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Kristy H (1252 KP) rated All We Ever Wanted in Books
Mar 10, 2019
Enjoyed it but felt like something was missing
Nina and Kirk Browning and their teenage son, Finch, live a good life, especially since Kirk sold his company and the family has experienced a great deal of wealth. Nina and Kirk are attending a fundraiser when they hear whispering that Finch has been involved in an incident with another student at his school, Windsor Academy. It soon comes out that Finch has taken an inappropriate sexy picture of Lyla at a party and sent it to friends, accompanied by a racist comment. The photo spreads around the community quickly, causing both the kids and parents to take sides. Lyla's father, Tom, who has been raising Lyla since she was small, is appalled--he cannot believe his daughter is involved in such a mess, and he wants justice for her. Lyla's at Windsor on a scholarship, and she just wants to fit in. Now, Nina, Finch, Lyla, and Tom must grapple with the aftermath of the photo and what exactly happened the night of the party.
This is a timely novel that certainly has a place in the #MeToo moment. It's a topic being covered more and more lately, and the idea of teens and sexting is just as horrifying as always. It draws you in from the beginning, and I found it to be a very fascinating read that kept my interest throughout. By alternating the point of view between Nina, Tom, and Lyla, we get to the story told from a range of characters, including the victim herself.
The biggest issue I had with this one--and even Lyla herself admits it--is that the characters sometimes come across as cliche: the spoiled rich boy hurts the poor, intelligent girl on scholarship. The only light of resistance is Nina, our wealthy wife with the obnoxious, rich husband. Even Nina's friends appear to be clueless (or worse) jerks brainwashed by their picture perfect Nashville lives. Still, Lyla is a great kid and reading her sections is lovely. Her father is a flawed individual, but you can't help but empathize with him as well. Nina is more complicated, and I would have liked to see her take on a little more responsibility for her son and the events that unfold around her. Yes, Nina had a conscience, but she didn't seem to do a lot with it, if that makes any sense, besides apologize.
In the end, I enjoyed this one because it wasn't totally predictable and because I really liked the characters of Lyla and Tom. I found it to be an easy and quick read. Still, it seemed like something was missing as I read, whether it was because some of the book felt like it was populated by stock characters or what, I don't know. While it's not exactly the same story, I would recommend the amazing Girl Made of Stars from Ashley Herring Blake if you're looking for a timely book on this topic. That powerful book blows this one out of the water, and maybe it's that power and emotion that I felt was lacking here.
This is a timely novel that certainly has a place in the #MeToo moment. It's a topic being covered more and more lately, and the idea of teens and sexting is just as horrifying as always. It draws you in from the beginning, and I found it to be a very fascinating read that kept my interest throughout. By alternating the point of view between Nina, Tom, and Lyla, we get to the story told from a range of characters, including the victim herself.
The biggest issue I had with this one--and even Lyla herself admits it--is that the characters sometimes come across as cliche: the spoiled rich boy hurts the poor, intelligent girl on scholarship. The only light of resistance is Nina, our wealthy wife with the obnoxious, rich husband. Even Nina's friends appear to be clueless (or worse) jerks brainwashed by their picture perfect Nashville lives. Still, Lyla is a great kid and reading her sections is lovely. Her father is a flawed individual, but you can't help but empathize with him as well. Nina is more complicated, and I would have liked to see her take on a little more responsibility for her son and the events that unfold around her. Yes, Nina had a conscience, but she didn't seem to do a lot with it, if that makes any sense, besides apologize.
In the end, I enjoyed this one because it wasn't totally predictable and because I really liked the characters of Lyla and Tom. I found it to be an easy and quick read. Still, it seemed like something was missing as I read, whether it was because some of the book felt like it was populated by stock characters or what, I don't know. While it's not exactly the same story, I would recommend the amazing Girl Made of Stars from Ashley Herring Blake if you're looking for a timely book on this topic. That powerful book blows this one out of the water, and maybe it's that power and emotion that I felt was lacking here.
Lucy Buglass (45 KP) rated The Outsider (2018) in Movies
Jun 20, 2019
The concept of ‘The Outsider’ is a very interesting one, and partially why I was so drawn to the film in the first place. The film follows a former American GI by the name of Nick Lowell who joins the Yakuza, and that synopsis alone was enough to grab my attention. The second reason was the fact it starred Jared Leto, as I believe he’s a very good actor based on his performances in ‘Requiem for a Dream’, ‘Dallas Buyers Club’ and ‘American Psycho’.
Coming into this film, I had incredibly high hopes and was expecting an afternoon of thrilling scenes and engaging characters. As it was so easily accessible on Netflix, I also had no excuse to pass up the opportunity to get it watched. Unfortunately for me, I was left mostly disappointed by what ‘The Outsider’ delivered.
Running at 2 hours, it seems to drag on for much longer than that because the pacing of the film is poor. To be clear, I have no issue with films that have long runtimes provided they can make it work (‘The Wolf of Wall Street’, for example, runs at 3 hours yet seems to fly by), but this film has tedious scenes that simply didn’t do enough to hold my interest. They could’ve easily cut out half an hour’s worth of footage and still made the film work, in my opinion. It seems strange that a film about the Yakuza could be so boring, but sadly it was.
Jared Leto’s character, Nick, doesn’t have a clear backstory and because of this he’s a very uninteresting character. When we’re first introduced to him, I liked the fact he was such an enigma and assumed we’d learn more about him, but we never really do save for a few chunks of information scattered randomly throughout the narrative. As a Leto fan, I was disappointed that he didn’t really bring anything special to the role and literally any other actor could’ve taken his place and still delivered the same story.
The characters that Nick encounters throughout the film aren’t particularly noteworthy either, as they seem to exist to just berate Nick and frown at him, and not much happens beyond that. It seems very lazy that a film like ‘The Outsider’ has so many characters that are sloppily written, with no backstories to keep the audience interested.
‘The Outsider’ did have some redeeming features, though not enough for me to say I particularly enjoyed watching the film. There are a few gory, intense moments that hold your attention and make you squirm, but much less than I expected from a supposed crime film, especially one that focuses on such a notorious criminal organisation. Cinematically, it’s a decent film to look at based on the camerawork and colour grading throughout, but the absence of any decent story makes it fall flat.
Martin Zandvliet’s cinematic portrayal of the Japanese Yakuza is mediocre at best, and not what I expected based on the marketing I’d seen prior to watching the film. I wanted a violent, sexy, engaging crime film and got absolutely none of that.
https://jumpcutonline.co.uk/the-outsider/
Coming into this film, I had incredibly high hopes and was expecting an afternoon of thrilling scenes and engaging characters. As it was so easily accessible on Netflix, I also had no excuse to pass up the opportunity to get it watched. Unfortunately for me, I was left mostly disappointed by what ‘The Outsider’ delivered.
Running at 2 hours, it seems to drag on for much longer than that because the pacing of the film is poor. To be clear, I have no issue with films that have long runtimes provided they can make it work (‘The Wolf of Wall Street’, for example, runs at 3 hours yet seems to fly by), but this film has tedious scenes that simply didn’t do enough to hold my interest. They could’ve easily cut out half an hour’s worth of footage and still made the film work, in my opinion. It seems strange that a film about the Yakuza could be so boring, but sadly it was.
Jared Leto’s character, Nick, doesn’t have a clear backstory and because of this he’s a very uninteresting character. When we’re first introduced to him, I liked the fact he was such an enigma and assumed we’d learn more about him, but we never really do save for a few chunks of information scattered randomly throughout the narrative. As a Leto fan, I was disappointed that he didn’t really bring anything special to the role and literally any other actor could’ve taken his place and still delivered the same story.
The characters that Nick encounters throughout the film aren’t particularly noteworthy either, as they seem to exist to just berate Nick and frown at him, and not much happens beyond that. It seems very lazy that a film like ‘The Outsider’ has so many characters that are sloppily written, with no backstories to keep the audience interested.
‘The Outsider’ did have some redeeming features, though not enough for me to say I particularly enjoyed watching the film. There are a few gory, intense moments that hold your attention and make you squirm, but much less than I expected from a supposed crime film, especially one that focuses on such a notorious criminal organisation. Cinematically, it’s a decent film to look at based on the camerawork and colour grading throughout, but the absence of any decent story makes it fall flat.
Martin Zandvliet’s cinematic portrayal of the Japanese Yakuza is mediocre at best, and not what I expected based on the marketing I’d seen prior to watching the film. I wanted a violent, sexy, engaging crime film and got absolutely none of that.
https://jumpcutonline.co.uk/the-outsider/
Darren (1599 KP) rated Eight Legged Freaks (2002) in Movies
Jun 20, 2019
Contains spoilers, click to show
Story: Eight Legged Freaks starts by showing us the Mike Parker (Terra) visiting Joshua the spider expert of the town who has been feeding his spiders enlarged crickets and of course they now escape. One week later when Mike goes to return his mother Sheriff Samantha Parker (Wuhrer) stops the visit because of waste being dumped into the local watering hole.
With this we get to see the rebellious teenage daughter Ashley (Johansson) who is dating bad boy biker Bret (Czuchry) step-son of Mayor Wade (Rippy) who is trying to cover up the fact the town is nearly broke. Chris McCormick (Arquette) a local who returned to town after his father’s death refusing to sell the mine in a deal which could save the town.
When Mike makes it back to Joshua’s he learns of the super-sized spiders that have been released into this small town, the resident must now fight against the spiders that have infested the town.
Thoughts on Eight Legged Freaks
Characters/Performance – Chris McCormick returns to his hometown to claim what is his, the mine, he also needs to make up for the mistakes he has made and this gives him the perfect chance too. Sheriff Parker is a single mother of two trying to keep the local community together and being the former love interest of Chris. Mike is the expert on everything going on playing out as the reminder to all the different spiders attacking styles. Ashley is the bad girl daughter of Samantha who is mostly trying to discover who she is. We have the rest of the town which includes the conspiracy crazed radio host, the greedy mayor the comic relief deputy.
Performance wise, David Arquette is great in this leading role managing the comedy side of everything as well as the action horror when needed. Kari Wuhrer fits the part of sexy sheriff very well too. Both Scott Terra and Scarlett Johansson are good choices too. The rest of the actors all give good performances to fit the films mentality.
Story – Small town gets invaded by giant spiders thanks to cost cutting measures. We do have a reluctantly hero needing to help save the day but otherwise this is everything you need in a creature feature, plenty of potential victims, plenty of creature and plenty of laughs.
Action/Comedy/Horror – The action is all big and plans into the idea of the comedy being used in the creature feature side of the film.
Settings – The small town setting helps with the story telling here because they have no communication with the outside world after the attack starts and not many escape routes of places to hide.
Special Effects – We have a mix of practical and CGI here which all help create the low budget feel behind this film and while moments have dated other parts are all fun.
Final Thoughts – This is by far one of my favourite creature features out there, it is fun, over the top and filled with perfect comic timing, never trying to be serious.
Overall: Purely fun creature feature.
https://moviesreview101.com/2018/10/27/a-z-halloween-horror-eight-legged-freaks-2002/
With this we get to see the rebellious teenage daughter Ashley (Johansson) who is dating bad boy biker Bret (Czuchry) step-son of Mayor Wade (Rippy) who is trying to cover up the fact the town is nearly broke. Chris McCormick (Arquette) a local who returned to town after his father’s death refusing to sell the mine in a deal which could save the town.
When Mike makes it back to Joshua’s he learns of the super-sized spiders that have been released into this small town, the resident must now fight against the spiders that have infested the town.
Thoughts on Eight Legged Freaks
Characters/Performance – Chris McCormick returns to his hometown to claim what is his, the mine, he also needs to make up for the mistakes he has made and this gives him the perfect chance too. Sheriff Parker is a single mother of two trying to keep the local community together and being the former love interest of Chris. Mike is the expert on everything going on playing out as the reminder to all the different spiders attacking styles. Ashley is the bad girl daughter of Samantha who is mostly trying to discover who she is. We have the rest of the town which includes the conspiracy crazed radio host, the greedy mayor the comic relief deputy.
Performance wise, David Arquette is great in this leading role managing the comedy side of everything as well as the action horror when needed. Kari Wuhrer fits the part of sexy sheriff very well too. Both Scott Terra and Scarlett Johansson are good choices too. The rest of the actors all give good performances to fit the films mentality.
Story – Small town gets invaded by giant spiders thanks to cost cutting measures. We do have a reluctantly hero needing to help save the day but otherwise this is everything you need in a creature feature, plenty of potential victims, plenty of creature and plenty of laughs.
Action/Comedy/Horror – The action is all big and plans into the idea of the comedy being used in the creature feature side of the film.
Settings – The small town setting helps with the story telling here because they have no communication with the outside world after the attack starts and not many escape routes of places to hide.
Special Effects – We have a mix of practical and CGI here which all help create the low budget feel behind this film and while moments have dated other parts are all fun.
Final Thoughts – This is by far one of my favourite creature features out there, it is fun, over the top and filled with perfect comic timing, never trying to be serious.
Overall: Purely fun creature feature.
https://moviesreview101.com/2018/10/27/a-z-halloween-horror-eight-legged-freaks-2002/
Debbiereadsbook (1454 KP) rated Two For The Road in Books
Jan 28, 2019
I loved this bookj!
Independent reviewer for Archaeolibrarian, I was gifted my copy of this book.
Dylan saw Riley when he was just 15, Riley was suited and booted and Dylan fell in love. At 22, Dylan manages to wrangle to lift to work with Riley, in an effort to get his man. Because Riley is HIS: Riley just needs to see it too. But Riley is 20 years older than Dylan, and Dylan's dad's best fried, even if a bit estranged. Coming back to the village he was born to spend time with his dying father was a shock to Riley's system, but a much needed one. Leaving his partner of 20 years not so much of a shock as a revelation of just what had been going on behind his back for the bigger part of that relationship. Dylan is a breath of fresh air to Riley, who is lonely after his dad passed away. Chatting on the 45 minute drive to work every day brings the two men closer, and when Dylan finally declares his intention to make Riley his, all Riley thinks about is what would Dylan's dad think. Can Riley get past the age gap?
I started reading this and I was liking it. It was shaping up nicely for a 4 star rating. Not loving, just really enjoying it. And then SOMETHING! I've no idea what happened, or who said what, but something happened and I began to LOVE this book! I loved it from that point!
Dylan is young, yes, but he is old enough to know what he wants, more importantly, WHO he wants, and Dylan WANTS Riley. Riley is his and no one else's and Dylan will fight for Riley, even if Riley is scared and worried and all those negative feelings. When Dylan finds out why Riley is scared (not cos of the age gap, that's mentioned a lot!) Dylan steps up his advances a notch and poor Riley doesn't stand a chance. But Dylan's dad catches them, and Riley pushes Dylan away, running at the first hurdle. Dylan though, he doesn't. He'll wait til Riley comes round, cos he WILL come round, just as Dylan's dad will. And they do, wonderfully.
This is one of those books that you just fall into and inhale, you know?? Not too complicated, but you have to pick up the clues about Riley's past relationship. It's not overly explicit, but it is incredibly sexy, especially when Riley's experience is bought to light, even with being in a 20 year relationship (I did NOT like that man!) There is angst and turmoil, but it's not too heavy. Just enough for you to shed a tear when Riley breaks down and cries for what could have been with Dylan.
This really is a warm and fuzzies slash too stinking cute book! It also seems to be the first I've read of Milne, so my wish list is now a little longer.
So!
5 full and shiny and COLOURFUL stars (because after 20 years of white, Riley needs colour)
**same worded review will appear elsewhere**
Dylan saw Riley when he was just 15, Riley was suited and booted and Dylan fell in love. At 22, Dylan manages to wrangle to lift to work with Riley, in an effort to get his man. Because Riley is HIS: Riley just needs to see it too. But Riley is 20 years older than Dylan, and Dylan's dad's best fried, even if a bit estranged. Coming back to the village he was born to spend time with his dying father was a shock to Riley's system, but a much needed one. Leaving his partner of 20 years not so much of a shock as a revelation of just what had been going on behind his back for the bigger part of that relationship. Dylan is a breath of fresh air to Riley, who is lonely after his dad passed away. Chatting on the 45 minute drive to work every day brings the two men closer, and when Dylan finally declares his intention to make Riley his, all Riley thinks about is what would Dylan's dad think. Can Riley get past the age gap?
I started reading this and I was liking it. It was shaping up nicely for a 4 star rating. Not loving, just really enjoying it. And then SOMETHING! I've no idea what happened, or who said what, but something happened and I began to LOVE this book! I loved it from that point!
Dylan is young, yes, but he is old enough to know what he wants, more importantly, WHO he wants, and Dylan WANTS Riley. Riley is his and no one else's and Dylan will fight for Riley, even if Riley is scared and worried and all those negative feelings. When Dylan finds out why Riley is scared (not cos of the age gap, that's mentioned a lot!) Dylan steps up his advances a notch and poor Riley doesn't stand a chance. But Dylan's dad catches them, and Riley pushes Dylan away, running at the first hurdle. Dylan though, he doesn't. He'll wait til Riley comes round, cos he WILL come round, just as Dylan's dad will. And they do, wonderfully.
This is one of those books that you just fall into and inhale, you know?? Not too complicated, but you have to pick up the clues about Riley's past relationship. It's not overly explicit, but it is incredibly sexy, especially when Riley's experience is bought to light, even with being in a 20 year relationship (I did NOT like that man!) There is angst and turmoil, but it's not too heavy. Just enough for you to shed a tear when Riley breaks down and cries for what could have been with Dylan.
This really is a warm and fuzzies slash too stinking cute book! It also seems to be the first I've read of Milne, so my wish list is now a little longer.
So!
5 full and shiny and COLOURFUL stars (because after 20 years of white, Riley needs colour)
**same worded review will appear elsewhere**
Debbiereadsbook (1454 KP) rated Ramen Assassin (Ramen Assassin #1) in Books
Jun 28, 2019
Fabulous new series from Ford!
Independent reviewer for Archaeolibrarian, I was gifted my copy of this book.
When Trey witnesses a dead body being dragged into a van, and then he gets shot at, he never thought the guy who has invaded his dreams would be the one to save him. He makes noodles all day, how can the man possibly pack more fire power than the bad guys, huh? Kuro thought he had left all that behind in the blaze of bullets that followed him to the embassy. But no, here he is, standing over the cute guy who comes in most days, shooting at the bad guys trying to shoot Trey. And then someone shoots at him. And Kuro sees red. Someone has to stand up for Trey, cos his own sister won't!
You never EVER know, from reading a Ford blurb, which way a book will go. You all do it, you read a blurb and your brain goes, Yup, thats what is gonna happen and then you start reading and whatever you had in mind goes right up in smoke!
so, Devastating? check. Emotional? check. Deadly? Murderous? check. Sexy? check, check and check!
I loved Kuro and Trey, both together and seperately. The way their stories mesh together is brilliant. I loved that they had both been eyeing each other up, but neither one wanted to make a move. The fact that Kuro let Trey sit at the back table every time he came in, had not gone unnoticed by his staff. The eyes Trey made at Kuro had not gone unnoticed either.
Trey's history could be any child star in today's world. A rise to fame, from a very young age, and a meteoric fall from grace that left him in everyone's bad books, his family especially. I hated his sister! She was so mean to Trey right when Trey needed her, and when Kuro takes up his case, Kuro gives Trey's sister such a piece of his mind, it's a wonder the woman wasn't reduced a pile of goo!
The whodunnit is a long winded (and long planned out!) and complicated plot, and I loved how it all went down!
This is billed as book one in the Ramen Assassin series. I have no idea whether Kuro and Trey will be the centre of each book, or some of Kuro's associates will be, I don't really care, to be honest! I just wanna read them!
And oh! The food! The food Kuro cooks sounds so yummy! Even when he does what I would call a "cupboard dinner" basically, whatever was in Trey's cupboards and fridge, it was yum! I was drooling, for God's sake! I can only hope Ms Ford does some sort of recipe thing with the book tour, I will have to switch the ramen for rice noodles, but Lord, PULEEEEZE let there be recipes!
I love Rhys Ford, you know I do, and I have so MISSED the way she spins her tales! One sitting read, 200 odd pages, 2.5 hours, and boom! More, I need more!
5 full and shiny stars
**same worded review will appear elsewhere**
When Trey witnesses a dead body being dragged into a van, and then he gets shot at, he never thought the guy who has invaded his dreams would be the one to save him. He makes noodles all day, how can the man possibly pack more fire power than the bad guys, huh? Kuro thought he had left all that behind in the blaze of bullets that followed him to the embassy. But no, here he is, standing over the cute guy who comes in most days, shooting at the bad guys trying to shoot Trey. And then someone shoots at him. And Kuro sees red. Someone has to stand up for Trey, cos his own sister won't!
You never EVER know, from reading a Ford blurb, which way a book will go. You all do it, you read a blurb and your brain goes, Yup, thats what is gonna happen and then you start reading and whatever you had in mind goes right up in smoke!
so, Devastating? check. Emotional? check. Deadly? Murderous? check. Sexy? check, check and check!
I loved Kuro and Trey, both together and seperately. The way their stories mesh together is brilliant. I loved that they had both been eyeing each other up, but neither one wanted to make a move. The fact that Kuro let Trey sit at the back table every time he came in, had not gone unnoticed by his staff. The eyes Trey made at Kuro had not gone unnoticed either.
Trey's history could be any child star in today's world. A rise to fame, from a very young age, and a meteoric fall from grace that left him in everyone's bad books, his family especially. I hated his sister! She was so mean to Trey right when Trey needed her, and when Kuro takes up his case, Kuro gives Trey's sister such a piece of his mind, it's a wonder the woman wasn't reduced a pile of goo!
The whodunnit is a long winded (and long planned out!) and complicated plot, and I loved how it all went down!
This is billed as book one in the Ramen Assassin series. I have no idea whether Kuro and Trey will be the centre of each book, or some of Kuro's associates will be, I don't really care, to be honest! I just wanna read them!
And oh! The food! The food Kuro cooks sounds so yummy! Even when he does what I would call a "cupboard dinner" basically, whatever was in Trey's cupboards and fridge, it was yum! I was drooling, for God's sake! I can only hope Ms Ford does some sort of recipe thing with the book tour, I will have to switch the ramen for rice noodles, but Lord, PULEEEEZE let there be recipes!
I love Rhys Ford, you know I do, and I have so MISSED the way she spins her tales! One sitting read, 200 odd pages, 2.5 hours, and boom! More, I need more!
5 full and shiny stars
**same worded review will appear elsewhere**
BankofMarquis (1832 KP) rated Moulin Rouge! (2001) in Movies
Apr 15, 2020
In My "ALL TIME TOP 10"
If one would look at the BankofMarquis "All Time Top 10" film list, you will see such stalwarts as THE GODFATHER, SINGIN' IN THE RAIN and CITIZEN KANE. It also would contain a "more modern" film that doesn't, necessarily, find itself on these types of lists - Baz Luhrman's MOULIN ROUGE from 2001.
Yes...it's that good.
Set at the turn of the century (the 19th to the 20th century) during the Bohemian Revolution in Paris, MOULIN ROUGE tells the tale of the...you guessed it...the Moulin Rouge theater/club where a young writer (Ewan McGregor) gets pulled into the lives of the artists and others trying to make a living, falling in love with a young courtesan, Satine (Nicole Kidman) all under the watchful eye of Harold Zidler (Jim Broadbent).
But it is not the story, but the telling of the story that sets this film apart. It is chaotic, wild, colorful, sexy, grimy, loving, alcoholic and spectacular - all things that not only describe this film, but the Moulin Rouge itself. Directer Baz Luhrman really shines in his vision of this picture that juxtaposes colorful sets and costumes, unique characters and songs and dance and music that tells the tale in a a unique way.
Oh...did I mention that most of this music is MODERN music? From Elton John's YOUR SONG to Roger's and Hammerstein's THE SOUND OF MUSIC to LADY MARMALADE to the ingenious use of Sting's ROXANNE (in a tango scene no less), this film is an amalgam of song that fits each scene perfectly. At what first seems incongruous, upon further viewings, the songs are slyly picked to accent the emotions and dramatic purpose of each scene.
As for the acting, McGregor and Kidman are beautifully cast (pun intended) as the young lovers. Their good looks radiate across the screen and I thought they had great chemistry. John Leguzamo and the other "Bohemians" pop in and out and are uniquely outrageous without being annoying. Richard Roxburgh's antagonist, "the Duke", came across in this viewing as not nearly as annoying as I have found him to be previously. Maybe there is more to this character/performance than meets the eye.
But it is Jim Broadbent's portrayal of the Master Shoman, Harold Zidler, that steals this film for me. He is a cunning and ingenious showman who (more than once) proves that he will stop at nothing for the "show to go on", but there are many notes to Zidler, at once in control and at the same time trying to KEEP control of events spiraling out of his control that actually shows a desperate man doing whatever he can to survive.
Add all these ingredients up and you have a film that gets deeper and richer with each subsequent viewing. I have yet to get tired of this film - and I am looking forward to the next time I immerse myself into this world.
Letter Grade: A +
10 stars (out of 10) and you can take that to the Bank(ofMarquis)
Yes...it's that good.
Set at the turn of the century (the 19th to the 20th century) during the Bohemian Revolution in Paris, MOULIN ROUGE tells the tale of the...you guessed it...the Moulin Rouge theater/club where a young writer (Ewan McGregor) gets pulled into the lives of the artists and others trying to make a living, falling in love with a young courtesan, Satine (Nicole Kidman) all under the watchful eye of Harold Zidler (Jim Broadbent).
But it is not the story, but the telling of the story that sets this film apart. It is chaotic, wild, colorful, sexy, grimy, loving, alcoholic and spectacular - all things that not only describe this film, but the Moulin Rouge itself. Directer Baz Luhrman really shines in his vision of this picture that juxtaposes colorful sets and costumes, unique characters and songs and dance and music that tells the tale in a a unique way.
Oh...did I mention that most of this music is MODERN music? From Elton John's YOUR SONG to Roger's and Hammerstein's THE SOUND OF MUSIC to LADY MARMALADE to the ingenious use of Sting's ROXANNE (in a tango scene no less), this film is an amalgam of song that fits each scene perfectly. At what first seems incongruous, upon further viewings, the songs are slyly picked to accent the emotions and dramatic purpose of each scene.
As for the acting, McGregor and Kidman are beautifully cast (pun intended) as the young lovers. Their good looks radiate across the screen and I thought they had great chemistry. John Leguzamo and the other "Bohemians" pop in and out and are uniquely outrageous without being annoying. Richard Roxburgh's antagonist, "the Duke", came across in this viewing as not nearly as annoying as I have found him to be previously. Maybe there is more to this character/performance than meets the eye.
But it is Jim Broadbent's portrayal of the Master Shoman, Harold Zidler, that steals this film for me. He is a cunning and ingenious showman who (more than once) proves that he will stop at nothing for the "show to go on", but there are many notes to Zidler, at once in control and at the same time trying to KEEP control of events spiraling out of his control that actually shows a desperate man doing whatever he can to survive.
Add all these ingredients up and you have a film that gets deeper and richer with each subsequent viewing. I have yet to get tired of this film - and I am looking forward to the next time I immerse myself into this world.
Letter Grade: A +
10 stars (out of 10) and you can take that to the Bank(ofMarquis)
Emma @ The Movies (1786 KP) rated Death on the Nile (2022) in Movies
Feb 19, 2022
I don't like to go into a film with a negative impression... but... #NotMyPoirot #SlashTheStash.
Linnet Ridgeway goes to Poirot with fears for her safety, and that of her new husband, when an old mutual acquaintance shows up at each new location on their honeymoon.
An Agatha Christie novel always makes for a great plot, and this one has had several different adaptations over the years. Don't go into it expecting a faithful adaptation though, this one comes out a bit spicier. It also takes some liberties with Poirot's backstory, which does add some interesting context to things about him, but at the same time, it's not the source material.
As with Death Train, Death Boat has a star-studded cast. While I love most of them in other things, I found the whole dynamic to be a little all over the place. Tom Bateman and Ali Fazal were solid, Russell Brand was surprisingly good, but everyone else was either rather bland or too over the top. Then there's Kenneth... I'll give it to them, it feels wrong thinking that Poirot is sexy... but there's one moment where even I, a Ken denier, took a sharp intake of breath.
Death on the Nile comes in at 2 hours and 7 minutes, had they cut what felt like 10 minutes of Gal Gadot walking down the length of the ship, it could easily have come in under 2 hours.
I think that identifies the issue I have with these new adaptations. This one in particular has a very theatrical feel to it. A lot of the boat shots early on feel like you're watching it happen on a stage. I don't object to that style, I like watching theatre, but having it thrown in randomly threw me.
My other big gripe was the choice of shots. Death Boat really likes to not show you faces when people are talking. Watching these scenes was off-putting, it felt like they'd been re-edited and had a new audio track overlaid... badly. There's also a scene where the camera swoops backwards and forwards between the people who are talking, and after a while, I could feel the motion sickness building.
It isn't until films like this come out that you realise just how much of one is computer generated. I have to assume that the majority of this budget went on the cast, it certainly wasn't spent on the effects. The de-aging on Branagh in the opening was awful, and must have cost more than hiring a younger actor to do those scenes. The generated scenery wasn't any better, it was painfully obvious which weren't real.
Death on the Nile is, at the end of the day, another classic Christie story, and even with some butchering, there's still a great mystery to unfold. That being said, I would rather sit through one of the other adaptations again if they were all laid out in front of me.
Originally posted on: https://emmaatthemovies.blogspot.com/2022/02/death-on-nile-movie-review.html
Linnet Ridgeway goes to Poirot with fears for her safety, and that of her new husband, when an old mutual acquaintance shows up at each new location on their honeymoon.
An Agatha Christie novel always makes for a great plot, and this one has had several different adaptations over the years. Don't go into it expecting a faithful adaptation though, this one comes out a bit spicier. It also takes some liberties with Poirot's backstory, which does add some interesting context to things about him, but at the same time, it's not the source material.
As with Death Train, Death Boat has a star-studded cast. While I love most of them in other things, I found the whole dynamic to be a little all over the place. Tom Bateman and Ali Fazal were solid, Russell Brand was surprisingly good, but everyone else was either rather bland or too over the top. Then there's Kenneth... I'll give it to them, it feels wrong thinking that Poirot is sexy... but there's one moment where even I, a Ken denier, took a sharp intake of breath.
Death on the Nile comes in at 2 hours and 7 minutes, had they cut what felt like 10 minutes of Gal Gadot walking down the length of the ship, it could easily have come in under 2 hours.
I think that identifies the issue I have with these new adaptations. This one in particular has a very theatrical feel to it. A lot of the boat shots early on feel like you're watching it happen on a stage. I don't object to that style, I like watching theatre, but having it thrown in randomly threw me.
My other big gripe was the choice of shots. Death Boat really likes to not show you faces when people are talking. Watching these scenes was off-putting, it felt like they'd been re-edited and had a new audio track overlaid... badly. There's also a scene where the camera swoops backwards and forwards between the people who are talking, and after a while, I could feel the motion sickness building.
It isn't until films like this come out that you realise just how much of one is computer generated. I have to assume that the majority of this budget went on the cast, it certainly wasn't spent on the effects. The de-aging on Branagh in the opening was awful, and must have cost more than hiring a younger actor to do those scenes. The generated scenery wasn't any better, it was painfully obvious which weren't real.
Death on the Nile is, at the end of the day, another classic Christie story, and even with some butchering, there's still a great mystery to unfold. That being said, I would rather sit through one of the other adaptations again if they were all laid out in front of me.
Originally posted on: https://emmaatthemovies.blogspot.com/2022/02/death-on-nile-movie-review.html
Mandy and G.D. Burkhead (26 KP) rated Hottest Blood: The Ultimate in Erotic Horror in Books
May 20, 2018
Shelf Life – Hottest Blood: The Ultimate in Erotic Horror is Neither of Those Things
(I’m gonna go ahead and throw a disclaimer on up here: You are about to read something that deals with purportedly “erotic” subject matter. If you don’t like the sound of that word, you might wanna go elsewhere. If it’s actually-erotic things that offend you, though, you’ll be fine.)
I like short story compilations because you get a variety of content that’s just as easy to breeze through if you have the time as it is to get to a stopping point and put down if you don’t. I like horror fiction because it usually involves the super-natural, which interests me, and intense emotional responses, which are almost always a good thing in writing. And I like eroticism because I am a warm-blooded human being with a pulse. However, on the whole, I do not like Hottest Blood.
I wanted to, I did. Look at that cover. It’s equal amounts scary and sexy, both in completely safe, PG-13-at-most kind of ways. Unfortunately, Softcore Succubus here is both the scariest and the sexiest thing about this book
Bluntly analogized, you know that feeling you get when you come across something on the internet that disturbs and/or disgusts you, and then you learn that there’s a dedicated group of people that gets off on it? Most of the stories in this book are that feeling captured in words.
Case in point, the story “Damaged Goods” by Elizabeth Massie, which as far as I can tell is about a couple of physically abused, emotionally damaged, developmentally stunted kids somewhere around their early teens who live with a religious fringe cult being led out to a field to have sex with each other while a nameless U.S. President watches and masturbates before both kids are drowned in a river by their preacher/pimp caretaker.
Or there’s “Mr. Right” by Chris Lacher, which tells the story of a college student named Russ who has a secret fetish for the deformed women in the freak show at a nearby carnival – a fascination which leads to him getting held down and forcibly raped by a group of unwashed subhuman mutants, which the detailed descriptions make sure you understand are completely revolting to all five senses. The story ends with him being dumped out behind the fairgrounds while a small, legless girl happily informs him that this is how all carnival workers reproduce, and he can look forward to seeing his own mutant rape-spawn in the show next year.
Or there’s “Abuse” by Matthew Costello, which simply shows us how the arrest of a Peewee Herman surrogate goes down in an adult movie theater before ending with another man jerking off with the cold, dry, severed hand in his pocket as he contemplates getting a new one to replace it.
The tone of these three are pretty much par for the course for the rest of the book: thoroughly disturbing, and sex is involved, but the disturbing feeling stems from revulsion rather than fear, and the sex bits are so far on the other end of the spectrum from erotic that it feels like the authors are trying to punish their readers for even expecting to be aroused in any way.
Of course, I said myself earlier that intense emotional responses are “almost always a good thing in writing.” By that merit alone, this book technically succeeds; in fact, if it had billed itself as shock fiction instead of erotic horror, I’d begrudgingly give it a medal in its class. The “aw, what the hell?!” moments are not as artistically executed as, say, a Chuck Palahniuk read, and they tend not to have as much depth to them, but strictly in terms of making you wish that you could unread words, they get the job done.
But that isn’t the job that Hottest Blood was hired to do, and that’s not what it put on its resume. It said it was going to “heat the blood and chill the mind,” and promised that “terror never felt this sexy!” It would have been more appropriate to say that “sex never felt this terrible.”
All of that said, if you abandon any hope of seeing anything resembling erotica or horror (scary horror, anyway), there are a few stories in here that are decent reads – mostly because they try to say something with their subject matter rather than use it to see how thoroughly they can ruin the idea of sex for the reader. To give a few quick nods of approval:
Nancy Holder’s “I Hear the Mermaids Singing,” which opens the anthology, is a dark and modern re-imagining of “The Little Mermaid” that brutally points up the drawbacks to throwing away your whole life and family in order to pursue someone that you know nothing about outside of a few fleeting glimpses and lustful inner fantasies.
J.L. Comeau’s “Black Cars” is the narrative of a high-class chauffeur as he tells his passenger an increasingly mysterious story about a couple of his regular customers, culminating in a creepy twist payoff that, in retrospect, actually makes it count as a legitimate horror story, and a decently gripping one at that.
And “Safe at Home” by Steve and Melanie Tem, while decidedly and disturbingly unsexy, at least has good reason to be; it’s a short character study of a young woman who’d been molested as a child, and the lasting and complex psychological damage resulting thereof that prevents her from having any normal social life or relationships, even with someone whom she legitimately likes, someone who knows what’s happened and sincerely cares for her.
So for the handful of intriguing stories that don’t make you quit (or wish you had) mid-read out of revolted disappointment, I can’t completely condemn Hottest Blood. If you want to test your own threshold for repulsion but are understandably hesitant to use online image searches to this end, I heartily recommend it.
If you are legitimately turned on by the idea of a man eating a woman alive and then gestating her alien spawn inside his own bloated body until his head detaches and crawls away (“How Deep the Taste of Love,” John Shirley), I suppose I still heartily recommend it, though I do so from a safe distance.
If you want to read one of the few stories involved that aren’t horrible, I heartily recommend trying to find them on their own somewhere else first.
But if you want “the ultimate in erotic horror,” stay the hell away. Softcore Succubus is a trap.
I like short story compilations because you get a variety of content that’s just as easy to breeze through if you have the time as it is to get to a stopping point and put down if you don’t. I like horror fiction because it usually involves the super-natural, which interests me, and intense emotional responses, which are almost always a good thing in writing. And I like eroticism because I am a warm-blooded human being with a pulse. However, on the whole, I do not like Hottest Blood.
I wanted to, I did. Look at that cover. It’s equal amounts scary and sexy, both in completely safe, PG-13-at-most kind of ways. Unfortunately, Softcore Succubus here is both the scariest and the sexiest thing about this book
Bluntly analogized, you know that feeling you get when you come across something on the internet that disturbs and/or disgusts you, and then you learn that there’s a dedicated group of people that gets off on it? Most of the stories in this book are that feeling captured in words.
Case in point, the story “Damaged Goods” by Elizabeth Massie, which as far as I can tell is about a couple of physically abused, emotionally damaged, developmentally stunted kids somewhere around their early teens who live with a religious fringe cult being led out to a field to have sex with each other while a nameless U.S. President watches and masturbates before both kids are drowned in a river by their preacher/pimp caretaker.
Or there’s “Mr. Right” by Chris Lacher, which tells the story of a college student named Russ who has a secret fetish for the deformed women in the freak show at a nearby carnival – a fascination which leads to him getting held down and forcibly raped by a group of unwashed subhuman mutants, which the detailed descriptions make sure you understand are completely revolting to all five senses. The story ends with him being dumped out behind the fairgrounds while a small, legless girl happily informs him that this is how all carnival workers reproduce, and he can look forward to seeing his own mutant rape-spawn in the show next year.
Or there’s “Abuse” by Matthew Costello, which simply shows us how the arrest of a Peewee Herman surrogate goes down in an adult movie theater before ending with another man jerking off with the cold, dry, severed hand in his pocket as he contemplates getting a new one to replace it.
The tone of these three are pretty much par for the course for the rest of the book: thoroughly disturbing, and sex is involved, but the disturbing feeling stems from revulsion rather than fear, and the sex bits are so far on the other end of the spectrum from erotic that it feels like the authors are trying to punish their readers for even expecting to be aroused in any way.
Of course, I said myself earlier that intense emotional responses are “almost always a good thing in writing.” By that merit alone, this book technically succeeds; in fact, if it had billed itself as shock fiction instead of erotic horror, I’d begrudgingly give it a medal in its class. The “aw, what the hell?!” moments are not as artistically executed as, say, a Chuck Palahniuk read, and they tend not to have as much depth to them, but strictly in terms of making you wish that you could unread words, they get the job done.
But that isn’t the job that Hottest Blood was hired to do, and that’s not what it put on its resume. It said it was going to “heat the blood and chill the mind,” and promised that “terror never felt this sexy!” It would have been more appropriate to say that “sex never felt this terrible.”
All of that said, if you abandon any hope of seeing anything resembling erotica or horror (scary horror, anyway), there are a few stories in here that are decent reads – mostly because they try to say something with their subject matter rather than use it to see how thoroughly they can ruin the idea of sex for the reader. To give a few quick nods of approval:
Nancy Holder’s “I Hear the Mermaids Singing,” which opens the anthology, is a dark and modern re-imagining of “The Little Mermaid” that brutally points up the drawbacks to throwing away your whole life and family in order to pursue someone that you know nothing about outside of a few fleeting glimpses and lustful inner fantasies.
J.L. Comeau’s “Black Cars” is the narrative of a high-class chauffeur as he tells his passenger an increasingly mysterious story about a couple of his regular customers, culminating in a creepy twist payoff that, in retrospect, actually makes it count as a legitimate horror story, and a decently gripping one at that.
And “Safe at Home” by Steve and Melanie Tem, while decidedly and disturbingly unsexy, at least has good reason to be; it’s a short character study of a young woman who’d been molested as a child, and the lasting and complex psychological damage resulting thereof that prevents her from having any normal social life or relationships, even with someone whom she legitimately likes, someone who knows what’s happened and sincerely cares for her.
So for the handful of intriguing stories that don’t make you quit (or wish you had) mid-read out of revolted disappointment, I can’t completely condemn Hottest Blood. If you want to test your own threshold for repulsion but are understandably hesitant to use online image searches to this end, I heartily recommend it.
If you are legitimately turned on by the idea of a man eating a woman alive and then gestating her alien spawn inside his own bloated body until his head detaches and crawls away (“How Deep the Taste of Love,” John Shirley), I suppose I still heartily recommend it, though I do so from a safe distance.
If you want to read one of the few stories involved that aren’t horrible, I heartily recommend trying to find them on their own somewhere else first.
But if you want “the ultimate in erotic horror,” stay the hell away. Softcore Succubus is a trap.
Haley Mathiot (9 KP) rated Crescendo (Hush, Hush, #2) in Books
Apr 27, 2018
Crescendo by Becca Fitzpatrick
Genre: YA
ISBN: 9781416989431
Publication date: October 19th 2010 by Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing
Rating: 5
(No summary, to keep spoilers out!)
Ok. Crescendo definitely wasn’t what I expected. I definitely liked it—maybe loved it. But I can’t say I enjoyed reading it. I won’t spoil it, but we’ll just say there were times when I wanted to wring the characters necks. It was wonderful, and it was miserable.
And Patch. Oh Patch.
Ok. Can’t say anything else about Patch.
I admire a book that surprises the crap out of me. Crescendo did that. I had absolutely no idea of who was the bad guy until the very last page, and it was nothing but wishful thinking that kept the hero in his position. Although the tension, both romantic and emotional, made it difficult to read at times, I tore through it and couldn't put it down.
So here are the things that made it wonderful:
1. The plot was woven perfectly, intricately, and complexly, and it surprised me. There was so much to it, that it might take a while for me to completely wrap my head around it. It did not have plot overkill, thank goodness, but it would have if it hadn’t been organized and written so well.
2. The emotional turmoil was very real… reading it was almost depressing… if I hadn’t had so much faith in Patch… Wow. Having faith in Patch isn’t a good thing, is it?
3. Not only was the plot complicated, but it was fast paced the entire time. There was no down-time, there was nothing simple.
As far as the writing, I have nothing great to say about it. It was every-day satisfyingly mediocre writing style and vocabulary, but it wasn’t bad.
And of course, the characters… well they don’t have that many redeeming qualities, do they? I mean, really. Name five things about Patch that make him a worth-while guy, besides being sexy and smelling delicious. And yes, sometimes I wanted to yell at Nora to forget about her pride and just “do it!” (no not that! you’ll understand when you read it!)
Now for my favorite part: The end. It was good and bad: Good because I got the end that I wanted in the first place (!!!) and bad because at the very end, the last paragraph, I read it and freaked out… SERIOUSLY? BECCA, THAT’S NOT AN ENDING! It was worse than Catching Fire. But the rest was wonderful! *swoons*
So. I absolutely recommend Crescendo. I recommend reading it when you have all day to devote to it, because you won’t want to stop and leave yourself feeling angry and depressed. Because really, the whole mood of this book is angry, sad, and depressing. But it was ok that way.
Then again… you may want to wait to read it until book 3 comes out. Because there will definitely be a book 3. And I definitely want it right now.
And that’s all I have to say about that.
Content/recommendation: Ages 16+ for some sensuality. And you have to read Hush, Hush first or none of it will make any sense.
By the way, I got my ARC of Hush Hush at ARC swap. So head over there to see if there are any goodies you’d like to swap for. Last I checked, there was an ARC of Fallout, Tyger Tyger, Party, Perchance to Dream, and quite a few more. http://arcswap.webs.com
Genre: YA
ISBN: 9781416989431
Publication date: October 19th 2010 by Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing
Rating: 5
(No summary, to keep spoilers out!)
Ok. Crescendo definitely wasn’t what I expected. I definitely liked it—maybe loved it. But I can’t say I enjoyed reading it. I won’t spoil it, but we’ll just say there were times when I wanted to wring the characters necks. It was wonderful, and it was miserable.
And Patch. Oh Patch.
Ok. Can’t say anything else about Patch.
I admire a book that surprises the crap out of me. Crescendo did that. I had absolutely no idea of who was the bad guy until the very last page, and it was nothing but wishful thinking that kept the hero in his position. Although the tension, both romantic and emotional, made it difficult to read at times, I tore through it and couldn't put it down.
So here are the things that made it wonderful:
1. The plot was woven perfectly, intricately, and complexly, and it surprised me. There was so much to it, that it might take a while for me to completely wrap my head around it. It did not have plot overkill, thank goodness, but it would have if it hadn’t been organized and written so well.
2. The emotional turmoil was very real… reading it was almost depressing… if I hadn’t had so much faith in Patch… Wow. Having faith in Patch isn’t a good thing, is it?
3. Not only was the plot complicated, but it was fast paced the entire time. There was no down-time, there was nothing simple.
As far as the writing, I have nothing great to say about it. It was every-day satisfyingly mediocre writing style and vocabulary, but it wasn’t bad.
And of course, the characters… well they don’t have that many redeeming qualities, do they? I mean, really. Name five things about Patch that make him a worth-while guy, besides being sexy and smelling delicious. And yes, sometimes I wanted to yell at Nora to forget about her pride and just “do it!” (no not that! you’ll understand when you read it!)
Now for my favorite part: The end. It was good and bad: Good because I got the end that I wanted in the first place (!!!) and bad because at the very end, the last paragraph, I read it and freaked out… SERIOUSLY? BECCA, THAT’S NOT AN ENDING! It was worse than Catching Fire. But the rest was wonderful! *swoons*
So. I absolutely recommend Crescendo. I recommend reading it when you have all day to devote to it, because you won’t want to stop and leave yourself feeling angry and depressed. Because really, the whole mood of this book is angry, sad, and depressing. But it was ok that way.
Then again… you may want to wait to read it until book 3 comes out. Because there will definitely be a book 3. And I definitely want it right now.
And that’s all I have to say about that.
Content/recommendation: Ages 16+ for some sensuality. And you have to read Hush, Hush first or none of it will make any sense.
By the way, I got my ARC of Hush Hush at ARC swap. So head over there to see if there are any goodies you’d like to swap for. Last I checked, there was an ARC of Fallout, Tyger Tyger, Party, Perchance to Dream, and quite a few more. http://arcswap.webs.com
Haley Mathiot (9 KP) rated Soul Catcher (The Outsider #1) in Books
Apr 27, 2018
Soul Catcher by Leigh Bridger
Genre: Sci-fi, Romance
ISBN: 9780982175682
Rating: 4
Livia hasn't had a perfect life—in fact she hasn't even had a good life. It all started when her father died when she was young, then got worse when her mother and baby brother died in a fire that she may or may not have started. She also starts painting pictures of evil horrible demons in her sleep, and is forced to burn the pictures and ban them… but one demon escapes, and comes for her.
She finds out that he had been pursuing her in every life—she's been reincarnated? what?—and has killed her every time for the past 200+ years. She also finds out that she has a soul mate, (who jumped into the body that the demon had used to hurt her, and now she can't look at him without getting sick) but has hidden herself from him in almost every life, subconsciously, because of something that happened in the past. She and Ian set off to find answers and to kill the pig-faced demon… for good this time. But this time ends up being the most dangerous life she's ever lived.
Soul Catcher was an addicting read. I would have read it in one sitting if I'd been allowed. It actually stuck with me all night and I'm pretty sure I dreamed about it.
I liked the philosophy of the world that Livia lived in. There were soul jumpers, like Ian and Dante, who could jump into any body he needed to be in at the time. There were soul catchers like her, who could banish dark spirits and talk to the light ones. The plot itself was very complex, and every chapter added something new to the story. One thing that made Soul Catcher stand out was how Livia and Ian's love grew. It wasn't immediate you're-my-soul-mate-you're-perfect-for-me kind of love. It was a lot more real than that. Livia starts by trying to avoid him at all costs, but ends up having to go on a trip with him to find out about their pasts. You could say they "bonded," or you could say that Ian finally got to her—even while he was in the body she hated passionately—either way, their love was real enough to be believable.
I really liked Livia, even though she had her downfalls and her insecurities. She was definitely the bad-ass heroine we know and love: slightly sarcastic, very obnoxious, stubborn as an ox, and head over heels in love but unwilling to admit it because she sees it as a weakness. Ian was a great character: he'd have to be to put up with Livia. He'd do anything for her, is dying for her to love him, thinks she is the most beautiful girl in the world—and even bends so low as to trick her into kissing him (she didn't appreciate that.). But he's all light-hearted, fun to be around, with a sexy Irish accent.
I really liked the ending. The whole story had good humor and good comic relief, but the ending was sweet, cute, and funny. It pulled everything together nicely, and left you with a smirk on your face. I say take it to the beach with an umbrella and lemonade. Or whatever other drink you like best.
Content/recommendation: some sex and sexual references, heavy language, ages 18+
~ Haleyknitz
Genre: Sci-fi, Romance
ISBN: 9780982175682
Rating: 4
Livia hasn't had a perfect life—in fact she hasn't even had a good life. It all started when her father died when she was young, then got worse when her mother and baby brother died in a fire that she may or may not have started. She also starts painting pictures of evil horrible demons in her sleep, and is forced to burn the pictures and ban them… but one demon escapes, and comes for her.
She finds out that he had been pursuing her in every life—she's been reincarnated? what?—and has killed her every time for the past 200+ years. She also finds out that she has a soul mate, (who jumped into the body that the demon had used to hurt her, and now she can't look at him without getting sick) but has hidden herself from him in almost every life, subconsciously, because of something that happened in the past. She and Ian set off to find answers and to kill the pig-faced demon… for good this time. But this time ends up being the most dangerous life she's ever lived.
Soul Catcher was an addicting read. I would have read it in one sitting if I'd been allowed. It actually stuck with me all night and I'm pretty sure I dreamed about it.
I liked the philosophy of the world that Livia lived in. There were soul jumpers, like Ian and Dante, who could jump into any body he needed to be in at the time. There were soul catchers like her, who could banish dark spirits and talk to the light ones. The plot itself was very complex, and every chapter added something new to the story. One thing that made Soul Catcher stand out was how Livia and Ian's love grew. It wasn't immediate you're-my-soul-mate-you're-perfect-for-me kind of love. It was a lot more real than that. Livia starts by trying to avoid him at all costs, but ends up having to go on a trip with him to find out about their pasts. You could say they "bonded," or you could say that Ian finally got to her—even while he was in the body she hated passionately—either way, their love was real enough to be believable.
I really liked Livia, even though she had her downfalls and her insecurities. She was definitely the bad-ass heroine we know and love: slightly sarcastic, very obnoxious, stubborn as an ox, and head over heels in love but unwilling to admit it because she sees it as a weakness. Ian was a great character: he'd have to be to put up with Livia. He'd do anything for her, is dying for her to love him, thinks she is the most beautiful girl in the world—and even bends so low as to trick her into kissing him (she didn't appreciate that.). But he's all light-hearted, fun to be around, with a sexy Irish accent.
I really liked the ending. The whole story had good humor and good comic relief, but the ending was sweet, cute, and funny. It pulled everything together nicely, and left you with a smirk on your face. I say take it to the beach with an umbrella and lemonade. Or whatever other drink you like best.
Content/recommendation: some sex and sexual references, heavy language, ages 18+
~ Haleyknitz