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Toy Story 4 (2019)
Toy Story 4 (2019)
2019 | Animation, Comedy, Sci-Fi
Good, but not necessary
I love the Toy Story films and really think that the third film was a fitting end to the trilogy. Or what we thought was the end of the trilogy. Instead they decided to bring out another film 9 years later and having seen it, I’m not entirely convinced this was the best idea.

Don’t get me wrong, this is still a Pixar film so as an animation goes it’s still pretty good and is a million times better than the other half boiled animations they release nowadays. I mean the animation itself is truly superb, but I suppose you’d expect nothing less from Pixar. The problem is with the story itself. Toy Story 3 left off on such a nice, sad emotional ending, and I feel like this film has spoilt it a little. The plot feels a little weaker, the new characters introduced are much weaker than previous films and even the humour isn’t quite as on point. There are a few funny moments, but nowhere near as much as I was expecting.

Overall this is nice sweet and well made animation, but I just feel like it’s lacking the usual Toy Story and Pixar magic. I really hope this is the last Toy Story film we’ll ever see.
  
Summer Heat
Summer Heat
7
7.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Oh dear...that ending...I'm wincing on behalf of both of them.

So this is my fifteenth book by the author, I think, and I've enjoyed all of them. This one was on the shorter side in length and a quick easy ready, but that didn't mean it didn't make me want the characters to get together and have their HAE.

Of course, though, it's a trilogy and I'll have to go and buy book 2 and 3 to see how Marlo and Ray get over that little revelation that's just been spilled in that shower stall.

One thing I will say, Rachel knows how to write male characters POV's. Most of the books I read tend to be in female POV's but Rachel always seems to write both and sometimes it's really great to see how the male characters are feeling in romances and I always tend to fall for them, too.

So, as mentioned before, I will definitely be off to Amazon in a little while to see about purchasing the rest of the Cruel Summer trilogy so I can finish this series after that intriguing start.

UPDATE: I can't find the rest of the series on Amazon! What am I going to do?!
  
Lady of Valour ( Warrior book 3)
Lady of Valour ( Warrior book 3)
Lara Adrian | 2021 | Fiction & Poetry
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
202 of 250
Kindle
Lady of Valor ( Warrior Trilogy book 3)
By Lara Adrian

Once read a review will be written via Smashbomb and link posted in comments

In Lady of Valor, Tina St. John spins a dazzling tale of romantic adventure in magnificent medieval England, where battles of love and war are fought with equal passion. . . .

Left a widow by her cruel husband's death, Lady Emmalyn of Fallonmour is determined to control her own destiny, until her hard-won vows of independence are threatened by the mysterious warrior sent by the king to protect her castle. Emmalyn is now at the mercy of Sir Cabal, a feared knight known as Blackheart.

Skilled at war and hiding a tormented past, Cabal swears allegiance to no one but himself and his country. But once he meets Emmalyn, he finds his strength tested by this proud beauty who stirs his blood with desire, tempting him to defy his king and surrender his heart. . .

This was my favourite of the three books in the warrior trilogy. Emmalyn was a kick ass heroine and I love Cabal it’s good sometime to settle in with a good historical romance. Everyone deserves to be loved. I’m looking forward to reading more by Lara I really enjoy her style of writing.
  
 Lord of the Silver Bow (Troy #1)
Lord of the Silver Bow (Troy #1)
David Gemmell | 2006 | Science Fiction/Fantasy
8
8.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
<2022 update>

Still as good as ever. I've yet to find someone to match Gemmell for this style of work.

<<2011 review>>

While perhaps more famous for his Drenai series of books (that began with 'Legend'), throughout his life David Gemmell wrote many other books as well.

At the time of his death in 2006, he was working on a novel called "Fall of Kings": the final part of a trilogy that began with with this novel. The trilogy, as a whole, was a re-working of the story of Troy: set during the early bronze age and with some famous (as well as some not-so-famous) characters from that legend all making an appearance. This first novel introduces us to some of those characters and sets the scene for what is to come ...

As it's a Gemmell book, it's a pretty safe bet what to expect: the man was famous for writing heroic fantasy, with his characters as (nearly always) flawed in some respect: the main characters in this book (particularly Helikaon) are no exception to that rule. While it could be argued that the novel could do with a bit of trimming in some of the slower sections, this is still an impressive piece of work.
  
The Amber Spyglass
The Amber Spyglass
Philip Pullman | 2015 | Children
8
6.9 (16 Ratings)
Book Rating
A fitting final part
There's no getting around it, this book and it's religious plot is completely bonkers, but fortunately in a good way. This final part works very well, it flits between the views of major characters with ease, all interesting their own way. It's good to see Lyra mature, and to see more of some characters that were sadly minor/missing in The Subtle Knife.
My only criticism would be that the ending seemed maybe slightly disappointing after the build up over 3 books. I'm interested to see how this is rectified in the new Book of Dust trilogy.