Reading Junkie

I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book had a cute concept, but it needs some work to really come together in a coherent way.  I would have liked to know more about the main character Francie's back story.  It felt like the reader was tossed into the middle book of a series without some more context about her life.  There were also points where it felt like plot points were rushed since there was so much going on in the story.  Maybe distilling the story line down some more would help with the clarity and development of the plot.

Still, it was cute and fun to read.

I didn't hate this book, but I definitely didn't like it either. There were parts that were well written, but the majority of the book was very "meh". I struggled to make any connection to the characters or the story and slogged through most of the book.

Here's how I would describe this book. Imagine Harry Potter as a college age, spoiled, Emo kid, twatwaffle who wanders around Hogwarts in NY with his internal monologue telling us how life is pain, and everything is shit, etc. That's Quentin Coldwater, our protagonist. The premise is a stolen mash-up of Harry Potter and the Narnia Chronicles without any depth at all to the worlds - any time the story is called upon to develop the word so that the reader is drawn in, the author abruptly jumps ahead months at a time, leaving you with a collection of disjointed anecdotes about nothing.

I'd recommend skipping this series unless you're really into long, pointless books that rip off other works, and star characters you'll either not care about or totally hate

Another really good crime mystery featuring John Madden. This installment takes place in 1932, after Madden has retired from Scotland Yard. A young girl goes missing in a neighboring town, and Madden discovers her body when he volunteers as a member of a search party. He's drawn into the investigation, which takes a sinister international turn against the backdrop of the Nazi rise to power in Germany.

Overall another solid book. It's a quick read and very entertaining. I'll definitely be continuing with this series

Now this was good dystopian YA fiction! Lynn, the main character is flawed without being stupid or a martyr, strong without being unbelievable, and naive without being a total bonehead. In other words, she seems like a believable 16 year old raised with only her mom (and occasionally a neighbor) for company in a world where drinkable water is now more valuable than diamonds.

The world building is also very good. Lynn lives on a farm in Ohio that has a small pond, which she must defend at all costs if she wants to live. Others have relocated to large cities, leaving vast swaths of the U.S. uninhabited. It's realistic enough to draw you in and make you feel just how desperate her world is.

I do with it was longer though. I know there's a second book, so I'll have to pick that up next.

Cute, quick read.

Ah, the good old days when Anita actually did things like solve crimes...

A super creepy New Orleans spin on the Tooth Fairy legend, featuring a young A.X.L. Pendergast? Yes, please!

This had some really interesting parts, but the ending went on WAY too long. It felt like there were just too many story lines and by the time you get about 3/4 of the way through, fatigue sets in. I'm willing to suspend a lot of disbelief for a novel, but good lord, no one has this many huge events happen to them in such a short time span.

It wasn't a bad book, it really just felt like it needed some editing. It could be really good if the story was tightened up and focused on fewer of the plot points to shape a more coherent story.

Really good, though this one took a while to get started. The characters introduced in this installment aren't that interesting at first, but once Madden gets involved, the pace picks up and the story becomes intriguing. I ended up liking it a lot & finished very quickly.

Mac is a twit in this installment. She spends most of the book derping over Kyle and failing to do simple tasks that will keep her and her friends out of harm's way. I don't know if I can keep going without some SERIOUS character intervention.

This is one of those books that's really hard to review. It's very well written and the plot is tightly woven, but the story seems incomplete. There's a clear arc to the story, but so much is never explained or discussed that the ending is unsatisfying. I'm not a person who has to have everything wrapped up in a neat little package at the end of a book, but this one just left too much unexplained for me to give it a really good review.

The moral of this story is: don't trust sketchy Eastern European doctors with "experimental" fertility treatments. It's sooooo not worth it.

This book wasn't terrible, even if it hit all the standard romance novel cliches, but what really kept it from being enjoyable for me was the dialogue. Dear god, the dialogue was bad. It was so stilted and unnatural that it made reading large chunks of the book a slog. Example: "I cannot control who you have plans with. I also cannot hide my distaste in knowing some other guy will have the good graces of your company tonight, but I am not mad." So stiff, so formal. Just write how people really talk!

That being said, it wasn't a bad book. I'll probably pick up the second one (if the price is right) just to see if the Cole/Aiden/Julia thing is going to happen.

I really like this series, even though the heroine (Alina) is the "she doesn't know she's beautiful" girl. Can we just retire this trope already? Please? Along with the "idiotic misunderstanding that creates a huge rift in romantic relationships" trope?

I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

As usual, the plot is tightly woven and the characters are engaging and fun to read.  I also liked that there were a couple of cameos and reference to the events that started the series in The Relic.  I wish I could say more about this book, but any detailed description would have to contain major spoilers, so I'm just going to have to urge you to read it yourself! Seriously, if you like mysteries and you're not reading this series, you are missing out.  I'm definitely looking forward to the next entry in the series.

Lynn, the main character is flawed without being stupid or a martyr, strong without being unbelievable, and naive without being a total bonehead. In other words, she seems like a believable 16 year old raised with only her mom (and occasionally a neighbor) for company in a world where drinkable water is now more valuable than diamonds.

The world building is also very good. Lynn lives on a farm in Ohio that has a small pond, which she must defend at all costs if she wants to live. Others have relocated to large cities, leaving vast swaths of the U.S. uninhabited. It's realistic enough to draw you in and make you feel just how desperate her world is.

I do with it was longer though. I know there's a second book, so I'll have to pick that up next.