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Lyndsey Gollogly (2893 KP) rated Dark Matter in Books
May 10, 2024
91 of 220
Book
Dark Matter
By Michelle Paver
⭐️⭐️⭐️
January 1937 Clouds of war are gathering over a fogbound London. Twenty-eight year old Jack is poor, lonely and desperate to change his life. So when he's offered the chance to be the wireless operator on an Arctic expedition, he jumps at it. Spirits are high as the ship leaves Norway: five men and eight huskies, crossing the Barents Sea by the light of the midnight sun. At last they reach the remote, uninhabited bay where they will camp for the next year. Gruhuken. But the Arctic summer is brief. As night returns to claim the land, Jack feels a creeping unease. One by one, his companions are forced to leave. He faces a stark choice. Stay or go. Soon he will see the last of the sun, as the polar night engulfs the camp in months of darkness. Soon he will reach the point of no return - when the sea will freeze, making escape impossible. And Gruhuken is not uninhabited. Jack is not alone. Something walks there in the dark.
This was good I enjoyed the atmospheric feel of it and the version I have has picture of the arctic not sure if they all do. I think I was expecting something chilling and scary but this really wasn’t for me I got caught up in others reviews I think. While it was well we and I did like it I just didn’t find it as good as I was expecting.
Book
Dark Matter
By Michelle Paver
⭐️⭐️⭐️
January 1937 Clouds of war are gathering over a fogbound London. Twenty-eight year old Jack is poor, lonely and desperate to change his life. So when he's offered the chance to be the wireless operator on an Arctic expedition, he jumps at it. Spirits are high as the ship leaves Norway: five men and eight huskies, crossing the Barents Sea by the light of the midnight sun. At last they reach the remote, uninhabited bay where they will camp for the next year. Gruhuken. But the Arctic summer is brief. As night returns to claim the land, Jack feels a creeping unease. One by one, his companions are forced to leave. He faces a stark choice. Stay or go. Soon he will see the last of the sun, as the polar night engulfs the camp in months of darkness. Soon he will reach the point of no return - when the sea will freeze, making escape impossible. And Gruhuken is not uninhabited. Jack is not alone. Something walks there in the dark.
This was good I enjoyed the atmospheric feel of it and the version I have has picture of the arctic not sure if they all do. I think I was expecting something chilling and scary but this really wasn’t for me I got caught up in others reviews I think. While it was well we and I did like it I just didn’t find it as good as I was expecting.
Daniel Boyd (1066 KP) rated Bumblebee (2018) in Movies
Jan 23, 2019 (Updated Jan 23, 2019)
Chock-full of tropes (1 more)
Pretty lazy in most aspects
Bit of a Buzzkill
When this movie dropped late last year, I never paid any attention to it. Everything in the Transformers series has been awful since the first movie and although I knew that Michael Bay wasn't directing this one, I was still more than happy to skip it. However, after it opened to rave reviews, it peaked my interest a bit. I was hearing all sorts of good things, with this movie even being compared to the likes of ET and The Goonies. Well last night we went to the cinema planning to see Glass, but had missed the previous showing and didn't want to wait around for hours until the next one so we decided to check out Bumblebee to see if it could live up to the hype surrounding it.
TL;DR - It didn't...
I think that I did go into this movie with fairly lofty expectations, but that was due to what I had heard from other people through word-of-mouth. In fact, I don't think I heard one bad review for this thing, so I really was expecting something great. Unfortunately, what you get is a mediocre Hollywood shlock-fest with some pretty impressive CGI, but a painfully formulaic story with a lazy script and actors phoning in their performances.
Let's start with the main positive of the movie; the CGI. The animators really did do an incredible job here and there are some truly awesome action sequences that were really impressive to witness, (it's just unfortunate that we had already seen most of these sequences prior to seeing the movie in the trailers.) The robots also felt much more grimy, weighty and realistic in this film as opposed to the more slick and polished feel that they all had in Bay's Transformers movies, which helped to make it more convincing that the robots were actually present in the room with the actors rather than being added in later in post production.
The other bright spot in the movie was John Cena. Sure, he has played the stereotypical army jarhead plenty of times before, but he is still charismatic and engaging whenever he is onscreen. His career is definitely benefitting from taking roles like this where he is able to be taken less seriously rather than trying to be a super serious action star in forgettable movies like The Marine.
Unfortunately that is about it for the positives, everything else is extremely lazy and generic. The direction is serviceable, the cinematography is nothing special and the score goes through the motions it has to in order to meet the tone of each scene. The script is full of extremely cheesy lines which is delivered half heartedly by the cast who it feels like are pretty much sleepwalking through this thing for the most part. Some characters are fairly irritating such as Memo and Ron, but nothing anywhere near as egregious as Mudflap and Skids from the previous Transformers movies.
And that last statement pretty much sums up my opinion on this movie. Sure, it isn't anywhere near as annoying, obnoxious, or cringe-inducing as the movies that Michael Bay previously gave us in the main Transformers series, but it is still really cheesy and lazy and isn't anything special at all.
I think that this movie serves as a lesson for managing your expectations when going to see a film. Due to the fact that the previous Transformers movies are SO bad and so poorly regarded, most people went into this one with little to no expectation that it would be any good. When it actually turned out to be surprisingly half decent, people were so shocked that they began telling everyone else how fantastic this thing was, when it actually isn't fantastic in any way, it's just less garbage than what we were getting before with these movies. Then, because of all of these brilliant reviews, I have went in expecting something substantial and meaningful and came away sorely disappointed because it turned out to be unremarkable and mediocre.
Overall, I probably would have got more out of this movie if I was told beforehand to just switch off my brain and expect a cheesy popcorn flick. Instead I went in expecting this generation's E.T because of the overblown reviews and was let down pretty hard. It's not the worst film of last year and it is better than anything else in the Transformers series since the first movie, but it's still not anything special. There are a few highs throughout the movie, but in general it's pretty unremarkable and I don't seeing it standing the test of time in the same way that the movies that it's being compared to have done.
TL;DR - It didn't...
I think that I did go into this movie with fairly lofty expectations, but that was due to what I had heard from other people through word-of-mouth. In fact, I don't think I heard one bad review for this thing, so I really was expecting something great. Unfortunately, what you get is a mediocre Hollywood shlock-fest with some pretty impressive CGI, but a painfully formulaic story with a lazy script and actors phoning in their performances.
Let's start with the main positive of the movie; the CGI. The animators really did do an incredible job here and there are some truly awesome action sequences that were really impressive to witness, (it's just unfortunate that we had already seen most of these sequences prior to seeing the movie in the trailers.) The robots also felt much more grimy, weighty and realistic in this film as opposed to the more slick and polished feel that they all had in Bay's Transformers movies, which helped to make it more convincing that the robots were actually present in the room with the actors rather than being added in later in post production.
The other bright spot in the movie was John Cena. Sure, he has played the stereotypical army jarhead plenty of times before, but he is still charismatic and engaging whenever he is onscreen. His career is definitely benefitting from taking roles like this where he is able to be taken less seriously rather than trying to be a super serious action star in forgettable movies like The Marine.
Unfortunately that is about it for the positives, everything else is extremely lazy and generic. The direction is serviceable, the cinematography is nothing special and the score goes through the motions it has to in order to meet the tone of each scene. The script is full of extremely cheesy lines which is delivered half heartedly by the cast who it feels like are pretty much sleepwalking through this thing for the most part. Some characters are fairly irritating such as Memo and Ron, but nothing anywhere near as egregious as Mudflap and Skids from the previous Transformers movies.
And that last statement pretty much sums up my opinion on this movie. Sure, it isn't anywhere near as annoying, obnoxious, or cringe-inducing as the movies that Michael Bay previously gave us in the main Transformers series, but it is still really cheesy and lazy and isn't anything special at all.
I think that this movie serves as a lesson for managing your expectations when going to see a film. Due to the fact that the previous Transformers movies are SO bad and so poorly regarded, most people went into this one with little to no expectation that it would be any good. When it actually turned out to be surprisingly half decent, people were so shocked that they began telling everyone else how fantastic this thing was, when it actually isn't fantastic in any way, it's just less garbage than what we were getting before with these movies. Then, because of all of these brilliant reviews, I have went in expecting something substantial and meaningful and came away sorely disappointed because it turned out to be unremarkable and mediocre.
Overall, I probably would have got more out of this movie if I was told beforehand to just switch off my brain and expect a cheesy popcorn flick. Instead I went in expecting this generation's E.T because of the overblown reviews and was let down pretty hard. It's not the worst film of last year and it is better than anything else in the Transformers series since the first movie, but it's still not anything special. There are a few highs throughout the movie, but in general it's pretty unremarkable and I don't seeing it standing the test of time in the same way that the movies that it's being compared to have done.
Heather Cranmer (2721 KP) rated As Dead As It Gets (Bad Girls Don't Die, #3) in Books
Jun 7, 2018
(This review can also be found on my blog <a href="http://themisadventuresofatwentysomething.blogspot.co.uk">The (Mis)Adventures of a Twenty-Something Year Old Girl</a>).
If you've read my reviews on the first two books in this series, you will know my love affair with the Bad Girls Don't Die series. Katie Alender has fast become one of my top three favourite authors. I loved As Dead As It Gets as much as the first two which is saying something as usually most sequels fail to get my love.
Alexis is back in the next installment of Bad Girls Don't Die. This time girls start going missing and Alexis is also being attacked. Alexis discovers that something supernatural is going on. Will Alexis be able to find the missing girls or will Alexis become a ghost herself?
I think the title of this book suits more of the series than the actual book itself. I mean, yes it also suits the book, but it suits the series better. I like how Katie Alender has stuck with titles that seem to blend into one another.
If you've read my reviews of the other two books in the series, you will see how I feel about the covers. I think the cover is gorgeous, but I just wish there was something more to the cover. I think the girl in the cover is either supposed to be Alexis or a ghost featured in this book.
Katie Alender does a fantastic job in the world building and setting in each of her books, and this book is no different. Alender made Alexis' surroundings come to life in great detail. It's quite easy to actual feel as if you are part of Alexis' world.
As always, the pacing of this Katie Alender title is perfect. It's not too slow nor is it too fast. The story flows very well. I ended up devouring all three books in this series, not literally though as paper doesn't taste too good, lol. As Dead As It Gets is such an easy read to immerse yourself in.
The dialogue and wording are easy to understand. All the teenage characters actually sound like teens. The words seem to just flow into one another. I didn't come across any swearing either.
The characters are all well developed as with the other two titles in the series. Alexis is a bit more paranoid in this book, and I also found that she's a bit of a pushover when it comes to Jared. I constantly wanted to yell at her to just leave Jared!! Jared comes across as being the controlling boyfriend type. I really couldn't stand him because of the way he was treating Alexis. My favourite character in this book was Lydia. I loved her sarcasm and humour. We really get to see a lot more of Lydia in this novel, and her personality shines through.
I can't tell you how much I enjoyed this book. It is so good!! I'm hoping this isn't the end of the Bad Girls Don't Die series. If it is, I might have to beg Katie Alender to keep writing more of this series as it is so good!
I'd recommend this book to everyone aged 13+.
If you've read my reviews on the first two books in this series, you will know my love affair with the Bad Girls Don't Die series. Katie Alender has fast become one of my top three favourite authors. I loved As Dead As It Gets as much as the first two which is saying something as usually most sequels fail to get my love.
Alexis is back in the next installment of Bad Girls Don't Die. This time girls start going missing and Alexis is also being attacked. Alexis discovers that something supernatural is going on. Will Alexis be able to find the missing girls or will Alexis become a ghost herself?
I think the title of this book suits more of the series than the actual book itself. I mean, yes it also suits the book, but it suits the series better. I like how Katie Alender has stuck with titles that seem to blend into one another.
If you've read my reviews of the other two books in the series, you will see how I feel about the covers. I think the cover is gorgeous, but I just wish there was something more to the cover. I think the girl in the cover is either supposed to be Alexis or a ghost featured in this book.
Katie Alender does a fantastic job in the world building and setting in each of her books, and this book is no different. Alender made Alexis' surroundings come to life in great detail. It's quite easy to actual feel as if you are part of Alexis' world.
As always, the pacing of this Katie Alender title is perfect. It's not too slow nor is it too fast. The story flows very well. I ended up devouring all three books in this series, not literally though as paper doesn't taste too good, lol. As Dead As It Gets is such an easy read to immerse yourself in.
The dialogue and wording are easy to understand. All the teenage characters actually sound like teens. The words seem to just flow into one another. I didn't come across any swearing either.
The characters are all well developed as with the other two titles in the series. Alexis is a bit more paranoid in this book, and I also found that she's a bit of a pushover when it comes to Jared. I constantly wanted to yell at her to just leave Jared!! Jared comes across as being the controlling boyfriend type. I really couldn't stand him because of the way he was treating Alexis. My favourite character in this book was Lydia. I loved her sarcasm and humour. We really get to see a lot more of Lydia in this novel, and her personality shines through.
I can't tell you how much I enjoyed this book. It is so good!! I'm hoping this isn't the end of the Bad Girls Don't Die series. If it is, I might have to beg Katie Alender to keep writing more of this series as it is so good!
I'd recommend this book to everyone aged 13+.
Katarzyna Krasuska (81 KP) rated Behind Closed Doors in Books
Aug 10, 2018
The book that made me angry
Contains spoilers, click to show
So, where do i start?
It took me one and a half day to read it, purely because I wanted to get it over with...
I must warn you, there might be some spoilers here, so unless you're not interested in reading the book I wouldn't continue with the review.
I just found the entire story so unrealistic and badly written, that it really makes me angry when I see all these five star reviews. For what, I'm asking?
Let me take you through some of my biggest issues with the story:
Issue number 1.:
Imagine you're 32 years old Grace, single, with the most amazing job as a buyer for Harrods with constant trips to South America. You're also about to become a legal guardian to your little sister with Down Syndrome. You meet this gorgeous man named Jack, whom you immediately fall in love with due to a lovely act of kindness towards your sister. This man within no time at all proposes to you and with that asks you to quit your job, sell your house and let him be the legal guardian as well. Any alarm bells yet??
He then says he wants the wedding to happen straight away. He's very manipulative, he makes all the decisions about the ceremony by himself; he decides the date, the venue, he even picks your dress.
Now the biggest giveaway that the fella is bad news is when he disappears on your wedding night and doesn't answer his phone, then in the morning texts you saying: Stop being so dramatic! I'll see you in front of the hotel at 11.
Wouldn't this be enough? Wouldn't you start thinking, that maybe you don't know enough about your husband, that you rushed into things?
What responsible woman would ever do that? I mean, seriously?! Ok, maybe if she didn't have Millie(her sister) and thought, that this might be the last chance to be with someone, than maybe she would agree for that quick a wedding. Or if she didn't have that good a job... Not like that though, I just don't see it. I think this could only happen if Grace herself had some sort of personality disorder or at least a very, very low self esteem.
Issue number 2.:
The constant threats about sending Millie to asylum...what asylum? This isn't Batman and Gotham city, asylums like that don't exist anymore. And since when people with Down Syndrome are held in Psychiatric Hospitals (as that's what they're called!). Not just that, you can't just admit someone to one of them. There are assessments and number of tests done with the patient, which means that only good things could come out that, as Millie would have told doctors what's really happening and the police would be called...simple.
Issue number 3.:
Grace had so many chances to escape, that it's actually funny. She could scream in the restaurant, shout for help, refuse to leave, do something!!
Issue number 4.:
Then there's the ending...
Grace in some miraculous way gets away with murder... In this fantasy world filled with lawyers, psychopaths & wealth, the author didn't think about forensics...hmm, or is it just me?
Even though I can honestly say I've read worse (Husband's secret, Sister's secret etc), this was a very painful and frustrating read...
It took me one and a half day to read it, purely because I wanted to get it over with...
I must warn you, there might be some spoilers here, so unless you're not interested in reading the book I wouldn't continue with the review.
I just found the entire story so unrealistic and badly written, that it really makes me angry when I see all these five star reviews. For what, I'm asking?
Let me take you through some of my biggest issues with the story:
Issue number 1.:
Imagine you're 32 years old Grace, single, with the most amazing job as a buyer for Harrods with constant trips to South America. You're also about to become a legal guardian to your little sister with Down Syndrome. You meet this gorgeous man named Jack, whom you immediately fall in love with due to a lovely act of kindness towards your sister. This man within no time at all proposes to you and with that asks you to quit your job, sell your house and let him be the legal guardian as well. Any alarm bells yet??
He then says he wants the wedding to happen straight away. He's very manipulative, he makes all the decisions about the ceremony by himself; he decides the date, the venue, he even picks your dress.
Now the biggest giveaway that the fella is bad news is when he disappears on your wedding night and doesn't answer his phone, then in the morning texts you saying: Stop being so dramatic! I'll see you in front of the hotel at 11.
Wouldn't this be enough? Wouldn't you start thinking, that maybe you don't know enough about your husband, that you rushed into things?
What responsible woman would ever do that? I mean, seriously?! Ok, maybe if she didn't have Millie(her sister) and thought, that this might be the last chance to be with someone, than maybe she would agree for that quick a wedding. Or if she didn't have that good a job... Not like that though, I just don't see it. I think this could only happen if Grace herself had some sort of personality disorder or at least a very, very low self esteem.
Issue number 2.:
The constant threats about sending Millie to asylum...what asylum? This isn't Batman and Gotham city, asylums like that don't exist anymore. And since when people with Down Syndrome are held in Psychiatric Hospitals (as that's what they're called!). Not just that, you can't just admit someone to one of them. There are assessments and number of tests done with the patient, which means that only good things could come out that, as Millie would have told doctors what's really happening and the police would be called...simple.
Issue number 3.:
Grace had so many chances to escape, that it's actually funny. She could scream in the restaurant, shout for help, refuse to leave, do something!!
Issue number 4.:
Then there's the ending...
Grace in some miraculous way gets away with murder... In this fantasy world filled with lawyers, psychopaths & wealth, the author didn't think about forensics...hmm, or is it just me?
Even though I can honestly say I've read worse (Husband's secret, Sister's secret etc), this was a very painful and frustrating read...
Debbiereadsbook (1197 KP) rated Alpha's Embrace (Omega Misfits #3) in Books
Apr 19, 2020
a needed addition but falls far flat of the other two books
Independent reviewer for Gay Romance Reviews, I was gifted my copy of this book.
This is book 3 in the Omega Misfits series, but you don't need to have read Trust No Alpha (book 1) or The Alpha's Fake Mate (book 2) before you read this one. They all take place in the same world, but can totally be read as a stand alone read. I HAVE read them, although I did not write reviews for them as I read them via the Unlimited programme.
And I found THIS one the weakest of the three.
Alphas are supposed to mate with Omegas and ONLY with Omegas. However when 2 Omegas mate, and produce a child, that child is a Sylph. Sylph children are removed from society and kept locked up for their own good. They live with a constant Burn, unlike Alphas who get them regularly, and most do not live into adulthood for going insane.
Misha is such a child. Well, not a child, he is well into adulthood and a bit of an anomoly. He can control his Burn, and be a productive member of society, BUT for the fact he is Sylph. Geo is an Alpha and the new general manager at the facility where Misha lives. When Geo touches Misha without gloves, a bond begins. A bond that is as illegal as it is dangerous. To BOTH of them.
Both Misha and Geo know this is different, whatever they are feeling, but Geo is best able to voice it and rationalise what is happening between them. Misha is, for want of a better explanation, away with the fairies most of the time, but then again, being locked up all the time would make anyone so. Misha KNOWS he is Sylph, he KNOWS he cannot bond, so he doesn't know what this is between him and Geo. He KNOWS he wants Geo, in a way that is different to his usual want (Sylphs want everyone) he just doesn't know what to do. Geo makes the decision, but Misha is given a choice. I liked that it took time for them to act on the bond, to consummate it. They both have thoughts about the other, it just takes time for them to act on it. I've filed it as m-preg, cos it is talked about and does appear in other books in the series, but there isn't any here.
Both guys have a say, in the first person. Misha's voice is a little airy-fairy, like I said and Geo's is very much an Alpha, but he does go a little off the rails, and that comes out of nowhere, to be honest. I found Geo the least liked of the three Alphas in these books and I cannot pinpoint exactly why.
I liked how it all sorted out, but I would have liked a bit of an epilogue, a some-time-later type thing, to catch up on them, and how things pan out after what they did, and whether things had changed for Misha with a fully formed bond.
A nice read, a GOOD addition to the series though and I think it really was needed, a story about the Slyph children, who are talked about in the other books. This book just didn't push my buttons as the other two did, I'm afraid.
3 good solid stars
**same worded review will appear elsewhere**
This is book 3 in the Omega Misfits series, but you don't need to have read Trust No Alpha (book 1) or The Alpha's Fake Mate (book 2) before you read this one. They all take place in the same world, but can totally be read as a stand alone read. I HAVE read them, although I did not write reviews for them as I read them via the Unlimited programme.
And I found THIS one the weakest of the three.
Alphas are supposed to mate with Omegas and ONLY with Omegas. However when 2 Omegas mate, and produce a child, that child is a Sylph. Sylph children are removed from society and kept locked up for their own good. They live with a constant Burn, unlike Alphas who get them regularly, and most do not live into adulthood for going insane.
Misha is such a child. Well, not a child, he is well into adulthood and a bit of an anomoly. He can control his Burn, and be a productive member of society, BUT for the fact he is Sylph. Geo is an Alpha and the new general manager at the facility where Misha lives. When Geo touches Misha without gloves, a bond begins. A bond that is as illegal as it is dangerous. To BOTH of them.
Both Misha and Geo know this is different, whatever they are feeling, but Geo is best able to voice it and rationalise what is happening between them. Misha is, for want of a better explanation, away with the fairies most of the time, but then again, being locked up all the time would make anyone so. Misha KNOWS he is Sylph, he KNOWS he cannot bond, so he doesn't know what this is between him and Geo. He KNOWS he wants Geo, in a way that is different to his usual want (Sylphs want everyone) he just doesn't know what to do. Geo makes the decision, but Misha is given a choice. I liked that it took time for them to act on the bond, to consummate it. They both have thoughts about the other, it just takes time for them to act on it. I've filed it as m-preg, cos it is talked about and does appear in other books in the series, but there isn't any here.
Both guys have a say, in the first person. Misha's voice is a little airy-fairy, like I said and Geo's is very much an Alpha, but he does go a little off the rails, and that comes out of nowhere, to be honest. I found Geo the least liked of the three Alphas in these books and I cannot pinpoint exactly why.
I liked how it all sorted out, but I would have liked a bit of an epilogue, a some-time-later type thing, to catch up on them, and how things pan out after what they did, and whether things had changed for Misha with a fully formed bond.
A nice read, a GOOD addition to the series though and I think it really was needed, a story about the Slyph children, who are talked about in the other books. This book just didn't push my buttons as the other two did, I'm afraid.
3 good solid stars
**same worded review will appear elsewhere**
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