Emily

Exactly the amount of information you need without a drop of fluff. Very well thought out training plan!

Devastating.

A few too many characters from the earlier and later books conveniently popped up to make it entirely believable, but otherwise excellent.

If you like horror that is more a bout the depravity of humanity than the actual monsters, this is a good one. A non-spoiler heads up that I didn't anticipate from the blub/other reviews: half the book is in the POV of the sex offender. It's very well done, but still deeply disturbing and not something I particularly appreciated being surprised by.

After how much I enjoyed rereading the original trilogy as an adult, I felt this book fell flat in comparison. I guess ultimately I don't really see the point -- I felt that the themes it explored were very clearly covered in the original trilogy and the information on the early Hunger Games wasn't that interesting. I also have some major issues with the timeline and pacing of the book -- it was so slow at first and seemed like it was going to be much more of a character exploration than an action packed book, and then at the end events were so rushed that we never got to fully explore why certain characters made the choices they did!

Also, there is nothing that can make me believe Lucy Gray was only 16. 18 I could maybe have seen, but 16? No way.

My biggest disappointment was how little time the book covered for as long as it was. I desperately wanted to know what made Tigris hate Snow so much in Mockingjay, but it never even remotely came up.

Katniss. I get where she's coming from and why she's backslid so badly mentally, but good lord that was an unpleasant slog to read.

Still four stars because Collin's thoughts on war and trauma are spot on.

A rare YA book that reads even better as an adult. I remember being so frustrated with Katniss the first time I read it, and I think I just wasn't old enough to recognize how traumatized she is and how inaccurate her interpretations of events are.

Truly a classic, The Hunger Games holds up beautifully to rereading, both in terms of its message still (unfortunately) being highly relevant and in terms of rereading a book I first encountered as a teen as an adult. I think I even like it more as an adult than I did as a teen.

The good:

• Fascinating world, extremely creative. I really appreciated how the author thought through and modified swearing, idioms, etc, to more accurately fit the creatures in this world.
• Very intriguing plot which kept me guessing the whole time.
• Competent, reasonably funny characters who were enjoyable to read. People who like witty banter will like this one.

The less good:

• The character voices weren't as distinct as I'd have liked. At one point I had to put the book down mid-chapter and when I came back I had to go back several pages to determine whose viewpoint I was reading. I give a slight pass to this given how many viewpoint characters there were -- it's not great, but with that many characters, it's more understandable it would be with just two or three.
• The "I suddenly understood what was going on after seeing something new, but I'm not going to tell you what I saw or what it means" thing was kinda okay for building tension the first time. By the third it was absolutely infuriating. Thankfully it was confined to the last third of the book so I didn't have to put up with it long.

The upshot: I need the next book now, please.

Solid urban fantasy.

I found it rather heavy handed with the message, though I think that's more because I am older than the target audience than because it's actually an issue. The weird romance was totally out of place and rather counter to the rest of the message that was being so heavily beaten over our heads, so that was an odd choice. I can only conclude that someone in the publishing house said that all books aimed at teen girls have to have romance in them. On the plus side, it was very hard to put down.

Not as funny as the main strip, and really doesn't add that much to the characters' backgrounds. I'm glad to have it for completeness sake, but if you're looking for a prequel to the main strip, Start of Darkness will definitely give you more insight into the background of the comic than On the Origin of PCs.

Stayed up way too late because I couldn't put it down.

Not over-the-top ridiculous and kept me guessing until the end. Holahan walked the fine line of making characters understandable and sometimes likeable, while giving everyone valid motives for murder. I'll definitely be reading more of her books in the future.

I was a little concerned at first since the first chapter was very basic for my knowledge level, however once it got into the creatures, I learned a lot. I particularly liked the emphasis on tracing how the folklore changed over time. I would have liked to see more creatures included, but that's a minor complaint.

DNF a few chapters in. I'm sad about this one - the premise is cool and I really want to know more about the magic, but I'm having the hardest time with the writing. Somehow the sentences never seem to go where I'm expecting and I have to stop and reread multiple times within a single paragraph to actually understand what the author is describing. I'm sure it's a great book for the right reader, but I am definitely not that reader.

I'm torn on how to rate this one. 95% of it is 5 stars, fantastic, then the ending just...ended. All neatly tied up, one simple action and everything is solved, no more danger. It's really thrown off my whole experience with the book.

Still very much worth reading for Grant's take on the ecology of mermaids!

Equal parts hilarious and infuriating. 5 stars.

I would have liked a bit more detail on some of the topics, though I understand the author's intent was to show the massive breadth of the issue rather than do a deep delve.

One of my all time favorites.

A decent enough mystery/thriller. I would have liked it if we'd been able to spend more time on the mystery of who is telling the truth and what is going on with the other guests. Personally I felt it was a bit over the top once the titular mystery was revealed. That being said, I did enjoy it.

A little bit ridiculous, highly entertaining, and quite funny. I love Mrs Polifax's attitude and resourcefulness - this is a spy novel I can get behind!

I was a little bit hesitant to read this book since I tend to prefer the writing in newer books, but despite it's age it was easy and quick to read. Some elements are dated, of course, but nothing too bad.

This has been my favorite fantasy world since I first read it, and it stands up to rereads. 4.5 stars only because the latter two in the series are better.

I would have liked to see some more concrete examples of what a series of missions might look like. That being said, I can understand the decision to avoid adding anything that someone might attempt to copy blindly rather than tailoring for the dog in front of them.

Overall, I feel much more prepared for separation anxiety cases!

Note: this book is definitely aimed at dog behavior professionals, not the general public.