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On Sale for a limited time!! $1.99 -> $0.99 "Lightning Fighter is certainly no slouch as far as...
Notorious RBG: The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Irin Carmon and Shana Knizhnik
10.0
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Irin Carmon: I heard you can do 20 pushups. Ruth Bader Ginsburg: Yes, but we do ten at a time....
Women and Children First
10.0
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She was the most magnificent ship ever built, yet on the eve of 14th April the Titanic sank in the...
Rebel Queen
6.0
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From the internationally best-selling author of Nefertiti and Cleopatra's Daughter comes the...
ClareR (5753 KP) rated Double Blind in Books
Jul 28, 2023
I really enjoyed Double Blind, not least because of Benedict Cumberbatch’s excellent narration on the audiobook!
There’s a lot packed in to this book: mental health, love, bravery, illness, fear, adoption, climate change, genetics, inheritance and technology (there might be more, but this is off the top of my head!). These are all pretty meaty themes, but I think they were all addressed with sensitivity, and nothing seemed contrived - even though one of the characters was ridiculously rich!
There’s a fair bit of internal dialogue going on, but it’s all relevant to the story itself, and I feel it was easier to listen to than it might have been to read. In fact, this book seemed to go by really quickly - I thoroughly enjoyed it, and listened to it whenever I could.
The characters were all very likeable: Lucy has a brain tumour, and after the initial shock she takes the news very well. She works for an American called Hunter Sterling, a tycoon and hedonist. He takes a lot of drugs.
Francis is a conservationist on an estate, and he meets Olivia, a biologist. Her father is a psychoanalyst who works with schizophrenics (amongst others), in particular a man called Sebastian. His deeper connections emerge in the story.
All of these people and themes are woven into a beautifully written book. I loved it, and it looks as though I have another authors backlist to investigate!
There’s a lot packed in to this book: mental health, love, bravery, illness, fear, adoption, climate change, genetics, inheritance and technology (there might be more, but this is off the top of my head!). These are all pretty meaty themes, but I think they were all addressed with sensitivity, and nothing seemed contrived - even though one of the characters was ridiculously rich!
There’s a fair bit of internal dialogue going on, but it’s all relevant to the story itself, and I feel it was easier to listen to than it might have been to read. In fact, this book seemed to go by really quickly - I thoroughly enjoyed it, and listened to it whenever I could.
The characters were all very likeable: Lucy has a brain tumour, and after the initial shock she takes the news very well. She works for an American called Hunter Sterling, a tycoon and hedonist. He takes a lot of drugs.
Francis is a conservationist on an estate, and he meets Olivia, a biologist. Her father is a psychoanalyst who works with schizophrenics (amongst others), in particular a man called Sebastian. His deeper connections emerge in the story.
All of these people and themes are woven into a beautifully written book. I loved it, and it looks as though I have another authors backlist to investigate!
Emanuela Orlandi and Ettore Majorana: Two Italian Mysteries Resolved?
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Discover the captivating true stories of Emanuela Orlandi and Ettore Majorana in this compelling...
Futuristic Fantasy
This eBook was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review
Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard is a futuristic, fantasy novel where society is divided by rich and poor; powerful and weak; elite and commoners; Silver and Red. Those with silver blood have magical abilities which make them believe they are more important than the talentless Reds who are forced to live in dilapidated towns and be sent to their deaths in wars they cannot survive.
Mare Barrow is a Red and knows that her future is doomed. Desperate to escape she confides in a stranger and lands herself a serving position in the Silver palace. Suddenly, however, her world is turned upside down after an accident reveals that, although she has red blood, she has a magical ability too. Instead of killing her as she expected, the king and queen force her to pretend she is a Silver, threatening her family if she steps out of line.
Naturally Mare hates the Silvers and involves herself with the Scarlet Guard – a terrorist group of Red rebels. However a complicated love triangle, and a shocking plot twist, puts Mare in even more danger than she bargained for.
The Cinderella-like idea of Mare coming from a poor background yet finding herself a member of the elite is nothing new. The difference here is that Mare does not want anything to do with the Silvers. She does not trust them and is angry about the way they are treating her family and her people.
Red Queen reminds me slightly of a couple of other young adult novels. It is a mishmash of The Selection by Kiera Cass (the poor become elite) and stories such as The Hunger Games (violence, rich verses poor etc.) Therefore this did not feel like a completely original piece of work. Nevertheless it was still exciting and Mare is such an admirable character.
I recommend this novel to readers of fantasy, dystopia and romance as Red Queen combines all three ideas. It is suitable for teenagers and adults alike, and do not let the word “Queen” make you believe that it is going to be overly girly. It will be interesting to see what happens in the next installment of this series – the ending suggests that there will be a lot more fighting!
Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard is a futuristic, fantasy novel where society is divided by rich and poor; powerful and weak; elite and commoners; Silver and Red. Those with silver blood have magical abilities which make them believe they are more important than the talentless Reds who are forced to live in dilapidated towns and be sent to their deaths in wars they cannot survive.
Mare Barrow is a Red and knows that her future is doomed. Desperate to escape she confides in a stranger and lands herself a serving position in the Silver palace. Suddenly, however, her world is turned upside down after an accident reveals that, although she has red blood, she has a magical ability too. Instead of killing her as she expected, the king and queen force her to pretend she is a Silver, threatening her family if she steps out of line.
Naturally Mare hates the Silvers and involves herself with the Scarlet Guard – a terrorist group of Red rebels. However a complicated love triangle, and a shocking plot twist, puts Mare in even more danger than she bargained for.
The Cinderella-like idea of Mare coming from a poor background yet finding herself a member of the elite is nothing new. The difference here is that Mare does not want anything to do with the Silvers. She does not trust them and is angry about the way they are treating her family and her people.
Red Queen reminds me slightly of a couple of other young adult novels. It is a mishmash of The Selection by Kiera Cass (the poor become elite) and stories such as The Hunger Games (violence, rich verses poor etc.) Therefore this did not feel like a completely original piece of work. Nevertheless it was still exciting and Mare is such an admirable character.
I recommend this novel to readers of fantasy, dystopia and romance as Red Queen combines all three ideas. It is suitable for teenagers and adults alike, and do not let the word “Queen” make you believe that it is going to be overly girly. It will be interesting to see what happens in the next installment of this series – the ending suggests that there will be a lot more fighting!
<i>This eBook was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review
Red Queen</i> by Victoria Aveyard is a futuristic, fantasy novel where society is divided by rich and poor; powerful and weak; elite and commoners; Silver and Red. Those with silver blood have magical abilities which make them believe they are more important than the talentless Reds who are forced to live in dilapidated towns and be sent to their deaths in wars they cannot survive.
Mare Barrow is a Red and knows that her future is doomed. Desperate to escape she confides in a stranger and lands herself a serving position in the Silver palace. Suddenly, however, her world is turned upside down after an accident reveals that, although she has red blood, she has a magical ability too. Instead of killing her as she expected, the king and queen force her to pretend she is a Silver, threatening her family if she steps out of line.
Naturally Mare hates the Silvers and involves herself with the Scarlet Guard – a terrorist group of Red rebels. However a complicated love triangle, and a shocking plot twist, puts Mare in even more danger than she bargained for.
The <i>Cinderella</i>-like idea of Mare coming from a poor background yet finding herself a member of the elite is nothing new. The difference here is that Mare does not want anything to do with the Silvers. She does not trust them and is angry about the way they are treating her family and her people.
<i>Red Queen </i>reminds me slightly of a couple of other young adult novels. It is a mishmash of <i>The Selection </i>by Kiera Cass (the poor become elite) and stories such as <i>The Hunger Games</i> (violence, rich verses poor etc.) Therefore this did not feel like a completely original piece of work. Nevertheless it was still exciting and Mare is such an admirable character.
I recommend this novel to readers of fantasy, dystopia and romance as<i> Red Queen</i> combines all three ideas. It is suitable for teenagers and adults alike, and do not let the word “<i>Queen</i>” make you believe that it is going to be overly girly. It will be interesting to see what happens in the next installment of this series – the ending suggests that there will be a lot more fighting!
Red Queen</i> by Victoria Aveyard is a futuristic, fantasy novel where society is divided by rich and poor; powerful and weak; elite and commoners; Silver and Red. Those with silver blood have magical abilities which make them believe they are more important than the talentless Reds who are forced to live in dilapidated towns and be sent to their deaths in wars they cannot survive.
Mare Barrow is a Red and knows that her future is doomed. Desperate to escape she confides in a stranger and lands herself a serving position in the Silver palace. Suddenly, however, her world is turned upside down after an accident reveals that, although she has red blood, she has a magical ability too. Instead of killing her as she expected, the king and queen force her to pretend she is a Silver, threatening her family if she steps out of line.
Naturally Mare hates the Silvers and involves herself with the Scarlet Guard – a terrorist group of Red rebels. However a complicated love triangle, and a shocking plot twist, puts Mare in even more danger than she bargained for.
The <i>Cinderella</i>-like idea of Mare coming from a poor background yet finding herself a member of the elite is nothing new. The difference here is that Mare does not want anything to do with the Silvers. She does not trust them and is angry about the way they are treating her family and her people.
<i>Red Queen </i>reminds me slightly of a couple of other young adult novels. It is a mishmash of <i>The Selection </i>by Kiera Cass (the poor become elite) and stories such as <i>The Hunger Games</i> (violence, rich verses poor etc.) Therefore this did not feel like a completely original piece of work. Nevertheless it was still exciting and Mare is such an admirable character.
I recommend this novel to readers of fantasy, dystopia and romance as<i> Red Queen</i> combines all three ideas. It is suitable for teenagers and adults alike, and do not let the word “<i>Queen</i>” make you believe that it is going to be overly girly. It will be interesting to see what happens in the next installment of this series – the ending suggests that there will be a lot more fighting!
Emma @ The Movies (1786 KP) rated Parasite (2019) in Movies
Jan 23, 2020
All I'd been hearing about Parasite was that it was a masterpiece and amazing, so many people were getting to see previews but of course they were all in London. Then Odeon came to the rescue with their Screen Unseen program so I defected from Cineworld for an evening.
The Kim family are desperately trying to make ends meet, their cramped home is uncomfortable and located in one of the shabbiest districts of Seoul. Things take a turn when the son's friend suggests that he takes over his tutoring job for the daughter of a well off family. Ki-woo doesn't have the qualifications but all he needs is to show confidence, he decides to take the job.
Once he gets to the upscale house opportunities start to present themselves and he sees a chance to set his family up with jobs too. Bringing their mother onboard sets in motion something that no one could have seen coming.
I seriously considered not writing a review for this, please excuse me if it seems a little disjointed but I'm still not entirely convinced that I have a proper conclusion.
Coming out of the film I was a little confused, mainly because apart from hearing about it being a masterpiece I had seen people saying it was a horror... IMDb lists it as "comedy, crime, drama", at least I agree with one of those.
The contrast between rich and poor is shown perfectly throughout, from their homes to the human senses expressed, the way it's all represented on screen solidifies the differences between the two families.
In each home environment we also see it, the sleek versus the chaotic, the clean versus the dirty. The Park's designer home is white, open and ordered, the Kim's is claustrophobic, cluttered and busy. The two are illustrated perfectly on each end of the spectrum and the two overlap briefly when the Kim's briefly take over the Park's home.
I thought the acting was good but I wasn't blown away by anything, potentially more of an issue with the script for me as I wasn't keen on some of the character traits that came out. The divide between the two families is obviously something that carries through to their members, but whereas we might expect the rich to be the villains in a story (and yes, they aren't necessarily the best people in the world) it is in fact the poor that are verging on the bad side of things. It does appear that in this instance money is the corrupting influence on the Kims and they get the taste for the high life. All the actors involved are very strong in helping this come across to the audience.
Beyond this set up I wasn't left with the gushing feeling that many, MANY others were. Maybe this just went over my head, I'm the first to admit that when I go to a movie I turn my brain down. Maybe it was more thinking than I'm willing to put into a film. When films touch a lot of different genres I feel like I have some trouble with then so this could also contribute to my underwhelmed feeling. My instinct coming out was that I wanted it to be a little darker and closer to a thriller than just drama.
After one viewing I would say I wouldn't have chosen to see it again but there's an Unlimited Screening coming I feel like it's worth giving it a second viewing in case I see something I didn't see before, but I'm not sure how much it will change things.
Originally posted on: https://emmaatthemovies.blogspot.com/2020/01/parasite-movie-review.html
The Kim family are desperately trying to make ends meet, their cramped home is uncomfortable and located in one of the shabbiest districts of Seoul. Things take a turn when the son's friend suggests that he takes over his tutoring job for the daughter of a well off family. Ki-woo doesn't have the qualifications but all he needs is to show confidence, he decides to take the job.
Once he gets to the upscale house opportunities start to present themselves and he sees a chance to set his family up with jobs too. Bringing their mother onboard sets in motion something that no one could have seen coming.
I seriously considered not writing a review for this, please excuse me if it seems a little disjointed but I'm still not entirely convinced that I have a proper conclusion.
Coming out of the film I was a little confused, mainly because apart from hearing about it being a masterpiece I had seen people saying it was a horror... IMDb lists it as "comedy, crime, drama", at least I agree with one of those.
The contrast between rich and poor is shown perfectly throughout, from their homes to the human senses expressed, the way it's all represented on screen solidifies the differences between the two families.
In each home environment we also see it, the sleek versus the chaotic, the clean versus the dirty. The Park's designer home is white, open and ordered, the Kim's is claustrophobic, cluttered and busy. The two are illustrated perfectly on each end of the spectrum and the two overlap briefly when the Kim's briefly take over the Park's home.
I thought the acting was good but I wasn't blown away by anything, potentially more of an issue with the script for me as I wasn't keen on some of the character traits that came out. The divide between the two families is obviously something that carries through to their members, but whereas we might expect the rich to be the villains in a story (and yes, they aren't necessarily the best people in the world) it is in fact the poor that are verging on the bad side of things. It does appear that in this instance money is the corrupting influence on the Kims and they get the taste for the high life. All the actors involved are very strong in helping this come across to the audience.
Beyond this set up I wasn't left with the gushing feeling that many, MANY others were. Maybe this just went over my head, I'm the first to admit that when I go to a movie I turn my brain down. Maybe it was more thinking than I'm willing to put into a film. When films touch a lot of different genres I feel like I have some trouble with then so this could also contribute to my underwhelmed feeling. My instinct coming out was that I wanted it to be a little darker and closer to a thriller than just drama.
After one viewing I would say I wouldn't have chosen to see it again but there's an Unlimited Screening coming I feel like it's worth giving it a second viewing in case I see something I didn't see before, but I'm not sure how much it will change things.
Originally posted on: https://emmaatthemovies.blogspot.com/2020/01/parasite-movie-review.html
Sassy Brit (97 KP) rated Blood Crescent in Books
Jun 5, 2019
In this magical, and quite ambitious, story Stevie McCoy delves into the mystical world of
Blood Crescent where main character realises her missing mother may still be alive and her own life is not what she thought it was. Big time! What they wanted from her mother, they now want from her. But who are ‘they’?
To begin with Blood Crescent has a surreal, hazy, yet mystical feel to it, as the mysterious Crystal slowly comes to grips with what is happening to her forcing her to embark on a fantastical and multi-layered journey of self-discovery and adventure.
As the story unfolded, I was transported into another realm where I met some amazing characters. Angel Aishlin with her witchy ways, and the (adorable) anti-hero Victor are just two characters who leapt right out of the pages and into my heart! Not only that, but I felt that this is ventured into the vampire world with a unique slant. You’ve heard of people being called ’emotional vampires’ right? There the sort of people who drain your energy by just being in the same room as them, because they’re for some reason, negative or miserable. Well this book takes that idea and runs with it. Like energy draining vampires who can suck out any goodness in your aura, just because they can. But of course, in this world it’s not that simple. And for good reason, too!
Overall I have the feeling this is the start of a vast universe, with complex rules and therefore has the capacity to branch off in so many directions, this could the first of a long-running series, and would make great viewing on the box. In fact, I watched these characters play out their roles in my head as if it were already on the TV! There’s an intense, dark atmosphere to this story where the surreal meets a reality not unlike our own… if we are to believe there’s more to life than what we can see. And why shouldn’t there be?
A rich tapestry of characters in a world where there is so much more to be discovered. I’m looking forward to continuing this adventure!
Blood Crescent where main character realises her missing mother may still be alive and her own life is not what she thought it was. Big time! What they wanted from her mother, they now want from her. But who are ‘they’?
To begin with Blood Crescent has a surreal, hazy, yet mystical feel to it, as the mysterious Crystal slowly comes to grips with what is happening to her forcing her to embark on a fantastical and multi-layered journey of self-discovery and adventure.
As the story unfolded, I was transported into another realm where I met some amazing characters. Angel Aishlin with her witchy ways, and the (adorable) anti-hero Victor are just two characters who leapt right out of the pages and into my heart! Not only that, but I felt that this is ventured into the vampire world with a unique slant. You’ve heard of people being called ’emotional vampires’ right? There the sort of people who drain your energy by just being in the same room as them, because they’re for some reason, negative or miserable. Well this book takes that idea and runs with it. Like energy draining vampires who can suck out any goodness in your aura, just because they can. But of course, in this world it’s not that simple. And for good reason, too!
Overall I have the feeling this is the start of a vast universe, with complex rules and therefore has the capacity to branch off in so many directions, this could the first of a long-running series, and would make great viewing on the box. In fact, I watched these characters play out their roles in my head as if it were already on the TV! There’s an intense, dark atmosphere to this story where the surreal meets a reality not unlike our own… if we are to believe there’s more to life than what we can see. And why shouldn’t there be?
A rich tapestry of characters in a world where there is so much more to be discovered. I’m looking forward to continuing this adventure!