Amy

Extreme mixed thoughts.

Loved Skull and Hati - so freaking much. And Saga's so wonderful. Aydis is likable and, truthfully, my motivation for continuing, because I want to see her take over the world.

Got creeped out and ticked off at Freyja in equal measure. The art style is all over the place and most of it...I don't like.

I am continuing this series - both because I am curious, but also because I don't know what else to read to push myself to complete my Goodreads challenge and without needing to do that... Well, there's a good chance that I'd just let this series sit until it was forgotten.

Rolls eyes I mean, you have to take this story in the spirit of ‘crazy ancient deities' tale - otherwise actions make no lick of sense.

That being said, a crew of lady sailors that rescue slaves aboard ships? Yes, please!

This book contains the following stories:

Changeling
Rescued
Home
Eidolon
Carousel
Remnant - co-written with K.J. Charles
Harmony
Undertow


I might remember to add the reviews for the other stories in here as I read them, but right now, I am using this solely for Changeling, as it is not available by itself anywhere that I've seen.

It is from Niles' point of view, starts 27 years before the start of Widdershins and has spoilers - and fills in some of Percival's backstory that you likely won't care a bit about if you don't know the series. Do not read this short story first, even if you are a chronological order purist. It does not work as a good introduction to the series (seriously, start with Widdershins, please) but it is interesting.

I never wanted a Niles POV story, but...it is interesting to read about his thoughts and feelings on Percival and just how toxic his masculinity is. Over all, I found it interesting (there's that word, again) and I did like the look at young Percival (and his surprising backbone of steel) but this wasn't actually...needed.


(Side note: This hardcover bindup is gorgeous and I really, really want to rebuy the entire series like this. As I'm planning on a series long reread in 2024, this might be the right time to buy the whole thing... I'm trying to talk myself out of it, because it's $20 a book, for ones I already own - but they are so, so gorgeous.)

Not everyone loves Widdershins and Griffin sure didn't at the start. (Don't know why he wouldn't just love our little murder town.) Of course, he found Saul and they're just so freaking adorable together. (I'm just going to go over here and coo over how cute they are.)

‘Saul sprang into my lap and butted his head against my chin. [...] He repeated the action and I kissed him between the ears.‘

... This is written by someone that knows cats.

Sweet and cute. I like that we're filling in some backstory with these early short stories. I also like that we finally get to see why Griffin likes Whyborne so much and how Whyborne helps him - instead of in the books being mostly from Whyborne's point of view.

Everyone: Nancy, you're so awesome at solving mysteries! We all know about you and love you. We want you to solve this mystery/lend credence to our magic trick/tell a real-deal judge what you've discovered.

Nancy: Oh, no. I'm really not that great. I just dabble.



The mystery itself was...okay. I guess. It was neither the best nor the words in the series to date, but Nancy was just so...unpleasant for me to be around for this book.

I liked the setting of the story the most of anything in it. For the first time in this series, I really felt like the crew was at a real place that was unique and fun. Early on, there's a decent amount of the area to give it a sense of place. It also deals some with the history of Nantucket, which I thought was nice and I enjoyed that.

The mystery was...typical of this series. I've pretty much come to the conclusion that the one person Nancy never suspects is likely to be the culprit. Which is a way to handle the mystery that I do not like.

Finally, I wish the titles of this series had more bearing to the actual case. It's like, the case takes place in Nantucket and what's a cool word to go with that. snaps fingers Let's just call a thief and a rash of threatening overtures a ‘phantom'. (I had hoped that this would be more ‘creepy lighthouse, phantom keeper' because of the cover and the title, so I was a little disappointed.) (Usually we have a 50/50 shot of the title actually having bearing on the case an that is too low of a ratio, in my opinion.)

This was fun. Everything took me a hot minute to get used to (like that coloring. It's gorgeous, but unusual) and once I did - and once the plot took off - it seemed like the story was over. Grace and Flor are likable and cute together and I would totally be willing to read more of their adventures.(I think the annotations in the back of the book are a fun idea, though I just picked and chose which ones I wanted to read. Hilarious coincidence: one of the notes talks about Elizabeth Van Lew. [bc:The Secret of the Lion's Head 293794 The Secret of the Lion's Head Beverly B. Hall https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1348765439l/293794.SY75.jpg 285076] )

I think having the appropriate expectations for this story is important. I didn't, so it took me a while to get fully involved. Look, I was expecting horror. I don't like horror, but this is queer and it's a take on The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (which is amazing!) so I swallowed my nerves and started it. I was hoping this story would be too much for me because I was expecting horror thanks to this being shelved as horror and because of the cover. Well, the cover is a lot less cheerful, bright and bubbly than the story inside is. And the art, as well.

Basically, this is not what I call horror. It's ... paranormal? Supernatural? I call it urban fantasy - even though people hate the way I use that genre - because it is magic and ghosts in a modern setting. (Ergo, urban (modern) fantasy (beyond the normal).)

Anyway, I liked it. The colors are bright and brilliant and from the pumpkin head to the autumn trees to the bubblegum bright backgrounds, they pop. Our main trio of characters are likable enough. The plot is fun. The only place that was a let down was the art at times. Sometimes it was brilliant and wonderful, other times it was flat and stylistic for no apparent reason.

But it was cute and I liked it. It also has an interesting take on the original tale that might be different than what is commonly accepted. (I don't know, because I recently watched an adaptation of The Legend, and thought that Crane was a gold-digger. ... shrug)

I would like to state that I love Nick Nelson. This volume covers up until the end of season one of the show - so we get all the lovely bisexual realizations from Nick. Honestly, he's such an important character to me and I love that this comic is the reason we have one of the only bisexual realizations on TV as well as one of the few bisexual male characters.

Anyway, this is more of the same soft, sweetness of the first volume - though I can't help but constantly see the changes the made between the comic and the show. (Some of them worked for me, though to be fair, not all of them.) Once again, I appreciate the fact that Nick has guy friends that aren't terrible people.

Once again, surprised at the amount of added content from the comic to the show. I must say, the comic is less stressful than the show because so much of the added content is not pleasant. (Like Harry and Ben in general and I still wish Imogen hadn't been given a love interest role in season one of the show.)

This comic covers up ‘till the end of the Paris trip (where we do NOT meet Nick's dad) and not having the Ben/Imogen (is it Imogen or Imogene?) content was a relief. (Though, to be fair, I prefer Isaac over Aled. That might just be because Aled isn't given as much content as Isaac (another show original) is. But it's also because I believe Isaac is our asexual rep, which I desperately want more of in mainstream media. ... And Isaac with his books and getting a little put out with romance and friends pairing up .... is kind of like super relatable and I see a lot of me in him.)

Anyway, there's only two episodes left of season two that wasn't covered in this volume, so you can just imagine how much content they added.

“I'm bi, actually.”

Over all, fun and quick enough to read once I got going (and got shut of that migraine.) (Actual rating for the stars I gave each story was 3.75.)

Friends for Life - **Is the tale of Korra and Naga's first meeting and it is super cute.Skyscrapers - ****Is a short snapshot of young Asami and her mother. I thought it was interesting to see a bit of young Asami as well as the first time I'm aware of seeing her mom. (Also, Asami is my favorite character so any time I get more content, I'm happy.)Wisdom - **Is a short little two page comic that...tried to be profound but left me confused.Lost Pets - **Is Korra conscripting Meelo to help her find, you guess it, lost pets. It was cute, but...honestly, Meelo has never been a favorite of mine.A Change in the Wind - **Is Korra and Asami being cute. ... I mean ... Nope, that's what I'm here for. (And Jinora is awesome and it's nice to see a different side of her.) But we all know Korra and Asami are why I'm here.Weaver's Ball - **Is about a young Korra learning fire bending - not very well, but still. Honestly, I would love more information on this period - and maybe before - of Korra's life.Clearing the Air - **Is a story about longsuffering Tenzin (Which is my second favorite Tenzin (only after Tenzin acting as Korra's dad Tenzin).) That turns into getting a bit of information on Tenzin's past - finally!Cat-owl's cradle - **
Has an interesting coloring style. Otherwise, it's about Meelo and Bumi going on an adventure. ... We are all doomed.

I have good news: My library finally has the first three volumes of Heartstopper in English. (Up until this point, they only had the first four volumes in Spanish.)

Anyway, I've been randomly checking in on this series since I saw season one on Netflix. I do like the fact that things changed from this to the show - and I do like that the show fleshed out some of the supporting cast while at the same time, I love that this comic stays tightly focused on Nick and Charlie.

The first volume covers up until the first kiss and...well, honestly, this might be even cuter than the first couple of episodes of the show. (And they were already so freaking cute.)

I do prefer one thing in the comic vs the show: Nick's friends. I would honestly trade in Imogene for Sai and Christian. I didn't like it in the show how she was really just there to add drama - even though I do like her character and think she is a good one - and while watching the show was desperately wishing that Nick had some guy friends.

The first and only time I read this book before now I was somewhere around the age of ten. It's easy to see why young me liked this book as much as I did. Older me ... well, I'd like Auntie's story. Don't get me wrong, Annie is a good MC and I like her, but Elizabeth is at the center of everything and I can't help but feel that this story is just a short little snapshot of a much, much larger story.

I mostly enjoyed this story. It has a tinge of classic slasher horror to it - what with the bike expedition to woods, thefts, disappearances and the feeling of being unable to trust your companions. However, Nancy...really doesn't pick up on anything in this series. She literally trips over the solution every single time. I managed to figure out about half of it, which was more than Nancy - who is supposed to be some super sleuth, but really is just a nosy busybody who asks questions and trips over the solution.

In a side note, I've figured out why I have such a hard time with mysteries anymore: Because most of the characters are unlikable. Sometimes you can like the sleuth (I do like Nancy, Bess and George) but the suspects, red herrings and victims are so unlikable. Much like this book, as we see how, when put under pressure, people fall apart.

Wow. Just...wow.

Check my running updates for a ‘review.' I didn't have anything else going today and this seemed like the best use of my time. (It wasn't, but hush.)

The only other thing I have to say is that sarcasm was my one true source of comfort to get through this mess. It's overly emotional and soap opera like and I'm really kind of upset that this broke the mold of an unlikable murder victim.

Okay, so, the book started off pretty well. And it's not that I hate it or the characters. And I do love how pro-animals Stan is. (Even though I want to slap her and tell her feed her cat some taurine.) The mystery was pretty decent - at least I didn't predict the killer from the onset (though Stan did simply stumble across solving the mystery, which is a terrible trend in mysteries that I've been reading lately) - but the problems for me come in the form of Stan herself.

So, this is my first book in the series - which, to me, one of the benefit's of cozy mysteries is that they should be episodic and you should be able to pick up pretty much anywhere without feeling lost. This book does that well, with enough references to what I'm assuming happened in the previous book to make it clear that Stan got her first sample sleuthing by being suspect number one in the previous book. She also had more than a few run ins with the local law in the form of Officer Jessie Pasquale. The very female Officer Jessie Pasquale which I thought was nice in that she wasn't set to be the default love interest.

(Okay, when she was first introduced, I thought I had accidentally come across a lesbian cozy mystery which would have been nice, but I liked that Stan's love interest wasn't a cop. ... It's the cop's brother, Jake. (More on him later.) ... And I think Pasquale is married, actually.)

I was mostly enjoying this book, even with the other nitpicks and quibbles I'll mention later, until:

‘“Listen, Ms. Connor,” Pasquale said finally. “I appreciate your...enthusiasm, and the information, but this is a murder case. It's our top priority, and I'm very confident in our ability to solve it. Please don't hesitate to give us any information you come across, but also, please don't expect me to consult with you.”During Stan's corporate career, she'd met many people like Jessie Pasquale. Self-righteous, condescending, and convinced they were smarter than everyone else. Well, she had news for her. She was plenty smart. And now she was annoyed.‘

Whew, just reading that again makes me wonder what kind of mental gymnastics Stan had to do to reach those conclusions from Pasquale's words. If anything, I found Pasquale very professional to Stan throughout the book (despite apparently being the main suspect in the previous one) and I don't know what kind of weird vendetta Stan has against Pasquale but I am not here for it. (It is made obvious by little picks that Stan constantly mentally makes about Pasquale from the latter's first introduction that Stan doesn't like her - especially the constant ‘she oozes cop' and ‘her whole personality setting is cop' brand of mental put downs that make no sense considering - oh, hey! - Stan only sees her when Pasquale's at work investigating a murder.)

My next complaint about Stan is actually something I found kind of fun the first time or two it happened - but after probably more than a dozen instances it wore out its welcome. Stan has music playing in her head. ... I kid you not. Someone says the words ‘dark side' and Stan has ‘Kelly Clarkson running through her head'. Her mom acts weird and she hears the Twilight Zone theme song play. It gets annoying that it constantly happens - and it's made all the more blatantly peculiar by the fact that she is never referenced as listening to music. Not even when she jogs. Apparently she used to listen to music while working her corporate job. Which, don't worry, she'll constantly remind you that she had a corporate job that she's glad se no longer has. But she used to have a corporate job.

(The answer:

‘In her old, corporate life, it helped her to pull out her trusty notebook and jot down the facts, then write up a SARS report: Situation, actions taken, results, and support needed. Ad then focus on a theme song until her mind solved the problem.‘

...

Trust me, it doesn't make sense in context, either.)

Also, for a grown ass woman, she's kind of...weird about romance. So, she's attracted to Jake. Fine. He seems like a decent enough guy - if a little too stoic and ‘mysterious' for me. But there's just so many weird reactions she has to him.

‘An evening with Jake, even though he would be working, was tempting. She had to figure out if she was ready to give in.‘

Okay, first, Jake's a bar owner and he tends his own bar. So what, exactly, does Stan think is going to happen that she has to ‘give in' to? This makes literally no sense to me.

‘“Jake's kind of weird, too, so it's a good match.” Brenna winked and turned to go back into the kitchen.“Hang on a second.” Stan hurried after her, the dogs trotting obediently behind her. “What's that supposed to mean?”“Oh, you know. You two will eventually stop dancing around each other.” Brenna slid a try of cookies out of the oven.“How did you -“ Stan was about to argue the point - she'd never admitted to anyone that she sort of liked Jake -“‘

Okay, first of all, Brenna is Jake's sister that currently lives with him and she also works part time for him and part time for Stan. The girl knows. Secondly...What is this, grade school. I can just hear Stan's ‘I don't like him.'

‘Brenna grinned at her. “I wish you two would just get it over with.”“Brenna!” Stan blushed even redder. “I don't know what you're talking about.”‘

...

‘She could picture him, still in bed, rubbing his eyes, trying to focus and understand what she was talking about this time. Then she blushed.‘

... Uhm... Yeah, she blushes a lot, too, by the way. There's this whole section where Stan is being showed around the farm and she blushes and flushes like every other paragraph because - oh, the horror! - she doesn't know something.

Then, finally, the cut the cord moment for me where I was just finishing the book because I'd made it this far. (Which is sad because at one point - in the first 75 pages - I was thinking it'd be a four star book.) In one chapter, we are treated to this:

‘But thanks to the chew-‘em-up-and-spit-‘em-out atmosphere of corporate America, Stan had an edge. She knew how to keep a poker face, how to pretend nothing bothered her when in fact, she wanted to curl up in a corner and cry.‘

The very next chapter we have:

‘Coffee brewed, and Stan inhaled the scent of bold, bitter beans. Heaven.“Want a cup?” Izzy asked, a hint of a smile on her lips. Clearly Stan needed to work on her poker face.‘

?

I don't... I mean, what in the world?

And Stan's just very...judge-y.

I didn't like this one very much. The man reasons are the mystery itself and Nancy.

So, the mystery is a campaigning politician is getting threats sent to her. She want's to bulldoze half of Willow Woods hundred year old forest - destroying the ecosystem - and build a football field (complete with new bleachers and a ‘special' athletics building) atop it.

While I don't agree with using threats and harassment to get your point across, I also do agree with the ‘green' high school group that Nancy infiltrates as her main suspects. Nancy has a thread she follows for over half this very short book where she's convinced of certain things that...I mean...without spoilers...Nancy doesn't solve the case so much as have the culprit over play their hand and fall into her lap. (Though once I realized where Nancy's thread lead, I did solve the case. The who and the why were exactly as I suspected at 65% through this, once again very short book.)

Finally, I did not like Nancy's actions in this book, where I really feel that she let her morality slip and ... Her choices pertaining to certain things ... I just really disagreed with here.

(Edit: After checking the page count, this book is actually longer than the previous one in the series. I've been listening to them as audio books, though, and this one is significantly shorter than the previous one in the series. ... Confused now.)

I would like to preface this review by saying that I have never read anything by this author before. Also, I used to be a huge fan of cozy mysteries - would read nothing but, really - but haven't really read any in the past 15-20 years and have been trying to recapture some of my love for them. Unfortunately, I am starting to think that ship has well and truly sailed.

I did not like this book. I just didn't enjoy it.

This is a novella from a cozy mystery series that I picked up randomly because it was free. And is well loved on Goodreads. However, I personally find that this novella does not work as a stand alone at all. There's too many people and things that are ill-explained, not explained at all or only explained after the fact. This is written with established fans in mind that know these people and their relationships and their problems.

The storytelling here is very jerky and nothing is described well. At the beginning of the story, Nora leads her best friend (Tina) to Tina's vehicle. Tina gets into the vehicle and, after a sentence or two, guns the gas. The conversation continues and that's when I realize that Nora is in the vehicle too. Or there's a character on screen for the first time and a rough physical description of him is given (pretty much the only time a character is described at all physically) and I figure that he is someone Nora doesn't know. Then I find out that it is the local handyman and Nora has hired him many times to do work for her.

There are plenty of scene switches that give me absolutely no sense of where the scene is taking place. There's no sense of location or scenery. I can picture things, but only because my imagination is filling in what the author fails to describe, because really all that is being described for the most part is talking heads.

Also, I don't want to get into it, but the people are as universally terrible as I am starting to realize is par for the course in cozy mysteries. (And all emotions are as overblown, too.)

I do have one other novella by this author that I got for free at the same time - in a different series, thankfully - so I might give it a go later just to see if it maybe works better.

I liked this a lot. I liked it a surprising amount, especially considering that I do not like age differences in my romance - especially not twelve years difference. But I liked it. A lot.

Kieran is a compelling character - and fun with his general ‘I hate the world' vibe he has going on. Kieran isn't universally out, passes as female at his ‘main' job and ... I just... I like the fact that he has long hair that he likes. I'm amused by the fact that he cultivated such a Mean Girls persona in high school. He's just...really fun.

Seth is... Honestly? Someone I super relate to. He comes from a different generation than Kieran. And I like that he's a bisexual that didn't realize he was bisexual when he was a teen. I like the fact that his immediate response to being called ‘queer' is a wince. I like that that is something that shows the difference in Kieran and Seth's generations as something that a lot of people from either generation would immediately understand. Seth is also such an awkward sweetheart.

And, finally, this is probably way too much of a character breakdown for what is, essentially, a short, sweet romance. (And with surprisingly hot foreplay for a sex scene.) (And I edited out probably half of what I had originally written for this review.)

‘With no value judgments or cultural prohibitions blocking nonhuman animals from pursuing it, bisexuality flourishes in the animal world.‘

whistles innocently What?

Fun and informative - like all non-fiction should be. (Coming from someone that reads like one non-fiction book every ten years.)

I do genuinely think these books are getting better - even if I have a couple minor squibbles with this one. (Side note: the audiobook narration is solid, with none of that women trying to sound like teen boys and sounding horrible that I have experienced in other audiobooks.)

The case is a good one, with interesting twists and turns, but the culprit - who I figured out concurrent with Nancy, even if she had a lot more information than I did - was...underdeveloped. Not as a character, but it was like ‘case solved, slap the cuffs on' and the only explanation we got was kind of an aside when Nancy and co. are debriefing. Which I didn't love.

Now, this next bit might just be a sign of how long it's been since I really read Nancy Drew books coupled with being significantly younger when I last read them. But...I feel like the books are lacking a little in true Nancy Drew peril and excitement. I almost feel like Nancy has lost her moxie. To be fair, there are a couple moments where Nancy is put in peril, but she is gotten out of it almost before she realizes she's in danger. And she receives threatening letters and panic's over that.

Like I said, this could be a case of misremembering coupled with this seeming much more dangerous when you're younger, but I recall a lot more tense moments for Nancy, a lot more where she had to use her wits to escape the bad guy.

shrug I've got some of the older books (the original hardcovers, Girl Detective and maybe even some others) in storage and when the weather cools off, I think I'm going to go dig them up and see if my memory is playing tricks on me.

I really don't know what to rate this book. It took me almost a month to read it, but I was sick for about two weeks in there and wasn't able to read anything that was as bloody as where I was at in this book.

So, the first half of the book would have been a generous four stars. The first half of the book shows flashes of brilliance, a wonderful setting and worldbuilding - but it is also coupled with abrupt and somewhat shallow storytelling. Very little is actually described; from the characters right to the village and the house they live in, there's little to no description of any of it. (The only thing about Sylvia's appearance I can tell you is she has long hair, brown, I think. Lucy has cropped curly hair. ... I picture it blonde, but I cannot remember if that was actually said or not. Otherwise, there is no description of them.)

The second half of the book... Honestly, two stars is very generous for it. The second half is taken over by the romance. Now, the romance isn't bad, per-say, but I don't like it. (Edited after finishing the review: Scratch that. It is a bad romance.) First of all, a lot is made about the fact that Sylvia is older than Lucy by ‘at least a decade' and has so much more ‘experience'. No, they don't mean that kind of experience - which would have been easier to take, because it is likely accurate. They mean ‘worldly experience' - like being in the same war and Lucy joining up (younger than what was really allowed) means nothing.

Then there is Anna. Anna was Sylvia's girlfriend during the war. Anna was Sylvia's self admitted ‘love of my life'. Anna is also missing, presumed dead for three years. But Sylvia is still so hung up on her that the entire second half of this short book turned into a ‘I must know what happened to the love of my life' quest.

Which is left, basically, unresolved.

After three years, Sylvia is still so hung up on her missing girlfriend that her whole character development and plotline hinges around it. ... In a romance novel whose ideal outcome isn't Anna back from the freaking grave.

Sorry, but I like romance novels that actually focus on the pair (or more) in the romance, not whose entire plot seems to be one of the romance claiming that another person is ‘the love of their life'.

You notice I keep saying that? ‘Love of their life'? Here is the direct quote from the book:

‘Anna was the love of Sylvia's life. No-one would ever measure up to her.‘

This is thought by Sylvia over halfway through the book. Well after she met Lucy.

And this is what kicks off every single one of my problems with this book.

I could have forgiven it for being somewhat abrupt, shallow, topical and barely skimming the surface of pretty much everything. I was, in fact, prepared to do just that for the first half of the book - and mourn over the fact that the book wasn't longer and actually given time to breathe - but, with the addition of our romance, I don't even know what it was supposed to be or, in the end, how we are supposed to support Sylvia and Lucy as a couple.

(Also, and this is 100% a personal preference, but I wish so badly that Sylvia didn't cry at the drop of a hat in the second half of the book. If we're being told that this strong woman has weakness and softness, there has to be a better way than that.)

Before I get to the meat of this review, I'd like to preface by saying a couple of things. First, I am somewhat older than the intended demographic for this book. However, I did grow up reading Nancy Drew books. Because of my age, I am also more experienced with mystery novels that I would imagine the intended demographic is. I don't really think that should matter though, because I think a well crafted mystery is a well crafted mystery no matter what age it's directed towards.

This book is significantly better than the previous two in the series. Nancy knows what the case is she's sleuthing and there's fewer blatant contradictions - though I still have a knee-jerk reaction to Nancy and Co. using ‘red herring' unironically to mean coincidence.

That being said: Nancy isn't a very good sleuth in this book. About halfway through I latched on to the culprit and there were two or three distinct moments after that that the culprit seemed to be waving a big red banner above their head saying ‘me! I dunnit' and Nancy just... willfully ignores their suspicious behavior.

(I think I should grab a few of the older - maybe even the few yellow hardcovers I've still got - Nancy Drew books, because I seriously remember her being a lot better at the sleuthing aspect than this.)

Other notes:

It was nice to see the parental Nickerson's - I don't ever remember Ned parents even being mentioned in a series before. As such, it was also nice to see parents that weren't either absent or incompetent.

The major impression of the title is somewhat misleading and, to me, screams that it's attempting to capitalize on the popularity of ‘Secret of Shadow Ranch.' A more accurate title would have been ‘Mystery of Midnight's Rider' but it doesn't have the same level of interest and excitement in the wording. (And also looks grammatically incorrect, but actually isn't.)

All in all, not a terrible choice to listen to while I was at work today - and it has also left me a little more interested in continuing the series.

I honestly don't know how I feel about this book. It took me quite a while to read - though the fault was only a little on this book.

Okay, so, thoughts:

I'm really not a fan of dystopian books. (Which this book is shelved as.) So, why did I try it? Because I do like after-the-apocalypse type stories. This book is every zombie apocalypse-like, alien invasion-esque panic of what the worst case scenario said that Covid could be.

So yeah, there's a part of me (the same part of me that felt panic for about two weeks when Covid first hit, before I channeled that fear into an idea of a world ending superbug that the US government unleashed on its own citizens. ... I still have that idea in my mind and after reading this book, I want to write it) that liked the sounds of the synopsis because of the whole world ending superbug.

And in truth, I don't dislike the book most of the time. Some things just don't work for me - other things work really well, leaving this book a very mixed bag.

This book is told in rotating first person perspective. I am not really a fan of first person perspective in the best of times, but I truly dislike it when it's a rotating POV and there's no distinctive voice. It was difficult at times to differentiate between Jamison and Andrew. I did get used to it, but I never liked it. (Let's talk about the epilogue and how no name is ever used and we don't really know whose head we are in. I'd guess Jamie, but there's about a 45% chance I'd be wrong, I think.)

I definitely feel like Andrew and Jamison have trouble telling each other things that could potentially save their lives, because they have a bad habit of not telling each other when there's danger about. (Jamison more so than Andrew, but Andrew does have that ‘big' secret that he sits on just to add drama.)

I do like the fact that Jamison has a bit of a sexual awakening. I could have done with more attention to that, but that's not what the story was about so I liked it.

The book did give me anxiety at times - though, quite tellingly, not because of the superbug, but because of the horrible people that still exist.

All in all, not a terrible read, an author I could read more by, but a book that - possibly because of my shifting mood while reading it - didn't completely work for me.