Mockingbird (Miriam Black #2) By: Chuck Wendig

mockingbird

Mockingbird (Miriam Black #2) By: Chuck Wendig

Plot:

Miriam is trying. Really, she is.    But this whole “settling down thing” that Louis has going for her just isn’t working out. She lives on Long Beach Island all year around. Her home is a run-down double-wide trailer. She works at a grocery store as a check-out girl. And her relationship with Louis–who’s on the road half the time in his truck–is subject to the piss and vinegar Miriam brings to everything she does.    It just isn’t going well. Still, she’s keeping her psychic ability–to see when and how someone is going to die just by touching them–in check. But even that feels wrong somehow. Like she’s keeping a tornado stoppered up in a tiny bottle.    Then comes one bad day that turns it all on her ear.

Review:

Miriam does not do normal, at all. So when she tries to be normal for Louis it does not work and I really feel like she acted even more outrageous than she would have if she hadn’t been suppressed for so long. Louis didn’t seem like he was conscientiously trying to change Miriam, it was more like she felt obligated to try since she’d got his eye poked out.

This series is much darker than I normally read but I still like it. Definitely not something I could read a lot of all at once, but it’s nice to change things up every now and then. Wendig writes great characters and his women are not the damsel in distress sort. He tells his story from a unique perspective, and even though I really don’t like Miriam, I can’t help but hope she succeeds and figures her life out.

4/5

 

Aurora Teagarden Mystery: A Bone to Pick (2015)

A Bone to Pick

Aurora Teagarden Mystery: A Bone to Pick (2015)

Director:

Martin Wood

Starring:

Candace Cameron Bure

Marilu Henner

Lexa Doig

Plot:

When Aurora, or Roe, Teagarden’s acquaintance from the disbanded hobby group, Real Murders, dies, Roe is bequeathed a small house and a not-so-small fortune. Roe soon discovers that her generous benefactress has left her more than she bargained for when she uncovers a skull in a carpeted window seat in the inherited house. Roe sets out to find out who the victim is and how his or her skull ended up in a spinster’s window seat. Will Roe discover the murderer on Honor Street?

Review:

I’ve been reading a lot of cozy mysteries lately so it was interesting to actually watch one. This is your usual Hallmark channel fare, though not overly sentimental which was nice. The mystery was good, though, Aurora, Candace Cameron Bure, was the definition of nosy and really should have given that skull to the police as soon as she found it. Come on people withholding evidence is not good and she would have still been able to work the mystery without it.

The acting was fine, the story was fine, some of the cozy mystery tropes didn’t play as well on screen, but I still liked the movie and wouldn’t be opposed to seeing more from this series.

3/5

Daredevil (2015-?)

Daredevil

Daredevil (2015-?)

Network:

Netflix

Starring:

Charlie Cox

Deborah Ann Woll

Elden Henson

Plot:

A blind lawyer with his other senses superhumanly enhanced fights crime as a costumed superhero.

Review:

Best pilot since Marvel’s Agent Carter. So far I’ve consumed four episodes and I love this show so much. A lot of the fight scenes have been better shot than most action movies being released lately. The story is compelling and I like how they’ve worked in mentions to the Avengers. Not the characters but the destruction they did to the city. The characters are real, but not so real that you can’t see them donning black and kicking butt.

I purposefully didn’t read much about this show going in because I wanted to see it without any expectations, and these first four episodes have been incredible. I’m so looking forward to the rest of this season and all the Marvel+Netflix series to come.

5/5

Side note: Kind of sad to read that AKA Jessica Jones might not be released this year, it’s times like this when I’m reminded that we’re in a whole new world of TV and have no idea what “networks” are going to do

Miss Buncle’s Book (Miss Buncle #1) By: D.E. Stevenson
Miss Buncles Book

Love this cover

Miss Buncle’s Book (Miss Buncle #1) By: D.E. Stevenson

Plot:

Barbara Buncle is in a bind. Times are harsh, and Barbara’s bank account has seen better days. Stumped for ideas, Barbara draws inspiration from fellow residents of her quaint English village, writing a revealing novel that features the townsfolk as characters. The smashing bestseller is published under the pseudonym John Smith, which is a good thing because villagers recognize the truth. But what really turns her world around is when events in real life start mimicking events in the book. Funny, charming, and insightful, this novel reveals what happens when people see themselves through someone else’s eyes.

Review:

The cover on this book really drew me in and the story sounded fairly interesting. I got lost a few times in the language, I’m not completely up on my 50s British slang. There are also some British customs that I don’t understand, evidently you can be hurting for money and yet still have staff? I’m sure I’m missing something, but even not knowing the ins and outs of British customs I really enjoyed the book.

The peek into the lives of a small British village that is in an uproar over a book that didn’t quiet depict some people in the best light was very intriguing and entertaining. I loved the main character Barbara Buncle, she was very average, intelligence wise, but because everyone underestimated her she seemed smarter than she was.

When Sarah’s children were “kidnapped” I really wanted the masterminds to get jailed or the crap beat out of them but evidently that’s not how they doing things in Britain. I guess that’s the crass American coming out in me.

Loved the book, the next in the series is $9.99 so it’s a bit steep for an author I’m not too familiar with, but maybe I can pick it up on sale sometime.

4/5

Mockingjay Part 1 (2014)

The-Hunger-Games-Mockingjay-Part-1-Stanley-Tucci

Mockingjay Part 1 (2014)

Director:

Francis Lawrence

Starring:

Jennifer Lawrence

Josh Hutcherson

Liam Hemsworth

Plot:

Katniss Everdeen is in District 13 after she shatters the games forever. Under the leadership of President Coin and the advice of her trusted friends, Katniss spreads her wings as she fights to save Peeta and a nation moved by her courage.

Review:

So happy to finally see a good movie. The last two were so bad I was starting to get depressed.

It’s been a while since I’ve read the books and I’ve heard that they changed some things, but I thought that they got the tone perfect. I was properly sad by the time it ended and wished, yet again, that I owned the books so I could read the ending. Though there’s a ton of even more sad stuff to come.

Great addition to the series and really looking to the last installment.

5/5