H. Cat
Loved the poly and the kink. A little meh for me in the middle (a me problem, not the book) but it picked up again with the appearance of Truman.
I loved the concept of this book and enjoyed it's execution. I kept waiting for the other foot to drop but it didn't. This is a very straightforward story, but that is not a bad thing.
The main hitch for me came with the fact that I listened to this as an audiobook. Although I think the reader's voice fit the story well, there were moments when the book's narrator changed and I didn't notice. The reader did have distinct voices for the characters, but they weren't always used effectively in the narration sections. This created some confusion for me and I had to rewind a little to see where the change happened.
Overall an enjoyable read, though I'd probably try it in print if I were to read it again.
Total Rating: 3.5
Rhys Ford - Dim Sum Asylum - 3 Stars
This one was fun. I liked the world Rhys created and I look forward to reading more by this author.
Ginn Hale - Swift and the Black Dog - 4 stars
I loved Jack and his perception of the history that he created. Sometimes our heroes are not heroes at all. Sometimes they're just reckless kids who have now grown up.
KJ Charles - A Queer Trade - 5 Stars
A magician, a waste paper seller and a mix up with the garbage. This creative story is charming and magical. I want more of this world and these characters.
Nicole Kimberling - Magically Delicious - 3 Stars
This story was cute. I wasn't in love with it but it was cute and worth the one-time read for me.
Jordan Castillo Price - Everyone's Afraid of Clowns - 3 Stars
This is the 3rd story I have read from Jordan's Phy-cop series and although I see the merit in the stories, there is always something that bugs me about them. After reading this story I finally figured out what it was. I am a very character driven reader and the characters in this series do not mesh for me. It's really the relationship between the main characters. Victor's bf's interest in Victor's ability to see the dead seems a bit fanatical to me at times. Let's just say I can understand the moments where Victor wonders if his bf loves him or his ability more. It probably wouldn't bother me as much if Victor wasn't down on himself as often as he is, but it irks me and those moments pull me right out of the story.
Jordan L. Hawk - The Thirteenth Hex - 4 Stars
A new world for Jordan L Hawk with quirky characters. I'm in!
Charlie Cochet - The Soldati Prince - 2 Stars
I was really excited at the beginning of this story. There were were-tigers. I was definitely interested in that. As the story went along I became less excited. I found myself more interested in two of the background characters than Riley and the king. The development of the main characters' relationship felt too sudden for me. Yes, this is a fantasy, but it was too much of a 180. Perhaps if this had been a longer story and we had gotten to know them better (and they had gotten to know each other better) it would have worked better. The world is still interesting though and I would love to see a book about those two background characters!
Lou Harper - One Hex Too Many - 4 stars
I liked this story a lot. It was a good procedural story. The world was interesting, Mike was interesting, and I liked how the little details of his past come to life throughout the story. There is not info dump here and all of the details are pertinent to the story. I would read more by this author.
Andrea Speed - Josh of the Damned vs. the Bathroom of Doom - 1 star
This could have been cute, quirky and fun but it did not work for me at all.
Astrid Amara - The Trouble With Hexes - 4 Stars
All I'm going to say there is that I will totally read more by Astrid Amara.
I loved this, mostly b/c of the narrator. The story was cute, but the narrator is what made me love it. Since he is the narrator for the rest of the series, I am now very tempted to go back and continue this series in audio format.
3.5 This series is cute. I love Bob. I love Amelia. I'm starting to like the other dragons. Ghost rocks and is going to be a problem in the future as well as the solution. Marcie though.... Still can't stand her.
The one things this book needs more than anything is an editor. The pacing, dialog and characters all need work. Even so, I had planned on finishing the book. Unfortunately, too many grammatical errors, mixed up names and unedited stray words made me give up. :-(
In the beginning I was in love with all the snark in this book. So many snarky characters being overly snarky. It was funny and cute and fun, but toward the end it became a bit too much. The book started to feel like it was dragging on because there kept being interludes of snarky banter when I now wanted more plot progression. I debated not finishing, but in the end I did. The book was cute, the adventure was fun. A few characters pissed me off at times, but what can you do?
I'm not sure I'm going to continue with this series. I'd love to see where it goes, but I don't want to chance having it feel like it's dragging again. If I do, I will definitely do it in audio like I did this time. Michael Lesley was amazing at bringing these characters to life. I can't see myself reading this series any other way.
Maybe I'll return to this book one day to finish it. I like the world and the magic system. The plot defintely has potential, but I couldn't get behind Vin as a main character. Her interactions with Elend were the most interesting thing she did, and there wasn't enough of them. I feel like I would have liked this book better if someone else had been the main character or if the POV have been Kelsier's more often.
3.5
I love Bob. A lot.
For much of the story, Bob and the main character were the only dragons I liked in this book. The rest I hated with a passion and wanted to hit with a cast iron frying pan. By the end though, some of them were OK, and others have potential.
Bob, on the other hand, is perfection. I need more of him. Thank you.
Although I enjoyed enough parts of this book to get me to finish it, I spent way too much time being annoyed at Ceony. I remember being frustrated by her in the second book, but I chalked it up to her age and was rewarded by the actions of another character who voiced my opinion. In this book I thought even her age did not cover the stupidity and stubbornness of her actions. If she really is that immature then I have no idea how an adult like Emory could consider marrying her.If the author had had Saraj come after her for some reason, I would have felt the plot more believable and enjoyable than Ceony feeling like it was her mission to go after him. The fact that she felt like she can defeat an Excisioner (and the way she speaks about having to kill him like it's no big deal) when she's nothing more than an apprentice and the world around her has years more experience was too much for me to take.On the positive side, I really like the structure of magic in this world. The parts of the book where she was studying and interacting with other magicians was enjoyable. I would have liked more of that. I did like [b: The Paper Magician 20727654 The Paper Magician (The Paper Magician Trilogy, #1) Charlie N. Holmberg https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1405618531s/20727654.jpg 40051132], but it seems like the series goes down hill instead of up as you continue.
I read this book in 3 days. If work hadn't interfered it would have been done in a day. I couldn't help gobbling it up and I already want the next one.
One thing I love about this book is the realism in which something that was created with good intentions can become rotten and twisted, and although there are people trying to bring this problem to light they are not necessarily doing it in the right way. The real world is not black and white, and neither is the universe in “Ink and Bone”. As I was reading I could clearly see echoes of our own history reflected in the story. Our past is saturated with similar themes. It is a disturbing thought and yet I want more of it. I want to know what happens next and what the characters that I have become fond of are going to do about it.
I'm trying to find the words to review this story in more detail, but I keep coming up short. Maybe I'll come back and edit this later. For now, all I can say is that this is not a fluffy western romance. Nor is it your typical kinky cowboys story (though there is kink). Sweetwater is rough and unapologetic like the old west, but if you can deal with the grit this story is definitely worth your time.
There are moments when I want to smack Ceony on the back of her head. She frustrates the hell out of me when she's being an idiot, but the emotion is the mark of good characterization.
I am so grateful for the scene between Ceony and Emery in the lavatory. Not going to spoil what it's about, but OMG I needed that scene. Thank you Emery. Thank you.
Now on to the next one!
Love triangle? I'm so tired of those.
Can't we just do what Jordan L Hawk did in SPECTR and make them a thruple?
I really wanted to like this book. I got on board with the concept as I began reading and had high hopes on it being interesting. Unfortunately, after reading 200 pages I realized that I had no interest in any of the characters and I was still waiting for the plot to actually grab me. :-(
I enjoyed the first volume of this and the beginning of this one, but it wasn't until that last chapter that I fell in love.
Thoughts as of reaching ch 40:
This book has a lot of atmosphere, but that's all it seems to have. I like the setting, the world, the school. There's a brutality/cruelty of necessity in the way things are taught, and the fact that the students need to sink or swim had a lot of potential. I'm sure the way the teachers act and the way the school is organized is for reasons I don't know at this point. I find all of that interesting, and I wonder if I'll get answers if I keep going, but outside of that...
I'm not sure where the plot of this book is going. I'm not even sure what the plot is. Lennon, our MC, is a mess, and at the start of the book I was really interested in her and how she might grow. I wanted her to come into her own, stand on her own feet, find strength in herself and not fall into bad relationship after bad relationship or need to validate herself by the terrible men she's attracted to. There was so much potential here, but I'm on page 306 of a 450 page book, and I'm not emotionally invested in any of the characters, and I haven't seen any change in Lennon at all. Everything just feels flat, especially where the characters are concerned. The establishment of Lennon's “friendships” are all told instead of shown.
I really should DNF this book, because I know I could be spending my time with a book I'll fall in love with, but I'm currently wavering. We'll see how it goes.
This books started out a little slow for me, but ended up being fantastic! As soon as Marzoli entered the picture I needed to know more. After that, it just kept getting better and better. By the end I couldn't put it down!
I'm not really sure how to rate or review this book. There were things that I liked, things that I wanted to be more, things that were not fleshed out enough, and things that I really appreciated, but I'm still processing those things, and I have no idea how to sort them.
Let's say 3.5 for now?
OMG to think I almost passed this story up!
I've read/watched many stories where the MC gets tossed back into their own past to change the future. I thought this would be a sweet romance of a story, second chances and all that. Would probably be interesting to see how the MC goes about changing things. Can he change things and win the boy in the end? I was assuming yes, but the journey is what matters.
But then they added the mystery and things got interesting. I can see where our ML is coming from. How can you believe some kid in school is from the future? But if it comes to protecting your dearest sister then how can you not take the chance?
What makes this manga so good is the end. The potential fall out, the stakes, and the turns this story can take! I can't wait to see how it goes and I really hope they don't pull any punches.
I definitely want to read more of this series. I picked it up for the MC seeing people as monsters. That detail gave me a sliver of a xxxHolic vibe, and I wanted to see where this story would go. It's an interesting setup, especially with the detective that is introduced in the second story and Shiroshi's nonchalance about the competition. I'm curious and I look forward to seeing what happens next.