Amy

Definitely my favorite in the series to date, for several reasons. The most important ones:

1. I love suspicious little towns. For me, it's so fun when our detectives arrive in this little town and everyone is acting strange and the detectives have to fight most of the townspeople at every turn.

2. This is the first time in the series that I really feel that solid balance that this is Whyborne and Griffin's story. They both have important parts and story would have been less with one of their POV's cut out.

3. #Friendship Goals. The four main characters and getting some slight support from a couple in the town and ... I am just a very happy person when I deal with the solid friendship and reliance these four people have for each other.

...I'm actually a little disappointed in this book. Don't get me wrong, I did enjoy most of it. The final third, especially, as reveals started happening then. But the first two-thirds was a bit of a slog to get through. I think because I was not thrilled with nearly the whole book being set on Earth. Sure, a lot of stuff happened to/on Earth, but if I'm reading a sci-fi with space ships and aliens, I always feel a little disappointed if it takes place on Earth.

Also, the character development for one of the characters was something of a two edged sword for me both because it split the team up (which I was so disappointed about) and also because we spend all this time growing the character and, if the series isn't over, (honestly, I don't know) then it doesn't seem like that character will be around for the rest of the series.

So...enjoyable enough, but a step down after the last one for me.

I'm really loving seeing this author grow and develop as a writer. I started with the Percy Jackson series and, while I did enjoy it, I was mostly underwhelmed. Then, upon reading The Kane Chronicles, pretty much fell in love with the series - both for the diversity as well as the use of Egyptian mythology.

Finally, I started this book and am blown away by the leaps and bounds of writing improvement between this book and The Lightning Thief. Not only is the writing itself better, but plotting is better too. Things feel a lot more involved this time around.

I'm not really going to comment on the characters, because, for me, that's one thing that Riordan has never gotten wrong. They're all fun, kind of snarky and sarcastic, smart mouthed kids.

I actually really, really loved this book. Which is a relief considering my feelings on the previous two in the series. This rating is probably a little higher than the book truly deserves - but it gets that rating because I relate to Amelia so much. I see so much of myself in her anxiety - and even a little in the way she handles it. Because of this, around the halfway point, I hated her a little. I think I'm harsher than I should be on people who share personality traits with me that I don't consider positive.

That being said, I do like both Amelia and Sydney and I like them together. Their romance is built on light things. Yes, neither of their lives are perfect or simple, but they bring out the best in each other and do it with jokes and laughter. It's nice.

I'm also very glad that all that rubbish from the first two books with the heroine not wanting to marry but the hero wanting to so of course they do wasn't in this book. So very, very glad.

I would like to add that with everything that is going on in my life right now, this book was not as much escapism and much more wish fulfillment than expected. Or wanted. Truly, I wish I could escape to the country and spend my days writing inaccurate historical novels and taking solo walks. God, I'd jump at that chance.

Finally, this book is very, very queer. Both leads are bi, there is a gay secondary character and an aro/ace secondary character. (And likely another gay secondary character, but at the very least one that is attracted to the same gender.)

I'm going to say that, for me, this book was okay. I didn't like it, I didn't dislike it. It was mildly entertaining to listen to while I was at work. And this is why I don't know if my biggest problem was because I was listening to it or because it just wasn't working for me.

Because this book seemed very abrupt. I mean, it didn't feel like there were any transitions and, more than once, I wondered where the people were and why those characters were in this scene. I don't know. (I also felt very jarred by just how young the MC is.)

Beyond that, much like my usual problem with novellas, it seems compacted in such a way that I struggled to care about the characters or the plot. And, ultimately, wondering what the point of the plot actually was. Two stars taken away for that, one star added back for being so girl powered.

I'm in a bit of a situation with this book. See, I do genuinely like it. It was, not a fun read, but enjoyable and easy to get through. Very different than what I thought it was going to be, as it focuses much more on just the everyday life of Ben than any romance. That being said, nothing about the book grabbed me and said ‘this book!' It's good, enjoyable, and I imagine it is going to be great for people that can see themselves in Ben.

...I think I just need to go back to my fantasy and sci-fi.

There is a lot of stuff going on in this book - like three-four different story lines. While that is helpful, because there was some early stuff that just seemed to drag on, I also feel that it was a little too much. I mean, I did still enjoy it, but things just felt kind of abrupt and rather shallow because there was just so much stuff happening. As a series finale...I am a little disappointed. I prefer a little more breathing time at the end of my series and this was like: final fight, big reveal, done. There's no real character moments.

Like I said, I did enjoy it, but I am also very, very glad I'm done with the series.

I will add, I liked it more than the previous book because, though there were more names in the appendix, there was only about seven new characters that you really needed to keep track of - which helped tremendously.

Well...that happened.

This is partially a case of this not being the book I expected it to be and partially this book being too darn short for everything the author tries to do.

The romance itself is sweet, if somewhat shallow - with one major caveat: Cole lies by omission about a pretty big thing. He never tells Leo how to break the curse. Cole knows how after studying it for half an hour. He tells Leo that he knows how to break the curse, but that he can't break it. But he never tells Leo HOW to break the curse. (Which, honestly, gives Cole an advantage once they have sex - something he admits to, but still never says ‘hey, this is how your curse broke.' Though...suddenly at the end, Leo seems to know because he's making jokes about true love's kiss. Don't know how that happened.)

Also, Cole says he is going to try to weaken the cure. Wiggle it a bit. The curse does weaken...but not through anything he did. Because he doesn't do anything. It takes literal weeks after Leo shows up needing help for Cole to decide that ‘hey, I should make a protection amulet for this guy. In fact, I should have done that weeks ago.' For a book about magic, there is surprisingly little magic in it - just talk about herbal candies and one scene where Cole basically makes his own mountain ash protective barrier. (Oh, and like three scenes where Cole harvests herbs.)

There is two scenes where if you have specialized knowledge, I can only imagine you'd understand a lot more than I did. One deals with tarot card readings (and all I know is that reversed means the opposite) and the other the meaning of flowers (and I know nothing at all about that).

Finally, there is no atmosphere. So, this book takes place in September and October. In Canada. In a small town. ... It really could be any time and any place. There's a pie festival that our boys go to. ... Minimal description. Pretty sure they never actually got pie while they were there. (Though Cole, apparently, got a caramel apple he's still running around with.)

There was no investigating around Leo's curse, no talk about breaking it. Nothing. Which, as it turns out, was good, because the ‘reveal' was a major copout. Ugh.

I was expecting a cozy magical mystery, autumn romance. Instead I got...I book that I'm not even sure deserves two stars. ... Actually, I'm pretty sure it doesn't.

“I believe of all the places I have not fit, I fit here a little better.” - Zila, Aurora Rising

...I almost DNF'd this book something like five times in the first two chapters because of the incessant flashbacks. I mean, it felt like every page we were switching between current time and flashback. Look, flashbacks can be very effective, and I like them as well as the next person. But there is a time and place for them and the first two chapters of your book is not the time or the place. That being said, I told myself that I at least needed to meet all the characters and I'm glad I persevered because chapter three came and the flashbacks disappeared.

So, this book is fun. A lot of fun. I like most of the characters - several of them right from the start and all of them did grow on me. I love the dissimilar people having to work together though they don't always agree on everything. Or, really, anything. But, boy, have they got each other's backs and I love it!

I did have a couple of complaints. I wish all the characters had toned down the lust because, early on in the book, there was a lot of ‘he's hot' and ‘she's hot' going around. When things started getting serious, I am pleased to report that that did lessen significantly. (I read some of the one star reviews and there were several complaints about things like characters wanting to lick each other upon first meeting and one character being obsessed with the color of her bra. I can only assume these readers read an ARC, because I can assure you, nothing like this was in my copy. ... Thankfully enough.)

I'm not the biggest fan of the ‘big bad.' This is just a personal thing. I've dealt with big bads like this before in books and they are never my favorites.

I have to make mentioned of LGBT+ rep because this is something that I actually heard a lot about before reading this book. Or, rather, I heard a lot about the lack of LGBT+ rep in the book.

I'm of the opinion that pretty much the whole galaxy here is bisexual and nothing is made of that, because of the way pretty much everyone in the story seems to note how good looking others are without it seeming to matter what gender they are. There is one tentative, possible, maybe future romance being set up. And, yes, it is a F/M pairing. But, nothing has happened there, yet.

There is one character that is pretty darn unambiguously bi. (Even if you don't agree with me that everyone else probably is, too.) There does seem to be a couple little hints that this character could be developing strong feelings for someone. If this couple would get together, this would be a F/M pairing. BUT - and I can't believe I have to say this - a bi character getting into a straight relationship does not mean that that character quits being bi.

There is a kiss in this book. It is a gay kiss. It is a fake kiss. I feel like it was used to great effect to 1) show that there is nothing unusual about same sex attraction in this world and 2) to finally start correcting years of this type of fake kiss only being used for straights that already had some romantic attraction. The kiss-y was flustered and flummoxed, not because of who kissed them, but because they were kissed at all.

YMMV on all of this. But I was happy with the book, I was happy with the characters, I was happy that there wasn't mass romantic pairings off in this book (straight or queer) and I am very happy I didn't DNF this book.

...

...

I don't know. I mean, I really don't know what my thoughts on this book even are. Let's see.

1. As someone that got to listen to some of the audiobook as well as read it, the audiobook is better. Maybe a whole star better. (As I read the ebook mostly, I rated it for the ebook.)

2. I wonder if I liked the second book as much as I did because it was an audiobook. It was either that or because I like and find the character of Aiden more interesting than Tenn.

3. I really dislike Tenn. A lot. I wonder why I ever thought I liked him in the first book.

4. I'm not a fan of the resolution.

5. Nor am I really a fan of the writing style, I've realized.

6. Behind the typical teen drama, there is an interesting story. Pity it's concealed by concern over who is sleeping with whom and hyperbolic, sweeping declarations akin to ‘I will love you my entire life as I have loved you since we first met - all of ten days ago' and ‘I thought I would always hate you as I have since we first met - three days ago.'

7. The entire trilogy, apparently, takes place in, like a month. Maybe. At the most.

8. There were several ‘events' that could have/should have had longer lasting effects and they didn't. Example: Aiden lost part of more than one finger. It never effected anything he did. Ever. How about the whole magic thing with Kianna? And the way she just gets over it and becomes attuned and she never has any problems? After how much she hates magic?

I just...the whole series was up and down, back and forth with me and this book...was somewhat disappointing.

Surprisingly enough, considering my feelings towards the beginning of the book, I liked it. I think part of my enjoyment comes from the fact that having both Whyborne and Griffin's point of views worked well for this story. I wish they weren't told in rotating first person perspectives, but what can you do. I also do like how this series seems to keep getting weirder and weirder. It's nice. It's also nice the way that this book gets everyone involved. Really like that.

I don't know why I find it so easy to be critical and yet so hard to be complementary on books. It's like, as soon as I love a book, all my high brain power leaves and I'm just left a ball of emotions that can't really string together sentences. (I think it's a defect on my part.) Anyway, I will try.

Being totally honest, I love the characters - but I think 80% of the reason I love this duology as much as I do is because of Di. I love the path his character takes, the development he gets and what he goes through so, so much.

I like the romance's but, really, I'm here for the friendships. I love Ana and Robb's relationship. I love that they care about each other, so much, develop into a solid friendship early on - and yet there is no hint of ‘yup, they totally want to kiss' like there would be in probably every other YA book.

I love and adore our supporting cast: Siege, Elera and Viera specifically. I'd give anything to have more stories about these people, like a ‘continuing adventures of' or just fill in backstory for me. (I'm telling you, I want Siege's backstory.)

I love how this book focusing so much on home and family and what these misfits are to each other. Yeah, we had The Great Dark that we had to defeat, but really, this duology is all about family.

In other notes, I cannot believe it took me this long to read this duology and the only reason I can think of is because it never got the talk that it so deserves. Even though it's only February, I know that one or both of these books will be in my top ten books of 2021. Finally, of all the books that I've borrowed from my library so far, I know these are ones that I want to buy - preferably physical copies so I can see the pretty on my shelf.

Well... This is something that happened.

So, I went into this book blind. Didn't know anything about it beyond the Goodreads synopsis and who the author was. I kept reading it because, until reading the synopsis closer, I wanted to read the third in the series and I do not like skipping books. Even when they only loosely tie together - like this series does.

Anyway, I didn't like Verity or Ash much from the start. Late in the book, there's this quote that sums them up perfectly ‘[...]him cool and detached, her hard and angry.' Not my type of characters in the slightest.

I really, really hated their romance, too. Supposedly, it's friends-to-lovers, but it doesn't feel like that in the slightest. In the story we do not get the ‘oh, I'm in love with my friend' realization - because they have both been in love/lust with their friend since before the story starts. We don't even get pining because everything between these two is ignore, deny and lie.

‘If they acknowledge the potential he felt between them, then they'd want to do something about it.'‘If he let looks like that happen, they'd all find out exactly how fragile their arrangement was.'‘By unspoken consent, they seldom touched. They had never discussed the parameters of their friendship, but they measured out these touches as carefully as any housewife measured out the lumps in the sugar bowl. They were special occasions, feast days, homecomings. Two, three touches a year. Any more frequent and heaven knew what would happen.'

Oh, and speaking of lying.

Ash decides he's going to lie (only by omission, though) to his ‘friend' before they have sex for the first time. A lie that he keeps up while they are lovers, because he's fully aware that if he tells Verity the truth, it would change things.

...

This is unmistakably the point that the book completely lost me and any goodwill I had for it. I'm not getting into it any more than this. I'm not. I still have a headache and I do have some updates I made while reading the book. Suffice to say that if this had been the first Sebastian book I'd ever read, I would have never touched another book of hers.

Finally, what is the marriage obsession? For both of the Regency Imposters so far, that has been THE big hurdle to overcome. Is this typical of F/M historical romances? Because, honestly, it's been so long since I read the few that I did - but I don't remember it being like this.

(Side note: Verity is bi and has only taken women lovers. Ash has epilepsy and is a virgin.)



Preread ‘Review'

snicker/snort ‘Yes, this is an actual M/F romance.' cough Definitely hoping that we will still get some LGBT rep.

I didn't really know the character of Clint Barton before reading this book, I just thought that I keep hearing how popular he is that I should see what all the fuss is about. ... I still don't get it.

Not in love with the art style, which I already knew before reading it. It's very...minimalist. There are a lack of lines and I think the artist was morally against shading. However, I could have forgiven for a good plot. ... There is no plot. The first three chapters are completely unconnected and the last two is a two parter, based around something that didn't even happen in this book. (I don't know when it did happen, but I can only assume it would have made more sense if I had read that first.)

The feel of this book is very film noir - definitely no superheroing going on here. Clint is...well, a screw up. Nothing ever going right for him and things usually go as poorly as could be imagined. (That got rather tiring after awhile, especially as he keeps saying variations on ‘this looks bad.') Kate is...super, super competent. Like so crazy competent that it's silly. Not that I mind, exactly, but I wanted the Clint Barton Hawkeye - if I wanted the Kate Bishop Hawkeye, I would have grabbed one of those.

(Side note: at the end of the book, there's Young Avengers Presents #6 featuring Hawkeye - the Kate Bishop version. ... It is just to show you how much better an art style it could have had. Because this art was actually pretty good.)

If done well, I love friends-to-lovers romances. What I love even more than that though, is pining, when one person is totally gone on the other and has been for awhile. That is Henry, totally gone on Edward - who, to afford freedom from his bullying family, must make a very advantageous match.

This book has pretty much everything I love and want more of in my romances: slow burn, one delightfully pining person (Henry) and one gorgeously flustered and confused person (Edward) that are best friends, tearful love confessions, cuddling in bed together long, long before sex enters the picture as well as not one, but two marriages of convenience between four queer people. Add in Crowley's usual delightful supporting cast and the only thing that could have made this book any better was if we had gotten Edward's point of view too.

More like a 4.5 - but it does deserve to be rounded up because it was just so awesome. I like the characters, I got emotional, I didn't love the resolution, but I should have expected it, and it was just a really solid finale to a solid series. (Definitely like it more than the Percy Jackson series so I can't wait to see if this trend continues.)

It has to be said: I love Cat Sebastian's writing - so I was predisposed to love this book from the start. Alice is amazing and wonderful and I adore her. Molly has come a long way from the way she was when we first met her. And they are simply lovely together, bringing out the best in each other and working together. I also super love the ending.

Being totally honest, this book is really more like a 4.5 (that I just rounded up) - for the simple fact that if it had been longer, maybe even full length, everything would have been a little more fleshed out - I really wanted to see more of Alice getting back hers - and then it would have been totally perfect.

So I will try my best to be coherent, but I'm afraid that all might have left about three pages into this book.

First thing you need to know is that I'm now doing something I probably should have started eight years ago: using the preview function on Goodreads. (Or, that failing, the sample function on Amazon.) Hopefully this will keep me from starting a book to only realize by page sixteen that I want nothing at all to do with the book. (Like that last book I started.) Why this is important is because I previewed this book on Goodreads, hoping that I'd be somewhat interested in reading it so I could borrow it for my upcoming week. You see, I'm going to be very busy with work this next week and thought it would be nice to have a book downloaded to my phone that I could read at odd moments and while taking short breaks.

...

Basically, what I'm saying, was this book was supposed to last me until at least Friday at noon time. I was not supposed to devour the first half of the preview, borrow the book and subsequently read almost half of it before the end of the day and finish it the next evening.

So, I love this book. I love this book in a way I haven't loved a book in...a very long time. (After last year, I thought I lost my book mojo. No book I read for the first time last year got a five star rating from me. None.) This book is so...so my type of book.

This is Ana's story, but it's told from four different perspectives and I loved each one. I never felt, oh, them again. They're each interesting characters and have movement. They don't just float around while one character carries everything.

There's a found family. Aboard a spaceship. (Yes, please.)

There's a lost princess who is brave and stubborn and so far out of her depth.

There is one of the absolute sweetest romances ever between said lost princess and a ‘metal' (android) who is having anomalous feelings. And glitches. And they might be the same thing.

There is a far-flung universe that we've barely scratched the surface of and there are so many more stories to tell. (I need more Viera Carnelian in my life.)

There is plot. And action. And things happening besides romance!

There is also a rather...complicated M/M romance (that totally has its sweet moments) and a solid, established F/F relationship between secondary characters.

I don't know how to tag racial diversity, (because it's IN SPACE) but there is that, too.

On one hand, I'm almost a little upset I didn't read this book when it was first released - because I know I would have loved it then, too - but now I get to read the sequel without having to wait for it to be released. So, yay!

Solid second book in the series.

Things have continued apace for Carter and Sadie and it was nice to see a few more faces to flesh out their Nome. I like how responsible Carter is, a trait that is somewhat unusual for teen boys in stories. I can seem him growing into a stable man, which is a nice thought. Sadie is brave, though she is a little too...too something for me. Firey, I think, but she's a good character that livens up the story at times.

I still love the sibling bond between Carter and Sadie and it's wonderful to see it getting even stronger here. I like the racial diversity and how Riordan took a major step away from the predominately white world of the first Percy Jackson series. I also like how his writing has improved. It's wonderful to see.

Definitely well on my way to preferring the Kane Chronicles over Percy Jackson.

I will admit, it's been a long time since I read the first three books in the series (like five years) but...they were a lot better, I think. No, that's not right. I preferred them. I liked Sevana more in them because she was sharper, more acerbic and much more capable. She didn't get kidnapped as much, could take care of herself and had people worrying over her much less. It honestly feels like she's been diluted down so she's more ‘typical' and less unique.

The other characters... I loved Sevana in the first three books, which is why I loved the series. The other reason I loved the series was because she didn't have a love interest, was disinterested in romance, and had absolutely no hints of attraction to anyone.

Look, I like her love interest so keep that in mind as I pick the romance apart. The romance starts when Sevana isn't paying a lick of attention to him. He obviously said something, asked her out, confessed his love, something. But we don't actually get to know what it was until much, much later. I like romance, but what I like the most is the verbal aspect of it. I like the gradual building of trust, the vulnerability being offered, the slow build, the moment when one of them can no longer take it and offers their heart on a platter - basically saying here, it's yours to protect or trample - and then the relief when, yes, they feel the same way. ... We don't get those last two because Sevana wasn't paying attention and that scene is told from her perspective instead of her love interest who had been pining after her for ages.

Now I actually loved the first three books, in part, because Sevana wasn't interested in romance, so I could relate. It took me the better part of 25 years before I could even recognize romance without it being a 2x4 to the head. (Let's just say, many shows and movies surprised me in the romance department.) So it was nice to have a woman that I could relate to. In fact, I often read Sevana as aro and ace. Now, with this romance...She admits to never being kissed, to never thinking about her love interest in that way until he kisses her, to never even thinking about romance until he kisses her.

‘Sevana's long-dormant interest in things outside academia suddenly reared its head.'

I have come to expect the ‘virginal' woman in straight romances, where the heroine has never felt these feelings until she meets the hero and he awakens something in her. (Part of the reason I have become very choosy when reading straight romances.) I thought I'd escaped that in this series, not just because it's fantasy, but because Sevana literally doesn't care a bit about romance in the first three (four, really) books. And it's not as though she's naturally that way - we find out that teenage Sevana decided that friendships were difficult enough to maintain, much less romance, so she just decided not to do the whole romance thing. For me personally, this whole romance addition causes me problems. Major, major problems both on a personal level where I am heartbroken that this is another book whose main character's life isn't complete without a romantic happy ending, where the previous books seemed to happily follow the ‘friendship is more important' route, and a book level where Sevana doesn't even really feel like Sevana anymore because she's getting distracted from her work by trying to figure out how she can make this guy want to date her.

I just... ... I know how disappointed I would have been had I read books four and five closer to the first one, and this is only a fraction of that. So, yeah.

I have very mixed feelings about this book.

On the one hand, I loved the ‘monster of the week' resolution and what that could mean for this series going forward. I loved the message of love and acceptance that I took away from it. I liked finally getting into Griffin's head and I liked Griffin's point of view - mostly because every single interesting thing that happened either happened to him or during his chapter. (Especially his change and I'm interested to see how it will change things for Whyborne and Griffin. Also all the stuff with his brother.) I love the relationship between Christine and Iskander - would really love to have a series for these two. I am also very happy that we seem to be done with romantic upheavals, misunderstandings and just relationship angst.

While that's a lot of stuff that I at least liked... On the other hand, I had two pretty big issues.

This book feels so slow. I don't know if it is slower than the rest, I don't know if it was just me, but it feels like it takes forever to actually get moving. I think part of that is because it's actually so late in the book before we really deal with what's supposed to be the main plot. (The ‘monster of the week' isn't introduced until surprisingly late in the book which, honestly, makes a lot of this feel like filler.)

Secondly, Griffin's point of view was needed, it actually adds a lot to the story and I was very happy to see it. But I often had the problem - as is often the case with rotating first person perspectives - that I didn't know whose head I was in. Because of events late in the book, it got a little better, but early on, the duel perspectives sound a distressing amount alike to me. This is why I'm not really a fan of rotating first person.

So, while there was some good - even a couple great - I decided that my problems would drop the rating. (Being fair, this is probably more of a 3.5, but I rounded down, because, no matter how awesome the ending was, my frustrations were still there during the first part.)

I had several problems with this book that makes it my least favorite in Torin's saga to date.

First of all, the number of characters. Oh my gosh. Okay, there is a list in the back that tell you the ‘major' players in the story as well as their race (and, almost without fail, nothing else). This is sort of nice, but only if you want to flip to the back of the book every three pages to remind yourself who these seventy people are. Yes. There is literally seventy names on this list. That is beyond overkill, but what makes it even worse is the way they are handled. In the narration, you are introduced to a minimum of thirty-one of them as three groups. (It takes until well past the halfway point for me to realize there are actually four groups.) Each individual is described only minimally, (to the degree that I got gender's wrong) and they will also often be referred to by race (which I would often get wrong) - though the actual, individual races are described even less than the individual. Some of these characters we actually met three books ago and they are described not at all.

(There is a reason that frequent writing advice is to not introduce groups of people at once. This book is an example of that reason.)

Next, this book is not fun. Not only do the ‘characters' not use humor to lighten things as much as they usually do, the very plot doesn't allow much humor. (Perhaps this is why, until this book, my least favorite had been the ‘rescue Craig' book. Because when attention is all on how worried we all are (or not) about someone, there are much, much fewer wisecracks.) What also contributes to this is the lack of di'Taykan's. We have four. The three on planet are...there. For a long time, I thought one of the Krai was a di'Taykan - which I think illustrates how di'Taykan the di'Taykan's were acting. Alamber was relegated to support with Craig (thankfully) and we hear him over comms only occasionally.

So, what about all the death, destruction and mayhem, what ex-Gunny Kerr does best? Yeah...First of all, there was none in the first nine (of eleven) chapters. This is a rescue mission. As such, once the skirmish starts, the battle will be, essentially, over. Then, when people do start dropping like flies, I don't care. Because this list of ‘characters' are little more than names on a page to me, even by the end of the book. I haven't been able to keep a third of our thirty plus supporting cast (everyone except for Torren & Co.) straight. Without having to think about it, I actually know who three of the hostage-takers are. Out of fourteen. I only remember who three out of fourteen are. Also, I've been known to confuse hostage for hostage-taker and vice-versa. I don't know them so I just don't care.

About out main group? Well, I dislike Craig. Always have. He's...so bland and nothing. If the gender's were reversed, Craig would be every ‘girl' the ‘hero' gets at the end of his quest. As it is, he's so boring. The rest of the characters...I like them, but we know nothing about Mashona, nothing about Ressk, that Werst grew up station-side, that Torin grew up on a farm (and, I think, has a brother) and barely a little more about Alamber. That's tolerable when we had a full company in the military that we were following. Now that we have six people and they have more of a job and less of a calling... To still know nothing about them is a problem for me.

Finally, a problem that was not the book's fault, I was doomed just a little from the start because the last two Huff books I read have been the first two in her Vicki Nelson series and they worked out poorly for me.

All in all, I will be finishing this series, but this author is yet another ‘favorite' that is falling in my estimation.

(Final notes: I do not like the relationship between Craig and Torrin. It's a little too...traditional for me. There are pet names and professions of love around near death experiences and I just don't like it. And the literal ending of this book, like the last page, was seriously creepy. I mean, super creepy. Not the best thought to leave me with.)

This is a book that I originally DNF'd at around 50 pages - and I can't figure out why because the first 60 or so pages were really good. Unfortunately, I thought it took a strong and sudden nosedive at the 30% mark. My major complaints here are the suddenness of the romance - pretty much instalove - the lack of attention to the plot - which was about a spy for Napoleon and so much more interesting than the romance - and our single perspective character - Hugh, who was increasingly obsessed with Theo and quite the little hypocrite and very, very unaware of...everything around him.

All in all, a solid 2.5 star read rounded up because 1) it was a quick read and 2) wonderful women in the story.



DNF - PG 53

Why?

Because I put the book down last month and have no interest in picking it back up. Because the main character is an oblivious flake. (Mostly the former though, so I could conceivably head back to it if I ever get interested again.)

Percy Jackson and the Stolen Chariot
I liked this. It was nice getting to see a couple of the more minor gods and it was really great having Clarisse around.

Percy Jackson and the Bronze Dragon
I like the idea behind this story, but not thrilled with the story itself. Part of that was the characters chosen (or, really, just Annabeth and focusing on her and Percy's relationship more than I like). Maybe also because I got interrupted and it took me a lot longer to read this short story than it should have.

After these two stories, you get interviews with the Stoll brothers , Clarisse, Annabeth, Grover and Percy.
They were all pretty entertaining, but forgettable.

Then there's a map of Camp Half-Blood - which I found pretty helpful. I had a fairly clear picture in my mind of the layout and I wasn't completely off base.

Next is a picture of Annabeth's Camp Trunk telling all the prospective camper's what they need to pack. (Not really sure why, but whatever.)

Then there's a whole series of character ‘portraits' that show an image as well as a few brief (very brief) stats on some of the major characters in the series. Which was neat but I would have liked more information on each of the characters and/or more characters.

Percy Jackson and the Sword of Hades
I liked this one quite a bit. Thalia and Nico are two of my favorites and I tend to love underworld stories.

Next we get a crossword puzzle - which is a good idea, but too much work for an ebook or any book you don't want to deface.

Ditto for the following world jumble. (Though I've never been a fan of word searches.)

Then there's a little quick sheet on the Olympians, which was kind of interesting as I don't know much about this pantheon. (Never studied it, just what I've learnt here and there.)

The rest of the book is comprised of, basically, ads. There's two book previews (first in the Kane Chronicles and the Heroes of Olympus) and a bunch of single page ads for other Riordan books.

Ultimately, I mostly enjoyed the three short stories (though the Bronze Dragon was my least favorite) and was at least curious about the deity information - but except for the couple of them that got special artwork, it was the kind of information you could find with a half decent Google search. I don't really see what the rest adds to the series, though.

I actually postponed writing this review for about a day in the hopes that it would be a little less word-vomit-y. It probably won't be, because the fact is, I have a lot of feelings about this book.

First of all, I personally feel that this is pretty excellent demisexual rep. I'm always on the look out not just for romances novels that aren't barely concealed erotica but for ones that allow demisexual and ace characters and their partners to feel fulfilled without having to have sex. I personally feel a lot of books fail on this and I often turn towards fanfiction. However, I was really, really happy with the demi rep here. (And will be reading the first in the series eventually to get what I am sure will be awesome ace rep.)

What else I think this book did right: Consent - one of the pair is high when they confess their mushy feelings and the other does not want to kiss them until they are sober. Mental health - I personally can see some of myself in Quincy and his words, as well as other people's in the story that have depression and/or anxiety, makes me feel very warm and fuzzy. A lovely take that to the people that think because a man is sexually attracted to another male for the first time in his life after being exclusively into women that he must be gay (of course he's not gay, you biphobic creeps). A wonderful slow build friends to lovers romance. Humor that actually works for me.

(I listened to this audio book over the space of five days, most of that time being taken up walking outside and cleaning two houses (almost completely alone for both jobs). I do not recommend reading/listening to this book around others. I laughed a lot during my walk that first day and was feeling extremely warm and mushy during my walk that fourth day.)

Now, all this might have been enough for this book to wrangle out a five star review. Because there were so many things it did well, so many things that I love in my romance novels and so many things that just make me so happy. However, it took about a third of the book, I think, before Josy and Quincy were really sharing much page time. Also, it took a surprisingly long time before Quincy was even introduced. There is a lot at the beginning of the book that it just Josy being...Josy. It's funny, but I much prefer when the people involved in the romance meet early, early in the book. (First ten pages? Yeah, I'm good with that.)

Final note:

This book is solely narrated by Josy. Usually I would complain about that. Here, I think it actually works because it let's us see Quincy loosing it over Josy being so unaware of everything he's doing to that poor boy. Also, it keeps the book from falling into the first meeting sexual attraction thing that happens so often when a romance is narrated by an allosexual character. I also do not think I would have handled Quincy's anxiety well if we would have had to be in his head during several moments (though, specifically, his introduction) in the story.