![]() ![]() ![]() Stacey’s dreams of a fashion career in New York are put on hold indefinitely when her mother suffers a heart attack. Stacey is a character that I think many will find very relatable. Well Played follows Emily’s best friend, Stacey, and since I adored Stacey in the first book, it was fun to get to know her better this time around. ![]() I was so excited to revisit the world of the Willow Creek Ren Faire and to see Simon and Emily, who are now engaged, and the rest of the Ren Faire gang again. Jen DeLuca’s Renaissance Faire-themed romance Well Met was one of my favorite reads from last year, so I couldn’t wait to get my hands on the next book in the series, Well Played. Published by BERKLEY on September 22, 2020Īmazon | Barnes & Noble | The Book DepositoryįTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley. ![]()
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![]() ![]() Medea is said to have killed and dismembered her brother whilst fleeing with Jason and the stolen fleece in order to delay their pursuers, who would be compelled to collect the remains of the prince for burial. According to some myths, Orpheus, regarded as a prophet of Orphic or Bacchic religion, died when he was dismembered by raging Thracian women. Later, after King Pentheus has banned the worship of Dionysus, the god lures him into a forest, to be torn limb from limb by Maenads, including his own mother Agave. ![]() In one scene guards sent to control the Maenads witness them pulling a live bull to pieces with their hands. ![]() It is associated with the Maenads or Bacchantes, followers of Dionysus, and the Dionysian Mysteries.Įxamples of sparagmos appear in Euripides's play The Bacchae. Sparagmos was frequently followed by omophagia (the eating of the raw flesh of the one dismembered). In Dionysian rite as represented in myth and literature, a living animal, or sometimes even a human being, is sacrificed by being dismembered. Sparagmos ( Ancient Greek: σπαραγμός, from σπαράσσω sparasso, "tear, rend, pull to pieces") is an act of rending, tearing apart, or mangling, usually in a Dionysian context. Maenads attacking Pentheus (Roman wall painting from the House of the Vettii, Pompeii) ![]() ![]() ![]() NEARLY every primitive religion is regarded by its adherents as a medium for obtaining supernatural power. It turns out that about half of the length of this book is notes and index, however, so it’s not as intimidating as the file size makes it look. ![]() However, this was not one that inspired teeth-grinding, despite being almost the longest of the bunch. Earlier this year I was grinding my teeth over trying to read too many extremely long non-fiction books. Its original purpose was to explain some of the belief systems that were current in sixteenth and seventeenth-century England but which are mostly no longer believed today – things like astrology, witchcraft, magical healing, ghosts, and fairies. Religion and the Decline of Magic is a very long book of non-fiction. ![]() ![]() ![]() Now, if you’re a KM Neuhold fan, you will understand IMMEDIATELY why I have been (very impatiently) waiting for this book. It was lovely to see characters from previous books making an appearance, and also meeting some new ones! I cannot wait to see what all the teachers get up to in AJ’s spin-off series that is coming later this year. Although the romance was definitely front and centre throughout, the other obstacles they faced, and the realisations about themselves and what they both want from the future, made the HEA feel all the sweeter. Something that particularly stood out with this novel, is the fantastic character arcs both Mitch and Charlie had. ![]() This plot point, coupled with the fact that Mitch is Charlie’s boss, injects a great level of tension for the characters. Set in a small-town, this sweet romance sees the perpetually single bar owner, Mitch, falling head over heels for his ‘straight’ bartender…who also happens to be his daughter’s ex-boyfriend. And with age-gap, boss/employee, and bi-awakening, what more could I ask for? Having enjoyed the first two instalments in the ‘Single Dads Club’ I have been looking forward to the release of this one. ![]() ![]() ![]() Flynne's brother Burton is a veteran of the US Marine Corps's elite Haptic Recon force and suffers from brain trauma resulting from his cybernetic implants. Flynne works at the local 3D printing shop in a small town the store is the sole source of goods for the population, along with Walmart's fictional future offspring, Hefty Mart. The first arc takes place in our near-term future and is centered on a young woman named Flynne. There are two plot lines that eventually begin to converge. But that initial effort pays off as the novel evolves into an action-packed cyberpunk thriller. The reader is plunged into this setting and must acclimate accordingly Gibson isn't interested in presenting everything to us on a silver platter. ![]() ![]() ![]() The novel is in many ways vintage Gibson: a bleak, dystopian future world chock-full of big thematic ideas, visionary technology, and its own slang terminology. Prime Video's new sci-fi series The Peripheral is based on William Gibson's novel.Ī young woman struggling to hold it together in small-town America finds herself witness to what may or may not be a murder in the first teaser for The Peripheral, a new Prime Video series based on William Gibson's 2014 novel of the same name. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Reece is completely unaware when he lands in Mozambique and takes up helping an old friend keep the local poachers at bay, at least until he is hunted down by one of the people in his former chain of command. While he is battling the waves, a terror cell strikes numerous locations across Europe, though there is no one who has yet claimed responsibility. Completely off the radar, it is Reece and the open ocean, for who knows how long. For the meantime, Reece chooses life at sea, sailing from the East Coast of the United States to the Eastern portion of Africa. Armed with a terminal brain tumour, he has little to lose, but hopes to stay alive long enough to ensure no one bearing responsibility is still breathing. James Reece is likely the most wanted man in the entire world, especially after his actions to destroy those who had his family killed. After a stunning cliffhanger, Carr pulls readers right back into the middle of the story and continues to spin treacherous webs. Jack Carr returns with another explosive military thriller that pulls on his years in the field, as well as the current geo-political situation. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() I’ve struggled to identify with YA characters as I’ve gotten older and have kind of made the shift to adult romance, but then a group of friends pushed this on me and we read the series together and OH MY GOSH. and it will take more than a broken curse to save Harper, Rhen, and his people from utter ruin. But powerful forces are standing against Emberfall. And as Rhen realizes Harper is not just another girl to charm, his hope comes flooding back. A prince? A curse? A monster? As she spends time with Rhen in this enchanted land, she begins to understand what's at stake. ![]() Harper doesn't know where she is or what to believe. When she tries to save a stranger on the streets of Washington, DC, she's pulled into a magical world. With her father long gone, her mother dying, and her brother constantly underestimating her because of her cerebral palsy, Harper learned to be tough enough to survive. ![]() Before he destroyed his castle, his family, and every last shred of hope. But that was before he turned into a vicious beast hell-bent on destruction. Published by Bloomsbury YA on January 29, 2019Ĭursed by a powerful enchantress to repeat the autumn of his eighteenth year, Prince Rhen, the heir of Emberfall, thought he could be saved easily if a girl fell for him. A Curse so Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer ![]() ![]() ![]() Then there is the story of Zohra, a Muslim girl, and Nathaniel, a Jewish doctor. The carnival-like troupe goes from town to town putting on shows, faking miracles, pretending that everyday objects are holy relics, stealing and lying, and often finding their lives in peril. There he meets a man known only as “The Moor” who rescues John from a life of abuse, taking him on the road with a group of other misfits. The two eventually collide in an unexpected way.įirst there is John Savage, a boy who was abandoned at birth and raised in a priory in Cornwall, England. ![]() Pillars of Light is two stories in one, both taking place in the late 1100s. Themes of love in wartime, familial duty, and faith are woven through this sweeping epic, which transports readers to the days of King Richard the Lionhearted, through the deserts of Syria, and into the war waged by Saladin’s army in its attempt to conquer Jerusalem. ![]() ![]() ![]() If there were more from Long Halloween - if DC did as they did with Tom King’s Batman/Catwoman Special, where other artists completed John Paul Leon’s unfinished artwork in tribute - I would certainly buy it. Sadly, in the interim, Sale passed away, which makes this endeavor bittersweet what seemed a new beginning for the “Long Halloween-verse” is now most likely, understandably, its end. I had never read Catwoman: When in Rome, an oversight that seemed all the more glaring given my enjoyment of Long Halloween and Dark Victory, so this seemed an opportunity to accomplish a couple goals at once. Wanting to be fully versed in the mystery ahead of reading the special, I stuck the new, timed-for-the-animated-movie deluxe editions of Long Halloween and its sequels on my reading list. I was excited when Jeph Loeb and the late Tim Sale re-teamed last year for a new Batman: The Long Halloween special. ![]() ![]() ![]() Props such as hoops, ladders, boxes, bicycles, a see-saw and a trap door have several uses, enabling the cast to create boats, trains, carriages and even an elephant! The set is impressive, too - well designed and modelled on a circus. Their comic timing is a joy to behold as well. ![]() The five work together flawlessly, brilliantly playing numerous parts and, along the way, incorporating swift costume changes and splendid circus performances. The stories are told by a madcap band of travelling circus performers - a ringmaster, an acrobat, a clown, a trick rider and a knife thrower. Added into the theatrical mix is the task of recounting another story - a true one this time, about trailblazing American journalist Nellie Bly, who, in 1889/90, completed her own record-breaking trip around the world in just 72 days! But this new adaptation is no straightforward retelling of the terrific tale. ![]() In keeping with Verne’s 1872 novel, this family-friendly production tells the story of English gentleman Phileas Fogg’s attempt to circumnavigate the globe in 80 days on a wager of £20,000. ![]() Jules Verne’s classic adventure story, Around The World In 80 Days - here adapted for the stage by Tilted Wig and York Theatre Royal - offers a fun-filled reminder of a time when exotic climes really were ‘a world away’. It’s easy to forget that not so long ago, travelling across the globe was a very difficult and long-winded undertaking. ![]() |