Bronwyn Knox

I feared this would be one of those overhyped YA books and read it only because my daughter was reading it, and I figured, why not, we could talk about it after.

To my surprise, it turned out to be really good, touching and funny and sad and everything you would hope it to be. Hazel is a charming and engaging narrator who makes what could be an over sentimental story reasonably grounded.

If I have any minor quibble with the book it's that Hazel's favorite writer, Peter Van Houten was a caricature, out of place in a novel full of believable characters. It was completely unbelievable to me that he'd show up for Gus's funeral Giving Green the benefit of the doubt, there must have been some literary device or point to this that escaped me.

This was an unexpected pleasure. I even teared up a few times when reading, an event which rarely occurs.

These four Novellas are connected by a loose theme of retribution or comeuppance. The idea was good but the stories were flat and lacking tension. With the exception of maybe Fair Exchange all the recipients of the revenge pretty clearly deserve it; there's no ambiguity or food for thought here. I love King novellas, but I wasn't feeling this collection.

In the two stories about male predators (Big Driver, A Good Marriage), the women get their revenge or justice pretty easily. So I wasn't really hanging on the edge of my seat as I usually am with a King book. Everything just happens and I felt no sense of satisfaction or relief on behalf of the characters.

Fair Extension is more about the person getting his revenge than the one receiving it. It would be kind of dark humor but it doesn't quite go far enough in showing how petty the main character really is to be very funny.

The novella 1922 did have some scary moments and visceral thrills. But overall this collection let me down.

I tracked this collection down because I was interested in Cyberpunk beyond William Gibson. There are a couple of Gibson stories that I already had read in his Burning Chrome collection, “Gernsback Continuum” which is one of my favorites, and “Red Star, Winter Orbit.”

The best new (to me) story in this collection was “Petra” by Greg Bear which isn't a Cyberpunk story at all. It's a Weird Fiction apocalypse where reality and rationality break down. Dreams and nightmares become real. Stone statues and gargoyles come to life and buildings become trees, etc. A new world order develops among the new half-stone and half-gargoyle beings. Very imaginative and compelling.

One I liked that was a bit more Cyberpunk in nature was “Stone Lives” by Paul Di Filippo, about a blind man from the slums who is chosen to receive eye implants and an unusual job. It reminds me a lot of all those Gibson stories where a poor underdog gets involved in a mystery and is exposed to how the other half lives.

The most humorous tale is “Mozart in Mirrorshades'' by Bruce Sterling and Lewis Shiner. An unscrupulous company robs, corrupts, and exploits alternate timelines of resources like oil, art, and Mozart for example. I've seen things like this done before in films and other books but this little story was funny and well done.

The other stories were fair to good but it was worth my time to explore a few more authors from the genre.

These Dublin Murders Squad mysteries are about the psychology of the detective solving them, more so than the actual mystery.

So far, my appreciation of the story has depended on how likable and compelling French has made each of her narrator/detectives.

I liked Mick “Scorcher” Kennedy just fine. Or at least I understood him a bit. The drive, the no-nonsense attitude that says doing well is more important than feelings, the priority of practicality over empathy, the belief that yes, you can do everything right and it will pay off if you stick to it.

Where this book lost me a little was mystery itself. I didn't believe in Jenny Spain's madness. There were so many different threads and possibilities happening that this very crucial aspect was underdeveloped . I understand a mystery has to go down a bunch of false avenues to make it challenging and compelling but I think when the solution is presented, it should feel right not like a twist for the sake of itself.

I do think Scorcher's character arc related well to the overall issues of the family. The emphasis on “keeping up appearances” as opposed to reaching out to other people was something he shared with the victims.

I'm not disappointed with the novel overall. Since it is mainly about Scorcher, I enjoyed the inner journey he went on in the course of solving the case. French is a wonderful writer and I'm still overall a fan of the series.

The publishing/marketing person who wrote “Catch Me If You Can meets True Grit” has got it right.

It is an action-packed western (sort of set later than a traditional western) combined with an engaging character portrait.

Pat Crowe, the protagonist/ anti hero was a real person who kidnapped and held a minor for ransome. I wasn't familiar with his story so I can't say how much of this was true. It doesn't matter much to me; it's such a good story no matter what really happened and what was made up.

Crowe gives his own first-person narration in a language that seems too poetic for who he is but it's so well done that I overlooked that. It's sort of like watching Deadwood. Makes no sense that people are talking the way they are but it sounds cool, so viewers roll with it.

I'm not sure why Hilleman tells the story out of order. Maybe it adds some suspense that telling it from A-Z would not. It's nothing that bothers me; great novels are often done this way.

One of my favorite reads of 2022.

Sherlock Holmes is synonymous with the idea of a fictional detective, yet I realized I had never read a single one of his stories.

A Study in Scarlet, the story that introduces Holmes and Watson, exceeded my expectations. I did assume I would be in for a dry, dusty, 18th-century novel with a pretty good mystery to solve in there somewhere. But, as a fan of mystery, pop culture, history and so on, I figured I should dive in anyway.

Instead, this seemed fresh, bright, energetic. Telling the story through Watson's eyes was a great way to show Holmes' talents and eccentricities insight of someone a bit more average, I suppose.

The mystery itself was also excellent, full of interesting details, compelling motivation and not something you could easily guess.

Wonderful horror classic that is scary, disturbing, and interesting.

There were a couple of different themes that I noted. The most talked about is the arrogance of tampering with nature and the cruel indifference to pain, demonstrated by the title character. It's never clear what Dr. Moreau's goals are, other than to simply prove he can do it. (Something also seen in The Invisible Man.) Even if you don't know this story, you can predict it. Dr. Moreau and company lose all control of the situation that they should never have been messing with to begin with.

The second theme is the idea of the beast or animal side found in mankind. The narrator, Pendrick who is portrayed as a “prude” and generally inexperienced with life, is exposed to this while on the island when he's forced to interact with the beast men.

When Pendrick goes back to civilization, he can no longer stand to be around people. Even though he is aware of the “higher” and “moral” nature of humans, when he looks at them he can't quite believe in it and only sees the animal in them. I'm not quite sure why he only focuses on the negative aspects of this as there are many wonderful things we inherit from our close genetic relationship with animals. But the character is portrayed as educated and intelligent but naïve and superficial in his thinking, so this is consistent.

This is one of those novels that is often remade, satirized, paid tribute to and so on. It's easy to see why; there's a lot to feed the storyteller's imagination.

“Mutants” or the Mighty Boosh's version of The Island of Dr. Moreau.

Fun, light, and fast-moving story about an institution, known as St. Mary's, that has harnessed time travel and used it to observe history directly. I liked the idea of combining science fiction, history, and humor. These are a few of my favorite things.

I wish there had been a bit more of the sci-fi and history; at times these took a backseat to the more soapy aspects of the plot, such as romance and jealousy, other interpersonal drama.

Because the plot moved so fast, there was a lot of superficial character development. Most of the staff of St. Mary's blend together and some of them fill a role rather than have life of their own. There's the Boss (mentor), the Chief (love interest), and Isabella (nemesis) for example. Everyone is a satellite around the sun—protagonist and narrator Max.

I like Max, don't get me wrong, but she's the only one with enough substance for me to like. She's clever, she's plucky, and she has all the brilliant ideas for St. Mary's success. Max gets all the funny lines and is the only one with the nerve to rescue her colleagues, and so on. Oh, and she's attractive, but not unrealistically attractive.

I don't want to use the M-word but I do think Max is a fantasy of Taylor's, and she was more concerned that the readers should love Max rather than writing a few more well-rounded, interesting characters to balance things out.

This creates a lot of jarring moments where supporting characters do things to move the plot along/create drama instead of as an inevitable part of where their character development was headed. For instances, the Chief's sudden, raging emotional outburst and Sussman's out-of-nowhere rape attempt. I'd say these moments were “out of character” but I don't get enough personality out of them to say it's that, exactly.

I did have a good time reading this, but I'm not racing for the rest of the series. I'd be mildly curious to see if the character development ever improves in the sequels.

Interesting premise and has themes similar to Fight Club, but there's not a lot to this book.

After the set up of the various sub plots, some scenes of Vincent interacting in the various subplots, comes the revelations and very little actually happened. Any consequences of his activities are not part of the limited story.

Some of the scenes are amusing; a lot more are lewd due to the sex addict subplot. If you're squeamish about bodily fluids of all kinds, possibly consider skipping this one.

It's not my idea of “subversive” as most of the criticisms of society and convention are overtly stated.

It was mildly entertaining but although it seems to take on heavy topics (addictions, the medical care system, child abuse, finding meaning in life, etc.), Choke is lightweight.

This is when the cynicism of the series might start to wear out a reader.

Terrible, frightening things happen that threaten all life in the Universe but all the people are either 1) to stupid to understand, 2) too self-involved to care, or 3) too inept to do anything about it.

The story of the planet Krikkit is quite tragic and sad if given consideration. Adams does this in a funny way of course.

Saving the day falls to Arthur, who is apparently the most ordinary man ever, but placed in the extraordinary position of being able to do something.

Exploration of John Self's relationship with money and how it defines his behavior and his relationships. As promised in the description, John Self is excessive and self-destructive. It's written in the first person; Self has a sense of humor and there's a lot of dark comedy in the situations he's involved in.

Self made money in the advertising business and comes to America to direct a Hollywood film and perhaps rise even higher in money, success, and so on. He runs on the “heavy fuel” of alcohol, fast food, drugs, porn, and hookers. Money interests him for what it can buy rather than accumulating it for security. Takes place at the end of the 70s/start of the 80s when there was an energy crisis, recession, stagflation, etc.

His personal relationships are based on money. His Girlfriend Selina is a kept woman and their sex life is creepily based on financial transactions until she finds a bigger fish. He has a friend who uses him as a money loan source and a father who gives him a bill for his care and upbringing and he actually pays it. Only his college friend, Martina, doesn't need money from him. Instead, she tries to get him to be a better person. Less drinking, reading important books, better food. Her relationship with money is different as she's an heiress and perfectly comfortable. She lives quietly, not to impress anyone. He looks up to her without acknowledging that she can have that relationship when she's free of the money worries that plague the rest of us.

Once the crisis point hits, Self is not transformed. He would do it all again the same way if he had a chance. Tragic-comedy with a warning about the pitfalls of money.

Falling Angel is a hard-boiled detective novel combined with a horror story about Satan worship, cults, voodoo and other supernatural stuff. Hjortsberg writes in a clear, easy-to-read style. It's a page-turner and a quick, entertaining read.

The only problem is, I watched the 1987 film a few months ago, Angel Heart. The only difference between the book and the movie is that the book keeps the story in New York and the film moves down to New Orleans, for a touch of atmosphere and extra sweat. If you watched the film, the book has nothing new to add, no additional depth of character, nothing you'd miss out on by not reading it.



In fact, I'd go so far as to say that Mickey Rourke, Robert De Niro, and Lisa Bonet really breathed some life (not to mention sensuality) into this story. Not that Hjortsberg didn't give them personality, but the actors are able to give the characters so much more. This is a very rare case where I might actually prefer the film to the book.

The main narrative of this book is absolutely stunning. I was on the edge of my seat wondering how they would survive, would they ever get out of the Congo, would the father kill them all, etc. I enjoyed the technique of telling the story through the four daughters' viewpoints, though it did after a while feel like a bit of a gimmick and Ruth May's sections were completely unrealistic for her age. There was some humor at times, mostly from Rachel's self involvement and Adah's sense of irony.

After the climactic incident and the aftermath, which happens about three quarters of the way in, the last fourth of the book feels endless. It is a very long epilogue and it didn't add anything to my understanding of the story. Kingslover's points about imperialism, colonialism, sexism, ableism–all your favorite isms had been well made. One character that never felt right is the father. His desire to convert the village is what drove the plot but he got no point of view. He is mainly an abusive and sexist menace to his wife and daughters and then later he becomes a figure so tragic it's nearly funny. It's not a particularly complex characterization.

Fascinating world-building revolving around humanity evolving with the technology, and then adding some aliens.

The story itself though started out well enough but after a while, it was a pattern not a plot. Fast-talking Shaper, Lindsay, finds himself in various difficult situations but talks his way into successful enterprises (some fraudulent) and gets all the major power players on board. He jumps ship when the going gets tough.

All of his adventures are structured this way and it happens about half a dozen times before finally wrapping up. The novel was actually quite short so I'm not sure why I should have lost interest since I liked the character, I liked the premise. Even the conflict with his frenemy Constantine didn't give the novel enough tension.

Big love for the short stories at the end though, especially “Spider Rose” which was both a heart-breaker and a mind-bender.

I have been listening to the Night Vale podcast and was excited to see the existence of novels about the weirdest little town in the desert. Fink and Craynor are talented writers for both types of media. It Devours had wonderful storytelling and characterization. Not to mention humor. I love books that can combine humor with science fiction and fantasy but not have it take away from the impact of the story. This one works so well; the humor ranges from silly to smart to touching at any given moment.

You don't need to listen to the podcast to know what's going on. It might help a bit though, in order to buy into the idea of Night Vale and what it's like. It's a weird place. The usual rules of logic and even basic things like, say, laws of nature don't necessarily apply here. You have to approach the weirdness with an open mind to enjoy the book.

As advertised, it is indeed a book about the conflict between religious devotion and looking to science for all of life's answers. I think the deck is stacked a bit toward science in this conflict but that might be my own bias as I'm not surrounded by a lot of religious people. Also, this is a story of a scientist, Nilanjana, who investigates a church/cult known as “the joyous congregation.” Through her point of view, the congregation does seem insane.

But the characters who are believers in the “smiling god” are also well developed and good intentioned in their own way. They point out that there is value in not knowing everything and in the search for meaning rather than facts.

“Scientists act like they have it all figured out,” Jamillah was saying, red-faced, “but no matter how many facts you learn, nothing in your knowledge can tell you what it means. You know but you don't know why. Your knowledge is a hollow edifice.”

Ultimately it is science and religion together, or at least two character groups representing each side of the argument, who get together to solve the Monster problem that is the novel's central plot. This is probably the best and most fun scene of the book. There is a spirit of cooperation and working together. One of the important things that Darryl, Nilanjana's love interest who represents the devoted side of the conflict, gets out of his church is family, a purpose in life, and people who care about him and to care about.

“What use is the truth in a world where we die either way? Isn't it better to live happy until that last moment, believing the story you are living, shoulder to shoulder with others who believe and live that same story? Why flounder in the void when there is no need to do so? The story ends the same way, no matter how you chose to perceive it. Why not choose to perceive it as meaningful?”

It Devours is a novel that has everything, action, comedy, romance, weird monsters, and a lot of food for thought.

This was a wild blending of elements: fantasy, cyber-punk, steampunk, horror, and classic mythology to name a few. So many different creatures it's impossible to remember how you're supposed to be imagining them as you come across different characters. As Douglas Adams put it in The Restaurant at the End of the Universe, “the things are also people.”

I'd be better off reading this alongside a companion book, The Visual Guide to Bas-Lag (as yet non-existent). I like to think I have a visual imagination, and it's not so much the elaborate descriptions as it is the sheer number of species and locations. Bonus, everything is covered with slime and feces.

Oh yeah, I enjoyed the story as well, though I never got too cozy with any of the characters.

I'm two for two with loving this series.

Things that Felix Castor has in common with Johannes Cabal:
Outsider even among his own profession
Strained relationship with better-adjusted older brother
Person from their tragic past he wants to save
Friendship with a demon/succubi

When it comes to literary boyfriends, I guess I have a type.

Once again, the story is impeccable with a well-drawn villain and some fantastic twists. It was more action oriented than the first book in the series, [b:The Devil You Know|663098|The Devil You Know (Felix Castor, #1)|Mike Carey|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1442602181l/663098.SY75.jpg|1936254]. Felix himself engages in frequent violence (in self defense). Maybe he's been working out? Despite the bolder, faster Castor, Carey maintained the same level of depth and development.

It's a book full of quirky, magical realism short stories. Link is working with a similar palette as Neil Gaiman or Angela Carter, with shades of fairy tales, mythology, and the supernatural.

Link has a lot of cleverness and imagination but her stories never grabbed me on an emotional or intellectual level. Quirky and whimsical are not enough to make great or even good stories. Take “Shoe and Marriage” for instance. This is a short story made of four short stories, each on the subject of shoes and marriage. The part about the honeymoon couple watching the increasingly weirder beauty contestants made me laugh a bit but where was she going with this? There needs to be some point, either saying something about the characters and marriage or humanity in general or a plot of some kind. It's just some weird stuff thrown together.

Other reviewers mentioned the lack of endings to most of these. I don't mind an open ending, one that leaves things open to interpretation. However with these stories, I could see the “twist” a mile away and yet she would never get down to it. For example, the best story in the collection for me was “Survivor's Ball or The Donner Party.” You can guess from the title what might be about to happen but Link never goes in for the kill. (So to speak.) Maybe I just don't appreciate subtlety when I see it, but the stories just never get that interesting.

There is also a lack of variety in the collection. Everything is written with the same kind of voice, regardless of what the story is about or who is telling it. It doesn't show much versatility.

Witty and fun Steampunk fantasy.

Let's start with the title character, Cabal himself. Not exactly likeable or relatable–but so much fun. First of all, he's very cold, superior, manipulative. As the plot takes off I wasn't actually sure if I wanted to root for this guy to win or see him fall on his face. Of course his nemesis was the devil himself, so as unpleasant and badass as Cabal may be, he's still the underdog in the competition. Howard absolutely brings this guy to life. I can imagine his appearance, voice, facial expressions. He carries himself with such gravity that when incidents occur to thwart him or even just humiliate him, it creates a lot of humor. For Discworld fans, (like myself) he brought to mind both Vetinari and Moist; an odd combination but it works.

I enjoyed the story too. Cabal had forfeited his soul to the Devil but finds he needs it back for professional rather than spiritual reasons. His deal with the devil–to get one hundred souls to replace his own–is off and running. Cabal goes after his goal mercilessly as you'd expect, and this is the point where I wondered if I really wanted to see him succeed. A plot that offers a little conflict in the reader is a fine thing. The other characters that balance Cabal (his brother, the retired police chief) give the book a moral center. Ironically, his undead vampire brother has a lot more warmth than Cabal. He at least didn't want Cabal to win at the expense of the innocent.

I had a little trouble getting oriented to the time the story took place. It felt sort of Victorian, but then the styles, technology, culture, and so on were more advanced. It's definitely a fantasy world where necromancers, demons, and so on exist. It has a pulp adventure type of vibe. Steampunk-pulp-fantasy is a good way to describe Cabal's world. (The follow-up book, Johannes Cabal, Detective solidifies the Steampunk vibe for me.)

There were a lot of influences present from other classic works. Lovecraft, Through the Looking Glass, Faust, and Something Wicked This Way Comes all come to mind along with a nice dose of Discworld-style humor. Not to say I don't think this is original; all those allusions and resonances of other stories made this even more enticing.

“Cabal dimly recalled that the musical genius who'd decided to put on Necronomicon: The Musical had got everything he deserved: money, fame, and torn to pieces by an invisible monster.”

A book that has me asking myself the question, am I cool and edgy enough for this?

I struck out trying to read Gravity's Rainbow when I was in college, simply did not have the patience for a book that doesn't give you a character/story thread to follow.

This book kept turning up on lists of other books similar to ones I like so I thought I'd give Pynchon another shot. Plus, let's face it, it's short and sweet.

The writing style is quite dense and the story has elements of satire, mystery, conspiracy, not to mention sex, drugs, and rock n roll. We follow one character, Oedipa Maas. Named executor of her ex's will, she finds herself following a trail he left for her. Out of her depth in a new town (San Narciso, CA) she hunts down a conspiracy involving an underground postal service and forged stamps.

It's a bit like Alice in Wonderland as she meets weird character after weird character, many of whom seem helpful at first but aren't. Also it has that kind of nonsensical/funny dialogue.

Questions don't quite get answered in the conventional sense. With this kind of book, it wouldn't fit to wrap things up neatly. It's more about Oedipa's experiences and mental state as she doubts herself, but continues on, hits a roadblock, and finds a new path and so on. A lot of it is social commentary on ‘60s America.

I was thoroughly entertained and engaged by it, but I'm still not sure I'm cool enough for Pynchon.

I love it when a book exceeds my expectations.

I came across this as a recommendation for Urban Fantasy/Supernatural Thriller. I'd put it closer to Supernatural Thriller as it's not terribly “out there” in terms of fantasy elements. It's actually pretty grounded with subtle and believable touches.

The plot is an excellent crime thriller with plenty of exciting scenes and tension and nothing too predictable. There were also a lot of thoughtful moments. Even things I did see coming, I was fine with because of the storytelling.

Every character was well developed but the big selling point is the exorcist himself, Felix Castor. Since other reviewers are comparing him to famous Urban Fantasy protagonists, I'll go ahead and say he's more convincing than Harry Dresden and warmer than Peter Grant. Castor has charm and empathy, audacity and courage, flaws, weaknesses, cynicism, and personal issues.

I also enjoyed the deeper elements of the story and character, the existential and spiritual questions as well as the moral ones.

Detective parody populated by nursery rhyme and fairytale characters.

It is similar to the Thursday Next series but Fforde narrowed this one down to a couple genres rather than using all of literature. Where Thursday Next will have a million different plots to balance, this one had a million different twists. It must be exhausting to be a Fforde protagonist.

Fforde excels at taking something that sounds silly and populating with well-developed characters to give it depth and make it believable. As usual, the targets of Fforde's humor are bureaucracy, capitalism, and the media and how much bureaucracy serves the other two.

A fast-moving science-fiction thriller with some interesting ideas behind it. It was all go-go-go! Never a dull moment. I could have used a little introspection occasionally. But things moved so fast the narrator had to spell it out for us:

“We're more than the sum total of our choices, that all the paths we might have taken factor somehow into the math of our identity.”

And so on.

I can imagine this adapted to film, seems ready for it. (It is being adapted for a series) I liked it a bit more than Recursion, which lacked interesting characterizations/dialogue. This was similar in that it centers around technology that humanity is not prepared to handle. It was better focused here with the narrator taking us through his journey and struggle.

This was so much fun. Nice blend of fantasy (modern-day) and comedy. Charlie is a relatable character who fears embarrassment more than anything. He avoids drawing attention to himself at all costs. But the price he pays is never getting to shine and share with the world what he's really good at (in this case singing.)

Charlie's character grows thanks to adversity, in the form of his brother Spider, and his crooked boss Grahame. His supposedly dead father ( the West African trickster god Anansi) helps him gain confidence and sense of purpose. I wish things worked out like this in real life. It's such a joyful story to read. Favorite scenes include Charlie singing his way out of a jam with a gun-toting lunatic and Spider making a little clay spider that goes and gets help from all the other spiders.

One theme in this book is the power of stories. When the destructive force (Tiger) owned all the stories, humans were frightened and spent all their time struggling for their survival. When Spider takes over the stories, suddenly humans are freer to make their lives easier, do the things they want instead of living in fear. The story explores the Tiger (fear) trying to take the stories back.

I chose to read a bunch of these one after the other as a part of a digital collection.

I'm not sure that was the best way to do it. It feels like eating a gallon of chocolate pudding in one sitting. I like the pudding, but a snack pack is a better serving size.

This, like all the books in the collection (7-12) had some high and low points. These books remind me of a fantasy adventure television show with each chapter edited to end on a cliffhanger/commercial break.

I don't have strong feelings of love for this series, but I'm not tired of it either. I like Harry, like the humor, like some of the supporting characters. They have enough stakes and tension to keep the pages turning. In this particular book, the scene with the “Eebs” was especially memorable. I also enjoyed the bit with Donar Vadderung and hope he comes back.

True to the title, there are a lot of “changes” in the book as Harry's life as we've come to know it is turned inside out and upside down. That's good as it means the future of the series may be less predictable (I hope).

On the downside, they throw a lot of plot at you, without rhyme or reason, and with twists that are often banal. How many other unknown family members is Harry going to pick up before we're done? If he finds out Karin is his sister, I'm outta here. The action sequences are frequently the most boring chapters of any given book. Ideally, I should be on the edge of my seat for these scenes.

There is far too much similarity between one plot and another from book to book. Every plot is a scheme within a scheme within a scheme, instigated by some supernatural power player. There's always a traitor of some kind or other. The Red Court's internal power struggles in Changes are almost exactly like the White Court's from White Night. It is never as noir as I had thought it would be/hoped for. Most of the characters are quite glamorous in one way or another. City problems are mentioned but most of the cast are too far above/outside of them.

Nearly every woman's hotness is described in detail. Harry's consistent horniness is tiresome. At this point I can just assume it's there, right? I don't need to be reminded.

I guess that brings up another point, because I'm reading them straight through like this, I'm aware of the abundance of exposition, which is skippable the way Butcher writes it. If I'd read them back when they first came out and had to wait for each new book, I'd have a different experience and would maybe appreciate the refresh.

I can never decide if I'm going to go on with the series when I get to the end of a book. Certainly, I won't binge them ever again as this intensifies the things that bug me about the series.