebellious female leads in the books, and I absolutely loved Florence. Even though she is facing cruel workplace bullying and constant demeaning behavior, she is still fighting for what she believes to be right, and she wipes noses to those stuck up men. BRAVO! 😀 I really liked the wide variety of characters, which Bolton offered in this novel. All of them were very well rounded and unique personalities, who brought more richness to the book.
The narrative of this book was very well planned out and delivered. I was sucked in from the first pages of this book, I just wanted to find out what in a world was going on there! I really enjoyed all the twists, turns and diversions which Bolton creatively incorporated in this book. Sharon Bolton always follows an intriguing topic in her novels, and I am very glad that she was discussing workplace bullying and sexism, alongside witches and witchcraft. Even though I am not a believer in witchcraft, It was amusing to read about the people who believe in it and practice it.
Sharon Bolton is a very talented storyteller, she has a very absorbing and suspense building writing style, which I thoroughly enjoy every time. I loved the setting of this book, it compliments the atmosphere of this book with all those mills, hills, cemeteries and complex houses. The pages just fly while reading those short chapters. The climax was absolutely unexpected and left me very surprised. So, to conclude, for now, this book was the best read of 2018 for me. I enjoyed it from first to the last page, I think it has very intriguing and absorbing characters and very well crafted narrative, which is fast paced and very amusing. I do strongly recommend this book, I think you are in for a treat. Enjoy! 🙂
The story is set in a small town with a hill, where witches were meeting since the 16th century. As you can see in the description above, this story is told in two different times – 1969 and 1999. In 1969 Florence was a WPC in the local police station, which she recently joined. Moreover, she was the first woman in that station, surrounded by men, who are not very friendly. She is assigned a disappearance of three teenagers, but what she discovers is way more complex and sinister than she could imagine.
Florence is the protagonist of this novel, and this story is told from her perspective. I love strong, smart and rebellious female leads in the books, and I absolutely loved Florence. Even though she is facing cruel workplace bullying and constant demeaning behavior, she is still fighting for what she believes to be right, and she wipes noses to those stuck up men. BRAVO! 😀 I really liked the wide variety of characters, which Bolton offered in this novel. All of them were very well rounded and unique personalities, who brought more richness to the book.
The narrative of this book was very well planned out and delivered. I was sucked in from the first pages of this book, I just wanted to find out what in a world was going on there! I really enjoyed all the twists, turns and diversions which Bolton creatively incorporated in this book. Sharon Bolton always follows an intriguing topic in her novels, and I am very glad that she was discussing workplace bullying and sexism, alongside witches and witchcraft. Even though I am not a believer in witchcraft, It was amusing to read about the people who believe in it and practice it.
Sharon Bolton is a very talented storyteller, she has a very absorbing and suspense building writing style, which I thoroughly enjoy every time. I loved the setting of this book, it compliments the atmosphere of this book with all those mills, hills, cemeteries and complex houses. The pages just fly while reading those short chapters. The climax was absolutely unexpected and left me very surprised. So, to conclude, for now, this book was the best read of 2018 for me. I enjoyed it from first to the last page, I think it has very intriguing and absorbing characters and very well crafted narrative, which is fast paced and very amusing. I do strongly recommend this book, I think you are in for a treat. Enjoy! 🙂
Kara Skinner (332 KP) rated Mine Forever in Books
Sep 10, 2019
What do you do when the love of your life is almost kidnapped by druggies? You do everything you can to convince her to come home with you, of course. Which is exactly what Simon does with Kara. But even with Kara reluctantly living with Simon again, things aren’t perfect. Kara won’t accept anything less than a relationship and Simon is still trying to figure out how to be in one. Can Simon put his past behind him so he can finally have happiness with Kara?
Like Mine for Tonight and Mine for Now, Mine Forever is a fantastic erotic romance. I like it even better than the second one because aside from getting Kara to move in with Simon again,the under-developed druggie plot has all but disappeared. and Kara is showing that she’s not willing to take any crap from Simon, even refusing sex until he opened up to her about his past. Don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of hot sex scenes that can make you blush, but Kara still needs Simon to open up.
And Simon, despite being an alpha male, is still awkward and endearing. 15479193670_d73f1ff314_mIt’s really obvious that he has no idea what to do in a relationship, to the point of absurdity. I mean, you have to be living under a rock not to know that flowers and chocolates are basic gifts for Valentine’s Day. As much as I like an awkward love interest, I really didn’t like how Simon handled Valentine’s Day. Getting help from his female employees is good and so is being nervous and wanting to make things right with Kara, but buying an entire carload of Valentine’s Day merchandise? That was a little to ridiculous for me. First of all, it’s unrealistic. Nervous binge-shopping and being a billionaire don’t go hand in hand. Binge-shopping leads to a broke hoarder real quick, I don’t care how high your salary is. Second of all, does he even know Kara? She’s hardly a material girl. Why would a large quantity of material goods make her happy? But Simon does express his love with gifts, so I guess that does fit.
We finally learn how Simon got his scars in this book. The suspense had actually been killing me to find out and the reason did not disappoint. Honestly, I’d have relationship problems too if I went through the same thing. And now that he’s opened up to Kara he can finally begin healing for real.
This book is one of my favorites of the series, right up there with the first one. You can’t find it by itself anymore. You’ll have to buy the entire Billionaire’s Obsession series. But if you like contemporary romance that flirts with the erotica genre, then you’ll like this series.
Like Mine for Tonight and Mine for Now, Mine Forever is a fantastic erotic romance. I like it even better than the second one because aside from getting Kara to move in with Simon again,the under-developed druggie plot has all but disappeared. and Kara is showing that she’s not willing to take any crap from Simon, even refusing sex until he opened up to her about his past. Don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of hot sex scenes that can make you blush, but Kara still needs Simon to open up.
And Simon, despite being an alpha male, is still awkward and endearing. 15479193670_d73f1ff314_mIt’s really obvious that he has no idea what to do in a relationship, to the point of absurdity. I mean, you have to be living under a rock not to know that flowers and chocolates are basic gifts for Valentine’s Day. As much as I like an awkward love interest, I really didn’t like how Simon handled Valentine’s Day. Getting help from his female employees is good and so is being nervous and wanting to make things right with Kara, but buying an entire carload of Valentine’s Day merchandise? That was a little to ridiculous for me. First of all, it’s unrealistic. Nervous binge-shopping and being a billionaire don’t go hand in hand. Binge-shopping leads to a broke hoarder real quick, I don’t care how high your salary is. Second of all, does he even know Kara? She’s hardly a material girl. Why would a large quantity of material goods make her happy? But Simon does express his love with gifts, so I guess that does fit.
We finally learn how Simon got his scars in this book. The suspense had actually been killing me to find out and the reason did not disappoint. Honestly, I’d have relationship problems too if I went through the same thing. And now that he’s opened up to Kara he can finally begin healing for real.
This book is one of my favorites of the series, right up there with the first one. You can’t find it by itself anymore. You’ll have to buy the entire Billionaire’s Obsession series. But if you like contemporary romance that flirts with the erotica genre, then you’ll like this series.
Kristy H (1252 KP) rated The Flight Attendant in Books
Feb 26, 2018
Compulsively readable (1 more)
Fascinating, befuddling story
Unpredictable book that sucks you in from the start
Cassandra Bowen is a flight attendant with a history of bad decisions--most of them tied to her predilection to heavy drinking. Mostly her drinking leads to sexual encounters with dubious men, topless dancing, and a few bouts of blackouts. But when Cassie's work takes her to Dubai, she spends the night with a gentleman she met on the plane, drinking heavily with him all evening; in the morning she wakes up next to him in bed and finds him dead, covered in blood. Alone and female in Dubai, Cassie sneaks out of the hotel room and returns home on the plane with her fellow flight attendants, setting off a trail of lies that will haunt her. And in the back of her mind, she fears the worst: could she have killed Alex while drunk? And what will happen when the authorities discover her deception?
This novel starts off with a bang, with Cassie waking up next to a dead man. Once Cassie gets back to the States, I found myself fascinated what could possibly happen for the other 80% of the book. (My mistake, a lot can happen.) The entire novel kept me wondering what on earth would come next. This is a crazy, unpredictable book that sucks you in and never lets you go. I was constantly wondering who the various characters were--who really was Alex, for instance? Is there more to Cassie than we are being told? I was honestly confused for a good portion of the book, which doesn't happen often when I read.
It was really fun and befuddling to piece things together in this one. The book was rather stressful, trying to decipher all the various characters and to deal with Cassie's high-risk behavior. As the end nears, I was actually shocked by a couple of twists, which I really appreciated. It's rare that a thriller truly shocks me anymore. I was truly impressed with this one. The ending was a little odd, but as I pondered it more, I think I'm good with it.
As for Cassie, she was a hard character to like, and there's certainly been no shortage of unreliable drunken female narrators in contemporary fiction as of late. Still, you can't help but get caught up in her story. It's compulsively readable. There are also lots of good flight attendant stories; Chris Bohjalian always well researches his books.
Cassie's chapters also alternate with a woman named Elena, which is an effective storytelling device, and only ratchets up the suspense. Her tale is just as befuddling as Cassie's--perhaps even more so--and just added to my desire to turn the pages and find out what on earth was going on and how these people were all connected. Bohjalian really weaved a fascinating story here, and I love how all of his books are so different. Whereas some can be emotional, this one was truly a thriller, and focused so much on the story and mystery. It wasn't exactly what I was expecting, but it was great.
I also found some amusing little personal tidbits in the book: references to Charlottesville (the second in a row in the novels I read--it's my hometown) and Cassie's Kentucky references, including her attendance at the University of Kentucky. We are, in fact, a UK and UVA household--my five-year-old twins are very divided between the two. It's funny how little things stick with you when you read a novel.
Overall, this was a great read. Completely befuddling, but incredibly suspenseful and just sort of fun. Not at all what I expected from Bohjalian, but a fascinating, enjoyable thriller. I was completely lost in Cassie and Elena's bizarre world for a few days--the sign of a great book. 4 stars.
I received a copy of this novel from the publisher and Edelweiss and Netgalley in return for an unbiased review; more at http://justacatandabookatherside.blogspot.com/.
This novel starts off with a bang, with Cassie waking up next to a dead man. Once Cassie gets back to the States, I found myself fascinated what could possibly happen for the other 80% of the book. (My mistake, a lot can happen.) The entire novel kept me wondering what on earth would come next. This is a crazy, unpredictable book that sucks you in and never lets you go. I was constantly wondering who the various characters were--who really was Alex, for instance? Is there more to Cassie than we are being told? I was honestly confused for a good portion of the book, which doesn't happen often when I read.
It was really fun and befuddling to piece things together in this one. The book was rather stressful, trying to decipher all the various characters and to deal with Cassie's high-risk behavior. As the end nears, I was actually shocked by a couple of twists, which I really appreciated. It's rare that a thriller truly shocks me anymore. I was truly impressed with this one. The ending was a little odd, but as I pondered it more, I think I'm good with it.
As for Cassie, she was a hard character to like, and there's certainly been no shortage of unreliable drunken female narrators in contemporary fiction as of late. Still, you can't help but get caught up in her story. It's compulsively readable. There are also lots of good flight attendant stories; Chris Bohjalian always well researches his books.
Cassie's chapters also alternate with a woman named Elena, which is an effective storytelling device, and only ratchets up the suspense. Her tale is just as befuddling as Cassie's--perhaps even more so--and just added to my desire to turn the pages and find out what on earth was going on and how these people were all connected. Bohjalian really weaved a fascinating story here, and I love how all of his books are so different. Whereas some can be emotional, this one was truly a thriller, and focused so much on the story and mystery. It wasn't exactly what I was expecting, but it was great.
I also found some amusing little personal tidbits in the book: references to Charlottesville (the second in a row in the novels I read--it's my hometown) and Cassie's Kentucky references, including her attendance at the University of Kentucky. We are, in fact, a UK and UVA household--my five-year-old twins are very divided between the two. It's funny how little things stick with you when you read a novel.
Overall, this was a great read. Completely befuddling, but incredibly suspenseful and just sort of fun. Not at all what I expected from Bohjalian, but a fascinating, enjoyable thriller. I was completely lost in Cassie and Elena's bizarre world for a few days--the sign of a great book. 4 stars.
I received a copy of this novel from the publisher and Edelweiss and Netgalley in return for an unbiased review; more at http://justacatandabookatherside.blogspot.com/.
Interesting and engaging mystery
It's a bright May day when Cedar Valley Detective Gemma Monroe is called to Lost Lake. Sari Chesney, who was camping with her boyfriend, his brother, and her best friend, has gone missing. Sari hated the water, and the group is convinced she would never go missing on her own so near the lake. Sari was scheduled to work at a big gala at Cedar Valley's museum later that evening--a huge event she had been working on for months. Her friends insist she would never miss it. It's still chilly in Colorado in May, the lake still tinged in ice. Gemma begins the search for Sari, not realizing how quickly one woman's disappearance will lead to so much more.
"Later, much later, I would regret every decision I made that morning."
This is the third book in Emily Littlejohn's Gemma Monroe series, and I really enjoy both Gemma's character and the series. The books stand alone, but it's an enjoyable series, and I do recommend reading them from the beginning. At this point, Gemma has a six-month-old daughter, Grace, with her fiance, Brody, and one of my favorite things about the books is how realistically Littlejohn paints Gemma's struggles as a working mom. She loves her career and yet finds it difficult to leave Grace and juggle working and caring for her daughter.
Gemma is a great character overall, and I always enjoy reading a strong mystery that features a female detective. We find Gemma not only dealing with Sari's disappearance, but several more things that happen in the aftermath, which lead to her becoming quite busy, and allow us a solid set of cases to follow. This one kept me guessing the whole way, with a few good twists thrown in too. There's occasionally a bit of telling versus showing, but overall Littlejohn is a strong writer, and you can't help but root for Gemma.
In this one, I especially felt like Gemma was growing as a person, as we find her struggling in her partnership with Finn (her fellow detective) and second guessing some of the decisions she makes in Sari's case. It's nice to see a story where everything isn't easy, cut and dried, and our heroine seems so human and regular. One of the things I like so much about Gemma is that she seems like someone you could befriend (if maybe she let her walls down once in a while). It leads to an insightful and thoughtful book coupled with a good mystery (or two) as well.
Overall, I enjoyed this one. I feel like I can always count on Littlejohn for some excellent characterization with Gemma, and I found the plot to be interesting. It kept me engaged and guessing.
I received a copy of this novel from the publisher and Netgalley in return for an unbiased review (thank you!)
"Later, much later, I would regret every decision I made that morning."
This is the third book in Emily Littlejohn's Gemma Monroe series, and I really enjoy both Gemma's character and the series. The books stand alone, but it's an enjoyable series, and I do recommend reading them from the beginning. At this point, Gemma has a six-month-old daughter, Grace, with her fiance, Brody, and one of my favorite things about the books is how realistically Littlejohn paints Gemma's struggles as a working mom. She loves her career and yet finds it difficult to leave Grace and juggle working and caring for her daughter.
Gemma is a great character overall, and I always enjoy reading a strong mystery that features a female detective. We find Gemma not only dealing with Sari's disappearance, but several more things that happen in the aftermath, which lead to her becoming quite busy, and allow us a solid set of cases to follow. This one kept me guessing the whole way, with a few good twists thrown in too. There's occasionally a bit of telling versus showing, but overall Littlejohn is a strong writer, and you can't help but root for Gemma.
In this one, I especially felt like Gemma was growing as a person, as we find her struggling in her partnership with Finn (her fellow detective) and second guessing some of the decisions she makes in Sari's case. It's nice to see a story where everything isn't easy, cut and dried, and our heroine seems so human and regular. One of the things I like so much about Gemma is that she seems like someone you could befriend (if maybe she let her walls down once in a while). It leads to an insightful and thoughtful book coupled with a good mystery (or two) as well.
Overall, I enjoyed this one. I feel like I can always count on Littlejohn for some excellent characterization with Gemma, and I found the plot to be interesting. It kept me engaged and guessing.
I received a copy of this novel from the publisher and Netgalley in return for an unbiased review (thank you!)