Tahla

When I first read Hunger Games, I quite enjoyed it. After having let it settle in my mind however, I found that my thoughts turned to disappointment when I thought about the story. The characters were unbelievable really, the world too brutal and ridiculous to really come off as believable either. The main girl's complete obliviousness to the love interest part of the story was ridiculous. And the final straw of the incredibly stupid mutant dog monsters at the end of the games ... Well, I opted not to continue with the series. Thankfully it took only a couple hours to read, as I won't be getting that time back!

Fantastic book! Every bit as thrilling a read as The Way of Kings and Elantris. Would highly recommend to anyone who enjoys fantasy, or anyone who just likes a darn good book!

A stunning start to an epic fantasy series, I enjoyed it from start to finish. The characters and world are detailed and believable with an interesting and mysterious magic system that works well. The book is tolkein-esque in it's depth.

At one point the characters in the party the book follows split up, which initially had me groaning initially, as some of the characters I liked distinctly less then others. However, Jordan managed to make ALL of the characters interesting to me, even those I at first didn't like as much, which was astonishing as I had been dreading the chapters after the characters went their separate ways.

Overall, I was very pleased I finally decided to give the series a chance, and I'll be continuing on to the second book immediately.

Decent, but not what I expected. It's a fairly quick read, but the story feels rushed. It's far less about dinosaurs and time traveling, and more about the personal relationships of the human characters. Interesting twists, but ultimately I was a bit disappointed. Story could have been spectacular, perhaps split into two books and extended. Dunno that I'd recommend.

Ah Brisingr... I got about 300 pages in and realized something- nothing had happened. It had been 300 pages of running around and dialogue. It was kind of boring, but I stuck with it. The book is about 800 pages long, with maybe on 250 pages of actual action- mostly by side characters.

Everyone was surprised when Paolini announced the series would consist of 4 books, instead of three. I have a theory as to why. Paolini, being an inexperienced author is suddenly faced with having to write the conclusion with what could be considered an epic (I use the term loosely!) and a series that's become wildly popular. He doesn't really know -how- to end it yet, not in a way that's going to please the readership, so we get this dilly-dallying tidbit of a novel. He'd set up the enemy in the world to be so unimaginably powerful that it would come cheesy to end the story where he was at.

I'm hoping he can recover from this and end the series strongly. The book is worth reading if you want to finish the series... But I would not recommend the series in general. While it's a nice idea, Paolini doesn't have the skill to fully pull it off yet.

Every bit as good as the first book- Very glad I already have the third book in hand, ready to start!

A fantastic book that captivated me from beginning to end. The characters are both believable and memorable, and together with the lusciously described settings and swift plot make for an astoundingly well written book. Very much looking forward to reading the second in the series!

A fantastic sequel to the first book, every bit as fast paced and enthralling as the first. I could not recommend this series more to anyone who loves fantasy, or a darn good story. Will be continuing straight on the third book!

I purchased this book on it's release day mostly out of love for the author's previous work, The Thirteenth Tale. I'd read the reviews of it before I clicked buy (I nabbed the kindle edition), and I'd seen that the reviews were wishy washy at best and all of the negative reviews had the same complaints, but I had loved the Thirteenth Tale so much and waited so long for another book from the author that I went against my better judgement and purchased it.

I only made it to page 85 before I gave up on it. Honestly, there is absolutely nothing wrong with the writing. It's just as it was in Thirteenth Tale, beautifully written and a dream to read. It's just that nothing was happening. People were dying left and right, but the author hadn't made you care about any of them. I was reading it when my husband came home from work yesterday, and in the time it took him to get out of his work clothes, grab a snack, and get comfy at his computer, two characters had bit the dust. Really?

It's very weird, because the beautiful writing keeps you reading and makes it almost a pleasure to be reading... well, nothing. Besides reading about the main character, William Bellman, work in a textiles mill, and people dropping like flies left and right, the plot didn't seem to be going anywhere at all. There were hints of some mysterious character starting to emerge when I quit, but after 85 pages of hardly any plot that was meandering nowhere, I'd had enough and couldn't bring myself to keep bothering. It wasn't spooky, there was no hauntingly written mystery as in Setterfield's last book, and there were no characters I particularly liked.

I returned the Kindle book to Amazon for a refund- I could buy at least two other books for the amount I spent on the brand new release of Bellman and Black. If you're buying Bellman and Black because you loved Thirteenth Tale, you're making a mistake. The pacing is completely different, there's little plot in evidence, and it lacks all the spooky wonder of Setterfield's previous work. Do yourself a favor, and check this out at the library before you buy it, just to make sure you actually want to spend your money. Some people have loved Bellman and Black, but for me the beautiful writing simply isn't enough to redeem it.

Hyperbole and a Half has been one of my favorite blogs for a few years now, and when I heard there was a book coming out, I was unbelievably excited! Allie Brosh's work is simply amazing- Her stories are charming and hilarious, and coupled with the deceptively simple MS Paint drawings, she rarely fails to reduce me to fits of laughter.

So why only four stars instead of five? Frankly, I was disappointed in some of the story choices that made it into the book. Don't get me wrong, the stories in it are hilarious, especially some of my older favorites from her blog that made it into the book, such as “Dogs Don't Understand Basic Concepts Like Moving” and “Dinosaur (The Goose Story)”. Her newer stories detailing her struggles with depression and the emotional ups and downs behind that are heartening, and even amusing in their own way- a wonderful way to express concepts and feelings that are very hard to discuss.

Unfortunately, the newer stories I read in this compilation didn't seem to hold up to those I've read on the website. There were a lot of stories that I was really looking forward to having in a print collection that didn't make it into the book, and I personally believe are a much better representation of true Hyperbole and a Half. I understand the publishers couldn't make a massive, ridiculously huge tome of a book, it would be too costly. I'm sure it was also very, very important to the author to have some of her newer and even more personal stories put into the book as well. There were jsut so, so very many hilarious tales that I'd wanted so badly to have in the book.

Don't get me wrong, the book is fantastic. It's a must buy, especially if you are a fan of the blog already (And if you aren't, do yourself a favor and hit up hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com and give it a read!). And all the tales I wanted to be in the book are accesible for free on her blog, whenever I'm in the mood to read them. I'm very, very glad I purchased the book, as it's a wonderful printing on all glossy paper, crisp and clear. The new stories are great, even if I wish there ahd been a few more older tales mixed in. With luck, she'll produce even more books, and eventually release all her stories in print form!

So yes, I'd definitely recommend this book, if you like a fun and funny tale, coupled with bright, amusing illustrations. Be sure to check out her blog as well, it's totally worth it! Hyperbole and a Half never fails to put a smile on my face, and I'm sure it won't fail to put one on yours.

I really, really enjoyed this book. It's not something I would typically pick up, but I had just gotten my Kindle Paperwhite and it's one of the books on sale in their monthly deals, so I decided to try the sample. Needless to say, I quickly bought the full book, and it's sequel as well, which I'll be starting shortly.

This is the first Terry Pratchet book I've had the pleasure of reading, and the first time I've even heard of Stephen Baxter honestly. The story is well written and moves swiftly along, and the characters are all intersting and engaging. I'm not one for Sci-fi, so I can't say how this really compares with other Sci-fi novels- I did enjoy the lack of extreme and somewhat pointless technical jargon I've encountered in other sci-fi novels. Every question the book caused me to think up was duly answered, but that's not to say the book was predictable. It was more that it was thoughtful and well researched with plausible occurrences. Around the time it occurred to me to wonder what would happen to the economy of an earth that's quickly emptying of people, it was answered.

I've seen people complain about the ending, but I didn't find anything wrong with it personally. It's clearly intended to lead into the second book. It's a little disappointing that there isn't a clear end, but it's a fairly common issue with stories that run across multiple books. Not really something to complain about.

All in all I found this to be an enjoyable. Nothing ground breaking, nothing jaw dropping. Just good old fashioned fun and interesting story! Would recommend!

This book for me is hard to quantify. Overall, I did enjoy it. The characters are interesting, the story is hauntingly intriguing, and the writing is lyrically wonderful. But the book itself feels like it's trapped in a sort of limbo between being too long and detailed to be a short story, but with too little depth to be considered a proper novel. To me, it felt like it was short story that was expanded into being not quite a novel, and left with too little ‘umph' to carry it along. I enjoyed the read, but the lack of explanation and overall depth left me feeling somewhat disappointed.

Would I recommend this book? Perhaps, but only if it were checked out from a library for free, or gotten used. It's a very, very quick read, and not worth the cost of the trade paperback in my opinion. I'm glad I put off buying “The Ocean at the End of the Lane” long enough that I ended up getting it as the cheaper Kindle version after I got my Paperwhite. This being the only book by Neil Gaiman I've read, I'm not quite sure what to think overall, and can't properly compare it to his other books. I imagine it will be a fair amount of time before I pick up any of the rest of his works based off of this one. I'm glad I've heard this story, but it's not one I'll ever come back too.

This was a fun romp of a book! While God Save the Queen is definitely an urban fantasy, any steampunk elements seem to be more incidental then anything else. That's not to say this is a bad thing and the alternate reality in which the story takes place does a fantastic job of explaining the technology and customs of the day, and why they work for the world it's placed in.

While I liked the main character, she's frankly overpowered. You never feel as if she's really in any danger. She's far to ‘kick-ass' for that, as she's fond of saying herself. She's well fleshed out though, and her attitudes and actions come off as believable and understandable. And despite her overpowered status, she's fun to read about, so it's easy to overlook.

There is a lot of cursing thrown nonchalantly into the book, and while this isn't something I minded at all (it's the kind of smarmy, smart aleck kind of speech that most twenty year olds have currently) people with overly tender ears probably won't like it. And while there is the occasional sex scene, they are never graphic or described with any kind of detail.

The story itself moves along quickly, and I never felt myself growing bored with it. Every chapter ends in a way that makes you want to keep reading, without feeling like they're all ending cheap cliff hangers. With an interesting cast of characters and intriguing events to keep the pace going, I enjoyed every minute I spent with this book. That being said, it's a fairly quick read, which definitely works in its favor!

Overall, the weird combination of a present day, yet Victorian twinged paranormal world with a splash of steampunk for spunk works well. While it's certainly not a perfect novel, and definitely not deep or thoughtful, it was fun- And sometimes that's all that counts! I'd definitely recommend this to any fan of urban fantasy with a bit of light steampunk, and I for one will be picking up the next in the series.

I very much enjoyed this book, and felt it was much better written then the first in the series. I had mainly picked this up because I'd liked the story in ‘Daughter of Smoke and Bone' and wanted to see what happened, but I actually really enjoyed the read this time. It seemed like everything went into a little more detail, and was a little more involved, and I never felt the need to skim through it. The story is still tops however, with a few little twists at the ending that I didn't predict. Very excited for the third book!

While ‘Spirits, Fairies, Leprechauns, and Goblins' isn't a book of fairy tales or stories, it's a wonderful reference book to the many legendary folk of the world. Carol Rose has gathered descriptions and information of hundreds of mythical creatures from various cultures and assembled them into an encyclopedia style volume. Dry writing for sure, but wonderfully interesting nonetheless!

I was really, really enjoying this then about halfway through I got to a part where things seemed concluded, then suddenly it wasn't... And faced with another full half of the book, it seemed a huge drag and I lost all interest in finishing. Not for me I suppose.

Every bit as good as the first, and it left me wanting more. Will be avidly awaiting the third book!

Enjoyed this every bit as much as the first, and I'm excitedly awaiting the next book to see what happens!

Very good read, and far better then the first. All the action and intrigue that the Iron Thorn finally got to in it's last hundred pages, and none of the fluff and frustration. Very much looking forward to the release of the third book!

Runelords is a solid fantasy book, based on a world with a solid magic system that isn't just glazed over the story, but is an integral and riveting part of the whole novel. David Farland is an author who doesn't shy away from making his characters experience the full scope of life, from joy to despair. Even better, he doesn't shy away from killing them off either, and nothing makes a story more interesting then knowing that good won't necessarily always prevail, and not everyone is always safe! The characters are believable and interesting, and the struggles they go through really lead you through the story, right up to the end. Can't wait to delve into the second book of the series today- I would highly recommend this series to anyone looking for a good fantasy read!

A fantastic continuation of Deborah Harkness's ‘All Soul's Trilogy'. The book picked up at literally the same moment the first left off and kept on going, clear to the end. It is very much a “second book of a trilogy”- there are a lot of clues, and hints, and theories, and very little in the way of answers and conclusions. However, the book only leaves you wanting more, and I am avidly awaiting the third book of the series.

My only complaint with this book is the immediate introduction of a vast number of characters that Diana and Matthew meet on their travels. You're never given quite enough back story on any of them to ever really keep them straight, and several of them begin to be referred to by nicknames almost immediately. There IS a list of characters at the back of the book, but I would have liked to have more in depth details on them included there to help keep them straight. Thankfully, besides being rather annoying, this did not detract from the book.

All in all, if you enjoyed ‘A Discovery of Witches', this book will not disappoint!

I finally opted to give up on this book, settling for reading a quick summary just to find out what all the hubbub was about. I found it boring, quite frankly. I spent the whole time waiting for a reason to care about the characters, or for the story to grab my interest. I found the dialogue between characters to be unrealistic, and while the book is beautifully written with some fantastic descriptions, the story seemed to drag along. I have read similar ‘twist ending' mysteries before with writing styles and structure I've enjoyed far more. For me, the book just never went from ‘sounding like one I'd really enjoy' to BEING a book I really enjoy.