Smashbomb

Another whet-the-appetite short story, linked to [a: James Rollins|38809|James Rollins|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1328147798p2/38809.jpg] Sigma Force series, this one is set between the events of [b: The Devil Colony|7202829|The Devil Colony (Sigma Force, #7)|James Rollins|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1264522557s/7202829.jpg|7897971] and [b: Bloodline|8709527|Bloodlines (Bloodlines, #1)|Richelle Mead|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1297199431s/8709527.jpg|13582374].

Rather than focusing on any of the previous 'main' characters of the series (by which I also include Seichan!), this instead introduces two new character who will become important in the next (the afore-mentioned [b: Bloodline|8709527|Bloodlines (Bloodlines, #1)|Richelle Mead|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1297199431s/8709527.jpg|13582374]) of Tucker and Kane.

Like [b: The Skeleton Key|103983|Skeleton Key (Alex Rider, #3)|Anthony Horowitz|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1306076661s/103983.jpg|1443938], this is an extremely fast read, with the bulk of the length given over to an excerpt from the next in the series. However, and unlike that previous mentioned story, there is even (I felt) a teeny-tiny bit of character development in this one!

Kudos

Sarah (7798 KP) rated We Need to Talk About Kevin (2012) in Movies

Jan 15, 2019

Lacks the punch of the book

The book about this is one of the most enthralling and haunting books I’ve ever read, and I was really hoping the film would be just as good, but sadly it falls a little short. And I know I shouldn’t compare film to book, but that’s pretty much impossible.

Don’t get me wrong, the film is quite good. It’s has great performances from Tilda Swinton and Ezra Miller, with an unusually creepy soundtrack and in general it’s a very bleak and dark film. It does well to get across the main parts of the book, but the main problem for me is that it doesn’t include anywhere near enough detail from the book. It covers the bare minimum, but i feel like it misses out a lot of the detail. I know a film can never include everything from a book, but for me this was missing a lot, especially about some of Kevin’s crimes and dark deeds. This is probably a case of reading the book ruining the film, I’ll admit I maybe should have watched the film first!

Kudos

Kelly (279 KP) Jan 15, 2019

I agree, totally. The book was disturbing and stayed with me for a long time, challenging my perspective on nature vs nurture in the case of Kevin. The film seemed to lack same punch, I think this is because a lot of the book is wrote around Eva’s personal thoughts and feelings, sadly books like this rarely translate onto the big screen.

Kudos

Deborah (162 KP) rated The River of No Return in Books

Dec 21, 2018

At nearly 600 pages, this isn't a short read (although the font is quite large.....) and although, after a slowish start, I did really get into the book, the ending left me feeling disappointed - not enough to give 4 starts this time. The right ingredients are all there, it's just that this is a pretty long book and at the end of it we got very little explanation or resolution of story threads. It was more like Part One of a larger novel than book one of a series because so little is resolved at the end of this, so it doesn't really work as a standalone novel.

My more usual reading matter tends towards historical fiction/mystery/romance, do maybe this was why I was happier once we were back in the Georgian period than in the modern, or maybe it just took a while to get going. We are nearly a third into the book before the big jump back in time takes place, so maybe it wasn't just a feeling. A lot of the stuff beforehand is trying to explain and set up the plot rather than just let it happen.

Kudos

Eilidh G Clark (177 KP) rated On Writing: a memoir of the craft in Books

Jul 2, 2019

Most of the hints and tips (0 more)

Assumes every writer works the same (0 more)

Helpful

Great book. I read it in a couple of days and it was exactly what I was looking for. I am not a Stephen King fan as I am not keen on the fantasy/ horror genre, but this book is non fiction. The first part of the book is a short memoir of writer's growth and early experiences, I found this part both funny and insightful and not at all what I expected from Stephen King. The 'On Writing' part was excellent. The author's hints and tips are subjective yet honest which is refreshing. Not all writers work the same and King is clear that this is only advice and may not be suitable for everyone. Bad habits and grammatical no-no's were probably the most helpful pieces of advice for myself, his huge dislike for the 'adverb' is something I may find myself becoming accustomed to in my own work revision. For non writers, do not dismiss this book, it is a little jewel that gives the reader a close and personal account of the authors honestly and quirks. I really loved it.