Tasos Anastasopoulos

Tasos Anastasopoulos rated a book 5 of 5 stars

Wonder
by R.J. Palacio

read in April, 2013

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Tasos Anastasopoulos rated a book 4 of 5 stars

The Time Keeper
by Mitch Albom (Goodreads Author)

read in April, 2013

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Tasos Anastasopoulos rated a book 4 of 5 stars

Looking for Alaska
by John Green (Goodreads Author)

read in April, 2013

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Tasos Anastasopoulos rated a book 4 of 5 stars

The Perks of Being a Wallflower
by Stephen Chbosky

read in March, 2013

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Tasos Anastasopoulos rated a book 4 of 5 stars

What the Night Knows
by Dean Koontz

read in February, 2013

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It’s been quite a long time since I last read a book and moreover one that is dealing with horror stories and written by one of the specialists of the kind like Dean Koontz or Stephen King (the dynamic duo when it comes to novels like this particular...more It’s been quite a long time since I last read a book and moreover one that is dealing with horror stories and written by one of the specialists of the kind like Dean Koontz or Stephen King (the dynamic duo when it comes to novels like this particular one). Fortunately it proved to be a good one so I will carry on hopefully reading more of this kind that I kind of have missed in the past.
The story was quite interesting despite the fact that it looked like a typical scenario of a b-movie that would barely made it to the cinema and would go straight to be rented as a DVD. A boy that was the only survivor of his family massacre turned out to become a cop, waiting for the time that the curse of the murderer of his parents and sisters will come back to him one day and kill his own family. It does seem familiar right? Also the way the “evil spirit” rides the souls of his carriers and turns them into monsters is something that it reminded me of a film (that did make it to the cinema actually) with Denzel Washington that I don’t recall the title exactly (only its Greek version that is for sure different title from the original one) but I do remember the ending and that I enjoyed watching it! Hm, ok back to the book now… what mostly intrigued me is that there were many characters involved and we get to know the background of each one of them. That made it quite easier to understand their role in the story, their behavior and also to have a full portrait of each person involved even the ones that didn’t have such an active part in the whole story. For instance the exorcist priest that has a sinful background (it’s ok, though it appears late in the book it’s not considered a spoiler at all), or several “carriers” of the rider or the nurse at the hospital and in general there is a small story for almost every person that is mentioned inside the book.
Now let’s move on to what I didn’t like about the book, fortunately there weren’t many things that I recall but somehow it seemed that the author prepares you that something big will take place but not so soon. So I found myself having read the first 3 quarters and there was still much time left for this big thing that was supposed to happen so I was like how can this be, will it be a sequel perhaps? Well it was supposed to be a surprise and things changed (plus i shouldn’t say anything else cause it will be considered a spoiler) but still it kind of left me a bad impression this feeling like “what’s going on, when will it happen” thought that was bothering me.
For those that are into mystery novels, with a bit of horror, hideous crimes being committed, it is a must read. It doesn’t have so much raw violence inside for a let’s say “sensitive” reader to feel disgusted but ok it’s not recommended that much for those that are not used to reading those kind of novels. Still don’t expect a masterpiece, there were many similar stories like this one in other books, in many films (even b-movies), so it won’t surprise me if this will be transferred to the “big screen” as well. In fact I will be willing to watch it but I highly doubt that it’s gonna be a big production with known cast of actors. I should take a look in general if any of Koontz’s books became film in the past and their ratings as well.
So on to the next one now, a totally different kind of this time (let’s see how this moving from one gender to the other will be like).(less)

Tasos Anastasopoulos rated a book 4 of 5 stars

Safe Haven
by Nicholas Sparks (Goodreads Author)

read in February, 2013

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Checking Nicholas Sparks page here in Goodreads (long ago I don’t know if he has updated his favorite books) I could see that there are quite a few that he rated with 5 stars that has nothing to do with the type of novels he writes. I mean Stephen Ki...more Checking Nicholas Sparks page here in Goodreads (long ago I don’t know if he has updated his favorite books) I could see that there are quite a few that he rated with 5 stars that has nothing to do with the type of novels he writes. I mean Stephen King really, doesn’t seem like him, too hm heavy perhaps, too violent? But ok I am not the ideal person to judge that, this must have been the second Sparks novel I got the chance to read but looking at the films that are based on his books there is not so much mystery involved (though almost in every single one of them there are fights between men mostly but nothing too raw, at least the ones I watched in the television or DVD).

After the prologue let’s head on to this particular book, first of all I got to know part of the plot just by watching the trailer since now is the period that the movie is on the cinemas worldwide.
To be honest it was more interesting than I expected that it would be. The story was “rolling” really nice, with the “blasts from the pasts” to have been “placed” in suitable chapters so to help the reader to understand better what was happening to the story and why the main characters behave in a certain kind of way rather than confusing like it happens in other similar books that I read in the past. In some parts if I hadn’t know who the writer was (especially at the beginning of the book describing the “escape”) I would never have guessed that it’s Sparks himself. He must have done his work well gathering data about how policemen work, their methods and what makes them much better investigating things and finding evidence, links and tracks compared with the other just “normal human beings”. This was the part that I actually enjoyed the most, I think that despite having to let down most probably many of his (female in majority I assume) readers he should try to write a different novel that won’t have so much romance involved and focus in man-hunting. That would show to everyone his versatility and perhaps gain even more fans, those that are refused to buy his “bitter sweet” novels. He should change his style of course a bit, become more realistic, not afraid to use some not so politically correct word especially when it comes to “bad guys” that use violence so it’s not so normal to avoid using some certain kind of words or phrases. This should be the least of their concerns.

Again I managed to write a controversial review, if it can be called a review actually, it is something more or less like scattered thoughts of mine that are connected a bit somehow with the book. So the least I could do is enlighten someone now that it’s coming to its end. The Sparks’ fans will love the book for sure, a guy, a girl, attraction, sweet phrases, jokes, kisses, those kinds of things. But what’s more important is that even the non fans will like it. I could even describe myself as prepared not to like it at all before I got it in my hands (it wasn’t exactly my choice reading it hehe, but it’s ok it proved to be a good gesture from the one that gave me it), but guess what I was wrong. So, go ahead, if you are reading my review because it happened that you checked another one having to do with King or Koontz give it a try, who knows you may actually like it too yourselves. Check out the stars I gave it, not so bad right? But not excellent either though! And one final thing, I highly doubt I will enjoy the movie, the acting seems to be...well below standards, perhaps being a pessimist again will surprise me, who knows, let’s see, or even more suitable in this case , let’s watch!(less)

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Tasos Anastasopoulos rated a book 3 of 5 stars

Insurgent (Divergent, #2)
by Veronica Roth (Goodreads Author)

read in June, 2012

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Tasos Anastasopoulos rated a book 4 of 5 stars

Clarity
by Kim Harrington (Goodreads Author)

read in July, 2012

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Tasos Anastasopoulos rated a book 4 of 5 stars

Paper Towns
by John Green (Goodreads Author)

read in July, 2012

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Tasos Anastasopoulos rated a book 5 of 5 stars Wonder by R.J. Palacio read in April, 2013	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Apr 08, 2013 02:18am
Tasos Anastasopoulos rated a book 4 of 5 stars The Time Keeper by Mitch Albom (Goodreads Author) read in April, 2013	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Apr 08, 2013 02:16am
Tasos Anastasopoulos rated a book 4 of 5 stars Looking for Alaska by John Green (Goodreads Author) read in April, 2013	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Apr 08, 2013 02:15am
Tasos Anastasopoulos rated a book 4 of 5 stars The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky read in March, 2013	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Apr 08, 2013 02:14am
Tasos Anastasopoulos rated a book 4 of 5 stars What the Night Knows by Dean Koontz read in February, 2013	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
It’s been quite a long time since I last read a book and moreover one that is dealing with horror stories and written by one of the specialists of the kind like Dean Koontz or Stephen King (the dynamic duo when it comes to novels like this particular...more
Apr 08, 2013 01:57am · see review
Tasos Anastasopoulos rated a book 4 of 5 stars Safe Haven by Nicholas Sparks (Goodreads Author) read in February, 2013	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Checking Nicholas Sparks page here in Goodreads (long ago I don’t know if he has updated his favorite books) I could see that there are quite a few that he rated with 5 stars that has nothing to do with the type of novels he writes. I mean Stephen Ki...more
Apr 08, 2013 01:52am · see review
Tasos Anastasopoulos added Goodreads to his Facebook Timeline Add your books to Timeline! learn more
Dec 13, 2012 04:53pm
Tasos Anastasopoulos rated a book 3 of 5 stars Insurgent (Divergent, #2) by Veronica Roth (Goodreads Author) read in June, 2012	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Aug 03, 2012 09:54am
Tasos Anastasopoulos rated a book 4 of 5 stars Clarity by Kim Harrington (Goodreads Author) read in July, 2012	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Aug 03, 2012 09:51am
Tasos Anastasopoulos rated a book 4 of 5 stars Paper Towns by John Green (Goodreads Author) read in July, 2012	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Aug 03, 2012 09:50am

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