Stephy Reading Challenge - Book 19

 

Born to Bite by Lynsay Sands

An Argeneau Novel

This is a lovely story about Eshe and Armand meeting and falling in love. 

Oh. 

And figuring out who murdered Armand's previous three wives and his daughter-in-law. 

Soooo... A paranormal romantic murder mystery! Yay!

Eshe is a strong, bad-ass, smart, beautiful immortal and I am a little in love with her.

Armand is a bit broody, which... Understandable. Three of his wives have been murdered. But still likable. Also, he's a farmer, which was fun. I mean, a vampire is talking about birthing cows and cleaning stables. Fantastic.

Romance was good. Mystery was solid. Great book all around.

Oh!

And Bricker!

Yay Bricker!

I love you Bricker. At one point he acts as the Voice of Reason, but he did very good and we're all very proud of him.

Stephy Reading Challenge - Book 18

 

Rosemary's Baby by Ira Levin

Trigger Warning!

rape mentions ahead

Oh. This book.

Let me start by saying this was written in the 60s, and it shows. There were some words, phrases, and ideas that just aren't cool by today's standards.

Also, I have watched the movie with Mia Farrow a few times over the years. So, I knew what was going to happen from page one. I also feel like I've read this book before, but I could be wrong.

Now, for those that don't know, this book is about Rosemary. A young wife to an actor living in New York. Rosemary and her husband, Guy, move into a new apartment. Soon they meet their neighbors, an elderly couple named Roman and Minnie. Rosemary becomes pregnant. And in the end, she discovers she gave birth to Satan's son. Oh, and Roman and Minnie and all their friends are Satan-worshipping witches. Book ends with Rosemary rocking the baby and cooing over him.

Not sure if it was because I knew what was going to happen, or if Rosemary was blind to red flags. I mean, there were so many red flags that Rosemary could have made curtains, a set of sheets, and a few dresses from them all. 

Also, for some reason, I kept picturing Ray's parents from Everybody Loves Raymond (a show I've never watched a full episode of) as Roman and Minnie. No idea why. But it did send me into giggle fits at times. 

Out of everyone, Rosemary's husband was the worst. And that includes the Satanists and Satan himself. After he drugged his wife and let her be raped by Satan, he tells her the scratches on her body are because he fucked her while she was passed out drunk.

What.

The.

Fuck.

And in the end, he was like "They promised you wouldn't be hurt. And you weren't. Not really." Dude. She was drugged, raped by Satan and y'all made her think she was crazy! Oh, and you all killed one of her closest friends. All so you could be a famous actor. I would have applauded if Rosemary slit his throat. Actually, I'm just gonna pretend that's how the book ended. Cause fuck him.

This was... a frustrating read. I was just so angry at Rosemary's husband throughout the whole thing. And it was frustrating that she didn't kill him. But, it was a solid horror read. I also recommend the movie with Mia Farrow. I have not watched the newer mini-series yet so I have no opinion of it.

Stephy Reading Challenge - Book 17

 

Who Was Queen Elizabeth by June Eding

This was the best I could do for a Q. All other Q books I have went into hiding.

This is a book for kids, and honestly, it did its job well. It didn't overly sugar coat things. It did occasionally gloss over or soften the blow of some details that would have probably been a bit much for its target audience. 

My child has a few books from the Who/What Was/Is series and I highly recommend them for kids. Well written and informative with some nice pictures.

 

I'm a history nerd, and as such, this book entertained me. And I wish this series was around when I was a kid because I would have read them all.

Nancy Drew and the Captive Curse

(yes, I did take pictures of my computer on my phone... how else was I going to text them to my friend to show him how awesome I am?)

Aw yeah! Time to solve a mystery! (ignore the sticky note. Homeschooling, man)

About a year ago (I'm guessing at the time, but we're gonna go with it) I started watching Gab Smolders play Nancy Drew games. And I became addicted (Here's a link to her playlist ). The addiction happened for a few reasons. One of which is that Gab is practically perfect in every way. Another being the games seemed interesting and fun. As well as educational. Which... coming from someone that obsesses over the historical accuracy of the Assassin's Creed games, this was a big plus. I adore video games that teach me more than which button lets me pet animals.

On New Year's Eve, I finally broke down and bought myself one of the games. I went with the cheapest one Steam had that I hadn't watched Gab play. I wanted a new experience, not to just follow what I already saw be done. And I was a little worried that I wouldn't like them when I actually sat down to play them. Then, of course, shit happened and I didn't get to play the fucking thing for about a month. But oh, when I did get the chance? Loved it. Spent about nine hours solving a mystery and clapping every time I solved a puzzle. 

This is a point-and-click adventure game where Nancy Drew is asked to come to Castle Finster to figure out what this "monster" is that is plaguing the place. So, off Nancy goes to Germany. 

I fully enjoyed the entire game. 

Graphics were pretty good. It was made in 2011, so keep that in mind. Scenery was *chef's kiss* beautiful. 

Puzzles were great. Some were easy for me. Some I took an hour to work out, but I never got super frustrated. I did pull out a walkthrough a couple times. During the parts in the woods. I have no sense of direction. In real life, and in video games. I once got lost in the woods beside my house. And in video games... My brother would have to get me out of my ship in Knights of the Old Republic because I just kept losing the damn exit ramp. So, yeah, I pulled out a walkthrough to get myself out of the woods during this game. I also used it for two of the last puzzles. One because it was timed and I panic during timed things in video games. Figured I'd just save myself the stress. And when I got to the last puzzle I knew it was going to take me hours to figure out, and it was already 1:30 in the morning so I gave in. I was tired and didn't want to stop just to have that last 15 minutes of gameplay waiting for me.

Characters were all pretty fun. I really liked Karl's game, Raid. I would play it if it was an actual game. Lukas was the stereotypical prankster kid. Kind of cute, though. Renate was spooky and fun. Wanted to hear more of her stories. Anja was smart and fun to talk to.

Great game. Five mysterious clues out of five.

Before you get into the game, you get this screen. Where you can learn how to play (I didn't need that, thank you Gab Smolders) or read about previous cases (games, it's a scrapbook of the previous games). I thought it was super cute.

The monster was none of these things. Which made me sad.

Lukas. Little shit was constantly just standing there when I turned around in the foyer. Made me scream more than once.

 

I got to learn some German!