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Pine
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They are driving home from the search party when they see her. The trees are coarse and tall in the...
Literary Fiction Scotland
The Suffering
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The Suffering (2004) Andrew P. A man known only as "Torque" is sentenced to death for the...
Survival Horror Prison
Clank! In! Space!
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The evil Lord Eradikus has all but conquered the galaxy and is now on a victory lap across the...
Boardgames 2017Games PressYourLuckGames
LeftSideCut (3776 KP) rated The Matrix (1999) in Movies
Sep 3, 2021
Put simply, The Matrix is almost the perfect action/science-fiction/mind fuck movie. It has a deliciously dystopian concept that leans into the state of the real world today (well, 1999 to be exact but it still works now). It has an aesthetic style that still looks incredible, and was unarguably ahead of its time. This includes some truly inspired set pieces. It has a fantastic cast of actors playing well realised characters, from the tranquil nature of the good guys, to the uncomfortably sinister Terminator-esque agents. It has an instantly recognisable music score. Everything about it just flows, and two+ hours fly by in no time.
Sure, The Matrix was the catalyst for countless copycats and IRL edgelords (I remember seeing this back in 2000 as a humble 12 year old, thinking it was the coolest fucking thing ever, before having my perceptions unceremoniously shattered by the influx of middle aged men walking around my tiny countryside hometown in leather dusters) but it did it first, and looked good doing it. I can even get past the blaring breakbeat music, because it's The Matrix dammit.
All these years later, a fair chunk of the dialogue is cheesy as all hell, and occasionally a little cringey, but other than that, it still stands the test of time.
Also, Rage Against the Machine.
Sure, The Matrix was the catalyst for countless copycats and IRL edgelords (I remember seeing this back in 2000 as a humble 12 year old, thinking it was the coolest fucking thing ever, before having my perceptions unceremoniously shattered by the influx of middle aged men walking around my tiny countryside hometown in leather dusters) but it did it first, and looked good doing it. I can even get past the blaring breakbeat music, because it's The Matrix dammit.
All these years later, a fair chunk of the dialogue is cheesy as all hell, and occasionally a little cringey, but other than that, it still stands the test of time.
Also, Rage Against the Machine.
Lyndsey Gollogly (2893 KP) rated The Perfect Child in Books
Dec 29, 2023
208 of 235
Kindle
The Perfect Child
By Lucinda Berry
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Christopher and Hannah are a happily married surgeon and nurse with picture-perfect lives. All that’s missing is a child. When Janie, an abandoned six-year-old, turns up at their hospital, Christopher forms an instant connection with her, and he convinces Hannah they should take her home as their own.
But Janie is no ordinary child, and her damaged psyche proves to be more than her new parents were expecting. Janie is fiercely devoted to Christopher, but she acts out in increasingly disturbing ways, directing all her rage at Hannah. Unable to bond with Janie, Hannah is drowning under the pressure, and Christopher refuses to see Janie’s true nature.
Hannah knows that Janie is manipulating Christopher and isolating him from her, despite Hannah’s attempts to bring them all together. But as Janie’s behavior threatens to tear Christopher and Hannah apart, the truth behind Janie’s past may be enough to push them all over the edge.
This was so good and a so upsetting. How many warning signs do you need? The girl and her mother were failed on so many levels by those we are supposed to rely on for help that it caused a ripple affect of damage. Really good read.
Kindle
The Perfect Child
By Lucinda Berry
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Christopher and Hannah are a happily married surgeon and nurse with picture-perfect lives. All that’s missing is a child. When Janie, an abandoned six-year-old, turns up at their hospital, Christopher forms an instant connection with her, and he convinces Hannah they should take her home as their own.
But Janie is no ordinary child, and her damaged psyche proves to be more than her new parents were expecting. Janie is fiercely devoted to Christopher, but she acts out in increasingly disturbing ways, directing all her rage at Hannah. Unable to bond with Janie, Hannah is drowning under the pressure, and Christopher refuses to see Janie’s true nature.
Hannah knows that Janie is manipulating Christopher and isolating him from her, despite Hannah’s attempts to bring them all together. But as Janie’s behavior threatens to tear Christopher and Hannah apart, the truth behind Janie’s past may be enough to push them all over the edge.
This was so good and a so upsetting. How many warning signs do you need? The girl and her mother were failed on so many levels by those we are supposed to rely on for help that it caused a ripple affect of damage. Really good read.
Merissa (14013 KP) rated LICKED: A Warrior Hearts Academy Prequel in Books
May 15, 2025
LICKED is the prequel novella to the three trilogies in the Warrior Hearts Academy series.
It tells the story of Faith, Alistair, Kenji, and Kalen and how they realise they are mates. Faith is human (apparently), Kenji and Kalen are twin Morphs, and Alistair is a dragon. Told from multiple perspectives, I only got them mixed up when it was the twins, even though they have different personalities. For the life of me, I couldn't remember which one had blue-green eyes and which one had a scar! So unless they talked about whether they were grumpy or sunny, I always got lost with which one was talking.
Full of action and spicy dreams, we follow Faith and the others as their stories link together. I loved how Faith was not a weepy wallflower and used her rage to help others. I also loved that it wasn't just a simple "I'm telling you this is what you are" and then she immediately knows all she needs to.
A great novella that I thoroughly enjoyed and have no hesitation in recommending.
** 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!
May 15, 2025
It tells the story of Faith, Alistair, Kenji, and Kalen and how they realise they are mates. Faith is human (apparently), Kenji and Kalen are twin Morphs, and Alistair is a dragon. Told from multiple perspectives, I only got them mixed up when it was the twins, even though they have different personalities. For the life of me, I couldn't remember which one had blue-green eyes and which one had a scar! So unless they talked about whether they were grumpy or sunny, I always got lost with which one was talking.
Full of action and spicy dreams, we follow Faith and the others as their stories link together. I loved how Faith was not a weepy wallflower and used her rage to help others. I also loved that it wasn't just a simple "I'm telling you this is what you are" and then she immediately knows all she needs to.
A great novella that I thoroughly enjoyed and have no hesitation in recommending.
** 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!
May 15, 2025
Vindictive Too
Book
The best revenge never includes forgiveness. To truly punish the guilty, something worse must be...
Thriller LGBTQ+
![Her First Child [Audiobook]](/uploads/profile_image/2a0/d5484fd1-a487-457f-a630-a88593fbb2a0.jpg?m=1672523702)
Her First Child [Audiobook]
7.0
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A perfect mother. A loving daughter. A secret that could destroy them both. New mother Eve is...
Weak characters (1 more)
Mediocre ending
A haunted house thriller that could've been more
At Spring House, it’s not just a lone ghost that haunts the property—something has awoken. Almost as if the house were alive. That’s the impression I got going into The Vines, and I thought it was a unique twist to the classic haunted house story.
The book has several narrators starting with Caitlin, an heiress whom everyone loves to hate and who is taken advantage of and cheated on by her husband. Second is Nova, an educated young black woman employed at Spring that has a real chip on her shoulder. Lastly there is Blake, a homosexual male nurse that suffers from depression after witnessing the death of his lover. All of these character’s stories come together to form the mystery around Spring House.
I had a hard time really deciding how I wanted to rate this book overall. At certain points it was thrilling, I wanted to know more about the mystery surrounding Spring House and the action scenes are written in wonderful detail. On the other hand I also found myself pretty disappointed with how one dimensional many of the characters were, particularly Caitlin and Nova. I just couldn’t find myself caring much about either one of them, which made it a little bit hard to remain interested in their respective roles in the plot.
With Caitlin she didn’t seem to be such a bad person, but the hatred and scorn from the people around her have reduced her to being a shadow of a person, not much ever comes from her character. The development of her character is seemingly dropped, she’s just there, all blind anger and rage and while it’s understandable, she has little impact on, well, anything. Which was unexpected considering the book’s synopsis was about her. What is worse is that Nova isn’t too far off from Caitlin. While there is a part of me that likes how strong willed Nova is, it is kind of annoying how she is just as blinded by her own rage and prejudice. Even she is barely relevant to the plot, if I’m to be perfectly frank. It becomes obvious that the real story is about Blake and how he faces up to the past that has been haunting him for years. This is well and good and I enjoyed his story, but then all of the other characters just become filler and this was kind of a downer.
The book just took way too long to get to that point. The focus keeps shifting before the story really starts to pick up speed and it feels like it drags a bit. I also found the ending to be a little bit cheesy, it just didn’t do it for me. Overall the book was decent, Rice has a gift for description and it was entertaining for a while. I just didn’t find this one to be particularly memorable.
The book has several narrators starting with Caitlin, an heiress whom everyone loves to hate and who is taken advantage of and cheated on by her husband. Second is Nova, an educated young black woman employed at Spring that has a real chip on her shoulder. Lastly there is Blake, a homosexual male nurse that suffers from depression after witnessing the death of his lover. All of these character’s stories come together to form the mystery around Spring House.
I had a hard time really deciding how I wanted to rate this book overall. At certain points it was thrilling, I wanted to know more about the mystery surrounding Spring House and the action scenes are written in wonderful detail. On the other hand I also found myself pretty disappointed with how one dimensional many of the characters were, particularly Caitlin and Nova. I just couldn’t find myself caring much about either one of them, which made it a little bit hard to remain interested in their respective roles in the plot.
With Caitlin she didn’t seem to be such a bad person, but the hatred and scorn from the people around her have reduced her to being a shadow of a person, not much ever comes from her character. The development of her character is seemingly dropped, she’s just there, all blind anger and rage and while it’s understandable, she has little impact on, well, anything. Which was unexpected considering the book’s synopsis was about her. What is worse is that Nova isn’t too far off from Caitlin. While there is a part of me that likes how strong willed Nova is, it is kind of annoying how she is just as blinded by her own rage and prejudice. Even she is barely relevant to the plot, if I’m to be perfectly frank. It becomes obvious that the real story is about Blake and how he faces up to the past that has been haunting him for years. This is well and good and I enjoyed his story, but then all of the other characters just become filler and this was kind of a downer.
The book just took way too long to get to that point. The focus keeps shifting before the story really starts to pick up speed and it feels like it drags a bit. I also found the ending to be a little bit cheesy, it just didn’t do it for me. Overall the book was decent, Rice has a gift for description and it was entertaining for a while. I just didn’t find this one to be particularly memorable.
Goddess in the Stacks (553 KP) rated All the Rage in Books
Feb 20, 2018
Trigger Warning: Rape and Recovery
Contains spoilers, click to show
Wow. I finished this book, sat back, and stared at it in silence for a while. This is an emotional wringer of a book that more people should read. It's also full of trauma triggers, so beware.
Trigger Warning. Rape and Recovery.
All The Rage is about a girl. It's about rape culture. It's about her trauma, and the aftermath. The book flashes back and forth a little - it includes a triggered flashback to her rape, and her memories of it. The font choices show how mixed up she is sometimes, and how hard it is for her to tell what's really happening, what is a memory, and what is a flashback. Her rape is never written about in high detail. One Goodreads reviewer made a good point - the details being scant makes the shadows larger for the devil to hide in. (Her review is is posted in full on her blog, and it's a powerful one.) (links can be found on my blog as they can't be embedded here.)
The book was an easy read, technically - I read it in an afternoon - but it was a very hard read, emotionally and mentally. The main character, Romy, talks about how no one prepares girls for this, and she's right. As a society, we don't. We tell girls how to avoid those kinds of situations, but not what to do when actually IN them. Or how to determine the best course of action. Because surviving an attack is usually the priority, and screaming and fighting isn't always the best way to do that. Romy froze, and she blames herself for the failure to fight. But she also blames society for not teaching girls what to do. And once the unthinkable has happened, society abandons the victims. That was one of the hardest parts of the book - the victim-blaming. No one believes Romy. They call her a slut and a liar. Her high school classmates do horrible things to her.
The book is dark, but there are points of light. Leon is a coworker at the diner, and he's sweet on Romy. The book uses the relationship to show how rape can affect any future intimacy. Romy can't trust him, because her rapist seemed sweet, too. Until he wasn't. Romy's mother and mother's boyfriend are both supportive, caring, and loving. They don't understand what she's going through, mostly because Romy won't tell them, but they do their best anyway.
All The Rage is a really good book. It's also a very important book, and personally I think it should be required reading in high school. (That will never happen, it's too graphic and would offend parents, I'm sure. But it should.) If it's something you've experienced personally, it's very triggery and should maybe be avoided. But if it isn't? Read this book. You need to know.
You can find all my reviews at http://goddessinthestacks.wordpress.com
Trigger Warning. Rape and Recovery.
All The Rage is about a girl. It's about rape culture. It's about her trauma, and the aftermath. The book flashes back and forth a little - it includes a triggered flashback to her rape, and her memories of it. The font choices show how mixed up she is sometimes, and how hard it is for her to tell what's really happening, what is a memory, and what is a flashback. Her rape is never written about in high detail. One Goodreads reviewer made a good point - the details being scant makes the shadows larger for the devil to hide in. (Her review is is posted in full on her blog, and it's a powerful one.) (links can be found on my blog as they can't be embedded here.)
The book was an easy read, technically - I read it in an afternoon - but it was a very hard read, emotionally and mentally. The main character, Romy, talks about how no one prepares girls for this, and she's right. As a society, we don't. We tell girls how to avoid those kinds of situations, but not what to do when actually IN them. Or how to determine the best course of action. Because surviving an attack is usually the priority, and screaming and fighting isn't always the best way to do that. Romy froze, and she blames herself for the failure to fight. But she also blames society for not teaching girls what to do. And once the unthinkable has happened, society abandons the victims. That was one of the hardest parts of the book - the victim-blaming. No one believes Romy. They call her a slut and a liar. Her high school classmates do horrible things to her.
The book is dark, but there are points of light. Leon is a coworker at the diner, and he's sweet on Romy. The book uses the relationship to show how rape can affect any future intimacy. Romy can't trust him, because her rapist seemed sweet, too. Until he wasn't. Romy's mother and mother's boyfriend are both supportive, caring, and loving. They don't understand what she's going through, mostly because Romy won't tell them, but they do their best anyway.
All The Rage is a really good book. It's also a very important book, and personally I think it should be required reading in high school. (That will never happen, it's too graphic and would offend parents, I'm sure. But it should.) If it's something you've experienced personally, it's very triggery and should maybe be avoided. But if it isn't? Read this book. You need to know.
You can find all my reviews at http://goddessinthestacks.wordpress.com