Rachel
Another fun addition to the series. In this book, much of the story is set at the magic school which turns into a refreshing change for our characters. Pepper has the chance to teach a lesson on familiars and solve yet another murder that has occurred in Magnolia Cove.
Once again, the author has managed enough twists and turns that I wasn't 100% sure on the murderer until the end.
Another key point is Rufus' return to Magnolia Cove and the complications that arise. Poor novice Pepper doesn't realize what it means to accept a gift from Rufusm. Meanwhile Pepper and Axel juggle around some big questions and decisions about their future. It was a little maddening, but nice to see another side of Axel. One who actually has some feelings and emotions and isn't just the standard sexy boyfriend.
My only negative for this book was the portrayal of Burt. It is was the stereotypical cliche gay man trop that has been overdone. There is more to a gay man than his femininity and his fashion/decor sense. Reducing his character to a cliche was really disappointing.
Ok and my second was the slight moments of Pepper's insecurities about what she's eating and her obliviousness to Axel's real feelings.
Very heavy war book focused on a young man from Brooklyn fighting in the Vietnam War.
The audiobook was wonderfully narrated and the pacing is fast and heart pounding. I genuinely didn't know if the MC would make it or if the ending would be abrupt, further highlighting the atrocities of war.
I'm surprised this isn't a mandatory read, but I could see how others would advocate against this book. By highlighting the atrocities of war, this may discourage many from enlisting in future wars.
Another fun adventure with the Sweet Tea Witches
Solid. Creative entry in the series.
This time we learn about the nearby magic school, further expanding the creative world surrounding Magnolia Cove. Pepper continues to learn and grow stronger as a witch. Axel continues to grow as the supportive boyfriend and private investigator. Amelia and Cordelia get nice surprise visitors that maybe aren't so welcome after all.
The finale was a bit rushed but still a solid ending that was fun to read.
Christmas Chaos for the Craples
This was a pretty fun read. I wasn't sure with the introduction of Axel's parents, but it was nice to see how they handle life with the werewolf transformations. Some of the bonding time with Karen and Pepper were odd but overall I like them together.
The mystery was a little more obvious in this one. I don't quite understand why Betty's powers went haywire, but overall pretty fun. I'm excited for the next book. Seems fun.
I was not a fan of this one. There were some clever moments around the Thanksgiving traditions, and clearly the plot was centered around Pepper trying to do things by herself, but the magic fell flat. I missed Betty and Axel. I also found the plotlines around Amelia and Cordelia's high school days and their fathers to be unresolved. Obviously it'll be a plot point for a future book. I did enjoy getting to know the aunts better, along with their struggle with chaos magic. tbh, I would have loved them to join in earlier and even more prominently. The inclusion of Rufus was giving me Twilight New Moon vibes, where Bella was using Jacob's friendship to get through while she still pined after Axel.
The new characters weren't that engaging and I absolutely hated that rabbit Collinsworth and his fake british accent. All I could envision was Mr Collins (Pride and Prejudice) in bunny rabbit form. And his constant evasion of the truth was infuriating. I hope his character doesn't return.
The snide comment about Becky Rae having a muffintop was also annoying. Most women have muffin tops. That throw away comment was really off putting.
Towards the end I started to skim the sentences to get the gist of the storyline. If I ever re-read the series, this is a book to skip.
This is a hard review to write. I had so many people telling me this was my perfect book. A boy who loves his dog, and tries to save her by going to a magical world with the ability to turn back time.
Unfortunately this did not live up to the hype and became a chore to read. My biggest issue is the length. There is a lot in this story that could have been cut or paired down. It is full of obscure references that didn't need to be there. It was fun at first, but quickly grew tiresome. It felt like King has this collection of favorite shows/movies/heroes/etc and wants to make sure they aren't forgotten so he ends up including everything possible in this book. Just as I got into a section of the story, these references would pull me back out. Then I'd have to fight to get myself back into the story.
A few times I started to skim the pages, ready to be done with this book. In fact, it took be almost two months or fairly consistent reading to finally complete this story.
The unfortunate thing is that the summary of the story was perfect. It's the execution that became the problem.
Oooh this one was fun. This book expands upon the world of witches, wizards, warlocks, werewolves etc that are featured in the series. In addition to the expected murder, we meet a crime boss werewolf, a band of traveling singers, and the mystery of a missing werewolf niece. Well, along with some illegal animal trade.
I was a bit hesitant after the last book. I thought the author may have been heading towards LL James route, but this book circumvents that path and brings it back to the fun series we started with.
I am a bit sad to see that this is the last book narrated by the original narrator Hollis McCarthy. I think she's part of what has sold me so much on the series. I do hope she'll be brough back for more. Especially after so many of us have found this series via the August Hoopla Bonus Borrows collection.
August 2022 Hoopla Bonus Borrows Recommendation
A person riding a shark through the badlands while a virus kills the rest of the world, except America because they have a giant wall and protector shield? I mean.. I can get behind some ideas but these are all too much. Absolutely ridiculous. Especially the idea of America having a technology shield to protect the entire country. We can't even feed much of the population. Let alone high tech.
Book 4 in the Sweet Tea With Mysteries. This review is of the Audiobook.
This one is a bit hard to rate. There were some solid 5* moments and some solid 1-2* moments.
Overall, this one had a fun and less cliche plot. At the start we're introduced to Pepper and Rufus standing the the Familiar store. Rufus casts a spell intertwining their magic and oof it's a race against time to break the connection. There were some additional things like new shops and magical abilities, and cousin Cordelia has her own fun little plotlines. Strip the book to its core and it would have been a solid 5 of fun.
Now for the 1-2* reason... . Most prominently, Pepper and Axel need to full on hook up already (or maybe the author needs some) because the drooling and convenient half naked (and full naked) plotlines for the sake of “better magic”?? Come on! It was just awkward on all fronts. The characters were awkward, the writing was awkward and it felt like it was fulfilling some deep fantasy of the author. The most these characters have done is a little kissing, then all of a sudden they're naked for the sake of magic? No I'm not a prude. It was just too far fetched and felt unnecessary. It added nothing to the plot and actually took away from the fun.
The other issue was the murder. This book would have been absolutely fine without the murderer. Plus the motive was meh at best. It was like the publisher said “this is a mystery, we need a murderer!”. Once again, it added nothing to the story.
Still looking forward to the next book in the series. After that, I saw that the audiobook narrator changes. Hoping the series will wrap up nicely because the narrator is what helped draw me into the series and keep me going.
p.s. FINALLY someone else who understands how I feel about tomatoes.
August 2022 Hoopla Bonus Borrows Recomendation
Normally I enjoy the gritty reinvention of classic characters. In this case, I didn't know too much about Nancy Drew or the Hardy boys except that they solved mysteries. I thought I'd give a graphic novel a chance as a new way to get introduced to the characters. Unfortuantely this one doesn't do a good job at setting up the storyline. I'm thrown into a town and a mystery with no real frame of reference or context.
August 2022 Hoopla Bonus Borrows Recomendation
Max Max meets Lord of the Rings. Or someone saw The Shannara Chronicles and wanted to write an early history of that universe.
I didn't mind that this comic dropped us straight into the action, but it jumped around way too much. A better setup would be introducing the MC then slowly expanding to introduce the orcs and the weird vampire sorcerer.
August 2022 Hoopla Bonus Borrows Recommendation
Ehhh it was ok. I found the intro pacing kinda slow. There was decent setup for the characters but there wasn't anything that really grabbed me off the bat that encouraged me to keep going. I saw someone else compare it to Spirited Away, and in the sense of the storyline I can see it. Like someone took the plot, but eliminated the magic that made Spirited Away so special. Idk just wasn't for me.
August 2022 Hoopla Bonus Borrows Recommendation
Yes! Now that is how you write a cozy mystery. First of all, I LOVE that this didn't start with a breakup, divorce or cheating husband trope. Instead, it's three childhood friends who open a bakery together. They have a history to explain their friendship and for the most part they are going about their normal lives. When Tate's bridezilla fiance is found deceased, all eyes turn to Mel (mc). As Mel tries to clear her name, we encounter a small group of supporting characters. There is enough to make you go “now who did it and how?” But not enough to be overwhelming. Overall this was a solid cozY mystery for an afternoon.
August 2022 Hoopla Bonus Borrows.
Tossing this Audiobook in the DNF pile. This book doesn't wait to jump into the mystery In the first 30 minutes the MC is dumped by her husband (he's having a baby with his mistress), left broke, must return to her Amish home (I thought that wasn't allowed??), starts at a bakery, meets a crazy man who wants to buy the bakery, then suddenly he eats a cupcake and dies!
I don't expect much of these types of books but there is absolutely no setup of the characters. It's basic at best.
I do commend the narrator because she did great at the voiceover and did her best to sell the story. Unfortunately it was the story that was lacking.
August 2022 Hoopla Bonus Borrows Recommendation
I started this with no knowledge of Rai or Valliant. Still don't know what Valliant is, but I absolutely loved this comic. Set in the far distant future, and andriod called Raijin, and a half human half android named Rai are out to destory the evil code of bloodfather.
The far distant future trying to survive after a fallout gave me Mad Max vibes, but the android and technology were an intreaguing addition. I look forward to reading more.
August 2022 Hoopla Bonus Borrows Recommendation
This was a hard one to rate. For the most part it was a page turner. Three childhood bullies are kidnapped on the eve of their high school reunion. Locked in a remote cabin guarded by men with masks, the three men are forced to revisit their terrible life decisions including who is really a murderer.
Now to the plot. The writing had me eager for more. The pacing relatively good. And it was interesting to see the imagined reflection of childhood bullies and guilt over their inaction.
But why 3 stars? The plot twist. It went for shock value and honestly felt it fell flat. I wish it had stayed the course with the original path. Instead it takes a sharp right and tbh and don't think it paid off. I went from listening to the audiobook at 1.4 speed, curious to know what happened next, to listening at 2.3 speed, eager to get to the end.
August 2022 Hoopla Bonus Borrows Recommendation.
This was odd... I don't mind the fact that one child has antlers, another is a cat, and another has demon eyes.... but why? If this is the first in the series then where is the explanation? Where is the opening. One page introduction isn't enought to get to know or care for these characters. tbh, I found the demon eyed baby creepy. Actually they were all creepy. This was just weird. Too weird.
August 2022 Hoopla Bonus Borrows recommendation.
DnF at 70% od the Audiobook.
This book is not what I expected. Based on the title, I expected kids dealing with a dragon unleashed in a library. At the 70% mark the only dragon we've encountered is in a book. I stead it's about an evil man named Salt who is trying to buy the library. Maybe he's a dragon? Idk, but at this point I don't really care.
The book also about a young kid who learns they are a wizard, the youngest in history. Then there are the traditional kid screw ups.
Overall the kids were fun, but some plotlines (like the new book all being checked out, and buying a library) were too far fetched. There was also a lot of explanation about the Wizarding world and its orders. It was a lot of information and rules all at once. And it became like sandpaper on skin whenever a new rule was stated.
August 2022 Hoopla Bonus Borrows Recommendation
Aside from a few episodes of the 1980's cartoon and the old movie, idk much about My Little Pony. Especially not the modern MLP fanbase. Since this was a free borrow from Hoopla, I decided to give it a shot.
Overall this was really cute. It was easy to identify the different pony types, the hierarchy, who was who and what the overall themes were. For such a small short story this was packed with fun! There was adventure, friendship, and great pacing.
