BookwormMama14 (18 KP) rated The Crown (The Selection, #5) in Books
Jan 2, 2019
Hazel (1853 KP) rated Second Chances in Books
Dec 17, 2018
<i>Second Chances</i> is a short story by Leigh-Ann Singh about two people who have had rather difficult pasts. Firstly there is Emily Watson who moves to Bay Brook to become the new editor of the <i>Bay Brook Times</i>. She has moved there from New York thus escaping from a bad relationship. The second person is Richard Cambridge whose family owns the newspaper. He initially appears to be a cold-hearted person until it is revealed he has recently lost his wife in a tragic accident.
The tale focuses on Emily and Richard’s relationship, which starts off on shaky ground but improves over time. During the story both characters turn to God to help them with their troubles and begin to find peace with the help of the Saviour. It is not a particularly religious book as the main emphasis is on pointing out that both characters receive the opportunity to have a second chance at life: Richard moving on from the past and returning to the present; and Emily being given the chance at new relationships and becoming “the woman God intended her to be”.
Admittedly <i>Second Chances</i> is very poorly written and ideally ought to have had a lot of editing before publication however the overall storyline is good. It is a shame that more was not done with it.
Sarah (7798 KP) rated Bird Box (2018) in Movies
Dec 28, 2018
It’s an intriguing premise and for the most part it’s executed fairly well. I liked that it focused not only on the present but also how the events first came about, telling the story as it unfolded, even if it doesn’t quite get as far as a real explanation. There are some obvious comparisons with this and A Quiet Place, and rightly so as despite focusing on different senses, you can see the similarities. It’s nice to see Sandra Bullock back in a starring role, and I especially loved the scenes with her and John Malkovich, they added a nice bit of humour to an otherwise serious story.
This is quite a slow film, and I feel that it could maybe have been cut a little shorter to give it a faster pace. I disliked the ending completely as it is far too Hollywood and yet still didn’t show us what exactly was going on. And why did Sandra Bullock have a full face of makeup on during the entire 5 year span of the film?! I think that annoyed me most of all.
It’s not a bad film and with a few tweaks it could have been much better. However if I had to choose between this and A Quiet Place, I’m afraid A Quiet Place would win hands down.
Phil Leader (619 KP) rated Captain Disaster: The Damaris Touch in Books
Nov 11, 2019
There are books that take themselves seriously and there are those that don't. This is as firmly in the second group as the author's tongue is in his cheek. Filled with throwaway jokes galore, terrible groan out loud puns and slapstick antics this is a story to read for a good laugh.
The style is best described as 'free', Seaman swerving off at tangents to deliver a simple gag before returning to the story at hand. And that is the charm - there will be no deep introspection for the reader into what motivates the characters, just a vain attempt to keep ahead of the flow of jokes. Okay, not all of them hit, but like a rapid fire comedy routine that doesn't matter because if you didn't like that one there will be another one along in a minute. And yes perhaps there could be some tightening of the prose or plot here and there but that would definitely alter its character, perhaps too far towards serious. And that would never do.
So kick back, relax, set the lighting to 'mood' and the ship to autopilot. You've got some laughing to do
Lee KM Pallatina (951 KP) rated the Xbox 360 version of Red Dead Redemption in Video Games
Feb 24, 2020
Although the game's story suffered the old "do this or your family gets it" story it was dealt with nicely.
Playing as a character who's trying to leave his criminal past behind (again, another rinse & recycle) the plot does include some nice closure to the protagonists past & some interesting characters to sell plenty of side quests through the 'stranger' options.
A vast open world experience with some fantastic detail was a nice input, but I felt that although it's set in the old west, definitely should have had more areas to visit/explore, as it lacked this, it did at times feel empty (through personal experience).
The short relationships between the characters felt unnecessary which if hadn't have happened would have made up for this rather empty sand box.
Definitely not a bad experience overall, but was happy with the main plots ending not having the "villain" explain in mind numbing detail why as it was fairly obvious but was also quite a weak ending at that, would've been better to have a shoot out before being caught off guard.
Still, I recommend this to anyone with a GTA addiction (that's why I'm recommending it to my brother).
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