Jane

Rating Description:

1.0 - DNF/Despise

1.5 - Almost DNFed and wish I had

2.0 - Almost DNFed but had redeeming qualities/just boring

2.5 - Alright with lots of notes

3.0 - Alright with notes but I'm not raving about it

3.5 - Technically good but I'm not raving about it

4.0 - Technically good, and/or I enjoyed it a lot

4.5 - Loved it, I wanted to highlight lines in the book but still with notes

5.0 - Loved it, I wanted to highlight lines in the book, and notes are very positive

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Despite the fact that I am not a “Mystery Girlie”, I am very much the target audience of this book. As a person who was born and brought up in the country and culture, it’s not a surprise that I enjoyed this book.

The previous book I read, The Framed Women of Ardemore House, was tagged as a “Cosy Mystery” but this book actually fits that bill more. Mostly because the scope was a lot smaller. It was more or less focused on the restaurants of one city. All the possible suspects were also within the community. A lot of the secondary characters were friends or family.

Pros:

1. Pacing was good. The whole thing kicked off right at the first few pages of the book.

2. There were enough red herrings to throw things off. However, there were also enough clues or small details that allowed me to suspect the correct perpetrator. I wasn’t quite sure what their motives were but I was already side eyeing that character in some parts of the plot. So, when the person behind the whole thing was finally revealed, I was still surprised but at the same time I felt vindicated.

3. Audiobook --> Excellent. You could tell that the person was also Filipino but one that was either born in the US or grew up in the US.

Cons:

1. Despite the glossary of terms, the mixture of English and Taglish may make it harder for the non-Filipinos. But honestly, I don’t think it would affect a reader who is more than willing to take in a few new words.

Side Note:

- Having recipes of the dishes mentioned in the book, seemed to be a good way that set this book apart from the other books in its genre. Of course, it’s possible that it’s not as unique as I think it is. However, this is the first time I have encountered it.

Rating Description:

1.0 - DNF/Despise

1.5 - Almost DNFed and wish I had

2.0 - Almost DNFed but had redeeming qualities/just boring

2.5 - Alright with lots of notes

3.0 - Alright with notes but I'm not raving about it

3.5 - Technically good but I'm not raving about it

4.0 - Technically good, and/or I enjoyed it a lot

4.5 - Loved it, I wanted to highlight lines in the book but still with notes

5.0 - Loved it, I wanted to highlight lines in the book, and notes are very positive

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As a tv series tie-in book, this is a solid read.

Certain main characters of the show made an appearance or were mentioned. Certain side characters of the show were also sprinkled in. But a good number of new characters were introduced.

Pet peeve: Tommy H’s surname is Hagan not Hayes. The book got that wrong.

The story does shed light on how Eddie failed senior year the 1st time around, how he came to live with his uncle, and how he came to be a drug dealer. It also established that how he wasn’t always immune to the taunts on his status as an outsider but changed at the end of the story.

From the show, we already knew Eddie was going to fail. It’s crushing to see him come close to making it out. Especially since we know his ultimate fate. But it was nice to see how he came to be the Eddie we saw.

Did this satisfy my need to know more about Eddie? No. But then again, there’s no real way to do that given how he got killed off in the show. It would be nice if he got mentioned in the other tie-in books though.

Rating Description:

1.0 - DNF/Despise

1.5 - Almost DNFed and wish I had

2.0 - Almost DNFed but had redeeming qualities/just boring

2.5 - Alright with lots of notes

3.0 - Alright with notes but I'm not raving about it

3.5 - Technically good but I'm not raving about it

4.0 - Technically good, and/or I enjoyed it a lot

4.5 - Loved it, I wanted to highlight lines in the book but still with notes

5.0 - Loved it, I wanted to highlight lines in the book, and notes are very positive

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This was an easy enough book to read. I would have been able to finish this faster had I not been struggling to finish reading another book.

The pacing of the story is good. It started off in the middle of something but, as a reader, it didn’t feel like I was dropped in a confusing situation where a lot of things were happening at once. The plot followed a certain flow. There’s a BIG GOAL. But on the way to the BIG GOAL, smaller goals were set. So, the story didn’t feel dragging or not exciting for large stretches of time.

There are spots in the plot where it seems like it’s what’s happening just seems too convenient. However, I forgive those just because it keeps it from adding too many characters or complications.

The author was also not afraid to kill off characters. Sure, they are minor ones. But given how the last book I read had a ‘Big battle’ where only one person from the protagonist’s side got killed, I appreciated this.

There were enough instances of twists that made me doubt if they will succeed in their goal or at least doubt if they were going achieve it without losing something along the way.

There were romance and what folks these days call “spice”. Personally, I didn’t think the plot needed it. Or if the author really wanted it to have it, they could have just upped the ‘will they or won’t they’ factor rather than have it happen without showing us the building tension.

The end was open ended which gives the author leeway to write more.

Overall, it’s a solid read. Is it the best thing I’ve read or wowed me? No. But I wouldn’t discourage people from reading it.

Rating Description:

1.0 - DNF/Despise

1.5 - Almost DNFed and wish I had

2.0 - Almost DNFed but had redeeming qualities/just boring

2.5 - Alright with lots of notes

3.0 - Alright with notes but I'm not raving about it

3.5 - Technically good but I'm not raving about it

4.0 - Technically good, and/or I enjoyed it a lot

4.5 - Loved it, I wanted to highlight lines in the book but still with notes

5.0 - Loved it, I wanted to highlight lines in the book, and notes are very positive

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(Review Edited)

I’ll go ahead and start this review by saying I almost DNFed this book.

Which sucks because it was the 1 book in the series that had a lot of scenes how the main pair developed their romantic relationship. Wolfsong did give us a lot of scenes how Joe and Ox developed their relationship however that relationship was primarily a friendship because Joe was a minor for most of Wolfsong.

I almost DNFed this because I got frustrated about a lot of things.

1. Why didn’t Livingstone just off Carter when they were in the middle of the woods? He knew Carter was there. He had time, opportunity, the strength. There was no good reason for him not to just kill Carter right there and then other than the fact it would have cut the story very short.

2. Why did Carter have so many hang ups about having a guy as his mate? It was mentioned in 1 of the books that same sex pairings were not only not taboo but a pretty common occurrence. So, it shouldn’t have surprised Carter at all despite his clear preference towards women before.

In addition to that, it also struck me as odd that Carter kept on saying he really has no idea how to go about having gay “relations”. He grew up in a culture where gay relationships are not uncommon, people are ok with a lot of nudity, and has family in gay relationships. But he still had no idea how that works?

Huh?

3. I had the same feeling about the final battle here as I did about the battle in Heartsong. It was underwhelming.

I mean, how scary is Livingstone supposed to be when a regular Beta wolf like Elizabeth can break another wolf’s neck with a bite but Livingstone, who is described as a “beast”, can’t effectively crush Rico’s spine when he caught him? Yes, he killed a human but the whole battle only 1 human was killed?

Then there was that scene with the doors which confused me because they were battling it out in the town and then that doors scene and then all of a sudden they were in front of the blue house. How did that happen?

4. The book went back and forth between glorifying Thomas and then have scenes where people would discuss how Thomas was wrong. I get people would go back and forth about how they feel about people they loved despite knowing that those same people messed up. But I feel that they should have emphasized that Thomas was not that great at all. He tried his best but he wasn’t really that great.

In the books, it was always mentioned that Thomas would take Joe to teach him to become the “Alpha of All”. But was he really? Joe left his nuclear pack and his responsibilities of being the “Alpha of All”. And when he came back, he was struggling with the responsibilities of juggling his duties with his nuclear pack and Caswell. So really, how good was Thomas at preparing Joe? Not that much, it seems like.

And how Thomas prepared Joe is so different from how Livingstone, Grandpa Abel and Thomas prepared Gordo for his life as the next witch for the Bennett pack. Gordo got his whole arms tattooed at a young age. That was horrifying. And that was just to be a witch and not an “Alpha to All”.

On top of that Thomas kept secrets that kept on biting them back in the end. Him and Grandpa Abel. And he didn’t tell anyone about these secrets/mistakes to at least warn them. He wrote letters to the future mates of his sons but he couldn’t write letters to his family warning them about the issues he caused? REALLY?!!

5. It grates my nerves that in the end they renamed the garage from “Gordo’s” to “Bennetts”.

In the books they kept on saying that the Bennetts were special but after reading all 4 books, I have come to the conclusion that this family is not so great or special. They actually messed up. A lot. Who saved their bacon? Ox and Gordo.

If anyone should be honored at the end of this series, it is my opinion that it should be those 2.

Some positives, I was glad that characters were finally discussing how Thomas has made mistakes. I also very much liked how that Carter, Kelly, and Joe had heart to heart conversations. I was especially moved when Joe confessed his feelings of being left out.

My views on this book is a culmination of frustrations with the whole series rather than this book in particular. But as the last book in the series, I expected more.

Rating Description:

1.0 - DNF/Despise

1.5 - Almost DNFed and wish I had

2.0 - Almost DNFed but had redeeming qualities/just boring

2.5 - Alright with lots of notes

3.0 - Alright with notes but I'm not raving about it

3.5 - Technically good but I'm not raving about it

4.0 - Technically good, and/or I enjoyed it a lot

4.5 - Loved it, I wanted to highlight lines in the book but still with notes

5.0 - Loved it, I wanted to highlight lines in the book, and notes are very positive

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I wrote this review after I have read Brothersong so my views may be colored from that.

This book started off quite confusing. I wasn’t quite sure if I was reading Robbie before meeting the Bennets or if he moved back for some reason. It was sort of the latter.

I actually didn’t mind this so much. What did bother me was that this book was kind of boring. There was a lot of back and forth about what happened but it was going in circles, in my opinion.

I did like that we learned more about Robbie. I also liked that despite Kelly being Ace, there was more scenes about how Robbie and Kelly build up their relationship as compared to Gordo and Mark in Ravensong.

There are things in this book that just made me scratch my head in frustration:

1. Why were the former humans panicking when Kelly got sick with the cold? They were humans until recently. They should have recognized a cold for what it was.

2. It was said in the 1st and 2nd book that wolves recognize their mates. They get that feeling and then they know that person is their mate. So why didn’t Kelly immediately know that Robbie was his mate? In Wolfsong, Kelly was giving Robbie puzzled looks when Robbie was trying to get close to him. Also, Robbie didn’t immediately recognize Kelly as his mate. He said Kelly was cute though. But it wasn’t how it was with Joe and Mark.

It could be argued that recognition of one’s mate is different from wolf to wolf. However, they made such a big deal of it in Wolfsong that this whole thing feels like they are retconning the whole sentiment.

3. The argument in point 2 applies to Carter and the wolf (Gavin). Also they made Carter seem very dumb. He wasn’t like that previously so what’s up.

The book does have a “big” battle near the end. But it wasn’t really that big. They were basically fighting a bunch of feral children, Michelle, Dale, and Livingstone. It didn’t really give me the sense that the odds were against them or that the fight would be close. The story tried to make it seem that way, but I wasn’t really buying it.

Rating Description:

1.0 - DNF/Despise

1.5 - Almost DNFed and wish I had

2.0 - Almost DNFed but had redeeming qualities/just boring

2.5 - Alright with lots of notes

3.0 - Alright with notes but I'm not raving about it

3.5 - Technically good but I'm not raving about it

4.0 - Technically good, and/or I enjoyed it a lot

4.5 - Loved it, I wanted to highlight lines in the book but still with notes

5.0 - Loved it, I wanted to highlight lines in the book, and notes are very positive

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(Review Edited)

Most of my critiques of Wolfsong, regarding lack of description, apply here as well. However it was a little bit better here. At least now I confirmed that Tanner is white. And while the setting and his name should be a give away, 1 can never be too sure.

I enjoyed reading about Gordo. He’s flawed and unrepentant about it. Good for him.

I sometimes did get confused about how much time had passed because of Thomas. There were times when Thomas seemed like he’s in his late 20s when, in fact, he’s 19. It made me think a lot more time has passed than it actually did.

Thomas was acting far more father like to Gordo than I would expect given that they have just a 6 year difference. This is around the same age difference between Ox and Joe but their dynamic to each other was totally different.

While I don’t begrudge Mark anything I don’t see why Gordo fell for him.

He’s handsome, sure. But beyond that, what is there? He was just this dude who followed Gordo around.

Was he charming? Funny? Witty? Did they have common interests?

No idea.

For a book that was supposed to be a love story, it was devoid of the falling in love build up.

The small bad, Elijah, was very 1 note to me. Sure, an outright zealot does evoke a stronger feeling of hate towards the character but it was just so cliche.

But not all is lost in this book. I did like how the omega plot was handled. The logic behind it is fuzzy to me but then again it’s supposed to be fuzzy. The characters really don’t know anything for certain and just took an educated guess that seemed to be right. On top of that, the concept of their resolution is new to me.

I also appreciated that this book didn’t shy away from doing damage to the main characters. It wouldn’t be realistic if they always came out unscathed or just dead.

Review about how the book looked: Given how the word “blue” was used so much in this book, I’m surprised the book is red. Also, the book is about Gordo and titled “Ravensong”, why is the raven so small in the cover? Yes, the series is about wolves, but making the raven a bit more prominent wouldn’t have taken away from that.

Rating Description:

1.0 - DNF/Despise

1.5 - Almost DNFed and wish I had

2.0 - Almost DNFed but had redeeming qualities/just boring

2.5 - Alright with lots of notes

3.0 - Alright with notes but I'm not raving about it

3.5 - Technically good but I'm not raving about it

4.0 - Technically good, and/or I enjoyed it a lot

4.5 - Loved it, I wanted to highlight lines in the book but still with notes

5.0 - Loved it, I wanted to highlight lines in the book, and notes are very positive

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(Review Edited)

I decided to start reading books again and started with this book.

While I did like the plot, characters, flow, and writing style, I was not quite satisfied.

Maybe this is because I’ve been reading fanfic more than books these past few years, but I had difficulty picturing the characters. Sure, there were descriptions but it wasn’t specific enough for me. Or the descriptions were given but not repeated enough to stick in my head as I read. I honestly cannot remember much of how Ox looks like beyond the fact that he’s big. And he’s the lead character. Rico stuck out because of how he talks but Tanner and Chris…I can’t tell much. Carter and Kelly could be the Bobbsey twins, for all I know, given how they’re essentially just described as blonde and blue eyed.

The thing is, repetition was used in the book to hammer down certain things like how Ox feels like he’s nothing. That was heavily repeated to the point where it was getting tedious.

I also had issues with the pack dynamics. Here, the alpha’s 2nd was just the enforcer. The witch acted as the advisor. But not all packs have a witch. So does that mean no one is keeping the alpha in check? And sure, that set up may just be what happened to Joe and crew due to circumstances but they would have not wasted so much time if someone in that group just had the strength of character to say “no” and stuck to their guns or claws.

Oh and I found 2 mistakes in the book. Both seem to be typos where the author meant to use 1 word but mistakenly used another word.

But despite my notes above, I did enjoy the book and just had to read the next books in the series.