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Painkiller
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Also read my review here: http://bookbum.weebly.com/book-reviews/painkiller-by-n-j-fountain

<i><b>I cannot go on like this. I feel such a burden to you. You are young and can start again. You deserve that chance. By the time you read this I will be dead. Do not grieve for me, for I am now without pain.</i></b>

This was a real page-turner from page one! Would have been unputdownable if it hadn’t been for the fact that I <i>had</i> to put it down while at work.

I found myself absolutely loving Monica’s character. I’ve seen a couple of reviews that state her as “unlikable” but I thought she was very likable! She was a really unique character due to her constant pain and the way that affects her daily life and relationships. I loved that she could be sassy, lovely, and angry all in one go, she was a really fun character to immerse yourself in.

The plot of the unreliable narrator, the secretive husband etc wasn’t unique, I’ve read several books very similar to it in the past year in fact, but there was a certain edge to this book that made it so much more intriguing than some of the others I’ve read. It’s not that the twists were much better or more unpredictable than those in the other novels, it’s just simply that I enjoyed the writing style, characters and pace of this book more. For a mystery like this, novels usually try to cram as much as they can into the story to make the biggest number of twists possible, to get the reader excited, but this was nice and slow paced. It had just the right amount of shock moments in it, you didn’t feel overwhelmed by it at all.

The ending really got to me and was certainly not how I expected this book to end up. I’ll admit that I got a little emotional. If you’re a mystery thriller junkie like me, I definitely recommend this, it’s one of the best I’ve read this year.

Thanks to Netgalley and Little, Brown Book Group UK for giving me the opportunity to read this in exchange for an honest review.
  
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Olivia (102 KP) rated Girls of Paper and Fire in Books

Aug 13, 2018 (Updated Aug 13, 2018)  
Girls of Paper and Fire
Girls of Paper and Fire
Natasha Ngan | 2018 | LGBTQ+, Science Fiction/Fantasy, Young Adult (YA)
9
8.9 (9 Ratings)
Book Rating
I'm still trying to process all my feelings about his book, but right now I'm going to give it an 8.5

Girls of Paper and Fire is an incredibly addicting read. Within picking it up, I finished reading it in under 24 hours. Every minute that I wasn't reading it, I was thinking about it. It was like an impossible earworm chanting "Read me. Read me!".

Ngan's writing style and character development left me in awe at times. She somehow managed to write this imaginative tale whilst keeping it grounded, a combination that I haven't seen successfully executed very often. The romance in this book is perhaps one of my new all-time favorites. The love is believable. It wasn't a case of "Oh, I like this person a lot and so now I'm gonna make out with them for 80 pages straight and forget about everything else." there was actual chemistry between the two and it made the story all the more intense.

In the seemingly effortless way Ngan could create palpable romantic chemistry, she could also create absolute revulsion.
My problem with so many villains is that the writer will have them have done something terrible, and that's it. They don't truly explore how vile this villain is; they rely on one or two things that all of decent humanity can agree is unforgivable and let that be the reason why they're evil. Sure, anyone would be repulsed by a man who rapes and murders people; it's not like you have to convince people to hate that guy. But Ngan doesn't just throw those two things onto the character and call it a day. She made the king an absolute vile creature with words that made me physically gag, actions that made me have to put the book down and walk away.

Ngan's descriptions are extremely rich; whether that is a good or bad thing will vary from reader to reader. Personally, I found myself sometimes skimming over all the imagery; not because it wasn't good, but because I just really wanted to get back to the main plot and character interactions.

I'm not usually a huge fan of series, but this is one that I heavily look forward to continuing.
  
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Lindsay (1807 KP) rated Noah (2014) in Movies

Sep 7, 2017  
Noah (2014)
Noah (2014)
2014 | Action, Adventure, Drama
Cast does wonderful (0 more)
Noah is a good action pack movie. I tell the story of Noah from the Bible. If you have heard of Noah and the Ark, or Noah who builds an Ark. Well, the movie “Noah” brings to life. It was worth watching. It quite action packed and it keeps all interest throughout the movie.

Russell Crowe does a wonderful job of playing Noah. This is about Noah and how he and his family need to survive. The cast does so well and what a way to see a bible story come to life. I now understand the story of Noah better. If I were to read the bible story.
  
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TacoDave (4015 KP) Oct 16, 2020

Except it isn't accurate to the Bible. At all. So if it gives you an "understanding" of the Bible story, it has taught you to believe things that aren't true...

The Hunting Party
The Hunting Party
Lucy Foley | 2019 | Crime, Mystery, Thriller
4
7.3 (16 Ratings)
Book Rating
After seeing the buzz and positive reviews surrounding this book, I figured I'd give it a try. I'm always wary now when they liken a current author to Agatha Christie (cough, cough, Ruth Ware), because these authors do not deserve the honor.
The characters were ok and predictable. It was true to life, the situation with old friends, and how you don't have anything really in common anymore, but you force yourself to still hang out with them.
The plot was so rollicking, it just needed to get to the point. The red herrings were stupid and too numerous. The events were predictable, and the end was meh.

I probably won't read anything else by this author.
  
Right Behind You
Right Behind You
Lisa Gardner | 2017 | Fiction & Poetry
8
9.0 (4 Ratings)
Book Rating
In Lisa Gardner’s next thriller following her runaway New York Times bestseller Find Her — Right Behind You sees the return of (now retired) FBI Profiler Pierce Quincy and his wife Rainie Conner who have now adopted Sharlah. Several years ago her older brother Telly Ray Nash killed their drunken father to protect them.

But when it appears that Telly has killed again, this time it can’t be for her protection, can it? Especially as it is later discovered he’s also killed his foster parents.

This story is a lot slower than other Lisa Gardner books. I still enjoyed it, but as the story unravelled I found myself more drawn to the relationships of families involved – the abuse that went on – the secrets and lies. It’s like the author has gone from fast-paced FBI police procedural crime novel to a character driven story. Nothing wrong with that, it’s just not what I expected.

Rainie and Quincy still make a great couple, the writing style is enjoyable and easy to read. It may be light on the FBI profile and police procedural aspects, but
Right Behind You still made for a great read because the characters were so endearing, and quite often physically and emotionally vulnerable.

I’m interested to see what Lisa Gardner’s next book (comes out Feb. 19 2019) titled NEVER TELL, is going to be like. It apparently features Detective D.D. Warren joining forces with vigilante Flora Dane to investigate the murder of known associate of Flora’s infamous kidnapper.
  
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Anne (15130 KP) rated Sensational in Books

Feb 12, 2020  
Sensational
Sensational
Jodie Lynn Zdrok | 2020 | Mystery
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Intriguing and Engaging
Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan-Tor/Forge -Tor Teen for letting me read and review this book. I enjoyed it and could follow along easily with the same characters and such from having read the first book, Spectacle, which if you haven't read that one - you should go get it and read it now to get ready for this one!
This was another engrossing, fun and delightful read by Jodi Lynn Zdrok - I enjoyed the first book and this one was awesome too.
In this sequel to Spectacle, Nathalie is still using her powers as an Insightful to help out at the morgue with murder investigations while also trying to figure things out in regards to her Aunt and her Aunt's powers in relation to her powers. She is, in general, trying to investigate and understand what it means to be an Insightful and to be herself and what she wants out of life as well.
In this story, there's another crazy murderer who this time is celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Guillotine and writing a play to go with their murders and victims while beheading them and leaving them around in the Exposition Universelle in Paris to be found. Nathalie tries to help find this murderer using her powers while helping out at the morgue with the cases, but this time around it seems to catch her and others off guard as well as myself as the reader. I had no clue who the murderer was until the end and I was also a bit more invested in the other parts of the story like the events with Nathalie's Aunt and her coming to terms with her grief over her friend, Agnes.
Another major part of the story that I was invested in was that in this book, Nathalie has a beau, Jules, and what happens with him and their relationship as well as what happens with Christophe, which if you've read the first book, you'll know more about the relationship issues, etc. between Christophe and Nathalie. I finally got the ending I was hoping for with her and her romantic relationships with this book.
Once I got to the end and everything was resolving itself and I realized this was the end, I was a bit upset because I have enjoyed reading about Nathalie, Christophe, Simone, Louis, Jules, all the characters and about Insightfuls and their powers. I wish there was going to be more stories with these great characters and would love to know more about them and their futures as well as more info on Insightfuls and their powers.
If you've read Spectacle, then you need to read this sequel, if you haven't read Spectacle, go read it so you are ready for this Sensational book when it comes out!
  
A Court of Thorns and Roses
A Court of Thorns and Roses
Sarah J. Maas | 2015 | Young Adult (YA)
9
8.7 (108 Ratings)
Book Rating
Storyline (2 more)
Character building
Descriptive
Slow start (0 more)
This is one of those books that start slow and slowly builds pulling you in a little more each chapter. Some don’t like slow books but if you give it the chance it’s an excellent series. This first book was great and each book in her series gets better and better. I couldn’t put them down and I’ve re read this series a few times now while waiting for the next book to come out.
  
BD
Blue Diablo (Corine Solomon, #1)
10
9.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
I can't think of a thing that wasn't right in <i>Blue Diablo</i>. I can think of one thing that made it stand head and shoulders above much of what I've read lately: Aguirre knows that sexual tension can be much sexier than explicit sex scenes! That is <b>such</b> a relief!

I'm looking forward to reading more about Corine and Chance. I've been waiting for more of her Grimspace series, so now I'm torn. Just give us more, Ann!