Kathrine

I liked this one. Which would be great, except that I wanted to love it. I enjoy a good fairy tale retelling (Beauty by Robin McKinley is by far my favorite). I like when the author gives a typical, heard it a million times story a new spin, especially if that means that the main characters are given some agency or you get a previously unknown point of view. Now granted, Cinderella is not my favorite tale. And really, as far as retellings go, Cinderella has been tugged and stretched and melted down and reformed too many times to count. But this one sounded like maybe Ella had a backbone (like in the movie Ever After, which I love). And she did. Sort of. Mostly. Though not at the beginning and not when her grandmere wandered into the story and certainly not when she was all naivete and forgiving of things she shouldn't have been. Skepticism is not a bad thing, dear Ella. When she did finally shed those rose-colored glasses (the ones over her lavender eyes...purple eyes seem to be thing with this author. I'm not a fan), gathered her fancy tulle and silk and stood up for herself and the people, then I liked her. I admit I cheered when she turned the tables on her would be Prince (not-so) Charming.

My biggest problem and the main reason for only 3 stars was the author's extreme over use of foreshadowing. It's fine if you want to hint that things aren't going to get better before they get worse or that your heroine is going to realize that hindsight is 20/20 a couple of times in your story. It's a whole other issue when you're doing all that every couple of pages. Nothing in the story surprised me because I was well informed that SOMETHING BAD was going to happen. After a while, I just wanted the author get on with the story already.

One of these days I'm going to finish a book I actually, honestly like. Today is not that day.

I had hopes. That first paragraph? That first chapter? Wow. Fantastic. From there though? The timeline rolled back 3 months and it was all downhill. My curiosity while initially piqued, turned into boredom, scoffing and page counting. At first I thought Erin could be (and should have been) an empathetic character. She has a good job. She's engaged, planning wedding to the man she loved. A man who looses his job (which always seemed sketchy, but the author never does anything more than skim over that). And then something goes so horribly wrong that she's googling how to dig a grave. The problem is that somewhere between her crying about only getting a 2 week honeymoon in Bora Bora instead of 3 and her drunkenly opening a bag she had already decided they shouldn't be opening (twice), my brain went “OMG. She's dumber than a box of hair.” So yeah, there went any semblance of empathy.

Yet the hope from the beginning persisted. It had to get better. Right? Yeah. No. Instead the reader was treated to overly detailed EVERYTHING. Don't bother opening Google, just pick up your copy of Something In the Water the next time you want to know anything - and I mean anything - about a Glock. Or selling diamonds. Or how to choose the menu for your wedding reception. None of that mattered all that much in the end. Heck - there are characters - Caro, Alexis - that I still don't know why they're even present. The twist as predictable as it was might have worked if the author had spent a little time making Mark into something other than a 2 dimensional cardboard cut out. Instead if felt rushed and incoherent as the author spent pages explaining (imagine that. More explaining) everything that actually happened and was perpetrated by the real bad guys in order to hand wave all the plot holes.

This one could have been great. Instead I'm left with knowing that 36 cubic feet of soil weighs roughly the same as your average hippopotamus.

hmm...might be a 4.5, but going to leave it at 4 for now. Mostly because I thought the ending kinda fell apart there was also the whole thing with the dog, but we'll leave that alone. You know that saying, "as long as the dog/cat/goldfish/etc. lives..."? Yeah, that's me . I mean, I'm all for happy endings and rainbows and moonbeams and the like, but this felt a little too sugary. The Star Wars themes played, good guys won, the kid who avoided having his picture taken like it was the plague suddenly is front and center, the semi-bad guys were redeemed to became good guys and the un-redeemed (and his parents) slunk away to another school never to scowl at the kind children of Beecher Prep again. Oh and what school administrator asks a 11 year old, without either the parents present or having talked to them first, if he wants to press charges? He's 11. yeah. No.

Up to the 3 days in nature portion, I did enjoy the story. I particularly liked Olivia as narrator, talking about how she had always and would always live in Auggie's shadow and being ok with it even when she wasn't.

OMG. Finally. I thought my eyeballs were never going to get to the last page.

I really don't get all the hype and the gazillion star ratings with this one. Well, I think I kinda get why people would be so head over heals, I-need-all-the-heart-emojis-possible in love with the unrequited love story part. I didn't like it, but I get why some would.

Where this book really fell apart for me was the narration/style. It felt like one of those old VH1 Behind the Music shows only the subject matter wasn't invested in the story being told. Going with the transcript format the author used sucked the emotion out of everything. It was like reading a list you'd take to the grocery store. Take some drugs. Take a bus to (insert city of choice). Write a song. Argue with coworkers. Fly to Europe. Get married. Take drugs. Be drunk. Be sober. Etc. Etc. I kept hoping something in the writing would spark to life. Unfortunately the only thing that sparked to life was my irritation with the characters and why they were even bothering to sit through an interview - especially the self-entitled, all attitude, no substance Daisy.

Maybe the audio version would be better with multiple voices, however I'm not willing to sit through it to find out.

I will admit there were a few really good one liners and a couple of great quotes, but those alone do not make up for everything else.

This one wasn't quite what I expected, it was better. I was expecting a fair amount of Gilmore Girls and I would have been pretty happy with that (loved her commentary on the fashion choices of each season). Instead, this is a fantastic mix of wit, inspiration and straight forward story telling.

A very typical, light, cozy mystery. Nothing ground breaking, nothing shocking and no big twists. The mystery itself was on the weaker side, the red herrings were obvious and the ending didn't connect very well. The characters were for the most part likeable and fun - except when Fran was acting like she as the owner of coffee shop knew how to do an investigation better than the police. Seriously, she needed to binge watch a few episodes of Law and Order or Perry Mason or Columbo (or any other detective show out there) before going out and buying her cute little notebook. But other than that, the writing was good and it was nice to read a cozy mystery that isn't set in the some where in the south.

Really this 2.5 rounded up to 3 stars, because wow did that feel like it took forever to get through.

I wanted to love this book. So much. From the moment I read a review months ago (before it was named any book club's pick). I even specifically made a trip to the book store to pick a hard copy when I saw that not only did they have only 1 in stock at the time, but it was also a signed copy. I mean it's a a book about books and libraries. Why wouldn't I want to love it.

Unfortunately, love is not the word I'd use to describe my reading experience. Sure there were points that I really liked it and there were parts that I enjoyed. But the meandering path that the narrative took to get from beginning to end was excruciating. It felt like one of those Family Circus comics where Billy takes the longest, most out of the way routes to get from A to B. Part of that I blame on the PR and dust jacket descriptions that made it sound like this books mostly focused on the 1986 fire at Los Angeles' Central Library. Made it sound like this was a cold case, an unsolvable mystery with some other anecdotal information thrown in. Starting out that's what it was. The focus was on the fire and what happened that day; how it was buried in the news cycle because bigger news happened a world away. And then the author made a hard left turn into tangent-ville. There's a section on the history of book burning (which, ok I can kind of see that connection, but there was too much). Then there's all the stuff on the history of the LA library system and how it's changed and how it all works today. So much so that we went huge section of the book without even a side mention of the fire, Harry Peak, the investigation, the lawsuits etc. But I also put some of the blame on the author. I know she loves using note cards to organize her thoughts/narrative order, but it seemed there was no order. One page she's talking about the fire, 3 pages later she's talking about interviewing a current librarian about their new social program and 10 pages after that she's babbling in great detail about what happened in 1923. It was that minutia on things that didn't matter to the over all story that left me not feeling bad about putting the book down.

While I appreciate the vast amount of research the author accumulated and I understand wanting to use as much of it as possible, I feel this was really two books that shouldn't have been squished into one.

Every time I pick up an author who leans toward (or is firmly planted) the romance genre, I think maybe this one will click. Maybe I won't hate every character. Maybe I won't need to bring the sarcasm when doing updates or writing a review. Most of the time - probably good 95% - my optimism plummets and the sarcasm knows no bounds. Such is the case with All Your Perfects. I had a feeling I wasn't going to be a fan just from skimming through all the reviews that were all “I'm crying” “went through a whole box of tissues” and “this one crushed my soul and than ran over it with a mac truck.” mmmhmmm. Yep. Look at all those red flags waving in the wind. But I tried to keep an open mind. And at first I admit I was doing ok with it. Particularly the early meet cute for Quinn and Graham. And then whiny, should be talking to a psychologist about her depression Quinn showed up in the present day. After that it was struggle for me to get through all the suffering done by Quinn, because why give your heroine one problem when you can give her five horrible, awful things she doesn't want to deal with (and don't get me started on the polar opposite support characters used to prop up and tear down the main couple). All this seemed to go on and on until the last 30 or so pages, where suddenly glittery rainbows and oozy cheesiness dripped all over everything in order to wrap up every story thread in a cute, happy little bow.

This one just wasn't for me.

Years later, the abrupt suspended in mid-air ending still bothers me. Knowing there's three more books in the series helps make sense of it (to a point...sigh...I've read a few reviews), but I've yet to read those.

I listened to the audiobook this time around and enjoyed it. Ron Rifkin's reading was even keeled and at times fun. (honestly, his name appearing as the narrator in the library description was what made me hit the borrow button as scrolled through available audiobooks at my library) Maybe I'll go that route with the next one in the series.

Dear Dulcie,

For the love of the book gods, shut the hell up and go to sleep.

Thanks.


Maybe if she had done that instead of talking (thinking) in circles about who could possibly be the mole/saboteur I might have liked this book better. Less whining. Less repetition. Less me thinking Dulcie is a judgmental and incompetent moron. And maybe, just maybe there would have been some kind of event to move the overall story forward. As it is, I feel like this book left off in the same place it started. Nowhere.

On one hand there are no words. On the other, LOTS of words come to mind. None of them are complimentary.

Dumb. Stupid. Ridiculous. Shallow. Trite. Horrible plotting. Eye-rollingly bad. Worst use of Rom-Com Tropes ever.

This author is not a regular read for me. They aren't my cup of tea (never mind I have a large soft spot for Hallmark holiday movies and a few are based on this author's works). But I like holiday theme stories around the holidays. I know, I know. It's post holidays. But I'd forgotten I put this one on hold at the library and then it popped up as available and I thought why not. I really should have read a few other reviews and saved myself the trouble.

I mean seriously, the main characters were named Dash and Ash (well, Ashley...but still). That should have been my first red flag. But other than that it started out with your average, general tropey-ness. Forced by “comical” (I use that term lightly, because despite what the author said, I didn't laugh out loud) circumstances, our romantic heroes are forced to road trip together. Which could be fun. Except it's not. There's a do not fly order (that no one knows about), an abandoned puppy, a biker gang, teenage license plate thieves, a mechanic who thought he was abducted by aliens and the most inept FBI agents ever found on the written page. Argh. Just thinking about the whole stupid FBI plot makes me want to throw something. I've seen soap operas handle FBI plots better than this. It says a lot that I was more irritated by the agents in pursuit than I was by the idiot babbling on about his wife who he left on another planet.

But of course by the last page mistakes have been acknowledged. Job interviews have been missed but feelings have been spoken out loud. And everyone is off to enjoy a happy Christmas dinner with their loved ones. One big, neat, tidy red bow. Easily forgettable, which is probably for the best.

Huh? I know I haven't read the first book in the series, but this is only book 2. One whould be able to figure out the generalities easily enough.

That was a whole lot of shopping (and useless banal facts) for a mystery. Normally I like the book shots, but this one doesn't make me want to go back and find book #1.

psst...wanna hear a secret?...looking at other reviews, it's not going to be a popular response...I kinda hate Evie. As a posthumous narrator, she's the chipper-est (I'm making that a word for this review), full of sunshine and sparkly champagne, limp noodle of a character. Which also makes her the most boring, naive, dumber than a rock narrator to grace the books I read this year. Which was incredibly disappointing given how much I was looking forward to reading this book.

See, I adore epistolary fiction. It's fun. Chapters are short. You get multiple view points. In this one, Evie was supposed to be this great writer and yet all her letters felt simple and naive, even as the war drug on. And then there were her columns, which at best were contradictory. One moment she's bemoaning about not really knowing what the boys were in France fighting for in her letters to Tom (ya know, because the rich little girl can't get her way travel right then) and the next she's going on in her column about all the things they were fighting for and how the rest of the population should support them. At least I think they did - I admit to mostly skimming through the included columns after I realized that had no impact on the plot whatsoever. Mostly they were just another way for dear little Evie to make herself feel important (which ended up being a theme, whether intended or not). Throughout the whole thing Evie acted/wrote like war was some kind of grand adventure. Even when she joined the WAACs, she still acted like it was some great adventure. War is not.

I couldn't help but wish that Alice had been the central character in this book.

Cute enough for what it is, but not my favorite holiday short story.

I was skeptical going in, but it was Christmas themed and not a gazillion hours long and it was still available at my library. It wasn't terrible, but alternated between overly sentimental and depressing. The writing was very mediocre and simplistic. The end message was nice and approriate for the season, it just felt like it took forever to get to that end.

Read this one completely out of order...But it was one of the few holiday themed books that was still available at my library through Overdrive. I like the Spenser series, so I thought why not. There really wasn't much Christmas in the story - it was more a time and place than a story element. Actually that was kinda nice - so many Christmas-ish stories are maudlin, sappy or overly emotional. I came to think of this as a book equivalent of Die Hard (which is a Christmas movie in my world). While maybe not the best Spenser story, it's a fun break from the usual fare this time of year.

Four stars (at least for now), thought it's probably closer to 3.5. Book 4 of this series and I still adore Charley. Well, mostly. I could have done without her sudden penchant for naming everything. and I mean everything. The fact that the author manages to cover so many story arcs without any of them feeling shoehorned in or tissue paper thin is a huge accomplishment. Really my favorite characters (and this happens a lot for me) are the side characters - Cookie, Aunt Lil, Rocket, etc. All of them were their usual fun selves this go round.

But here's the thing...I hate Reyes. Like A Lot. And that Charley follows him around like a lost puppy. Happy to get any scraps he tosses her way. Even those that include more pain and trouble than she shouldn't have to deal with. I'm not even sure what it is exactly about the guy that makes me hate him (well other than he walks all over our favorite PI and apparently enjoys being vague about everything). I like other male characters that this author writes - Garrett, Uncle Bob, Donovan, heck even Dylan the deaf teen in this installment was fun - so it's not that. I just don't like Reyes. And if he disappeared from the series tomorrow (I know, I know. NOT happening) I can't say I'd be sad.

I go back and forth on how much I like this series. Some times (like in book 2) I down right love it and other times I seriously ask myself why I bother. But mostly I liken these books to being the literary equivalent of cotton candy. Light, fluffy, impossible to take seriously but they have plot (even if predictable) and they keep me engaged when I don't want to read anything heavy. Because sometimes you need that. Whiskey, You're the Devil falls squarely into that category.

I know this series gets compared A LOT with the Plum series and rightly so. Plots are similar, there's a similar cast of characters, there's even...sigh...the potential love triangle. I hate triangles. That's probably why I was thrilled when the author had Addison make a choice and stick with it. Or at least I thought she had. There seemed to be an attempt to walk that back in this book. Fingers crossed that this walk back gets walked back because this series doesn't need a triangle. (I honestly liked the Phoebe/Savage pairing).

Merged review:

I go back and forth on how much I like this series. Some times (like in book 2) I down right love it and other times I seriously ask myself why I bother. But mostly I liken these books to being the literary equivalent of cotton candy. Light, fluffy, impossible to take seriously but they have plot (even if predictable) and they keep me engaged when I don't want to read anything heavy. Because sometimes you need that. Whiskey, You're the Devil falls squarely into that category.

I know this series gets compared A LOT with the Plum series and rightly so. Plots are similar, there's a similar cast of characters, there's even...sigh...the potential love triangle. I hate triangles. That's probably why I was thrilled when the author had Addison make a choice and stick with it. Or at least I thought she had. There seemed to be an attempt to walk that back in this book. Fingers crossed that this walk back gets walked back because this series doesn't need a triangle. (I honestly liked the Phoebe/Savage pairing).

An average Fox and O'Hare/Janet Evanovich novel. It followed the usual story set up with hijinks and humor. Made for a decent no thought required read.

Supposedly this is book 3 in Baldacci's Will Robie series. I say supposedly because it felt more like the Jessica Reel show. Or maybe Jessica and Friends. There were after all the usual supporting characters, like Julie and Jerome. But Robie always seemed to take a backseat to Reel no matter what. While I appreciate the character building that continues from the previous installments, it needed more balance.

It also felt like Baldacci went with Patterson's “Look how many plots I can shove into a book” method of writing. The answer to that statement is TOO MANY. First there was the Robie/Reel vs the higher up at the agency. Then there was the Neo-Nazi plot that lead to the kidnapping plot, which lead to the Reel deals with her past (for now) plot resolution. All the while there's a couple of North Korean plots - in the past and present. And then there's the President does something incredibly stupid that puts a target on the backs of his love ones plot, followed by the big chase/explosion/shootout and tying most everything up in a neat bow. Even half of all of that should have been enough plot to fill the pages of this book.

Still, I enjoyed the Robie/Julie relationship as usual. She's probably the most real person in his life.

Hopefully the next book cuts back on the number of plots and puts more focus back on Robie.

Another good installment in the Henry Bins series. Maybe not quite as strong as the first two. I felt like the whole lost in Alaska/earthquake survivor/crazy dream thing went on a little too long. I was questioning everything - the author kept me on my toes - as Henry's narrative felt very real but then I'd read the time stamps and think something was off. But then Henry and his trek would distract me. Basic gist: Mommy dearest is evil. Period. I thought that before with the revelations in 3:10, but now there isn't even a sliver of doubt. But of course I'm going to read part 4...and hope that Henry's dad didn't know a whole lot about what his wife did.

I wasn't sure what to expect when I picked this one up. I'd seen numerous great reviews, a lot of “you've got to read this” and it kept making book club lists. Most everywhere, people were raving about it. And what do you know, they were right. Full of charm, humor and a bit of sadness. Well paced and well drawn characters. Bonus points to the author because I didn't quite catch the big twist until a comment Raymond made after Eleanor started therapy.

ummm, ok? I mean I'm not the biggest HP fan. I like the books well enough (I think a couple of them needed a good editor. Just because you can use 7 words when you only really need 2, doesn't mean you should). But this was honestly kind of boring. And that's with me choosing to listen to the audio version - the one with spiffy sound effects and read by Eddie Redmayne. I'd be half listening and then suddenly there'd be a squawk or screech that made me jump. So I guess that was exciting. But without all that, had I been turning the pages of an actual book, I'm pretty sure I would have been bored.

Crazy, ridiculous, fun read. The best part? That Henry speaks fluent Cat. His conversations with Lassie, while completely requiring a very large suspension bridge of disbelief, kinda, sorta ring true. As anyone owned by a feline knows. The part where we (and Henry) found out that the apartment had been bugged felt a little too far past believable knowing what we know about the comings and goings of Henry's family and friends. And the revelation about his mother was not so shocking....well the revelation about whether she's still breathing oxygen wasn't. But that part about her possibly conditioning Henry to only be awake for an hour a day, as test run for torture was I'll forgive all that though because the rest was fun. Now on to book 3.

Yawn. Have to say that was my least favorite Reacher book that I've read to date. As evidenced by how long it took me to get through it. Had a very been there, done that vibe about it. Even the bad guys were mind numbingly dull. Not one of the characters was drawn deeper than teacup saucer. I'd write more in the way of a review, but I honestly don't remember much about any of it.

Hopefully this was a one off stumble and the next Reacher novel is better.