Blodeuedd's Monday Review: Extraordinary Means by Robyn Schneider

Audiobook, 8h

Published May 26th 2015 by Katherine Tegen Books

YA Fiction

Own

My Thoughts

I wish books weren't compared to other books. Because when they did compare this one to a book it became obvious how it would end.

Short, must make it short!

Lane has drug resistent TB and is sent to a sanitarium. He was the kid on the honor roll and who did nothing else but study. And he has a hard time shaking it.

He meets real friends for once.

1 out of 5 sent there do not make it home

Spoiler where I talk about how idiotic they are

Wtf. Sneaking into town! They might infect someone!

Taking of their sensors! Those will help if you die! Stupid effing idiots.

Conclusion:

I liked it. Lane learned that there is more to life. He falls in love and he hopes.

PS

No it was never sad cos well look what I said at the top

Narrators:
Khristine Hvam , James Fouhey

They were both good but I had this problem. Khristine talked too fast and James too slow. It was hard to find a speed that worked for both. And then I still felt he was too slow.

Blurb:
Up until his diagnosis, Lane lived a fairly predictable life. But when he finds himself at a tuberculosis sanatorium called Latham House, he discovers an insular world with paradoxical rules, med sensors, and an eccentric yet utterly compelling confidante named Sadie—and life as Lane knows it will never be the same.

Book Review: Witchnapped in Westerham by Dionne Lister

Author: Dionne Lister
Title: Witchnapped in Westerham (Paranormal Investigation Bureau #1)
Genre: Fantasy, Mystery, Paranormal
Pages: ebook
Published: July 29th 2018
Where I Got It: My shelf (Amazon)

 All it takes is one morning for Sydney Photographer Lily Bianchi's life to go off the rails and over a cliff. 

A well-dressed English woman turns up at her door, swearing she's a witch. If that’s not crazy enough, she explains Lily’s brother, James, has been kidnapped and the Paranormal Investigation Bureau needs Lily’s help finding him. 

And the craziest part? The Englishwoman tells Lily she's a witch too. Before she can say, “Where’s my coffee?” she’s on a plane bound for Westerham, England. Unfortunately, England’s not as welcoming as she hoped--she's barely arrived before she gets set up, arrested and almost shot. 

Things can only get better from here, right? Yeah, right…

Love a good cozy mystery especially when it is paranormal in nature. This was a freebie so even better ;)

The story follows Lily who is a photographer and just living her life when strange things start happening. Some English lady shows up stating that she is a witch and so is Lily. On top of all of this Lily's brother has been kidnapped. The Paranormal Investigation Bureau, PIB, needs Lily's help to find him. 

Ooooh Lily. Poor thing. She has been experiencing some crazy things since her birthday and now her brother, James, is kidnapped and she has to deal with these powers that came all of a sudden. I liked Lily a lot. She made me laugh! 

This was a quick read and I liked how light this was. It had humor. Sure there is the mystery on hand, but I had no real worries James was dead or anything. It was a pretty easy mystery at a certain point. Quick and light. Just the type of book I needed! 

Even though I liked Lily, I did find it odd how easily she accepted everything. There was some doubt, sure, but she did it in stride pretty easy. This is my only real complaint. Everything else was just cozy. 

Overall, this was a quick and fun read. A nice mystery with some humor and paranormal stuff. I'll give this a 4. 

Movie Review: Venom (2018)

Film Title: Venom

Length: 1h 52min
Released: October 2018
Genre: Action, Sci-Fi
Rating: PG-13
Where I Got It: Watched in theaters


SUMMARY:
When Eddie Brock acquires the powers of a symbiote, he will have to release his alter-ego "Venom" to save his life.

TRAILER:

REVIEW:
Been dying to see this one when it first was announced. 1) I liked Venom as a kid; interesting character for sure 2) I adore Tom Hardy. 

First, I must say...the effects were amazing!!! There is a 3D version of this film, but I get migraines from 3D so I won't watch them, but I can only imagine how cool it is. Just the 2D was pretty epic. Wonderful. Loved it. 

Tom Hardy was amazing. He is the perfect actor for Eddie. Funny, sexy, and a little awkward. The rest of the cast was really good too.

Now, my biggest issue was how long the beginning took. Yes, they are building the world and building the characters. It took WAY too long to get Venom on the screen. Lots of build-up...too much build-up. I would've liked more screentime with our main character and his...alter-ego? Side-kick? Co-star? Well...you know what I'm aiming at. We needed more time with Venom and Eddie kicking bad guy butt. Once we got to that, then the movie had no flaws. 

The San Francisco setting was perfect. It helped with a lot of the scenes for sure. 

The final battle was kick-ass. As it was going on my mouth was a agape. Flawless effects and it was done beautifully. I was on the edge of my seat unsure of what the conclusion would be. 

Venom and Eddie were hilarious. The one-liners...the banter. It was all hilarious and fit well. Even the one-liners from some of the other characters were fun. I even enjoyed the Doctor. He was cute and I want him to stick around somehow for the next film. Is there a next film? I hope so. 

I wouldn't mind a Spidey-Venom film. That would be fun. I will need to catch up on the newer Spidey films though...

Overall, I really enjoyed this film. It was fun. The beginning needed a huge trim, but after that I was hooked to the journey. Eddie and Venom are the best. I'll stamp this with....4. 

Book Review: The Christmas Eve Daughter by Elyse Douglas

Author: Elyse Douglas
Title: The Christmas Eve Daughter - The Sequel to The Christmas Eve Letter
Genre: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Fantasy, & Mystery
Pages: ebook
Published: September 12th 2018
Where I Got It: My shelf (Given to me by the author/publisher for my unbiased opinion)

 When husband and wife, Eve and Patrick Gantly, discover a shocking secret from Patrick's past, they make the difficult decision to use the old lantern once again to return to 1885. They hope to save his child from a tragic future. 

Although they try to plan for every possible contingency, something goes wrong. They lose each other and end up in a different time! Nothing goes as planned. They struggle to save Patrick's daughter from certain death, even as they search for the lost lantern that will return them to their own time.

I love time traveling books and Xmas books so this was one I had to check out. Plus, I adore that cover. Lovely!

I did not read book 1, but that is okay. This did well as a standalone. There was some backstory missed, but the author did a good job of getting the reader up-to-speed and knowing as much as needed.

This follows Patrick and Eve who have just gotten married. He is from 1885 and she is from today. They met in the previous book. Patrick is trying to get used to this modern world. There are things he likes and things he hates. It is rough for him which is understandable. It becomes rougher when he finds out he has a daughter with a one-night stand who met with a horrible fate. He is filled with guilt and wants to go back and change this and save his daughter. Poor guy. Things happen and our character finds themselves going back in time. But of course...things do not go to plan. 

Oooo Patrick. Poor guy. I can't imagine this happening. I would do the same thing and as much as I want to see it from Eve's point of view...I found her pretty selfish at first. Yes, yes, it is a lot to ask for to time travel and whatnot, but he will never be happy knowing he could possibly change history and save his child. 

That lantern is a pain. They need to figure out the science behind it because it seems so unreliable. I guess this keeps people from running around all of the time doing whatever they please. Maybe a future book someone will be able to explain it so it came to be used so we avoid these issues ;) 

I enjoyed this quite a bit. It was a fun adventure and I was not sure what was going to happen next. I had no idea how anything was going to be fixed. Time travel is such a messy thing for sure! And the author did a good job with showing this. The characters were fun too! I loved the dynamic between Patrick and Eve. They were cute. I'm a little bummed I missed book 1. I may have to backtrack to see them fall in love...

The scene when Eve first arrives bugged me. It seemed a touch unrealistic honestly. It was fun and I liked the friend she meets when she first gets there, but she was WAY too trusting. Other than that, no issues. This was a good one overall.

All-in-all, I enjoyed this quite a bit. The characters were fun and I was worried about Patrick and Eve. I am most impressed that this did so well as a stand-alone novel. Kuddos to the author for that! If you are looking for a good Xmas book with time travel give this a go. I'll stamp it this with 4 stars.