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In The Dark Corner I Stood Alone
In The Dark Corner I Stood Alone
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
I stood alone in a dark corner. My imagination ran wild.”

In the Dark Corner, I stood Alone is a collection of short stories by author Petra Pavlikova, published on June 12th, 2018. These short stories pull together themes of women and fairytales. Telling stories about strong women in stressful situations, difficult because they are real, and how these women pull through, with a healthy dose of the fantastical. The collection itself is a short and easy read as the stories range in length from 5-20 pages each. I loved the beautiful imagery created in these stories as they each take you on fantastic journeys.

The characters in these stories are such strong and relatable women that I fell in love with each one as I read their story. From beginning to end this book captured this beautiful whimsey that kept me captivated in each story. As you read, each has a distinctive story to tell, but they are all in the same unique voice that has a charming but straightforward tone that captures the fairytale quality splendidly. I think that my favorite story may be The Smell of Sweet Lavender, as it tackles a heart-wrenching tale of trying to be true to yourself and the cost it sometimes has on those that you love most. But each was so unique that they held different messages and meanings to them, that I could see myself having a different favorite depending on what mood I was in at the time. This is definitely one of those books that I could see myself re-reading whenever I just wanted to curl up with a sweet set of stories that allow my imagination wander in the realm of fairies and distant kingdoms. The magic in them creates a tone but the themes within them last without extra flare, making them that much more poignant.

The other thing that makes this book really stand out is the remarkable work of the illustrator Anastasia Telegina. From the small flowers and bright colored pages to the exquisite images of the women in the book, the watercolor work is astounding and fits in perfectly with the wanderlust tone of the writing. Each time I saw that stories full image, I was blown away by the beauty and talent. They play with your imagination rather than entirely putting images in your head, keeping the fluidity of the imagination intact while still creating magnificent images. Creating perhaps what is more what a child might imagine from what is described that a realistic picture. This pair clearly makes an excellent team.

These are stories for almost any age in the themes it tackles and the beautiful way in which they are told. While some of the ideas may be intense for a younger audience, the way in which the stories are told make them accessible to any reader. They are important topics dealt with in a way that is natural and very real world, while held within a slightly more fantastical space. I very much enjoyed reading this book and would definitely recommend it. I will be keeping an eye out to read more from this author. Five Stars.
  
Not My Daughter
Not My Daughter
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
I am so happy to have the opportunity to be part of the blog tour for Not My Daughter by Suzy K. Quinn. Thank you to the team at HQ, for sending me an e-copy in exchange for an honest review. Have a look at the Blog Tour Banner below and check out the other bloggers.

Suzy K Quinn is a British fiction author, and writes in three different genres: psychological thriller, comedy and romance. She was first published by Hachette in 2010 with her debut novel Glass Geishas (now Night Girls), then self-published a romance series, the Ivy Lessons, which became an international bestseller and a #1 Kindle romance bestseller in the US and UK.

After her second daughter was born in 2013, she self-published the Bad Mother’s Diary series, which also went on to become a #1 Kindle romantic comedy bestseller. Suzy K Quinn’s novels have been translated into 7 languages and her books have sold over ¾ million copies worldwide.

She lives in Wivenhoe, Essex, with her husband Demi and two daughters, and travels to Mexico every year to write and study Mayan story telling. Suzy loves her family, friends and readers, but when pushed to add more to the list, she also loves travelling, food and alcohol.

Synopsis:
Lorna has been trying to protect her daughter Liberty for sixteen years. There are dark secrets from her past about her father that Lorna wishes her daughter never finds out. Liberty’s father is a monster, and the best solution is to hide. Forever.

But Liberty has other plans. One day, Liberty decides to find her father, no matter the cost. And Lorna can’t protect her if she doesn’t know where she went…

My Thoughts:
I really enjoyed Not My Daughter. It was a novel that kept me on my toes throughout the whole book and I was eager to know what happens in the end and who the true villain is.

We begin the story in one way, where we have an idea of who the bad person is, and how Lorna is the protector. But once we start reading more, this story becomes more twisted, and we don’t know who to trust anymore. This is something I see in books quite often, but it is not usually as well-written. Suzy did an amazing job writing this part, and making us switch sides as she wanted us to.

The ending was not predictable at all, although, it was a bit unrealistic. However, it really fit nicely with the whole story and I cannot be disappointed.

It is interesting to see how the mother-daughter relationship develops. But more so, how a relationship forms when a daughter wants to get to know her father, no matter what. You meet this person that you share genes with, and you want them to like you. You want them to accept you, like nothing happened. We could see this wish in Liberty as she meets her father – the need to be accepted as a daughter.

I would recommend this book to everyone that loves mystery thrillers. It is a one of a kind, and a very well-written one too.
  
Misbehaviour (2020)
Misbehaviour (2020)
2020 | Drama, History
6
6.0 (6 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Watchable but a little misdirected
Misbehaviour is a 2020 drama directed by Philippa Lowthorpe based on a true story, that follows a group of women from the Women’s Liberation Movement as they attempt to disrupt the 1970 Miss World pageant being held in London.

Misbehaviour has made a decision to follow four separate stories as they eventually intersect at the Miss World pageant, and I think this is to it’s detriment as it seemed to dilute the main issue about women’s inequality. It follows Sally (Keira Knightley), a history student wanting her place at the table, as she joins forces with Jo Robinson (Jessie Buckley), a radical feminist from the Women’s Liberation Movement who believes in taking physical action as the plot to disrupt the pageant. It also follows 3 other storylines centred around the pageant itself: Eric (Rhys Ifans) and Julia Morley (Keeley Hawes), the creators of the Miss World Pageant as they attempt to respond to controversies surrounding it; Miss Grenada Jennifer Hosten (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) as she takes part in the contest and; Bob Hope (Greg Kinnear) who is hosting the pageant. All of these stories together, whilst interesting, mean that not enough time and detail is given to each individual storyline, especially with an under two hour run time.

The film begins with some fairly shocking male behaviour from Sally’s university interviewers and Bob Hope, but sadly it doesn’t carry on in this vein throughout. Had the entire film focused on the behaviour and attitudes women had really experienced during the 70s, it would’ve been a lot more hard hitting and engaging. Instead it comes across as a little too light hearted. The most disturbing scenes were those involving Bob Hope and his clearly inappropriate behaviour, and Greg Kinnear plays him very well although the prosthetic nose is a tad distracting. However the problem with Hope is that his scenes, whilst good, are entirely unnecessary when linked to the main plot and are a big contributor to the dilution of the story.

Misbehaviour looks good, the costume and sets are very in keeping with the time period and so is the music. It also has a rather stellar cast, all of whom put in performances that are very good and not to be criticised – Rhys Ifans provides some much needed comic relief as pageant creator Eric Morley. The standout of all of these is Gugu Mbatha-Raw as Jennifer, who brings poise and intrigue to a character with barely any lines and leaves us wanting more. And sadly due to the intersecting storylines, we don’t see enough of her until right at the end, which was far too late. It was also nice to see the real women that inspired this film featured before the credits and find out how they moved forward with their lives.

Overall Misbehaviour is a decent film with good performances with an important message and story to promote. I just wish that instead of trying to tell this story from the point of every key player involved, they had focused on the central subject of the inequality women experienced at the time as this would’ve made Misbehaviour a lot more memorable.
  
Thor: Ragnarok (2017)
Thor: Ragnarok (2017)
2017 | Action, Adventure, Fantasy
Contains spoilers, click to show
Well, we all knew this had to happen. And I am a full week late in getting to watch this movie.

Alright, if you know Norse mythology: IGNORE EVERYTHING YOU KNOW. Seriously. Fenrir made it. Yup. Okay, let’s… let’s just not discuss that. I would need to go and refresh myself and, I just don’t want to be that dissapointed.

Outside of that, it was a good movie. A LOT happened, and just understand that we are basically jumping two years from when Age of Ultron took place. Also, Thor has become a true American and lost his god talk. I wish they hadn’t done this. I wish they would have updated him without losing that, because, even though it was annoying at times it also kept to the myth side a bit more. I did love the short hair.

LOKI! Yes! Though, in many ways, I wish we had a lot more of him. It seems as if the film makers are angry over how popular Loki has become – he could have been a lot more.

And the pacing. The pacing was odd. Skipping a lot of information. What happened to Thor the last two years? How, exactly, did Hulk get there? Why does the Valkyrie have such a poorly described and explained back story?

That being said, I did enjoy this. So much sass, so much action, and the characters did move forward.
  
A Game of Thrones
A Game of Thrones
George R.R. Martin | 2014 | Fiction & Poetry
8
8.8 (87 Ratings)
Book Rating
Let me say first that, this is not at all the kind of book that I usually find myself drawn too. I had seen previews for the series on HBO & thought it looked good. I hesitated for a long while on whether to read it or not & decided that while I was on vacation I would read it. (I was advised to wait because you need to concentrate on the book in order to keep all the characters straight, which is VERY true!)
Now I wish I'd read it when I first got the urge. It is SOOOO incredibly well written. The characters are all so different, but so well fleshed out that you can picture them without much trouble. There are a great deal of them & it does take a hundred pages or so to get a handle on them. But, if you stick with it I know you will be pleasantly surprised & glad that you toughed out the first few chapters.
The story is haunting & beautiful. I loathe reviews that spoil the plot so I will not even begin to tackle it here. I could go on all day about it with all its twists & turns. Suffice it to say, I will be picking up the 2nd in the series as soon as I'm done typing here!
Take the risk, don't let the sheer size of the book intimidate you! You will not be disappointed.
  
WW
Where We Belong
Emily Giffin | 2012 | Fiction & Poetry
6
8.0 (7 Ratings)
Book Rating
What happens when you give birth to a child and give her up for adoption? You never tell the father that you are even pregnant, in fact you don't tell anyone but your mother. Eighteen years later, this child shows up at your doorstep eager to find out about the parents who couldn't keep her How do you explain what happened so long ago and how do you go back and correct the wrongs?

Marion and Kirby tell the story from their own perspectives describing the emotions they go through in order to deal with their present circumstances. Kirby is at a pivotal point in her life. She is about to graduate high school and is unsure about what the next step should be. Her adoption allows her to contact her birth mother once she reaches eighteen and she doesn't hesitate to do just that. Marion, a show creator living in New York City is doing exactly what she dreamed. She's dating an amazing man and things in her life seem to be going just right, but when Kirby arrives at her doorstep her whole life is put into perspective and she is forced to analyze her world to see if it's really as great as it appears.

Throughout their journey, the two women will discover the true soul of themselves and find a more secure place in their own lives as well as in each others.
  
Dead Until Dark (Sookie Stackhouse, #1)
Dead Until Dark (Sookie Stackhouse, #1)
Charlaine Harris | 2001 | Fiction & Poetry
8
8.0 (35 Ratings)
Book Rating
I first read this in 2006 and never got to another Sookie book. Since I want to see <i>True Blood</i> whenever it comes out on DVD, and I don't quite remember too much of the book to get to the rest of the series, I decided to re-read it.

I really don't have anything additional to say to my first review, other than I'm not as picky about the romance this time around. So here's my original review from June 24, 2006:

I've been in a paranormal mood lately so figured I'd pick this one up and see what's different here. While there's nothing original in the vampire front, the story was nonetheless told in a new and fresh way. Although the start seemed slow, I quickly immersed myself into the pace of the book and thought it was quite fitting to it being a southern book. I enjoyed reading about the courtship between a vampire and human, although a slightly different human. It was kind of sweet and though I thought they professed their love to each other too soon, it was still quite lovely in a strange way. The mystery was nice in that I didn't necessarily know who the culprit was. I did have a niggling of who it was a few times but wasn't quite sure. The book also had some interesting characters and I am curious to what direction(s) the author decides to go next.
  
L.A. Confidential (1997)
L.A. Confidential (1997)
1997 | Drama, Mystery
A masterpiece, if not THE masterpiece of modern cinema.
A film which understands exactly what it is, what it’s doing and what it’s about and plays out with pace to resolve what is certainly on of the most complex detective stories the multiplex’s have seen in a long while.

The story is built in solid layers, exposing its audience to every clue, with time to digest them, without falling back on the cack-handed cliché of holding back that vital clue to end in order to maintain its twist. This movie had taken its plot, cut it up the pieces and shuffled them about as to confuse the eye, but in the end, it’s all there for the taking. Well acted, directed and supported by a perfectly balanced score by the late Jerry Goldsmith, along with first-rate editing, sound design and cinematography, this is a pleasure to watch, every time.

This is a true classic, that is bathed in the noir which in it is set, pretending at nothing, feeling not like a period piece nor modern, this is timeless in recreation of the 1950′s. Even its gruesome elements don’t feel overplayed, and I’m still always surprised to this day when I think that it is an 18.

All in all, this is the benchmark of modern film making, ticking every box perfectly. A fantastic film, with a first-rate native to drive it. Every filmmaker should see this and learn…
  
Better Than I Know Myself
Better Than I Know Myself
8
8.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
Did you ever have a friend who was more like family? For Regina Foster, Jewel Prescott, and Carmen Webb this is exactly true. Better Than I Know Myself starts in the late 70's when the girls are seniors in high school and making the decision on where to go to college. Three different girls from three very different backgrounds. Jewel, a former child star. Regina, the daughter of two college educated parents and little sister to older brothers who had all attended and graduated from college. And Carmen whose parents had left her at a young age.

The story progresses through their meeting in New York at Barnard and continues through their graduation. Regina and Jewel were already roommates when they met Carmen at the university library. They all got stuck in an elevator together and as they say, "The rest is history." They lived together through the early 80's as they grew into women and started to become independent.
The book covers twenty years of friendship and sisterhood and all the trials and tribulations that entails.

This book made me laugh out loud and brought a tear or two to my eyes. It also made me want to get together with my closest girlfriends. This is a book that you have to read until the end.

I listened to this book through the iPod and Overdrive. The audio was read by Lisa Renee Pitts.
  
The events of a typical Autumn Friday night rock a typical small town American family to the core as tragedy strikes them from out of nowhere. Will their lives survive this ordeal as they change from a functional to dysfunctional family? This event has changed and altered their direction, but will this be permanent? The ways the family deals with the loss of a loved one can either make them stronger or crush them in their hope for their small town future. The bonds of love and friendship are stretched to see how far they can go. Will the development of the surviving sibling's progress with growth or be stifled as the family dynamic is pushed to the edge? One's concept of justice is put to the test and their faith in God may never be the same. Actions, reactions and their consequences are exposed for you to see but don't judge too harshly. You may agree or disagree with their actions but ask yourself, if you were in their situation, would you do the same?

This is a very sad story. Good but also difficult to read as it is true to life for some.
It is good for a YA to read as maybe it would get the message across to them of how precious and short life can be.
The writing is simple and direct, making for easy reading.

I read a PDF of tis book I received from the author.