I love Australia! Absolutely love it ...from afar, their spiders, sharks, crocs and jelly fish keep me a safe distance away here in Canada. [image] My I love Australia! Absolutely love it ...from afar, their spiders, sharks, crocs and jelly fish keep me a safe distance away here in Canada. [image] My dearest friend is Australian and is there now but I have been assured she is safely away from the spiders, sharks, crocs and jelly fish, all to say beautiful country, best people and rugged landscapes. Red River Road opens with an influencer, Sophie, who is road tripping in her van doing the big lap of Australia. [image] Shit goes down, now the influencer's sister is searching for her and meets up with a terrified woman on the road and they team up to find missing Sophie. I really enjoyed this, but my main criticism is it takes too long to get there. The first half of the book is just establishing the characters and there journeys, I think that could have been skimmed down by half. Otherwise pretty good story, some very well written tense scenes, good 3rd act!...more
Just a charming story about an Australian department store in 1959 and the ladies that work in the dress department. It was a quick read, likable charJust a charming story about an Australian department store in 1959 and the ladies that work in the dress department. It was a quick read, likable characters and for such a quick read it really painted a picture of the time. There is a movie on Netflix, I think I liked it better the the book, but I think the film fleshed out the characters a bit better and is gorgeous. [image] [image]...more
4.5 stars. Loved it! I listened to the audiobook which the narration really lends itself to. Basically Ernest is doing the best he can in a really dysf4.5 stars. Loved it! I listened to the audiobook which the narration really lends itself to. Basically Ernest is doing the best he can in a really dysfunctional family. He is aware even though they are not good people they love each other deep down, sometimes super deep. Ernest's brother Michael calls on him late one night with a body in the back of his car. This is a turning point for Ernie who has been trying to prove himself better then the reputation his family has due to his fathers criminal exploits. This is not perfect, but I liked Ernie and I liked his narration, there are some dark and violent things in this book but Ernie's dry humour and smart-assery keeps it light. I found the reveal at the end went a bit quick (so your girl felt dumb) but was still excellent and Andy's bit at the end was so enjoyable.
I didn't love it the death of the dog seemed extra awful, there was a romance that seemed out of place, there are dinosaurs eating people and dogs andI didn't love it the death of the dog seemed extra awful, there was a romance that seemed out of place, there are dinosaurs eating people and dogs and there is also making out ? It was an M/M relationship which I am absolutely on board with for sure, but it just seemed thrown in there and I didn't love the execution. Like My dude your dog was just brutally killed by a dinosaur, but you also want to jump the neighbors bones? [image]...more
I am not a hiker, this books features how I assume most hike go, you get lost, then you are hunted down by a monster psycho who derives great pleasureI am not a hiker, this books features how I assume most hike go, you get lost, then you are hunted down by a monster psycho who derives great pleasure from your terror and also bugs. [image] This book features one of the most unlikable characters that was a non villain I have ever read, incel creep, I was invested in his demise, could not wait for him to croak. Anyway great thriller, lots of twists and turns ...more
Books that respect the dangerous landscape that is Australia. IT.IS.NOT.SAFE and not to be taken lightly. [image] RIP This was good, non stop action and Books that respect the dangerous landscape that is Australia. IT.IS.NOT.SAFE and not to be taken lightly. [image] RIP This was good, non stop action and interesting characters. Heather is a new wife and step mom and her new family and her are in Australia on a holiday, it goes off the rails fast and Heather really develops into a character to cheer for and you have no idea what's next!! Excellent summer read!...more
I picked up this book because of the cover. Creepy ghostly forest? Yes please! But this is not about a haunted forest or even ghosts at all. [image] TheI picked up this book because of the cover. Creepy ghostly forest? Yes please! But this is not about a haunted forest or even ghosts at all. [image] The Earth is in serious climate crisis, things get worse every year a tech billionaire has contacted 2 scientists, couple Kate and Jay about a huge secret project he is working on/funding. The billionaire's theory is that to fix the current state of things we have to bring back extinct fauna from like mammoths, sabretooth tigers, thylacines and Neanderthals. Neanderthals are the reason Kate and Jay are here and will be in charge of that particular project. Crazy non? This was definitely more science fiction then thriller, like Jurassic Park but for a less capitalistic reason [image] but I totally enjoyed it, I loved the characters and wept for their losses and cheered for their happiness, which what more can you ask for? Also quick read ...more
This was a bit of a slow start but I really got into this at the 25% mark After getting a note demanding his presence, Federal Agent Aaron Falk arrivesThis was a bit of a slow start but I really got into this at the 25% mark After getting a note demanding his presence, Federal Agent Aaron Falk arrives in his hometown for the first time in decades to attend the funeral of his best friend, Luke. Twenty years ago when Falk was accused of murder, Luke was his alibi. I love Australia, the Outback and Eric Bana, Eric plays Aaron in the movie . [image] Incentive much? Great mysteries, characters and small town. Really well done....more
This book was a mix of this [image] and this [image] with a little bit of this [image] Cave monsters in Australia! This is one of those 90 min summer moviesThis book was a mix of this [image] and this [image] with a little bit of this [image] Cave monsters in Australia! This is one of those 90 min summer movies like Anaconda or Crawl but in book form, I kept thinking this would be great for teenagers, and if my son liked to read (which to my great shame he does not) this would be an exciting read for him. This is not to say it is not well done there is a good amount of foreboding built as well as good character development so that you don't want these crazy Aussies to get eaten. When a sink hole opens up near the Australian outback town of Pintalba, it uncovers a pristine cave system. Sam joins an expedition to explore the subterranean passages as paramedic support, hoping to remain unneeded at base camp. But, when one of the cavers is injured, he must overcome paralysing claustrophobia to dive pitch-black waters and squeeze through the bowels of the earth. It is a cool premise and it is an exciting read, great monster adventure....more
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Goodreads I missed you so!!!!!!!!!! Alrighty A Killing Frost, which I mistakenly referred to as "A touch of Frost" which is something comple
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Goodreads I missed you so!!!!!!!!!! Alrighty A Killing Frost, which I mistakenly referred to as "A touch of Frost" which is something completely different. I loved the first two installments of this series, so I was surprised when I start the third one and its just not doing it for me, like at all. Ellie and the gang are still trying to take down the invading army with little to no outside information, they are tired and hungry and getting on each others nerves. You know who is getting on my nerves? Ellie The whole series is Ellie’s POV so you can see how that would be a problem right? Ellie talks about how tough she is and how she will show everyone up and I am just [image] Yes we know you are great and super woman and whatever… Anyway this story kind of felt like filler and I was not impressed. Also I am sure this has nothing to do with anything but in between the The Dead of Night and A Killing Frost I watched the movie version of the first book and the chick who plays Fi is also Hayley on The Vampire Diaries
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And I fucking hate HAYLEY she is the worst, trust. (Shut up whatever, I like The Vampire Diaries, it’s not a crime) So I am reading this and I am kind of hoping that Fi gets captured and accidentally blown up and …Alright maybe the film does have something to do with my enjoyment of this last book. What have we learned from this review? Movies and Hayley ruin books. Fact. Also Australians not to be messed with....more
Interesting note, apparently New Zealand has been very helpful in this war. Coming immediately to the aid of Australia and fighting for her. Really? Interesting note, apparently New Zealand has been very helpful in this war. Coming immediately to the aid of Australia and fighting for her. Really?
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All I know about New Zealand/Australia relations comes from Flight of the Conchords and they gave the impression they were not fond of Australia and thought they were “subtlety mocking their accents” whenever speaking with an Australian.
I really enjoyed the first book in the Tomorrow series but you know how 2nd books can be a bit lame? Dead of Night is in the same shit kicking league as Tomorrow, When the War Began It is much more intense and the light moments are few and far between, but still so exciting and emotional.
I do not know what I would do if Canada ever was invaded, I feel like we have this security of being right next to the USA and USA would be all “Hell No” to our invaders. Unless the US is gonna invade …but you guys would tell me if that was the plan right? This book basically is saying “what you would do? You would have no say in what would happen, obviously you would be caught and be taken prisoner” and then it shakes its head and laughs at how naïve I am. Shut up book! Yes I would be caught I am very loud and hide and seek was never my game, plus I would have my kid (also loud) and St.Bernard (gigantic) the odds are against me.
But the book is right I cannot tell you how upset I was with the injustice of it all, people being taken off their property, being held prisoner. Oh! and then they are bringing colonists to start living on farms (their farms!) and I was also “HELL NO!” Unfair!! I feel ridiculous when I say these things, war is not a tea party I know this. I read war stories all the time but from this perspective of someone observing the invasion is so different from an actual prisoner and or soldier. This perspective is what these books have going for it, it takes the depressing aspect away a bit and leaves you more indignant then defeated. ...more
An Australian collection of short stories with lessons built in sort of modern day Aesop tales but for girls with modern day issues like date rape, abAn Australian collection of short stories with lessons built in sort of modern day Aesop tales but for girls with modern day issues like date rape, abusive relationships,psycho dudes, and much more. But really funny. Did Jessi just say the date rape story was funny? I did! To be clear date rape is not funny (obvs.)but these are cautionary tales and in this story Rosie goes to a party at 14 yrs old and ends up losing her virginity after getting severely intoxicated by the date-rapeiest (this is not a word to my knowledge but I say it a lot) looking guy ever, no one wins in this situation, but Rosie learns an important lesson.
My favourite in this collection of stories is "Rosie Little in The Mother Country" this has Rosie going to England to stay with godparents she has never met before and experience all the "Mother County" has to offer. It does not go well and the godfather turns out to be a bit of a creeper, Rosie's inner thoughts on this are some of the funniest bits in the book. While in England she meets a boy, falls in love and they decide to have sex. When the boy asks if she has ever done this before she thinks about the party in the previous story and says very sweetly
"Technically, yes. Effectively, no. What about you?
The girls got spunk and I like it.
Not all the stories are winners, but there were a few gems. ...more
This is a 3.5 to 4 star. Aussie YA fiction about a nineteen your old girl named Rose who has had a shit year,has just cut off all her hair and is now This is a 3.5 to 4 star. Aussie YA fiction about a nineteen your old girl named Rose who has had a shit year,has just cut off all her hair and is now embarking on a road trip with her mother to see her dying grandmother one last time. I was down with most of Rose's reactions except the cutting off of the the hair, NEVER THE HAIR.
I am not picking on Brit Brit,I love Britney! But if pic's of Brits busted ass weave will stop a few young girls from reaching for the scissors then we all must re-live the horror. Mustn't we?
Michelle Williams and Emma Watson showed a courage I will never muster with their pixie cuts. Judging by the family's reaction Rose is not pulling this look off with the grace and beauty that Williams and Watson have. But other then that Rose's family come off as supportive, loving and funny as well as a wee bit high strung. But good for laughs.
Maureen McCarthy did a great job with back and forth between present and the past afore mentioned shit year, all the events that lead up to whatever awful event that has ruined Rose's relationship with best friend Zoe.All the characters are so well done and realistic, there are no dumb dumb's here, no Mary-Sues either, very real characters dealing with real life stuff that sucks but is not a downer, theres a bit of sad, but not a depressing book by any means. Quick read, bit of surfing, a boy, family drama and learning to be comfortable in your own skin. ...more
More like 3.5 stars I love survival tales and this is an exciting and different spin then I have been reading of late. No apocalypse, no zombies and noMore like 3.5 stars I love survival tales and this is an exciting and different spin then I have been reading of late. No apocalypse, no zombies and no little children dying horrible deaths.
Ellie and her friends are in their last year of high school and decide over the break to go on a week camping/hiking trip deep into the outback. This was a great start, I love to read about camping but to be clear I do not camp. Gah! Its the worst, I am miserable the second the word tent is mentioned. Anyway they have an amazing time in an AMAZING place but when they return to their town they realize they have been invaded, not by aliens just another country being a total jerk.
Dylan Moran one of my fav comedians once said of Australia :
Located three quarters of a mile from the surface of the sun, people audibly crackling as they walk past you on the street. That's why they all barbecue, you don't need to cook somewhere like that, you just bring the shit out, fling it on a grill and it bursts into flames. It's not supposed to be inhabited, and when they're not doing that, frying themselves outside, they all fling themselves into the sea, which is inhabited almost exclusively by things designed to kill you; sharks, jellyfish, swimming knives, they're all in there.
That sounds about right. If that's what the land is like what are their teens like? That's right they are badass, these invaders had it coming. ...more
Ok so here's what happened, my son and I went to the library yesterday to return some stuff and low and behold they have a new train set in the kids sOk so here's what happened, my son and I went to the library yesterday to return some stuff and low and behold they have a new train set in the kids section. So he plants himself there, I have no book, this is a problem. The kid section is nowhere near any adult books what so ever and the young adult is like even further.(I do not design libraries but if I did this would be remedied) I am a responsible parent and wont leave my kid alone in the kids section, but not a good enough parent to have a child that after a full day of daycare will leave the train set for even a minute so Mummy can get a book. We were in meltdown territory and I tread lightly there. So the trolley went by and I lunged and grabbed this and 2 others. This was the winner.
This is the only time in history this book will ever be considered a winner.
So we have 3 separate romantic stories that are connected, all are in and around a hundred pages or so.Was a really quick read so that nice.
They are pretty fluffy, the first story there is romantic tension before the sex. Which I like I hate it when they immediately get to the sex with no build up or any motive other then...hornyness? There was point where our main man Cam thinks "her eyes burn with hot intelligence" about the lovely Jen whom he wants to bed. I do not know how ones eyes burn with intelligence? It does make sense that the intelligence is hot I guess, but I don't think there is a cream or anything for it.
The next 2 stories are cringeworthy, they basically jump into bed within hours of meeting each other and then act as if this is a serious relationship that is built on something solid. Righhhhht.
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They use the word "Lover" to describe their partners. Unless your Jane Fonda you cannot describe someone as that and take yourself seriously.Sidenote: I saw Jane On Craig Ferguson one night and she said she was in L.A "to see her lover" I thought Craig was going to shat, but Jane was pretty cool about it (shudders).
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Have they not seen the "Hot Tub Lovers" on SNL? Ever since Will Farrell got into that hot tub with Rachel Dretch and ate lamb chops and said "Lover" like 7 times the word was done. Done, Done, Done.
In the last story the love interests are Bronwyn and Mark and at one point Mark wanted her so bad he felt his groin "burn with heat like he'd never felt before". Now I know there is a cream for that!...more
**spoiler alert** Good Book, and I cannot believe how fast I read this,didn't want to put it down. I was going to give it 3 stars because I wanted mor**spoiler alert** Good Book, and I cannot believe how fast I read this,didn't want to put it down. I was going to give it 3 stars because I wanted more when it ended but decided that thst was not the books fault and I would come off as bitter and lord knows I don't want that. So Gemma is stolen or kidnapped by a serial killer? no for the sex trade? no for her organs? Wrong again By a gorgeous if not slightly crazy model type who is in love with her? Ding ding ding!Yahtzee! we have a winner. Ty has been stallking Gemma and believe he is in love with her,he has kidnapped her to live with him in his own paradise in the outback of Austrailia. The whole time I was reading this I have to keep reminding myself, he kidnapped her, he is off his rocker, she is only 16.Because if you forget the kidnapping,delusions and the crazy,Ty is quite the catch he is very handsom, chiseled abs and loves everything about Gemma. So at times I think a situation is romantic and really it is sort of creepy,and you can totally see how it would be so confusing for Gem as well. At the end I think I was questioning is it Stolkholms syndrome or is it somthing else,then the god damn book ended and I said "3 Stars" out of anger. The description of the Austrailia's outback is amazing,but also horrifying at the sheer nothingness that completly surronds them. There are snakes in this and they only mention spiders a wee bit,thankfully. I have a spiderthing, that goes a little somthing like this:anything about a spider or an insect and I want to scream immediatly and burn whatever it is that I am reading....more
