Coleen

 I liked the whole story. It took a lot of my power to not read ahead. The characters were great. I liked that Judyyta “Judy” found Barbara in the end. I also liked that Judyta didn't use Barbara to further her career. I liked that a lot of the characters were so relatable. I was poor with an absent mother like Louise. I didn't fit in and had trouble making friends like Tracy. I was even punk like Barbara when I was 13. I liked the planning that went into trying to frame John Paul the little heart on her mural. I wondered about the characters after the story was over. Did Louise get convicted because of the planted drugs? How did Judyta advance her career? Something specific but did TJ get the Hewitt land when Peter Van Laars II died? Worth the read. Highly recommend. 

I liked Libby as a character. She is flawed and has mental health issues. Then her mom moves them to this weird creepy house with soon to be discovered bug themed stained glass window. The mom does it to give the family mostly Libby a fresh start. This book had a lot of character development in my opinion and it was a good creepy little read. I'm impressed by the writing so I may try Ann Fraistat's other novel. I'd recommend this to my friends.

I really liked this book. I was making wild guesses throughout as to why Rachel disappeared then reappeared. Like Bel I didn't trust Rachel. Great mystery thriller. This was my first Holly Jackson and it won't be my last for sure.

I was in like Flynn. I liked the Scream and Happy Death Day references. For a YA book it was the right level of horror IMO. However, the ending and with the explanation as to why the killings are taking place totally turned me off. It turned me from liking this book to REALLY not liking it. I won't spoil who the killer is for those that read reviews before reading a book, but just know you were warned.

This book is great! It's a horror comedy. Lynette is determined to survive and become a real final girl. It seems someone is out to kill them all. The book reads like a horror comedy movie which you can totally see in your head. I definitely recommend this book

Part murder mystery part ghost story all great. I loved getting the story from April”s POV. The why and the how of the final mysteries were an interesting paranormal tale, Great book for readers who like paranormal thrillers.

This story had an interesting premise about a girl who can never leave her house because of an immune disorder. She then falls in love with the next door neighbor. Madeline the main character is full of want because she never leaves her home. Olly, the boy next door, and her become friends. I liked that Madeline was not your average girl in the bloom of first love character.

SpoilerI did call that the mother had some sort of Munchasen by proxy thing going. I knew she wasn't making her child ill like in the classic Munchasen by proxy situation but I called early on in the book that Madeline wasn't truly ill and did not have an immunodeficency and her mother was mentally ill and making up her disease. This might be because I did a paper a long time ago about Munchasen by proxy that I could spot signs the author was dropping about Madeline's mom not causing her illness but definitely saying the illness existed when it didn't really.

Interesting premise and first love story.

Okay this book just throws you right in the deep end and expects you to swim in the weird. I'm liking it though and I'm a great swimmer. Review to come when I finish this, but so far this book is great!

And done! This book is not for the faint of heart. There is A LOT of violence and torture. Be warned.

I can't really explain this book. I've tried, while I was reading it, to explain it to my husband a VERY smart man and he was confused because I would try to add details from the book but he wouldn't get them because he hadn't read the book. The best I can come up with is it's a myth story and a human story. Carolyn and her fellow librarians are humans with all their flaws and foibles. At least that is how they used to be before Father. Now they're something else still human but they know so much more and have experienced so much more in their lives then any normal human wouldSpoilerPoor Margaret given the catalog of death and having to die herself many times would drive anyone mad. Not that the rest of the children who become adults get off much lighter but I really felt extraordinarly bad for that character.. I really enjoyed Steve and Erwin too who are 100% human but somehow get sucked in to this whole situation somehow.

I'm not going to try and explain it but say I enjoyed it. Will pick up the next thing by Mr. Hawkins if it sounds as interesting as this.

Didn't like this as much as 14 the “side-quel” to The Fold. It was still an interesting book with great sci-fi aspects. I liked Mike but wished “the ants” were mentioned a bit less. I also felt supporting characters could have been a little better but it's a small qualm. I did like the ending few chapters especially. That of course is where everything hits the fan in an exciting way.

My advice just don't read this. It is a wannabe Hunger Games but the main character and story aren't as well written.

This is such a fun beginning reader series for those young readers who want the “scary” stories but might be a little young for anything made for the middle grade audience. This one was even more exciting than the first in the series. I do like that the ending hints at more adventures for the trio of friends. Great for 1st to 3rd graders in my opinion.

This was a perfect book for beginning readers who want to read scary books but aren't ready for middle grade and higher scares. I thought the character Sam was relatable. He is charged with protecting his friends from the crazy school that is doing bad things to the students and teachers. As an adult I did want to know a little more about the janitor and why he picked Sam to be the school's newest protector,but I think most kids who read this won't fret about that they will just enjoy the cool scary story. Recommend to 1st to 3rd graders who like frightening fiction.

Actually 3 1/2 stars rounded up for the authenticity of the depiction of depression. The characters were good but not great but the author did cover some of what some people suffer when they have depression. It isn't all just an I am sad. It is the struggle to keep pretending that everything is okay and you wear a mask.

Very well written middle grade/young teen graphic novel. If you do have a sibling it is probably easier to relate to this story in the way it is told. Not sure why I didn't enjoy this as much as Smile by the same author, but it was still really good.

I'm erring towards 3 stars although I'd give it 3.5 if those darn half stars were available. So this isn't as fantasy based as I thought it was going to be. I don't know I was expecting lots more fantasy based characters. Don't know why.

The story is mostly well told. I'd have no problem recommending this to around 11 and up. There is some violence within the book but it isn't horrendous. I think a lot of parents I run into at work (I work at a library in the children's department) have problems with sex, or language compared to violence. So I don't think most parents would have problems with their older preteen picking this book up and reading it.

Sage,is exciting and self assured, but at some point his confidence annoyed me. I would've enjoyed more world building personally, but this book isn't lacking in the excitement department. As an adult, veteran fantasy reader I thought the big reveal was obvious but not hit you over the head obvious.

Mostly good overall but sticking with my 3 stars.

We read this in the book club I supervise for 9-12 year olds and we all agreed it was GREAT!

I've been on a retelling kick lately and this was one of my favorite retellings that I've read so far. Elizabeth is ab orphan that is taken in by the Frankenstein's and she figures the only way to stay “useful” to them is to put all her devotion to Victor Frankenstein. Yes she is manipulative but she has good reasons. I loved Elizabeth and feel in spite of her manipulative behavior she had a good heart.

The first 2/3 of the book were really good and if you've read Frankenstein you'll get a little more out of it, but the last part is crazy good.

I had heard the author on the web or some such and I was intrigued by the concept of this book. A book to figure why cats behave the way they do and maybe make me a better cat owner sounds terrific! Not the book I got at all. While there is some interesting facts in the book a lot of it doesn't tell you a lot of the basic why your cat is not as weird as you think and how you can be a better cat owner. I did learn that cats are trainable via treats, but I kind of knew that since my cat does a very cute sit up and ask for her treats on command. It is the only thing I've ever trained her to do. Nice to know maybe I can convince her to do more adorable stuff with food bribes. This book definitely has it's dry science and history side so if neither of those things especially concerning human and cat interaction interest you I would not suggest this book for you.

I don't think this book is poorly written just not what I was looking for. Maybe some day I'll catch that red dot and understand cats, then I can rule the world under my cat gods.

It was my first horror book when I was 8. I call it the book that started it all. All being my love of horror stories.

Gone Girl meets 50 shades both of which I didn't like. A book about abuse and the characters I didn't feel one iota of warmth, worry or anything like you're supposed to when reading about psychological abuse victims in fiction. This book was an almost did not finish but I stuck it out hoping it would eventually not annoy me so much. Alas, it annoyed me until the end.

This was a good middle grade realistic fiction but not the best I've read. I did feel like the parents were written oddly. I know if it was my kid who accidentally caused the death of another child I would think the signs that the little bit of counseling he got wasn't working since my child was acting out the way Trent did in the book. I did think Trent was an interesting character and I liked Fallon. Although I do think a lot of middle graders who this book was written for would be annoyed by the fact that Fallon who hints at the terrible ways she got her facial scar,none of them true, finally goes to tell the real story and the audience doesn't find out. As an adult I can appreciate that knowing what caused someone to be scarred like Fallon is wouldn't change how I felt about her,but I'm betting some of the middle graders who read this book don't understand that and will be disappointed not to know.

Overall a decent book with well written main character.

I wasn't as impressed with this book as I was of the others in the series. However it was mostly satisfying end to the series. Still a lot of great adventure and the characters all grew in maturity. Would really suggest the whole series to fantasy adventure fans. Even if you're an adult this is still a good series.

Fun and light-hearted. I love how Lauren kept going through husbands. Definite read for those that just want something light. Would read this author again.

So I reread this and it was better than I remembered. I did like Ruthie she was relatable. Over all a decent book that I would recommend.

Actually this story was more of a 4.5 star one but I'm feeling I'll err on the side of nice and say 5, but not put it on my 5 star list. Anyway, this is a cool little ghost, supernatural mystery about a young twenty something year old man A. who is originally from England and inherits a house with “supernatural enhancements” from a long lost barely related cousin he's never heard from in the U.S. He goes with his mute girl friend to go live the life of a new millionaire. There is a mystery to solve of his cousin who was studying the occult before he jumped out a window. A ghost that is playing with their heads and a secret society that meets every year on the winter solstice to do secret things that he and his friend are trying to figure out. All this time the main character A. is having these horrendous realistic nightmares that are really messing with his head.

I liked the style this book was written in sort of House of Leaves with only one story about the haunted house and secret cult and Paranormal Actvity with the inclusion of letters to home, diary enteries, video and audio bits etc. Sort of old fashioned mostly (takes place mid 90's) found footage. The suspense is just enough because it is found footage style and if we know anything from Blair Witch, Paranormal Activity it's that these things usually don't end well for all involved. I also enjoyed both main charcters the only downfall was A.'s crush on Niamh that he doesn't want to admit because she is younger then he. I think it implied she was under 18 while he is 23. I think the crush was written fine but was written about enough times to kind of distract from the story a little for me which is why this would actually be a 4.5 book if Goodreads let you do half star ratings. I'd also like a rating that is “for the love of all that is holy this may have been one of the worst books I've finished reading”. Like a NO! rating with just the circle with the line through the middle that I'd give some books that NO! rating to if Goodreads had it.I figure if I'm talking about the wish for half stars rating I'd mention my wish for a NO! rating too.

I'd recommend this to supernatural mystery fans.