Liz

Not my favorite Brandon, but I still liked it. I especially enjoyed the last fourth of the book. I liked the process Runian went through to discover himself. But I had a hard time connecting to the characters and I didn't love the handbook interspersed throughout the book. It didn't add anything to the storytelling for me. Overall I enjoyed it and I look forward to getting my beautiful book to add to my shelves.

Initially I thought I'd wait to read the hardback when it came but the thought of the ebook sitting there waiting for me to download kept me up at night. I inhaled this book. Literally (see book for joke) wanted to stay up all night but accidentally remembered I'm an adult and needed to go to work. Finished it today and loved every minute. I enjoyed every character, every twist, every growth arc. There was a moment when I thought “ha, I see you twist, I know what is coming” and then “ oh I guess I was wrong” and then hand slap to the face I was right. ❇️❇️❇️❇️❇️ (five emeralds out of five)

I'm pretty sure my son would have given it 5 stars. He loved it! And we immediately went to the library for the next ones in the series. I enjoyed it, there were even laugh out loud moments. Great for a boy who isn't sure he likes to read or not.

I really liked this book. The world building was facinating and the characters are enjoyable. I would like to run into Janco or Ari in real life. I did not even mind the formulatic feel at the end. To be honest Yelana was strong without being willful, interesting without being overbearing. Valek was strong with a hidden charitable streak. The chemistry between these two characters is probably why I liked it so much. I am nervous about reading the next book because I liked this one so much. I can't really see Yelana keeping my interest without Valek but I guess I will have to dive in and read the second one to see how it goes.

This is a fun book. I really liked it. It is directed to young adults so expect that. I liked it so much I might just buy the series. I never do that!

4.5 stars.

Such a great, creepy book for the spooky season. I loved Evie and Bird. I loved Aunt D. I loved the witches. The bad guy is seriously bad.

This was an interesting read. I liked it. I don't think I would read it again, parts of it were just grusome and crude which pulled me right out of the whole austin genre but overall I enjoyed seeing the world of austin in a very different light.

As with most anthologies, there were hits and there were misses. Overall, I enjoyed reading about Miss Marple's new adventures.

This is a fun book, very predictable and a little cliche but I can handle it when it isn't pretending not to be. I may not have read much further into the series if I read this one first but I started in the middle, so keep going these are fun, cozy, predictable mysteries. I need this type of book to balance out my ‘heavy' reading.

3.5 stars

I enjoyed this cozy mystery. It did make me laugh out loud when the narrator gave the introduction from the author that she is aware that a mouse and a moose can't see eye to eye. And then to imagine them as people with animal personalities if one really couldn't get over it. I had no problem with the creatures varying sizes.

I liked Vera Vixon and all the other creatures. I did guess who the murderer was but I wasn't mad about it. I will definitely read the next book in the series.

The narrator is great. The main character is funny and engaging although I, like his grandfather, wish he be quicker on the update (in the best way). I like his mother's role in this story as well. Looking forward to the next book

Reading with my son. He loves it! My voice almost went out just reading the first two chapters.

We had fun reading this together. I forgot there were some ‘bad' words in the book. You silly ass. My son made me change it to something more PC. Now we are going to be drawing some picture or painting the world of the willows.

3.5 stars. I think giving reviews on books that you love (or loath) is much easier than reviewing a book that you thought was good, better than good, but not great. I enjoyed this book. I felt like the first chapter was a home run. It could have been a stand-alone article and I would have enjoyed it. The rest of the book was good but didn't have the same flair. Writing about grief and trying to understand it is a huge undertaking and I thought the way she used her personal experiences with culture, life, and food expressed her love and appreciation for her mother well.

Well I just wrote a tidy, witty little review and I lost it and unfortuantly I can only be witty once a day. I really liked this book but if I were to be honest and really start analyzing, I just might analyze myself out of liking it - so no analyzing! I really liked Meg, although I admit I had a hard time believing that a entrepreneurial business owner - she is a blacksmith, how cool is that! - would be such a doormat (stopping self from analyzing). I thought the family was quirky enough to be entertaining without being too terribly over the top, okay maybe the uncle in the gorilla costume may have been a bit over the top, and the croquet game, and ... better just stop myself there. I loved Michael. I know, I know, so unrealistic but that is one of the reasons I read cozy fiction. Overall I thought it was a delightful, easy read. (My first review was so much better!)

The undercurrent of mystery in the book had me worried for a bit but soon I was so wrapped up in the story I just could not put it down. Interesting, vivid, funny. I would recommend.

I still wish I could give 1/2 stars. If that were the case I would give this 2 1/2 stars instead of 3 but since I can't I will round up. This book is definately geared towards a younger teenage audience. It lacks the adult cross-over appeal that many teen books have these days. Having said that it was a quick, fun read. I liked the main character although as I said she seemed very young, even for her teenage years. It seem petty sometimes but I thought the overall story was interesting. I will probably read the second Hex Hall when it comes out.

I really wanted to give this five stars but I just could not do it because of the end. End? What end. I know this is part of a trilogy but there was zero resolution. It was more like a chapter ending than the completion of the novel. BUT having said that I loved the characters, the world and the plot. I think this is one my most liked stories that I have read in a long time. Perhaps I will change the four stars to five once I have finished the rest of the series. I hope so cause I really liked it.

** spoiler alert ** I read this book before I read a great review by Rachel Joyce she basically reflected all my feelings on how it is unfair to rate a book based on a misleading blurb. But blurbs create promises and expectations. The thought of a “pure joyride” and a “perfect escape” seemed like a great book to recommend to my book club. But there was an upsetting element to the book when the two main characters - Margery and Enid - are stalked throughout the book by a man named Mundic. It just felt so disconnected from the pure joyride and perfect escape the book promised to be. I had hoped (even though he was creepily stalking them) that somehow because of him suffering from PTSD after being a POW during WWII that he would connect with Margery and Enid that somehow they would help him heal too. That a friendship would grow and be joyful. BIG FAT NOPE! Instead Mundic KILLS Enid's DOG! Then in the final confrontation, he KILLS ENID! Where is the pure joyride?

The book didn't need murder. The book didn't need someone killing the dog. It was SUPPOSED TO BE A JOYRIDE! It was supposed to be DELIGHTFUL!

I am seriously disappointed in the novel and will probably not read anything by this author in the future. Promises people. If you promise me a delightful joyride you best not add a creepy stalker character that kills dogs and people.

I liked this book. I liked the story and the characters but I felt there was a pacing issue. Too slow and the too quick, but I enjoyed it overall.

I still wish we could give 1/2 stars because I would give this 2 1/2 it just was not quite a three star for me. I liked it. It was an easy quick read and I will probably pick up future books from Matthew Sturges. It all seemed a bit too stereotypical for me but I still liked that story.

I wanted to love this book as much as I loved Evelyn Hardcastle but it was just not meant to be. Two problems for me: the pacing (for a thriller it was VERY slow at points) and the end. There is part of me that loved the end (all Scooby-Doo style, let's get the gang together!) and yet it didn't feel quite right in how I would see the characters behave. Still, if there is a sequel I will most likely read it. It was a good ride and I enjoyed most of it.

I am not sure how to review this book without giving things away. Not that much isn't revealed to the reader which is one of my problems. I liked the book but I got a little bored because I already knew all the secrets before the main character did. That is not necessarily bad but I kept thinking ok get with it find out and so forth. Anyway, it was a nice quick summer read. It made me happy.

UPDATE: I just re-read the several chapters of this book because I was bored. That is saying something when I have several books to choose from and I decided that I should have ranked it higher. I loved the end. It was too mushy, okay maybe a bit overly sweet but I liked it. But I am again going to stop as to not ruin it because all my favorite parts would give too much away and since you probably already saw it coming anyway I won't ruin it further.

I thought this book might be perfect for me. Combining magic and mystery seemed right up my alley, unfortunately it was not a match made in heaven.

The premise is interesting Maggie is nearing the dreaded thirties, feels she has not done much with her life, wants out of her dead end job in collections. One morning she falls (literally) into a new job. What I wished was that there was slightly more time to develop a relationship between Felicity and Maggie. I am all about letting go of reality and believing what is going on in a book. But the instant connection was just a little much. They seem to know each other perfectly but they just met. I have a hard enough time believing this between a romantic couple than a boss/employee relationship.

I did find Marcus Quinn rather interesting. I thought her friend Steph was a bit sterotypical but perhaps she develops her more further in the series. I had the same impression with Maggie's family. I did like Ted the cop but overall I thought it was a tough read (and I don't mean that in a this is an amazing classic book tough read). I will most likely not read anymore of the series.

I decided to pick up this book after listening to the Maxwell Institute Podcast. I enjoyed digging deeper into the theology of 1st Nephi.

3.5 stars