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Ghost Hunt: Chilling Tales of the Unknown
Cameron Dokey, Grant Wilson and Jason Hawes
8.5
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Book
An exciting new middle grade collection of spooky paranormal investigations based on REAL ghost...
Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Chaos Bleeds
7.8
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Video Game
In this game Buffy discovers that Ethan Rayne is at the center of a great struggle with the First,...
The Rain Heron
10.0
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Book
Ren lives alone on the remote frontier of a country devastated by a coup. High on the forested...
Magical Realism Australia Literary Fiction Environment Nature
David McK (3396 KP) rated A Quiet Place (2018) in Movies
Aug 23, 2020 (Updated Jan 10, 2023)
I'd heard good stuff about this film.
They lied.
Slow, plodding, and lacking any sense of peril or tension, this is set in a post-apocalyptic world where seemingly invulnerable blind monsters (which we're never told where they come from) hunt by sound, and sound alone - which explains why there's not even any bird song. This then follows a tight-knit family trying to survive in this new reality, complete with a deaf kid and a mother about to give birth.
Yes, all the cliches are here: creaking floorboards, jagged nails sticking up from the wood, a kid who blames herself for the loss of her younger sibling early on in the film ...
About the only good thing I can say is that this is short, with a running time of just over 1.5 hours.
They lied.
Slow, plodding, and lacking any sense of peril or tension, this is set in a post-apocalyptic world where seemingly invulnerable blind monsters (which we're never told where they come from) hunt by sound, and sound alone - which explains why there's not even any bird song. This then follows a tight-knit family trying to survive in this new reality, complete with a deaf kid and a mother about to give birth.
Yes, all the cliches are here: creaking floorboards, jagged nails sticking up from the wood, a kid who blames herself for the loss of her younger sibling early on in the film ...
About the only good thing I can say is that this is short, with a running time of just over 1.5 hours.
Learning Swift
Book
Develop the skills required to create compelling, maintainable, and robust iOS and OS X apps with...
Amanda (96 KP) rated Ready Player One in Books
Mar 18, 2019
Why in the world did it take me this long to read this book? I could seriously kick myself! I haven't seen the movie yet, I'm not entirely sure I want to after reading this book. I don't think any movie could do it justice. Yes, I liked this book that much.
Imagine a world where the world has kind of gone to pieces and most of the time you want to escape the harsh reality. A man invented a virtual reality called OASIS and before his passing, he stated that there is a hidden Easter egg in the OASIS and whomever finds it, has COMPLETE control of the OASIS and his fortune. It's been several years and NOBODY has been able to find the egg, or even come close to it.
The entire story is told from Wade's point of view. In reality, he's known as Wade, in OASIS he is Parzivel. The creator of OASIS is known to be a huge fan of 80's style; music, movies, tv shows, you name it, he was a fan. Wade goes through all of these shows and movies to get some sort of clue to find out what and where the egg is located. One day, he figures out the first clue and winds up being the first name on the score board.
The idea of going to a virtual school sounded like a really cool idea. From the way it's described in the book, it sounds like a much more effective way to actually learn in a classroom. I think with the way technology keeps advancing, we may very well be on our way to going that route.
I loved all of the 80's references throughout the book. I'm not an 80's child, but I've been told I'm old soul. Like, I'm a reincarnated person who was born in the 30's because I'm not really into the new shows or the new music. Mentions of Monty Python and the other TV shows that I've actually binge watched myself really brought out my inner nerd and it was enjoyable.
The only thing that made me lose a little respect for Wade is when he starts falling for another user named Art3mis. He has NO CLUE who this person is in real life, just her avatar. And in OASIS, the avatar is a blonde woman and Wade falls for her and spends as much time with her as possible. When Art3miss decides to cool it down with him, he kind of acts like a puppy who had its treat taken away. I know he's a kid who just graduated high school so having your first crush on someone really clouds your best judgment, but I found his infatuation with Art3mis rather annoying and I almost wanted to yell at my book and hope he hears me.
Am I the only one who's felt that way?
In the end, I'm rooting for Wade to find all these keys and reach the gates before someone else does. There's another company who actually specifically hires people to find this egg. This company will start charging people to use OASIS and actually give people limited access, no, we don't want that.
The book as a whole was excellent. It caught my attention in the beginning, and even though I was a bit annoyed with Wade, I still WANTED to finish this story. I WANTED to go through the OASIS journey with him and help him, encourage him, to continue and find that egg and help everybody cope with reality, with or without OASIS. If you've seen the movie, read the book. I guarantee that the movie was not able to capture EVERYTHING with this story and you deserve to know EVERYTHING about WADE and his new friends in finding that egg.
Imagine a world where the world has kind of gone to pieces and most of the time you want to escape the harsh reality. A man invented a virtual reality called OASIS and before his passing, he stated that there is a hidden Easter egg in the OASIS and whomever finds it, has COMPLETE control of the OASIS and his fortune. It's been several years and NOBODY has been able to find the egg, or even come close to it.
The entire story is told from Wade's point of view. In reality, he's known as Wade, in OASIS he is Parzivel. The creator of OASIS is known to be a huge fan of 80's style; music, movies, tv shows, you name it, he was a fan. Wade goes through all of these shows and movies to get some sort of clue to find out what and where the egg is located. One day, he figures out the first clue and winds up being the first name on the score board.
The idea of going to a virtual school sounded like a really cool idea. From the way it's described in the book, it sounds like a much more effective way to actually learn in a classroom. I think with the way technology keeps advancing, we may very well be on our way to going that route.
I loved all of the 80's references throughout the book. I'm not an 80's child, but I've been told I'm old soul. Like, I'm a reincarnated person who was born in the 30's because I'm not really into the new shows or the new music. Mentions of Monty Python and the other TV shows that I've actually binge watched myself really brought out my inner nerd and it was enjoyable.
The only thing that made me lose a little respect for Wade is when he starts falling for another user named Art3mis. He has NO CLUE who this person is in real life, just her avatar. And in OASIS, the avatar is a blonde woman and Wade falls for her and spends as much time with her as possible. When Art3miss decides to cool it down with him, he kind of acts like a puppy who had its treat taken away. I know he's a kid who just graduated high school so having your first crush on someone really clouds your best judgment, but I found his infatuation with Art3mis rather annoying and I almost wanted to yell at my book and hope he hears me.
Am I the only one who's felt that way?
In the end, I'm rooting for Wade to find all these keys and reach the gates before someone else does. There's another company who actually specifically hires people to find this egg. This company will start charging people to use OASIS and actually give people limited access, no, we don't want that.
The book as a whole was excellent. It caught my attention in the beginning, and even though I was a bit annoyed with Wade, I still WANTED to finish this story. I WANTED to go through the OASIS journey with him and help him, encourage him, to continue and find that egg and help everybody cope with reality, with or without OASIS. If you've seen the movie, read the book. I guarantee that the movie was not able to capture EVERYTHING with this story and you deserve to know EVERYTHING about WADE and his new friends in finding that egg.
Southern Today (21 KP) rated Ready Player One in Books
Nov 7, 2017
Ernest Cline has written something, alright.
If you are not into geeky things, just turn back now. I enjoyed this book for all the references, but the storyline itself was meh.
The writing was excellent as well, but, set in a dystopian not-so-distant future where everyone turns to OASIS, a simulation, to escape the reality of the world… Not a fan. Why don’t they try to fix it?
The main character, Wade, is on a quest (along with everyone else) to find the Easter egg that the creator of OASIS left in game after he died. The winner? Gets his fortune and the company that made the game.
Yeah, there is a prize for you! If you enjoyed Monty Python, read this book. If you are into all the geeky things, read this book. It is an interesting journey and one that I did enjoy.
If you are not into geeky things, just turn back now. I enjoyed this book for all the references, but the storyline itself was meh.
The writing was excellent as well, but, set in a dystopian not-so-distant future where everyone turns to OASIS, a simulation, to escape the reality of the world… Not a fan. Why don’t they try to fix it?
The main character, Wade, is on a quest (along with everyone else) to find the Easter egg that the creator of OASIS left in game after he died. The winner? Gets his fortune and the company that made the game.
Yeah, there is a prize for you! If you enjoyed Monty Python, read this book. If you are into all the geeky things, read this book. It is an interesting journey and one that I did enjoy.
Alison Pink (7 KP) rated Those Across the River in Books
Jan 15, 2018
I won a copy of this book on Goodreads. I was very much anticpating its arrival and I am pleased to say that I was not disappointed!
If you are not afraid of being out in the woodsat night, you will be after you read this book! Hell you may even be scared of forests in the daylight too. The characters throughoutbthe book are weel developed. While there were a few "typical" characters many of them were shown to have quirks or traits thatnare not typical of a suspense novel.
The plot was well paced. The suspense factor was always high...I found myself constantly wondering who would be next. Yet at the same time it wasn't too over the top. The story contained enough events that were reality based that you even found yourself convinced that the fantastical elements were just as likely to be real.
If you are not afraid of being out in the woodsat night, you will be after you read this book! Hell you may even be scared of forests in the daylight too. The characters throughoutbthe book are weel developed. While there were a few "typical" characters many of them were shown to have quirks or traits thatnare not typical of a suspense novel.
The plot was well paced. The suspense factor was always high...I found myself constantly wondering who would be next. Yet at the same time it wasn't too over the top. The story contained enough events that were reality based that you even found yourself convinced that the fantastical elements were just as likely to be real.
Awix (3310 KP) rated Alternative 3 in TV
May 4, 2019 (Updated May 4, 2019)
One of the great TV hoaxes, from back when such things were still considered an acceptable jape. Made, for the most part, with great care and attention to detail, the result is very convincing and unsettling viewing - although the presence of fairly well-known actors in a couple of roles does kind of blow the gaffe a bit, long before the end.
Some people will argue that claims that this is a hoax are just a smokescreen and the makers either stumbled onto the truth or were trying to blow the whistle on a real conspiracy, which is why this show vanished into obscurity for a long while after its transmission. I really don't know, but parts of the story here do seem eerily close to reality, 40 years on, and the questions Alternative 3 raises about how much to trust the media are still pertinent today.
Some people will argue that claims that this is a hoax are just a smokescreen and the makers either stumbled onto the truth or were trying to blow the whistle on a real conspiracy, which is why this show vanished into obscurity for a long while after its transmission. I really don't know, but parts of the story here do seem eerily close to reality, 40 years on, and the questions Alternative 3 raises about how much to trust the media are still pertinent today.
Sarah (7798 KP) rated The Circle (2017) in Movies
Feb 4, 2018
Could have been so much better
I'm a little disappointed with this film. On paper it sounds great, but in reality it's very badly executed.
It's very similar to Black Mirror, although nowhere near as dark or good. The idea is a good one and one very close to home considering how advanced technology is nowadays. It is a good take on social media and technology companies, it just doesn't quite work although at times it does make you feel rather uncomfortable at how all this is used. The problem is it comes across as a little boring and unengaging at times, and characters actions seem a bit bizarre. Tom Hanks and John Boyega are greatly underused although Emma Watson doesn't do too badly as the lead. I didn't get the ending either, it just didn't seem to fit and was a little confusing.
It's very similar to Black Mirror, although nowhere near as dark or good. The idea is a good one and one very close to home considering how advanced technology is nowadays. It is a good take on social media and technology companies, it just doesn't quite work although at times it does make you feel rather uncomfortable at how all this is used. The problem is it comes across as a little boring and unengaging at times, and characters actions seem a bit bizarre. Tom Hanks and John Boyega are greatly underused although Emma Watson doesn't do too badly as the lead. I didn't get the ending either, it just didn't seem to fit and was a little confusing.