Review

Silence Fallen (Mercy Thompson #10) By: Patricia Briggs

Silence Fallen (Mercy Thompson #10) By: Patricia Briggs

Plot:

In the #1 New York Times bestselling Mercy Thompson novels, the coyote shapeshifter has found her voice in the werewolf pack. But when Mercy’s bond with the pack—and her mate—is broken, she’ll learn what it truly means to be alone…   Attacked and abducted in her home territory, Mercy finds herself in the clutches of the most powerful vampire in the world, taken as a weapon to use against alpha werewolf Adam and the ruler of the Tri-Cities vampires. In coyote form, Mercy escapes—only to find herself without money, without clothing, and alone in the heart of Europe…   Unable to contact Adam and the rest of the pack, Mercy has allies to find and enemies to fight, and she needs to figure out which is which. Ancient powers stir, and Mercy must be her agile best to avoid causing a war between vampires and werewolves, and between werewolves and werewolves. And in the heart of the ancient city of Prague, old ghosts rise…
 

Review:

I put off reading this book as long as I could because I just knew that it would swallow me whole and I wouldn’t want to do the things that I needed to do, like take care of my children. When I finally did start reading, I didn’t have a difficult time putting it down. Part of that was because I’m so behind on sleep and some of the time I was reading was during night time nursing sessions. The other part of that was because I just didn’t like the story as much.

Well, that’s not entirely true. I love the characters, Mercy, Adam, and all the side characters, but most of them weren’t even in the story. Mercy was in Europe because she was abducted by the Lord of the Night or whatever he called himself. He’s been mentioned in other books and I was expecting someone super scary or something and he was a major let down. Adam was of course there, but the rest of the pack wasn’t. Also, I totally guessed the big “twist” and wasn’t shocked by it at all.

I love Patricia Briggs and everything that she’s written and I’d really love to give this book 5 stars because it was still good, but I almost feel like it was a paint by numbers Mercy Thompson book. Coyote showed up, Mercy got into trouble, she got herself out, Adam nearly lost control of his wolf because he was worried about her, etc… The formatting was also different in this book. I didn’t mind the jumps from point of view from Mercy to Adam, but the fact that the POVs didn’t line up was annoying and I honestly didn’t see why it was done it added nothing to the story.

All in all, the book was good, better than most urban fantasy out there, but I don’t think it lived up to the quality I’ve come to expect from Patricia Briggs.

4/5

Side note: I’m a big new Doctor Who fan but I thought the references were overdone. Matt Smith? Even the title is a call to one of the big bads. It really dates the story, I know there are pop culture references in the other books, but for whatever reason they were too much for me in this one.

The Accountant (2016)

the-accountant

The Accountant (2016)

Director:

Gavin O’Connor

Starring:

Ben Affleck

Anna Kendrick

J.K. Simmons

Plot:

As a math savant uncooks the books for a new client, the Treasury Department closes in on his activities and the body count starts to rise.

Review:

I’m not sure why I wanted to watch this movie, but from the first time I saw the trailer I wanted too. Thankfully, I wasn’t disappointed, though, I think I’m the only one.

Affleck didn’t play the best autistic person, but I still liked his character. I was glad that they didn’t make the brother resent him, even though I think the flashbacks were meant to build that expectation. I thought there should have been more there, the “surprise” with the brother was so obvious that it wasn’t needed and they could have just expanded more on their childhood.

I liked the movie, I don’t know if I have to own it, but I would pick it up if I found it cheap one day.

3.5/5

Suicide Squad (2016)

suicide-squad

Suicide Squad (2016)

Director:

David Ayer

Starring:

Will Smith

Jared Leto

Margot Robbie

Plot:

A secret government agency recruits some of the most dangerous incarcerated super-villains to form a defensive task force. Their first mission: save the world from the apocalypse.

Review:

Well that movie sucked. It started off with a barrage of information on characters, but didn’t really do much character development. I didn’t care about anyone, especially the main military dude, he was so uninspiring which wasn’t good considering how the movie ended. I seriously just didn’t care about any of them. A couple just showed up out of nowhere with almost no intro too.

The music was good, but unlike Guardians of the Galaxy it didn’t really serve a point except to be good music in the background. It didn’t add to the movie in the same way. It wasn’t even like Deadpool music wise. I feel like they took the wrong thing from those movies and just tried too hard with the music.

I also didn’t get everyone’s complaints about the Joker. I didn’t like Leto’s interpretation, personally, but I thought he was in the movie as much as everyone else, except for Will Smith and that wasn’t a good thing. Smith’s character was the only one kind of developed and it was so cliché that again I didn’t care.

I should just stop watching DC movies because they are a giant disappointment each time I do.

2/5

Frogkisser! By: Garth Nix

Frogkisser! By: Garth Nix

Plot:

Poor Princess Anya. Forced to live with her evil stepmother’s new husband, her evil stepstepfather. Plagued with an unfortunate ability to break curses with a magic-assisted kiss. And forced to go on the run when her stepstepfather decides to make the kingdom entirely his own.

Aided by a loyal talking dog, a boy thief trapped in the body of a newt, and some extraordinarily mischievous wizards, Anya sets off on a Quest that, if she plays it right, will ultimately free her land—and teach her a thing or two about the use of power, the effectiveness of a well-placed pucker, and the finding of friends in places both high and low.

Review:

I’ve been excited about this book since I saw the cover. How could I not be? That is such an awesome cover. Sadly for me the book didn’t quite live up to it.

It took me two weeks to finish which never should have happened considering it’s a middle school read. I just couldn’t get into it. It was slow up until the end and even then it was light on action.

All the things I like about Garth Nix were missing. The world was kind of interesting, but not really. I liked that Anya was a strong princess that rescued herself, but didn’t really like anything else.

It was a disappointment, but I’m still excited for anything that Garth Nix comes out with.

2/5

Lockout (2012)

lockout

Lockout (2012)

Director:

James Mather

Starring:

Guy Pearce

Maggie Grace

Peter Stormare

Plot:

A man wrongly convicted of conspiracy to commit espionage against the U.S. is offered his freedom if he can rescue the president’s daughter from an outer space prison taken over by violent inmates.

Review:

I like the idea of this movie more than I like the actual execution. There was a lot of promise, but I feel like they blew their budget on bad CG at the beginning and then the good parts were rushed.

Snow, Guy Pearce, was a total asshole and it was fun to watch. Maggie Grace’s character was underdeveloped, there were hints of stuff but it was glossed over and she was kind of boring but with potential.

I liked the idea of the prison in space. I wished it hadn’t ended with a “romance” between the two characters. I wish there was more to this world and would have enjoyed more character stuff.

3/5