Ink of Blood

Focus

Posted by cat2002116 on March 16, 2015

Posted in: Movies, Reviews. Tagged: movies, reviews. Leave a comment

(This review may contain spoilers).

I really love Will Smith as an actor – he’s probably one of my favourite actors. So although I had a selection of different films I was interested in seeing, I chose this one because I’ve seen and enjoyed films with Will Smith in in the past.

There was quite a bit about this film that made me think of the Real Hustle. It was interesting to see how the misdirection worked and that Nicky’s character could take on different roles/personalities depending on the hustle he was trying to do. There was one particular scene that came across as really intense, where I was caught up in the game that was being played.

I did spend a lot of the film thinking there was going to be more misdirection than there actually was. I liked the interactions between Nicky and Jess, but I was a bit disappointed that there wasn’t as much trickery involved as there could have been.

I would have liked to see more of the other characters who were working with Nicky at the beginning… and also about Jess’ partner. There were some quite clever scenes in this film and the actors did play well off each other… but I felt that so much more could have been done with it.

Blog Tour: The Keeper

Posted by cat2002116 on March 16, 2015

Posted in: Blog Tour, Books, Reviews. Tagged: Blog Tour, books, reviews. Leave a comment

(I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a review).

(This review may contain spoilers).

I did feel that this book was quite an intriguing one. I was a bit confused with how all the characters fit together at first, but as the book went on, I did find the connections easier to understand.

I was a bit confused, at first, as to how Guy, Saul and Gary knew about the box in the first place. Although I didn’t feel the question was fully answered, I did learn a lot about what was going on by the end of the book.

I found it fairly easy to picture the orbs (not the correct term, but I can’t recall the exact spelling of their name) in my head. Of course, they were described as jellyfish… which made for an interesting mental image.

It was good to see the relationships between the characters, though it was disappointing to see that a couple of them didn’t really have redeeming qualities and I was disappointed that they came across as completely villainous – I always find that the best ‘bad guys’ are the ones you can see the potential for good inside.

I did like reading about the relationship and closeness between Annie and Abby. I felt the author captured that ‘in-between’ stage really well – where they’re not quite children; but not quite teenagers, either. It was good to see some of the book from their perspective and I found there to be some quite intense, on-the-edge-of-my-seat moments with them.

I liked Saul as a character, but I did find it a bit difficult to picture him in my mind. It was a little bit like that with all of them, to be honest – I couldn’t get much of a grasp on the personal appearance of many of the characters. I liked the relationship Saul had with the animals who ‘adopted’ him and I especially liked Einstein.

I didn’t much like Emily through a lot of the book, even though there was an explanation for her behaviour eventually. I liked her a bit more towards the end of the book. I didn’t like Crystal at all… but Mitch did kind of grow on me a little by the end.

I did like the different kind of abilities, but even by the end of the book, I was left with some unanswered questions. I think it would be interesting to read a sequel to this book… or a prequel, exploring the origins of the box and the orbs a bit more.

Get a copy: The Keeper

Blog Tour: Pretty Wanted

Posted by cat2002116 on March 15, 2015

Posted in: Blog Tour, Books, Reviews. Tagged: Blog Tour, books, reviews. Leave a comment

Pretty Wanted (Pretty Crooked #3)by Elisa Ludwig

Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books

Release Date: March 17th 2015

Rate: 4 out of 5 stars

Synopsis:

Willa’s string of good-hearted but ill-conceived thefts at her former high school catapulted her into a life she hardly knows. She became a cult hero, but soon afterward, her mom disappeared, leaving only a cryptic message. When Willa hit the California highway to find her, she discovered a dark family secret: Joanne Fox is not who she says she is-and neither is Willa. Now, Willa and fellow trouble-maker Aidan must race to St. Louis, Missouri, Willa’s birthplace. There, they hope to find answers about Willa’s past. But uncovering the truth requires solving a decades-old murder case.

Unfortunately, the perps are still out there . . . and willing to do whatever it takes to keep the case cold. With Willa’s face on the nightly news and the police hot on her trail, it might not matter that Aidan and her friend Tre are there to help. Willa’s only hope is to find the truth before it finds her first.

(I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a review).

(This review may contain spoilers).

I haven’t read the previous two books in this series, but I didn’t find that it detracted from my enjoyment of this book. I was able to pick up the storyline quickly and easily and I was able to understand the motivations of the main characters.

I found Willa a really easy character to get behind. It was nice that I was able to learn more about her past through little snippets and mentions of it throughout the course of the novel.

I could also really understand the goal Willa had to find out what had happened to her real mother. It was good to see how she interacted with Aiden through the book, but I wasn’t too fond of Aiden as a character. I liked him a bit at first, but I felt he didn’t really understand the danger they were in.

I did think it was good to see the way they had to figure out where to sleep at night. And it was good to see how they stayed in the places to sleep in. There were a couple of times when I felt there should have been a bit more security than there actually was… but on the whole, it was good to see how they had to deal with things.

It was good to see that there were fans of Willia’s actions in the previous book/s and I would have liked to learn a bit more about what she’d done in the past. I liked seeing Tre in this, too, although I did feel there was a bit of a love triangle, which I don’t really like… but it was interesting to see Tre and Aiden interact with each other.

I did enjoy reading this book and it was good to see that it was written only in first person. There was enough of a mystery to keep me reading and I did feel that some attempt was made to ‘humanise’ one or two of the bad guys. I’m sure I’d pick up the previous books at some point in the future.

You can change this for the other teaser or remove it

Follow the Pretty Wanted by Elisa Ludwig Blog Tour and don’t miss anything! Click on the banner to see the tour schedule.

My debut young adult novel PRETTY CROOKED (Katherine Tegen/HarperCollins) was released in March 2012, and the sequel, PRETTY SLY, is out in March 2014. COIN HEIST, a YA thriller, is out in June 2014 (Adaptive Studios). I live in Philadelphia with my husband and son.

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US Only | Ends March 20th, 2015

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Spin

Posted by cat2002116 on March 12, 2015

Posted in: Books, Reviews. Tagged: books, reviews. Leave a comment

(I received this book for free as part of Goodreads First Reads giveaways).

(This review may contain spoilers).

It was interesting to read a book that’s normally outside of the realm of genres I normally read. When I entered to win this book on a giveaway, I thought the concept was a really interesting one. As someone who had a parent who was an alcoholic, I could recognise the signs of Kate being one. I felt the author showed she had a problem particularly well… and not just in that she showed up to an interview drunk. I did think her friends didn’t try hard enough to help at the beginning, though.

I felt that, for a lot of the first part of the book, Kate was kind of a blank slate when it came to her family and history. I learned more about her as the book went on, which I felt was a really good way of doing it. In a way, it felt like I was becoming friends with Kate… despite her problems and how insistent she was that she really didn’t have any problems.

I felt the author did a good job of showing the moral struggle Kate went through when she was trying to decide what the right thing to do was. I didn’t think I would like Amber as a character… but I felt she grew along with Kate. There wasn’t a perfect resolution for her story arc by the end of the book, but I felt hopeful that things would pick up.

It was interesting to see the different people who were also in rehab and how their fame had affected them in certain cases. It struck me as quite compelling that one of them was a heroin addict who had become addicted because of research she was trying to do for her book.

I didn’t really like Saundra as a character. I felt that she was a bit too close to harsh – and I felt that she didn’t really respect her patients’ wishes. Yes, having a support system is important. Not everyone has a family who cares about them. And not everyone becomes addicted because of things in their past.

That was really the only thing about this book that I didn’t like. I liked Kate’s relationship with Henry and I enjoyed the atmosphere of this book. I’d be interested in checking out more books by this author in the future.

Review Opportunity: Kate Triumph

Posted by cat2002116 on March 11, 2015

Posted in: Books, Review Opportunity, Reviews. Tagged: books, Review Opportunity, reviews. Leave a comment

(I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a review).

(This review may contain spoilers).

I have seen a lot of young adult books. When I saw the cover of this book and read the blurb, I was really intrigued by it, so I was happy to have the opportunity to read this.

I found Kate an interesting character, even though I wasn’t sure why even her own teammates hated her. It almost seemed to the point that it was just to give her a tragic background… nothing to keep her in the town when she was given the option to leave.

Despite that, I did like Kate as a character. She came across as a strong lead and I liked her specific abilities. There were a lot of times I really did feel for her through the book.

I would have much preferred the book to stay in first person. The parts with Jonah in were really confusing, especially since it kept switching between the past and present in those chapters and I didn’t really know what was going on with him. Even at the end, I had some answers… but they raised more questions.

I liked Kate’s relationship with Andrew when they met for the first time, even though his personality later on contradicted how he acted when she met him for the first time. It was nice to see that he was so protective of her and turned out to be a person she could actually trust. It was also good to see that, when she moved, people treated her better… but she didn’t shoot immediately to most popular girl in the school or anything like that.

I was less keen on the romance. I did like Brandon as a character (even if he made me roll my eyes at times), but I felt that Zack came on far too strong and it was something I didn’t feel that comfortable reading about. I think the romance should have taken a backseat, considering how much else Kate had to deal with during the course of the book.

The book did end on something of a cliffhanger and it would be good to get more answers in the next book. This was easy and quick to read and I did enjoy it. There was a lot of action in this and the plot was intriguing enough to keep me reading throughout.

Blog Tour: Ash

Posted by cat2002116 on March 10, 2015

Posted in: Blog Tour, Books, Reviews. Tagged: Blog Tour, books, reviews. Leave a comment

Ash: A Destined Novel

by Shani Petroff & Darci Manley

Publisher: Polis Books

Release Date: March 17th 2015

Rate: 4 out of 5 stars

Synopsis:

Destiny is pre-determined. It is strictly monitored. It is unchangeable.

Or is it?

Madden’s life is a whirlwind of privilege and perks. Born into the elite Purple ring, she is fated to be a Minister of the Seven. Although her position comes with the burden of great responsibility, she’s nothing if not confident in her future. After all, Destiny Specialists have determined how she will fulfill her life’s purpose, and they are never wrong.

Her classmate Dax, an Ash, is clinging to the opposite end of the spectrum. While everyone around her knows what destiny awaits them, Dax’s fate is…missing. Isolated and ignored, she refuses to let her lack of status define her.

After a stunning twist of fate, Dax and Madden’s paths intertwine in ways neither could have possibly imagined. The two are forced to question their own past, present and future as they realize who they are is not necessarily who they were meant to be.

ASH, the first book in the Destined series, is an unforgettable journey into an alternate future which will leave readers wondering just how much we can control our own fate.

Destiny is calling. Will you fight for yours?

(I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a review).

(This review may contain spoilers).

I’m not going to say again how much I hate dual (or more) first person perspectives, but this book actually didn’t make me hate that as much as I have in the past. I still think it’s unnecessary, but I think it helped that the two main characters were female, rather than *insert obligatory heroine here* and *insert inane love interest here*.

The idea of people’s destinies being extracted from birth and then being forced into a particular role is a really interesting one. I’ve read a lot of dystopian novels to date, but this one seemed to be a particularly unique idea. The flaws in the society were clear straight away, with those who had different colours being seen as somehow lower… even less than human, in some cases.

I did actually like both Madden and Dax as characters. I didn’t like Madden in her first appearance, but once I got to see things from her perspective, she became a much more likable character.

I felt that both Madden and Dax evolved over the course of this book. Getting glimpses into their home lives helped a lot with understanding them. I felt sympathy towards both of them and it seemed they were both victims of the problems with society… even if Madden didn’t seem to be at first.

I had thought that Laira would play a bigger part here than she actually did… but I’m kind of glad that she didn’t, since she really annoyed me as a secondary character. I liked Dax’s interactions with Theron… and I especially liked Madden’s with Sol. I really liked Sol as a character. I would have liked to see more of him personally, but he did seem to have a life outside of Madden, which is always good.

I did also like Dax’s interactions with her brothers, even though I got confused with the other ones who weren’t major characters. It was good to see her get on well with most of her family.

The ending of the book was left open, but I’m still interested enough to read the next book/s. It would be good to see the characters again and how they deal with the problems coming their way.

“Petroff and Manley have created a world where fate is terrifyingly unpredictable when entrusted to the wrong hands. Addictive and fast-paced, ASH will pull readers along for the ride and leave them anxious for the next installment.”

-JOELLE CHARBONNEAU, New York Times bestselling author of THE TESTING trilogy

“ASH is a breakneck thriller filled with action and romance. Destined for bestseller lists, it’s perfect for fans of Divergent and The Hunger Games.”

-MICHELLE GAGNON, author of the PERSEFONE trilogy

Follow the ASH: A Destined Novel by Shani Petroff & Darci Manley Blog Tour and don’t miss anything! Click on the banner to see the tour schedule.

Petroff and Manley live in New York City. They were destined to write a book series together.

Shani Petroff is the author of the Bedeviled series, which includes Daddy’s Little Angel, The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly Dress, Careful What You Wish For, and Love Struck. She also writes for television news programs and several other venues. You can reach her at ShaniPetroff.com or on twitter: @shanipetroff.

Darci Manley works as a creative director, writing and designing for a NYC advertising agency. She is also the author of A Defender’s Tale, a personalized, interactive Choose Your Own Adventure tale for the iPad. You can reach her at DarciManley.com or on twitter: @darcimanley.

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Chappie

Posted by cat2002116 on March 9, 2015

Posted in: Movies, Reviews. Tagged: movies, reviews. 1 Comment

(This review may contain spoilers).

I liked the advert when I saw this film preview originally, but I did think that it was somewhat less good than I’d been expecting it to be.

AI is a concept that’s used quite a lot and I think it raises the question of, if a machine could think, would it be considered human? I thought it was good that Chappie’s development was shown so much – from the fact that he couldn’t talk and how he developed his own personality. He was still very naive in many ways and I really didn’t like Ninja for the way he used him.

I did like Yolandi in this film… though not really so much at first. I did like how quickly she adopted Chappie and the fact that, in every way that counted, she was his mother.

There were quite a few actors I recognised in this, including Sigourney Weaver and Hugh Jackman. Although I like them both as actors, I would have liked to see a bit more development with their characters.

The special effects in this film were cool and it was really entertaining to watch. I could empathise with Chappie and the ending was quite an intriguing one.

This was a good robot film, but I didn’t like some of the characters the way I probably should have done. The theme of family was good and there were some amusing moments in this… but also some really bad people.

Dodgeball A True Underdog Story

Posted by cat2002116 on March 9, 2015

Posted in: Movies, Reviews. Tagged: movies, reviews. Leave a comment

(This review may contain spoilers).

I remember that, when I originally heard about this film, I was quite put off, because I thought it was just a cruel movie. But then I took a chance on watching it a while back and enjoyed it… so I watched it when it was on television yesterday.

I really like both Vince Vaughn and Ben Stiller as actors. I feel that they’re both good at playing comedy, but also doing some more serious scenes. I loved the contrast between the two gyms – that one was about making the money and people feel bad about themselves, while the other was about the people who were members.

Making a film about dodgeball was a really cool idea. It’s a sport a lot of people play, so it’s one that’s fairly easy to understand. It was pretty cool that there was a whole national tournament about it. The training video was a bit weird, but still fun to watch.

As well as the two actors I named earlier, I recognised quite a few of the other actors, too. I especially loved Steve the pirate.

There were a few scenes in this film that I did wince at and it did follow a lot of the normal ‘rules’ of a comedy. But it was still a really enjoyable film to watch and one that I would watch again. There were some good intense scenes and I liked the overall feel of this. It might have been crude at times, but it was a really good comedy and I felt the actors played really well off each other.

Wave Links: Powers Meant For Gods

Posted by cat2002116 on March 9, 2015

Posted in: Books, Reviews. Tagged: books, reviews. Leave a comment

(I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a review).

(This review may contain spoilers).

I did think that the front cover and the blurb of this book sounded really intriguing. And I did like Llad as a character through a lot of the book. However… I have to say, I was somewhat disappointed.

I felt like I’d missed a lot of the story. I was expecting to be shown how Llad developed his powers… but it was all explained through exposition, which wasn’t really interesting and had me skim-reading a whole lot of it.

I did find Llad’s relationship with some of the other characters to be quite interesting, especially with Brite. But I was confused by how Brite had changed so much… but there were huge passages of time (and enormous amounts of character development) that were glossed over.

I did like Frey’s appearance and it was a little disappointing that her past and character motivations weren’t explored more. I felt there were some parts of the book that moved really slowly… while the action seemed intense, concentrated in really small amounts.

I did feel there was some stereotypical behaviour in this book. There were some errors in the writing, but I did find it mostly believable. I didn’t like Llad as much by the end of the book, I have to say. He was more hero material earlier on.

Although this book was an intriguing read for part of it, I would have liked this more if there’d been much less exposition and more showing the training and what was going on. I don’t think I’ll read the second book in this series as it stands right now.

Blog Tour: Dead To Me

Posted by cat2002116 on March 8, 2015

Posted in: Blog Tour, Books, Reviews. Tagged: Blog Tour, books, reviews. Leave a comment

Dead to Meby Mary McCoy

Publisher: Disney-Hyperion

Release Date: March 3rd 2015

Rate: 4 out of 5 stars

Synopsis:

LA Confidential for the YA audience. This alluring noir YA mystery with a Golden Age Hollywood backdrop will keep you guessing until the last page.

“Don’t believe anything they say.”

Those were the last words that Annie spoke to Alice before turning her back on their family and vanishing without a trace. Alice spent four years waiting and wondering when the impossibly glamorous sister she idolized would return to her–and what their Hollywood-insider parents had done to drive her away.

When Annie does turn up, the blond, broken stranger lying in a coma has no answers for her. But Alice isn’t a kid anymore, and this time she won’t let anything stand between her and the truth, no matter how ugly. The search for those who beat Annie and left her for dead leads Alice into a treacherous world of tough-talking private eyes, psychopathic movie stars, and troubled starlets–and onto the trail of a young runaway who is the sole witness to an unspeakable crime. What this girl knows could shut down a criminal syndicate and put Annie’s attacker behind bars–if Alice can find her first. And she isn’t the only one looking

Evoking classic film noir, debut novelist Mary McCoy brings the dangerous glamour of Hollywood’s Golden Age to life, where the most decadent parties can be the deadliest, and no drive into the sunset can erase the crimes of past.

(I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a review).(This review may contain spoilers).

I did have a little bit of a slow start with this book. I found the blurb really interesting when I was originally invited to take part in the blog tour, but when I started reading this book, I found myself really confused about what age the main character was supposed to be. That confusion did settle after a while, though.

The atmosphere in this book was really tense and I felt it didn’t really let up – which was good, but made it a bit exhausting to read. I found myself able to relate really well to Alice as a character and I felt really bad about what she and her sister went through with parents who basically paraded them around as ornaments.

I think my favourite part of this book was probably the part about the codes… but I didn’t really understand much about the whole cipher. Still, I felt a lot of work had gone into that part of the book and it really showed.

I’ve mentioned, on more than one occasion to various people, that I feel celebrities are treated as different to other people. I see news articles where things that would be normal for non-famous people are made a massive deal of and that they are treated as vastly different to people the public don’t see as important. And I felt this came across really well in this book – the idea that the celebrities were supposed to be untouchable; that people would cover up what they’d done and make it so that they didn’t get into trouble for anything.

By the end of this book, I really disliked Alice’s father… though I liked her mother better. I also really liked seeing Alice’s relationships with Cassie and Jerry. It was good to see a friendship that still managed to weather the bad, despite one of the people in the friendship completely stepping back. (For reasons that might have been good, but still…)

I’m not sure I should have, but I did like Ruth as a character. And Millie was also quite intriguing.

I also felt that the actions Alice took in the book were believable. I could get behind her as a heroine and it would be really good to see a sequel with more of her and some of the other characters in… though not really Annie.

Follow the Dead To Me by Mary McCoy Blog Tour and don’t miss anything! Click on the banner to see the tour schedule.

Mary McCoy is a librarian at the Los Angeles Public Library. She has also been a contributor to On Bunker Hill and the 1947project, where she wrote stories about Los Angeles’s notorious past. She grew up in western Pennsylvania and studied at Rhodes College and the University of Wisconsin. Mary now lives in Los Angeles with her husband. Her debut novel, Dead To Me, is a YA mystery set in the glamorous, treacherous world of 1940s Hollywood.