Jenn
This was a solid story. It kept me engaged throughout and had a lot of elements that I appreciated. It did a pretty good job of keeping me guessing who the “bad guys” were and expecting betrayal at every turn. For me, the low points of the narrative didn't feel so devastating and the high points of the book didn't feel very celebratory - I think I would have rated it higher if I had been more emotionally engaged with the book.
The author's note was actually one of the best parts for me. She explains her concept of how the world got to where it was and it's a great idea. You see elements of this in the story and can guess a bit of it, but I wish more of it had been explicitly fleshed out as you read along.
This was a fantastic read! I really connected with all of the characters. The plot was believable and the author has an amazing way of making you feel what the characters are feeling every step of the way.
At some points, I was so upset at how the characters behaved or over the decisions they made, but they were always authentic to the character's nature and made sense from their perspective.
I read this book in one long binge session, and a quick final sprint on the following night. It was sweet and heartbreaking; romantic and fun.
It looks like it took me a long time to finish this book, but in reality, I stopped reading it once the narration went beyond where I was in reading the series - not wanting to spoil myself.
This book is arranged in a dual-perspective and switches between America and Shepley. When it switches perspectives, it can also shift time periods, jumping months and years from the previous chapter. For this reason, it's best if you read it after you've read the Beautiful Disaster series and the Maddox Brothers series.
Random fact: This is the 1100th book that I've marked as Read on Goodreads.
This is a very compelling story about two boys who find out they are going to die that day. What would you do, if you knew that you had only one day left (or less) to live? Who would you see? What would you do?
I felt that this story felt very real. The choices they made and the emotions they felt sounded authentic. The characters were well-written and very likable.
This book made me cry at least twice. Great for the story (not so great when you are sick - I had to read a fluffy novel right after this).
Merged review:
This is a very compelling story about two boys who find out they are going to die that day. What would you do, if you knew that you had only one day left (or less) to live? Who would you see? What would you do?
I felt that this story felt very real. The choices they made and the emotions they felt sounded authentic. The characters were well-written and very likable.
This book made me cry at least twice. Great for the story (not so great when you are sick - I had to read a fluffy novel right after this).
This was another fantastic, layered fairy tale by Seanan McGuire! I really identified with Lundy as the rule-following, bookish, loner in grade school whose classmates ignored her or disliked her. I understood every choice and decision she made and admired her sense of loyalty and fair-play, even when I could see her choices leading her to personal disaster.
First book recommended to me in 2019!
I liked this story a lot. It wasn't a thriller and it didn't have a heart-racing pace. There's an analogy in the story about truth being like buried water and no matter what you do, it will always find a way to the surface. The plot of this book is like that as well. There's nothing sudden, but page after page, more and more is revealed until you have all the pieces.
It was slow, but satisfying. I loved the characters; they each had a unique voice and motivations. This was more a tale of resiliency and peace in the day-to-day and coming to terms with who you are in your current situation, which I found to be refreshing.
My actual star rating is more like 3.5 stars. I enjoyed reading this book and it was interesting throughout. There were quite a few small plot twists and surprises, especially in the last 1/4 of the book.
Somethings that kept it shy of 4 stars for me was the main character, Emma, the ? romance?, and some relationships and characters that felt a little incomplete at the end of the story. Emma hovered in this grey realm where you didn't know if she was truthful or not, reliable or not, or disturbed or not. Even at the end of the book, you didn't have a solid opinion of where she landed, just a fuzzy maybe.
Another maybe/maybe not was a possible romance. Maybe they did/do have feelings? At the end of the book, I still don't know if I would ship these characters. There was too much uncertainty surrounding everyone to provide the necessary intensity to make me root for that relationship.
What I loved was the idea of breadcrumbs. In the story, there is a part early on where Vivian teaches Emma to always leave a trail, so you can find your way. Throughout the story there are breadcrumbs of what truly happened, so that at the end, you can appreciate them, although they are small and seemingly obscure enough that you will be still be surprised by all the plot twists right to the end (at least for me, who hasn't read a lot of thrillers).
I would give this book 3.5 stars. It was somewhere between a book that I liked and a book that I really liked.
I really do like a romance that had some sassy banter between the characters, and this had that. However, there were times that I felt that Ren came on too strongly and was a little too obsessed with bedding Ivy. He's supposed to be a warrior/soldier type and I would assume that he would have more discipline than he displays verbally. The other part that knocked it down in enjoyment for me, just a little, was that the actress who performed the audiobook really didn't have a good pitch for the male voice. It just made some of the whack-ass things that Ren was saying sound that much more ridiculous.
I did like the world that was built and can see a lot of potential in the side characters, although they weren't fleshed out as much as I would like. However, we have a couple more books in this series, so there may be more to come.
I may have to buy an ebook or physical copy, just so I can write down some of these crazy lines. Then use them to judge any future boyfriends by. As a negative example of how not to win a girl's heart.
This was a solid Xanth novel. The main characters were not my favorites, but they had good redemptive arcs and a decent adventure. They were a little flatter and more boring than a typical set of Xanth characters, but perhaps that it okay or even intentional, as they are Mundane characters.
The addition of the kids - DeMonica, Demon Ted, Melody, Harmony, and Rhythm - were cute to see.
This is a very well-reasoned book. Dr. Kreeft is able to make his points in a very accessible fashion, weaving together Scripture, anecdotes, humor, logic, and reader participation into a convincing and entertaining catechism. His main point is that you can be angered, scared, terrified, or overjoyed by Jesus, but you can't truly be bored by Him.
Wow! This was such a compelling read! I read it in two sittings, 25% on 12/8 and the rest this morning on 12/30/18. Likeable characters? Yes. Detestable characters? Yes. So much twistedness, that the book is finished and my eyes are still bugged out, asking myself, “What just happened?” At different parts of the book, I felt that any character could be the ultimate villain of the story. As a reader, it's uncomfortable to not know who to trust and who to root for.
Colleen Hoover's books typically mess with my heart and my emotions. This time, she was able to mess with my mind.
This was part of a series called “History in an Hour” and understandably is a very quick, abridged look at the life of Queen Elizabeth II. For all of its brevity, I think it was well done and interesting.
I would be interested in reading their other offerings. I think they would provide a good jumping off point for historical studies.
I appreciated that both of the main characters had self-esteem issues that they had to work through in order to have a healthy relationship. I liked that some of the relationships that they explored remained broken, and they learned how to deal with that. That is very true to life; not everything works out.
I really enjoyed this story, possibly more than Rule/Shaw. I felt that the emotional difficulties that they had to work through in order to have a relationship read true to life. I think there was the right amount of heat and angst, of promise and roadblocks, to make keep the story engaging. I read it in one sitting in the middle of the night, if that tells you anything.
I really respected the honor and integrity that Rome had. He has always been a stand-up guy and this gave him bonus points in my opinion. It shows that a man can be a badass and edgy and complicated, without sacrificing his morals or breaking the law.
Cora was also a great character to follow around. I think she was a bit livelier and bold than Shaw, which I liked. While Shaw had to grow a bit as a character throughout her plot arc, Cora was ready to go toe-to-toe with any of the men from the start.
Did some of the plot elements veer off and feel a little contrived at times? Sure. But not that it affected the enjoyability of the story at all. It was like a good blend of reality with a hot soap opera.
I was really looking forward to loving this book, but I ended up being a little disappointed.
The illustrations were great. Really sweet and evocative with great colors.
This book on the back cover and inside flap make a point to tell you that this book is to drive home a moral point, which was more in-your-face than I expected from a book blurb. However, I soon found that the MORAL/MESSAGE of the story really was that prominent in this story. In fact, it felt that they were trying so hard to make a point that they forgot to really make a plot.
I had hoped that this would be a cute adventure story, but it wasn't much of a story.
There is a seal on the cover that indicates that this is a Peace Dragon Tale, so perhaps there will be a series of books. I'm hoping that this is just the introduction and that any subsequent books will have more action and adventure.
I read half of this book last night and the other half as soon as I woke up this morning! It was an absorbing read and I was always eager to see what they would discover next.
I think it was well-done, although we didn't dive too deeply into the characters and their motivations, but perhaps that wasn't necessary, because this was Beatrice's story. Beatrice tends to see the good in everyone, but this tendency also makes you miss the dark, complicated things that swirl in everyone's heart.
This only got 4/5 stars for two reasons. First, because while it was an absorbing read, I'm not a huge fan of mysteries and once I know how they turn out, the re-read factor struggles. Second, the ending. I get what the author was trying to say, but I wanted the mega happy ending (Thank you, Wayne's World, for my unrealistic expectations). After all of the adventure, I wasn't expecting something so introspective and philosophical.
This book caught my attention and I read it straight through without putting it down. It was interesting to read about a vampire struggling with her humanity vis-a-vis her thirst. There were a lot of themes of trust, loyalty, family, bravery, sacrifice, denial, faith, hope, and acceptance that made this a really worthwhile read.
The edition that I read also had some study questions that the end which made you think about the themes and the significance of the book to a greater extent, which I appreciated.
I loved this book! It was uniquely written from a mish-mash of documents and transcriptions, but even given that the story had remarkable continuity, tension, and emotion.
The sarcasm and repartee between the characters made my snarky heart warm and there were several times in the plot that I had to FULL STOP quit reading and go back to look up some previously mentioned detail or the other. Plot twists were a plenty and there was a lot to root for. This was definitely a story that had you shouting directions at the characters (as if they could hear you), while in the bottom of your stomach was an icy fear of dread, because it was possible that these files were all that was left of the people (characters, Jenn, they aren't real) you loved.
I have already placed the entire series on my birthday/Christmas list.
Of the notes that I took as I devoured this book in one day, this one stands out as the clear winner, “All of the blacked out words are like Profanity Madlibs in my head.”
Sparks Fly on Many Levels!
This was a great story! I'm so glad it wasn't a case of insta-love, but that they both struggled with attraction and flaws. The action and threat kept the pace moving and made this book hard to put down.
Katy's character growth was great to read. She started off as a normal teen girl with insecurities, but grew into someone who was self-possessed and not willing to be pushed around.