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In the Role of Brie Hutchens...
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An own-voices LGBTQ novel from the acclaimed author of Hurricane Season, about eighth-grader Brie,...
Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2265 KP) rated Knot Ready for Murder in Books
Mar 9, 2024
A Hitch on the Way to Get Hitched
Martha Rose has finally agreed to marry her long-suffering fiancé, but Crusher has a shock for her. He’s just learned that a marriage he thought was annulled decades ago never was. Even worse, his wife is coming to LA to visit. When Hadas arrives, she quickly makes it obvious that she is not going to let Crusher go easily. But then she is kidnapped. Can Martha figure out what is going on? Or is Crusher now a widower?
The previously unmentioned spouse is a trope I hate for being too much like a soap opera, but once we get past that, this proves to be a good mystery. There are plenty of surprises along the way to a great climax. While we do get a new over the top character here, the rest of the cast have been toned down some, which I appreciated. On the other hand, I wish we’d seen more of some of them, especially since this is the final book in the series. Fans who have read the entire series will be delighted with the final chapter, which sends the characters out well. As always, I enjoyed seeing towns I recognized pop up, but I really enjoyed seeing a local pizza place show up. I’ll miss spending time with these characters, but I was smiling when I set the book down.
The previously unmentioned spouse is a trope I hate for being too much like a soap opera, but once we get past that, this proves to be a good mystery. There are plenty of surprises along the way to a great climax. While we do get a new over the top character here, the rest of the cast have been toned down some, which I appreciated. On the other hand, I wish we’d seen more of some of them, especially since this is the final book in the series. Fans who have read the entire series will be delighted with the final chapter, which sends the characters out well. As always, I enjoyed seeing towns I recognized pop up, but I really enjoyed seeing a local pizza place show up. I’ll miss spending time with these characters, but I was smiling when I set the book down.
LoganCrews (2861 KP) rated Project Almanac (2015) in Movies
Sep 20, 2020
Dumb-as-nails but unpretentious CW teen soap opera reimagining of a time travel film - in which the machine itself is built using parts from an Xbox 360 and there are prominent slo-mo shots of Red Bull cans flying through the air. And what's the most noteworthy thing they do with the power of time travel right at their fingertips? Go to an Imagine Dragons concert, of course! Seems like it hates its own existence, no question about it - this was only made to sell tickets and that's it. But there's something really stupidly fun about it - maybe it's the neurotic nature of each element (from the acting to the camerawork to the cutting to the writing etc), or the fact that people record a good chunk of this pointlessly (but thankfully) found footage Chronicle ripoff with their smartphones yet they still make the clunky old camera sounds? And when they *do* record with the 10+ year old camcorder (which still takes tape btw) it's somehow pristine HD quality? I also really have to appreciate that so much of this is dedicated to the actual anxiety of making the machine itself, too - rather than jumping right into the travel stuff. Kind of falls off when this becomes another lame YA romance deal but even then it's still so confidently dumb and committed to its daft premise that I had to admire it somewhat. Also whenever they turn the machine on and everything starts floating and spinning that shit is cool as fuck and you know it.
Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2265 KP) rated Broken Heart Attack in Books
Oct 24, 2022
Deadly Theater
When Kellan Ayrwick attends a dress rehearsal of King Lear with Nana D. and her friends, he expects the deaths to stay on stage. But not too long into the second act, he realizes that Gwendolyn Paddington isn’t asleep on his shoulder, but she’s passed away. Gwendolyn had been saying someone in her family was trying to kill her. Is that true? If so, can Kellan figure out who did it?
When you have a book with characters as dysfunctional as the Paddington family, it always makes me appreciate my own family. But it also makes for a great mystery plot, and that’s the case again here. There are plenty of twists along the way to catching the killer at the end. While some of the characters can be over the top, we care about enough of them, including Kellan, to keep us invested in the book. I did feel like the humor was hit and miss for me here. Sometimes, the character’s teasing worked, and other times it felt like they were picking on Kellan more than actually teasing him. Unfortunately, there were some timeline issues and a red herring that felt like it jumped quite a bit. Both could have been resolved with a good editor. There are several sub-plots involving Kellan and his family. While they veered a little more into soap opera territory than is typical for the books I read, they have me hooked and I can’t wait to make time for the next book to find out what happens.
When you have a book with characters as dysfunctional as the Paddington family, it always makes me appreciate my own family. But it also makes for a great mystery plot, and that’s the case again here. There are plenty of twists along the way to catching the killer at the end. While some of the characters can be over the top, we care about enough of them, including Kellan, to keep us invested in the book. I did feel like the humor was hit and miss for me here. Sometimes, the character’s teasing worked, and other times it felt like they were picking on Kellan more than actually teasing him. Unfortunately, there were some timeline issues and a red herring that felt like it jumped quite a bit. Both could have been resolved with a good editor. There are several sub-plots involving Kellan and his family. While they veered a little more into soap opera territory than is typical for the books I read, they have me hooked and I can’t wait to make time for the next book to find out what happens.
Rachel King (13 KP) rated Savage Nature (Leopard People #4) in Books
Feb 11, 2019
I have only read the short story that fits into the Leopard People series, so I am sure there is much that I am missing about this series. I wanted to read this book mostly because of the Louisiana bayou setting, my home state. Even though I spent most of my life in Louisiana, I did not spend much time at all in the bayou, so this was as much a nostalgic experience as an education for me. I found Christine Feehan's descriptions and uses of the setting to be very well written and quite engrossing, as this actually kept me involved enough in the book to keep reading, over the actual plot.
Much like when I read the short story in Fantasy by Christine Feehan, I found the plot to be overly dramatic and forced. Every scene, every interaction was told with such extreme emotion that I had to wonder if these characters ever had a chance to relax. The melodrama felt like something out of a t.v. soap opera with no natural flow to the time line.
I did like a few of the characters, such as Saria and the woman who ran the inn. Many of the characterizations matched the typical stereotypes of the Cajun people who reside in the backwaters of Louisiana. The dialogue hinted at the Cajun accent without muddling the vocabulary so much that I would have difficulty reading it.
While I loved Christine Feehan's use of Louisiana culture in Savage Nature (Leopard), I do not think I will be continuing to read any more of the Leopard People series.
Much like when I read the short story in Fantasy by Christine Feehan, I found the plot to be overly dramatic and forced. Every scene, every interaction was told with such extreme emotion that I had to wonder if these characters ever had a chance to relax. The melodrama felt like something out of a t.v. soap opera with no natural flow to the time line.
I did like a few of the characters, such as Saria and the woman who ran the inn. Many of the characterizations matched the typical stereotypes of the Cajun people who reside in the backwaters of Louisiana. The dialogue hinted at the Cajun accent without muddling the vocabulary so much that I would have difficulty reading it.
While I loved Christine Feehan's use of Louisiana culture in Savage Nature (Leopard), I do not think I will be continuing to read any more of the Leopard People series.
Charlie Cobra Reviews (1840 KP) rated Manifest in TV
Jul 7, 2020
Intriguingly Good
Manifest is a supernatural/drama tv series created by Jeff Rake and executive producer Robert Zemeckis. It is produced by Compari Entertainment, Jeff Rake Productions, Universal Television and Warner Bros. Television and distributed by NBC Universal Television Distributions and Warner Bros. Television Distributions. It stars Melissa Roxburgh, Josh Dallas, Athena Karkanis, J.R. Ramirez and Luna Blaise.
The passengers and crew aboard Montego Air Flight 828 from Jamaica to New York City are shocked to learn that when they experienced a brief period of severe turbulence over five and a half years have passed. The National Security Agency informs them that during the time they were presumed dead. As the passengers realize their lives and loved ones are not the same as they were before, they also begin experiencing strange visions and hearing voices guiding them about events yet to occur.
This show was very intriguing and got me hooked from the first episode. The cast is great and they are all very good actors even the children. It's a decent mix of supernatural mystery with drama, and it kept that way through the first season. It has a very compelling premise and kept me along for the ride but I didn't really like the whole drama part of it too much. Seemed to much like a soap opera to me. Also sometimes it feels like it doesn't do enough to push itself further plot wise and stagnated in certain episodes or through characters actions. Still pretty interesting and worth a watch if it peeked your interest. I give it a 6/10.
The passengers and crew aboard Montego Air Flight 828 from Jamaica to New York City are shocked to learn that when they experienced a brief period of severe turbulence over five and a half years have passed. The National Security Agency informs them that during the time they were presumed dead. As the passengers realize their lives and loved ones are not the same as they were before, they also begin experiencing strange visions and hearing voices guiding them about events yet to occur.
This show was very intriguing and got me hooked from the first episode. The cast is great and they are all very good actors even the children. It's a decent mix of supernatural mystery with drama, and it kept that way through the first season. It has a very compelling premise and kept me along for the ride but I didn't really like the whole drama part of it too much. Seemed to much like a soap opera to me. Also sometimes it feels like it doesn't do enough to push itself further plot wise and stagnated in certain episodes or through characters actions. Still pretty interesting and worth a watch if it peeked your interest. I give it a 6/10.
LoganCrews (2861 KP) rated Jarhead (2005) in Movies
Sep 20, 2020
𝘉𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥. At least 90% surface-level and even more largely reductive - of course it is - but it's also totally incompetent. A 2+ hour torture session slog through a barren wasteland visually (Deakins of course shoots the living hell out of it, so there's some damn fine imagery every now and again but Jesus Christ could we do more than two fucking [mawkish and over-obviously symbolized] colors for this whole thing?) but moreso narratively, where this has absolutely nothing to say. You'd think this intentionally dances right around any sort of gift-wrapped commentary about the Gulf War, toxic masculinity, the late 1980s, the American military for young men, or literally anything at all with how dead and non-thematic this awkward crawl is. It can't even be bothered in exploring its own characters lives, I kept forgetting who these people even were - the movie clearly didn't care about them so why should I? Also has the same problem most of these one-dimensional, pandering, tedious war flicks have where it rushes right through the supposed pivotal moment all of this arduous buildup was clearly meant for when they all return home and it's only like 5 minutes of soap opera-level crap and a cheesy 'mic drop' finisher. At its best when it gets weird and Sam Mendes-y, and I can't say it's without solid moments of haunt - plus Gyllenhaal, Sarsgaard, and Foxx keep it marginally more tolerable - but even if it *could* handle its tone (spoiler alert, it can't) this still plays like it was made by complete idiots who only cared about this being would-be Oscar bait.
Rachel King (13 KP) rated Never Let You Go in Books
Feb 11, 2019
I was originally drawn to this book because it was about a mother fighting for her daughter. As a mother of two young daughters who has already been through quite a bit of fighting for them, I can relate. Once I got into the book, I was a bit put off partly because I was introduced to too many characters so soon into the plot and a lack of unique characterization made it difficult for me to keep up with the plot (and this is coming from someone who has read Sara Douglass). A second reason was that it somewhat reminded me of another book I read recently with the meth theme. Drugs are just not something that I purposely want to read about in my fiction. The only thing that really kept me reading was Lexi's relationship with her daughter, Molly. Along the way, I discovered that there actually is a fantasy-like aspect to the book that is difficult to see for at least half the book. This is probably as close as you can get to the fantasy genre without actually qualifying for the classification. I so badly wanted the book to come "out with it" over the supernatural aspect that I flew through the rest of the book. The ending was mostly satisfying in that the bad guy gets his just desserts and all the lose ends are tied up appropriately, but my fantasy-loving side wanted a more fantastical intervention than what actually occurred. At times, the plot felt like a soap-opera, with Lexi's affair and two other characters being convicts, as well as Ward's constant harrassments and almost reality-defying omnipresence. I would describe the book as high-intensity suspense combined with overdramatic reality and a dash of supernatural.
Kristy H (1252 KP) rated Winter in Paradise in Books
Apr 4, 2019 (Updated Apr 5, 2019)
Great, engaging read
This was such a good book. I found it to be totally engrossing. It was a compelling read: dramatic in some places and fun and engaging in others. As always, Hilderbrand has a way of reeling you in. Her characters are so real and fully formed. I could feel Irene's pain and shock; Baker and Cash's disbelief; and the horror of those on the island, who lost someone they loved, as well.
Maybe it's just the part of me who loves a good soap opera, but I was totally swept up in the drama of this novel. I felt completely transported into the world of the Steeles and St. John island. While I'll have to wait a while for the next book in this series (more on that in a bit), I enjoyed this book so much that it had me tracking down Hilderbrand's Winter series, so I could continue reading her work. I have the first three books (of four), so I will be digging into those soon. Not since I read a book by Liane Moriarty and then read her entire catalog, have I felt so into an author at the moment.
And speaking of this series, there's definitely a cliffhanger at the end. Be prepared. I'm quite excited to read the next book and see where the Steele family and all their drama and intrigue takes us. Such unlikely partnerships form in this one; there's an exciting love triangle; there are interesting island characters--it's such a fun book.
Overall, this is a great read. It's engaging, and heartbreaking at times and sweet and funny at others. I loved the characters and felt totally caught up in the story. I am very much looking forward to book #2 (if not the wait for it!).
Maybe it's just the part of me who loves a good soap opera, but I was totally swept up in the drama of this novel. I felt completely transported into the world of the Steeles and St. John island. While I'll have to wait a while for the next book in this series (more on that in a bit), I enjoyed this book so much that it had me tracking down Hilderbrand's Winter series, so I could continue reading her work. I have the first three books (of four), so I will be digging into those soon. Not since I read a book by Liane Moriarty and then read her entire catalog, have I felt so into an author at the moment.
And speaking of this series, there's definitely a cliffhanger at the end. Be prepared. I'm quite excited to read the next book and see where the Steele family and all their drama and intrigue takes us. Such unlikely partnerships form in this one; there's an exciting love triangle; there are interesting island characters--it's such a fun book.
Overall, this is a great read. It's engaging, and heartbreaking at times and sweet and funny at others. I loved the characters and felt totally caught up in the story. I am very much looking forward to book #2 (if not the wait for it!).
Scott Tostik (389 KP) rated Zombeavers (2015) in Movies
Jan 4, 2019
Cool Cameos (2 more)
John Mayer and Bill Burr... That's right I said John Fuckin Mayer
B Movie Hall of Fame candidate
Zom what???
Upon forst look, a title like Zombeavers, kind of makes you think of porn... Rob Rotten porn... But once you dive ( get it...dive) into Zombeavers you cant help bit want to stick around and see what these creatures look like.
And, in all cheesey movie goodness... The hand puppeted varments look like shit... They flop around aimlessly in an attempt to look like they are attacking with great vigor... Only to come across like a dying trout, flipping and slopping through the air on the ground.
Bill Burr and a nearly unrecognizable John Mayer open the movie as two good ol boy toxic waste drivers who "unknowingly" dump a barrel of some kind of hazardous chemicals off their truck as they're discussing prison sex and gettin blown by dudes... Comedic genius honestly... It's brilliant.
But overall, this cast of not a lot of anyones... Including some chick from American Soap Opera Days of our Lives... And some other girl from Death House can not save this trainwreck of a film. Its good in a way that is meant not to be good.
Over all cheese factor... Tostitos Con Queso Cheese Dip... That was left out of the fridge and had papers piled in top of it on your coffee table... So when you open it, it attacks your senses in all the wrong days.
While I'd love to give it a higher rating... I can not see giving it over a five.
And, in all cheesey movie goodness... The hand puppeted varments look like shit... They flop around aimlessly in an attempt to look like they are attacking with great vigor... Only to come across like a dying trout, flipping and slopping through the air on the ground.
Bill Burr and a nearly unrecognizable John Mayer open the movie as two good ol boy toxic waste drivers who "unknowingly" dump a barrel of some kind of hazardous chemicals off their truck as they're discussing prison sex and gettin blown by dudes... Comedic genius honestly... It's brilliant.
But overall, this cast of not a lot of anyones... Including some chick from American Soap Opera Days of our Lives... And some other girl from Death House can not save this trainwreck of a film. Its good in a way that is meant not to be good.
Over all cheese factor... Tostitos Con Queso Cheese Dip... That was left out of the fridge and had papers piled in top of it on your coffee table... So when you open it, it attacks your senses in all the wrong days.
While I'd love to give it a higher rating... I can not see giving it over a five.