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The Edge of Belonging
The Edge of Belonging
Amanda Cox | 2020
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
<a href="https://travelingwife4life.wordpress.com/2020/09/10/the-edge-of-belonging-lone-star-lit/">Travelers Wife 4 Life</a>
The Edge of Belonging by Amanda Cox was like a breath of fresh air amid uncertain times that cause you to reflect inward to who you really are. It is listed as a dual timeline, but I think it reads just like a complete story of getting to know a person from beginning to end, with some very thought-provoking moments.

<b>“What if this whole thing is really about finding your missing pieces?”</b>

This book and the characters in it made me go on a roller-coaster of thoughts, emotions, and feelings. I was hooked from the very beginning and read the book in one sitting because it was so good. I loved how Amanda Cox used the dialogue to make me feel as if I were in the story observing everything unfolding. She also used everyday life situations to convey hope for every situation tastefully touching on topics like depression, abandonment, abuse, PTSD, and death. It was masterfully done and quite hard to believe that this was her debut novel! (I cannot imagine what she will write after getting “practice” under her belt). The Edge of Belonging has some of the most poignant moments in it that I have ever read before in a book. Ivy Rose, Harvey James, Reese, and Pearl brought to light one of life’s most resounding questions… Who are you?

<b>“You are Braver than you know. And more Loved than you realize.”</b>

The plot is a dual timeline, I do not always like them because they can be kind of wonky, but wow, this one was done to perfection. It was really like looking through a window and watching the characters interact on the other side, definitely one of the best (if not the best) dual timelines I have ever had the pleasure of reading before. Interwoven with great landscape descriptions and interesting background on all the characters plus, the 20 years kept secrets… well this book is one I will be recommending for a long time to come.

While diving deep into the different characters' lives Amanda Cox managed to give many happy endings and bring you on a journey of discovery that I think everyone can relate to and enjoy. I highly recommend this book and give it 5 stars. Great job on your first book Amanda Cox, I cannot wait to see what you write next!

*I volunteered to read this book in return for my honest feedback. The thoughts and opinions expressed within are my own.
  
Zombies for Everyone: A Jenna Sutton Supernatural Cozy Mystery
Zombies for Everyone: A Jenna Sutton Supernatural Cozy Mystery
Kimberly Wylie | 2021 | Mystery, Paranormal, Young Adult (YA)
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
The mystery was well-paced with plenty of clues.
YA Cozy is a new one for me, though I will say this book feels more like a paranormal adventure story than a cozy mystery. The mystery was well-paced with plenty of clues. It was easy to assume why the attacks were happening once it came up in conversation, and from there, very easy to pick out the big bad. Still, the story was an enjoyable one with lots of action and plenty of pop culture references, some of which I am certain are less applicable to the YA crowd than their parents, but fun nonetheless.

In this book we are introduced to Jenna and her partner Kieron, high school students with a little something extra. She is a Hunter. Her job is to investigate and hunt down things that go bump in the night. Kind of a cross between Dean Winchester and Buffy Summers. Kieron provides moral, tech, and info support. They are asked to track down the source of a zombie bite before it leads to a full-on outbreak. It becomes apparent that there is more going on than a simple zombie attack and with several great suspects, it moves at a fair clip.

Despite the extracurriculars they really are just typical seventeen-year-old kids worrying about dating, homework, and mean girls. That is a fun contrast to the uber adult nature of the work they do. Jenna’s mother is missing, presumed dead (a story point that I am certain will be prominent in upcoming books) Leaving Jenna with the job of caring for herself while staying under the radar of adults who would put her in the system.

The magic world built for this story is sound, though it will need some bolstering ahead as it went up fairly quickly. I think another 50 pages of story could have easily softened the info dump feel. There is a lot of information to process about magic and recurring characters, as well as The Consortium and The Covens, but at some point in this series, things are going to get really interesting and my sixth sense is tingling in anticipation. This is a great story for age 12-18 readers and really for anyone who enjoys YA and/or paranormal cozy.

⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
I received an advance review copy for free through Great Escapes Virtual Book Tours, and I am leaving this review voluntarily
  
The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006)
The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006)
2006 | Action
I've been told that 'The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift' is the worst of the franchise and, so far, I'd have to agree. For what it is it's not terrible but it's not great either.
In my review for the the first 'The Fast and the Furious' I mentioned that parts of it felt like one of those movies set in a high school, well, 'Tokyo Drift' takes that and runs (Rides?) with it. The opening scenes are exactly that, a high school movie, we have the jocks being, well, jocks, as portraited in most 80's & 90's movies, bulling and making life miserable for those that aren't there own. But don't worry the film soon shifts from an American high school to a Japanese one and, lets face it we knew it would have to happen, the clues in the title after all. To be fair, from this point on most of the action is on the roads and not the school but as a lot of the plot revolves around Sean and Neela, a girl he met in his new school the high school film feel remains.
One good thing that 'Tokyo Drift' manages is to continue the idea of 'Family' that is present in the previous films with Sean finding his new family in Tokyo and his relationship with his, first his mother and then his farther and also with Neela having to choose which side side (or which family) she belongs to as well as the surprise cameo at the end (it's an old film but I didn't know about it so I'm probably not the only one).
One thing missing from 'Tokyo Drift' was the crime aspect (except, of course the street racing), the first movie had touched on it with the truck robbery's and the second was almost all about finding and moving the drug money. The Yakuza are mentioned and there are underground clubs but the yakuza are there more as another symbol of family and the clubs just are, there is no one investigating them and they are more just an excuse to have lots of scantily clad women wondering around.
If you just want a film that you can turn your brain off to then 'The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift' is ok, it has action in the form of car chases, plenty of 'eye candy' and a bit of a story. Just don't expect anything to taxing.
  
Kink (Vixen Bluff #2)
Kink (Vixen Bluff #2)
Catherine Black | 2018 | Romance
7
7.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
99 of 250
Kindle
Kink ( Vixen Bluff book 2)
By Catherine Black

Once read a review will be written via Smashbomb and link posted in comments

Molly I haven't been with a man in over five years. Yeah, yeah, I know what you're thinking. You're wondering if I have a couple dozen cats or if I have to sweep the cobwebs out before getting a Brazilian. But, ladies, I wanna let you in on a little secret... There is money to be made in what us working girls at White Light Sirens like to call 'non-penetrative fantasies'. That's right. You want me—Molly Wilder—to parade around the room dressed like a giant teddy bear while you touch yourself? Sure. You want me to paint your naked body, turning you into an impressionist's wet dream? I'm on it. But if you even think about sliding between my legs, I'll rip our contract to shreds and kick you out the door so fast your manhood won't have time to soften. Barrett Molly makes a snap judgment about me the second I walk through her studio door, but I'm used to it. Women take one look at this body, this face, and immediately label me. I can see the flashing sign above their heads every time. “Danger! Danger!” If they only knew... Molly thinks I'm a client—just another John—and that's fine. I'm content to play her game because when I break her rules, when I expose her secrets and have her on her knees, vulnerable and afraid, then she'll understand. But until then, I have a job to do, and my first order of business is to make Molly realize I'm a man worth breaking for. Whether she knows it or not, her dry spell is about to come to an end. Make it rain, Miss Wilder. Make it rain.

Haha this was just pure filth! I usually skip most sex scenes in some of these books but if I did that I would have about 50 pages to read! The only difference being this one I didn’t as it was well written! The only reason I haven’t gone with a 4 star as I think it lacked a little depth, I know it’s only a short book it took just over an hour to read I just can’t figure out what was missing. Not sure I’ll ever look at a jar of peanut butter the same way again though 😂.
  
40x40

Natasha Khan recommended Blue by Joni Mitchell in Music (curated)

 
Blue by Joni Mitchell
Blue by Joni Mitchell
1971 | Folk, Rock, Singer-Songwriter
9.2 (6 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"I was only about 13 when I heard it and it was another one that I played a lot in my bedroom. There was a trilogy of females, which was Joni Mitchell's Blue, Kate Bush's Hounds Of Love and Bjork's Debut that I discovered when I was 12 and obviously had a huge impact on me. But Joni Mitchell, for me, her voice is like an instrument, the same as Bjork's - I just loved hearing a woman's voice that sounded so free and was doing weird things to my brain, pulling it around. How do you even talk about something like this? You just end up saying a load of cliches! There's songs like 'River' and 'Blue' and I didn't know anything really as a 13-year-old about California and Laurel Canyon and the psychedelic 60s and what had happened to everybody, the disenchantment they maybe felt later on. I didn't really understand the background of that, yet there was this woman coming out of my speaker, her feminine energy and her freedom, her expression, her unapologetic rawness, again, and the beauty and competence, and weird tunings, it all completely made sense to me. It all sounded like this amazing place that smelt like pine trees and had golden, yellow sunshine and long hair and tapestries and curtains and cats and guitars. I thought: "What is this place that this woman is talking about?" Actually it's just this universe inside of her, she's like this amazing building full of beautiful things, so complex and so deep and intellectual. I just think she's fully competent on so many levels! I was listening to Carole King, Tapestry, at the time, and that's another beautiful record, but Joni Mitchell's is just emotionally more complex. It was meandering and had movements and parts to it and her voice would soar. There's that bit where she's saying, "hell's the hippest way to go, I don't think so but I'm going to take a look around it": there's that onset of disenchantment, where she's sick of this bullshit, and Joni Mitchell's so good at seeing through the bullshit - it's not this throwaway, idealistic, hippy kind of thing, she's always burrowing a little bit under the surface. As a young girl, hearing women talk about travelling, going on an aeroplane, missing California, being in Paris, seeing some guy playing guitar and writing a love note on a napkin to her. It's like good life experience, listening to that through someone else."

Source
  
I&#039;ll Find You
I'll Find You
Liz Lawler | 2020 | Medical & Veterinary, Thriller
6
6.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
The protagonist in this story is Emily, a nurse, who is struggling with the loss of her sister Zoe. Zoe has been missing for over a year, and Emily still keeps looking for her. The rest is covered by the blurb pretty accurately. Emily is a very disturbed character, she has mental health issues and is trying to cling to normality very hard, but life keeps throwing unusual situations at her. I think Emily is a very interesting and unique character, and I did like her baffled but a very strong personality.

The narrative of this book is told from multiple perspectives, including the thoughts of a police officer – Geraldine, who shares her opinion about Emily and her situations. I was not a very big fan of Geraldine, she was quite boring and didn’t bring much to this story. The book was a slow burner for me, there is a lot of thinking done in this book, and I liked that sometimes, the author was trying to confuse the reader by suggesting ideas. This novel does carry some interesting twists and turns, and that made the book livelier. Author’s experience is shining through in this novel, she explains all the procedures done to the patients in great detail, and her knowledge about Bath is felt very strongly. The topics discussed in this book would be grief when your family member disappears; difficult child-parent relationships; mental health issues etc.

I am not really sure whether I liked the writing style of this book. I think it was quite repetitive, very detailed, and characters kept asking questions in the search for the answers. (I prefer to ask the questions myself) The chapters have a very decent length and do fly by quite quickly. I really liked the culmination in this novel, it was very unexpected and surprising. I really liked the ending of this book as well, I think it rounded up the story very nicely.

So, to conclude, this book carries a lot of grief, insecurities and confusion between what is real and what is not. The narrative is layered, unexpected, and I really had the urge to find out where Emily will be taken by all these events in her life. I think this book would be enjoyable for people interested in medicine and the fans of Shari Lapena. (I see some similarities between the writing styles) Do give this book a try, and I hope you will enjoy it!
  
Justice League International, Vol. 1
Justice League International, Vol. 1
6
7.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
I am a 50 year old comic reader. In this life, you should pick one hobby, stick with it, and make it your own. It's hard to do that when you have been reading "the funny pages" for pretty much most of your life. However, I am adapting, learning to leave the current Marvel and DC reboots and events be, as I am not the market they are aimed at. Instead, I have been content to re-read the old TPBs digitally, remembering what kept me interested in the comics.

I started re-reading JLI, as it was, and still is, one of my best memories of the late 80s-early 90s. The series was always sure to inspire me to laugh out loud, while reading what sort of crap Blue Beetle and Booster Gold would get themselves into. My strongest memories are of when then-unknown Adam Hughes took over the art, replacing Kevin Maguire. But, talking of that takes away from this particular Volume, where the magic, as it were, was to begin.

Let's jump into the art, since we were talking about that just a moment ago. Here, it is reminiscent of the 80s. Bright colors, fun attitude, new costumes. All of that was here, drawn perfectly by Kevin Maguire, with inks by Terry Austin (for issue 1) and Al Gordon thereafter. Everything about the series' art was a testament to the new direction the team was going, and it definitely worked!

The writing was okay. I remember the series as being funnier, but the first volume was necessary, as it was needed for the setting up, introducing the members and what their dynamic would be. The stories are not required reading, as I am just starting the third volume, and I feel you could skip this volume. Most notable, this was the first time we see Batman layout that misogynist of a GL, Guy Gardner. That alone is worth the price of admission indeed!

Look, there is nothing wrong with this Volume, other than the inside material overall was good, but not as great as I wanted to remember. Sure, the team was written in a fun way (something missing in the books today), but overall, I wanted to get to the bigger "Bwa-hahaha" that lay ahead.

So, final conclusion? It's up to you. I would say "Sure, give it a shot". There's a helluva lot worse graphic novels/TPBs you could be spending your hard earned cash on!