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Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2271 KP) rated Murder Flies the Coop in Books
Sep 26, 2018
Can Edwina and Beryl Catch a Flighty Killer?
Lifelong friends Beryl and Edwina are still trying to figure out how to earn more income when they hit on the idea of opening an enquiry agency. And their first case comes from the local vicar. It seems a member of the local pigeon racing club has vanished, along with club funds and several birds. Did the man take off with everything? If so, can Beryl and Edwina find him?
It was wonderful to be visiting this dynamic duo again in 1921 England. Beryl and Edwina are such opposites, but their differences really make them a great team, and the third person narration from their points of view show cases that perfectly. I'm loving watching Edwina come out of her shell. I don't feel we are getting quite as much character development for Beryl, or I'm just not seeing it, but that is a minor complaint. The mystery is strong and manages to bring in some issues from the time period in an organic way without lecturing us. There are some good twists and surprises to the story and a logical climax. The entire thing is wrapped in a sense of fun that comes from Beryl and Edwina themselves, who are enjoying their new vocation.
It was wonderful to be visiting this dynamic duo again in 1921 England. Beryl and Edwina are such opposites, but their differences really make them a great team, and the third person narration from their points of view show cases that perfectly. I'm loving watching Edwina come out of her shell. I don't feel we are getting quite as much character development for Beryl, or I'm just not seeing it, but that is a minor complaint. The mystery is strong and manages to bring in some issues from the time period in an organic way without lecturing us. There are some good twists and surprises to the story and a logical climax. The entire thing is wrapped in a sense of fun that comes from Beryl and Edwina themselves, who are enjoying their new vocation.
Samantha Reece (16 KP) rated Wordless (Age of Blood, #1) in Books
Nov 14, 2018
4.5 Stars!!
May Sage is such a fabulous author! She knows just how to pull the reader right into the story from the first sentence. Wordless is a start to a whole new series. It is about a world ran by vampires, and it is hot and everything a vampire novel should be!
Fay is the protagonist of the story. She is being used as a sex slave by the vampires, but this all changes when William shows up. She is a smart and kind woman who wants to break free of her chains and love her own life. William is a sexy vampire who is also kind and treats Fay like an actual person. There are quite a few side characters who are all equally lovable and have the potential for their own books!
Sage has really built up a wonderful new world. My only complaint would be the story felt just a tiny bit rushed, but maybe it is just because I wanted to read more!
All in all, I cannot wait to read the next book to the series, Worthless! May Sage is definitely going places with her work. :)
*I received a free copy from the amazing author for an honest review.*
May Sage is such a fabulous author! She knows just how to pull the reader right into the story from the first sentence. Wordless is a start to a whole new series. It is about a world ran by vampires, and it is hot and everything a vampire novel should be!
Fay is the protagonist of the story. She is being used as a sex slave by the vampires, but this all changes when William shows up. She is a smart and kind woman who wants to break free of her chains and love her own life. William is a sexy vampire who is also kind and treats Fay like an actual person. There are quite a few side characters who are all equally lovable and have the potential for their own books!
Sage has really built up a wonderful new world. My only complaint would be the story felt just a tiny bit rushed, but maybe it is just because I wanted to read more!
All in all, I cannot wait to read the next book to the series, Worthless! May Sage is definitely going places with her work. :)
*I received a free copy from the amazing author for an honest review.*
Kelly (279 KP) rated Surviving the Evacuation: London in Books
Jan 11, 2019
An interesting first person insight into the Zombie Apocalypse
Contains spoilers, click to show
I confess I only downloaded this book originally because it was free on kindle, however, that being said, I was surprised at how good it was.
The story is written in diary form by fictional character Bill Wright. Similar to Rock Grimes (Walking Dead), Bill missed the initial apocalypse due to injury. His government links tried to rescue him during the evacuation, however, at the last stage the chauffeur fails. The story primarily centres around Bills attempts to escape London on his own, with a leg in cast, without falling victim to the Zombie virus.
The use of a diary to move the story forward is a different approach to most Zombie books, and allows us to to have a greater insight into the thoughts and feelings of the main character in hindsight of the events.
If you are looking for an in-depth and complex book, this is not the book for you, however if you are looking for a quick easy read on the go, I highly recommend this. I have already downloaded the sequel to this story (not free) in order to find out what is next in store for Bill.
The story is written in diary form by fictional character Bill Wright. Similar to Rock Grimes (Walking Dead), Bill missed the initial apocalypse due to injury. His government links tried to rescue him during the evacuation, however, at the last stage the chauffeur fails. The story primarily centres around Bills attempts to escape London on his own, with a leg in cast, without falling victim to the Zombie virus.
The use of a diary to move the story forward is a different approach to most Zombie books, and allows us to to have a greater insight into the thoughts and feelings of the main character in hindsight of the events.
If you are looking for an in-depth and complex book, this is not the book for you, however if you are looking for a quick easy read on the go, I highly recommend this. I have already downloaded the sequel to this story (not free) in order to find out what is next in store for Bill.
David McK (3496 KP) rated The Hunger Games in Books
Jan 28, 2019 (Updated Jun 18, 2020)
This is one of those books/films that I've heard of, but never actually got round to reading before now (perhaps as a sub-conscious reaction to the perceived 'it's just for teenage girls' feeling)
I've previously heard it described as a bloodless <i>Battle Royale</i> for teenagers, but never having read that, I'm not really in a position to compare. What I did notice, though, were the more-than-a-few similarities to Stephen King/Richard Bachman novel <i>The Running Man</i> or even David Brin's <i>The Postman</i> in the dystopian setting (as the latter), and in the idea of a televised game show where people die (the former), and with a wide gap between the haves (i.e The Capitol) and the have-not's (anyone else)(again, from the former).
I'm happy to report, however, that's it's not *just* a for-teenage-girls-only novel: while there is the set-up for a 3-way love triangle to (presumably) later follow, that's actually not the main focus. It's also rather unusual in that it is told in both the present-tense and first person and, while I was never *really* hooked, it was also one of those novels that before I realized it I was more than half-way through!
I've previously heard it described as a bloodless <i>Battle Royale</i> for teenagers, but never having read that, I'm not really in a position to compare. What I did notice, though, were the more-than-a-few similarities to Stephen King/Richard Bachman novel <i>The Running Man</i> or even David Brin's <i>The Postman</i> in the dystopian setting (as the latter), and in the idea of a televised game show where people die (the former), and with a wide gap between the haves (i.e The Capitol) and the have-not's (anyone else)(again, from the former).
I'm happy to report, however, that's it's not *just* a for-teenage-girls-only novel: while there is the set-up for a 3-way love triangle to (presumably) later follow, that's actually not the main focus. It's also rather unusual in that it is told in both the present-tense and first person and, while I was never *really* hooked, it was also one of those novels that before I realized it I was more than half-way through!
Eilidh G Clark (177 KP) rated Chocky in Books
Jul 2, 2019
Weird and a bit dated
Contains spoilers, click to show
I picked this book up at work a few days ago and had never heard of it. Seeing as I was looking for filler fiction while I work on university assignments I am delighted I found it. It is well written from the first person perspective of Mathews father. Matthew is an eleven year old boy with an imaginary friend. When his adopted parent become concerned as to the irregularities of Mathews interests and in the way he talks they seek help. As it turns out Chocky is real. An intelligent life form sent to earth to explore the planet to see if it worthy of habitation. Okay, this might sound like a, been there, done that kind of novel but Chocky delves into parental worries about psychological issues. In addition, the character of Chocky looks at Earth from an outsiders point of view and what he/she finds is interesting and worth thinking about. It sheds a light on the way we consume power, on the way we pollute the environment and on greed and corruption. Very cleverly done and nicely concluded.
Sarah (7799 KP) rated Doom (2005) in Movies
Dec 19, 2019
Entertainingly bad
Doom is one of those films that perfectly fits the "so bad it's good" category. It might be pretty ridiculously, but it's entertainingly so.
I vaguely know the game, aka watched my brother play it when we were younger as I was too scared to play it myself, so I can't really compare this to the game. As plots go it isn't a bad one although it's let down by a rather poor script and some questionable special effects at times - which arent helped by the fact that this film is nearly 15 years old! Alhough the horror aspect is quite good and there's a decent amount of gore. It's strange seeing Dwayne Johnson and Karl Urban in this as they both look so young! And it's good to see Johnson's acting skills have improved since this too... the cast overall are very good and decent, and it's a shame they're a little let down by other things in this film.
By far my favourite bit of this film though is when they recreate the game with the first person shooter scene. It's an absolute riot, so much fun and I almost wanted to mark this a little higher just because of this scene.
I vaguely know the game, aka watched my brother play it when we were younger as I was too scared to play it myself, so I can't really compare this to the game. As plots go it isn't a bad one although it's let down by a rather poor script and some questionable special effects at times - which arent helped by the fact that this film is nearly 15 years old! Alhough the horror aspect is quite good and there's a decent amount of gore. It's strange seeing Dwayne Johnson and Karl Urban in this as they both look so young! And it's good to see Johnson's acting skills have improved since this too... the cast overall are very good and decent, and it's a shame they're a little let down by other things in this film.
By far my favourite bit of this film though is when they recreate the game with the first person shooter scene. It's an absolute riot, so much fun and I almost wanted to mark this a little higher just because of this scene.
Jewels (684 KP) rated Lady and the Tramp (2019) in Movies
Feb 6, 2020
Contains spoilers, click to show
I love the original, and I looked forward to seeing how they would take a much loved classic and make it live action. While it was cute, it was not good enough to stand anywhere near the original. There were several small changes that I could live with, but then there were a few others that should have never been changed.
First off, they took out the Siamese cats. Those cats are a big part of the scene, and they sing a jingle everyone remembers. Putting in a totally different pair of cats and changing the jingle was huge disappointment. Second, they totally took away the beaver. Was the beaver really that important to the plot line? No, not really, but it was a fun aspect that added some humour to the whole muzzle thing. The last thing that irritated me, being a dog person, when Trusty finally gets the scent of the dogcatcher, he didn't bay once. He should have been loud and proud when he picked up that scent.
All in all, worth seeing once just to say you've seen it, but in the long run, I'll stick with the original animated version.
First off, they took out the Siamese cats. Those cats are a big part of the scene, and they sing a jingle everyone remembers. Putting in a totally different pair of cats and changing the jingle was huge disappointment. Second, they totally took away the beaver. Was the beaver really that important to the plot line? No, not really, but it was a fun aspect that added some humour to the whole muzzle thing. The last thing that irritated me, being a dog person, when Trusty finally gets the scent of the dogcatcher, he didn't bay once. He should have been loud and proud when he picked up that scent.
All in all, worth seeing once just to say you've seen it, but in the long run, I'll stick with the original animated version.
Kelly Rettie (748 KP) rated Yesterday (2019) in Movies
Feb 16, 2020
Simple musical romance
So I was lucky enough to win this from Smashbomb to watch and review. First reading the description on the back is not something I would normally pick myself but stuck it on. The story being that a guy has a bike accident and when he comes round is the only person in the world to remember the Beatles. He uses this to his advantage and passes Beatles songs off as his own. The love story that goes along with this is pretty much the standard cliched romcom predictability which I was a bit bored with. All is going well until he meets a couple of folks who also remember the beatles but they are just happy to be hearing this music again. They then send him somewhere to speak to someone else that can help alleviate his guilt of ripping them off, this provided a surprise ending that even I was not expecting and would never have thought would happen....I wont spoilt it for anyone reading this. Ultimately, you dont need to be a beatles fan to enjoy this. The music is good, the story is simplistic and it's a good easy film to pass a couple of hours on a lazy sunday afternoon.
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