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I received a copy of this via NetGalley, for an honest review.

My expectations for this book were incredibly high. I loved the first book, especially the last bit where Herlock and Lupin met, and I was really looking forward to this one.

Unfortunately, I wasn't blown away by it as I thought I would be. The first story wasn't very entertaining to me. Herlock and Lupin's interactions were amazing and I absolutely loved how cheeky Lupin was. That being said, I found the actual crime not interesting at all and both Herlock and Wilson were very dense. When he wasn't talking to Lupin, Herlock acted just like the silly detectives that were trying to catch Lupin instead of a real match for the Thief.

The second story, on the other hand, was more interesting. Again, Herlock and Lupin's showdown was wonderful and I loved how Lupin teased Herlock about their roles being switched.

Good but not as good as I expected.

I received a copy of this via NetGalley, for an honest review.I quite enjoyed this book. The characters felt very real to me and, being a teacher as well, I felt identified with Laura a lot. Her struggles with teaching and class management were much greater than mine but I could see myself in her shoes.I found the storytelling to be very unique and a bit confusing at times. The narration switches perspectives as well as format and timelines. Even though I had to put it down a few times, I enjoyed it.

As any collection of short stories, there were some better than others but overall, I enjoyed this book. It was perfect for this time of year for me because I had to prepare exams and classes, so I was able to read one or two in between college and work.

Mostly all the stories revolved around women. They were either the main characters or the ones that caused a greater effect on the protagonists. I quite enjoyed the different kind of women that Philippa Gregory created and I rooted for them and felt identified with a few of them.

As regards writing, I continue to find Gregory interesting. I've read one of her historical novels and was completly inmmersed in the story, the characters and the historical period. She has a way with words that enages the reader quite fast. That's why in a few stories where the plotline was completly unappealing or boring, I found myself reading on just because of the writing style.

My favourite were The Favour, The Conjuring Trick (I was very surprised to find her writing something like that but it was VERY good), The Wave Machine (this one was very sweet) and Going Downriver.

3.5
Having watched the film first, I knew more or less the sequence of events and more importantly, the ending, which still doesn't satisfy me.
It was hard for me to connect with Thomas as a main character because of his “curiosity”. I was overwhelmed with his non-stop questioning. I'm glad a few characters pointed that out but I'd have appreciated it more if the author had edited him a bit. Also, his relationship with Teresa felt really forced to me.

That being said, the other characters were quite fun to read, especially Minho, and there was plenty of action to keep me hooked.

I don't feel like I need to read the other books ASAP, despite the cliffhanger, but I will continue the trilogy in the future.

I went into this book a bit worried because I wasn't sure if the same formula that generally works on TV would still work on paper. Also, The Weeping Angels are my favourite villains/monsters whatever you called them, and I feared that they wouldn't be used as effectively as in the show.

Luckily, I was proven wrong. It felt as I was reading a longer episode from the show. The author did a wonderful job making the Angels as creepy in book form as they are in TV form. Even though there were a lot of everyday events described in the book, they helped to build the relationship between the characters and make the reader feel more attached to them.

I especially enjoyed that the narrator was an omniscient one and took turns in describing all the characters' feelings in the different situations. Rory continues to be my favourite and I felt that he was very well portrayed.

Finally, the humour was spot on. I appreciated the little comedy relief moments, especially with a heart-breaking storyline as this one. The jokes were quite good and the references both to the show and pop culture (Back to The Future reference WOOHOO!) made me squee like the little fangirl I am.

As I said, I wasn't expecting much but I was very pleased with it. I really want to get my hands on some of the 10 stories now.

More of a 3.5.
The story was interesting and I liked Ig. He sometimes drove me off the wall but he wasn't a bad “hero” I especially appreciated that he got powers to do some serious damage and he didn't. Mostly.
The problem was that Hill got too wordy for me. I felt like there were scenes in the book that dragged on or there were flashbacks in the middle of the action.

Quite enjoyed it though and I'll try to read Joe Hill's other work.

A World Without Heroes is more of a 3.5 book for me. The main idea for the story was quite interesting as well as the characters. But I wasn't entirely hooked by this book. I often felt like some scenes were made longer for no purpose at all and then, there was A LOT of action to make up for it. That's why there were times when I couldn't put the book down and others that I just couldn't care less about reading
.
It's a shame because both the idea for the story and the characters were very ingenious. Jason was a great main character and Maldor a believable villain. The side characters were also very interesting but sometimes the ongoing introduction of new characters made me feel a bit overwhelmed.

I did not like the ending AT ALL. It was something to expect from a character like Maldor but still felt too cruel. As I said, I'm not that invested in this book to jump right into the second book but I'll definitely finish the trilogy in the future.

Stephen King is definitely my favourite author. I am always blown away by his creativity and his ability to always re-invent himself. Even though he is best known for his horror stories, he does write outside that genre and very well indeed, in my opinion.

That doesn't mean I didn't have any issues with this book. As with Scarlet, the way the main character Dolores spoke made it very hard to get into the story. Unlike Scarlet, Dolores' speech was consistent and it did seem genuine.

My other problem was the focus of the story. Dolores promised to talk about a murder but instead, rambled on describing Vera's life and personality. Mind you, it was very interesting but I was looking forward to read about Dolores' life and not Vera's. Once the narrative started to focus more on Dolores, I was completely hooked.

This book was suggested on the back of my copy of Rose Madder and I'm glad I picked it up. My main issue with Rose Madder was that the wonderful and very engaging premise was spoiled by the supernatural aspect. There was no supernatural aspect in this book, which made me enjoy this one a lot more than Rose Madder.

Dark Victory is a direct sequel to The Long Halloween. To be honest, I didn't feel as it was very necessary. The story is practically the same as The Long Halloween but instead of leaving totems to represent the holidays, the killer leaves hangman notes.

The execution is practically the same as in its predecessor. There are several suspects and Batman and the police go from suspect to suspect, never being sure who the real culprit is. One by one, the most known villains in the Batman universe appear to create a distraction in the investigation and there is no significant development or backstory to any of them.

When it comes to the characters, Dent continues to be very interesting. We see the changes in his personality after becoming Two-Face and how he stills struggles with the idea of right and wrong. In this comic, Robin is introduced but I wasn't happy with it. His introduction seemed rushed, with not much time used to develop his story arc. I liked how they tried to draw a parallel to young Bruce, though. Gordon becomes more of a minor character. He doesn't do much to push the investigation forward, which bothered me a lot. He fades into the background and is forgettable.

I was a bit disappointed with this comic. I wished there was more time devoted to Robin's story, since it was his introduction. But it made me want to learn more about him as well as Catwoman.

In The Long Halloween we get to see the downfall of Harvey Dent and how he ultimately becomes Two-Face. I was never very interested in Dent or Two-Face, to be honest, and the Batman Forever film might be to blame.

However, in this comic I found Dent to be a fascinating character. You can see how the perversion of the city gets to him little by little. It's difficult for me not to compare the stories with Year One because it was the first one I've ever read but, in my opinion, Harvey's feelings, seeing how his city is getting more rotten by the day, are very similar to how Gordon felt as he moved to Gotham in Year One. That despair and the sense that nothing can be done to change the ways of Gotham are what finally breaks Dent.

I also liked the side characters in the story. Barbara and Gilda help us get a glimpse of the effect all the killings had on Gordon and Dent. Alfred continues to be awesome and I keep wondering why the title of the world's greatest detective is not given to him, instead of Bruce.

The mystery part of the story didn't appeal to me as much as seeing how Dent's character develops throughout the comic. As it happened before, I felt the investigations are an excuse to see the characters' reactions and interactions and did not interest me as much. Even though I wasn't as interested in the mystery aspect, I was still trying to figure out who the culprit was and I love the plot twists at the end.

Year One finishes with Gordon mentioning an attack that was going to happen at the hands of a man who calls himself The Joker. The Man Who Laughs picks up from there and I have to say that didn't enjoy this story as much as Year One.

There is still a double narrative, changing perspectives between Gordon and Batman, but I found that everything I liked about Gordon's character in the previous story was not present in this one. Batman was more on the front of the action and he truly took charge of the situations.

As regards The Joker, I wasn't really impressed with his introduction. As he often gets the title of Batman main rival, I was expecting a more grandiloquent story and this wasn't the case.

However, I quite enjoyed the second story Made of Wood. In this one, Batman teams up with Green Lantern to find copy-cat murderer who is killing the same way as serial killer did ten years before. Green Lantern was an interesting character to read and I liked that we got flashbacks to the previous investigation as well as Batman and Lantern current investigation. In this story, Gordon has an active role again, which I appreciate very much.

Overall, I liked the stories but I was expecting more.

This is the very first comic I have ever read and I really loved it!
My main concern with comics is that I'm always worried about not being able to follow the different panels of the pages, especially when there is a fight scene happening, but I did not feel lost at all with this one. I was very invested in the story and, fortunately, had no problems with the panels at all.

The characters drew me in immediately. I have always been fascinated with Batman and all the sides there are to him but I found myself longing for the Gordon's side of the story more than Bruce's. Gordon had his flaws but grew throughout the comic, becoming more confident and comfortable with his decisions. I was also impressed with how much he stood out, he wasn't just waiting around for Batman to appear and help him, just the opposite; he got things done.

Even though I was captivated by Gordon's storyline, Bruce's side was very interesting as well. I really liked being in his head, to see his fears and doubts. It made him human and less the superhero with cool phrases I'm used to.

Alfred continues to be awesome and sassy in all the versions I come in contact with.
I also really liked the appearances of known characters of the Batman universe, as well as, references to other DC comics (Alfred teasing Bruce with Superman was awesome).

As regards the pacing, I thought it was very well done. I wasn't that much bothered with the events but more of the characters' reactions to them. I was more interested in how fighting thugs and small gangs help Bruce understand how his new life as Batman should be and how clashing with the other cops help Gordon realize what he needed to do to be a cop in Gotham.

Also, I really appreciated that there weren't any of the major villains and the story was focused on how Bruce perfected the Batman act. After all, he decided to become a “vigilante” to fight off the mops and gangs, not the psychopaths.

Year one is a very engaging comic with very interesting characters. I'm definitely going to read more of Batman comics.

I really wanted to love this book but it just wasn't the case. The premise sounded amazing- a bad-ass girl dressed up as a boy to be a part of Robin Hood's gang, how awesome is that? But to me, everything in this book felt forced.

Starting off with the way she talked. She was supposed to talk with ungrammatical sentences and slang but she would talk SOMETIMES like an illiterate and sometimes like a proper lady. It made it so hard for me to get into the story because her narrative voice didn't feel genuine to me. It can be argued that it was done on purpose because of what is revealed later on but still, it was so difficult to get invested in the story with an inconsistency like that.

Then, the romance. It was more than obvious that she was going to have a thing for Robin but was it really necessary to have a love triangle? It was so very much like insta-love and, like I mentioned before, very forced.

And lastly, the villain. Gisbourne felt like a cartoon villain. There was no middle ground with him and nothing he did was justified. It would have been nice to see some insight on why he felt he needed to do what he did or at least, some more backstory.

The pacing was ok. There was some action, which I quite enjoyed and found refreshing after chunks of the romantic aspect of the story.
Quite disappointed with this book but it was still enjoyable, especially towards the end.

I completely feel in love with the characters and the story! I really wanted to read some crime/mystery story and this one was the perfect one!

I didn't like Daisy at first; I thought she was a spoiled brat, who used other people to her advantage, but I was surprised to see how her character developed. She grew quite a bit throughout the story and I was very pleased to see that. She was still very pushy by the end of the book but at least she showed that she was sorry to put her friend in that position.

Hazel, on the other hand, was great in my opinion! I loved her narrative voice and comments. I got angry every time someone would mention her country or her nationality. That is the only negative point I have with this book.

The rest of the characters were very entertaining to read and I imagined Miss Griffin to talk and move just like Lady Bracknell from The Importance of Being Earnest.

As regards the story, I thought it was very interesting, especially the setting. Boarding schools seem to be the perfect place to have an adventure but they also sound so creepy! I'm glad I never got to attend to one myself. The mystery aspect was VERY good, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Also, I love all the little references to other crime stories and characters.

“Miss Marple!” hissed Daisy under her breath. “Holmes and Watson, if you please.”

I received a copy of this via NetGalley, for an honest review.

A wonderful wonderful read. Lupin has been compared to Sherlock Holmes a lot and I truly believe Lupin to be superior. He's witty, intelligent and charming and even though he's a bad guy, one can't help but love him.

In this book, each chapter describes a mini story, which is related and intertwined with the main story arc. As it is the case with most of collections, there were some stories better than others.
The first 4 chapters were HIGHLY entertaining. I really like the fact that sometimes, the reader could not tell who the narrator was up till almost the end of the story.
The chapters in the middle dragged a bit, with cases that were not very appealing to me. Finally, in the last chapter, we are introduced to Herlock Holmes. I love how cheeky Lupin was to Herlock and I cannot wait to see them meet again.

I received this in Spanish from Netgalley and the only thing I could criticize is the translation. There were times were the dialogues were very confusing and the choice of words didn't feel natural, which distracted me from the story.

Having heard so much about Lupin before reading something by Leblanc, I was afraid that I had set my expectations too high and the character wouldn't be as great as I was hoping him to be. I'm happy to say that I was pleasantly surprised.

I received a copy of this via NetGalley, for an honest review.

New favourite!

The idea for this book and the relationship between the characters were extremely interesting. I love how Victoria Schwab took a premise, people with superpowers, which is more or less done a thousand times before and made it different and unique.

The characters are so messed up but I appreciated that you got to see why they are that way and actually care for them. Sydney is my favourite along with Victor. I know Victor is considered to be the villain in the story but I just don't see him like that (I love him ok? Shush).

As regards the plot, there was always something to keep you engaged. There was plenty of action but also character development and backstory with the flashbacks. I was always wanting to read more, especially with the mini cliffhangers at the end of some chapters.

I don't know what else to say but just tell you to read it. Vicious is fun, exciting and very unique.

This anthology was quite solid. I enjoyed all the stories, with the exception of one or two, and it was a wonderful to the genre.

My favourite story has to be Steam Girl by Dylan Horrocks but I also really liked the story by Libba Bray (The Last Ride of the Glory Girls), the one by Cory Doctorow (Clockwork Fagin) and the one by Ysabeau S. Wilce (Hand in Glove).

Horrocks created a wonderful narrator and made it so easy to connect with him. I was captivated by Steam girl's adventures and all her gadgets and couldn't help but to relate them with Doctor Who episodes I seem to do that quite often . The story was very entertaining and witty, had a bit of romance but it didn't seem forced at all. I didn't want this short story to finish and I'd love to read more things by Dylan Horrocks.

Hand in Glove was very weird crime story and even though the steampunk element was very similar to another story, the way the story was displayed and the characters were quite interesting.

Clockwork Fagin I think must be my second favourite. Like all the other kids in the orphanage, Monty caught my attention right away. His behaviour and inventive were wonderful to read. I was very engaged with the story and couldn't wait to see how the events would unfold.

However, I was very disappointed with Cassandra Clare's story, especially since she is famous for her steampunk series. The idea for the story seemed really silly and the steampunk elements weren't as interesting or out of the ordinary as other stories. On top of that, hers is the first story in the book and to me, it felt like a wrong start.


All in all, it was a very entertaining read. I didn't know what to expect because it was an impulse buy but I was pleasently surprised.

By the time I finished the first chapter of this book, I had fallen in love with Victoria Schwab's writing and world building. The concept is very appealing to me and Schwab was able to develop the story, the characters and the world in a very interesting and compelling way.
 
As regards characters, I felt that all of them were very relatable and their reactions to the events that unfold throughout the book were very realistic. I connected with Mackenzie and her mourning right away and also loved how badass she could get. Wes and Rolland I keep picturing him as 10 were definitely my favourites.
 
The only thing I wasn't completely happy about was the love triangle. It could be said that it had to some extend a purpose for the story but Mackenzie's relationship with Owen seem rushed and unrealistic to me.
 
Other than that, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I had high expectations for it and they were all met. It had a good story, an interesting premise, well-rounded characters and quite a lot of action. I'm definitely looking forward to reading more of Victoria Schwab's books, especially Vicious that sounds amazing!

It was ok.

Rowell's story telling is very engaging and she creates cute love stories. But I could never quite get over the premise of this book. The idea of having someone reading personal emails, granted the girls shouldn't have been using their work email to discuss personal issues, still appears weird to me. Whenever a character in the book would bring up the creepiness of Lincoln's job, I couldn't help but agreeing with them.

That made it very hard to connect with the characters, no matter how cute and nice Lincoln was or how funny and amusing the relationship between the girls was.

It was a quick and entertaining read with some relateable characters but the plot was a bit creepy for me.

The story in this book was very interesting. The magic elements in it were quite interesting too but the writing sometimes dragged on a bit. I felt that, even though it was beautifully written, there were passages that were unnecessarily and painfully long.As regards characters, it took me a bit to like Alexandra, the main character, and I started to like her more at about the middle, almost end, of the book. The male characters were very likeable, especially Gabriel, who I fell in love with. The villain for this one was amazing! She reminded me so much of the villains in old Disney movies. Her relationship and rivalry with Alexandra was one of my favourite things to read in the bookAlthough the plot was interesting and that I read it quite fast, I'm not completely blown away by this story. Maybe I set my expectations too high and they were simply not met. I'd like to read the author's other work, though.

This is the first book I ever read for a book club and I think that was the reason for my initial excitement. After discussing it, I've decided to lowered the ranking from 3.5 to 3.

I was engaged in the story throughout the whole book, which is why I practically finished it in one sitting, but, as we dicussed in the book club, there were still certain issues with it.

The characters were more like caricatures, especially Angela, and I didn't see any development in them whatsover. Many of Kami's reactions and her treatment to the side characters, Holly and Ash, left a bad taste in my mouth. I appriciate that she was confronted about it by other characters at least.

I did like the humour and I haven't read anything like it as regards the supernatural aspect so I quite enjoy that too.

The ending was a bit flat for me and Jared's reaction to the final outcome made me really mad. All in all, I enjoy it but had a few issues with it. I might pick up the second book later, just to see what happens next.

A very action-packed book, so much so that it seemed a bit overwhelming at times. I definitely will re-read it some time in the future so I can be able to grasp everything that was going.

The story was very interesting and funny. Douglas Adams's writing was very engaging, filled with humour. Even though the story is set in space, Adams was able to incorporate criticism to every day situations with great sarcasm too. (The appearance of the Philosophers was hilarious! The whole bureaucracy situation and the description of the President of the Universe were very funny too)

It reminded me very much of a Doctor Who episode. There is always a lot going on, quite a lot of space/science jargon, crazy situations as well as crazy creatures with a touch of humour and with a character from Earth that helps the audience keep up with the craziness.

Speaking of characters, I absolutely loved Arthur. He was our eyes and ears and I thought that his reactions were very believable. As regards the aliens, I didn't feel very much attached to Ford but I liked Zaphod a lot. He was such an over the top fellow, quite the opposite to Arthur. I liked the hints of rivalry between them and I hope it develops along the series.

“Yes, an electronic brain,” said Frankie,”a simple one would suffice.”
“A simple one!” wailed Arthur.
“Yeah,” said Zaphod with a sudden evil grin, “you'd just have to program it to say What? and I don't understand and Where's the tea? Who'd know the difference?

I remember the whole Count Olaf story arc from the film but this book still managed to keep entertained and I think it was basically because of Snicket's style of writing.

I especially liked how the characters were described. Each one had a very rich and entertaining personality. The Baudelaire siblings were very likable and, even though all the characters were eccentric, I still found the children to be very relatable.

The narrator addresses the audience a lot and, as always, I quite enjoyed that. I wasn't particularly a fan of the excessive use of definitions in this book. At the first, I thought that, since it's a book for kids, it was a nice way to introduce new words and help the little ones that were reading the book on their own. But when the same device was being used three or four times per chapter, it became repetitive and I felt it was being overused.

As all the books in the series are quite short and I imagine as entertaining as this one, I'm going to continue the series when I start attending to classes because I won't have much time to anything too long or too demanding.

I'm really happy I gave Doyle a second chance because I quite enjoyed this book. I'm not sure if it was the lack of Sherlock or that I wasn't in the mood at that time but I read The Hound... last year and I didn't enjoy it very much. I might give it another go some other time.

This collection of short stories, on the other hand, was very entertaining. As any other recollection, there were some stories I loved (A Scandal in Bohemia, The Adventure of the Red-Headed League and The Adventure of the Speckled Band) some that I enjoyed (A Case of Identity, The Five Orange Pips and The Adventure of the Beryl Coronet) and some that were just fine (The Adventure of the Engineer's Thumb and The Adventure of the Copper Beeches).

But basically, I liked reading the different Sherlock/Watson interactions throughout the book very much. I went into this book expecting something similar to the relationship Poirot and Hastings have and was pleasantly surprised to find that our Baker Street boys, as Mark Gatiss called them (I freaking LOVED his introduction! You can tell that he adores the world of Sherlock Homes and he made me want to read more stories), actually care about each other.

I loved how Doyle created the Sherlock character as well. He's got an amazing amount of traits and little details that make him such a complex character. I loved reading about Sherlock's mannerisms and also about the disguises he used in the different cases.

In conclusion, I'm very pleased to have given Sherlock another chance. I'm going to continue reading as well as collecting the BBC Sherlock editions because I think they are gorgeous!

Catherynne Valente's world building and fantastic writing style is very much present in her second Fairyland book.
I really liked how she related events from the first book in the second one but still giving the second book its own life.
Again, the world that was created in this book was very appealing and over the top.

But I didn't enjoyed it as much as the first one. To me, the relationships that were built in The Girl Who Circumnavigated... were what made me like the story so much. Yes, the adventures and Fairyland were very exciting but I was very much invested in all the characters and their friendships. So I really missed that this time around. (I missed the green coat too :()
I very much liked the new characters, though. Aubergine, physickist dodo, and Belinda Cabbage were my favourites in this one.

I think The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland and Led the Revels There is a solid sequel and the writing continues to be refreshing and entertaining.