Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2566 KP) rated One by One in Books
Sep 1, 2021
While the cast of isolated characters trope is not new to the mystery genre, Ruth Ware quickly makes it her own in this page turning thriller. I love how she so successfully isolated the characters. The plot is wonderful with tension rising early before the characters fully realize the danger they are in. The twists kept me engaged the entire way through the nail-biting climax. The characters could have been a little stronger overall. Don’t get me wrong, I cared about them and the outcome, but I felt like many of them stayed two dimensional and those we got to know better bordered on the cliché. Being a thriller, I expected more foul language than in the books I typically read, but it was a bit excessive for my tastes. Still, these are nitpicks in an overall wonderful thriller.
School of Sword and Sorcery
Book
Government officials have stated that up to 500,000 underage minors go missing every year on Earth...
eFLORA School of Sword and Sorcery
Bob Mann (459 KP) rated Star Trek V - The Final Frontier (1989) in Movies
Sep 28, 2021
My least favourite movie of the entire franchise. There is just so much that is lame about this flick:
the 57 year-old Nichelle Nichols doing a naked veil dance on top of a sand dune (I suppose they at least got her to do something other than repeating the computer, to quote a “Galaxy Quest” gag);
Scotty knocking himself out on his own ship;
the line “What does God need with a starship?”;
“Row, row, row the boat”;
“marshmelons” (uncorrected, and unexplained in the script);
…. (I could go on).
Even the fight sequences seem lifeless and lacklustre.
Perhaps the lamest element of all is the final defeat of God (not God?). Chekov says that ‘He’ has “the largest energy source he’s ever seen”: and yet ‘He’ is dispatched via a simple laser blast!! #anticlimax.
The cast seem to be going through the motions as well on this one. That sense of “fun” was missing from the performances for me. Bizarrely the class act that is David Warner gets a “starring” role but is woefully underused, getting about 5 lines in total. He is totally superfluous to the plot.
The whole thing smells of utter desperation. If only we could get Nicholas Meyer back to direct another one: perhaps we could regenerate some of the “Khan” magic?
Of Hoaxes and Homicide
8.0
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The second in the delightful Dear Miss Hermione mystery series from Anastasia Hastings—when you...
Hounds of the Hollywood Baskervilles (Babs Norman Hollywood Mystery #1)
3.0
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Asta, the dog from the popular Thin Man series, has vanished, and production for his next film is...
Humour Mystery Historical
The Path of Redemption
Book
With Grand Protector Faust missing and Caesar dead, Senator Frigus is trying to hold the fraying...
Alternate History
Debbiereadsbook (1753 KP) rated How to Chain Your Dragons in Books
Aug 15, 2025
For the most part, I really REALLY enjoyed this book but my review will be short and sweet cos if I leave myself free reign, it might come across as negative and it really was a good book!
I loved Jaz. She is strong willed and determined, but really just wants to be cut a break! These dragons, though, want more from her. She isn't sure she can give it, not to the invaders of Earth.
The dragons themselves are very different, with stron personalities and differing skills and fears. Zyair, Rhodes and Xandros all want one thing: their fated mate. Finding out she is human, kinda throws a spanner in the works but they really do all go in, eventually.
I was expecting a space romp here, and I get a lot more.
BUT
I feel like there is much MUCH that was not said here. It feels like there should've been a book before this one, giving all the information about Earth being invaded and all that jazz, or Jaz! I just felt it needed MORE, you know??
It also felt like the beginning of a series, there are many characters who I want to read about, so I hope we get more, I really do.
4 good stars
*same worded review will appear elsewhere
Merissa (13997 KP) rated Storm and Shelter (Ebb & Flow #3) in Books
Oct 10, 2025
Quinn is back in the States, Malachi is in Canada, but both of them are missing the other. When Malachi turns up unexpectedly, Quinn is over the moon. It is a difficult time of year for him, and having his mate there helps with the PTSD flashbacks and memories that threaten to overwhelm him. Through a series of events, not all of which I fully understand the reasoning behind, Quinn drives Malachi back home.
This book is mostly about Quinn's flashbacks and Malachi trying to help him with them. There are a LOT of "I love you's" going on, plus scenes that felt as though they were being repeated. I still can't quite get over the power imbalance between the two, which I was hoping would have evened out a little by now. While I enjoyed the story, I think you would enjoy it more if you had read the Real Werewolves Don't Eat Meat series. I haven't, and I do believe this affected my enjoyment of this story/series.
If you've read the above-named series, then I recommend Ebb & Flow. If you haven't, you might struggle.
** 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!
Oct 9, 2025
Hard By A Great Forest
9.0
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Saba’s father is missing, and the trail leads back to Tbilisi. It’s been two decades since...
Murder at Glenloch Hill
8.0
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Set in Edwardian Britain, American transplant Stella, and British aristocrat, Viscount “Lyndy”...