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Night Reader Reviews (683 KP) rated The Dream Pony in Books

Jan 9, 2020

The Dream Pony by Shanon Picciolo is a great bedtime story. It does not have too much action in it and has a nice, calming feel to it.

A young girl by the name of Emilie is outside daydreaming when she thinks she hears hoofbeats. She sits very quietly and soon a pony approaches her. Once she gains the ponys trust she climbs on its back and they go for a ride together.

The pony takes her to a beautiful stream, a faraway valley, and even way up on top of a mountain. Together they play with deer and run with timberwolves. Finally, when it gets dark the pony takes Emilie back home so she can go to bed and dream about a pony in the woods.

What I liked best is that the book takes readers through multiple different areas of the forest and mountains on horseback. Many children dream of having or at least riding a horse one day and Dream Pony takes them on that wonderful journey. What I did not like was that there is one page that is twice as long as the others. Some children with shorter attention spans may have issues with this page as it changes the pace of the story. Parents should be aware of this and ready to help if a child is trying to read it on their own.

Young children will enjoy having this book read to them. Also, children who are starting to read on their own may find this book enjoyable, though they may need help with some of the words. I give this book a rating of 4 out of 4. Other than the one page being longer than necessary there is nothing negative to say about this book. With the book even ending with the words Good Night this book gives children something great to imagine right before bed and encourages good dreams.

https://nightreaderreviews.blogspot.com

Kudos

JT (287 KP) rated Safe House (2012) in Movies

Mar 10, 2020

Safe House (2012)

2012 | Action, Mystery

5.9

(14 Ratings)

Movie Rating

Contains spoilers, click to show

Denzel Washington always gets the cool names, Tobin Frost is added to a long list, not that the actor cares too much? He just goes about his business. Here though, both he and Reynolds are suited adversaries in a film that never really has time to catch its breath.

Reynolds plays Matt Weston, an enthusiastic CIA agent who spends his time staring at four walls and surveillance equipment, as the resident of one of the many safe houses that are dotted the world over. When infamous rogue agent Tobin Frost is brought in, Weston gets caught up in a cat and mouse game of government espionage, where its better to trust in enemies than in friends.

Washington just oozes uber cool, and his screen presence in all his characters is exemplary, here Frost is a cold and calculated killer. Nothing seems to phase him and he wastes no time in getting under the skin and inside the head of the young agent.

Cape Town is the films backdrop, and its an unusual choice from anything that could be portrayed on America’s homeland with the action taking place in and amongst city streets and shanty town districts.

But I liked that, it made for some amazing action set pieces, including a car chase that will surely rival Ronin and a brilliant panic driven standoff at Green Point stadium. Giving too much a way would spoil the anticipation, of what is to come.

The supporting cast are not knock out’s but provide a brief interlude from the ensuing mess and turmoil that Weston and Frost are going through.

Brendan Gleeson, Vera Farmiga and Sam Shepard all do a job that fits in with the plot, there is a nice little cameo from Robert Patrick whose team are responsible for brining in Frost, [PLOT SPOILER] but fans of the former Terminator star will be saddened to know that he doesn’t last too long.

It’s a roller coaster ride there is no doubt about that, and its loud, very loud!

Kudos

Kristy H (1252 KP) rated You Are Not Alone in Books

Mar 19, 2020

You Are Not Alone

Greer Hendricks, Sarah Pekkanen | 2020 | Contemporary, Thriller

7.6

(5 Ratings)

Book Rating

A few seconds change Shay Miller's life forever. It's almost ironic, as Shay, 31, and a market researcher, is obsessed with data. She's been keeping data books since age eleven, listing statistics and facts the way other girls write in diaries. Shay's recently lost her job, and her roommate and best friend, Sean, spends more time with his girlfriend than her. She feels hopeless and isolated. Then everything changes, and Shay finds herself swept up in the glamorous world of the Moore sisters, Cassandra and Jane. They have a way of making Shay feel different. They also seem to be everywhere, shaping Shay's life in strange ways.

I've learned by now when I pick up a book by the Hendricks-Pekkanen duo that I need to just suspend disbelief for a bit and go with it. If I can do that and enjoy the ride, then the book is a fun little escape mechanism. When looked at via this prism, You Are Not Alone was very successful.

The book is told from different points of view that often stray into various time periods, and it took me a while to keep all the characters straight. Cassandra and Jane have a host of friends, and I had to bookmark the page that introduced them all so I could remember who was who for a while. There seem to be unreliable narrators galore for a while--can we trust Shay? The sisters? Their friends?

I don't want to get too much into the plot and give anything away. It's a crazy story and again, not really probable (I hope). However, it's highly addictive, and I found the book to be compulsively readable. I also really grew to like Shay, even if I was suspicious about her.

There are some great twists and turns in this thriller, which I really enjoyed. I liked how this one kept me guessing, even if there was an eye roll or two in there too. It was definitely wild! 4 stars.