Victor Sorren’s life changed the moment Molly showed up on Arkana. His love for her came easy, but admitting it to her took every bit of courage he had. Obstacles always threatened to tear them apart, but together they overcame all of them. Now, Molly is gone and Victor doesn’t know how to deal with his worry and loneliness. Going after her would mean certain death, but this is the price he is willing to pay to see her again.The race against time has begun. Will Molly be able to find her way back to Victor before it’s too late?
A.B. Whelan’s third book of the romantic fantasy Fields of Elysium series is an other highly imaginative tale, a fast paced story about the power of love and human nature.
(I received this book for free as part of Goodreads First Reads giveaways).
(This review may contain spoilers).
The author of one of the previous giveaways I’d entered kindly sent me the first in his fantasy trilogy as well. I was quite surprised by how quickly and easily I was drawn into this world and the characters and their situations.
I found myself quite liking Harcourt as a character. I felt quite sympathetic towards him throughout a lot of the book and I really liked his relationship with Jalanna. There were a lot of sweet moments about that.
I was a bit unsure about some of the other characters Harcourt interacted with, I have to say. A lot of them weren’t really ‘good’ characters, but I found some of them still quite interesting and I would have liked to see more of their pasts and motivations.
It was intriguing to see the way the corruption had spread through the city. This isn’t the first book I’ve read which has a thieves’ guild, but I was quite interested by the fact that there was the cult that played such a big part in this. I was a bit disappointed not to see more about what the cult was trying to do, but I expect that might be covered more in the next two books in the trilogy.
There were quite a few dark moments in this book… more than I was really expecting. I was pulled more deeply into the story after Harcourt met Warden and I started seeing more of his skills as a thief.
This is definitely a world I would be interested in seeing more of at some point in the future. I’d like to read the next two books in this series eventually.
(I received this book for free as part of Goodreads First Reads giveaways).
(This review may contain spoilers).
I found this collection of short stories to be a really entertaining read. It was interesting to see that all of the short stories were written from the first person perspective, but I didn’t actually get confused with the different POV characters.
There was quite a nice variety of different stories. I liked the fact that all of them were different in some way and there were a few unexpected twists.
I did notice a couple of the stories were vampire-based. Although I do think vampires are really over-used in fiction, they didn’t irritate me so much in these short stories… I think because they weren’t the dark, brooding figures of vampire paranormal romances.
I found the werewolf film to be quite an intriguing story and it was interesting to see that it was linked to one of the later short stories. The one about the bestselling story was quite good as well.
The stories were a bit too short to really get behind the characters, but I still found them really entertaining to read. There were a few original ideas and twists to the stories and I felt they did a good job of holding my attention and keeping me engaged. The author kindly sent me the first book in his fantasy trilogy and I do intend to read that in the next day or so.
(This review may contain spoilers).
I have seen this film before… I went to see it at the cinema. But when I saw it was showing on television, I remembered how much I enjoyed it originally and decided to watch it.
Love triangles aren’t an original idea, but I did think that this was an entertaining way of handling it. It was interesting that the two guys were partners and best friends and I felt that added an interesting dynamic… more so because I could actually see the friendship between the two guys, unlike a lot of things where there are love triangles.
I recognised a number of the actors in this film and it was interesting to see them playing off each other. I’ve seen Chris Pine in a number of different films, but I’ve seen Reese Witherspoon mostly in comedy films.
A lot of the pranks the two guys used were quite amusing, especially since they used the technology available to them to put obstacles in each other’s paths.
I really liked some of the banter in this film and there were a number of moments I found myself smiling. The humour worked really well, even if it was a little crude/obvious at times. I somehow managed to completely forget the ending, too, so that was a surprise when it came to it.
I did like this film. It had engaging characters and some nice instances of humour. I wouldn’t buy it at full price, but it’s a film I wouldn’t mind watching again.
(I received a free copy of this book, through NetGalley, in exchange for a review).
(This review may contain spoilers – also some references to self-harm).
This was a plotline I could really get behind. Being an avid reader myself, I’m currently in love with a whole range of fictional characters… and I can definitely understand how frustrated Chloe felt with the ending of her favourite book series.
I felt myself being drawn into this world and the characters involved. I was pleasantly surprised to see that the characters in the world that Chloe ‘fell’ into didn’t immediately start trusting her. I felt that was very realistic and although I hadn’t ‘met’ the other characters in the same way as Chloe had, I found myself believing in their relationships and their sense of family.
There was a nice variety of different types of characters, too. It was good that vampires weren’t the only being in the world.
I do think that Chloe ran the risk of taking over the story a bit too much, but I didn’t mind her as a character. The biggest problem I really had was the fact that Chloe was a cutter. I know that’s a real issue, but the line really resonated badly with me… and I didn’t think that part of her character was explored in the way it really should have been.
I did particularly like Naja as a character. I would have liked to see some of the story written from her POV… actually, a lot of the other characters, too. I felt that some of the women weren’t as well-developed as they could have been, particularly in a scene at the end, where they’re just referred to collectively.
Although there was some insta!love on Lucian’s side, I actually felt that worked for his personality and with his past. It was also interesting how this book didn’t follow the usual criteria for most romances, where the two main characters jump into bed together at the very first opportunity.
I think this is a world I would very much like to see more of in the future. The ending was a bit confusing and I would have liked to know a bit more detail about what was going on with Chloe then. But I did enjoy reading about the world and its characters and I would certainly be interested in checking out other books by this author in the future.
(I received this book for free as part of Goodreads First Reads giveaways).
(This review may contain spoilers).
(As an additional note – I have changed the rating. I originally had it on four stars, but as I wrote the review, I realised my feelings about the book are more on the three-star level).
I was a bit surprised at just how easily I was drawn into this book. When I originally read the blurb, I thought it would be aimed at a much younger audience, but having finished reading it, I feel like it could be enjoyed by a wider age range.
I liked Molly as a character in the book, but I experienced some moments of confusion with quite a few of the other characters for a while. The only ones I could really follow were Danny and Rory. I also found the use of the flashbacks quite confusing. They seemed to occur without any kind of warning/scene break.
While I appreciate that teachers probably have a hard job when it comes to the wellbeing of students, I did feel that many of the teachers didn’t actually seem to care. They did the bare minimum and that was it. I’m possibly quite sensitive to that, given my own past, but when concerns were raised, there was almost an air of nonchalance from a lot of the teachers. And that didn’t really endear many of them to me.
It was fairly obvious that a lot of research had gone into this book, without it feeling much like an info-dump. Many of Molly’s interactions with her students were engaging and, in many ways, quite sweet. It was nice to see the children caring about the environment… and the different animals in nature.
I did feel that one of the strongest points in the book was Deano. As more of his past was revealed, I felt some sympathy towards him. There was a lot that was bad about him, but I felt that, if someone had taken the time to work with him, he could have eventually changed. I was disappointed to see the way everyone washed their hands of him.
The romance aspects in the book weren’t bad, but I did feel that more time could have been spent on Molly’s and Oliver’s relationship. It would have been nice to see more of their feelings developing.
I really wasn’t that keen on the swear words being blotted out. That was really distracting and kept throwing me out of the story.
I would probably read more books by this author in the future. It would be interesting to see where he goes next with the characters.
(I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a review).
(This review may contain spoilers).
I felt this book was a particularly intriguing one. When I first read the blurb, I found the idea of humanity trying to survive in the face of utter slaughter of women and children a really interesting one. Also, the book had time travel… and to the Dark Ages, which I feel is an interesting period of our history… perhaps because so little is known about that time.
I got pulled into the plot pretty much straight away. Even though I got a bit confused with some of the characters at times, I still found this really easy to follow. There was a lot I liked about this book.
I was particularly drawn into the plot when the characters went back in time. The differences between the two different times were really obvious and I felt the author did a good job of showing the contrast. I was a little confused about how the computers were able to run, though, when they went back in time.
I also felt the author did a really good job of showing the different characters, both in the men who went back in time and in those people from the past. There were some parts in the past that were brutal… but then again, humanity has always been capable of hideous atrocities.
One of the things I found really intriguing was the ‘Americans’ attitude towards women. The way they treated and looked at them was really quite moving and I felt that made sense, given what they’d experienced before.
There were quite a lot of the characters I liked in this book… and a fair amount that I hated. I did get a bit confused with some of the names at times… there were too many that began with ‘E’.
I really did care about what happened to the characters and I could realistically get behind the romances, even if I felt there was a bit too much ‘pairing off’. At times, there did seem to be a lot of glossing over of various events, but Matt and Ellyn’s relationship was one I could really get behind.
The book itself was really well-written and I was drawn really easily into the world and its characters. If there was a sequel to this book, I would definitely check it out. And I wouldn’t be averse to reading other books by this author in the future.
(I received a free copy of this book, from Curiosity Quills Press, in exchange for a review).
(This review may contain spoilers).
I did find this book to be a little disjointed to read at times. I’m not sure if it was actually the first in a series, but I wasn’t really sure exactly why there was the whole war going on.
I felt there was quite a good variety of characters, but I did get a bit confused between the characters at times. The banter was amusing, but one of the characters seemed particularly sexist for no real reason that I could see.
The different races in the world in this book were quite interesting and I would have liked a bit more detail about some of them and what they looked like. I was also particularly intrigued by the past that was hinted at with the Captain. I would have liked some more details about everything that had happened with him.
I also really liked Keg’s different personalities in this book. I always like the use of AI and I was quite amused by the fact that, whenever Keg was hit, he cycled between those different personalities. (I kind of hope he isn’t fixed, cause that did provide a lot of humour and I felt Keg was as much a part of the team as the rest).
I spent a lot of the book not really knowing what was going on, I have to say. It wasn’t until the team entered the nebula that I felt able to slow down enough to get to know the characters a bit more. The nightmares aspect was pretty interesting, but I’m not sure if they were supposed to mean anything.
I would probably be interested in reading a sequel to this book at some point in the future. I might find it easier to enter into the world a second time and I did feel that the book was fairly well-written. I would have liked a bit more background about the world and the characters, but the action kept me focused and the ending left just enough unanswered to pique my interest for a sequel.
Get a copy: Operation Chimera (Far From Home)
(This review may contain spoilers).
I don’t know how common (or true) the phenomena mentioned at the start of this film is, but the idea of being awake during an operation is a really scary one.
I did originally see this film at the cinema. I’ve found Hayden Christensen to be an actor who can be a bit hit and miss with me. I did like him in Star Wars, but I saw him in another film that I didn’t particularly think he worked. He portrayed Clayton particularly well in this film, though, in my opinion.
I felt a lot of sympathy for Jessica Alba’s character, Sam, in this film. I’m not sure I’d want to be with someone who was reluctant to admit he was actually dating me. I did think that Clayton’s relationship with his mother was particularly unhealthy, though.
This film started off with the sense that the viewer would know how it was going to end. The journey to the ending was a pretty intriguing one, though. There was a lot I didn’t see coming when I originally saw this film at the cinema.
This film hits particularly hard (for me, at least), because doctors are supposed to be people you can trust. And, of course, this film is more ‘real’ – something that could realistically happen, rather than demons or ghosts killing of a group of attractive young people one at a time.
I felt there were a lot of really emotional, hard-hitting moments in this film. I found Clay a really easy character to like. I have to say, I’m not sure, by the end, if he just heard it all, or if he had an out-of-body experience, but I felt this film was fairly simple and well-made. It didn’t have a lot of special effects, but then, I didn’t think it really needed them. I have the film on DVD and it’s probably one I would watch again in the future.
(This review may contain spoilers).
I don’t think this film was the first horror movie I watched – I think that was probably Urban Legends – but this was definitely the first zombie movie I ever saw… though I recall that it was originally advertised as a 12.
I remember being particularly freaked out by this film the first time I saw it. The Red Queen was an interesting mix of child and AI. She was a really creepy projection… but then again, in horror movies, children are often used to generate fear.
There are some quite jumpy moments in this film. Unfortunately, since I’ve watched this film so many times already, the jumpy moments don’t have much of an effect on me now.
So if it doesn’t do what a horror film’s meant to, why do I watch it repeatedly?
In this film, I feel that the characters drive a lot of the action. It has a lot of the elements of a slasher movie, but the film does give me the chance to get to know the characters. I do like Alice (the scene with the dogs was pretty cool), but Raine is probably my favourite character. She’s strong and no-nonsense… definitely the kind of heroine I can get behind.
The part where all of the zombies are set free is one of the creepiest moments in the film. One of the interesting things was that the film started off by showing the ordinary day… before everything went wrong. I have to say, the elevator scene was one that really scared me. I think it was bad enough that it actually put me off elevators for a while.
I’ve seen the other films in the Resident Evil series, but I think this one works better for horror, while the others are much more action-adventure. I’ll be re-watching the other films at some point in the future, too.
Ink of Blood 