Stolen Crown (Book #6)
4.0
Rate It
Book
For more Than a hundred years, a bitter dispute over how the High King had been selected simmered in...
A Castle of Sand (A Shade of Vampire #3)
7.5
Rate It
Book
THE SERIES WITH OVER A MILLION BOOKS SOLD The highly anticipated third book of the A Shade of...
Hazel (2934 KP) rated The Weekend Escape in Books
Sep 20, 2021
Things start to go awry from the beginning and gradually get worse. The sense of claustrophobia and of being within touching distance of the mainland when you might as well be on the moon was excellently portrayed.
The characters were well developed - I don't think any of them are particularly likeable or memorable but it works for the story. The pacing is steady and the build up of tension palpable. The reveal was, for me, not much of a surprise as I had already guessed it but getting there was quite good fun.
Although not the most unique story, it was enjoyable nevertheless and my thanks must go to HarperCollinsUK / One More Chapter via NetGalley for my copy in return for an honest, unbiased and unedited review.
The Christie Caper
8.0
Rate It
Book
A group of Christie buffs. . .In honor of Agatha Christie's one hundredth birthday, mystery...
David McK (3600 KP) rated Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019) in Movies
Jun 16, 2019 (Updated Apr 24, 2023)
This has nothing to do with it, but is (rather) a continuation of 2014's Godzilla movie that 'kicked off' what I'm going to call the Monster-verse, which now consists of 3 movies: 2014s "Godzilla", 2017s actually-quite-enjoyable "Kong: Skull Island", and now this.
The connecting tissue? The organisation known as Monarch, which has secretly being studying the Titans (as they are called here) ever since the events of that movie (set during the Vietnam War, remember). Kong is mentioned a few times, and appears on a TV screen in the background, but is not a character in this film.
What anybody really wants out of a movie like this, of course, is to see the monsters fighting each other whole destroying all around, and - in that respect, at least, this movie does not disappoint. It's just a pity that the human element doesn't really connect, with some clumsy eco-message exposition, although it does have some nice-looking vignettes when viewed in isolation (King Ghidorah on top of a mountain, with a cross in the foreground, for example).
A System So Magnificent It Is Blinding
6.0
Rate It
Book
LONGLISTED FOR THE INTERNATIONAL BOOKER PRIZE Are we free to create our own destinies or are we...
Literary Fiction Mental Health
Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2398 KP) rated It Takes Two to Mango in Books
Feb 15, 2023 (Updated Feb 15, 2023)
When this book begins, Plum is extremely unlikable, so much so that I almost put the book down about 30 pages in. Even when she arrives on the island, she doesn’t give up her ego and entitled attitude. The other characters we meet started pulling me in, both the ones I liked and the ones I didn’t. When the murder kicks in, I really got into the story, which had some good twists. I loved the resort setting. The expected character growth was good as well. I’m actually surprised based on my initial reaction, but I am planning to continue the series. If the setting appeals to you, consider starting this series. Just be prepared for how obnoxious Plum is at the beginning.
LeftSideCut (3776 KP) rated The Day After Tomorrow (2004) in Movies
Feb 27, 2022
As per usual, it's hard to give two shits about any of the human characters in these things, but Jake Gyllenhaal at least provides a sniff of acting chops.
The Day After Tomorrow isn't perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but it's entertaining enough, and provides the weird catharsis that comes with watching Earth get destroyed to a satisfying degree.
The Figurine
8.0
Rate It
Book
When Helena inherits her grandparents' apartment in Athens, she is overwhelmed with memories of the...
Historical fiction Greece antiquities
ClareR (5950 KP) rated The Whistling in Books
Aug 3, 2023
Elspeth is going to nanny Mary, a child who is clearly suffering from trauma. Her twin, William, is dead and her former nanny has disappeared. Elspeth is told that if she can’t get Mary to talk, she will be institutionalised.
I loved this - it’s the right kind of spooky, and you can’t beat a haunted house: lullabies are sung by someone who isn’t there, poppets keep appearing in random rooms, and whistling can be heard at night. It all added up to a book that sent shivers down my spine!
The characters were sometimes likeable, menacing, disconcerting and some most definitely had something to hide!
I listened to this on Audible, and the narrator, Lois Chimimba, kept me glued to my headphones. Her different accents were all spot on, and helped me to tell the different characters apart. I was never confused as to ‘who’ was speaking.
The tension built and built to the climactic ending - a truly delicious ghost story!