Lori

Overall, the writing isn’t bad, but the book itself is a confusing mess. It seemed to have a lot of mood shifts with multiple plots all shoved into one idea. There are parts of this book I liked but they are almost better as separate stories. The is another book by King (11/22/63) that has a slightly similar idea of preventing a disaster but was done much better.

This book cold really be cut down to more then half of its size. The beginning is interesting but at the same time it’s too drawn out. Then you have to suffer though the middle of the book that doesn’t add enough conflict of the main charters burden or duty to see these things to make it interesting. The end of the book is good and has a quick pace.

If it were shorter this could have been a better book.

I have always liked the movie so I thought the book would be as good or better then the film, as with most books, but this was the exception.

The story and themes in both the book and film are fairly close. What the film does better is that it doesn’t over preach. This felt like a book that you would have to read in high school but when a teacher asks you what the book was really about its hard to say. Most of the book’s writing didn’t seem to go any where. We got these over done sentences that sounded very descriptive, but it had no substance. Then on the points the book was trying to make it over did showing the issues. We didn’t need so much time with some characters or scenes to understand the author’s point.

When I think about the overall plot, the book is good, but I can’t think of one section I really enjoyed reading. Most of my experience was waiting and hoping the story would get moving. I would watch the film again but not read this book again.

This was a hard book to review because its both great and good to ok.

The writing is as great as ever, the problem lies with the story and new characters. In this book we don’t get to see the three characters introduced in the last book. Which is a major let down since they were so well done. Instead, we get three new characters who for the most part are quite bland.

Melba is the exception for me. Her arc is done quite well, and I loved the peaches moment at the end of the book. Her perspective is not like able at first but getting to know her and seeing how her perspective and thoughts of revenge are slowly changed was great. It is one of the more stand out parts of the book for me. On the other side of things, the preacher was so boring to learn about and I really hated her penchant of I’m not going to preach while doing exactly that. The last new character barely deserves a mention which is sad as he is one of the few reasonable characters. Bull was a boring old cop and didn’t have the same pull as Miller did.

As for the story it is a huge slow down from the last book. There is not as much action in this book with more of a focus on humanities. This could have been good, but it was hard to get into it with mostly unlikeable new characters and a plot that leaves behind more questions than answers. We do get to see some of the Roci’s crew but not enough and their absence is greatly felt.

All this is not to say that the book is bad. Really, I liked a good part of the book, and the writing was as great as ever. It is just a little bit of a let down from how great the last book was.

This was not a bad book but felt like one of many magical self-healing books.

It was an interesting idea, and the writing was well done but the book fell flat for me. Not bad but not anything new. There are some good parts like the food eating contest but each section for retrieving a new orb felt like a repetitive task. Slowly the orb acquisitions start to slightly blend together. As soon as you find out what orb will be looked at next you know it will not be the one for her.

There are many non-subtle hints that there is something more going on and that our main character will become the center of it all. Part way though this book I couldn’t help but think this could have made a great horror story. When the big reveal happens, there are no surprises and of course all the items she has acquired comes in handy.

Its not bad and there is good writing within this story, but it wasn’t as good as some of the similar books I have read lately.

This book brought back the spark from the first book in the series (Howl’s Moving Castle). It was so fun, and magical to read. Everything I needed after the last book I read.

If you haven’t read the first book it would be harder to envision the setting in this book. There are parts of the setting described in detail but most of the main location (the house) is not given enough of a description. Which is sad as the house was really interesting.

The characters are for the most part fun to go along with. It was so great to see Sophie and Howl again as well. The main character though was a little too spoiled. She does grow though out the book, but the development is slow and it’s a little hard to like her at first.

This was fairly good and an enjoyable way to end the series.

This was an AI recommendation for a reading challenge. It sounded great but it was such a let down for me.

The start was great. It was atmospheric to a government science experiment being unleashed on an unsuspecting group of people. The detail was great and really put you in the mood for the horror that is to come. Then that’s it. The rest of the book was draining to read. The atmosphere was quickly striped away for long and mostly unnecessary backgrounds of each character.

I was looking forward to a book that would really scare me but instead of frights we get gore. I will say that the author does an excellent job at describing gore. Sadly, though most of the gory scenes felt cheap and forced. They weren’t needed and the characters had to make some stupid decisions to receive these outcomes.

Once you find out that the “monster” is tape worms and all you must do is not touch them the fear factor is lost. The very first gore scene involves the only adult on the island making the stupidest decision in a horror book with absolutely no reasoning. There isn’t even a paranormal side of the story to draw the characters into making these decisions.

Through out the rest of the book you are handed gore with no substance to appease us for the lack of horror the book was supposed to contain. The turtle scene was the worst. I get killing the turtle but the way it was done and the amount of time spent on it was terrible.

This author could have done better, and I truly can’t understand the choices made for this book. There were moments especially at the beginning where I genuinely thought that this would be a horror story. I would recommend not reading this.

I had heard good things about this book and decided to pick it up and it was not exactly what I thought it would be.

Much of the book was funnier than I was expecting. The small-town drama was fun to hear about, especially in the interviews. The was a good amount of wit and snark to keep me entertained. On the other hand, the main character could at times be too snarky that she became annoying.

The book for me was mostly positive as it was an interesting and enjoyable read but the mystery was not that great. The amnesia plot point was not done well enough in this story and was quite the drag at the end of the book. It pulled you out of the intrigue when the main character doesn’t try anything to get her memories back but then they just come back so conveniently. As well something I didn’t like and that truly felt out of place was the romance in the book. This wasn’t needed and was annoying to read.

I wasn’t happy with the end. Conveniently regaining her memories, everyone trying to cover things up to help but making it worse, and that everyone believed a person with an obviously washy story over their own daughter/spouse.

This was an enjoyable read but not a good mystery. I would be interested to see what else the author has written.

I kept thinking about the stories from the first book (Before the Coffee Gets Cold) and decided to pick this one up.

As I was reading this book, I kept wishing I hadn’t picked it up. The repetition of the rules is too much, and the stories aren’t as good as the first. The stories in tis one wasn’t bad, but they don’t hold the same quality or impact I felt form the first. I think I am done with this series for now.

My first thought was that I was reading the wrong book. I really thought I was reading Aladdin, which this book sort of is. It was such a jump from the first story (Howl’s Moving Castle) that I could not think of how they would connect. They do connect but it’s not revealed till close to the end of the story.

This story on its own I didn’t find as magical or endearing as the first. It not that it’s a bad story, it’s quite good. Its just missing that spark from the first book. I wish that the book was from the point of view the princesses as they were more interesting. They were funny, strong willed, and capable. Sort of what made Sophie so great in the first book.

This is still a good book to read and one that you could recommend to kids. Hopefully, the next book brings back that spark.

This was a nice book to listen to as it’s fairly light and has an uplifting feel to it.

I will say that it is a slow book, sometimes too slow. The book brings up a lot of good discussions but has them in a way that can sometimes be to long or over reinforce the ideas. I was in just the right mood for this book when I was listening to it but when I think about the book it leads me to thinking about other healing fiction that I have read. There is something missing to add that extra wow factor to.

It’s a good book but not a strong one at the same time. But if you are looking for a healing fiction book and something to slow down with, this is a good book to read.

This book was a good read but wasn’t quite what I was expecting.

I thought this book would be about her medical education, but the book mainly focuses on life during the time period and on female relationships. That isn’t a bad thing, but it was her medical journey that had interested me in the description. The focus on the female journey and relationships was very well done and really is what made this book so good. The strength, bonding, and trauma of all the women in the book came though to build most of the story.

The writing was well done and was good at pulling me into the story, but I did find that the author spent a lot of time describing elements of the time period more then the story. It was nice at first to get these descriptions and really helped set the scene. After a while though these long descriptions took away from the storyline.

It was worth the read and will be a book that I could recommend to others. I think I would like to try another book by this author. I really did like the writing and the relationship driven plot.

This was a great read. Now that we have gone though all the set up in the last book, we really get to enjoy the story this time round.

The authors are great at creating engaging characters. The main cast are all interesting on their own but there are stand outside characters. Millier was fantastic in the first book and now we have a great line up of Avasarala, Bobbie, and Prax. This line up is used to great advantage as now we get multiple POVs.

With so many POVs the grasp of each character having defined personalities is commendable. You don’t feel frustrated with the switching POVs instead they are used to advance the story while maintaining a steady stream of information.

The expanse of the world and characters is perfectly done. There is a great balancing act though out this book in order to provide readers with information about the universe and progressing the story.

I can not wait for the next book.

This book starts out well. You are quickly taken into this weird and colourful community.

There was something so captivating about the messed-up community members, dark subject matters, and the weird girl atmosphere that just works. The book is not a laugh out loud one but was still pretty funny. As the book goes on the situation with, the main character gets more messed up and I could not help but want to see this though with her.

The last part of the book is where it starts to drop a little. The things that first made the book great start to get annoying and at this point I genuinely wanted things to end between the main character and Big Swiss. Both become harder to like. The ending isn’t bad but it’s a little over the top and somehow slightly underwhelming.

The book was entertaining and at the end I feel mostly positive about it.

This was not as good as the last book.

The main cast of characters is pushed aside for a story focused on Zaphod. This could have been interesting but in this book the author turned Zaphod into a petulant man-child. I did miss the other characters as they were better to follow along with. At least we get some Marvin.

This book had no plot, and I know that this series is supposed to be a bit unpredictable, but this one was so pointless. It felt like a filler book in the series. The wit and silliness of the first book is dampened in this one. There are elements of the original book that are still enjoyable but not enough.

Its not so bad that I wanted to put it down, but I just wanted to get though it. Hopefully, the next book is better.

The first book wasn’t bad, so I wanted to try this one. I hate to say that I don’t like a King book, but I don’t like this one.

What sticks out to me the most is how slow it is. This book could have been cut in half, and I would still say it’s to long. It takes a third of the book to start getting into the main part of the story. The narration is another thing that felt wrong. The sweeping the reader along through key holes and over hills was interesting as first then jarring. It kept pulling me out of the story with these almost fourth wall breaks as things got darker.

The last book was a touch of King multiverse, but this one just shoved the tower down your throat. It was too much King as much as that hurts to say and yet not enough. The best parts of King like the lifelike characters and heart that King can give to even simple stories is missing from this. Instead, we get to much dark tower multiverse that it pulls away from he stories.

I would not recommend reading this one.

This book reinforces how good the author is at making characters come to life with internal monologues, dialogue, and pop culture. Go Jade Go! If there’s a team, I want to be on hers.

I wasn’t the biggest fan of the first book but the farther I got in the series the fonder I look back on the first book. This span of history and experience makes the growth of the community and main character more impactful. It's worth reading each book just because of this.

Its hard to say what makes this book so good. It could be the connection you build to the characters or maybe because it fills all cravings for slasher culture that you can have. Each book gets progressively better, and this last book is just that last touch of perfection rounding out the story.

This book was better in the last but had a few storylines going on.

There is a bit of a jump from the last book to this one. The ending of the last had our main character deciding she didn’t want a romantic relationship with Steve then in this this book she is in a steady relationship with Declan. Although I am happy that Declan was the chosen one, this book had the main character spending a lot of time with Steve.

I am not a fan of love triangles, and I was hoping this would be done. Instead, we got Steve hitting on Katie even though she has made it clear that she only wants a friendship and Katie being a bad girlfriend to Declan. The book does have Katie recognize that she hasn’t treated Declan right and does fix this. I do hope the next book gives Declan a bigger role.

The main storyline is good. I did find this book had a lot of side stories tied together and some of them didn’t have enough of a resolution at the end. It was a little slow at first, but I liked the introduction to Katie’s Mother and their family reconciliation. Each book in this series has the main character grow in magic, friendships, and relationships. This has made the series so enjoyable to read.

I am looking forward to reading the next book.

Some of the charm of the first book is missing from this one. This book still gives a nice sense of community and magic. The mystery and side characters were also interesting. What pulls this book down is the love triangle.

We are forced to spend way too much time on the love triangle. Steve is just the worst as well. Calling the main character by a nick name she hates. Showing up at her house and forcing a date. Worst still is how clearly better Declan being. This man has so much patience and a great ability to take things as they come.

There didn’t seem to be enough time to focus on the mystery, her spellbook club, or even the new mysterious detective. All this became second to the triangle of annoyance. All that made the first book so good took a back seat.

The book is not the worst, but it could have been better. I am hoping the next book will redeem the series.

I liked this one. I am a sucker for a nice book cover and was happy that this wasn’t another disappointment.

There were a few things I didn’t like. First was the large cast of characters. We didn’t get enough time with all of them and there was too many to remember. Secondly the main character did some stupid things. Like taking evidence from a crime scene or confronting a killer on her own.

There was a lot to like with this one as the mystery was interesting and there were no large logical leaps. The main character is likeable, and the secondary story of the great-aunt was a great addition to the story. There is a hint of romance in the book, but I like that it isn’t the focus.

It’s a good mystery and think I will try the next book.

I mainly wanted to read this to finally get the part of Holly Gibney’s story that I had missed. I am happy I did as If its bleed was the best story in the collection.

Mr. Harrigan's Phone – reminded a bit of the beginning to Fairy Tale. Young boy helping out an old man down the road. For the first part of the story, I forgot what I was reading as I was more then happy to read along about this friendship. It does take some time to get to the cell phone part that the story is named for. From there its good but rushed.

The Life of Chuck – Was weird but engaging. An apocalyptic slice of life.

If It Bleeds – Was the best story. This may be because I have read the other books with Holly and the gang in them and have loved them ever since. The idea of this creature and how it feeds was well done. Though out the investigation you get to build up a creep factor long before meeting the thing. It was well paced and kept you interested.

Rat – This is my second favorite story in this collection. The build up is slow but intense. The process of writing a novel is interesting along with the motivations behind it. The beginning is the best part. After making a deal with the rat the story loses its intensity. The ending is of but not a strong as some of the others in this book.

I both liked and didn’t care for this book. The way the book is written with the perspective of the dead girl in the afterlife is creative. What I don’t like is the actual writing.

The descriptions are weird and off-putting. The author often describes movements in a way that makes no sense. At the same time, the author doesn’t give enough details on this in between place. It was a fascinating part of the book that is overlooked.

With such a clever idea for the book and a strong start the book lacks personal connections to keep you embroiled with each character’s struggle. This is hard to take as the intricacies of surviving the loss of a loved one is the main focus of the book. If we got more information on each character’s feelings that would have helped develop a better connection to them. This is not to say the author doesn’t get across how this has affected each person, but we are told in a way that takes the empathy out of it.

What puts this book into the territory of not liking it was the ending. The resolution of many arcs is done terribly. Each felt worse then the last. Also, the sex scene was utterly wrong. Taking over the body of a lesbian to have sex with a boy you dated for a week isn’t right. Why is that the thing that lets he move on!

For the most part the story is good. But better descriptions and more focus on feelings would have made this a better book.

It’s a cute story but not as good as the others. There was less of a connection between the two main leads.

The author still does an excellent job of setting up the community and light cozy feel that her other books have had. You get a nice update on previous couples and a good nudge about the next couple. This has been a great lighthearted series which makes this entry a letdown. I liked the side characters more then the main ones as they had more life to them.

The personalities and romance of the two main characters is weak. They feel rushed together, and by the end I thought they need more time to work on themselves. Its not a terrible relationship but there is not enough romance it’s more lust.

It’s not a bad story and there is a lot to like. Hopefully, the next book is better.

This is another classic that was a disappointment. I couldn’t care about anything in the book.

Most of the contrasts made in the book are simple and often played as an unfunny joke. I can’t tell if this is because the book is older and might have been received better at that time. The Jewish character was one of the hardest to read. I know older books have a casual racism to them, but this was really a hammer to the head.

Oliver himself is lifeless, which makes the idea that all these random people become obsessed with him hard to take. I found him too passive in the story. There is not enough personality to help you root for him.

The ending wasn’t bad, as it closed off all the storylines quite well. This is not a classic book that I would recommend.

It’s hard to find a good mystery series and I wanted to like this more then I did. There are good parts to the book but there is too much disappointment for me to really like it.

The author doesn’t seem to know how collector books work. Library books are used so much that the books will be well worn and have tag/stickers on them for cataloguing. This alone makes the driving force for the murder useless. It’s really not hard to guess who the murder was which makes all the main characters guessing near the end annoying.

The characters aren’t bad but the main character is a terrible friend. She immediately suspects her friend and her friend’s new boyfriend. She also doesn’t seem to care what is going on with anyone but her self. The love interest did something horrible to the MC in high school but the MC still can’t help but be week around them. Meeting again the love interest doesn’t even remember the MC and there is no apology.

I don’t think I can continue with this series. It had good parts and most of the characters are likable. Loved the cat. Its not a bad book but just not for me.

This was a fun book to read. I found it light and easy to get through although the ending felt too fast. There are a lot of small parts that I enjoyed that I kept thinking about after. This is more British humor and can be dry at times.

The books pacing and additional details are the only things that slightly bothered me. For pacing the beginning is slow but once you get to the last third of the book there just wasn’t enough time to enjoy the story. For the additional details there are good additions to the main characters back stories or side stories but it can be too much. There are characters we are introduced to that have no weight on the story and aren’t funny/witty additives.

I liked the book and decided to watch the show afterwards. The first season was great although there was of course some changes to the story. I would recommend this book to others.