Rugged Texas Cowboy: A Western Romance
10.0
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Two HOT cowboys. Two tough-as-spurs heroines. These two previously published, newly revised and...
romance
Japanese Mythology in Film: A Semiotic Approach to Reading Japanese Film and Anime
Book
A cyborg detective hunts for a malfunctioning sex doll that turns itself into a killing machine. A...
Jane Austen's England
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Jane Austen wrote about the English gentry class in the late Georgian and Regency periods...
Because of Sex
Book
The 1964 Civil Rights Act is best known as a monumental achievement of the civil rights movement,...
Merissa (12051 KP) created a post
Mar 24, 2021
Andy K (10821 KP) rated Captain Marvel (2019) in Movies
Jul 13, 2019
The origin story of Carol Danvers was unknown prior to seeing this film so I cannot comment on whether filmmakers got that correct or not (I would imagine they did).
The Stan Lee opening made my tear up.
I did think the movie dragged some in the middle after Carol gets thrown back to 1995 USA. The Blockbusters scene was classic and her introduction to Nick Fury and SHIELD was good. Things picked up a little for the car/subway chase, but then slowed down again as events unfolded and were explained.
I was happy there was not the humongous CGI supervillain at the end and that fight was very good.
You cannot ever complain about the look of a MCU as that is one thing they never disappoint on for sure. The humor I thought was a good balance: not too serious and not too wacky either.
The cat definitely stole every scene they were in for sure.
Overall, very entertaining film and a great start to other female Marvel heroines coming us us hopefully not too far away in the future!
Thank you Stan!
Leanne Crabtree (480 KP) rated Devil's Due in Books
Sep 6, 2019
So I finally finished it and it was a good conclusion to the duet.
I grew to like Lucia but I still feel we didn't learn as much about her as we did Jazz in the first book, she's still a bit of a mystery in regards to her previous work. She's done work for the government? Very vague, Lucia.
As for Ben, I really liked him too. He came across as being a really nice guy in the end, though some of his decisions seemed a little doubtful at times. And his feelings for Lucia were sweet.
It was great to see Jazz, Borden, Manny and Pansy in this one too; like seeing the Red Letter Days family back together again. There were a few other reappearances too and some new characters that we came to know and lost.
The storyline was a continuation of the first but at the same time there were different crimes to investigate and cases to work. Different ways for them to get shot and into trouble, and I think they found every single one lol.
Once again, I'll say this isn't the usual Rachel Caine book. It doesn't have a particularly paranormal feel. It's more P.I firm getting mixed up with some psychics about the fate of the world with some kick arse heroines as the P.I.'s.
I liked it anyway!
The Orchard Inn (Orchard Inn Romance #1)
10.0
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Sheโs hiding from her past. Heโs looking for his future. Will they take a chance on a love...
romance contemporary The Orchard Inn series A.M. Kusi fiction
The Ophelia Girls
9.0
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A mother's secret past collides with her daughter's present in this intoxicating novel from Jane...
Historical Fiction Literary Fiction
Kristy H (1252 KP) rated Plain Bad Heroines in Books
Dec 17, 2020
The story centers around two time periods. The first, 1902, at the Brookhants School for Girls, run by Libbie Brookhants. A book by a young writer, Mary MacLane has come out--one that's incredibly scandalous for the times. Two Brookhants girls, Flo and Clara, are obsessed with it and establish The Plain Bad Heroine Society. The two are in love, meeting in secret--until they are attacked by yellow jackets at their hiding spot, a copy of the book found with them. A few years later the school closes, but not until after more scandal and death. Now, our second period, over a hundred years later, where Merritt Emmons, a young writer, publishes a book about Flo and Clara's story. It inspires a horror film starring Harper Harper, a famous lesbian actress. Harper will be playing Flo and B-list actress Audrey Wells, Clara. Filming on-site at the abandoned Brookhants site, the three women converge. But soon, weird things start happening, and the curse of Brookhants seems back to haunt the set--and our three modern-day heroines.
This book is absolutely enthralling at times. I flew through these 619 pages, that's for sure. My notes state "very lesbian," which is, of course, a major plus for me. Believe me, we don't get a lot of books starring ourselves. And you know, where we are killed off by swarms of yellow jackets. I honestly found both storylines compelling. It's hard not to fall a bit in love with Harper Harper, the charismatic celebrity (out!) lesbian. And 1902 isn't just about Clara and Flo, but Libbie Brookhants and her life trying to run a cursed school in the early 1900s. Honestly, the pages really flew by most of the time. Though, there are certainly moments where I felt some of the story could have been cut.
And yes, the narrative style is different, though it really adds to the uniqueness of the book. It's basically told by an omnipresent narrator, talking directly to the reader. There are footnotes, often humorous ones, and the end result is something you don't often find. For the most part, I felt like Danforth pulled it off, too. I do think Libbie was a little more fully developed than Merritt, Harper, and Audrey, but that also may have been because that trio could come across as a bit spoiled at times.
Probably my two biggest issues with this book (regretfully): for a Gothic horror novel, it's not really that scary. There are a few creepy and eerie moments, especially in the beginning, but it never really builds up to that terrifying moment that you're expecting. And, somewhat related, the ending. We read and stick with our various tales for the entire time and then... poof! Everything just fizzles out. I was so bummed. The ending was such a disappointment after all I'd read and kept this from being a full-fledged 4 or 4.5-star read. I couldn't believe it after what we'd been through. It was like even the author was tired.
So, overall, this is an original and fascinating read. I'm certainly still advising you to read it (especially if you're queer or enjoy reading queer fiction). Just be prepared that the ending may not have that big scary moment you're expecting. 3.5 stars.