Category Archives: Day to Day… and Off the Subject!

Pretty Little Dead Girls by Mercedes M. Yardley

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Pretty

TITLE: Pretty Little Dead Girls
AUTHOR: Mercedes M. Yardley

RATING OVERVIEW
Writing: ★★★
Story: ★★★★
Characters: ★★★
Appearance: ★★★★
Overall: ★★★★ (3.5)

AMAZON DESCRIPTION:
“Run, Star Girl.” Bryony Adams is destined to be murdered, but fortunately Fate has terrible marksmanship. In order to survive, she must run as far and as fast as she can. After arriving in Seattle, Bryony befriends a tortured musician, a market fish-thrower, and a starry-eyed hero who is secretly a serial killer bent on fulfilling Bryony’s dark destiny. Mercedes M. Yardley’s Pretty Little Dead Girls: A Novel of Murder and Whimsy is a dark, lovely fairy tale with lyrical language and a high body count, and features a cover by Hugo award-winner Galen Dara. Includes “Oliver Bloom” by Ryan Johnson, a short story featuring characters from Pretty Little Dead Girls.

Buy it HERE on Amazon! 

THE CRITICAL POINTS

Let me start by saying I know I’m in a minority with this book review. I’ve seen the amazon reviews… Pretty Little Dead Girls has an average of 5 stars with 82 reviews and that is awesome! I guess this narrative style of writing just really isn’t my cup of tea. Or maybe it isn’t the narration, its more that every character seems to have the same voice… but more of that later, when I talk about characters. 

With all that said – I still think that Mercedes M Yardley is a talented writer, and I do plan on reading more of her work.

WRITING: I have never read anything like this… The author writes from a narrator’s point of view, but instead of standing outside the story and telling you what happens, the narrator speaks directly to the reader. Addressing the reader, outside the context of the story, is very jarring.

STORY: Right from the start of the story, the reader is intrigued. We’re told that Bryony is the type of girl who gets murdered. We don’t know why, but we accept it as truth. Starting on page one, you are drawn in and you start searching each new character you meet to find out if they might be the one to murder Bryony.

This is when the story falls apart for me. I’m intrigued by the concept of the story, the idea that this girl has a destiny that is so plainly clear to everyone, but it’s never explained. We never – throughout the whole book – learn why she is destined to be murdered or who EVERYONE KNOWS IT! The whole story is about how she is destined to be murdered, everyone knows it and tries to protect her, and how she escapes her destiny as people around her die.

I just felt like the potential was there for this to be a really amazing story, but it fell flat for me.

CHARACTERS: I’m not really sure how to describe the characters in this book. Honestly, they all feel the same, other than Bryony. Because everything is told from the Narrator’s point of view, everyone seems to speak in the same voice. I think the part that really threw me, was when there was a full conversation, between Bryony (our lead) and the Murderer, using only eye contact. A conversation that was so absurd… so ridiculous in the moment… that it pulled me right out of the story. This is only one example of many, where I found myself shaking my head and asking myself, “why am I still reading?” Yet, I read it from page one until the end. 

APPEARANCE: The cover was designed by Galen Dara, and the artwork is truly beautiful. Reading the story, I didn’t really envision Bryony looking like the girl on the cover, but that didn’t take anything away from the book for me.

MY FAVORITE QUOTE: “Bryony Adams was the type of girl who got murdered.” It’s the first sentence of the book and immediately draws you in.

Check out my YouTube channel and the video review below… and make sure you hit subscribe so you never miss a video.

https://youtu.be/7PRSrwVQ8RY

My 2 Cents… Same Kind of Different as Me

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Same kind ofBlurb:
International art dealer Ron Hall must befriend a dangerous homeless man in order to save his struggling marriage to his wife, a woman whose dreams will lead all three of them on the journey of their lives.

Storyline:
Ron Hall lost track of what matters most in life. It took an affair, a confession, a dream and an unlikely friendship with a homeless man to help him remember. From the outside, Ron Hall’s seemingly charmed life looked pretty perfect: He had a flourishing art business, a beautiful wife, two fine teen children and an amazing 15,000 square foot house in Fort Worth, Texas. But appearances can be deceptive.

Director: Michael Carney
Writers: Michael Carney, Alexander Foard, and Ron Hall (screenplay) | Ron Hall, Denver Moore, and Lynn Vincent (book)

RATING OVERVIEW
Writing: ★★★★★
Story: ★★★★★
Acting: ★★★★★
Overall: ★★★★★ (5)

Based on a true story, Same Kind of Different as Me will bring you to tears, so make sure to have some tissues on hand when you watch it.

I hadn’t heard of the film until sitting on the airplane (it seems I watch most of my films while flying), but it had Renee Zellweger in it so I hit play. It is definitely a film driven by the story and the acting. There are no crazy expensive special effects to keep you entertained and in awe. The story is strong… heart wrenching… and an important one to be told! The acting is perfect in every way.

Denver (played by Djimon Hounsou) is a homeless man who through fate is befriended by, Debbie, a wealthy white woman (played by Renee Zellweger) and reluctantly, Ron, her husband (played by Greg Kinnear). Where their journey through friendship takes them and how they grow as they learn more about one another is beautiful. I won’t give away the ending, or spoil the story for you, but if you’re in the mood to watch something truly beautiful… something with a message… something that isn’t just pure entertainment, then I suggest renting this one.

You can watch the official movie trailers here:

 

101 MORE REASONS To Break Up by J Edward Neill

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101 Reasons

TITLE: 101 MORE REASONS To Break Up
AUTHOR: J Edward Neill

RATING OVERVIEW
Writing: ★★★
Story: ★★★
Characters: ★★★
Appearance: ★★★
Overall: ★★★ (3)

 

AMAZON DESCRIPTION:
You think YOUR relationships have been crazy? Think again.

In 101 MORE Reasons to Break Up, dozens of people are interviewed about their best, worst, and weirdest break-ups.

Every one of the tales is real, and each one is crazier than the one before. Affairs, love-triangles, and nutty behavior? Nothing is taboo in these weird, wild break-ups. Once you read one, you’ll want to read them all!

This is the sequel to the original 101 Reasons to Break Up

Buy it HERE on Amazon! 

THE CRITICAL POINTS

WRITING: There isn’t really much here to critique in terms of writing. As a compilation of 101 short stories (1-3 paragraphs each), told from the perspective of the real-life person involved in the break-up, Neill only had to transcribe their experiences. There were some editing issues splattered throughout the book, but nothing so terrible that I put the book down.

STORY: Some of the stories were entertaining, but mostly they were a combination of sad, embarrassing, dull, and even horrifying. It only took me a couple of hours to read… My suggestion – take it with you on your next flight, read it and leave it in the seat back pocket for the next traveler to enjoy.

APPEARANCE: Beautiful cover!

Check out my YouTube channel and the video review below… and make sure you hit subscribe so you never miss a video.

https://youtu.be/ViUcgEQ4lZM

My 2 Cents… Molly’s Game

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Molly's GameMolly’s Game – The true story of Molly Bloom, on Olympic-class skier who ran the world’s most exclusive high-stakes poker game and became an FBI target.

I picked this movie simply because the “movie poster” looked interesting! If it were a book (as I’ve recently discovered it is) I would have picked it for the cover. Not knowing anything about it, and without watching the preview, I jumped right in.

Jessica Chastain (see her IMDB page here) was wonderful as Molly Bloom! I can’t imagine they could have cast it any better. When I looked up pictures of the real Molly Bloom, I was pleasantly surprised to see Chastain actually does somewhat resemble her.

I’m not going to lie, I have since read reviews that say the book is so much better than the movie. Yes, I plan to buy the book and read it promptly.

Have you seen Molly’s Game? If so, what did you think? 

See the official movie trailer here:

 

Gwendy’s Button Box by Stephen King and Richard Chizmar

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TITLE: Gwendy’s Button Box
AUTHOR: Stephen King and Richard Chizmar

RATING OVERVIEW
Writing: ★★★★
Story: ★★★★
Characters: ★★★★
Appearance: ★★★★
Overall: ★★★★ (4)

 

AMAZON DESCRIPTION:
Stephen King teams up with long-time friend and award-winning author Richard Chizmar for the first time in this original, chilling novella that revisits the mysterious town of Castle Rock.

There are three ways up to Castle View from the town of Castle Rock: Route 117, Pleasant Road, and the Suicide Stairs. Every day in the summer of 1974, twelve-year-old Gwendy Peterson has taken the stairs, which are held by strong—if time-rusted—iron bolts and zig-zag up the precarious cliffside.

Then one day when Gwendy gets to the top of Castle View, after catching her breath and hearing the shouts of kids on the playground below, a stranger calls to her. There on a bench in the shade sits a man in black jeans, a black coat, and a white shirt unbuttoned at the top. On his head is a small, neat black hat. The time will come when Gwendy has nightmares about that hat…

The little town of Castle Rock, Maine has witnessed some strange events and unusual visitors over the years, but there is one story that has never been told—until now.

Buy it HERE on Amazon! 

THE CRITICAL POINTS

WRITING: I’ve never read anything by Richard Chizmar, but I’ve always loved Stephen King. This book, although it doesn’t have the creepy factor of a typical Stephen King book it does still have the mystical… magical elements that are all to familiar with reading Stephen King. One of the things I love most about reading Stephen King’s writing is that he doesn’t treat his readers like they’re stupid. He assumes you’re just going to be able to suspend your disbelief and fall into this world he has created as if it is the most natural thing in the world. The funny thing is, you do. I crack the spine and instantly I’m transported to a whole new world where everything-anything is possible.

STORY: The story was simple. It asks the question, if you had a magic button box that could destroy lives and essentially grant your every desire, what would you do? OK, that is dumbing it down a bit, but you get the point. Simple story, but then you ask that question of a twelve year old girl and lay on her the responsibility of protecting the box and essentially the world and it becomes much more complex.

CHARACTERS: The story follows Gwendy, from the time she is twelve until after her college graduation. Although it’s a fast read, I still feel like the reader really gets to know Gwendy. We understand her decisions and we can even anticipate what she is going to do next. I love that in such a short novella, Stephen King and Richard Chizmar are still able to satisfy my craving for detail and in depth character development.

APPEARANCE: Beautiful cover. It doesn’t give anything away and yet, when you read the book the cover fits perfectly.

Check out my YouTube channel and the video review below… and make sure you hit subscribe so you never miss a video!

https://youtu.be/41pgu7-ynzA

Watch the Gwendy’s Button Box Signing and Live Question & Answer with Richard Chizmar:

https://youtu.be/dinOukMBUVA

I GIVE UP… My 12-Year-Old is Smarter than ME!

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gray monkeys

Photo by Sebastian Voortman on Pexels.com

I GIVE UP… MY 12-YEAR-OLD IS SMARTER THAN ME!!!

Yeah right! But, that is what she thinks.

How many of you moms out there have dealt with or are dealing with children that believe they know what is best for them… better than you do? I believe, in my gut, that every child goes through this phase. The bad news is… I hear it’s a pretty long phase. My daughter started at about age 8… she is 12 now and still in said “phase.”

Her motto seems to be:

“I’m Right and You’re WRONG”

Okay, maybe she doesn’t actually say the words… not out loud, but they are clear as day in her actions.

I honestly feel… believe, maybe naively, that as the mother, when I ask my child to do something, “Please clean your room”, “It’s time to brush your teeth”, “Get ready for bed”, “Homework time” these are not suggestions. These are in fact what needs to get done AT THAT TIME! Not 10 minutes, 20 minutes, or 2 hours later.

I also believe that when I have to ask the same thing multiple times… because my child failed to listen the first ten times… that is a clear sign of disrespect and defiance on the part of my child.

Last year, during her first year in middle school, I had a breakthrough!
An “AH-HA” moment if you will!

I sat my daughter down, after the fifth argument of the day, and had the following discussion with her:

Me: Sweetheart, you know mommy loves you, right?
Daughter: Yes.
Me: Do you know that mommy has a reason for asking you to do the things I ask you to do?
Daughter: Yes.
Me: Then why do you consistently choose not to listen?
Daughter (with a very ‘I’m pissed at you’ look on her face): I DON’T WANT TO DO IT!
Me: I understand that, I do. But, homework has to be done, even when we don’t want to do it.
She just sat there.
Me: Okay, fine. I am tired, of arguing with you. I am tired, of having to take your phone away…
Daughter: I DON’T WANT YOU TO TAKE IT.
Me: (Deep Breath) I didn’t say I was taking it away. I said I was tired of taking it away.
Daughter (Dirty Look)
Me: Now, as I was saying. I’m not going to fight you anymore. If you believe you know what is best for you, better than I do, then I have to trust that. I’m just going to let you make your own decisions and then you will have to deal with the consequences.
Daughter: What do you mean?
Me: Well, if you don’t want to do your homework, then you are going to have to deal with what your teacher does tomorrow. If you want to eat ten pieces of candy after school you will have to deal with the painful dentist visit when he has to fill your cavities, or the tummy ache at bedtime. If you don’t want to put your dirty clothes in the hamper, then you will have to deal with the fact that your laundry doesn’t get clean.
Daughter: Fine.
Me: Fine. Oh, and I’m not going to fight you in the morning trying to wake you up any more either. That means, I will tell you it is time to get up, but if you don’t get up and take your shower and get ready for school by the time we have to leave… I guess you’ll be going to school in your pajamas.

***

The conversation ended shortly after that. About an hour later she apologized for arguing with me about doing her homework and the candy she had wanted. I explained that all little girls believe they know better than their mommy and that it was okay. I also told her that it doesn’t change anything, that I think it is time for her to learn from her own mistakes instead of me trying to help her avoid the small mistakes that in the end won’t hurt her.

Later that night… she listened better. I would ask her once to do something, and if she didn’t do it I didn’t ask again. Example: I asked for her to put her clean clothes away (I had just folded laundry) and after five minutes she hadn’t done it, so I started to do it myself. She quickly got up and did it herself.

The next morning, I told her once to get up… It took her a while but, she did it. She ended up running out the door at the last-minute trying to finish breakfast and pack her lunch – YEAH – She told me that morning that she wanted to pack her own lunch from that point on!

Oh well, life goes on. I’m sure that once she hits twenty she will realize that yes, sometimes Mommy does know best.

***

So, moms out there… have you been through this? Got any advice for those of us going through it now?

My 2 Cents… Maze Runner: The Death Cure

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Maze RunnerMaze Runner: The Death Cure – Young hero Thomas (played by Dylan O’Brien) embarks on a mission to find a cure for a deadly disease known as “The Flare”.

Let me start by saying that I LOVED the first movie in this series. With that said, I sat through this movie going, “Wait, what? Did I miss something?’ I felt completely lost, as if huge chunks of the story had been left out – skipped – or just deleted in editing.

Sure, there were some pretty awesome action sequences, but the story left me feeling disappointed and counting the minutes of my life that I’ll never get back.

Side note… Barry Pepper (as Vince) was awesome! Seriously Barry, where have you been? Hollywood needs to cast you more!!!

Watch the official trailer here:

Tidal by Amanda Hocking

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Tidal

TITLE: Tidal
AUTHOR: Amanda Hocking

RATING OVERVIEW
Writing: ★★★★
Story: ★★★★★
Characters: ★★★★
Appearance: ★★★★★
Overall: ★★★★★ (4.5)

 

AMAZON DESCRIPTION:
Don’t miss Tidal, the spellbinding third book in the Watersong series by New York Times bestselling author Amanda Hocking!

Gemma and Harper Fisher are facing the fight of their lives. Gemma has been cursed with extraordinary powers that have a terrifying dark side, but she’s finally found what she needs―a way to break the curse and become human again. But finding the means to do it will be her greatest challenge yet. And now Penn, Lexi and Thea―the gorgeous but deadly creatures who cursed her―are determined to kill her before she has a chance. Making matters worse, Penn has her sights set on Daniel―the guy Harper loves―and Penn always gets what she wants.

As Gemma and Harper race to break the curse before it’s too late, they’re thrust deeper into a mythical world of immortal secrets. They must delve into their enemies’ past to find the answers they need, even if it means being drawn deeper into their savagely beautiful world. But one of the girls is not what she seems…and Gemma finds an unlikely ally as she struggles to save herself. But will it be enough to break an ancient curse that no one has ever escaped alive?

Buy it HERE on Amazon! 

THE CRITICAL POINTS
Before I get into the book… lets first talk about the Author. Amanda Hocking WAS an indie-author, like me and so many others. But, somehow, she beat all the odds and managed to find a way to get her books seen – AND READ. In early 2011, she was averaging 9,000 book sales each day!!! Trust me, that is no easy task. It’s hard enough to sell 9 books a week much less 9,000 a day. In March of 2011, she signed her first conventional publishing contract with St. Martin’s Press, a 4-book deal, and joined the big leagues. In 2015, she announced that she had signed a new 3-book deal with St. Martin’s press and her success just continued to skyrocket.

As an indie-author, I’d love to pick her brain and find out what it was she was doing, in those early years, to spread the word about her books. I personally find marketing myself and my books to be the hardest part of being an indie-author. How you get hundreds, let alone thousands of sales, in a day I’d love to know. I’d love to get my hands on her “marketing pan.”

WRITING: Hocking writes young adult paranormal fiction/urban fantasy (like me)… I LOVE THIS STUFF! I’ve found some typos throughout the book, but I can’t remember the last book I read that didn’t have any typos. I honestly don’t fault the author for that. It’s her job to make the story interesting, the editor is the one who is supposed to ensure the grammatical issues and typos are dealt with.

STORY: I picked this book up at the Dollar Tree… I liked the cover and I had read a couple of books by Hocking in the past, so I was intrigued. I didn’t know, at the time, that Tidal was the third book in a series. With that said, the first 1/3 of the book seemed very odd… as if I was missing huge chunks of the story. Truth be told – I WAS! I’m sure that if I had read books one and two I would have been up to speed and loving it. In the end however, it didn’t really matter that I hadn’t read the first two books. I enjoyed the story enough to finish the book in just two days… It’s a quick beach-read! It’s not typical to read the third book first, but I do plan on going back and picking up books 1, 2, and 4… Now that I know what happens to Lexi, I have to know what happens to all the other characters and how they got themselves in the situation they’re in.

CHARACTERS: Hocking gives each character their own unique personality and purpose. The only thing that seemed off about the characters is that everyone is beautiful… I tend to like a bit more diversity when it comes to character development, but still easy, fun read.

APPEARANCE: The cover is beautiful. Considering the cover is what made me pick up the book, I’d say the cover artist did their job very well.

Watch the Tidal teaser trailer here:

https://youtu.be/AydpDWbxUF4

Check out my YouTube channel and the video review below… and make sure you hit subscribe so you never miss a video.

https://youtu.be/E7pJhhA3t_w

Dear Future Me…

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Today you are lucky to be employed, but your job does not define you.
You are in the best physical shape of your life, but your body does not define you.
You are a published author, but your accomplishments do not define you!
You have the most supportive family in the world, but your family does not define you.
You have an amazing husband and two beautiful, sweet, intelligent children, who love you with every ounce of their being, but their love does not define you!

YOU DEFINE YOU!

Your job is a stepping stone.
Your body is your vessel.
Your accomplishments are your road map.
Family is your motivation.
Love is your strength.
BUT

YOU DEFINE YOU!

Who you are today is not who you will be tomorrow, but with your family at your side you can do anything you set out to do…
Don’t be afraid to DEFINE YOURSELF!

define yourself

My 2 Cents… Upgrade

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UpgradeUpgrade – Set in the near-future, technology controls nearly all aspects of life. But when Grey (played by Logan Marshall-Green), a self-identified technophobe, has his world turned upside down, his only hope for revenge is an experimental computer chip implant called Stem (voice by Simon Maiden).

I wasn’t expecting any more than an action-packed movie along the lines of the Bourne movies (which I loved), but I ended up loving this movie for a completely different reason. It’s not all action and drama! It’s filled with laughs, which considering how dark the film is was very unexpected. Leigh Whannell, the film’s director, has packed this film full of drama, shock, action, and even some heartbreak. There’s never a dull moment as the film has you on the edge of your seat the entire time!

I can’t end this review without saying that Logan Marshall-Green was perfectly cast. PERFECTLY cast. He made the characters inner struggle believable in exactly the way this film needed. You feel for his character, you’re angry with him, grieving with him, and want him to win even if it means doing unspeakable things.

Watch the official trailer here: