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Hazel (2934 KP) rated Just Another Liar [Audiobook] in Books
Jan 30, 2022
![Just Another Liar [Audiobook]](/uploads/profile_image/89f/7973ada8-8c82-45a8-a625-75c11ae0e89f.jpg?m=1643549499)
I really quite enjoyed listening to this audiobook and although there were points when the story ebbed a little, it kept my interest.
Three women from very different backgrounds join a dating website and all think they have met the man of their dreams - Dr David Kingfisher. They are all convinced he is 'the one' despite never having met him in person. None of the three know of the others existence until a Facebook post by one of them asking for help to find him after he disappears. Cue an investigation by the three but in their attempts to find him, they put one of their lives in danger.
The main characters are well developed with Denise being my favourite but Petra and Anna, not so much. The other characters weren't particularly likeable at all but they all had a part to play in the overall story. The pace is mixed - it ebbs and flows with a lot of the 'action' taking place in the last third of the book. The plot is relevant and topical and the vastly different lives of the three main characters is interesting.
The narrator is good and whilst there were some distinctions between the voices of the characters, I think it would have worked better if different narrators were used for the three main characters. That being said, Melissa did a good job particularly with the voice of some of the male characters where she captured their 'smarminess' perfectly.
Overall, a good book that works well in audio format.
Many thanks to HarperCollins UK Audio and NetGalley for my copy in return for an honest, unbiased and unedited review.
Three women from very different backgrounds join a dating website and all think they have met the man of their dreams - Dr David Kingfisher. They are all convinced he is 'the one' despite never having met him in person. None of the three know of the others existence until a Facebook post by one of them asking for help to find him after he disappears. Cue an investigation by the three but in their attempts to find him, they put one of their lives in danger.
The main characters are well developed with Denise being my favourite but Petra and Anna, not so much. The other characters weren't particularly likeable at all but they all had a part to play in the overall story. The pace is mixed - it ebbs and flows with a lot of the 'action' taking place in the last third of the book. The plot is relevant and topical and the vastly different lives of the three main characters is interesting.
The narrator is good and whilst there were some distinctions between the voices of the characters, I think it would have worked better if different narrators were used for the three main characters. That being said, Melissa did a good job particularly with the voice of some of the male characters where she captured their 'smarminess' perfectly.
Overall, a good book that works well in audio format.
Many thanks to HarperCollins UK Audio and NetGalley for my copy in return for an honest, unbiased and unedited review.
Merissa (12740 KP) rated Bewitched (Breakers Hockey #5) in Books
Sep 6, 2022
Everyone has a mask. Some are just more difficult to see.
BEWITCHED is the fifth book in the Breakers Hockey series and we reunited with Raph and Beth. He is still backing away from relationships and Beth is busy being surrogate for Pru and Marcel. How will these two ever get together?
By Beth feeling the effects of being pregnant, and with twins too! Raph is an alpha male who does run roughshod over Beth at times. She needs someone to stand up to her and show her that he cares, but I did find it slightly annoying in places. Another thing that grated was Beth's constant musings about castles, dungeons, and demons. I got it. I didn't need bashing over the head with it repeatedly.
If you ignore those two things, then I thoroughly enjoyed the book. Raph and Beth have rocky ground to cover but they manage it. They have help from their friends, which also allows you to play catch up with the other couples too.
Elise Faber isn't afraid of delving deep into hurtful and abusive backgrounds and always does it with respect and tact.
It is Cas' story next and, yet again, the taster at the end has left me wanting it immediately. Still no idea if Brandon gets a story, but I'm nothing if not hopeful!
A great addition to the series and definitely recommended by me.
** 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, and the comments here are my honest opinion. *
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
By Beth feeling the effects of being pregnant, and with twins too! Raph is an alpha male who does run roughshod over Beth at times. She needs someone to stand up to her and show her that he cares, but I did find it slightly annoying in places. Another thing that grated was Beth's constant musings about castles, dungeons, and demons. I got it. I didn't need bashing over the head with it repeatedly.
If you ignore those two things, then I thoroughly enjoyed the book. Raph and Beth have rocky ground to cover but they manage it. They have help from their friends, which also allows you to play catch up with the other couples too.
Elise Faber isn't afraid of delving deep into hurtful and abusive backgrounds and always does it with respect and tact.
It is Cas' story next and, yet again, the taster at the end has left me wanting it immediately. Still no idea if Brandon gets a story, but I'm nothing if not hopeful!
A great addition to the series and definitely recommended by me.
** 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, and the comments here are my honest opinion. *
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Taming the Fox
8.0
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Centuries of interbreeding with humans has weakened shifter magic. These days, they can barely...
Omegaverse MM Romance
Merissa (12740 KP) rated Pyromancist (7 Forbidden Arts #1) in Books
May 20, 2023
This story starts with Clelia waking up in the woods. She is safe, as she has her wolf dogs protecting her, but she is worried that she may be the cause behind the multitude of fires that have started recently. There is a strong bond between her and Erwan, her grandfather. The story takes a twist when it is Erwan who is suspected of causing the fires. More than just the police are interested, and Erwan makes the decision that both he and Clelia are going to disappear. Clelia doesn't get very far before Josselin meets up with her, although she had already seen him, but he doesn't remember it.
This is a fast-paced action/adventure with a splash of paranormal. There is plenty of Alpha Male growling going on whenever anyone else looks at Clelia, but Josselin isn't prepared to admit his own feelings. The scenes between Clelia and Josselin are very intense, and steamy in places. The difference between Clelia and Josselin is very obvious - in the fact that Clelia has a quiet strength that grows throughout the book, but is very submissive towards Josselin himself. As for him, I personally found his possessiveness/jealousy a bit much, but Clelia seemed happy with it, so that's all good đ
A steamy adventure with parts of paranormal, I would definitely recommend it to anyone who wants a different take on action/pnr.
* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and the comments here are my honest opinion. *
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Jan 23, 2016
This is a fast-paced action/adventure with a splash of paranormal. There is plenty of Alpha Male growling going on whenever anyone else looks at Clelia, but Josselin isn't prepared to admit his own feelings. The scenes between Clelia and Josselin are very intense, and steamy in places. The difference between Clelia and Josselin is very obvious - in the fact that Clelia has a quiet strength that grows throughout the book, but is very submissive towards Josselin himself. As for him, I personally found his possessiveness/jealousy a bit much, but Clelia seemed happy with it, so that's all good đ
A steamy adventure with parts of paranormal, I would definitely recommend it to anyone who wants a different take on action/pnr.
* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and the comments here are my honest opinion. *
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Jan 23, 2016
ClareR (5864 KP) rated Creation Lake in Books
Jan 20, 2025
Creation Lake was shortlisted for the Booker Prize, and I can see why. I really enjoyed this story of a spy called Sadie, who infiltrates an eco-terrorist cult in France. They are led from afar by a man called Bruno, who lives in a cave, and believes that the only way to save humanity is to give up technology and return to out non-mechanised, non- fossil-fuelled past. They are extremists, but even the eco-cult reach a point where they can see that Brunoâs vision goes a bit too far.
I really enjoyed reading Brunoâs emails with Sadie (she has hacked into the email account of the eco-terrorists), got really involved with his theories, googled some and discovered that what he was saying may not have been 100% true or sane.
Sadie is an observer. Sheâs not your typical all action spy, but she certainly drinks quite a lot of alcohol and has to fend off a lot of unwanted male advances. But she does also use her sexuality to get what she wants.
There are some observations on the state of modern life: greedy landowners who will do anything to make money, the effects of modern life on the young (thereâs a young boys story that I found particularly disturbing, and the fact that I wasnât surprised by it, made it all the more disturbing!).
There were several laugh out loud moments in this too, and the laughs tended to come most needed.
I liked this thought-provoking, tongue-in-cheek novel, and I thought that the way that Brunoâs emails were dotted throughout the novel really worked well alongside Sadieâs investigations.
I really enjoyed reading Brunoâs emails with Sadie (she has hacked into the email account of the eco-terrorists), got really involved with his theories, googled some and discovered that what he was saying may not have been 100% true or sane.
Sadie is an observer. Sheâs not your typical all action spy, but she certainly drinks quite a lot of alcohol and has to fend off a lot of unwanted male advances. But she does also use her sexuality to get what she wants.
There are some observations on the state of modern life: greedy landowners who will do anything to make money, the effects of modern life on the young (thereâs a young boys story that I found particularly disturbing, and the fact that I wasnât surprised by it, made it all the more disturbing!).
There were several laugh out loud moments in this too, and the laughs tended to come most needed.
I liked this thought-provoking, tongue-in-cheek novel, and I thought that the way that Brunoâs emails were dotted throughout the novel really worked well alongside Sadieâs investigations.
ClareR (5864 KP) rated The Safekeep in Books
Jan 26, 2025
The house in The Safekeep is at the centre of this story. Isabel lives alone in the large family home in the countryside, whilst her brothers, Louis and Hendrik, live in the city. Isabel and Hendrik are invited to meet yet another of Louisâ girlfriends, and they donât seem to take either one of them seriously. Shortly afterwards, Louis has to leave for France on business, and his girlfriend doesnât want to stay in their city flat alone. So she asks to stay with Isabel.
Isabel lives a very rigid life. Not religious as such, but close to the Calvinist religion that their mother brought them up in. Sheâs paranoid about things going missing from inside the house, she constantly counts everything and tries to keep the house as her mother would have done. It becomes clear towards the end why she does this.
Isabel clearly doesnât want Eva to stay. She wants to be alone in the house. Isabel also doesnât want the attention of a rather over-enthusiastic male âfriendâ. She goes on dates with him, barely tolerating his company.
As Isabel and Evaâs relationship develops, we see another side of Isabel, and in the latter half of the book there are diary entries that explain a lot about her (I love a book with diary entries). This is a love story, but also a story about what happened to the property of returning Jews after WW2. Itâs a psychological novel with a lot of secrets at its heart. It must have been a tough call for this book NOT to win the Booker in 2024.
Isabel lives a very rigid life. Not religious as such, but close to the Calvinist religion that their mother brought them up in. Sheâs paranoid about things going missing from inside the house, she constantly counts everything and tries to keep the house as her mother would have done. It becomes clear towards the end why she does this.
Isabel clearly doesnât want Eva to stay. She wants to be alone in the house. Isabel also doesnât want the attention of a rather over-enthusiastic male âfriendâ. She goes on dates with him, barely tolerating his company.
As Isabel and Evaâs relationship develops, we see another side of Isabel, and in the latter half of the book there are diary entries that explain a lot about her (I love a book with diary entries). This is a love story, but also a story about what happened to the property of returning Jews after WW2. Itâs a psychological novel with a lot of secrets at its heart. It must have been a tough call for this book NOT to win the Booker in 2024.
Lustful Nights (Peaches #1)
10.0
Rate It
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Lennox A string of bad boyfriends has me questioning my taste in men. Theyâre either jealous of...
Contemporary MM Romance
Mekkin B. (122 KP) rated The Dark Tower (2017) in Movies
Oct 9, 2017
Boring male power fantasy with little to no character development
It's hard to tell who is meant to be the protagonist of this film, the young boy, Jake, or the Gunslinger. Sure, we're introduced to Jake first, and only really meet the Gunslinger towards the end of Act 1, which should signal that it's Jake.
But Jake is boring. SO BORING. He doesn't really have any character flaws. Oh sure, he has problems, expositionally convenient plot device "visions", but no real, tangible character elements. He reacts violently towards another kid at school, but this isn't treated as a flaw and this isn't a movie where Jake is going to learn that there's a better solution than violence. At best he's going to learn that it's bad to use your fists to solve problems - guns are much more efficient.
The Gunslinger is presented with all the hallmarks of a protagonist. He's got a defined past and a defined character flaw. He's consumed with thoughts of revenge and will let the world burn around him to get it. The problem is, the story never gives him a point where he actually has to make a choice between revenge and something better.
The villain, while fun, seems to have no internal motivation whatsoever. Why does he want to destroy the universe? Because that's what semi-omnipotent bad guys want to do, I guess.
And I get it, he's called the Gunslinger, he shoots guns. It's all very straightforward. But that doesn't mean it's not still kind of boring to watch EVERY problem they encounter get solved by just shooting at it enough while every single woman in the movie exists to be murdered, assaulted, and grossly sexualized by the villain.
It used every trope in the book, it used them badly, and the script was just...not good.
But Jake is boring. SO BORING. He doesn't really have any character flaws. Oh sure, he has problems, expositionally convenient plot device "visions", but no real, tangible character elements. He reacts violently towards another kid at school, but this isn't treated as a flaw and this isn't a movie where Jake is going to learn that there's a better solution than violence. At best he's going to learn that it's bad to use your fists to solve problems - guns are much more efficient.
The Gunslinger is presented with all the hallmarks of a protagonist. He's got a defined past and a defined character flaw. He's consumed with thoughts of revenge and will let the world burn around him to get it. The problem is, the story never gives him a point where he actually has to make a choice between revenge and something better.
The villain, while fun, seems to have no internal motivation whatsoever. Why does he want to destroy the universe? Because that's what semi-omnipotent bad guys want to do, I guess.
And I get it, he's called the Gunslinger, he shoots guns. It's all very straightforward. But that doesn't mean it's not still kind of boring to watch EVERY problem they encounter get solved by just shooting at it enough while every single woman in the movie exists to be murdered, assaulted, and grossly sexualized by the villain.
It used every trope in the book, it used them badly, and the script was just...not good.
Sexist, self-absorbed codswallop
This is probably one of the worst books I've read this year unfortunately. It's full of contradictions, too many to go through each and every one. But here are a few.
For one, it claims to be an anti-self-help book but in fact it is, not only that it repeats phrases that other books use often but it reiterates it in a much more uglier fashion by replacing every other word with "f**k".
Secondly, the author is actually incredibly sexist throughout the whole book - revealing that this book is for a privileged white, male audience. He flashes his wealth throughout the book by even saying "I come from a wealthy family" and 'this doesn't apply to an Indian family who need an extra $10'. And then talks about his sexual exploits with women, saying that one of his former goals was to "be with more women" - like women are collective objects. He's boastful about sleeping around throughout, referring to women in a derogatory way.
The chapter on false memories and child sexual abuse is shocking, absolutely no disclaimers, just a rookie spouting off information that he clearly had no idea about. He discounts thousands of horrific accounts as if they're something imagined up and to be gotten over with. An extremely precarious viewpoint.
The irony is that the author describes himself perfectly here: "People declare themselves experts, entrepreneurs, inventors, innovators, mavericks, and coaches without any real-life experience. And they do this not because they actually think they are greater than everybody else; they do it because they feel that they need to be great to be accepted in a world that broadcasts only the extraordinary." And this pretty much sums up the book.
For one, it claims to be an anti-self-help book but in fact it is, not only that it repeats phrases that other books use often but it reiterates it in a much more uglier fashion by replacing every other word with "f**k".
Secondly, the author is actually incredibly sexist throughout the whole book - revealing that this book is for a privileged white, male audience. He flashes his wealth throughout the book by even saying "I come from a wealthy family" and 'this doesn't apply to an Indian family who need an extra $10'. And then talks about his sexual exploits with women, saying that one of his former goals was to "be with more women" - like women are collective objects. He's boastful about sleeping around throughout, referring to women in a derogatory way.
The chapter on false memories and child sexual abuse is shocking, absolutely no disclaimers, just a rookie spouting off information that he clearly had no idea about. He discounts thousands of horrific accounts as if they're something imagined up and to be gotten over with. An extremely precarious viewpoint.
The irony is that the author describes himself perfectly here: "People declare themselves experts, entrepreneurs, inventors, innovators, mavericks, and coaches without any real-life experience. And they do this not because they actually think they are greater than everybody else; they do it because they feel that they need to be great to be accepted in a world that broadcasts only the extraordinary." And this pretty much sums up the book.
Connor Sheffield (293 KP) rated Evil Never Dies by Lesbian Bed Death in Music
Jul 24, 2017
New vocals are powerful (2 more)
Awesome Rock
More classic horror references\songs
New Vocals, same great Rock!
Sienna Venom is absolutely awesome as the new vocals for Lesbian Bed Death. I was introduced to this band at the time of Kittie Racchea being the vocalist and was saddened to hear she was departing from the band, but also couldn't wait to hear someone new take over and bring us the new era of LBD music. Myself, like many fans were not disappointed.
Sienna Venom is strong and sexy and that comes across in her vocals. Songs like Book of the Dead, Drag Me To Hell and Son of a Thousand Maniacs show her strong dominating attitude whilst songs like Evil Never Dies, and Make Your Wish, bring out the sexiness that comes with having a female as the lead vocalist. That's not to say that Male vocalist's can't sound sexy to certain audiences, but I am simply stating that this band has always been lead by female vocals and that those vocals have always shown strength, beauty and sexiness, and Sienna Venom is carrying on that tradition in her own new way.
Book of the Dead is a song about the Necronomicon from Evil Dead, and Son of a Thousand Maniacs, (Watch the music video) is inspired by and certainly has aspects of the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise. The horror movie connections have always been something I love about this band, and the lyrics are always brilliantly written and performed to a rocking beat, that'll easily get stuck on repeat in your head.
If you haven't listened to this album yet, then what are you waiting for? Watch the music video's above, and listen to the rest of the album. They're awesome and so is their music!
Sienna Venom is strong and sexy and that comes across in her vocals. Songs like Book of the Dead, Drag Me To Hell and Son of a Thousand Maniacs show her strong dominating attitude whilst songs like Evil Never Dies, and Make Your Wish, bring out the sexiness that comes with having a female as the lead vocalist. That's not to say that Male vocalist's can't sound sexy to certain audiences, but I am simply stating that this band has always been lead by female vocals and that those vocals have always shown strength, beauty and sexiness, and Sienna Venom is carrying on that tradition in her own new way.
Book of the Dead is a song about the Necronomicon from Evil Dead, and Son of a Thousand Maniacs, (Watch the music video) is inspired by and certainly has aspects of the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise. The horror movie connections have always been something I love about this band, and the lyrics are always brilliantly written and performed to a rocking beat, that'll easily get stuck on repeat in your head.
If you haven't listened to this album yet, then what are you waiting for? Watch the music video's above, and listen to the rest of the album. They're awesome and so is their music!