Harisa

3.5.

Counting this as my Chile book around the world...although I've read many that can count for it.

Really thoroughly enjoyed this one and it was a classic Allende novel where I can get completely swept up in the characters and the setting and settle in.

This is a really good novel. I cannot BELIEVE it took me this long to read this! The writing is spectacular, pulled me right in and kept me there even after I looked up spoilers to look up how it ended. Wow, this was good.

I don't know, I just felt that as soon as I got super into the book the chapter ended and changed to another POV and time period and I would lose my momentum. I can definitely see the beautiful writing style though and it was an overall enjoyable read. But, it didn't wow me.

I appreciate him adding the caveat at the end of the book that we do not have to reach his conclusions, what is important is that we ask the questions.

I liked this book, it was short but very informative. Was recommended to me by an old college professor who was a big Frye fan. I would also recommend this book.

And with that, I have finished my challenge for 2017!

I loved this book. This was not what I expected but wow did it deliver. Especially after reading “The Nightinggale” it was really interesting to get the outlook of WWII from Eastern Europe instead of France and I'm really glad I read it.

4.5

WOW. The last 100 pages made me completely wrap up in a cocoon and I was unable to do anything until I finished the book. This was good, very good. I think the end wrapped up a BIT too fast. I would've like 1o-ish more pages but overall this was a great conclusion and a very exciting ride.

His insights are important and something everyone should read. I appreciate the inside look into his experience and would recommend this book.

3.5

Not Tyler's strongest by any means, but I missed her writing style and her world in Baltimore.

Fiancé and I had a fun time listening to it. Some of it was cheesy and a bit laugh-worthy but overall it was okay. We used it as a way to point out each others' shortcomings which I'm pretty sure is the opposite of what he wants us to do but it was all in good fun.

Not only was it boring, but it was also extremely annoying. HOW MANY TIMES ARE YOU GOING TO REPEAT THE SAME THING OVER AND OVER? We get it this character had a secret love affair and secret baby, this dude is a famous NHL player and a billionaire, these characters had marital issues. YESSSS I get it stop repeating it everytime you mention their names!

Very boring, forgettable characters, and glad its over.

Great novel. I cried on my commute to work. Beautifully written and captivating.

I loved this one!! Read like a hallmark Christmas movie.

Only complaint was that it was a smidge too short.

This was more of a “How I became a Christian” novel rather than a tell all book about the Bachelor. Besides a few things, I actually liked this book. And I wasn't Emily's biggest fan.

I ONLY finished this bc it's almost the end of the year and I don't have time to pick up books then put them back down if I want to meet my challenge.

This was horrible. I hated that he talked badly about his dead wife the entire time, I hated that she got mad at him for literally doing his job, I hated that he explained his actions before she even got mad at him but then got mad at him anyway and didn't put two and two together, I hated the random million characters that came up that i had no idea how they were connected to anything. More so, I did not care about them. If the novel is going to be that short maybe don't introduce 20 side characters. Ridiculous.

Dialogue was awkward, stunted, and stupid. As was every single conflict in this story.

But hey, one step close to completing my reading challenge.

I'm still unsure how to rate this. Every single character is SO dysfunctional, and all of their behavior is derived from childhood issues (mostly mommy issues) and this book serves as a good warning against leaving issues like that unresolved. Or, letting the past and your feelings control your present.
-We had a character who refused to see reality for what it was, and instead, let his reality be completely tainted by his past experience. Even when the truth was staring him in the face, he refused to see the truth because he couldn't get out of his own past.
-We had a character who was so desperate to be taken care of, again because of her past, that she was mostly a weak character who had nothing to stand on but her reliance on her “knight in shining armor.”
-We had a character who had a weird dependency and jealousy for her brother caused by past childhood issues as well (her brother took over a lot of the parenting and caretaking roles) and let it extend so far that as a grown ass adult she inserts herself into her brother's romances.
- And finally, we had the character who let mommy issues completely taint the way he views women and the entire sex for the rest of his life.

The mystery was okay, but overall it got too mixed up in all the characters and all this history being drudged up for me to read. It felt discombobulated and took away from my enjoyment and overall connection to the characters and desire to see the mystery resolved.

this pulled me in from the start. Loved Hutch and most of the other characters as well. I think I read 70% of the book very quickly! The end kinda got annoying for me but overall it was sweet and appropriate for what I was looking for in terms of a mindless Christmas romance.

I enjoyed the slow burn romance, world building, and character building. However, the book was slow, tedious, and dragged on.

I will not be continuing the series.

1.5 stars.

Great premise, started out super strong in first chapter.

Once we got to the marriage...things disintegrated. It became very frustrated because best friends turned into strangers. Very disappointing and lasted far too long. Also, her emotional tantrums always always always came at the WORST times. And trust me, been there but her demands were ridiculous. “don't call me unless you love me?” WTF? Girl bye.

Also had the “I wouldn't be such a jerk if I didn't love you so much.” Love declaration which is problematic in MULTIPLE WAYS.

Did I stay up until 4:30am reading? Yes.

Do I regret starting this not so great romance story? Also yes.

Ooops! I finished this like a weeks ago but forgot to update goodreads.

I really really liked this, she did a great job of interweaving narrative and historical facts.

This was....very bad. I am very surprised. I think I may skip the Bodyguards series after all because I am not charmed.

General:

1) I hated both Eve & Mac. Eve needed to be stronger, especially for working at a security firm. Was extremely disappointed. Mac was still a shitty character, not charming at all, and a piece of shit to this day.

2) The suspenseful part kept me interested until the end and how it got wrapped up. DUMB. Way too pretty of a bow, random plot points that came from freaking nowhere, and INCREDIBLY undeveloped characters and plotlines.

Spoilers now:

3) The miscarriage plotline was also not as well developed as the others reviews mistakenly led me to believe. It was solved by her telling him and comforting him by saying “We will make another baby. Let's start now!” Ugh.

4) Why would you try for another baby when you can't even obtain custody of the child you already have because you are inconsistent with finances and time? I don't see how the wife was the bitch here, he definitely didn't deserve full custody or any type of custody. Bye.

5) The sexual parts–thoughts and scenes were soo weirdly placed and written it flat out weirded me the hell out and made me uncomfortable. Just noooo.

6) The scene with Tiffany and Billie getting together????? WHATTTTTT. Talk about no build up, random curveball. With build up this could've been really good.

7) You're really going to sit here and talk throughout the entire novel about how she felt guilty for killing the two guys in the past and then the first thing she says after she kills another human being for the first time since that experience is “give me M&Ms” ARE YOU SERIOUS????? So. Freaking. Weird.

8) I recommend you read the other 1-star review. EVERYTHING is correct. I would also like to add: Yes, if you're gonna do an alpha male do it right. No “I was taken to the hospital like some ninny.” Excuse me, jerk, getting care does not make you a ninny. There is strength in taking proper care of yourself. Duuuuuuuuumb.

What even did I read.

It was just all bad. I hated this. I'm very disappointed.

I may be biased bc I'm not a fan of going back to exes stories, but...no.

Wow. Read this on a dark plane at 5am during a 3.5 hour trip. Dark psychological thriller that kept me going back to reading no matter how droopy my eyes got.

Solid 3.5.

Some very cute moments, and good action, still fast paced.

Oh, and the end fight scene? Amazing. Especially for a romance novel. That was so bad ass.

HOWEVER:

I am never one for the “I don't deserve her” storyline, and I felt like Reed's character wasn't fully developed enough for me to find that storyline compelling/sympathetic.

Secondly, the topic of human trafficking is VERY difficult because of many different reasons. So, honestly, this was a bit of a rough one to read.

I seem to be a little addicted......