Lee

I'm not sure what I was expecting. By the end I was just confused. This was a suggested book to me and I thought it was going to be more horror-y, but it wasn't. I was intrigued and curious about the story, but I just found it odd. I didn't like it or dislike it, just indifferent. I read it but wouldn't recommend it.

I think another review said the different perspectives were written the same so it was hard to tell whose voice was who's and that definitely was the case for Lena after reading Magos. While there's a lot going on about how their lives all interweave and affect one another, there's no emotional depth to any of them. Magos is selfish and self-absorbed, Lena is loyal to a fault, and Joseph is bland. Monstrilio is the most interesting of the four perspectives, he's still one-dimensional.

This was a fun read even though it starts off slowly. I love whodunit type books (and shows) and had several wrong guesses about who the bad guy was. The relationships between the characters was well done and I wanted Emmy to succeed as I was reading. As with many books, once you get past the 40-ish percent mark it's like cresting the top of a rollercoaster and the rest goes so quickly.

I'm not sure what to expect from a steampunk novel since it isn't a genre I have read before. I'm not even a very big fantasy fan, despite my penchant for fantasy games.

I follow BJ and Austin on twitter and had seen the tweets, like I do for many other authors I follow. I'm not sire why this book over others, but I will say I'm glad I picked it up.

It starts slowly as the characters are being developed, but once it gets going the story seems to flow at a great pace. I don't often have a lot of free personal reading time these days, but I found the time to read this book.

I was excited to know what was going to happen. And I was attached to some of the characters, including Rucca. I enjoyed it and would recommend it, even if you're a steampunk or fantasy fan. Being neither, I was pleasantly surprised.

Well done guys. I look forward to reading more of your stuff.

The Doctor Who supplemental novella was exactly what I wanted. It was a quick read, and followed along like I was watching an episode of the show. It was slightly campy, very much predictable, but also enjoyable. It was an entertaining read, and I enjoyed getting a story from the mind of River Song.

I went into reading this book with an expectation that I knew what to expect. What I got out of the book was far more than I believed. Along with the realization that I had no idea what I was thinking, I found parts pissed me off, parts made me happy, parts made me introspective, and other parts made me cry. At no point did I feel I was wasting my time reading the book. While some of the material is definitely dated, and my copy had been updated to include both genders (at certain points), I felt that the lessons I learned and what I'm taking away from the book far outweigh the few slights.

This is the kind of man I wish I could have known, even if only for a brief conversation standing in line to buy coffee someplace.

So here's the thing for me... And why it was a 4 star review instead of a 5. As Katniss got older why did her thought processes not grow with her? I understand she's only 17 in this book but really?? She didn't see Coin from a mile away? I can give her the confusion over her feelings between the two boys... feelings don't make much sense as an adult either. But to forget entirely what she was fighting for? To not see the similarities between Snow and Coin when she already didn't like the woman!

For me, this is playing too much on stupidity that doesn't exist. I can understand and even appreciate how the story unfolded, but there was at least a hundred pages of dumb babble back and forth as she tried to work out what should have been obvious.

Overall the story was good, and tragic. I cry every time Rue is mentioned. I cry every time someone does one of the different gestures. I was shocked by what happened to Finnick. And disheartened by Peeta's torture.

But all the while in the back of me head I think, “this Katniss chick is really dumb for a 17 year old forced to be the symbol of a political rebellion.”

I tend to rate books on the level and severity if my need to finish reading them. I knew going into this one that it was YA fiction, science fiction at that. I knew that there was some kind of concern or controversy over the age of the main characters. And that was all I knew of the novel.

The eery similarities to The Fountainhead, which I had finished reading only minutes prior to starting this story, made it a very easy transition. The more modern writing style took a fair bit of effort to adjust to, but at a certain point I simply couldn't stop reading.

The biggest draw for me, to a story, is whether I felt something, whether I needed to know the ending, and whether or not I could take a break. At points I didn't just cry, but held back the choking kind of sobs, as though I had lost a loved one. I never quite knew how it would end, other than the predictability of the main characters survival. And I simply couldn't stop reading.

After all is said and done, that makes for a good story. Everything else is arbitrary.

Well, if there's one good thing about getting on the Hunger Games bandwagon so late, it's that the cliffhanger/ending from Catching Fire isn't going to make me crazy. Cause I get to read it right away.

Not as fluid as the first book, this one picks up right where the last one left off. It's a longer story to tell, but at times it seemed a little forced. This did not stop me from wanting to finish as soon as I could... Which I did. 1 day per book so far. 1 day left of the weekend.

I met this pretentious bastard of a guy who swore he was Randian. He insisted on telling this. He also said “If you haven't read any Rand by now you probably won't.” Ha! I'll show you!

When I started reading this I didn't want to like it. I actually expected I would abandon it like I had in the past. I didn't. I did hate it at times, but not once did I ever feel I wanted to stop reading. It wasn't until I was texting my best friend about it that I started to question my hatred equating to love in the same way that Rand portrays it with Dominique. I also wondered if I was feeling this way because I was reading the book. Inevitably, Rand ties it all up nicely in the end. Her politics and long-windedness aside, this ended up being a good story. One that I enjoyed overall.

Following along in the Sookie Stackhouse novels I often found I couldn't stop reading despite my best efforts. This novel took me a long time to get through it from start to finish. It read like a terrible rejected episode of True Blood. All over the place, tired, and overdone. Maybe it's time to call it quits, while the series isn't doing so badly. It is definitely at this point when I would break the cuviel dor to protect Sookie Stackhouse from more trite novels... out of love, of course.

I tend to get emotional over a specific type of book. I kept seeing this novel show up as “Recommended reading” from various sources, but wasn't lured in... yet. It wasn't until I was sitting in a movie theater with one of my best friends and I see the trailer for the movie adaptation that I feel compelled to read it. Mostly because it sounded like a good story and was nothing I thought it would be.

The dialect, I admit, threw me a little at first. Did I download the wrong book? Nope. Huh. Well, this will be interesting. Then the perspectives changed between the three characters and I was intrigued.

It's never easy to write about a subject as touchy as racism and in essence, slavery. I give the author kudos for her bravery, even when many feel she played to stereotypes too often.
Though there were a handful of places throughout the novel I wished moved forward a little more quickly, I eventually reached the fever pitch and read into the wee hours of the morning. I simply had to finish. There was no way I could go another day without knowing how it ended. I cried, multiple times. I wept for each person's sacrifice. And I laughed when I found out what the bad thing that happened was.

Most of all, I'm thankful I picked this book up.

It almost makes me sad that this series is over and there aren't any more stories involving Lisbeth. I will actually miss her and her disdain for the people who care about her.

This book started off slowly, much like the first novel did. There was a lot of what felt like filler and fluff, but once you read the midway point the story starts to flow again. It picks up speed and suddenly you're turning pages (or tapping next page) just hoping to find out what happens next.

I thoroughly enjoyed this novel as much as I did the last two. I would also recommend them all to a friend.

Since the first book started slowly I expected a similar build-up for the sequal. I was entirely wrong. I sat down on many occasions with the intention to read at least a couple chapters and found myself distracted. Today, however, I woke with the decision to sit down and read. No distractions. No outside noise. And once I got started I couldn't put it down.

The novel tells an entirely different story for Lisbeth while being suspenseful and perfectly timed. Larsson gave just enough information to keep you reading, but left just enough to be discovered as well. Once I finished I immediately picked up the next in the series because I simply wasn't ready to stop reading about Lisbeth and Mikael.

I would recommend this book to anyone... Even without reading the first.

If there is any question as to the success of this series it is solidified by this book. Harris finds her groove as she spins and weaves a story you can only hope were true. I have rarely loved a fictional character the way I fell in love with Eric.

I would recommend this book as a stand alone story.

I stupidly read the reviews here on Goodreads before starting this book, which left me feeling as though I would be horribly disappointed. The thing is, after reading a heavier and darker book, this was exactly what I wanted and needed to read.

It was an easy read as well as quick. I was entertained and curious what was going to happen next. I hadn't seen the show True Blood so my experience was limited at best.

It isn't a scholarly read, but I don't regret the time spent reading it at all. I'm looking forward to the next one.

Possible Spoilers.

I first want to preface this with the fact that I do enjoy Gaiman's storytelling very much. However, I didn't love this book in the same way that everyone told me I would.

The first half of the story went quickly and read easily. No need to confuse yourself with overstated details. The only issues I had were pronunciations of names in my head as I was reading through. Once Shadow reached Lakeside, the story slowed. I seemed to have to force myself to get through the lull. Once Shadow leaves Lakeside, the story picks up again.

I was frustrated with never knowing Shadow's name, though I imagine a google search could take care of that for me. The ending was almost anti-climatic considering the adventures leading up to the war.

I enjoyed the book all things considered, though I'm unsure I'd read it again.

The first time I had heard of this series by Rick Riordan was when I saw the first advertisement for the movie. I decided to read the book before seeing the movie and found that I couldn't put it down. The story is absolutely engaging. I felt as though I were young again going on all of those adventures with Percy and experiencing it all first hand.

Riordan does an excellent job writing for young adults without preaching to them. He captures the essence of what it is to be young as well as telling an astounding story as well. I learned a lot about Greek mythology and found myself looking up details on wikipedia in an effort to understand more.

Definitely worth a read for all ages.

While this book was entertaining, and held my attention at times, the pacing was slow and often bordered on coming across as forced. Notaro's writing style is witty and amusing most of the time, but on other occasions it seemed tired and overdone.

While I had fun with this novel the ending also left me a little more annoyed than I would have hoped/expected. I'd recommend this novel for a quick fun read, but nothing more than that.

I watched the mini-series first, which was my own fault, because they made the mini-series so accurately to the book that when I decided to read the book, it was like watching it in slow-motion.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book as it was a great piece of story telling. I was able to visualize places in my mind, and experiences that happened to Door and Richard. If you've never read anything by Gaiman before, this would be a very fun one to dip your feet in.

For a knitter (or other textile crafter), this book will touch a part of you that your friends who don't know will never understand. The book was a fast and highly enjoyable read, and I would recommend it to any of my fiberphile friends.

Some of the characters were trite and almost unimaginably stuck in their ways. The story isn't so much about the individual characters as much as it's about forgiving, letting go, and enjoying life.

I have a sunking suspicion that the majority of negative reviews are from people who have never knit, or participated in a knitting community. Which is sad, really, because this book was worth a read.

There are only a couple sticking points for me, keeping me from giving the book 5-stars. The first was some of the misogynistic “gamer” language early on, and The Girl being the “prize” at the end.

The book was entertaining and engaging. I recognized a lot of the movie, television, and video game references, but also had a lot of them lost on me as well.

The book was a good, entertaining read. I enjoyed my time following Wade in OASIS.

I remember reading this in high school and loving it! So what made me ruin my memories for reading it now, some 15 years later?? I'm not sure, but I found the book to be annoyingly pretentious. I wish I could put into words the bad taste it left in my mouth, but I'm at a loss. I'm thankful for it being a quick, short read, or I might actually be upset with the amount of my life wasted re-reading this.