Michelle
This book is a slow burn, but if you can hang in there it is SO worth it.
This is ultimately a story about revenge. It's told from dual perspectives, one is a young female fox shifter and the other is an older man that is working as an investigator. Since this is not a plot-driven story, you really get to know these two characters and everyone they meet along the way.
It is such a beautiful story based on Asian mythology and I'm glad I stuck with it.
I had to force myself to finish this book - all 640 pages. The writing was beautiful, but there was absolutely no story until the last 1/3 of the book. I almost bailed on this book several times, but I kept thinking that it must be building towards something. Right??
I think that this might have worked as a short story or novella.
Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts expressed are my own.
In Richmond, Virginia in 1811 there was a theater fire that was one of the most devastating fires of that time. The House is on Fire is a historical fiction based on the Richmond Theater Fire. The story is told from the viewpoint of four people involved in that tragedy, two of which are white and free and two are black and enslaved.
I absolutely adored this book and I loved each of the main characters. There was not one single chapter that I was trying to rush through just to get to another person's point of view. It's beautifully written and she did a wonderful job of capturing the wrongness of people's response during that time in America while still making room for goodness and hope.
So so good!
What a wild ride! This had a similar feel to a usual domestic thriller novel, except the wife in question isn't even the wife in question!
After the mysterious disappearance of Abbie Cullen-Scott, her husband Tim Scott uses his tech business to create a “cobot” (a companion robot) in her image. He uses photos, texts, and social media to mimic Abbie's personality almost exactly. At first, it seems that he's only done this out of grief so that he can have his wife back. As time goes on, cobot Abbie begins to wonder if that is his true intentions or if there is something more sinister going on.
The story is told in two different time lines and perspectives. One timeline is from the perspective of cobot Abbie after her creation, and the second is told from the perspective of someone inside the tech company long before human Abbie disappeared. Sometimes when an author uses this method, it breaks up the rhythm or I find that I like one perspective way more than the other. This was not the case here, as I loved them both and I found it difficult to put the book down at any point.
Most of all, I loved the misdirection and plot twists. I was pretty convinced I knew what was going on about 4 or 5 times before the end, but WOW, I never did see that ending coming!
Great read for those who love domestic thrillers with a little bit of sci-fi sprinkled in!
Thank you to NetGalley and to Ballantine for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.
Let me begin by saying that I really do like Christine Riccio. I do. But this book is just TERRIBLE.
I honestly FORCED myself to read the first half, and let myself skim the second half. The book is essentially about the author in her own little made up story. I won't bore you with actual examples since I've seen it done repeatedly now (see this review from Alex).
I wanted to love this book so much. Even if I could get past the author's inability to separate her voice from the main character's, I just can't overlook the bad writing.
I have always been a fan of Jennifer Armentrout, but I didn't care much for Storm and Fury. Maybe it's because it had been so long since I read the original series. It just felt like such a slog through the beginning while I was refreshing myself to the world and the old characters.
The book is told from the perspective of the main character, Trinity. She has a condition that is causing her to slowly go blind. Trinity is half-human and half-??? which enables her to see ghosts. She is living at the gargoyle compound to be protected from the demons because of this special ability of hers. Eventually, some wardens from DC (including Zayne) come to the compound to warn that there is something out there killing wardens and demons. I was hoping for some excitement once Zayne showed up, but I just didn't get into any of their interactions.
I really love this world of gargoyles, but just didn't connect with any of characters. This book was okay, but I don't think I'll continue with the series.
I was really looking forward to reading the story of Lucky and Wolsey. I don't know of any other books like this, from the perspective of someone inside the relationship. Unfortunately, the writing was not very good. It was very simplistic and choppy so you could never really sink into the story. But mostly, I just wish there had been more editing. There was so much repetition, I found myself skimming through large sections.
As for the story itself, I'm reluctant to give my opinion on their love story. I didn't necessarily understand or agree with Lucky's thought processes, but it's not my relationship.
Ultimately, I can't help but be thrilled that there is such a thing as a relationship surviving this sort of transformation. I can't imagine there are many out there that do.
Thank you to Netgalley and Riverdale Avenue Books for my copy to review.
After reading the blurb, I thought this book was going to take place in a dystopian-type future. As it turns out, it takes place at a time that could easily be now. This did not deter me, I still thought the premise was pretty cool.
The Farm is a place that surrogate mothers go to spend their pregnancies in the safest, healthiest way. These surrogates are women of varying races and socioeconomic backgrounds. We get to experience The Farm from the perspective of four different women. One is the creator and president of The Farm, two are surrogates, and one is a recruiter for the program.
This book was just OK for me. The writing was good and I was able to connect with most of the main characters. I just felt like this could have made a much bigger impact if there was something bigger happening. Like, a deep dive into the economic differences between the women at The Farm or maybe further exploration of the creepy-controlling staff at The Farm. I just feel like this book needed something more. As it is, it was just meh for me.
*I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I honestly don't know what to think about this book. I've never had such a hard time assigning a star rating before.
I disliked this book until about the halfway point. After that, I still wasn't crazy about it but I was pretty invested in Marianne and Connell. Like I couldn't help rooting for them even though they made me nuts.
At the end I just wanted to chuck the book across the room.
There is something to be said for being this angry at a book, though. I'm obviously too invested in it to say that the book was simply not good. As for all the 5 star ratings go - I just don't get it. I feel like I'm missing something big here.
