Suzi

5 stars, as usual. The woman cannot write a bad book. I'm so glad to see this is going to be a series too.

Another great instalment in this series, I especially enjoyed the setting in Chinatown and the Chinese mythology sprinkled throughout.

I wasn't sure about this at the start, I was unsure how Maria's story would go, we hadn't met Charlotte and I didn't really connect with Alice's chapters, but there was a shift during one of Maria's chapters and I was completely hooked.

This is dark and atmospheric and I really enjoyed it.

I thought I knew what Cradle was about...then I read it and realised I didn't know what Cradle was about.

That said, I did enjoy it! It was a bit of a slow start and the world building was a bit lacking, but things definitely picked up in the second half.

I didn't feel particularly connected to Lindon but as the books are quite short, I feel like this will change in the next book.

I really didn't expect the sci-fi elements of this, and at the moment I'm still really unsure where that's going to go and how it will play into the longer plot but I am intrigued.

A good intro to the author's world, characters and writing style, all of which I liked. I especially liked the very end which opened up a load of questions about the mysterious assassin in grey and how he fits into the plot.

I loved The Last Mrs Parrish but this was so contrived with so cringy writing and dialogue. It doesn't even seem like its written by the same people.

This series just gets better and better with each book. My god.

DNF @ 52%

I think the author was trying to write an adult thriller but it still read very much as YA, from the over explaining of every little detail, to the relationship forming between Alex and Daniel. I'm not against YA but this just felt confused, like it didn't know what it wanted to be. It was also boring and I just don't have it in me to finish.

This was so good, I absolutely flew though this one. Whilst I liked book 2 a little less, this one was definitely on the same level as book 1 for me. Onto the next!

Well that was underwhelming.

Given how much I loved and reread the original trilogy, and how much I enjoyed Haymitch's character, I expected to love this but I was so disappointed.

There's 200 pages of build up in a 372 page book, then a completely dull "games", him pining over "Lenore Dove" and then a super quick ending.

I haven't read Ballad but I am now even less excited to do so. Ugh.

I love all of Catherine's books, but something in this one wasn't quit hitting like all of the others have.

It may be that I didn't connect with the characters as much this time, or that I've read so many I can see the clear plot points being hit through the story as her books can be formulaic, although I will say that formula usually works but in this one it just felt slightly predictable.

This was my first Grady Hendrix and whilst it wasn't a new favourite, I will definitely try more from him.

I mostly liked this, I think the writing was good, and the atmosphere and setting were great, but my main issue with this was that it was just too long. Some scenes were really drawn out when they didn't need to be. If this was around the 400 page mark it would be spot on, but it just seemed never ending, especially as the plot revolves around the suffering of these girls - the suffering they go through with their pregnancies and births, as well as the suffering at the hands of the adults running the home and their own families. It was just a lot for a long time.

I did not expect to be crying by the end of this, I thought it was going to be a cute sports romance but it's definitely got deeper levels and has some really emotional moments, especially with Caleb and memories of his dad.

I really liked the relationship between TJ and Caleb and how it grew, as well as the focus on their respective sports.

I'll definitely be reading more from Michae.

T.M. Logan never lets me down with a good, quick, twisty mystery thriller and this one was no different.

I will say that I saw some of the twists coming, but it didn't detract from enjoying how the story played out.

It's not my favourite from this author but it's a tough choice as they're all so good!

Absolutely brilliant!!

This was such a unique book and I absolutely loved everything about it.

The audiobook is the way to go with this one, the narration and voices done by Jeff Hays made this such a great experience and I'll be getting to the next one ASAP.

I feel exactly the same about this book as I did about the author's book, The Woman They Could Not Silence - it's an incredible story and something I previously wasn't that aware of, but it was too long and slightly overwritten in the assumptions and descriptions.

Overall I'm glad I read it and will definitely look for future books from the author, but I know what I'm getting with her books now. Definitely ones to get on audio due to the length (for me at least).

I feel like it too so long to get through this, it's longer than book 1 and the differing POVs slow the pace slightly.

I love the political side of fantasy but I do think Talia's chapters were a little long and slow so did affect the pace of Holt's story.

That said, I really enjoyed this sequel and am loving the series as a whole. 😊

This was good!! It was a great little horror story, packaged in a very unique way. Had to explain I wasn't actually reading an IKEA catalogue so points for it being effective!

God this was heartbreaking 💔

Set on a maternity ward during the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic, it was grief after grief with no break.

Although I was totally unable to stop reading this, I do feel like it was lacking in depth at times. I also felt like the moment between Julia and Bridie came out of nowhere, this really needed some more fleshing out.

This was my first from Emma Donoghue but won't be my last.

This was a quick and really creepy read. The whole 'Other Mommy' entity really got my skin crawling but I also had some issues with it.

As it's told from Bela's POV, it does get a bit repetitive and samey around the middle.

Also, Ursula (aka real mother) is possibly one of the most unlikeable characters, hearing her constant anger, whining and pity party was nearly unbearable.

I like Josh Malerman's short stories, and I feel like this one could have worked as a novella rather than a full length novel.

I was absolutely gripped by this from start to finish, it was just impossible to stop. It's so tense and it's written in a way where you can't trust a thing anyone says. So so good!

This is one of the most dramatic, bloody and exciting periods of English/British history and I always enjoy learning more about it. This book is quite long but it's absolutely fascinating from start to finish.

Wow, this was so good. Definitely up there with one of my favourite books of the year.

Not only was this great as its own book, but grouped with the first books in the 3 series in the saga released at the same time, it was outstanding.

- Demon (Archives of the Godeater) - 5 stars

- Deathless (Annals of the Godeater) - 4 stars

- Herald (Age of the Godeater) - 5 stars

Although the author recommends reading them in order of Age, Annals, Archives, I read them the other way around and I'm pleased I did, as I feel like I already had some background and depth to the history of the story before we got to this age.

I loved that in each book, we became connected to the characters, only to have our view of them twisted in the next book. Both the humans and the angels have done good things and awful things, so who are the good guys? Neither of them? I think if I'd read Herald first, I wouldn't have these questions which I'm now dying to find out the answers to.

Just now the wait for the second books to come out!

DNF @ 52%

Honestly I kind of hated this and can't bring myself to continue.

I really liked the opening chapter - the way Kes ripped the guy apart by profiling him and calling out his bullshit was good, but honestly that was the only thing I liked. I thought we would have more of Kes using her profiling skills, but it wasn't mentioned again (at least in the half of the book I read).

All of the 'Brandee' video were cringy and repetitive, I just started skipping them as what they covered was just regurgitated in the next Kes chapter anyway so they were pointless.

I didn't like whole backstory of Kes and Jeb - the way they met on a one night stand then he and his wife just happened to come to her for counselling. And the sex scenes were unnecessary and felt completely out of place in the story, as well as them being practically copied and pasted from one to the next.

My breaking point was the whole flashback chapters to Kes starting her 'government job' and the testing/harassment by Dennis. It was just so badly written and unbelievable.

I looked up some spoiler reviews to see how this panned out and I'm happy to DNF this one, it sounds like it just gets more ridiculous as it goes.

It's a shame as this was a first from this author but I'm now so put off trying anything else from her.

This was such a ride from start to finish! It's follows older teens but doesn't pull back on the gory, gritty descriptions. Really enjoyed this for Spooky Season and liked the epilogue giving us a hint into the next book. Can't wait to continue.