Lori
The book starts off with a ton of background information and throughout the book you meet person after person. It’s a little much to take especially considering the character has been living in the town for some time and there is history we haven’t experienced. All this bogs down the story and was a little too much for the first book of the series.
I was hoping the cat, Eddie, would be more involved but it’s the bookmobile lady, Minnie, who is the driving force of the story. The cat was honestly so good, he is part normal cat and part murder solver. He doesn’t outright help but drops little hints throughout the book and was the one that helped Minnie find the body.
The mystery wasn’t bad, but the author definitely writes the main character as a normal person who tries to investigate for the first time ever. It’s partly refreshing to have a normal person and not a secret super sleuth. Although this does mean there is a lot of repeating information and the investigation is not efficient. In the end it’s the cops that catch the killer, so it was partly a waste of time. With both the introduction to so many characters and the amateur sleuthing this story is very slow and info heavy. I did admire how the author chooses to have the main character be a normal person who is realistically shaken by seeing a dead body and is learning to investigate.
The setting is a nice small summertime tourist town. Any scene with the book mobile added to the cozy friendly feel of the book. There is a love interest introduce in this book, but it’s not framed as the main focus, which is nice.
The romance was good, the smut steamy, but the story had a weird side plot. The romance is more of an instant connection to them which works well just being a smut story. While the side plot of the pilfered magic and women took away from the story. If this book was just pure spice, then the short book length would be alright, but they added the extra story line then rushed it. I don’t mind a smut novel but if its going to be this short then keep it simple.
I enjoyed the action parts of the book, and thankfully they are plenty, but the magic and world details are non-existent. To start with a positive the action scenes are well written and carry a lot of the story with it. Each action part drove the story forward and were compelling. The flip side of this is that the magic system and world of bookshops that is never explained.
The author drops readers right into the thick of things and as nice as it is to start off fast paced the author never stops to answer any questions you have. The bookshops have some history about changing events but not how it came about or how it co-exists in the world. There is constant talk of how the main character was trained in magic and how to handle the bookshop, but no actual examples were provided. The first magic we really get to know is about “Reading” and its not a good explanation on how that works. Even the system of magical books leaves so many questions. Why can they sell magical books to randoms, but reading is specialized talent.
The romance is ok and the side characters were interesting, but the book would have been enjoyable with more details to delve into.
I read this a few years back, loved it, and since I didn’t finish writing a review last time here it is. This is one of the few books that can scare me while reading and a second read through was no different. The characters are not too large of a cast to remember and even better is that they feel like fully flushed out characters. The horror elements focus on dread, creeping evil, and paranoia rather than gore or violence. Its really impressive to be as scary as it is without directly showing readers these things.
I will note that the book is slow paced and for some that will be hard to get past. For me though, it felt like the perfect creeping horror building up to the end. The main evil in the book is slowly revealed and although the author gives more background information near the end, the “final boss” is not delt with in this book. I only wish we got another book in this storyline before the author passed. This book is a five star for me as I just enjoy it.
This was a great second book. You definitely don’t have to read the first one to get into this one. There is some overlap with the previous protagonists but its fits in neatly with this book. There is an instant attraction between them and while I don’t normally like that it wasn’t too bad. The romance was pretty good and for most of the book it was a matter of there’s a will but not a way. It was sort of nice to have them know that they care and want each other but being held back by society and propriety. It was a real reason not to be together (in context of the book) that is truly overcome by love.
What stops me from rating this higher is the missing time spent on magic and the stutter. The magic portion was noticeably light and I wanted more. It was nice to learn more about the fae magic and the other kingdoms history as the first book was light on details. Despite this there is little usage of the magic. The stutter portion was great but there felt like not nearly enough time shown or implied for his speech to be improves so significantly. I loved their late-night lessons and wanted more of them.
I am happy I finally picked this book up. I enjoyed the film and the authors other novel Project Hail Mary and now I can say the same for this book. Also, the book was better, but the movie does add more gravitas to the situations. The book despite the circumstances the character placed in is never that serous and the journal entries are not a survivor’s harsh reality. The whole book maintains a light joking feel to it poking fun in the direst of situations. If that isn’t your thing than this book will be hard for you. I found that the humor and mostly upbeat feel kept a good line of not going too ridiculous while being aware of how serious the situation was. The lighthearted tone carries the story and differentiates it from other space survival stories.
The technical stuff in the book was a lot at times, but I think the author does an admiral job as making it easy for anyone to understand. Plus, it was nice to have a survival character be capable. The side characters are where the book struggles as there is not much depth to them. They can have some funny scenes, but you don’t get a true feel for them. Still, the book is a five start for me as I enjoyed reading it and know I will reread it sometime.
The description for this book made it sound dark but really despite the violence and gore the book is very emotional and supportive. Along with the plot of why this one family is out to get her you have the story of the monster’s new, only, and budding relationship. The book was so much sweeter then expected. The monster takes time to help build up her partner. If you are looking for something dark this will be a let down, but if you are looking for a sapphic monster romance with gore, although with no spice, then this is the book for you. I was truly not expecting this and thankfully I was in the right mood and the book was the right vibe to enjoy it.
My biggest issue with this book is that the monster is very quickly adept as managing human emotions and social cues. She its s a creature with little to no human contact who ate her siblings, yet she recognizes and despises her partners family for abusing her. Despite needing to eat humans it’s always a bad guy. She’s a monster and it would have been nice to see her more monstrous.
The title pulled me in, the description made me borrow the book, and the story makes me want to recommend it to others. The book throws a lot of information and sets up on you right at the beginning and while it was quite a bit, it wasn’t too much. As nice as it is to get the story underway the romance part of the books is rushed. This kind of suck if you want a more romantic plot but its ok if you are more interested in the characters journey. Through out the book the romance is more of a subplot, and I preferred that as it didn’t take away from the rest of the story.
I really enjoyed the plot it is part magic and part emotional journey. Its sort of cozy with a touch of emotional healing thrown in. If you didn’t come for this, I can see readers not enjoying the book. For me though, I loved it. It hit a niche spot. The only part of the book that pulled me out of it just a little was the “book’ twist which I don’t want to give away too much on. I was not really expecting it, but it had some good emotional pieces the added to the story.
Despite the negatives I mentioned I really enjoyed the book.
Despite there being so much wedding talk in the last book there was somehow more to dole out. This book was mainly about the wedding which was disappointing as the mystery in this one was great. I am finding this series has slowly changed that we get a lot less of the side characters then we use to and for me they really added to the coziness of the story. Also, there was not enough Eddie.
I would suggest just skipping this book as nothing happens of much importance to the series. The wedding location reveal party (is this even a thing?) takes up roughly the same amount of time as the mystery. Like the last few books Minnie involve herself due to some minuscule reasoning then getting herself in a dangerous situation. Minnie can’t be bothered with the details of her own wedding but is some how bothered that the boarding house got repainted. An issue that is brought up randomly throughout the book. This book felt like a waste of time.
The relationship between Minnie and the police only gets worse throughout each book. In this instalment Minnie lies to the police about the location of a suspect and actively helps him hide because she has a gut feeling that he’s innocent. Please note that this man is a person she barely knows who has been to the bookmobile a handful of times. Even the community subplot of Minnie butting into other people’s relationships is grating.
There are good parts of the book, and the cozy community is partly there but this book annoyed me more then entertained me.
So little actually happens it this book and the switching writing style is jarring. The author switches form discussing the events to a more story narrative where he makes up what he things they said at the time. I hated this so much as there was no good marker to when he would switch. Despite all the authors made up storybook parts it didn’t add any insight to the mystery of what really happened.
Books can change peoples lives and that is what I came to read, but this book didn’t actually focus on that. The list of books chosen seemed to be popular recognizable books but not ones that would help the people in this story. I mostly felt that each character’s revelations didn’t always fit the book they were reading or that they got more then was there. The author could have used other books that fit better and that even us readers could have gone through. Popular well recognized books aren’t always as good as they are promoted to be.
When it came to the characters, I really enjoyed Mukesh and his storyline. It was the most thought-out parts of the book and very compelling. Most other characters were rushed on and off the stage. One character commits suicide and it came out of nowhere for me. It’s thrown into the book just for the ending. This character is barely apart of the book, and you don’t get a good feel of their person before this happens.
There is some great writing in this book and that’s why it’s a two start for me.
This book isn’t nearly as positive and upbeat as I thought it would be. It’s started off well although it’s sad to see fraud committed against an elder. This was the best part of the book as you get to hear about two elder women in the community as cook and bake for grieving families. The author quickly brings readers into the fold of the community and all the characters for this book. The whole story focuses on family dynamics and trauma.
I found that the book was the opposite at every turn to what I thought it would be. Issues like religious beliefs and views are plentiful but were used mainly to be mean towards others then to help connect them. Rather than having this incident bring them together they use this forced proximity to be snarky and rude to each other.
The romance in this book was ok at first but quickly devolves into a PTSD storyline. Talking about PTSD is not a bad thing but its feels like it came out of nowhere and is escalated out of sight of the readers. We go from some PTSD related issues to full alcoholism and breakdown. We don’t see this transition just the jump to the issue and it’s hard to understand why the female love interest puts up with it so soon into a relationship. She backs down immediately and makes excuses for him while acting like an abused spouse. It’s a kind of a disgusting storyline that is handled poorly.
I found this story was less cozy than the others in the series and more hectic. Minnie is all over the place stretching herself thin but not doing much in the investigation. Most of what she does is driven by other people. There was just too much hesitation and stalling in the charters actions for me to enjoy this book. Minnie can’t seem to make a decision about the investigation or her home.
The story is interesting, but the book is long and full of unimportant details. The author goes overboard on extraneous details throughout the book. I truly feel like the book could have been halved, possibly even quartered, and still relayed the same amount information. There is a lot of repeating details and immaterial world events that don’t impact the story enough that they should have been added.
The plot is not bad as Its short and bittersweet. The writing on the other hand is the true horror story. The sentences are poorly written and hard to take in despite being simplistic. The author adds too many describing words that the who sentence becomes a jumble. Sadly, where his descriptions lack is in the story. There are many parts where I am left wondering why with no insight to the characters or their reasoning. This feels like an incomplete first draft.
Contains spoilers
Another bad book in the series. The relationship with Rafe is a little annoying as they are together, but we don’t get much of that new dating experience. The mystery was ok, but the end was an incredibly stupid set up. Seriously she gets run off the road by the murder suspects vehicle then goes to see if they are ok? Then she some how survives in a winter storm with no shoes or coat? How many times doe this woman have to be stranded with the bookmobile before she gets a satellite phone. Wouldn’t the library be concerned for their workers at this point? I am surprised that the police don’t just ban Minnie for wasting their time as this point. She stops in after every piece of gossip and “clue” she finds.
Why I haven’t given up on this series is that I enjoy the cozy side of the books. The towns folk are interesting, and the books are relatively peaceful for being apart of a murder mystery series.
I really didn’t like the niece subplot to this book as Minnie was constantly dismissing her. When everyone in town tells you what a great person, she is or how hard of a worker she, then why are you so surprised? This book is a little darker than others before with Minnie having to talk to her niece about the trauma of seeing a dead body. A large amount of the book is taken up with Minnie’s need to connect with her niece with the authors need to create superficial reason why they don’t get along.
The mystery is very slow and its yet another ending where Minnie puts herself in danger. Thankfully, its Eddie to the rescue. I seriously stay for the cat.
Contains spoilers
This series seems to have one decent book then one flat one and sadly, this one’s on the down swing. The mystery was one of the weaker ones in the series as it is very obvious who it is and why. Still the author has Minnie act oblivious to the very unsubtle hints. The romance was also a huge detractor.
Why would you give great chemistry to Minnie and Ash then once they date its gone? The author throws in Rafe at the last minute, and she has somehow loved him all along? The author goes out of their way to constantly say that Minnie sees Rafe as nothing more then a friend and dating him would be like dating a brother. Apparently not anymore.
Again, this series features more cozy over mystery and I’m starting to really enjoy it. This is a slower novel, but I didn’t mind it too much. There is a better excuse in this book for the police, as they are understaffed and over worked, for them not solving these murders. I’m not going to lie, Minnie does contribute to wasting their time with frequent in person meetings. Why not just email in every now and then?
Her investigative skills were better in this book but for some reason she was constantly spacing out. It felt like a waste of time by the author. I enjoyed the mystery on this one and the running around town was for the most part more purposeful.
The biggest draw for this series at this point was the towns folk. I like the small-town family and the way the author builds the side characters.
I liked the story but not the romance or main characters. The main story of the missing children and the Fae is interesting and if the plot was entirely about that I would have been happier. The world building is great and there is a lot to get into but once the missing children plot gets started. Sadly, the main characters personalities and romance get in the way of this book.
They are selfish and often use those around them. The way the female lead tortures the changeling child is pretty bad. I wish that the author chose to handle this obstacle in another way. The author goes beyond having this character not pick up social cues to having her genuinely not care about anyone. This character is quite an asshole. She makes constant stupid decisions that don’t line up with how smart she is supposed to be. The last part of the book involved an incredibly elaborate escape plan just for her to ruin it at the last minute. The male lead is not much better using Fae magic to charm people into doing his bidding.
The romance is thrown into the book and feels unnatural as there is no build up or organic chemistry between these characters. He is incredibly selfish and flirts with everyone, but we are expected to believe he’s been in love with her this whole time.
The majority of the book is a miscommunication trope done poorly. The female lead does some incredibly stupid things that it’s had to believe she’s in the field that she’s in. The author wrote her too child like and constantly describes her as small. While the male lead is just this huge man, based on numerous descriptions, that has no personality. He’s so bland even his friends barely can describe him. His interests are working out and eating for fuel. There is a huge lack of chemistry between them, but we are told they fit together because he’s huge and she’s small. The book is almost two thirds done when the relationship finally starts to build. At this point sadly I’m no longer interested.
The author didn’t do a great job with her friends as they are only there to push the story forward and don’t show up unless needed. Even her asexuality is thrown in at the worst time and mention once. I don’t even want to start on the sex seen, just know he’s huge and she’s small. Its mentioned over and over that the male lead is an asshole and he really wasn’t the one actual instance brought up is him just doing his job. I don’t know why the author placed such an importance on mentioning that every other character thinks he’s an asshole.
This book felt like a step back. Some of the growth in investigating was thrown out and the main character ran around town putting herself into dangerous situations. At least they drop the doctor as a partner in this book. This book was filled with drama, and it was a off putting to the feel of these books.
Still, I liked the towns people and Eddie of course. The setting gives off a calm cozy familiarness to it at this point in the series. Eddie seems to have more involvement which is enjoyable, but I don’t care for the author bringing up the debate of if it’s weird to talk to you pet like the can understand you constantly through out these books. I 100% believe those fuzzy asses know what you say to them.