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Reclaimed ( Releasing the Magic book 3)
Maya Riley | 2022
6
6.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
84 of 230
Kindle
Reclaimed ( Releasing the Magic book 3)
By Maya Riley
⭐️⭐️⭐️
🌶

What happens when your past catches up to you?

We found the Salvaged Lands and were welcomed into this secret sanctuary. Inside we find survivors, some comforts, and people who bring us more questions than answers.

With this new adventure, comes a new threat. We can no longer trust some of the new friends we've made.

The list of strange things going on is growing longer. My guys are developing more powers, and now I’m becoming afraid to touch them, in fear I may inadvertently turn them into rotters instead.

I don’t know the full potential of what I can do. I don’t know if I’m technically even human.

But what I do know, is:

1) There are more dangers in this world than I originally thought, and

2) If you don’t fight, you die.

I liked it but didn’t love it! The character building is really good. The story is developing well I’m enjoying this series and this one was slightly better than book 2. The powers and the small explanations we are getting is really well done. Besides all this I think it was lacking that spark. Mateo is starting to rile me a little but overall it’s a good book .
  
R(
Reclaimed ( Releasing the Magic book 3)
Maya Riley | 2022
6
6.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
84 of 230
Kindle
Reclaimed ( Releasing the Magic book 3)
By Maya Riley
⭐️⭐️⭐️
🌶

What happens when your past catches up to you?

We found the Salvaged Lands and were welcomed into this secret sanctuary. Inside we find survivors, some comforts, and people who bring us more questions than answers.

With this new adventure, comes a new threat. We can no longer trust some of the new friends we've made.

The list of strange things going on is growing longer. My guys are developing more powers, and now I’m becoming afraid to touch them, in fear I may inadvertently turn them into rotters instead.

I don’t know the full potential of what I can do. I don’t know if I’m technically even human.

But what I do know, is:

1) There are more dangers in this world than I originally thought, and

2) If you don’t fight, you die.

I liked it but didn’t love it! The character building is really good. The story is developing well I’m enjoying this series and this one was slightly better than book 2. The powers and the small explanations we are getting is really well done. Besides all this I think it was lacking that spark. Mateo is starting to rile me a little but overall it’s a good book .
  
40x40

Lou Grande (148 KP) created a post in LGBTQ+ Media

Jul 5, 2018  
So, Scarlett Johansson has been cast as a trans man in an upcoming film, and some people are a little outraged at both her casting and the way she handled the backlash (which was to say "Tell them that they can be directed to Jeffrey Tambor, Jared Leto, and Felicity Huffman's reps for comment").

I'm a trans guy, and I get it. The goal of any movie is to make money, and Johansson is bankable. I think the way she handled it lacks a bit of class, but again, she's sort of right--no one got in a snit when these other cis actors were cast as trans people. However, I also understand the frustration from the other side. Johansson already, arguably, whitewashed the role of Motoko Kusanagi in Ghost in the Shell, which totally flopped. She's working with the same director for this film. My fear is that trans guys get so little representation in the media, and this casting decision is going to negatively impact the movie. When I was growing up, the first time I learned that women could transition was watching Boys Don't Cry. And as you recall, that movie does not end well for anyone! So of course I was scared. I stayed in the closet for a long, long time. I'm really just torn about the whole thing.

What do you all think?
  
40x40

Abi (5 KP) Jul 15, 2018

Thankfully she’s officially stepped down from the role now.

40x40

Lou Grande (148 KP) Jul 17, 2018

Yeah, and now all the "anti-SJW" groups have their panties in a twist about it. I would have been fine if she had handled herself with more aplomb, even though she was going to be hilariously miscast.

129 of 220
Book
House of Sky and Breath ( Crescent City 2)
By Sarah J Maas
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️

Bryce Quinlan and Hunt Athalar are trying to get back to normal-they may have saved Crescent City, but with so much upheaval in their lives lately, they mostly want a chance to relax. Slow down. Figure out what the future holds.

The Asteri have kept their word so far, leaving Bryce and Hunt alone. But with the rebels chipping away at the Asteri's power, the threat the rulers pose is growing. As Bryce, Hunt, and their friends get pulled into the rebels' plans, the choice becomes clear: stay silent while others are oppressed, or fight for what's right. And they've never been very good at staying silent.

I honestly don’t know why I’m surprised at how much I loved this book but I am I was hovering between 4 & 4.5 stars until those last chapters. Especially with the surprise guest at the end!!!! Word of advice do not read the 3rd crescent city book until you’ve finished ACOTAR I wasn’t expecting the character that showed up. This author really is something special. My favourite part of this book was Bryce giving her dad the big two fingers, I can’t reveal much as this whole book is one big spoiler and hard to review.
  
Something Cryptid This Way Comes (Love in Maplewood #9)
Something Cryptid This Way Comes (Love in Maplewood #9)
Susan Scott Shelley | 2025 | Contemporary, LGBTQ+, Romance
6
6.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
SOMETHING CRYPTID THIS WAY COMES is the ninth book in the Love in Maplewood series and can be read as a standalone.

Bram and Trevor were best friends growing up, until Bram left Maplewood. They have remained long-distance friends and go on holiday together once a year. The only trouble is Trevor thinks a whole lot more of Bram than just Best Friends. And Bram is afraid to rock the boat and lose the friendship. Along comes some Maplewood Matchmakers!

This is a nice story with good pacing and low angst. Trevor and Bram don't wait for the closing act to get their thoughts in gear, giving some nice scenes where they realise who they are to each other. Most of the intimate scenes between them are, well, not fade-to-black exactly, more like fade-to-grey. And when trouble does occur, it is easily sorted with little drama.

And that, I'm afraid, is why I'm giving it 3 stars. It was nice. It didn't thrill me, it didn't sweep me away, and I didn't feel that connected with the main characters. It was just... nice.

** Same worded review will appear elsewhere. **

* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book; the comments here are my honest opinion. *

Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Jul 11, 2025
  
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Unravelling Oliver
Unravelling Oliver
Liz Nugent | 2015 | Thriller
9
8.0 (4 Ratings)
Book Rating
Dark plot and interesting characters. Brilliant pace and easy readability Leaves you wanting more at every chapter end. (0 more)
It's as if Richard Hillman came back from the dead, you will not put it down.
I picked this little gem up on a supermarket fundraising bookshelf.
I was abit a dubious to begin with as it was quite short for a standard crime novel that I am normally used too at just 230 pages. I did worry it would be a rushed cliche but boy, was I wrong.
I have grown up on Midsummer Murders and Agatha Christie and it felt like a fresh voice on a classic crime thriller rather than the standard norm from Liz Nugent.
To everyone they seemed a happy and successful couple until one night Oliver beats his loving wife into a coma.
We are then thrown into a sad and neglected past, tragic events and secrets that have now suddenly caught up with Oliver.
The pace of the book is exquisite. Right from the first page you are thrown in to quite a dark act being commited leaving you with only one question.
Why did he do it?
The story is told from numerous character voices and POV each sharing their experiences and opinions of Oliver including Oliver himself each recounting past events right up until after the attack on Alice.
Each account over laps and we are taken back to summer in the 1970s on a French vineyard, growing up during that time in Ireland and the views of the time.
I enjoyed the that the themes of having a baby out of wedlock, grief, race, mental health, expectations, promiscuity and homosexuality were all present which really added to you imagining what the views were at the varying time periods covered throughout the book.
Hauntingly, the only person we do not hear from is Alice which adds to the tension as the outcome of the attack isn't mentioned until quite a way through the book.
Aside from the fact that you are introduced to Oliver committing a heinous act and brutally admitting that he expected more of a reaction for the first time he beat his wife he is not a likable character. You are waiting for it all to come crashing down around him and his 'privileged life' even after you find out about his past and as the it is unravelled, so is he. Think Richard Hillman from Coronation Street villain, someone you cannot help but resent.
Clever, dark and unexpected I couldn't put this down and consumed the lot in a day or so. The pace and easy readability of the book left me wanting to keep reading to a point of keeping the kids busy with a snack and Netflix while I could consume multiple chapters in the corner of the room!
It's just want I want in a crime novel; a good villain, a clever plot and a few twists along the way and an even more surprising ending which leaves you thinking perhaps there was a little bit of good in there after all?!