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kyle crawford

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good but more predictable than the first

Overall
5 out of 5 stars
Performance
5 out of 5 stars
Story
5 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 09-30-24

"He's reluctantly kind but stupidity wafts from him like department store cologne."
The Butcher's Game by Alaina Urquhart

"People love turning death into something other than the ultimate horror show they believe it to be."
The Butcher's Game by Alaina Urquhart

"It is always strange to see those kinds of things happen postmortem. Things that normally make a person squirm don’t matter anymore. Nothing hurts when you’re dead."
The Butcher's Game by Alaina Urquhart

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so good!

Overall
5 out of 5 stars
Performance
5 out of 5 stars
Story
5 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 09-11-24

"The pain went on and on, rolling over me in waves. It carved into my arm, my chest, my leg, setting my nerves on fire. The seconds ticked on, each one feeling like a minute, an hour, a lifetime. Time is different here. There’s so much more of it."
These Things Linger by Dan Franklin

"In the face of pain there are no heroes"
George Orwell 1984

"Time was a useless concept when you were sitting awake in the dark, and in constant pain."
Stephen King: The Dark Tower

"the pain standing out like a sharp moment in time."
Mindy McGinnis, In a Handful of Dust

"hurt has a way of stretching out a heartbeat into an infinity of going colder, slower, every breath another starburst of too much to cope with, lighting up the cerebrum with constellations of anguish."
Nothing but Blackened Teeth by Cassandra Khaw

"She had no real interest, but hearing her voice reassured her that she wasn’t dead.
Not yet, at least."
Stephen King: The Dark Tower

"from his pain he knew he was not dead."
The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway

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good stuff

Overall
4 out of 5 stars
Performance
4 out of 5 stars
Story
4 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 08-28-24

"The green of his eyes matched the grass between my fingers, and the amber flecks were like the shafts of sunlight that streamed through the trees."
A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J Maas

"It was like seeing the world being born, and we were the sole witnesses."
A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J Maas

“It’s a rare day indeed when someone thanks you for bringing them to their death.”
A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J Maas

“Among a sea of mundane faces, yours is a work of art.”
A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J Maas

"There are those who seek me a lifetime but never we meet,
And those I kiss but who trample me beneath ungrateful feet.
At times I seem to favor the clever and the fair,
But I bless all those who are brave enough to dare.
By large, my ministrations are soft-handed and sweet,
But scorned, I become a difficult beast to defeat.
For though each of my strikes lands a powerful blow,
When I kill, I do it slow …"
A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J Maas

"His eyes were the color of a sky I’d never see again if I refused to kill him, a color I’d never get out of my mind, never forget no matter how many times I painted it."
A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J Maas

"But I was being ripped apart from the inside out, and I thrashed, unable to out-scream the pain."
A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J Maas

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still good

Overall
4 out of 5 stars
Performance
2 out of 5 stars
Story
4 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 08-28-24

"Adessa would have stayed behind to fight the rebels all night and not count the cost in blood, because a traitor’s blood was small coin indeed."
Siege of Stone by Terry Goodkind

"The next sunset, the clouds over the mountains grew crimson, as if the blood of children had been added to the sky"
Siege of Stone by Terry Goodkind

"Darkness fell like a blanket tossed over the trees."
Siege of Stone by Terry Goodkind

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good

Overall
5 out of 5 stars
Performance
3 out of 5 stars
Story
5 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 05-27-24

“Human beings have an infinite capacity for ignorance and intolerance. As a result, they can be profoundly dangerous."
Witches Oath by Terry Goodkind

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A return of mastery

Overall
5 out of 5 stars
Performance
5 out of 5 stars
Story
5 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 05-25-24

Yes, Mr. King, I do in fact Like It Darker! Say true & say thankee-sai! This is a welcome return to the quintessential form of The Master Wordsmith! I breathed a sigh of relief reading it, to have returned to the comfort of familiar places written in a familiar style following the disheartening disappointment & abandonment of style and character devotion that saturated the experience of reading Holly. With this collection, King steps down from his soapbox and back into the shoes that only he can fill. Creating stories that haunt the mind with horror and thoughts of "what if," as the type of horror is not solely the wildly fantastic but also right in the pocket of King's wheelhouse creating fears of what could actually be. Images creep into one's mind, seemingly innocently, of the terrors that could & sometimes do actually lie in the Darker shadows of the world. His understanding subtle examination of the human psyche combined with devotion to a character driven plot form is nothing short of absolute mastery. All this, in addition to just plain great writing. With most of my reviews, I include a few or a handful of my favorite quotes from the book with the number depending on the skill of the author. I'll never forget one of my favorite authors messaging me: "You always pick out the lines that I personally thought when I wrote them - fuck yeah" with the majority of King's work, I often find that there are simply too many of those great lines to list, though I often include a smathering of the best of them.

"Someone is always painting pictures. Someone is always telling stories. Someone is always playing Call me the Breeze on the guitar. Most are forgettable, some are competent, few are indelible."
Two Talented Bastids, You Like It Darker by Stephen King

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creature feature

Overall
5 out of 5 stars
Performance
3 out of 5 stars
Story
5 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 05-21-24

Hateful Things has a vibe reminiscent of an old school horror creature feature... I dig it!

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different

Overall
5 out of 5 stars
Performance
3 out of 5 stars
Story
5 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 05-19-24

While still good, the writing has a subtly different feel than the earlier works in the series... almost as if it was ghost written.

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skilled

Overall
5 out of 5 stars
Performance
4 out of 5 stars
Story
5 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 05-18-24

This modern branch out from the Sword of Truth series was amazingly done... I couldn't help but think of the Master wordsmith Stephen King in parts with the setting partly in Maine, the Daggett Trust feeling a bit like the Tet Corporation & the Gateway bringing to mind rose vibes.

"Go then, there are other worlds than these."
Stephen King

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😁

Overall
5 out of 5 stars
Performance
4 out of 5 stars
Story
5 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 05-15-24

"The light mist and fitful drizzle felt cold on her face, like ice against the grief burning inside her."
Warheart by Terry Goodkind

"He had given her a chance to accept the truth. Those who refused to see the truth were not immune from it."
Warheart by Terry Goodkind

“Prophecy is a compression of the future into the present."
Warheart by Terry Goodkind

"Prophecy is contaminating the nature of time in our world"
Warheart by Terry Goodkind

"Now, flies walked across her dead eyes staring up at the sky."
Warheart by Terry Goodkind

“I know. You’re the right man for the job, and I know you will make those who came before you proud, those under your care safe, and those under your sword terrified.”
Warheart by Terry Goodkind

“In this world, everyone must die. None of us has any choice in that. Our choice is how we wish to live.”
Warheart by Terry Goodkind

Memento Mori

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