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The Last Rhino War
Book
This is a story of one man, Mike Delport, a professional hunter, and his journey as he is caught up...
Fiction Adventure with Romance Conservation Romance
Character development (2 more)
Background
Story and plot = top notch
Amazing and will leave you on the edge of your seat!
As many of you know, I've struggled at getting into audio books but I think I've finally started to come around to the idea of them. I was given two free months of Scribd to try out and this is the second audio book that I've listened too.
At first, I wasn't too big of a fan of the narrator. She just sounded like she didn't give any care in the world and to be honest, her voice was very high pitched and rather annoying. Well, once we got into a little bit deeper into the story, the narrator actually grew on me. Don't judge a book by it's cover, I know I know. I'm rather bad at that haha.
“You have to learn to look at the whole of something, not just the parts.”
One thing that I rather liked about Warcross was that it delved into depression and loss a tad bit. Authors that can work that angle along with including a mass amount of diversity into their stories really are amazing human beings.
I absolutely love reading YA that includes diversity such as different ethnicity and LGBTQ+. Warcross has it both, and even has the main character, Emika, as a POC. This really brought the novel together and created this colorful novel that left me on the edge of my seat.
“It is hard to describe loss to someone who has never experienced it, impossible to explain all the ways it changes you. But for those who have, not a single word is needed.”
Warcross begins by following Emika in her journey of catching someone who has been illegally gambling within the game Warcross. She works as a bounty hunter and is rather good at her job. But, the main problem that she has is there are so many bounty hunters out there, so jobs are not quite an easy thing to get. This doesn't help Emika's debt problem at all. She's on the verge of losing her apartment and being put on the side of the street.
Opening ceremony night comes for the Warcross championships and Emika accidentally hacks into it. The creator of Warcross, Hideo Tanaka, ends up contacting her and hiring Emika as a bounty hunter to catch Zero. But what Emika doesn't realize is that she will be joining the championship as well to act as a spy. She is thrown in and immediately picked as a wildcard. But the journey she's about to take isn't what it's all put out to be.
Danger lurks behind every corner and people are not who they truly say they are. For Emika's in a life and death battle that could drastically change the future.
“Everyone has a different way of escaping the dark stillness of their mind.”
Characters:
Emika Chen - bounty hunter, hacker, the main character who has rainbow dyed hair and is an absolute rockin' badass.
Hideo Tanaka - billionaire creator of Warcross and eventually a love interest to Emika
Sasuke Tanaka - brother to Hideo, he was kidnapped at a young age and nobody knows if he's even alive.
Zero - the antagonist, or so we thought. Emika is trying to catch him.
Hammie, Roshan, DJ Ren, & Asher - members of the Phoenix Riders
Reasons why I rated it 5 stars:
1. The plot was top notch, absolutely amazing, and one of the best I've seen in awhile!
2. I will be rereading this once I get my hands on a physical copy. I may even re-listen to the audio book. It was just that good!
3. There is so much character and story development within the story and Marie Lu is a breath of fresh air. Not only did she include development, but there was background and representation!
4. Grammar and spelling isn't being counted against because I have no idea. It sounded good, but the narrator could have fixed stuff. Like I literally have no idea what the writing is like since I listened to Warcross on audio book.
5. The overall story left me wanting more of Warcross, more of Emika, more of what's in store for Emika. I just NEED MORE!
"Everything's science fiction until someone makes it science fact.”
At first, I wasn't too big of a fan of the narrator. She just sounded like she didn't give any care in the world and to be honest, her voice was very high pitched and rather annoying. Well, once we got into a little bit deeper into the story, the narrator actually grew on me. Don't judge a book by it's cover, I know I know. I'm rather bad at that haha.
“You have to learn to look at the whole of something, not just the parts.”
One thing that I rather liked about Warcross was that it delved into depression and loss a tad bit. Authors that can work that angle along with including a mass amount of diversity into their stories really are amazing human beings.
I absolutely love reading YA that includes diversity such as different ethnicity and LGBTQ+. Warcross has it both, and even has the main character, Emika, as a POC. This really brought the novel together and created this colorful novel that left me on the edge of my seat.
“It is hard to describe loss to someone who has never experienced it, impossible to explain all the ways it changes you. But for those who have, not a single word is needed.”
Warcross begins by following Emika in her journey of catching someone who has been illegally gambling within the game Warcross. She works as a bounty hunter and is rather good at her job. But, the main problem that she has is there are so many bounty hunters out there, so jobs are not quite an easy thing to get. This doesn't help Emika's debt problem at all. She's on the verge of losing her apartment and being put on the side of the street.
Opening ceremony night comes for the Warcross championships and Emika accidentally hacks into it. The creator of Warcross, Hideo Tanaka, ends up contacting her and hiring Emika as a bounty hunter to catch Zero. But what Emika doesn't realize is that she will be joining the championship as well to act as a spy. She is thrown in and immediately picked as a wildcard. But the journey she's about to take isn't what it's all put out to be.
Danger lurks behind every corner and people are not who they truly say they are. For Emika's in a life and death battle that could drastically change the future.
“Everyone has a different way of escaping the dark stillness of their mind.”
Characters:
Emika Chen - bounty hunter, hacker, the main character who has rainbow dyed hair and is an absolute rockin' badass.
Hideo Tanaka - billionaire creator of Warcross and eventually a love interest to Emika
Sasuke Tanaka - brother to Hideo, he was kidnapped at a young age and nobody knows if he's even alive.
Zero - the antagonist, or so we thought. Emika is trying to catch him.
Hammie, Roshan, DJ Ren, & Asher - members of the Phoenix Riders
Reasons why I rated it 5 stars:
1. The plot was top notch, absolutely amazing, and one of the best I've seen in awhile!
2. I will be rereading this once I get my hands on a physical copy. I may even re-listen to the audio book. It was just that good!
3. There is so much character and story development within the story and Marie Lu is a breath of fresh air. Not only did she include development, but there was background and representation!
4. Grammar and spelling isn't being counted against because I have no idea. It sounded good, but the narrator could have fixed stuff. Like I literally have no idea what the writing is like since I listened to Warcross on audio book.
5. The overall story left me wanting more of Warcross, more of Emika, more of what's in store for Emika. I just NEED MORE!
"Everything's science fiction until someone makes it science fact.”
Alice (12 KP) rated The Dead Seekers (Dead Seekers, #1) in Books
Jul 3, 2018
<i>I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review </i>
Original review can be found on my blog Raptureinbooks <a href="http://wp.me/p5y0lX-1Jk">here</a href>
<i>The Dead Seekers</i> is the first in a new series from Barb & J.C. Hendee which follows in the same vein as their Noble Dead series with strong characters and a good storyline. The Dead Seekers follows Tris - or as he is known throughout the book The Dead’s Man – a ghost hunter with the ability to see, interact with and control the dead after he was stillborn; and Mari, a shape-changing gypsy/traveller (known as a <i>Mondyalitko</i>) whose parents were killed when Tris was a child outside of his ancestral home who is convinced that The Dead’s Man is responsible.
The story begins with the birth/death of Tris and subsequent miracle of his rebirth and with the slaughter of Mari’s family a few years later. It then follows Tris as he performs his job as a ghost hunter and banisher of nasty spirits; Mari manages to track him down after a prolonged period of hunting him herself and follows him to his next job which involves the banishing of a spirit who has been kept on this plane against her will by her mother.
Mari saves Tris’ life the first night they are together as no one else can kill her prey and then continues to save his life on many occasions throughout the remainder of the book which is at odds with her nature to kill him as she believes he is the one responsible for murdering her family when she was a child – in a way, he is which is explained really well later on in the book at the end when their investigations into the spirit of the town take them further afield to a city barracks where several people are dying in odd manners.
The depiction of the ghosts were in themselves quite good, particularly how they weren’t depicted as what I refer to as basic ghosts but instead each one had a description of how they actually died – for example head wounds or missing limbs etc. which I quite liked. I also liked the tension between Tris and Mari which was eventually eased towards the end of the book once Mari realised who and what Tris actually was. The description of Mari as her other side was also written exceedingly well with a more animal personality at the forefront rather than the human side of her as with most shape-changers.
In all, it was an interesting concept with a couple of nifty little bits here and there that I liked. I look forward to the next installment.
Original review can be found on my blog Raptureinbooks <a href="http://wp.me/p5y0lX-1Jk">here</a href>
<i>The Dead Seekers</i> is the first in a new series from Barb & J.C. Hendee which follows in the same vein as their Noble Dead series with strong characters and a good storyline. The Dead Seekers follows Tris - or as he is known throughout the book The Dead’s Man – a ghost hunter with the ability to see, interact with and control the dead after he was stillborn; and Mari, a shape-changing gypsy/traveller (known as a <i>Mondyalitko</i>) whose parents were killed when Tris was a child outside of his ancestral home who is convinced that The Dead’s Man is responsible.
The story begins with the birth/death of Tris and subsequent miracle of his rebirth and with the slaughter of Mari’s family a few years later. It then follows Tris as he performs his job as a ghost hunter and banisher of nasty spirits; Mari manages to track him down after a prolonged period of hunting him herself and follows him to his next job which involves the banishing of a spirit who has been kept on this plane against her will by her mother.
Mari saves Tris’ life the first night they are together as no one else can kill her prey and then continues to save his life on many occasions throughout the remainder of the book which is at odds with her nature to kill him as she believes he is the one responsible for murdering her family when she was a child – in a way, he is which is explained really well later on in the book at the end when their investigations into the spirit of the town take them further afield to a city barracks where several people are dying in odd manners.
The depiction of the ghosts were in themselves quite good, particularly how they weren’t depicted as what I refer to as basic ghosts but instead each one had a description of how they actually died – for example head wounds or missing limbs etc. which I quite liked. I also liked the tension between Tris and Mari which was eventually eased towards the end of the book once Mari realised who and what Tris actually was. The description of Mari as her other side was also written exceedingly well with a more animal personality at the forefront rather than the human side of her as with most shape-changers.
In all, it was an interesting concept with a couple of nifty little bits here and there that I liked. I look forward to the next installment.
Matthew Krueger (10051 KP) rated Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday (1993) in Movies
Dec 13, 2019
Sleepaway Hell Camp 1993
Since its Friday the 13th today, im going to review, the one that couldnt have the Friday the 13th title because new line couldnt have the title. The one that teased Freddy vs. Jason at the end of the movie, and then didnt happen for anethor 10 years. The one that was the ninth one. This one continued teenagers being teenagers. The one with Jason being blowed up in the beginning and transfering his soul from people to people, wait what??? Why???
The Plot: After being blown away by a team of FBI agents, Jason Voorhees (Kane Hodder) needs to find a way to overcome certain death. When his bloodied remains are sent to the morgue, his heart, still intact, is able to hypnotize a coroner and take over his body. After brutally dispatching a couple of FBI agents, he heads back to his favorite stomping grounds: Crystal Lake. Jason commences another teen massacre while a bounty hunter (Steven Williams) discovers the only way to kill him.
Tony Todd auditioned for the role of Creighton Duke, which went to Steven Williams. He should of been in it.
In November 2017, Adam Marcus revealed that an overlooked plot-point of the movie is that Jason Voorhees is actually connected to the Evil Dead franchise. The filmmaker stated, “Pamela Voorhees makes a deal with the devil by reading from the Necronomicon to bring back her son. It’s not like I could tell New Line my plan to include The Evil Dead, because they don’t own The Evil Dead. So it had to be an Easter egg, and I did focus on it…there’s a whole scene that includes the book, and I hoped people would get it and could figure out that’s what I’m up to. So yes, in my opinion, Jason Voorhees is a Deadite. He’s one of The Evil Dead.”
Marcus revealed Creighton Duke's intended backstory, "A teenage Creighton was out on Crystal Lake with his girlfriend. Jason capsized their small boat and pulled the girl down into the lake. Creighton tried to save her but could not. She was never seen again. Creighton vowed revenge and from that moment on he spent his life in the study and pursuit of Jason. He became a bounty hunter just to fund his work in taking down his nemesis.
Im not sure why this movie excist, but it does. A question is unanswered is how did Jason go from a kid at the end of part 8 to a full adlut in this one. Also how did Jason get back to Crystal Lake from Manhattan? Question that will not have a answer too.
Its still entertaining kind-of, its still a popcorn horror film kind-of. Its Jason Goes to Hell.
The Plot: After being blown away by a team of FBI agents, Jason Voorhees (Kane Hodder) needs to find a way to overcome certain death. When his bloodied remains are sent to the morgue, his heart, still intact, is able to hypnotize a coroner and take over his body. After brutally dispatching a couple of FBI agents, he heads back to his favorite stomping grounds: Crystal Lake. Jason commences another teen massacre while a bounty hunter (Steven Williams) discovers the only way to kill him.
Tony Todd auditioned for the role of Creighton Duke, which went to Steven Williams. He should of been in it.
In November 2017, Adam Marcus revealed that an overlooked plot-point of the movie is that Jason Voorhees is actually connected to the Evil Dead franchise. The filmmaker stated, “Pamela Voorhees makes a deal with the devil by reading from the Necronomicon to bring back her son. It’s not like I could tell New Line my plan to include The Evil Dead, because they don’t own The Evil Dead. So it had to be an Easter egg, and I did focus on it…there’s a whole scene that includes the book, and I hoped people would get it and could figure out that’s what I’m up to. So yes, in my opinion, Jason Voorhees is a Deadite. He’s one of The Evil Dead.”
Marcus revealed Creighton Duke's intended backstory, "A teenage Creighton was out on Crystal Lake with his girlfriend. Jason capsized their small boat and pulled the girl down into the lake. Creighton tried to save her but could not. She was never seen again. Creighton vowed revenge and from that moment on he spent his life in the study and pursuit of Jason. He became a bounty hunter just to fund his work in taking down his nemesis.
Im not sure why this movie excist, but it does. A question is unanswered is how did Jason go from a kid at the end of part 8 to a full adlut in this one. Also how did Jason get back to Crystal Lake from Manhattan? Question that will not have a answer too.
Its still entertaining kind-of, its still a popcorn horror film kind-of. Its Jason Goes to Hell.
Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated The Big Sick (2017) in Movies
Jul 11, 2019
Kumail (Kumail Nanjiani) is a young Pakistani American trying to make it as a stand-up comic. He spends his free time making extra money as an Uber driver and getting set up with Pakistani women by his family, in an attempt to arrange a marriage for him. Then his life changes one night when he meets an American girl named Emily (Zoe Kazan). After hooking up the night they meet they start a whirlwind relationship. But Kumail is hiding this relationship from his family, because they would disown him if they found out, and still meeting with the young women who he could potentially marry. When Emily finds this out she confronts Kumail and they break up. Kumail is depressed but felt he had to choose his family and tradition over his feelings for Emily. Then a while later he gets a frantic call in the middle of the night from one of Emily’s friends asking him to go to the Emergency Room and wait with her. When he arrives doctors are wanting to put Emily into an induced coma. With no one else around Kumail stays with Emily. Emily’s parents (played by Ray Romano and Holly Hunter) show up and know everything that happened between Kumail and Emily. It is uncomfortable but Kumail feel like he needs to stay. He is now struggling with is feelings for Emily and his culture.
The Big Sick is a film telling the real-life story of courtship of Kumail and his real life wife Emily V. Gordon, both of whom wrote screenplay. The Michael Showatler (Hello My Name is Doris) directed film is very funny and smartly paced. There is a good balance of comedy and the serious situations, including dealing with trauma and overcoming cultural differences. The cast is really good, from Hunter and Romano to comedians Aidy Bryant and Kurt Braunohler the supporting roles are really well cast and performed. Zoe Kazan was really good during her time on screen. There were times when I could tell that the dialogue was dubbed over and it was a little distracting, but only a handful of times. I also appreciated the side story of the life of a young comic. It was not a focal point of the movie but it definitely showed how Kumail struggled to become a comic and how life and his family culture sometimes got in the way of his ambition, in both good and bad ways.
Heartwarming and funny this film is original and fun to watch. It was definitely nice to be caught off guard by some really funny moments in the middle of serious situations. It has a run time of 2 hours and 4 minutes with is a little longer than average but really doesn’t feel that long.
The Big Sick is a film telling the real-life story of courtship of Kumail and his real life wife Emily V. Gordon, both of whom wrote screenplay. The Michael Showatler (Hello My Name is Doris) directed film is very funny and smartly paced. There is a good balance of comedy and the serious situations, including dealing with trauma and overcoming cultural differences. The cast is really good, from Hunter and Romano to comedians Aidy Bryant and Kurt Braunohler the supporting roles are really well cast and performed. Zoe Kazan was really good during her time on screen. There were times when I could tell that the dialogue was dubbed over and it was a little distracting, but only a handful of times. I also appreciated the side story of the life of a young comic. It was not a focal point of the movie but it definitely showed how Kumail struggled to become a comic and how life and his family culture sometimes got in the way of his ambition, in both good and bad ways.
Heartwarming and funny this film is original and fun to watch. It was definitely nice to be caught off guard by some really funny moments in the middle of serious situations. It has a run time of 2 hours and 4 minutes with is a little longer than average but really doesn’t feel that long.
Wx for iPad
Weather and Lifestyle
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The venerable U.S. weather app Wx, named a Mac Gem by Macworld magazine, is now available for iPad! ...
Emma @ The Movies (1786 KP) rated Zombie Tidal Wave (2019) in Movies
Jun 3, 2020
A zombie film made for the SyFy Channel starring Ian Ziering you say? Sign me up.
While out fishing a group of friends catch something sinister. They haul a putrid looking dead body out of the water and very quickly realise that it isn't quite as dead as they'd have hoped. That body is the first in an army of the undead that takes over the town as an unexpected tidal wave gives them a helping hand.
Is this film bad? Yes. Is it an entertaining watch? Also yes, but on that SyFy Original movie level of yes.
Bless Ian Ziering and his movie decision. In Zombie Tidal Wave (I really love saying the whole title) he plays Hunter, a fisherman who's about to leave town for a fresh start. Hunter is everything you hope he will be. I also noticed on IMDb that Ziering has a story credit... well colour me surprised... it's a super-duper amazing tale about zombies by the sea.
I'm not going to insult you by saying that this would win any awards, we all know it wouldn't even without watching it. It wouldn't even win a Razzie, that's how good it is! Everything about this is in fact distinctly average, apart from the following...
That story... it's got a great idea with twists and turns that "make sense". It could almost have been a serious zombie film if someone at some point hadn't gone "You know what? We need more." "More what?" "Everything."
Those special effects... are terrible. I have never seen such badly CGId water, and that's something you should take seriously coming from someone who has seen as many made for TV movies as I have.
The consistency... there are facts about locations and objects that the film just throws out the window, there are some continuity errors as well... but while that sounds like a bad thing it's really an essential part of the enjoyment/
This couldn't be a typical review so to complete it I just want to share with you some of my notes/interactions with the film, I'll include some cryptic highlights to look out for too.
- The zombie that must have unnaturally long legs or be standing on a zombie pyramid.
- Synchronised swimming zombies.
- I snort laughed so hard at a big reveal point that I nearly choked on my breakfast.
- A stunning Bond girl moment that might have been the best shot of the film.
- The different densities of glass.
- The Sharknado reference.
- ... and the result of that reference.
- Douchebag and his girlfriend.
- Family banter with a zombie.
- "Reinforcements".
- Zombie's styling flip flops.
Originally posted on: https://emmaatthemovies.blogspot.com/2020/06/zombie-tidal-wave-movie-review.html
While out fishing a group of friends catch something sinister. They haul a putrid looking dead body out of the water and very quickly realise that it isn't quite as dead as they'd have hoped. That body is the first in an army of the undead that takes over the town as an unexpected tidal wave gives them a helping hand.
Is this film bad? Yes. Is it an entertaining watch? Also yes, but on that SyFy Original movie level of yes.
Bless Ian Ziering and his movie decision. In Zombie Tidal Wave (I really love saying the whole title) he plays Hunter, a fisherman who's about to leave town for a fresh start. Hunter is everything you hope he will be. I also noticed on IMDb that Ziering has a story credit... well colour me surprised... it's a super-duper amazing tale about zombies by the sea.
I'm not going to insult you by saying that this would win any awards, we all know it wouldn't even without watching it. It wouldn't even win a Razzie, that's how good it is! Everything about this is in fact distinctly average, apart from the following...
That story... it's got a great idea with twists and turns that "make sense". It could almost have been a serious zombie film if someone at some point hadn't gone "You know what? We need more." "More what?" "Everything."
Those special effects... are terrible. I have never seen such badly CGId water, and that's something you should take seriously coming from someone who has seen as many made for TV movies as I have.
The consistency... there are facts about locations and objects that the film just throws out the window, there are some continuity errors as well... but while that sounds like a bad thing it's really an essential part of the enjoyment/
This couldn't be a typical review so to complete it I just want to share with you some of my notes/interactions with the film, I'll include some cryptic highlights to look out for too.
- The zombie that must have unnaturally long legs or be standing on a zombie pyramid.
- Synchronised swimming zombies.
- I snort laughed so hard at a big reveal point that I nearly choked on my breakfast.
- A stunning Bond girl moment that might have been the best shot of the film.
- The different densities of glass.
- The Sharknado reference.
- ... and the result of that reference.
- Douchebag and his girlfriend.
- Family banter with a zombie.
- "Reinforcements".
- Zombie's styling flip flops.
Originally posted on: https://emmaatthemovies.blogspot.com/2020/06/zombie-tidal-wave-movie-review.html
Pro Compass
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Pro Compass replicates the look and feel of classic pocket compass hardware in use since the 1800s,...
Adventure Basic Math by 22learn
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iPad Version of this title was Ranked number 7 in Canada, 11 in the United States, 13 in the United...
Whatchareadin (174 KP) rated NYPD Red 3 (NYPD Red, #3) in Books
May 10, 2018
NYPD Red is an elite squad of the New York City Police Department that deals with the wealthiest of the city. In this book, MacDonald and Jordan are investigating the murder of the chauffeur of one of the richest men in the city, Hunter Alden Jr. During the initial investigation, they also discover that Mr. Alden's son, Tripp is missing. The Alden's don't seem concerned and offer no assistance in finding their son or their driver's killer.
I have been reading James Patterson book for most of my life. Most of his books are a quick thrilling read and this was no exception. NYPD Red is a fairly new series for James Patterson, focusing on the Elite of New York City. With two detectives heading up this division, those needing the service are sure to get personal attention. Book three in this series focuses on the Alden family with the death of the family driver and the strange "disappearance" of their son. For detectives MacDonald and Jordan, this doesn't seem seem like a coincidence and in their investigation, they discover a lot of interesting facts and theories about this case. Determined to find the truth, they will stop at nothing until they do, even if that means upsetting the Elite Class they are assigned to protect. Another intriguing quick read from James Patterson.
I have been reading James Patterson book for most of my life. Most of his books are a quick thrilling read and this was no exception. NYPD Red is a fairly new series for James Patterson, focusing on the Elite of New York City. With two detectives heading up this division, those needing the service are sure to get personal attention. Book three in this series focuses on the Alden family with the death of the family driver and the strange "disappearance" of their son. For detectives MacDonald and Jordan, this doesn't seem seem like a coincidence and in their investigation, they discover a lot of interesting facts and theories about this case. Determined to find the truth, they will stop at nothing until they do, even if that means upsetting the Elite Class they are assigned to protect. Another intriguing quick read from James Patterson.