Lori

This was a fun read but the romance side of this was not as good as the cover was. The cover was so cute that I hoped the book would be as cute.

There are certainly good parts with the farm animals and the ghost, but the chemistry is a dampener. There are at time good chemistry but some of what the male lead says is hurtful. I also didn’t like him pushing for the truth all the time. Yes, he was right to ask for the truth about being a scammer but some of her personal issues aren’t right for him to demand answers to.

If you don’t focus too much on the romance, it was a delightful book. The rest of the storyline is fun as the lead comes into her own in honest work. The work she puts into the shop and the friendships she builds is enjoyable. I would recommend this as more of a cozy story then romance.

The story is split between the past and present and the past timeline is really the most drawing part of the story.

The past brings up well formed issues and ideas around traditional healing, woman’s places in Male dominated fields, and independent lifestyles. The present timeline is where I didn’t like changes to the main characters personality and other characters judging her life as unfulfilled with no partner and kids. In both timelines the miscommunication trope is used to be the main problem in an unproblematic relationship.

I liked this book but wish there were some changes to the present timeline.

This book is written by someone who wants to point out all the worst parts of cozy mysteries or that’s what it came out as.

The book is filled with tropes, general characterizations, and annoying red herrings none of which is done well. The main character does all the worst things like jumping to conclusions, putting herself in into dangerous situations, budding into other people’s business, demanding answers, and not addressing serious problems. The threatening phone calls she didn’t report and the fact that she was more concerned that a random person she has never met thought that she could have started the fire then the fire itself really made me dislike the character.

I thought this would be a fun story revolving around a bookshop and besides being a location the shop and books in general have no place in this story. I wanted to like this as the author does well at showing the main character pick up minute details and clues but none of that is used to resolve the story.

After reading the authors other book The Troop I wasn’t sure about reading this one and I ended up choosing this book as part of a reading challenge.

The start was amazing. It was the right amount questions, information, and creepiness. The start isn’t too slow, and the pacing is fairly fast throughout the book. As you learn more about why the main character is there the mystery only deepens and the sense of unease increases. I love a book that can really scare me and most of this book kept me on edge. All the questioning was great, and the mystery evolved past what I thought it would be.

I didn’t rate this book as high as I thought I would while reading because the book reached a point where the sense of unease became dull. It’s hard to believe but when you are kept in a state of constant high emotions you numb yourself to it. There are so many moments when it could have been a horrifying scene with a significant impact which would have been great, instead it’s only a constant hum of malcontent. The same goes for the gore in the book. It starts off small and slowly increases as your progress though the story to a point where you ask yourself why I am reading this. It adds nothing to the better written sections and is more of a test of endurance.

I slogged into the ending after wasting so much emotion being ready for a big scare in this book. It’s better than The Troop but I won’t read this again.

I found this book on Instagram funnily enough. The book was good, but it left me wishing there was more to read and that there was a deeper dive into the origins of some words.

This book focuses on the modern impact and uses of language. This alone is interesting, but I had thought it would also be an analysis on these developments. It really only talks about the uses in modern society and the development once it reaches the forefront.

It was still engaging and informative while being a quick look into modern language.

Saying I hated this seems too strong on an emotion to invest in this book. I chose this book as part of a reading challenge. I didn’t really want to read this after completing another book by this author The Hunger earlier this year and disliking it as well.

Split between two timelines, first on the Titanic and second on the Britannic. You jump back and forth and there is not much of difference in the main character to help you tell them apart. Both stories are boring and add nothing to the original tragedies as there is no development of interesting charters in either timeline. I though the point of this book was to add more depth to the stories of the passengers. What’s there is very superficial both in details and characterizations. There are also too many points of view in the book, and they are not needed nor wanted.

The book is marked as horror but is more of a romance with slight supernatural elements and if you read this as a romance book you will also be disappointed. You are told there is a connection between the characters but there is no chemistry.

The whole book is overly complicated and not that deep.

This book was good but not as good as others in the series. We get this large buildup form the last book, but the beginning of this one is slow and not very rewarding.

There are some parts that were added that added depth to the story but most of it was not needed. One thing that has always annoyed me in this series is the multitude of different POVs. This book had a few new POVs that were unnecessary and took up time and for a book with such great characters already this was just filler. It reminds me of the Harry Potter movie franchise where they split the last book into two films. All this filler adds nothing and annoys readers.

I also didn’t like that none of the main characters died. This might not sound like a bad thing, but it would have felt more real for the main casts to have some losses. They seem to be more indestructible then the protomolecule.

We do receive some moments to reminisce about all the characters for the last battle and if there were not already more books out, I could see this as a final goodbye for readers.

This was a huge pick up from the last book and sucked me right in. This book is the start of a larger all-out war and getting to see each little piece being put into place is magnificent. The reason for not marking this higher is that you gent no satisfaction in seeing the outcome simply because it is not apart of this book. This is only one half of the story with the next book completing the storyline. So, this book is all build up which may not be bad seeing as how I ran to read the next one but if I had to wait for the next book I could see this being frustrated.

The crew of the Roci is spread thin this time and we get the stories of each crew member until they slowly lead back to each other. The pacing is slow at the beginning but as each story progressed the speed increased as well. There is a lot of great details and hints in this book about what is to come. This book added more backstory to most of the characters, and it feels like they set this up so that there can be a deeper connection to the characters in the next one. Since I saw the show first, I wonder if the character out comes will be different in the next book.

This was a very captivating story that’s well written with a lot of details. But I didn’t really like it.

There are many little stories to make up the lifetime of the main charters and they could be good at times, but they took too much away from the main mystery. This book reminded me of Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café in the way there is one character following the life of another told through many little stories with a bit of dark mystery woven though. We have a character that affects the lives of many others in their small-town while being at the center of much gossip. Where the stories diverge is that one is a beloved classic with great stories with a great payoff and the other is a bit pretentious with no pay off.

It was story after non important, completely unrelated, and dull story. There are good parts in the beginning and near the end, but everything in-between makes it not worth it.

This book was great but what stops be from rating it higher is that it was hard to get through.

The individual stories are great and well researched. I loved how the author would explain how people might have come to the conclusions and actions that they did. A good amount of background is provided for the locations and time period, so you never feel lost.

These detail rich and interesting subjects are too much at times rendering the parts boring. I wanted to learn something interesting but instead I felt like I was trying to study a textbook. Still the book brought up a lot of great conversation and I did enjoy it overall.

For an older story this was strong and very creeping. Quickly you are drawn into the characters perspective and the author does well at building a slow creeping fear into the story. It’s not a shocking story but it’s one that makes you think and lingers near afterwards.

The only thing stopping me from rating this higher is that I wish you got more time within the time frame selected. There are skips in time that are a loss to the story. What I mean is that the time frame the author selected was good, but we need more time with the character to truly feel the mental fatigue and paranoia that she feels.

This was worth the read.

The story is not developed enough or maybe that it’s not sharp enough to make it’s point. The story is emotionally disconnected that the climax is more anti-climatic. No matter how I think of this story there is no impact of what happens. It’s hard to explain but it’s the same as how what I am writing now won’t have an impact to those reading it.

This has so far been the least enjoyable book in the series. This could have been a smaller story then part of the main storyline.

There is still skillful writing as shown throughout the series thus far, but the story is what’s lacking. The book truly didn’t need to be the length it was and a lot of it was unbelievable. I know this is a Sci-Fi novel but before this book everything else made sense for the structure of the world they built. In this book it was more like they added any idea that came to their head.

I will not lie that my spouse who has already read the series let me know some of what will happen next, and this book is really a bridging episode that will link to future storylines. Makes so much more sense now.

There are still good parts of this book, but it didn’t feel inline with the rest of the series.

This was a fun read. I had no expectations going into this book but was presently surprised with it.

The idea for this book, gods choosing mortals to fight for them, was well done. I enjoyed most of the trials although there are a few trials I wished we had gotten more details on. They weren’t too repetitive but at times they lacked suspense. Near the end I couldn’t imagine how the author would fit the remaining tasks in, and they ended up doing the one thing I hate most. They had the main charter be unconscious for some of the tasks. Why! It felt lazy and annoying.

It was hard at times to remember that this was an adult book as it did read as more of a young adult story. This is mainly to do with the main charter. Things like she came off as in her late teens then in her twenties or how she could be strong one minute and week the next. I did wish there was a little more detail on her decisions as well as I wasn’t always sure why she was helping others.

The romance on the other hand was surprisingly good. It is an instant attraction romance, but they don’t get together right away. It had good tension and there were some moments that were electric to read. This is a respectful of boundaries romance that is done well.

There will be another book in the series, and I will probably give it a try.

I thought that this book would be surreal and absurd, and it is neither of those things, so that might be on me.

The book felt like it was supposed to be witty and humorous but failed to deliver on both. It was too serous and heavy, often weighting you down with long sections that didn’t add value to the story. With so many points of view it was hard to take that I found most of them drab. This was one book that I seriously considered not finishing. The book is too long and could have used a cutback of some chapters completely.

There are interesting points on media and history near the end of the book that I liked but after slogging through so many unnecessary character views it wasn’t worth it.

I really like the first book (Bless Your heart) and went into this with high expectations, and I am not sure if this book pulled off what the first did.

You still get an interesting story with lovely familial bonds in a southern backdrop. The author gives us details on the family but not the rich lore that was provided in the first book. I also found this story had less horror then the first. Yes, you do get a good amount of gore but the suspense that added to the horror of the first book is not there, and its absence is noticeable. The humor of the first is also tamped down but this is also a bit understandable as they just have a few family and community members that have died.

After all those negative points don’t feel like the book is bad. There are still beautifully written descriptions throughout the book, a dry humor used to devastating effect by the matriarchs of the family, and strong familial and sisterly bonds developed that will hook you until the end. It may be that some people were let down with this book because the author made the first one so well. I loved the first book, and I very much liked this one. I can’t wait to read the next book if there will be one.

This book took me awhile to get through since I had a few books on the go, but it was worth it. The story moves slowly and there are lot of interruptions so some people that want a straight point may not like the book.

The narrator was a great part of the book and really had a defined personality that added a spark in slower sections of the book. I found the narrator’s discussion interludes provocative and thought provoking although it was sometimes hard to tell when the narration switched form the main story to a story from the narrator.

There are so many topics tackled in this book and each one was given proper justice. This is easily what I liked best about the book. Topics are often brought up though out the book as either a discussion or a story. Both types are well-conceived with the story side showing rather than telling you, its ideas. I can’t stress enough how well done this is. There are certainly times where the author really lays down their points on you but thankfully it never feels heavy handed. Instead, we are treated to an almost lively discussion where you are free to make your own opinions.

The only things that stop me from rating this book higher is how slow it can be at times. As much as I like the narrative interludes, they could be a hard stop in the main story lasting pages that didn’t always feel worth the time.

I didn’t know much about the event that is the base this book derived from. I did end up reading a few articles on the event itself and honestly it was more interesting than the book.

It’s slow, very slow. There are quite a few characters to introduce and a few of the backstories are interesting. Very quickly the book becomes about drama and relationships. Longing glances and forbidden desires are interspersed between large blocks of people thinking. They think about why they are there, the difficulties of the road, the dwindling supplies, and gossip of fellow travelers. This I would say is almost 80% of the book.

Despite the large number of characters, different points of view, or even the simply the long length of the novel there is not a lot of character depth. Most things including descriptions of the people are surface level. This person is pretty, or this other person is mean. The backgrounds help but they still feel weightless. The desires of the people, often sexual, are the main driving force of their personalities.

Mostly the book feels like a psychological drama but there are supernatural elements that are forced in. Thoughts and discussions about ‘the hunger’ are constant so much so that you are annoyed at the characters for doing nothing about it. This element was more of an afterthought that added nothing to the story of the original event.

I had not seen the film before reading the book, but I had heard a lot of remarkable things about it. For me it is not really much of a scary story and more of a what if situation.

For a scenario that could be incredibly fear inducing this book was pretty tame. I had hoped (I don’t know if this is an appropriate word for this situation) to see the panic, devastation, confusion, grief and any number of emotions for a world where you suddenly cant look outside due to some unseen (unless you want to die) creatures. I would have been terrified! Not to mention the burden of loss you would feel for the world as we knew it along with the loss of friends and family. There was none of this. The absence of emotion in this book is impressive.

The story is not bad but when you don’t focus on the emotional side of things there is not much going on. You watch as the people in the house try to figure out to continue on, but you don’t care if they do. When you finally get to the more interesting part of the book, more then halfway in, you can easily guess what will happen. The boat ride was the most interesting part of the book and even then, it wasn’t as powerful as it should have been.

The book is ok for me but was not as intense as I thought it should be.

The beginning of this book was great with a well done southern gothic feel and an interesting premise. Then it drops down to a family drama young adult novel.

There is a lot that it is frustrating about this book like the main characters inability to take in any hint that is presented to her. She also switches from a strong character who will not take abuse to a week one that will. Why she stays at the house is the most frustrating part. It doesn’t make much sense, and it felt like the author couldn’t come up with a good excuse. We get multiple sections of the character trying to figure this detail out.

This book focuses on forgiveness, but I wished it ended with her leaving that family trapped in the house forever. There is not a single redeemable trait or action of that family. The mother’s story is the worst part of the book; I don’t want to give anything way but its nonsensical. The book also deals with racism and uses it as part of the plot but not in a satisfactory way. There is a lot left unsaid and sometimes just completely ignored.

This book started of well and had a great premise but by the end all of it felt wasted.

With such a super cute cover I had high hopes for this book. Alas, I have been taken in again. I am not saying this is a terrible book and I can even see why people could like it being that it’s lighthearted and somewhat charming. My problem with it is that there is not enough to make this a complete story in my view.

We are quickly introduced to the characters and situation, but we are not left with any time to see if we really like the characters or to gain any measure of depth of the doomed universe situation. The main focus is only on the charters we see so there is no sense of loss to me for the rest of life in the universe. I was amazed when I reached the end of the story as I honestly thought where’s the rest of it.

This feels like more of a first draft then a finished story. I would have liked to see more as it was an interesting idea.

I hate to say that I didn’t like this as much I wanted to.

I was extremely excited to hear that there was another Holly story, but this book didn’t contain much of her and what little we do get she is different. Most of her quirks are removed and she felt too controlled. This was one of the bigger disappointments in the book.

We do get other side characters back form previous instalments but sadly I didn’t care for Barbra’s storyline. It just didn’t feel necessary. You also get a new character and storyline with Kate a political activist that we don’t get nearly enough time with. This character and their political views could have been more interesting, but we only really get the surface level details.

The whole book focused on different types of women’s issues and had a mainly female focused cast. It’s not that I don’t want authors to talk about these issues or even that King has not written about these issues before. It’s just that this feel flat and Barbra’s story line is a notable example of this. Although there was nothing truly wrong with these parts, there was nothing great about them either. Nothing to stand out or really make a statement. Throughout the book there are women’s issue moments that could have been impactful, but I didn’t really feel anything for them. It’s not like King hasn’t written about these subjects before or hadn’t done well with them. There are many remarkable examples in his works, and my disappointment lies with the fact that that this should have been yet another one to add to that list.

The overall plot is good and there are some great scenes in the book but with the above-mentioned disappointments this wasn’t as good as it could have been. The two different killers and their separate motivations were interesting. I found I liked trig’s storyline a little more as it was fuller and more thought out. Its not a bad read and other may like this book more as a stand alone.

I pick this book up mostly since I was bored and between audiobooks and partly because I like horror novels.

Firstly, I will say this book is not really scarry. I was listening to this book in an almost empty office on a darkened and cool day. The perfect day for a horror story, and yet I wasn’t scared even once throughout the book. This may be because of the writing style as the author wrote the book as if it was half documentary and half story. Some of the more shocking scenes as they were supposed to be felt passive and dulled. It is an interesting story but the book switches in tone throughout. From we are running with the belief that these events are real, and this is what they said happened.

I didn’t care for this book as it felt poorly written and the subject matter didn’t seem worthy of a book.

This book starts off strong with interesting characters and a hearty competitive atmosphere between the two love interests. From there I had a tough time staying interested in this book.

One thing that made it hard to read was the internal thoughts. At times it was large blocks of thoughts and feelings while at other times it was short and jumpy. It was hard to get into a rhythm with this much inconsistency much less stay interested in the main story. The timeline is also a little hard to follow. The timeline jumps around with no connection made to help its readers.

I liked the supporting characters, and the author does well with including without making it feel like the characters were tokens or forced. The author also does well at showing a realistic sexual relationship. The rest of the relationship however was wrought with miscommunication or simply no communication. This does lead to some deception though withholding information until they could hurt each other most making it harder to root for the couple as the book went on.

This wasn’t for me.

This book is both good and not great at the same time. The writing is very well done and there is a lot to like in the story. There were parts like the bathroom scene and simply the mantra of killer “nobody cares and nobody sees” that really stuck with me. But it’s the rest of the story that I struggled with.

There are small scenes that hook you only to go on to a long and often boring sequence. There seemed to be a lot the book was trying to talk about like the effect of grief that when the ending came it was a let down. All this build up to... something, just to be told it wasn’t really about that. The ending was like pulling the rug out from under the reader leaving them miffed and wary of trusting the author.

I could see myself trying another of this authors books as there was good writing in the book but hopefully the other are better.