The blog of author Stacy Kingsley - Stacy Kingsley

Movie Review - READY OR NOT

8/26/2019

The plot of Ready or Not is very short if you look at IMDb. In fact it reads: A bride's wedding night takes a sinister turn when her eccentric new in-laws force her to take part in a terrifying game. Now, if you've seen the trailer you know that the game the family plays is Hide and Seek, and you might wonder how that can be something terrifying? Well, the answer is quite simple, you've just married into a cult who worship a being who requires a sacrifice every now and then.

This was not a new idea for a movie, there have in fact been others somewhat similar, but it was quite fun. I will state, as I left the movie I heard a woman say to her date that it wasn't a scary movie, and I have to say, I don't think it was trying to be scary as much it was a a psychological thriller, full of anticipation, and quite a bit of humor.

The characters were all quite fun and each seemed to have their own personality. You could tell who was who just by their attitude. Some of my favorite things in this movie were the characters of Emilie, who was inept at doing the job she was tasked to do, Tony Le Domas, the patriarch of the family who was often both surprised and dismayed by his family's task, and Aunt Helene, who was just evil enough that you wondered if she enjoyed the things she was tasked to do.

The main characters are Grace, played by Samara Weaving, who is a woman with no family of her own, and who is excited to finally be part of a real family, even though she finds her new husband's family odd, and Alex Le Domas, Grace's new husband. Alex has tried to talk Grace into leaving or marriage another way. In fact, he does state that he only proposed and married her because if he hadn't she would have left, and losing her was a worse thing than anything to him. When Grace pulls the card to play Hide and Seek she believes it to be a joke, until people start dying, then she realizes she is in a race for her life.

I really enjoyed this movie more than any I've recently seen. I thought there was a good balance of humor and horror, and I think the humor was perfect for the product (meaning it wasn't too much, nor was it over the top). I found the balance of the humor and horror to be so perfectly balanced I'm not sure there is anything I could compare it to.

I recommend this movie, and I want to warn you that if you are expecting a full on horror movie, this isn't what you will be getting when you see this. If you want more horror go see It: Chapter 2 when it comes out (unless you are like me and you found the character of Pennywise to be humorous).

Go see it. It's fun!

Book Review - THE LAST TIME I LIED by Riley Sager

8/5/2019

The Last Time I Lied by Riley Sager is a novel that takes you through the game "Two Truths and a Lie" several times.

This novel follows Emma, a young woman who is haunted by the disappearance of three girls when she was at Camp Nightingale, fifteen years earlier. Emma, a painter who has just gotten her first art show, is an up and comer, who is afraid that people will find out not only what she has done in her paintings, but the lies she continually attempts to cover up with her paintings. Emma is most often haunted by Vivian, the girl who took her under her wings when she arrived as a scared 13 year old at Camp Nightingale. Now, the Camp is being opened back up, trying to start over and forget about the disappearance of the three girls fifteen years earlier. Emma is invited by the owner, Franny, to come be a an art instructor, teaching a new batch of campers to paint. When tragedy strikes again, and Emma falls under the suspicion of the police, she must decide, is it time to tell the truth, or has she just buried herself too deep under her lies.

This book is in the same suspenseful vein as Sager's first novel, Final Girls. It has a build up of suspense as the reader needs to decide what is going on, and who they should believe. There are a few twists to make the reader relax, and feel as if they do know what is going on, before it twists again, telling the reader how wrong they are.

Emma is an unreliable narrator. She is a woman who went through and didn't get over, something traumatic that happened to her when she was still a child. She is crazy, and continues to try to convince herself, and the reader, that she isn't crazy. In reality, she likely is since she hasn't really dealt with the trauma, and doesn't seem to be over the disappearances that happened. Most of the other characters are limited in their development, as the reader doesn't get enough information to make judgements for themselves about whether they believe a person is guilty or not. I would have liked a little more development of both Theo and Chet, Franny's two adopted sons. I would have liked to know a little more about their history, or something that could have added a little to their characters. This was especially desired because both boys played very important parts in the story, both in the past disappearances and the present trauma.

Other characters that could have used more development, were, well, most of them. There were characters from the past when Emma was a child at camp, and they weren't given much development, except to say one was an excellent photographer, and the other was a constant smoker. Also, the only character that got development in the present was Chet's wife, Mindy, who was able to tell part of her story when she was in a room with Emma.

The ending of this was a little unsatisfying. I wanted something more along the lines of Final Girls, but instead got something that was trying too hard when it didn't need to. I didn't think the ending was good enough for the book I was reading, and for me, it left me feeling like I had read the book expecting something that was never delivered. While the ending of Final Girls fit the book, the ending to The Last Time I Lied didn't really seem to fit, and it was trying to hard to place the blame on someone who wasn't guilty. It was, in the end, annoying and unsatisfying.

June 27th, 2019

6/27/2019

Paradox by Catherine Coulter is my first experience with her and her novels. While Paradox is the #22 book in the series, I feel like only a little bit of the information within the novel about the character relationships was a little lost.

The novel follows three FBI agents, Dillon Savich, Sherlock, and Sala Porto, and the chief of police of Willicott, Maryland, Ty Christie. It begins with the attempted kidnapping of Savich and Sherlock's young son, Sean, and continues with Ty Christie witnessing a murder from her own lakeside dock.

This novel started out fast, and it kept going for the first few chapters, then it let me down. Like other books I've read, this one gave up who the bad guy was in the first few chapters, leaving nothing for the reader to question. Then another story, or crime, pops up when the body of the first victim is pulled from the lake, and things become a little too intermingled.

I don't think the author should have told us so early who the first killer was. My reason? It was obvious what was happening and what would happen towards the end of the book. There was almost no reason to continue reading. Then at the funeral for this same first victim, it was obvious who the other party to the killer was. The second crime, which was come upon by happenstance, was a lot more interesting than the first, and it took a little longer to figure out what was going on.

There were a few other issues with this novel. There were too many characters, and it got confusing when Savitch was referred to as Dillon, and all of the names began to run together. Then there was the issue of a couple of the characters changing or being obviously someone who the FBI agents and Ty were looking for.

The main killer, or the murderer of the first, and original, victim, gets to be a little repetitive and dull, and I did wish that someone would just end it for him. The killer was whiny and overly reactionary, the plans made didn't make sense, and I was never sure why they were even introduced as the killer. They really didn't seem to have a plan, or reason to do what they were doing. The second crime however, was much more interesting. Also, the second crime was more detailed and the reasoning was more intriguing.

So, while I did enjoy this novel, and there was enough to keep me reading until the end, I don't think I will read any more of this particular series, and I'm not sure I'll read any of Catherine Coulter's books. I just don't think her style of writing is for me, plus I like my thriller/mystery/suspense novels to be a little more suspenseful.

Book Review - THE ROANOKE GIRLS by

5/8/2019

The Roanoke Girls by Amy Engel is about a young girl, Lane, who has to move in with grandparents she never knew, and a wild cousin, Allegra. The reason for this is her mother's death, and her mother seems to have had a complicated relationship with her parents. Lane, has also had a complicated relationship with her mother, often feeling as if her mother did not, nor has ever, loved her. When there she falls in love, and learns of a dark family secret. Years later when Allegra disappears, Lane returns to Roanoke house to search for her, or clues as to why she might have left. While there she learns that the family she left behind continued to be as screwed up as they were the one summer she was there.

*Spoilers*
First, let me state that if you have any issues with sexual misconduct, molestation, rape, incest, any deviation in a person's sexual life, you should not read this book. Also, this book wasn't exactly what I thought it would be. I thought this would be more of a domestic noir, but it wasn't quite that either.

Lane finds out that her grandfather has been having sex with Allegra, and this is why she left when she was sixteen. The reader is also given the stories of the rest of the Roanoke family. Yates (the grandfather) has had sex with his sisters, his niece/daughter (who he is unable to consummate the relationship with due to an accident), his wife (who bore him three daughters), and two of his three daughters, as one died in infancy. Allegra was left behind when her mother ran away, and when she reached the age of fourteen Yates started having sex with her as well. He claims that the females of the family all wanted to do it, and from the stories told most of them entered into the sexual relationship willingly, and continued because there was something about Yates that drew them to him.

I was disturbed by this novel, as in the fourth chapter (or about there) it went straight to incest between Yancy and his sister, Jane. I didn't expect to read a story about continual, generational incest, otherwise I would not have picked up this book. I am really not interested in reading about incest, which is why I stopped reading the Game of Thrones novels.

The story itself was frustrating as Lane was not a likeable character, nor was she reliable narrator, always going between anger, and pretty much nothing else, it was always anger. It bothered me as there didn't feel like there was any relief for the reader.

The story was predictable, and the ending was a little obvious, as there was some foreshadowing to what might have to happen for Allegra to leave Roanoke. It was at times a very interesting story, but then at times it was predictable what the characters were all going to do.

I found the incest to be a little overwhelming, and the grandmother's attitude was a little off and off putting. I wouldn't have minded if there were more signs of what Allegra wanted, or why Lane didn't try to stay and help her, or find help. The family issues were all huge and yet, in the story, they all seemed so small.

I don't know if I would recommend it or not, it wasn't anything like something I have read before. So I guess that is a good point, and the reason I was stuck between 3 and 4 starts.

Book Review - I'M THINKING OF ENDING THINGS by Iain Reid

9/16/2018

I really wanted to like the book I'm Thinking of Ending Things by Iain Reid. I really did. Unfortunately, I did not like it, I did not like it at all.

I really hated this book. At first I enjoyed it, I thought it was interesting to hear the girlfriends thought, even though they were repetitive, and she got to be a little annoying. Then I just got bored.

Over and over the girlfriend repeats things in her head like: I should tell him I'm going to end things, I should tell him about the caller, Who is the caller, should I answer the phone. I got tired of it all and just wanted to kick her. She never changed her tone, until the end when we find out the huge secret. I also have to say I hated the ending. The last half of the book felt rushed, even though I knew what was going to happen (it was easy to figure out and no, I didn't read any of the reviews before hand). I would have liked it to go in a different direction, and not leave so many loose ends. I would have like it to be more cohesive as well as I found the way things developed was a tedious, time suck.

I don't like hating books. I want to support authors, but I don't get how this has so many good reviews. I think that because it is "literary" that may be why it has garnered so much attention. In my view, it was a book that didn't deliver what was promised, and in the end it left too many things open. I understand that the caller was an abstract idea to some, but to me it was a suspenseful element that didn't add anything to the story.

Not a fan. Not a fan at all. I wanted to like this book so much because of the title, it really drew me in. But, it just couldn't get there and lost me along the journey.

Book Review - Madame Zero: 9 Stories by Sarah Hall

9/12/2018

What can I say about Madame Zero: 9 Stories by Sarah Hall? A lot and yet a little.

So this is a book of nine stories, and some are interesting while some are not. I wasn't sure what I was getting when I won this book in a goodreads giveaway, but I loved the cover and I loved the description so I was excited when I won it. When I received it I couldn't wait to look between the pages to see if it was as beautifully written as it looked.

Of the nine stories I didn't care for a lot of them, because honestly a of them felt unfinished, or like I was missing something. I felt at one point that they were a little pretentious. I did however enjoy "Goodnight Nobody," "Evie," and "Mrs. Fox." All of these seemed to have some element of horror to them though, "Goodnight Nobody" made me think of life and how children are often treated. How much freedom we give them and really how often we depend on them to care for themselves. Also, it was a little freaky if you know the children's book Goodnight Moon.

"Evie" was an interesting story because it was a frightening story about the self and how things might change and we might notice, until something awful happens. It made me think about all of the choices my friends, family, and even those I've made, that might be controversial.

The last was "Mrs. Fox." This was a sad story to me. It was about how we lose things, and can't be around them anymore, even though we want to, and how humans are creeping too far into nature and the natural habitats of the animals we share the world with. It was beautiful, and sad, and lovely.

The rest of the stories didn't touch me as much. I would have liked more involvement for me with the characters. I think this may be what bothered me the most, I didn't get a visual of many of the characters. In fact the most visual images I got were when "Mrs. Fox" and her children were described. Other than that there wasn't a lot of description, or sensory detail, and I would have loved there to be more of that throughout the stories, something to stitch them together.

I can't say I recommend it, but I can't say I don't as I did get a lot out of the stories I did like. But, I know not everyone will enjoy these, or the ending that some of them have, or don't have.

Author Interview with Gracie Wilson

9/12/2018

I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Gracie Wilson, a Canadian author who has a new poetry book out. Gracie writes honest novels and poetry, and sometimes it is so honest it hurts. I've known Gracie (online) for a few years, and find her to be a lovely and brutally honest, which is something I love about people when they aren't trying to use the honesty to hurt you.

So here is my interview with author, Gracie Wilson.

Tell the internet world a little bit about your books.
So I have two series. The Beautifully Series and The Lonely Girl Series. I also have a poetry slam book out called Look What YOU Made Me Do!

Tell us a little bit about yourself and why you write.
So I’m from Southern Ontario in Canada. I’m first generation Canadian with my family going back to the Highlands of Scotland. I am an avid reader and HUGE animal lover. I have three dogs, two cats, and a turtle! (Stacy - Wow, that is a lot with a turtle! I only have two cats!!!)

Why do you write the genre you do?
I write Young Adult, New Adult, Contemporary, Suspense, Dark Romance, and Poetry… pretty much everything HAHA!
This makes you a very versatile author. How exciting!

How did publishing your first book change your process of writing?
I was dared. Five days later I was an author, then three weeks later I was published for 2twodays as an indie. After that I was picked up by my first publisher.

How do you select the names of your characters?
Sometimes they just have one already, other times I have a list of names I like.

What was the best money you ever spent as a writer?
Going to RT every year. It has introduced me to so many amazing people! But other than that my Mac!!! Apple FOREVER!
I love that you are loyal, but Apple... NOOOOO!

What are common traps for aspiring writers?
Writer's Block, and I find the biggest one is often themselves! Don’t sell yourself short!
Very good advice!

Does writing energize or exhaust you?
Energizing, I actually forget that the world exists and I can get into a pace where it’s 12 hours and 18k later!

What was your hardest scene to write?
My hardest was my entire Poetry Slam Book. It was amazing to get it out but it was so sad to see the reality in black and white.

What other authors are you friends with, and how do they help you become a better writer?
I have a couple hundred authors that I’ve worked with at events, anthologies, and such. I feel like each person brings something different to Book World so I’m all about meeting new people and learning more about the craft!

If you didn’t write, what would you do for work?
Probably work with animals.

Have you ever gotten reader’s block?
No, I just jump into a new book and then it’s done and they start talking again J

What is the first book that made you cry?
The Giving Tree when I was little I cried when it was read to me because the Tree gave the boy everything!

Do you Google yourself?
I have after being told by a friend she did it! LOL

What question do you wish I had asked and what is the answer to that question?
I think you covered everything!

And that was Author Gracie Wilson. Below are links to her books and information about them. Her poetry book Look What YOU Made Me Do! is her newest release, and it is an honest portrayal of life, and moments that a lot of us in the real world have gone through.

*~ Beautifully Forgotten ~*

Naomi’s life has been anything but beautiful, aside from having her grandparents and her best friend. From day one, they tried to protect her from the world. From a dad who didn’t care enough to come around and a mother who, at every turn, chose something else above her daughter —even contemplating whether to allow Naomi to be at all.

You fight for those you love. It’s that simple. Unfortunately, such protection isn’t always successful, and hate can find its way in, creeping up from the darkness, toxic people can bring. Love is a fickle thing. Sometimes it can heal you, other times it can destroy you.

One day. One phone call can take away everything you love.

Naomi would know because that’s exactly what happened.

When she finally decided to take the chance, stand up for herself and risk everything, her life changed forever...if only she could remember what she did. Life can be beautiful and Naomi is ready to fight the world to make it so.

Sometimes forgetting people is the best thing that can happen to a person.

This is her story.

This is Naomi’s comeback!

Amazon US - https://www.amazon.com/Beautifully-Forgotten-Book-3-ebook/dp/B07DDLFVNL
Amazon Ca - https://www.amazon.ca/Beautifully-Forgotten-Book-3-ebook/dp/B07DDLFVNL
Amazon AU - https://www.amazon.com.au/Beautifully-Forgotten-Book-3-ebook/dp/B07DDLFVNL
Amazon UK - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Beautifully-Forgotten-Book-3-ebook/dp/B07DDLFVNL

*~ Look What YOU Made Me DO ~*

Look What YOU Made Me Do is a debut poetry book from Romance Writer Gracie Wilson who is a YA/NA Amazon, International Best Selling Author and now thanks to this book an Amazon #1 Best Seller.

- And words are my power, and this is your final hour! -

Look What YOU Made Me Do is a collection of poetry from childhood to adulthood about loss, family betrayal, and taking back your power. You will find slam poetry included, a song written as a child, and poems about coming out of that darkness.

The Mother’s Tears
Arithmetic
She’s Not My Mother Anymore
Today’s A Brand New Day
Untitled Gracie Wilson age 12
Morning Wake up
Look What You Made Me Do
Do You Remember
Who You’ve Become
To the Bone
Truth Be Told
Little Dove
My Life
Last Words
Take Care
Any Other Way
Nine Months Old
Seen And Not Heard
Two Little Girls
Less Is More
Suck It Up Buttercup
#Strong
See You Next Tuesday
Hello Pot, meet Kettle
Congratulations
Beep, beep, beep
Today
Why I will never see You again

Buy Links
Amazon US - https://goo.gl/sKJ8js
Amazon CA - https://goo.gl/eK5YR7
Amazon UK - https://goo.gl/UcEQvF

Poetry Slam reading - Look What YOU Made Me Do!”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkSm9DGWE5k

Buy Links
Amazon US - https://goo.gl/sKJ8js
Amazon CA - https://goo.gl/eK5YR7
Amazon UK - https://goo.gl/UcEQvF
#PoetrySlam #Poetry #PoetryDebut #LookWhatYouMadeMeDo

Book Review - OUR LITTLE SECRET by Roz Nay

8/26/2018

SPOILERS!!!

In Our Little Secrets by Roz Nay, the scene starts in a police interrogation room. A young twenty-six year old woman, Angela, is being questioned in a police station by a Detective Novak about her relationship with a young man named HP and his wife. During her time in the police station, Angela continually goes back, beginning her story in the formative high school years of her life, when she first met HP. Throughout their years HP and Angela were friends, but eventually they become more involved after being very close friends for years. When Angela finds that she is being forced to go to England to go to university they make an agreement that they will see how things happen, but they both apparently want their relationship to continue.

In all honesty this book wasn't bad, but I didn't believe what was going on. I didn't believe that Detective Novak would continually let Angela run her mouth off about what life was like as she grew up and grew closer to HP. Every officer I know would have more aggressively brought her back to the subject at hand, what has happened and where is the missing wife? Being able to ramble through her life, meeting HP, inserting herself into his life later, and basically lying about everything, seemed to be a little to much. She was given more time than anyone would have been given to talk about her past relationship.

The one thing that I did take away was the narcissistic nature of the main character, Angela. She was obviously either mentally ill or had antisocial personality disorder. This book did remind me a little of the book The Weight of Water by Anita Shreve. The stories had similar main characters, woman who were in love with a man who they weren't sure loved them, or a love triangle.

The ending of the book did surprise me. Although there were characters I wanted a little more information about, like Angela's self-involved mother, her new best friend Freddy, and her absent but intelligent father. I even wanted more information about Saskia, the wife of HP. I don't feel she had enough of her own personality and character, which I do understand since she is being represented through Angela's eyes, and Angela is obviously biased.

I do think this book was interesting, and I do recommend that if you liked books like Girl On a Train and Gone Girl this might hit some of the right spots for you. While I enjoyed it, it did seem to stretch a little long, and I wished that it had gotten deeper into the story earlier. After a certain point I didn't care what was going on between Angela and HP. I just wanted to get to what happened after HP and Saskia were married.

Movie Review - THE LOFT

7/23/2018

The Loft is a 2014 movie that I had wanted to see in the theater. The movie revolves around five married men who join together to secretly share a loft. This loft provides a place of their own where they can take their extramarital affairs if they so choose. One day the unthinkable happens, and they find a body in their loft. They must decide what to do, and which of them might be the murderer.

This movie, when I first saw the trailer, looked like it might be an interesting horror film. It is actually more of a suspense movie, with a little extra infidelity in it. None of the men are really good guys as they all either want to or do cheat on their wives. The movie does however start with a shock as we open on a car being struck by something heavy, which one can only presume to be a body due to the tone of the movie. This beginning also sets up the overall dark tone of the film itself.

Of the five men the leader, or the one who provides the loft, is Vincent. Vincent is a man who doesn’t seem to care for anyone, his wife, his friends, or the women he sleeps with. Marty is a drunk who tends to do whatever he wants, and say whatever he wants, when he is drinking. Chris tries to believe he is a good guy, but he is like every other guy, although his wife doesn’t make things any easier as she doesn’t seem to like him, or any of his friends. Phil is a man who plays until the day he marries, and he really does play until the DAY he is married. Lastly, there is Luke, a man who seems to have his life together but who also seems to have a secret, which everyone thinks is his attraction to other men.

Throughout most of this movie it goes round and round, showing all of the bad deeds done by the men. Each one of them confesses to a problem they have had, and each one shows how little they care for others. This movie didn’t have many likeable people in it. The only one any of the audience could feel in the least bit sorry for is the character of Sara. But, to talk about her too much is to give away a lot of the story.

There was suspense, as we could wonder throughout who the killer was, and who the victim was. Also the depth into which the men go to live their lives as degenerates, it makes none of them likeable characters. In the end we do want to know what is going on, but it is almost a little anti-climactic. The story behind it was a little tedious, and finding out that some of the men get what they deserve while some of the others don’t was a little frustrating.

This was not a movie with a happy ending, and when it did end I felt bad for Luke. If you do end up watching it then you’ll understand why. His character was very sad, and he even though in the end he was not a great guy, just like his buddies, he did leave us with something to feel.

Are There Any GOOD Movies Out There???

3/22/2018

I know it has been a while since I wrote a blog, but either I've been in a funk or there hasn't been a lot that was interesting to me out there in movie land.

Now, I'll be honest, I haven't really felt like going out a lot, partly because it has been freezing cold where I am, and I am just tired of being cold and spending all of my money on warm drinks. However, there also seems to be a good movie freeze, or the movies I am interested in seeing are not appearing in theaters near me, or for very long. For example, I really wanted to see the movie WINCHESTER. Do you want to know when it was playing? 10pm at might. Now I am a night owl, but I also have to wake up at 6:30am to go to work, so I am sorry I am not going to get my butt out of bed after getting home at 12:30am and be happy to go to work that day. I am usually not happy to get up at 6:30am, I'm not going to push it.

Where are all the good movies at? It seems that all the movies being put out are either remakes (DEATH WISH) or weird romantic movies, or something that is just not a type of movie I am interested in. I mean the last good movie I saw was BLACK PANTHER and I thought it was okay, not great, but okay. I hated the ending. It was dumb. And I hated the ease of what happened to Claw, that was stupid too. I know my opinion is one the the few about the movie, but hey, I wasn't a fan of WONDER WOMAN either.

So, someone, tell me what's good out there! I feel like I am falling behind in my movie watching. I've been catching some good television, like, JESSICA JONES, ALTERED CARBON, 9-1-1, and catching up on MAJOR CRIMES. In fact, I still get the DVD's from Netflix and the next movie I'm getting is KEDI (so super excited!!!!). I mean a movie about cats... HELL TO THE YES!!

Anyway, enough of my ranting. If you have any good movies I should see, in the theaters, on streaming, or on DVD please share them with me! I am so bored and need more movies to watch!!!!