Lori

This book was a bit of a disappointment for me after how good Tender is the Flesh was.

I liked the idea of the book but found the narrative hard to get into. It felt like the author wanted to write this in a way that would intentionally confuse readers and make this book into a psychological bender. Instead, the narrative is jolting and not enough information on what, where, and with who is provided. It took me far into the book before I realized one character was a cat.

I liked the wording throughout the book as it was expressive and the right amount of flowery. It was enjoyable to read. I just wish the plot felt the same way. The plot was messy and spent too much time in the beginning slowly explaining the setting. When the story starts to move forward the focus is on the relationship and changes between the two women. The very end is when the convent and religion is somewhat explained in an unsatisfying way. It’s a quick blip then the book is over.

The book was not what I was expecting and did not deliver much.

The best part of this book for me was the main character setting up a coffee cart. I enjoyed reading about building the business and getting to know the other business owners. Sadly, I enjoyed this more than the mystery part of the book.

This book wasn’t much of a whodunit, as it felt like you were not provided enough details to guess for yourself. I did like the side characters, like the business partner and the main character's family. They had good personalities and individual skills, and they added to the fullness of the story.

I liked the business part of the book, but I could have been happy with a cozy story about that part alone. I will give the next book a try.

I found this to be a better book then the last as now it was easier to keep track of all the characters. The book keeps the split timeline though the aunt’s old journals. This time focused on another prophesied fate.

Again, we are led on a wild chase following the main character though her thought process in this newest installment. This one was better than the last but not by much. I think i just don’t like the way the main character points the finger at everyone, and they all confess some piece of information.

The book is a decent cozy mystery, and I liked the parts from the aunt’s point of view. I just find the book slightly lacking on the mystery part of the book. Yes, we get drama, but gossip is not the same thing as investigating.

This book was a little hard to get into at the beginning as it felt like you are stepping into the middle of a series. There is no book before this one, so we are left with a lot of history that is only explained in small bits though out the book. The story is not what I was expecting. There is not really a demon hunting society or even many demons in this book. Instead, the story is all over the place and was hard to follow along.

There were so many ideas thrown in that I stopped caring. Page after page you struggle to follow the main character to solve the murder of her boyfriend then there is also the mystery of why this is continuously happening. The main character barely manages to keep on task for either mystery. At the end of the book all the characters are gathered, and the mysteries are unveiled. This does not play out well and felt cheap.

The book does seem to set up a second book and it honestly sounds better thin this book. There are parts of this book I liked, and the overall idea was good, but the execution wasn’t the best.

This is another King book that's too long.

I liked the older age of the main character along with the setting of Derry, Main. There are also good references to the Dark Tower universe. So many times, I wanted the book to end but there are some great parts in this book. This book gets weird, and it can work at times, but I can see people who are not into the DT universe struggling with this book.

Even now I am struggling to remember what happened in the book as it was so long and a bit confusing. If you cut 60% of this book it would be great.

This book was such an inferior instalment in this series. We lose so much of the wit and chemistry of the other books.  

The female lead is different from when she was in the other books in the series. I expected a stronger more female-empowered romance. What we got was a childish and bossy female lead and a terrible father male lead who just wants someone else to deal with his children. Both characters get better as the book goes on but not by enough.  

It’s hard to get past how terrible the male lead is. His complete neglect of the children is not endearing and throughout the book, he only seems to want a wife to handle them. Don’t bother with this book. 

This was good but not as good as the first two books.

There are parts the I liked but the male leads attraction borders on harassment. The female lead is interesting, but their romance is weak. The is not much of a lead up to the relationship instead there is instant attraction and lust though out the book.

I found the side characters where what made the book more enjoyable. The Bridgerton matriarch stands out in this book, and she was great in every interaction. Sadly, the main couple was boring to follow. Besides lust they don’t have much going for them.

I didn’t care for this book as much as the first two.

The female lead was great; it was just the male lead that I didn’t care for. I really didn’t like that the male lead takes so long to see the female lead for who she is and accept her. He was also funnier in the other books, but he loses his personality in this book. The chemistry is not there. I kind of wish that she would have found someone else as she did deserve better.

The writing and other characters are still well done but the romance isn’t there. The female lead is the best part of the book and others may like to read this book just for her. I can get why the male lead is jealous of her.

This was another great book in the series. 

Again, the world-building is very well done, and Lady Whistledown has become a favourite character. The romance is another slow-burn type and the enemy to lovers is very well done. Every scene with the male lead being called out by the female lead was a volley of great dialogue.  

I was worried about the romance with the sister as part of the story, but the bond of sisterhood is endearing in this book. I am happy the sister isn’t hurt in the making of this romance. The Bridgerton family is also fun to read, and the mother is marriage-minded and understanding of all her children.  

This book was better than the first book and worth the read. You don’t have to read the first book, but it does have some history from the first book.

I kept receiving recommendations for this book and I am happy I finally tried it.  

 The book quickly sets up a witty dialog and interesting characters. The Lady Whistledown gossip clippings is such a great addition to the book. The clippings are funny and offer insightful witticisms about many characters. The large number of characters in this book can be a lot but the author does well at creating separate personalities and setting up a larger world beyond the Bridgertons.  

The romance in the book was a slow friendship to romance that felt natural. The two main characters were interesting and had a good amount of chemistry. The only thing that stops this book from being great is a scene where the female lead takes advantage of the drunk male lead. This was a big subtractor to the book and it is not taken as seriously as it should as the book only views it as a breach of trust. The male lead also withholds information on reproduction from the female lead. They do work through these issues, but I wish they were not included at all.  

I did like the book overall and the ending was good. It stands out among the other historical romance I have read. 

This was a fun adventurous book, and I did not like it.  

The overall action is fun, and the book never takes itself too seriously. My issue is the writing. I am not the best with grammar, but this author did not even run a basic spellcheck or edit. This felt like someone’s first book on Wattpad. The story felt rushed. We go from one situation to the next and there isn’t much rest periods. This stops the books from being a cozy fantasy.  

The main character’s point of view was difficult to read as it went on for too long at times. The dialogue was another part of the book that was terrible. Conversations were all over the place and a little cringy at times. The author uses a lot of modern slang that takes you out of the fantasy setting.  

The idea was good but with such bad writing, I could not get into this book. This says a lot when I am an avid Wattpad reader. This could be better with editing. 

This book was a little hard to get into at the beginning as it felt like you are stepping into the middle of a series. There is no book before this one, so we are left with a lot of history that is only explained in small bits though out the book. The story is not what I was expecting. There is not really a demon hunting society or even many demons in this book. Instead, the story is all over the place and was hard to follow along.

There were so many ideas thrown in that I stopped caring. Page after page you struggle to follow the main character to solve the murder of her boyfriend then there is also the mystery of why this is continuously happening. The main character barely manages to keep on task for either mystery. At the end of the book all the characters are gathered, and the mysteries are unveiled. This does not play out well and felt cheap.

The book does seem to set up a second book and it honestly sounds better thin this book. There are parts of this book I liked, and the overall idea was good, but the execution wasn’t the best.

I liked the first book so I thought I would give this one a try.  

This book solidifies the series as a leading part of Japanese healing fiction books that are popular right now. The stories are not a repeat of the last book and the main characters are a great part of the book. The book is well written and you don’t feel the drag of translation. This book could be read as a standalone although its worth it to read the first book.   

The stories are beautifully crafted and it’s impressive the connection to each of the characters in the short stories that the author builds. There are no weak stories in this collection. The book is well thought out and you never feel cheated when it is explained how each item is recreated.  

 I enjoyed this one and am looking forward to the next book to be translated. 

This book was good. I am still sitting with that ending. It was sort of what I was expecting, but also much better than what I thought would happen.  

It is a slow start to the book as it spends a lot of time building and explaining what the world has become. There is also a part with some puppies later in the book that I found hard to read. I can see why the author has included it but damn why do that to puppies. The horror of this book comes from what the world has transitioned to and what the people have allowed.

Though out the book it was interesting to read the changes to this society and the process of identifying humans as animals.  

The second part of the book did feel a little rushed which is sad as the second half raised some of the more interesting topics/issues of this world. It’s brought up that the main character helped develop some of the regulations for this system and it left me wanting more time with this line of thinking. I did sometimes wish the author explored more of the impact of this new system on the people.  

This book is thought-provoking but doesn’t focus on right and wrong. There are no real discussions about any of the issues in the book instead we are exposed to increasing horrors. The thoughts and views are left to us to work out and live with.  

I did still enjoy this book as it was brutal and unrelenting.

I have been looking for a cozy and magical series to read and I think I have found one to settle in. This is the first in a series as it sets up the main character to start building her magical knowledge and sadly introduces a love triangle. I am not the biggest fan of love triangles and I was not looking for romance in this series but we will see what happens.

The rest of the book was great. The cast of characters was interesting and diverse. The main mystery was good as it didn’t over explain the investigation or make huge jumps in conclusions. The magical baking and general magic is not at the forefront of this book and I hope there is more to come in the next books. I did enjoy the main character building up her new business and settling into life.

I am looking forward to the next book. Worth a look at for any one into cozy magical mysteries.

This is not what I thought it would be. When I read the description I thought it would be a great slasher novel. Its not quite that. It was more of a rambling narrator for most of the book before a body count finally starts to build.

At first this book opened well with great atmosphere and felt like it was building up to the start of a good slashing novel. I like the main character at first but then it just went on. You get to hear her internal monolog about her encyclopedic knowledge of slasher flics. This was interesting at first but it never stopped. Not much happened in the story during this. As you trudge on you start to get annoyed with her. Just get on with the slashing.

There is mention of trauma and the story focuses mainly on the main characters terrible home life and its affect on her mental well being. This when on for so long that I thought the book was just going to stay that this was all in her head and she’s actually really messed up and needs help. Which the book sort of did.

Finally we get to the horror/slashing stage at about the last third of the book. As the body count builds up there is more questions of who is doing this and how are they doing it. Its not worth finding out. It was actually a little disappointing but I won’t ruin this for every one else. The major trauma event in the main characters life is finally laid out and she gets a sort of revenge.

This book didn’t really seem to address anything. It just wasn’t enough for me. I kept wanting more from the each part of the book. But this is not to say it’s an absolutely terrible book. The writing style is good and easily sucks you in. There are parts of the book with actual horror elements and the author nails these sections. It felt like it could have been a better book and that the author had the ability to do it.

I did place a hold on the next book of this series. I am not ready to give up on this. I might hate myself later but I hope it will work out.

I am happy that I read this book. After reading the first one in the series I wasn’t sure about continuing, but this book is worth it.

This book is closer to what I thought the first one would be. I enjoyed the story and the kills as I read. I did find that we got introduced to a lot of characters which is fine but sometimes we spent too much time on a few that didn’t matter. Not that I don’t like world building, but some (not all) character views didn’t add anything to the story, world, or deaths. I liked that the body count starts from the beginning of the book and kept up throughout the rest of the book like a true slasher.

If someone wanted to read this book without reading the first, you could get through it with little questions. The author does explain enough of the first story to get you though, but you do miss a little relationship/character building, and I think that it’s something that made this story greater.

A few issues I have with the book are:

The twin sister switches are confusing. Nobody seems to have as many issues as possible with the janitor recording students in the high school or the teacher student relationship that is implied. It is also a little weird that in this book everyone starts quoting slashers except for Jennifer/Jade. The spirit elk did not seem to have much of a purpose in most of the story. Although I did like the spirit elk ending. I did find it weird that the book description mentions Jade getting out of jail when nothing was mentioned in the last book. I would rather they left that out for you to find out when you read.

All this is not to say I didn’t like the book. I enjoyed reading though it and would recommend others to check it out if they can. I can’t wait until I get a hold of the next one.

I am quick to judge a book by its cover and by what I have heard about it in passing. I thought this would be a social commentary discussion and would be closer to an autobiography. I was quite wrong and happy that I was.

The story was great, and the writing was perfect for it. I loved that we had only the view of the white author as it added to the delusions of this person. THIS WOMAN! The main character is just a terrible person, and I enjoyed every moment of her terribleness. This perspective we get is well done and I liked how through this point of view we can see her justify each action to herself. The ending could rival a horror story.

Commentary on social issues brought up through out the book but not fully discussed. Which makes sense considering the point of view this story is in. I liked that the author left the questions like who can write about what in our hands. I don’t always like when points are told and repeated. This book perfectly shows us these issues and lets us make the connections. It made the book refreshing.

This is a good children’s book that is still enjoyable to read as an adult. It is dark (but not too dark) for a kid’s book and that is what makes it good. Kids don’t always need to read books that shoot rainbows at them. The dark material would have captivated me as a kid.

I had watched the film before reading the book, so I have Keith David’s voice in mind whenever the Cat talks. Which I am 100% ok with as I love David’s voice acting. I did constantly compare the book to the film even when I tried not to. If I had read the book first, I wild have like it more, but I enjoy the film too much. The film is a good companion that gets the feeling of being a child and wanting to explore that the book does well.

This book reinforces how good the author is at making characters come to life with internal monologues, dialogue, and pop culture. Go Jade Go! If there’s a team, I want to be on hers.

I wasn’t the biggest fan of the first book but the farther I got in the series the fonder I look back on the first book. This span of history and experience makes the growth of the community and main character more impactful. It's worth reading each book just because of this.

Its hard to say what makes this book so good. It could be the connection you build to the characters or maybe because it fills all cravings for slasher culture that you can have. Each book gets progressively better, and this last book is just that last touch of perfection rounding out the story.

This would be a good book for kids as it’s simple to read and the morals of the story are brought up or thought about by the main character after each event. For an adult, the writing is not that great but for a kid or young adult its themes are shown and then told for reinforcement.

I don’t have much to say, it’s a good and simple story that’s effective at getting across its ideas.

I hated this book.

The story is mostly told as a recapping of events by unreliable narrators. This removed all emotional connections with the main characters. Being told what these characters have done does not provide enough insight to be able to empathize with them. That and the fact that they all are callous people who make intentionally stupid decisions to hurt others.

This was so hard to get though. Love was not a great enough power to make anything these characters did forgivable.

This has been a book recommended to me multiple times over the years, and it was worth the read. Once the action starts, it doesn’t really stop. There are constant little quips, all ridiculous, that add to the humour of the book. I wouldn’t say this is as funny as Good Omens, as this book is more silly than witty. Although there are some magnificent quotes from the book.

There is not much of a structure to the book’s universe, so it is hard to guess what will happen. Not much will make sense, so I would say this is not a book for everyone. If you are willing to go with the flow, this book is a huge adventure.

It’s worth the read if you want a silly sci-fi comedy.