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Erika (17789 KP) rated Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan- Season 1 in TV
Sep 7, 2018
I watched all 8 episodes in one sitting, which is something I rarely do. I was super pumped to see Jack Ryan on screen.
I liked how they modernized it, and the story was all new. Well, as new as the standard foil a terrorist plot. Of course, if you've seen/read anything about Jack Ryan, you know certain characters are bound to show up... e.g., Cathy.
The last episode was definitely fan-fare, and riffed off all of the previous films.
I'm just not sure I'm sold on Krasinski as Ryan. I thought he did a better job than Alec Baldwin and Ben Affleck, but definitely wasn't as good as Harrison Ford.
I'm just glad Amazon is going ahead with a second season.
I liked how they modernized it, and the story was all new. Well, as new as the standard foil a terrorist plot. Of course, if you've seen/read anything about Jack Ryan, you know certain characters are bound to show up... e.g., Cathy.
The last episode was definitely fan-fare, and riffed off all of the previous films.
I'm just not sure I'm sold on Krasinski as Ryan. I thought he did a better job than Alec Baldwin and Ben Affleck, but definitely wasn't as good as Harrison Ford.
I'm just glad Amazon is going ahead with a second season.
Barry Newman (204 KP) rated Lucky Number Slevin (2006) in Movies
Feb 29, 2020
I had avoided this film up until now being put off by the awful title and hearing about Ben Kingsley's insistence of being called Sir on the poster and the credits. Stylistically it's a bit of a poor mans 'Lock Stock' but its not actually a bad film at all. A tale of mistaken identity , revenge and multiple double crossings it's quite compelling storytelling (if a tad convoluted at times) and I liked how it all came together and even explained the awful title. The cast all put in good performances but barring Lucy Liu's bubbly character are a thoroughly unlikable group of assorted villains and scum bags. All in all not sure if I would come back and re watch it but its certainly worth a couple of hours of your time.
SO
Secrets of the Centenarians: What is it Like to Live for a Century and Which of Us Will Survive to Find Out?
Book
In October 1995, French grandmother Jeanne Calment became, so far as we know, the oldest human being...
Annie Chanse (15 KP) rated Poe in Books
Dec 19, 2017
I really liked this book quite a bit FOR THE MOST PART. It was incredibly well-written, and it was quite unique. It was paranormal, but not cheesy, pg-13 YA paranormal. This combined Russian history and demons and seraphs and Rasputin and love and demented siblings and Bohemian artist types and etc. etc. etc. It was a lot of fun. However, the ending was a bit less than satisfying. I'm not sure if there is going to be a second book... by the way it ended, I'm assuming there will be, but I wasn't EXPECTING a second book, and as such, the ending really disappointed me. It didn't tie up the main freaking plot point or several of the smaller ones. That just bugs me to no end. However, it still was a really good book. Or at least, it WILL BE, as long as there is a second book to help me finish up the story the author started in this one. :-D
Dana (24 KP) rated Strange the Dreamer in Books
Mar 23, 2018
Okay, I want to start off by saying that this fantasy book is both alike and so very different from Laini Taylor's other series Daughter of Smoke and Bone. I can honestly say I think I like this one better, and I really liked that series!
I think the thing I liked about this book is the multiple narrations and how they are almost seemlessly woven together. I liked all of the characters, even though some of them were super annoying as people, but they were very well written and fleshed out.
The romance, while sometimes cheesy, was so cute I could overlook that cheesyness. I think it really drew the two story lines together well and did not detract from either of the characters and their agencies.
Lazlo was such a sweetie. I loved how he just wanted to make sure everyone was okay. Even people who were unkind to him, he would go and check on because he knows what it is like to be abandoned. (Also, saw that ending with him coming from the beginning, just saying.)
Sarai was a joy. I know she is the odd one out of the godspawn, but I think she is the best. She wants to see the good in people even though she has every reason to be bitter and hate all of them. She, like Lazlo, knows what it is like to be betrayed. She does not want to be the queen of nightmares, she doesn't want to hurt anyone, but she does to keep her fellow godspawn safe.
The plot was very well done, not too slow by any sense of the word. By the time I finished, I didn't want it to be over! I am really excited for the next book to come out...so when is that again?
And can I just say that that ending was not nice in the slightest and I would like to unread it. Thank you.
Overall, I very much enjoyed this book! If you are a fan of fantasy, you should definitely pick this one up!
I think the thing I liked about this book is the multiple narrations and how they are almost seemlessly woven together. I liked all of the characters, even though some of them were super annoying as people, but they were very well written and fleshed out.
The romance, while sometimes cheesy, was so cute I could overlook that cheesyness. I think it really drew the two story lines together well and did not detract from either of the characters and their agencies.
Lazlo was such a sweetie. I loved how he just wanted to make sure everyone was okay. Even people who were unkind to him, he would go and check on because he knows what it is like to be abandoned. (Also, saw that ending with him coming from the beginning, just saying.)
Sarai was a joy. I know she is the odd one out of the godspawn, but I think she is the best. She wants to see the good in people even though she has every reason to be bitter and hate all of them. She, like Lazlo, knows what it is like to be betrayed. She does not want to be the queen of nightmares, she doesn't want to hurt anyone, but she does to keep her fellow godspawn safe.
The plot was very well done, not too slow by any sense of the word. By the time I finished, I didn't want it to be over! I am really excited for the next book to come out...so when is that again?
And can I just say that that ending was not nice in the slightest and I would like to unread it. Thank you.
Overall, I very much enjoyed this book! If you are a fan of fantasy, you should definitely pick this one up!
Leanne Crabtree (480 KP) rated Poison Princess (The Arcana Chronicles, #1) in Books
Jan 8, 2021
3.75 stars.
Um...Okay...I'm not quite sure how I feel about this.
I liked the whole will they/wont they thing between Evie and Jackson but at the same time it drove me mad with the continuous misunderstandings and stuff between them. Why couldn't they just explain themselves better?!
And it was dystopia/post apocalyptic, which is another bonus because I really like those type of books: sandy, scorched earth; hardly any survivors...
What I wasn't particularly a fan of was the tarot card thing. I'll admit it grew on me throughout and at the end I'd gotten used to it and was more into the concept but at the start I had no idea what was happening and sort of skated over the dreams and such.
After the ending I will admit to be very intrigued with how the rest of the series will play out so I will be reading the second book soon.
Um...Okay...I'm not quite sure how I feel about this.
I liked the whole will they/wont they thing between Evie and Jackson but at the same time it drove me mad with the continuous misunderstandings and stuff between them. Why couldn't they just explain themselves better?!
And it was dystopia/post apocalyptic, which is another bonus because I really like those type of books: sandy, scorched earth; hardly any survivors...
What I wasn't particularly a fan of was the tarot card thing. I'll admit it grew on me throughout and at the end I'd gotten used to it and was more into the concept but at the start I had no idea what was happening and sort of skated over the dreams and such.
After the ending I will admit to be very intrigued with how the rest of the series will play out so I will be reading the second book soon.
This book was not for me
I want to say something positive about this book. Okay, it is a quick read, I actually wanted to continue reading it although I am not sure if my reasons for this were because of enjoyment. I chose this book as I am going to be writing a part memoir for my dissertation. I liked the synopsis because I enjoy a bit of humour. In the past I have read (and enjoyed) a book by Mike Gayle called 'Turning Thirty' which I thought, and hoped, this book would have been similar. WRONG!!!!
Edwards basically writes some (I believe) far fetched memoir but mingles it with self help bullshit that has been regurgitated from other peoples ideas. I am confused by the author's objectives. Whilst I appreciate any woman who is a good and opinionated feminist, I feel that Edward's 'Sisterhood' is cringey. The writer comes across as middle class and perhaps would have benefited from excluding her middle class status to seem less arrogant to working class readers.
I learned of a technique for essay writing in college (PEE) Point, Evidence and Evaluation. This is a formula that Edwards uses throughout her book and it makes the flow very artificial instead of conversational.
On the plus side, it was her first novel, and she managed to write it and publish it. It just wasn't for me.
Edwards basically writes some (I believe) far fetched memoir but mingles it with self help bullshit that has been regurgitated from other peoples ideas. I am confused by the author's objectives. Whilst I appreciate any woman who is a good and opinionated feminist, I feel that Edward's 'Sisterhood' is cringey. The writer comes across as middle class and perhaps would have benefited from excluding her middle class status to seem less arrogant to working class readers.
I learned of a technique for essay writing in college (PEE) Point, Evidence and Evaluation. This is a formula that Edwards uses throughout her book and it makes the flow very artificial instead of conversational.
On the plus side, it was her first novel, and she managed to write it and publish it. It just wasn't for me.
Kristy H (1252 KP) rated Not That Kind of Girl: A Young Woman Tells You What She's Learned in Books
Feb 1, 2018
Full disclosure about my review of this book: I have always just liked Lena Dunham and harbored secret fantasies of us becoming friends. I'm sure this influenced my review somewhat. I'll admit that I would have liked to have read a bit more about how she got into the business, versus just random thoughts, but I also recognize that wasn't really the purpose of this particular book.
I also had to remind myself that Lena comes from the oversharing generation. There is a lot in this book that could potentially make you cringe, but if you know her work on <i>Girls</i> or anything else, it won't really come as a surprise. Overall, I found her writing style easy to read, and interesting, if not particularly amazing. I also enjoyed the chance to see any parallels between her life and <i>Girls</i>.
If this hadn't been an ebook I borrowed from the library, I definitely would have dog-eared some of the pages where she talks about how a woman deserves to be treated. There's certainly a lot to be learned from many of her pages, and I found a lot of what she said to be fascinating, if not disturbing, at times.
It was an easy, quick read and gave me some good insight into her life. (And I still want to be friends with her. And Lamby.)
I also had to remind myself that Lena comes from the oversharing generation. There is a lot in this book that could potentially make you cringe, but if you know her work on <i>Girls</i> or anything else, it won't really come as a surprise. Overall, I found her writing style easy to read, and interesting, if not particularly amazing. I also enjoyed the chance to see any parallels between her life and <i>Girls</i>.
If this hadn't been an ebook I borrowed from the library, I definitely would have dog-eared some of the pages where she talks about how a woman deserves to be treated. There's certainly a lot to be learned from many of her pages, and I found a lot of what she said to be fascinating, if not disturbing, at times.
It was an easy, quick read and gave me some good insight into her life. (And I still want to be friends with her. And Lamby.)
BobbiesDustyPages (1259 KP) rated Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? in Books
Jul 12, 2017
The setting / World building- I love dystopian sci-fi setting and the world the author built in the book. (1 more)
The characters - There were some really great charaters through out the book espically the protagonist Rick Deckard he really wasn't that great of a person but for some odd reason I still can't fully grasp I really liked him..
About halfway it felt like the author gave up. (3 more)
Insta-love out of freaking nowhere.
Way to much useless details.
Female Characters where done so half ass it was crazy.
Started out so good then just fell flat.
Contains spoilers, click to show
Okay first off I have wanted to read this book for a while and I finally got around to it, I always enjoyed Blade Runner and figured I should probably read the book since it could only be better, right?
Well, Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep? started out really well like I was instantly hooked and blew through the first half pretty fast Philip K. Dick managed to do what I find that not that many authors can do is he managed to world build pretty fast to where I didn't lose interest but at a certain point it's like the dude just fucking gave up and slap together an ending.
He gave us multiple pages of Deckard buying a freaking goat but one sentence for two characters who had only briefly met once to somehow fall in love.... COME ON!
Oddly enough the thing I like most was the main character, Rick Deckard. He really isn't that likable and he's pretty self-absorb but oddly enough it makes him seem so human that I found myself liking him in a really odd way while still really disliking him.
Not sure if I'll read more of the series or not, I kind of liked the way it ended.
Well, Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep? started out really well like I was instantly hooked and blew through the first half pretty fast Philip K. Dick managed to do what I find that not that many authors can do is he managed to world build pretty fast to where I didn't lose interest but at a certain point it's like the dude just fucking gave up and slap together an ending.
He gave us multiple pages of Deckard buying a freaking goat but one sentence for two characters who had only briefly met once to somehow fall in love.... COME ON!
Oddly enough the thing I like most was the main character, Rick Deckard. He really isn't that likable and he's pretty self-absorb but oddly enough it makes him seem so human that I found myself liking him in a really odd way while still really disliking him.
Not sure if I'll read more of the series or not, I kind of liked the way it ended.
Debbiereadsbook (1303 KP) rated Fate in Suspension (Horn & Haven #1) in Books
Sep 15, 2022
Loved that Shifting was a back drop!
Independent reviewer for Archaeolibrarian, I was gifted my copy of this book.
I liked this, a lot. It's a very different sort of shifter book and that its unicorns made it all the more special.
I can't stretch to 5 stars for a couple of reasons.
Its a LONG book, some 500+ pages. It does, however, even with all those pages, NOT say a lot!
I still have no idea what being an AGENT means, what that roll entails. Gates doesn't seem to like being an Agent much! Clearly it has some negative connotations, but those are explained when Tai tells gates about his experience with other Agents.
Something happened in Gates' work world, then there was the destruction of the Haven and I wasn't sure, STILL am not sure, whether these two events were one and the same! The implication, or at least I got an implication, that they were, but that point was never fully made clear.
I will always say, I don't like the massive info dumps you get when entering a new world. I like little and often. However, here? You are thrown in headfirst into the deep end, and it takes a time to be able to swim to the surface, and breathe!
It says at the back of the book that this is a spin off from another series by this author. One I have NOT read. I wonder it reading those would have given me a bit of a life raft before reading this one.
What I did like, nay, what I LOVED was the chemistry between Gates and Tai. It jumps off the page at every turn, and burns hot and bright right through the book. It's clear, right from the start, for both men, that this was something different to what had gone before. There was an air about it that scared them both, and it was great watching them battle with themselves, to work it all out.
AND!! I loved that shifting, turning, takes a massive back drop to this book, rather than being front and centre. Both men do turn at some point, but Gates only twice and Tai just the once.
So, I liked it, but found it a bit too long.
4 good solid stars
*same worded review will appear elsewhere
I liked this, a lot. It's a very different sort of shifter book and that its unicorns made it all the more special.
I can't stretch to 5 stars for a couple of reasons.
Its a LONG book, some 500+ pages. It does, however, even with all those pages, NOT say a lot!
I still have no idea what being an AGENT means, what that roll entails. Gates doesn't seem to like being an Agent much! Clearly it has some negative connotations, but those are explained when Tai tells gates about his experience with other Agents.
Something happened in Gates' work world, then there was the destruction of the Haven and I wasn't sure, STILL am not sure, whether these two events were one and the same! The implication, or at least I got an implication, that they were, but that point was never fully made clear.
I will always say, I don't like the massive info dumps you get when entering a new world. I like little and often. However, here? You are thrown in headfirst into the deep end, and it takes a time to be able to swim to the surface, and breathe!
It says at the back of the book that this is a spin off from another series by this author. One I have NOT read. I wonder it reading those would have given me a bit of a life raft before reading this one.
What I did like, nay, what I LOVED was the chemistry between Gates and Tai. It jumps off the page at every turn, and burns hot and bright right through the book. It's clear, right from the start, for both men, that this was something different to what had gone before. There was an air about it that scared them both, and it was great watching them battle with themselves, to work it all out.
AND!! I loved that shifting, turning, takes a massive back drop to this book, rather than being front and centre. Both men do turn at some point, but Gates only twice and Tai just the once.
So, I liked it, but found it a bit too long.
4 good solid stars
*same worded review will appear elsewhere
Lee (2222 KP) Sep 7, 2018
Erika (17789 KP) Sep 9, 2018