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The Queen of the Citadels (King's Germans #3)
Book
October 1793: The French border. Dunkirk was a disaster for the Duke of York’s army. The...
Historical Fiction Military
The Heretic Queen
Book
When Nefertari's entire family is killed in a fire, she's left to grow up alone, a spare princess in...
Missing You
8.0
Rate It
Book
t’s a profile, like all the others on the online dating site. But as NYPD Detective Kat Donovan...
Off the Grid
Book
The Red Desert of Wyoming is a bleak, beautiful, punishing place for anybody, but never more...
LeftSideCut (3778 KP) rated Nope (2022) in Movies
Oct 12, 2022
Jordan Peele has consistently delivered fresh, uncomfortable, and exciting material during his short time branching out into horror, and Nope may very well be his best work so far.
Everything from start to finish just works wonderfully. The narrative unravels at a perfect pace, giving us mystery, terror, and a hugely memorable finale. The general tone is one of unease and tension, and Nope plays it's cards close to it's chest fot the most part, keeping the audience in the unknown, even when they think they have it figured out.
There a plenty of chilling moments on display. There's one particular extended scene around the mid point (no spoilers here, but the one that happens at night time) that is pure sci-fi horror perfection.
It's all executed in a visually striking manner as well, from the inspired cinematography, to the stunning California valley vistas, to it's pleasing colour pallet.
Daniel Kaluuya and Keke Palmer are both fantastic, as they tend to be, and both bounce off eachother in a wonderfully natural way. The two of them elevate Nope to even higher levels.
Nope is just further proof of how important Peele is in the future of the genre, and I once again find myself excited for what he does next.
Everything from start to finish just works wonderfully. The narrative unravels at a perfect pace, giving us mystery, terror, and a hugely memorable finale. The general tone is one of unease and tension, and Nope plays it's cards close to it's chest fot the most part, keeping the audience in the unknown, even when they think they have it figured out.
There a plenty of chilling moments on display. There's one particular extended scene around the mid point (no spoilers here, but the one that happens at night time) that is pure sci-fi horror perfection.
It's all executed in a visually striking manner as well, from the inspired cinematography, to the stunning California valley vistas, to it's pleasing colour pallet.
Daniel Kaluuya and Keke Palmer are both fantastic, as they tend to be, and both bounce off eachother in a wonderfully natural way. The two of them elevate Nope to even higher levels.
Nope is just further proof of how important Peele is in the future of the genre, and I once again find myself excited for what he does next.
Merissa (12055 KP) rated Divergent in Books
May 29, 2023
I will admit to being late to this party - not only are all three books out (and have been for a while) but the films are also out too. Not only that, but I have seen the first film, so I was unsure of what I would be reading. Would the book have more information than the book? Would it be vastly different? Would I enjoy it as much?
First off, this is a fantastic debut book! Full of action, suspense, loyalty, terror, and love, it had everything I could have wanted. Well written, with a smooth pace and excellent build-up, this flowed from page to page, keeping me gripped and wanting to know more. The characters are charismatic and you either love or hate them. The Factions seem real, both the good sides and the bad.
For anyone even later to the party than I was, I can highly recommend this book, and I am left wanting to read the next in the series immediately!
* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and the comments here are my honest opinion. *
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Mar 13, 2016
First off, this is a fantastic debut book! Full of action, suspense, loyalty, terror, and love, it had everything I could have wanted. Well written, with a smooth pace and excellent build-up, this flowed from page to page, keeping me gripped and wanting to know more. The characters are charismatic and you either love or hate them. The Factions seem real, both the good sides and the bad.
For anyone even later to the party than I was, I can highly recommend this book, and I am left wanting to read the next in the series immediately!
* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and the comments here are my honest opinion. *
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Mar 13, 2016
From Day to Day: One Man's Diary of Survival in Nazi Concentration Camps
Odd Nansen and Timothy J. Boyce
Book
In 1942 Norwegian Odd Nansen was arrested by the Nazis, and he spent the remainder of World War II...
graveyardgremlin (7194 KP) rated Land of the Living in Books
Feb 15, 2019
With a gripping start that fully captured my attention, I had a hard time putting LAND OF THE LIVING down. The suspense-filled atmosphere leapt off the pages and I found myself catching my breath and actually feeling the pressure presented within the covers. This doesn't usually happen to me, especially from a book I know is fiction. The author (or authors really) have done a fabulous job bringing the book to life and I imagine the plot does a fairly accurate job conveying a true life account of something like this. I only have a few minor quibbles. Firstly, Abbie does some dumb things, however it's still believable that she might react that way in her situation, and really, she's not a brainless twit of a victim. Although what she does later was very stupid and I wanted to smack her. Still, after the fact, I suppose I understand it now. Secondly, and I guess lastly, I do not believe for a second that the police are so inept that they could not follow-up on simple, routine leads. If Abbie can do it, surely they can too. To sum it up, the terror was evident, the environment creepy, and the overall pace was just right. A thrilling good read, if not a perfect one.
Stephen (210 KP) rated As Above So Below (2014) in Movies
Mar 1, 2019 (Updated Mar 2, 2019)
Worthy Of A Watch
Contains spoilers, click to show
As I watched this tonight, all I could think of was ‘Tomb Raider meets The Descent’ - although much more emphasis is placed on the Tomb Raider element, which, when the film is classed as a horror movie just ends up watering down the horror element. Don’t get me wrong, there are some excellent ‘jump off the sofa’ moments, however a lot of what could have been achieved (e.g. the claustrophobic terror of ‘The Descent’) has been lost and overwhelmed by the Tomb Raider element, and to be honest this lets the film down slightly as some of the storyline is just plain stupid. I mean, OK it’s fine to search for an ancient relic, but finding the Philosopher’s Stone and then using it to heal fellow team members is just a bit too silly in my opinion.
Whilst I felt the film was well crafted, it does suffer from the annoying ‘camera jerking all over the place’ syndrome, meaning it’s sometimes virtually impossible to work out what is going on, and also means that when something scary is happening, it fails as you can’t see what it is you’re supposed to be scared by.
Overall, the film was enjoyable apart from the above mentioned negatives - oh, and the ending just SUCKS - a complete letdown.
Whilst I felt the film was well crafted, it does suffer from the annoying ‘camera jerking all over the place’ syndrome, meaning it’s sometimes virtually impossible to work out what is going on, and also means that when something scary is happening, it fails as you can’t see what it is you’re supposed to be scared by.
Overall, the film was enjoyable apart from the above mentioned negatives - oh, and the ending just SUCKS - a complete letdown.