Lori

I loved both protagonists in this story, and the match up is spectacular. It’s filled with longing and tension in each of their interactions. Why it isn’t rated higher is that the book was long and had quite a bit of filler. There are plenty of times throughout the book where I wanted it to get back to the main story. There are lots of heavy topics discussed and the author tries to take time to address them though it takes away from the romance. The author does set up a few future pairings in this book, but it could have waited and I wanted more of the paring in this novel. If the book was cut down with more focus on the main couple’s romance, I would have been happier.

The male lead is mixed raced, being Indian and British, and his story alone held my interest. His relationship with his sister was a good addition and really added to his character. He was such a great person on his own and fantastic as a love interest. Him being not only from a different class than her but also of a different race is what most of the turmoil in the story revolves around. I don’t mind authors bringing these subjects into these stories and this author does a pretty decent job it’s only that the book became less romance focused than I had wanted.

At first, I like the book, but I have so many issues with the female lead holding onto a secret promise of marriage for many years and about 3/4s of the book. A promise from a man who ignored the abuse she and her sisters received from their care taker, raped her, got her pregnant, left the country, did nothing when the caretaker beat her to kill the unborn child, and then stopped responding to her letters when she mentioned her family’s financial trouble. It’s hard to get past this.

The book is a great balance of dark and light in a healing fiction book. I cried when the mystery of the cat hospital is revealed as it was darker than I thought it would be. Still, I loved the general goofiness of the stories. Truly, people being prescribed cats was funnier than I thought it would be. Suddenly receiving a cat who ‘technically” worked in unexpected ways. Each of the stories worked in ways that I didn’t see coming and ended up being unique to all the other healing fiction I have read these past few years.

This book was a gift from my spouse who honestly gets me. I would highly recommend trying this one as it doesn’t shy away from hard moments but still breaths new life into each of the stories.

Miscommunication is the worst trope out there and this book heavily relies on it. The wife lies for three years about not getting off and after a great night the husband finally realizes this. He is overly upset so she then decides to tell him it’s been like that since after their first night. Him being upset he then stays in the guest room where at this point, they don’t talk to each other. After some cajoling by her sister, she asks him to leave, he does, and now his leaving is her last straw for the marriage. This… is the beginning of our story.

It’s a mess of a start but I did like the book club and the support the men showed each other. It can be a preachy on feminism at times with some points being forced into the conversation while other points seemed more natural to the conversation. I really liked the idea of men reading romance novels and taking some hints. It really is a great idea it’s just he execution of the story.

There is a lot of feminism throughout the book, but the two main females (wife and sister) are always going at each other. I don’t get why the only female relationship in the book is so toxic. The sister is the absolute worst. She constantly undermines her sister’s relationship and is just mean for no reason. She spends most of the book angry.

When the story starts to turn as he tries to change and be better for her, I reached a point where even I thought why try to fix a relationship she doesn’t want to work on anymore. She shuts him down constantly. Anything he does is wrong and it’s all blamed on her past with her father. Some of her anger is understandable but some of it she just expects him to mind read that there is an issue. The story would have been better if the author had them both have a moment of honesty with each other.

This book sounded like something that would be up my alley, but I honestly couldn’t wait for it to be over. I listened to the audiobook which has the author as the narrator and part of what I didn’t like was the narration. The slow disjointed sentences along with her heavy breathing managed to give me a headache. This is one of the few times where I didn’t like the author narrating.

Trying to follow the story is brutal. The author switches between describing what is happening to stream of consciousness and then to dream sequences while jumping around in time. There is no clear indication of these switches, and they often occur in the middle of thoughts or conversations. I like the ideas behind the story as there is so much an author could do with this but the writing in this novel obscures rather then brings to light the story.

I found that it was hard to invest myself in this book. It’s like trying to read the story while you move the book around. The story telling is jarring and, in the end, I read the spark notes. Even with this extra help I thought that the story wasn’t that great any way. The author doesn’t deliver on any part of the book’s description. It’s not a great ghost story or a heartbreaking look at mother daughter bonds, nor is it a haunting experience of a former slave. It has little pieces yes, but its whole is a disjointed mess.

I was so disappointed with this book as I got the recommended from a BC local goods store who told me that the book was multiple scary vampire stories. The book is cut up into multiple stories mainly focusing on two vampires and two kids from the children’s pre-teens to their early adulthood. In truth it could have been done as one novel and not listed as a collection. There is no terror to the book despite it being about vampires.

The continuous story is all over the place. One character basically becomes Blade and even references Blade directly. This was the most cringy part. He speaks in short third person sentences, calling himself Hunter. This character even says that he must lock the part of himself that feels away. The author continues from there to throw idea after idea into the story. There were parts that I liked and wished the author had focused on, but we only get a taste before he moves on.

I really liked the writing in this book as it just pulls you in. The horror elements of the book were genuinely scary at time. The characters were easy to pick up and felt like real separate people. I loved the show of class separation, personal struggle, and survival. I have already recommended this book to a few people.

The only things I have against the book and what I told to those I recommended to are: there are huge amounts of details about the ships and can be too much at times when I want the story to continue. The author did his research and wanted to show off. As well it is a long book and some of the perspective jumping in time can take away from the tension that builds in the later parts of the story.

Also, I would recommend watching the show as it stays somewhat close to the book and the casting is pretty good.

The story is ok, but I didn’t like some of the “quirky” things in it. Like why is the towns mayor a dog. Like not even an honorary mayor but the mayor. Things like calling coffee zoom zoom juice or always being late are not fun personality traits.

The plot point of the main character never coming home since she was a teen was weak. Really the whole town bullied her for seeing ghosts and solving a murder, but they are ok with a dog for a mayor. If I was her sister, I would hate her too. Flights to New York are not cheap and to never try for your family, awful. Even worse for me is once she’s there, she tries to act like nothing happened and is upset when her family doesn’t include her in things she’s never shown interest in. When her family tries to bring up herself imposed exile she deflects.

The part about the ex-boyfriend stealing her stories was a great addition that was executed badly. Why would she keep quiet for him for so long. Even at the end of the book, she instead punches him out of nowhere and some how he doesn’t press charges.

This is one of the few times where for me the film was better. Maybe I shouldn’t have seen the film first as I really liked it and it’s what made me want to try the book.

The difference between book and film are huge. The film I found funnier and more action oriented while the book is much lighter in tone and its version of Mickey is more smart-mouthed and impudent. Both can be good, but I gravitate more towards the film version’s humor. The film adjusts the some of the social commentary in ways that add more to the story. The book on the other hand you are limited to Mickey7’s point of view and he is very easygoing and accepting. There is no real tension built in the book as he brushes everything off.

It’s the nonchalant tone of the story that makes me like the film better.

I didn’t think I would like this book and now find myself pleasantly surprised. It was recommended to me by a coworker who said once you get more into the book it gets better and becomes something different and she was right.

It’s a slightly different take on finding value in your life again due to a chance meeting with a stranger. I liked most of the interactions the main character had with others. They felt natural and I could see why the main character could start to change her mind. Although making an unknown woman who wants to kill herself just before your wedding a maid of honor last minute doesn’t add up.

What stops me from rating the story higher is that there is not enough discussion about the suicide attempt. Because people don’t just bounce back after making an attempt on their life. Her change in feelings over a week isn’t bad but she left that place better than she should have. I know it sounds negative, but it would have been ok to have the character still struggling but hopeful at the end. The only other thing that bothers me is her ex showing up at the end and somehow, she gets closure from it.

I saw the film once years ago, but I had always wanted to read the novel. The film sparked an interest in the book as I always wondered if there was more to the story. Sadly, there isn’t anything more and all the book did was make me hate it.

First and foremost, for me is the slang used in the novel. The author uses slang he made up but its so overwhelming is bogs down the story. I have read many books that use different language like older books using now unused terms, different racial and cultural books that you need to pick up to understand them, and even fantasy books that have a made-up language. But this… It’s too much. This isn’t just a deliberate choice by the author it’s a brutal funnel that clogs the story. Slang is fine in books, but the author has overdone it here. It’s like he hasn’t listened to a teenager in some time and is looking back on teenage slang usage being heavier than it was.

Secondly, the ending. We get all this violence and its not petty stealing or small time bullying but rape, murder, robbery, and brutal beatings. Now at the end of the book, he has grown from 15 to 18 and he’s simply outgrown his violent nature.

The book is less of a question about the brutality of youth, government sanctioned rehabilitation, and forced goodness then a book that revels in violence with no clear message.

I liked this book but so much time is spent on world building. I liked the main characters of this story but both their development and their romance as a little weak with so much time taken from them. All the side stories can be too much at times, same with the large number of characters. Despite this, I will read the next book when it comes out as I am hoping that now the set up has been laid out, we will get more time on the characters.

Don’t shy away from this book as it is worth the read. The book sets up a lot of characters and some of them really stand out. The whole cast adds to the mysteries of the hotel, and I look forward to finding out more. If you go into this knowing the romance is a bit light and there is stuff to set up, it will be a good book.

I picked this book up from a second-hand shop purely on name alone and it was worth it. It’s a quick fun read. Yes, it’s dated, which is understandable for how old the book (1978). The book was based on a Disney film and it’s easy to see as it has the right amount of silly and action that they were once known for. The book makes me feel nostalgia for a period and film that are from before my time.

This may not be a literary masterpiece, but I still enjoyed it. Well worth the time.

I liked this story, but it didn’t have that Dungeon Crawler Carl energy that I thought would be there. I know its not fair of me to expect that the author always writes in the same manner, but this story really lends itself to the manic energy of DDC. Instead, the author chose a slower pace that focuses more on society values versus the small-town farmers. Again, I still liked the story as its slightly weird and has a good storyline.

My only real dislike about this book is that the book is not as high energy as I wished it was, the story has a lot of set up, the final fight was quick, and the weird characters and situations were not as fun as the author is know for in DDC. Maybe if I had read this book first, I would have liked it more.

I loved this book as it has a little bit of everything come together to make a great story. The book is a western story that blends folk magic, horror, and hard luck lives into a devastating plot. The atmosphere has a thick western folk vibe while the author matches it with strong characters and heartfelt storylines. Still there is room for parts of the book to delve into adventure, horror, and human connection.

It is so hard to talk about the book without giving away parts of the story as there are so many scenes that I would love to share to show how good the book is. Just know that I would highly recommend trying this book.

This book was simply not for me. It’s not that it’s a bad book as I liked the themes and storyline, but I just wasn’t interested. The atmosphere and descriptions were well done, the lectures and academic discussions were balanced, but still I couldn’t care what happened. I listened to the story and despite following along in the moment five minutes later it was out of mind. I had to go back often to remember what was happening. It might just be the characters that I could not get my interest invested in. Thinking back now, I liked the writing and the story but none of the characters stand out to me.

This is a book I could easily recommend and yet I would never pick it up again.

This is one of the few books where people of opposing races learn about the other race and change their prejudices in a believable way. What this is not, is a cozy cottage core book. It’s hard to say why this isn’t cozy but it is missing that heart that other cozy books have. The cottage core part, despite them living in a cottage, isn’t really present either.

The whole book is missing that spark that makes a story come to life. The halfling talks about missing home but doesn’t give any descriptors that could make you feel nostalgia. Instead, she only talks about the family and friends she misses, and it is the same for the goblin. We get so little views of goblin life and what home is for this character. The cottage is where the lack of soul of the characters and the story is most plainly seen. There are not enough memories shared about the place and the people who lived there. Nor are there enough descriptors to make the cottage seem cozy.

The lack of spark for me is what the book needs. There are other things like pacing and the romance that could have been better, but I still enjoyed the story.

I really liked And Then There Were None, so I have been wanting to try another Christie novel. I have previously seen a film based on this book which I enjoyed but the actual book I did not. It was overly complicated and keeping track of all the details became a burden. There seemed to be some sort of revelation in every scene. I found the film did better at presenting clues and the characters better then the book.

There is no way to figure out this mystery as some of the conclusions made by the investigator were racist, sexist, and at times both. Most of the book was about conducting interviews and they were such a slog to get through. I kept finding reasons to walk away from the book. there are a lot of characters in this book but none standout. Even the investigator, who I understand is part of a series, was so unlikeable. Smug is how I think of him at best. It was like he delighted in coming to conclusions and lording intellect over others.

Still, It’s not a bad book just not for me. Others may like it better and really did like the film version.

After not liking the first book I shouldn’t have even tried this one. I really wanted to find out what happens with the time loop, but the ending wasn’t even worth it to me. Everything I disliked about the first book continues in this one. The main character is still as over sexual as before and despite being in a relationship doesn’t really change. The swearing is on what felt like every line and the foot notes are just annoying in e-book format. The only change the book really experiences are the slowed down and slightly disjointed pace.

Most of the book isn’t focused on the mystery or even the family which is why we are here. Most of the story we are inundated with business meetings and collaborations. I get that the MC is a strong female business owner and you want to support others but that alone isn’t closure for a cozy mystery series.

I wouldn’t recommend the series as the writing only seemed to get worse in subsequent books culminating in this book where there is so little main story or mystery and absolutely no character growth from anyone since the first book. The only good thing at the end of all this is that I like the culture and food shown throughout the book.

The promise of “it get’s better as it goes on” has not panned out. I love the setting and the culture, I like most of the characters and the family ties, what I don’t like is the lack of character development, finger pointing, gossip, and dumb luck in all these books.

The main character is continuously called out by friends and family, but the author doesn’t really make the character grow. Instead, it just makes the often selfishness of the MC more blatant. The worst part is that her friend went through an incredible traumatic experience and she has no empathy for her.

I really want to like this series, but it is getting harder and harder to. The character seems to become more childish while other characters are pointing out her self-centeredness. The molds have been set and there is no character growth anymore.

The descriptions of the food along with the processes of making drinks and serving others is a large part of the book. Getting through this book in one sitting thanks to the audio book makes it more transparent how much filler this book has.