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ClareR (5879 KP) rated End of Story in Books

Apr 14, 2023  
End of Story
End of Story
Louise Swanson | 2023 | Contemporary, Crime, Dystopia, Fiction & Poetry, Thriller
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
End of Story had me on the edge of my seat, desperate to know what would happen next - and completely bewildered.

It’s 2035, fiction has been banned for the last five years, and even owning a work of fiction is a criminal act. Fern Dostoy had won a prestigious book award before the laws came in to force, and now she isn’t allowed to write. She has random home checks by frightening men in suits, is threatened by imprisonment - or worse.

I found this a very disturbing read - I mean, I would be among the first to be booked in to a stay at His Majesty’s Pleasure (aka, prison). And is this so very far from the truth right now?

Some aspects of the pandemic are referred to, especially the isolation that so many people struggled through.

This is a pretty bleak read, but I just loved it. It’s touching, too, and gave me a lot to think about. This isn’t a book to race through (or it at least needs a second read), because it throws up so many questions with regards to fiction, the arts and society in general.

As Fern says: “if you tell a story we’ll enough, it’s true”. I honestly hope not in this case!

Highly recommended - and many thanks to The Pigeonhole and Louise for reading along with us.
  
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David McK (3557 KP) rated The Mandalorian - Season 3 in TV

Apr 25, 2023 (Updated Apr 29, 2023)  
The Mandalorian - Season 3
The Mandalorian - Season 3
2022 | Sci-Fi
Season 3 episode of Disney's 'The Mandalorian', which seems to move the focus away from Grogu and Din Djarin somewhat to focus more on the fractured Mandalorian society as a while, in particular with a heavy emphasis on the character of Bo-Katan Kryze.

For anybody who expected the crux of the series to be Din's quest to rejoin his culvert after being previously kicked out for revealing his face in public, that arc in particular is actually resolved with almost indecent haste within the first couple of episodes - there's also no mention of how Grogu is back with Din at all at the start of the first episode of the series (you need to watch the last couple of episodes
 of The Book of Boba Fett for that), although I had thought it would be a good opportunity for the opening crawl that the movies have to explain his reappearance. There's also an episode here that feels like it has been lifted and ported over almost wholesale from Andor, set on Coruscant and delving into the bureacratic New Republic.

While I have since heard that season 4 is already planned (presumably after Ashoka), the series does also end in an episode that could wrap up the entire thing of that was not to be the case.
  
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ClareR (5879 KP) rated Dead to Her in Books

Oct 26, 2021  
Dead to Her
Dead to Her
Sarah Pinborough | 2020 | LGBTQ+, Mystery
8
6.5 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
Dead to Her is a thriller set in Savannah, Georgia, amongst its rich inhabitants.

When William Redford, close to retirement and on a year long holiday, comes back early with a very young, beautiful, black wife from London on his arm, the tongues are immediately set wagging.

Marcie, also a second wife, notices that her husband seems a little too interested in William’s new wife, Keisha, and the two women are encouraged to become friends. Marcie is at first very reluctant to do so.

The first half of the book lulls you in to a false sense of security - I thought that I knew what was going to happen. How wrong could I have been?! The second half doesn’t let up - and what surprises Keisha and Marcie had in store for the reader! This book was so cleverly written, that when Voodoo was introduced in to the storyline, I found myself believing in its power along with the characters!

I think the takeaway from this would be that you should never underestimate people, no matter how they appear on the surface (especially if they’re in a Sarah Pinborough book!). This book had me gasping out loud in sheer astonishment more than once!

If you enjoy revenge, murder and high society, then this may very well be the book for you - it was most definitely a hard book to put down!