for lack of a better word, lackluster
599540
My connection to the dark lord was becoming, for lack of a better word, lackluster... My satanic ritual and daily practice was routine and mundane. I found my self thinking, maybe I don't even want pledge my soul to eternal hell fire. Maybe it's all "Mumbo-Jumbo"... We've all been there, right?! I was looking for something to really spice up my worship of the dark lord, and found the perfect accessory while looking for a cute mothers day gift on Amazon. The Stainless Steel Satan Worship Baphomet Ram Aries Zodiac Sheep Goat Head Horn Biker Ring!

With free Amazon Prime Two-Day shipping, and free returns, what did have to lose? On first opening, I was impressed with the gorgeous crem colored stitched box my ring came in. It's elegant and "easy on the eyes!" Upon first glance after opening the box, I was immediately taken aback by the fine craftsmanship and beautiful shines finish of the stainless steel. The detail of Baphomet's horns and beard hair are clean and cut with laser precision. The embossed pentagram scar branded on Baphomet's forehead adds a touch of elegance. The ring has a nice heavy weight to it and can get warm and toasty if a priest, nun, or any servant of the "Other" lord gets to close.

All in all I am highly satisfied with my purchase and would recommend this ring to anyone who (like me) wants to pledge their eternal soul to the infinitum lake of hell fire in the name of the all powerful Baphomet! :)
2822126
I always hate giving bad reviews, but feel that in this case, it's warranted. This movie is truly neither here nor there. Its characters are stable and fairly underdeveloped, so you'd think that perhaps they could be used to tell some kind of story/myth which would render their individual two-dimensionalness irrelevant. But no, the story/plot isn't particularly nuanced or groundbreaking either. So then, what's the point? One would think that it could be the innovative cinematography. There are a few really "otherworldly" moments, especially when "magickal" forces are at play, but these moments are all boringly legitimized through the (rather mediocre) plot and the motivations of its (hackneyed) characters. What could have made this movie great is ultimately forced to take the back seat to the most subpar elements. I really wanted this movie to embrace its own weirdness, but was very disappointed.
4292629
I really wanted to love this novel.  I like Pratt's short fiction.  I love the cover: the image, the title, and the tagline: "If primal evil wants California, it's going to have to go through her first. . . ."  It looks like great fun, sort of H.P. Lovecraft by way of Aaron Allston's GALATEA IN 2-D, and has nice cover quote from another couple authors I like.  But, while I didn't particularly dislike the book, I didn't find it all that interesting, either.  It was rather dull and will, I suspect, be quickly forgotten.  The characters were pleasant enough but not particularly captivating or memorable, and the story seemed too thin for its four hundred pages -- it probably would've made a better novella than full-length novel.  The villain is disappointingly weak, and inconsistencies abound: in one scene, the villain's incidental touch hurts a character, while later he slaps that character with no ill effect.  At one point several police officers are slaughtered, and then for the rest of the novel the police do . . . nothing.  They just take it in hand.  In one chapter a character interacts with another, and several chapters later seems to have no recollection of it.  And too often our heroes get out of their trouble a little *too* easily and conveniently; there's rarely any sense of danger.  This book is a reasonably well-written, reasonably amusing read, but it never achieves the energy or excitement that it promises.  If you want to like it, you probably will.  It's mildly enjoyable, but not particularly recommended.
2211084
I have to own that as a Lackey fan since "Arrows of the Queen" I was rather disappointed in "Take a Theif".  The book's central character Skif has peppered many of Lackey's earlier works of Valdemar with his presence and has become something of a favorite to her readers.  I felt he deserved better treatment than to be recast as Dicken's Oliver Twist.  It's all in there, poor orphaned boy in an abusive environment where he is little better than a slave moves on up the social ladder to become the theiving fingers for a Fagan like character named Bazie.  After that he climbs further up the social ladder to a place of wealth and comfort where he will mingle with the social elite of Valdemar's nobility and even royalty.
  Not only is the plot very Dickensian, but the setting is much like a grimy recasting of Victorian London.  The characters populating the city of Haven even speak in a terrible cockney cant reminiscent of England's lower class.  Anyone who has read Dickens will also recognise a tiresome over attention to the most minute details.  Dickens could drone on for pages about the description of a single chair and one finds depressing echos of that writing style evident in this novel.
  I also feel the need to speculate why at this late a date, Ms. Lackey chose to make the character Alberich, also known from her earlier works, speak in Yoda like broken english.  Just a little further down the timeline of Valdemar, Alberich has a much better grasp of the language and it's hard to reconcile the difference in speech with so short a lapse of Valdemaran time.
  All that said, the story was still enjoyable to a degree and despite it's rather slow moving action it is an easy read.  Not a total loss, but also not what this Lackey fan has come to expect from her favorite author.
434772
Let me start out by reiterating what several others have already stated:  Each gun is different and each has different likes.  That being said - again...
My impression of the products included in the 'combo' pack is pretty lackluster, I've seen better and worse, and I am moving on in search of better performance.  Two of the profiles performed better in my rifle than the other two with the "Hunter" and "Master Point" outperforming the "Magnum" and "Match" offerings (...in order, btw), but none of the profiles were what I would deem as satisfactory "...in my rifle".
One troubling issue that I did notice was the inconsistency from pellet to pellet within the same profile.  I did not notice any bent skirts or out of rounds while testing, but I definitely did notice the apparent variance in skirt diameter (illustrated by different force required to load the pellet in my break gun).  As you can likely guess from this comment, my groups were less than stellar.

In the right gun, these might be great  - all of the pellets in each tin seemed to be in good condition judging visually.
1877106
As stories go, this wasn't bad, but...what I found disappointing was that it seemed like a novel that was trying too hard to be a novella.
Because of the fact that there is I suppose a limited amount of words one must write for this to be classified as a novella, the story between Damion and Kali really has no time to develop, and not only their story, but any background information and the little bit of story line are all so condensed that it feels just a bit trite.
Yes this is a love story, yes it's fantasy, but going from a handshake to naked on the floor to madly in love, so to speak, in the blink of an eye leaves me a bit unfulfilled. I like a quick pace, but I also like a bit of a build-up,where we are given a little more time to know our H/h.
There was no getting to know Damion and Kali, even with the bit of background sharing, and there was no time to become 'invested' in their story, I wish there had been though, the story and the characters might have been much more interesting then.
4118493
This is a just-barely-better-than-mediocre rendering of a basic crime/suspense/drama/supernatural tale that could have been told much better, and with much better artistry and craft. Somehow, it was all done a bit clumsily, as if the producers and director were rushing the process, or perhaps they had attention deficit problems. The basic plot has a lot of parallels to the most excellent 1987 crime/suspense/private detective/supernatural film Angel Heart, which was a classic, and which remains a classic.

With better writing/scripting, better acting, and just a better flow, and a bit more passion on the part of the people involved in the show, Private Number could conceivably have also become a real winner, easily worth a 4 star or 5 star rating. Instead, while it remains interesting, there are so many minor plot flaws and holes, and so many little problems, that, while watchable, and while bearable, the show remains lacking; it ultimately feels a bit amateurish and clumsy. I can guarantee you that there are other creative teams that could have told this story so much better, and with so much more finesse and artistry.
623736
Perfectly adequate, but somehow I'm still disappointed
1628593
I wish I could love this. Lackey's books are often formulaic, but I usually like the formula. This just...didn't work for me. I certainly don't expect lightness and joy in a SERRAted Edge book, but ... pfeh.

I can't really say the rest of this without spoilers, though I'll try to keep them as mild as I can. Please stop here if you don't want any, though.

First, the "wicked stepmother" trope was SO heavy in the whole 'why the kid moved here' thing that I was seriously expecting it to get picked up and *dealt* with, for that fairy-tale trope to be an active part of the book. (That is one of Lackey's formula patterns, though I would more expect it in Elemental Masters than SERRAted Edge, but honestly, she all but brained us over the head with it here, so it seemed probable.) Instead, the stepmother never really became relevant at all...the whole plot-sub-thread just wandered off to die on its own of boredom. So I felt like there was, if not a promise, at least a strong hook that was not made good on at all.

Second, 'human loves an elf and the elf loves her back' is sooo frequently done that it was *sort of* nice to see it subverted here, except dude, it had the "good guy" (who admittedly was ambiguous-good, not good-good) riding off while people were still injured. Gotcha; he's not just unwilling to do a cross-species relationship (which is kind of refreshing), but he's also a grade-A jerk. (But please, please, let her not further break it by having him come back in another book and romance this girl, because that would just make it worse.)

Even allowing for "magic has changed the people in this town" as much as I can, the characters were still largely unsympathetic. The main character managed to be sort of cardboard-cut-out and surprisingly (over?) sensible for her age at times, which made it harder for me to believe when she acted more her age. (For good or ill, that was rarely.)

This just...it's not *horrid*. But it's not really worth the time to read it, either.
1387253
Although this game is fun many aspects feel extremely lackluster.
This review is divided into sections:

Plot:
The plot is that 4 gemulets need to be returned to Jeff the Gnome King (or CEO as it's incredibly unclear whether he's a reigning monarch, or the manager at a company) or the Gnome forest will die (there's some pretty funny jokes about this happening and the game is thankfully self aware, at how generic this plot is).
One thing that's disappointing is the diverse collection of characters, have NO ROLE in the plot or the rest of the game. You just end up wishing they'd had written some actual interesting plot incorporating characters and locations from the show, but nope!

Writing:
This game has pretty funny dialogue, although you'll likely be irritated by the slow scrolling text. Overall it's good though.

Characters:
Nearly all characters from the show have NO ROLE in this game whatsoever. Even for side-quests. This is pretty disappointing. Also despite the date this was released, Ford is nowhere to be seen.

Enemies:
The enemy collection is unforgivable. There are (drumroll please) FIVE enemy types in the ENTIRE GAME.
This is not counting bosses as they're included in the enemy log. You'll be very irritated that creatures from the show like the Multi-bear, the Manotaurs, or even Bill Cipher have NO ROLE whatsoever.
Yeah, you never get to fight Bill Cipher, and his only mention is very brief and contributes nothing. You always fight the same boss, precisely the same way.
Most enemies (all but one) derive nothing from the show, which is quite disappointing.

Gameplay/Levels:
EVERY SINGLE LEVEL IS ITEM RETRIVAL, THEN BOSS FIGHT! It never changes! This get's as old as it sounds.
Gameplay is just your generic side-scroller nothing special. You can switch between Dipper and Mabel, but it barely affects things.
Dipper has the size-changing flashlight but all it does is let you into secret rooms. Yeah, you can't even use it at will. Mabel has her grappling hook, but it too can't be used at will.

Quests:
The quests are extremely lackluster. Every single one is item retrieval! And worse yet, you get nothing for completing them except a check mark in your quest log, some moderately amusing dialogue, and a few extra hours in your play-time counter, from the time you spent finding the items unfairly hidden (this game LOVES walk-through walls)!
Yeah, that's right! You're NOT rewarded for completing the quests.
Take Wendy's quest for example, you'd expect to get an Axe, maybe a special move to access secret areas or at least clear enemies faster, or at least some money (which by the way, you CAN'T use to buy consumables as this game has none even though it would've been perfect for the Mystery Shack to be a shop) not NOTHING.
I honestly think these copy-pasted quests are only present to shoe-horn in characters from the show, who contribute nothing by the way.

Animation/Music:
The animation and music are both extremely good, though it is sad how little we get to hear the opening theme, but overall the music enhances the mood of various levels quite well.
It's also annoying that when something crazy happens in a scripted sequence, characters don't visually react in the slightest!

Overall:
This game is fun, but it's incredibly obvious that it was made because someone wanted more money, not that something loved and respected the mythos of Gravity Falls. Most Gravity Falls fans, will cringe at the misrepresentation of the source material, too. I'd say 5.5/10
975111
This "book" only has value if, as a fan of the franchise, you just have to know what happens. Personally, as  long-time reader of the original series, I found this book to be rather disappointing. There is so much potential here, and the development just wasn't there. Obviously that is because it was written as a play and was not meant to be as comprehensive as the original books. Perhaps the play would be interesting to watch. However, as a book it feels rather contrived at times and largely missing the original magic of the series. The dialogue often felt, for lack of a better term, cheesy and the characters rather flat. It reads fast, due to a low word count, but frankly I wouldn't spend my money on it unless you feel compelled
4812907
I have to agree with some of the negative comments. The story-line was rather slow-moving, boring and the character development was lackluster. I typically dislike leaving a story unread, but I am hard-pressed to spend more money on the remaining books in the series. Maybe later.
4856787
even the small poems mean something. they
are often whales in the bodies of tiny fish.

:/ is my reaction to this pod of poems. Some poems here have real teeth, sober perspectives on the African diaspora, and hopeful wails in the face of pain, betrayal, and systematic racism. I wanted to love this, but the good is massively outnumbered by mediocre deepities.

Waheed has a real talent for punctuating her poems with well-picked titles. I never felt a poem was necessarily bad, but just because I understand a metaphor, and it sounds pretty, doesn't mean it's good.

are your eyes blushing?

That is a poem by itself in this book. I can see how eyes blush, and I appreciate Waheed didn't spoil her poems by explaining what they ought to mean, but to praise a lot of this filler junk is disingenuous to the talent she demonstrates.

I reckon it sounds great as spoken poetry from Waheed herself -- it certainly makes for appealing snippets to post on social media -- but it's an empty sort of beauty. With the help of a guiding hand and a stronger focus, I think Waheed could be a great poet. Just not here in salt.
4398353
This book is written solely by Carter and de Camp and it shows in its style, treatment of Conan (he is way too tame or besotted, or even inept at times), and also in the rather lackluster, almost mechanic details that describe mysterious places, creatures, and practices. Robert Howard's style is vivid with action and energy, with fantasy and suspense, while de Camp and Carter create a predictable and fairly subdued adventure tale with less than half the usual vigor we find in RHE's stories and novellas. This tale is missing the gusty vitality of the barbarian and his zest for living, fighting, winning women, and moving victoriously on. It is an okay read and tries to fill a gap in the Conan chronology (the transition between his roaming in the East and his return to the West to claim eventually the throne of Aquilonia), but is far less engaging than the RHE material elsewhere in the series.
2693499
The writing is ok.  It's not bad per se, but it definitely feels like the work of a novice who is just getting their feet wet with novels.  Along those lines, there is also virtually no character development.  The main character is flawless in practically every way... he doesn't ever get injured during combat, he knows everything about every group/person in existence (practically), he's ridiculously handsome (it's cringe-worthy how every girl in the book seems to fawn over him non-stop), he's completely chivalrous, he inspires loyalty, etc.

It's exhausting and it takes all of the fun out of an otherwise mediocre book.  It also makes the character somewhat alien and unrelatable.

The one good thing that I will say about the book is that the action-sequences are very well described.  Often, during fights and similarly fast-paced sequences, authors struggle to provide a captivating and clear depiction of the events as they unfold.  I did not have that issue with this book.

Otherwise, the characters were flat and uninspired, the plot was predictable and repetitive, and generally the writing was consistent with what I would expect from a novice.
3459608
I've had the first installment of the series in my possession since the year it came out. With all of the hype that surrounded it, I was eager to read it, yet kept putting it off. Now, it's a popular TV series (one of my FAVORITES by the way) and I decided that since I am hooked on the show, why not give the book(s) a try.

Unfortunately, in my opinion, this novel left much to be desired. It doesn't live up to the hype of the series -- and usually when you talk about books and movies/shows it's the other way around -- and I believe that's what left me unmoved. I expected the book to be MUCH better. Now, don't get me wrong, the GOSSIP GIRL novel is a juicy one, but it's missing something. The characters lacked a sense of vigor but if you're a gossip-monger, do you really mind?

GOSSIP GIRL is a strictly a "for entertainment purposes" type of book and reminds me of the ever-present celebrity scandals that bombard our TV sets and newspapers on a regular basis. Definitely NOT for the young and impressionable. 3 stars.
4878942
As a finale to this incredible series, to say I was underwhelmed would be an understatement. I felt the story went off the tracks a bit in Staked, and continued to do so in Scourged. The "boss battles" in the book, Loki, Hel, Jrmungandr, and Surt to be precise, were ridiculously short and were my primary source of dissatisfaction. Those were the battles that I was looking forward to the most coming into this book, and having them play out as they did made me feel cheated of what could have been really great storytelling. The battle with Fenris in Trapped lasted longer than all four of these put together. The POVs for Granuaile and Owen felt completely unnecessary and forced, kind of like the author didn't know what to do with them but knew they had to do something, so let's just sling them around a bit. Other characters that were notable in prior books appeared kind of in a tipping of the hat sort of way, just to acknowledge them on the way out of the series. There wasn't much buildup to the Norse apocalypse other than the deities saying something to the effect of "we'll go here, you go there, good hunting, and that's that". I felt like the author was trying to tie up too many loose ends in too little time. This book could have been fleshed out more and added to the 288 page count it currently holds (which is way too short for the final book in the series, in my opinion). The ending felt very awkward and not at all how I pictured the series to be completed. The final issue I had with this book, and that I also had with Besieged, were the political undertones of the book. Why can we not have a book written solely for enjoyment rather than to have the occasional political jab thrown in for good measure? I read books like these for a brief escape from all the junk on the news, not to have those same issues thrown in from a politically biased standpoint and made to look like innocent literature. This book on its own is really a 2-star for me, but I gave a third star for the strength of the series as a whole.

*Edit
I actually dropped this back down to a two-star review because my disappointment in this book has bled over into reading in general for me. I read this book in whole the day it was released, and since then I have read about 100 pages total of another book. Every time I try to read anything I get frustrated thinking about this book and the monumental failure I felt at how the series closed. I think how things played out with Granuaile is the part that bugs me the most, because she went from a student that would sit and logically debate disagreements a few books back (e.g. Hunted, when she was upset over the Irish pantheon) to someone who now makes impulsive decisions and "don't need no man" when he tries to do what he feels is best for her. Did she consider that while Atticus was honor-bound to clean up his miss at the battle, he didn't want to have her there and risk wiping out two-thirds of the world's druids in one go? Could that be construed as him not protecting her, but instead protecting the practice of druidry? She didn't even make an attempt to find out from him why he sent her so far away from the main battle. The Granuaile of prior books would have considered every angle and confronted him directly, but instead she made her assumptions and ran with them because, in my opinion, her whole attitude in this book was based on political biases from the author. And to justify what happened, all the reader gets is the assurance from her POV, right at the end, that she has been thinking about this for awhile. WHEN? When did she think about this? I don't recall her thinking about this in any other POV previously.

Bottom line: soapbox political grandstanding beat good storytelling.