Suzi

Reading some of the other reviews of this book is such a mixed bag, as some are for the original version and some are for the revised version. I haven't read the original so I don't know how different it is and if that did affect some ratings, but I read the new version and I loved it.

I read this one physically and it did take a while as long fantasy books tend to do (and also the font is tiny) but I loved every minute I was in this world. I was so absorbed in the setting, the atmosphere, the characters and the politics of this story.

I've had the original edition sitting on my shelves for 9 years and never got to it, but I'm actually glad I put it off and picked it the new version instead. I'll be ordering the others soon and can't wait to continue.

Also these new covers are stunning!

Absolutely brilliant!!

This was such a unique book and I absolutely loved everything about it.

The audiobook is the way to go with this one, the narration and voices done by Jeff Hays made this such a great experience and I'll be getting to the next one ASAP.

This had such a great premise and the first 100 pages was strong, but it soon became a bit flat, fell into very familiar tropes and failed to develop the world enough to hold my interest.

I will say that its quick and easy to read, so will definitely be a hit for some but I don't think this will be a series I will continue.

This has been on my TBR for over 9 years and I've always been put off because I knew how slow it would be...and I was right!

This is incredibly slow, meandering and some chapters are even boring and pointless, however I never wanted to stop with it, I was swept away in the history and magic of the story.

I will say that I really put a lot of my enjoyment down to the new narration by Richard Armitage, it's brilliant and I know I wouldn't have made it all the way through without listening to it on audio.

This was such a surprise!

It was a totally random pick off my shelves and turned out to be a total win, I just couldn't put it down.

This is set in post-Civil War America where slavery is officially abolished but racisim and segregation is still rife. This is a take on the "industrial boarding schools" at the time which tried to destroy Native and black culture in children and assimilate them into European/white norms.

That in itself is a great premise but then add in zombies. Win!

This was just so good, I was hooked from page 1 and flew though it. I believe it's targeted at YA so does read really quickly but I'm still so impressed with this story. It has so much to say and I loved it.

I feel exactly the same about this book as I did about the author's book, The Woman They Could Not Silence - it's an incredible story and something I previously wasn't that aware of, but it was too long and slightly overwritten in the assumptions and descriptions.

Overall I'm glad I read it and will definitely look for future books from the author, but I know what I'm getting with her books now. Definitely ones to get on audio due to the length (for me at least).

I feel like it too so long to get through this, it's longer than book 1 and the differing POVs slow the pace slightly.

I love the political side of fantasy but I do think Talia's chapters were a little long and slow so did affect the pace of Holt's story.

That said, I really enjoyed this sequel and am loving the series as a whole. 😊

This was good!! It was a great little horror story, packaged in a very unique way. Had to explain I wasn't actually reading an IKEA catalogue so points for it being effective!

Everyone should read this book.

I think, as is mentioned in the book, that a lot of people imagine incels to be a small group of unhappy men complaining about women on the internet. It's mind blowing to hear of the real size of the communities and how absolutely they believe their views.

The author states at the start that the quotes taken from forums, sites and direct messages/emails have not been altered in any way and it's absolutely shocking those words can come from seemingly normal members of society.

One of the most shocking parts for me, as a parent, was hearing how these communities target boys as young as 10 because they're easier to indoctrinate "before their minds are set". Hearing how they find them through online gaming and YouTube videos is just terrifying and makes me want to throw out every device in our house immediately.

So yes, this is a hard thing to read, but it's important that people understand how much of an issue it is so should be read by everyone.

God this was heartbreaking 💔

Set on a maternity ward during the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic, it was grief after grief with no break.

Although I was totally unable to stop reading this, I do feel like it was lacking in depth at times. I also felt like the moment between Julia and Bridie came out of nowhere, this really needed some more fleshing out.

This was my first from Emma Donoghue but won't be my last.

I read a lot of dark stories but this one is right up there with one of the darkest I've read.

It's been many years since I read book 1 in this series but I went into book 2 and didn't really feel like I was missing anything. Jack is such a brilliant, flawed character to follow and I flew through this in a few days as I just couldn't stop, even with such a disturbing subject.

I can't give this a full 5 stars as reading this in 2024, the age really shows due to the very dated stereotypes, language used and dialogue. I also really disliked Jack and Rebecca's toxic relationship, I get she's healing from her own trauma but I hated how she was written and the things she did.

As some others have said, this is a little long for what it is but it's very readable and I flew through it in 24hrs. The mystery and the twists were good, I think I only guessed one of them so that's not bad.

I listened to this one on audio and whilst not my favourite it was still an easy enough listen.

This was a quick and really creepy read. The whole 'Other Mommy' entity really got my skin crawling but I also had some issues with it.

As it's told from Bela's POV, it does get a bit repetitive and samey around the middle.

Also, Ursula (aka real mother) is possibly one of the most unlikeable characters, hearing her constant anger, whining and pity party was nearly unbearable.

I like Josh Malerman's short stories, and I feel like this one could have worked as a novella rather than a full length novel.

I was absolutely gripped by this from start to finish, it was just impossible to stop. It's so tense and it's written in a way where you can't trust a thing anyone says. So so good!

90% of this was an absolute yawnfest, honestly I was so bored. If I had been reading this physically it would have been a DNF, but thank god for audiobooks to power through.

Also WTF was that ending?!

I will continue to see how this ends, but this instalment was not it.

Soft DNF @ 54%

I really enjoyed book 1 in this series, but this felt like a completely different book.

There was a huge time jump between the books with very little explanation of what's happened, then the plot just continues with new characters and new storylines which seem totally disconnected.

Also, unless I missed it, I don't understand why this all powerful sorcerer of worlds seeks out Tyen of all people. He offers to help Vella but there seems to be no explanation as to why, it just seemed odd to me. The whole world skimming, jumping between worlds and mind reading needed fleshed out much more for this to be more enjoyable.

I'm not giving up on the series entirely so may come back to it at some point.

I read Honor by this author and really enjoyed it so wanted to go back and read one of her earlier books, but I really didn't get on with this one.

I liked what it was trying to say but the way it was written was so slow and dragged out, with flashbacks which were way too long. It just felt like a chore to wade through it, and it's not even a long book.

Perhaps I'll stick to ger newer books.

This was good! It was like Midsomer Murders but make it the 1100s 😂

It was short but did a lot in those pages, and I liked the pairing of Barling and Stanton.

I could have done without the horse death but apart from that I really enjoyed it.

This is one of the most dramatic, bloody and exciting periods of English/British history and I always enjoy learning more about it. This book is quite long but it's absolutely fascinating from start to finish.

As others have said, every single character in this book is completely unlikeable and you honestly don't care who made it off the mountain and who didn't.

That said, it's a quick and easy read, so was entertaining for a few hours.

I agree with all of the reviews saying this is a slower paced book, but whilst I usually dislike this, I think my mood was just right to pick this up and I ended up enjoying it.

The settings of The Library and Joanna's home gave me autumnal vibes and I was happy to just go along with the slower pace and soak them in.

I really liked the characters of Nicholas and Collins, they added a more fun element to the story as Joanna and Esther had their own history and issues to deal with.

All in all, I can see how this won't work for everyone, but I think it's worth a try especially at this time of year.

DNF @ 52%

Honestly I kind of hated this and can't bring myself to continue.

I really liked the opening chapter - the way Kes ripped the guy apart by profiling him and calling out his bullshit was good, but honestly that was the only thing I liked. I thought we would have more of Kes using her profiling skills, but it wasn't mentioned again (at least in the half of the book I read).

All of the 'Brandee' video were cringy and repetitive, I just started skipping them as what they covered was just regurgitated in the next Kes chapter anyway so they were pointless.

I didn't like whole backstory of Kes and Jeb - the way they met on a one night stand then he and his wife just happened to come to her for counselling. And the sex scenes were unnecessary and felt completely out of place in the story, as well as them being practically copied and pasted from one to the next.

My breaking point was the whole flashback chapters to Kes starting her 'government job' and the testing/harassment by Dennis. It was just so badly written and unbelievable.

I looked up some spoiler reviews to see how this panned out and I'm happy to DNF this one, it sounds like it just gets more ridiculous as it goes.

It's a shame as this was a first from this author but I'm now so put off trying anything else from her.

Wow, this was so good. Definitely up there with one of my favourite books of the year.

Not only was this great as its own book, but grouped with the first books in the 3 series in the saga released at the same time, it was outstanding.

- Demon (Archives of the Godeater) - 5 stars

- Deathless (Annals of the Godeater) - 4 stars

- Herald (Age of the Godeater) - 5 stars

Although the author recommends reading them in order of Age, Annals, Archives, I read them the other way around and I'm pleased I did, as I feel like I already had some background and depth to the history of the story before we got to this age.

I loved that in each book, we became connected to the characters, only to have our view of them twisted in the next book. Both the humans and the angels have done good things and awful things, so who are the good guys? Neither of them? I think if I'd read Herald first, I wouldn't have these questions which I'm now dying to find out the answers to.

Just now the wait for the second books to come out!

I don't think any of Hallett's books will live up to The Appeal for me, but this one comes in at second place.

The mystery was interesting and there was a great mix of media formats, which is Hallett's way.

I will say even thought it was interesting it did get a little bit sloggy towards the end so was perhaps a bit too long.

This was such a ride from start to finish! It's follows older teens but doesn't pull back on the gory, gritty descriptions. Really enjoyed this for Spooky Season and liked the epilogue giving us a hint into the next book. Can't wait to continue.