Bobz
Way overlong for what this was, not one likable character to be found.
Audio notes: Overall decent performance from the narrator.
Real rating 2.5/5
BAD dialogue, predictable plot, boring characters, STUPID MC, dumb twist.
Yet another book about a “wronged” woman seeking revenge but in the most extreme, illogical way that is completely disproportionate to what was done to her. I can't even say the character was mentally ill, she knew exactly what she was doing at all times, just a heartless narcissist. But even with all that, it was mildly entertaining.
Good read, a bit overly sad at times but the author does a pretty good job at making you feel the pain these characters experience, so if you're into that kinda heart wrenching drama about dealing with the aftermath of a significant loss, then deff give this one a read. Also I have a soft spot for ya books and a weakness for murder mysteries and this was both, killer was a bit predictable but still recommended and looking forward to the next book in the series.
Rating: 2.5/5.0 The MC is sooooo annoying she's needy, self involved, self loathing, inconsiderate, selfish and REPETITIVE. All of the other characters are so much more interesting than she is and the story has so much potential but that whole love triangle cliche is so played out. the story was a bit long a lot of time devoted to the MC's inner dialogue of “ but I love them both” to me their was no reason for this story to have been longer than one book...
The “twists” were silly, predictable, and pointless. How does this have such a high rating?!
Rating: 3.6 - Goodread. This story has two mc's and at first I hated how the authors distinguished their pov's (using very short chapters to switch between the 2) but after a while I got over it and really enjoyed the story more so even towards the end. By this being the first novel in the series I didn't expect much character growth and development but I hope this is what the authors plan on doing further on the series because Whit and Witsy are a bit generic (aside from their cool powers) not boring just not so unique as far as magical teens go, anyways the ending left me wanting more so I'm gonna read on, although I see that there are quite a few novels in this series I don't know if I'll be down to read them all but we'll see.
This was a good read, I'm sure if I would have read this book when it was first published that it would have made more of a impression on me but I'm thinking that for its time it had set the groundwork for coming out stories of lgbt youth. I did really like how the author put the different chapters in the perspective of the different characters
This is the third or fourth book by Karen Slaughter that I have read and I have to say that I really enjoy her writing. That being said, it's very difficult to enjoy what she writes at times because of the extreme violence against women. It can be very difficult to listen to these graphic details of horrid sexual and physical violence that happens to her characters in what has been a theme in every book of hers that I have read and I know I could just not read them but like I said, I do enjoy her writing. For me, this book is easily a four-star book. However, I only gave it three stars because of one aspect in this story that really really irritated me and that was the character Emily. Everything about her, how she's treated, how she reacts and responds (or doesn't) to her circumstances, everything about her was immensely frustrating and as you get deeper into her backstory it only gets worse. I found myself wanting to skip through the book when she was the focus in the story and was glad to reach the conclusion of this book. Anyways, I will still probably continue to torture myself as I journey further into Ms. Slaughter's biography, I just wanted to get that off my chest.
Trigger Warnings: S/A, Kidnapping/ imprisonment, Physical Abuse, Stockholm syndrome “romance”
What an unusual story about an unusual person but made for a great read. Sad sad backgrounds for a lot of these characters and not the most optimistic ending either (which I personally dislike especially for themes that are explored in this book) I'm looking forward to reading more by this author.
Audio notes: Great narration and performance by these actors.
Realistic rating 3.8/5
The premise was interesting and I'm glad to say this read didn't disappoint. Not much joy in this one though so be prepared for dreariness and despair that can be a little too relatable IRL. The most interesting character in this book was the one who couldn't actually “speak” but most of the characters were fleshed out well, distinctive and added to the story. The story is told from two different time periods, but this is easy to follow as each period is split between the perspective of the two MCs. S/O to the performers in the audio version of this book, they were excellent and brought these characters to life. I took off points for the two twists at the end. One was like “oh ok, this is kinda dumb but whatever” and the other would probably have made the story even more interesting if it had been revealed before the very end of the book, but I do understand why the author waited to let it close out the story. Overall, I enjoyed this read and will be checking out other titles by this author.
Realistic rating 3.8
Enjoyable read with a cool FBI heroine, aside her though, the other characters are either annoying or unlikeable. The author wastes no time getting into this story, faced paced with hardly any lulls throughout. Nothing extraordinary here with a twist that I should have seen coming but honestly, I never do lol. Audio narration was decent.
Cookie cutter characters, unbelievably anticlimactic ending, plot was kind of a drag that relied heavily on a forked storyline ping-ponging the past and the present. Use of race for plot points was sloppy and undermined the argument trying to be made.
Audiobook notes: narrator was bland, brought neither life or excitement to any of these characters. Questionable accents attempted for some of the ethnic characters.
This book was off to a really good start but in the last run of the book which is what the entire story is leading up to was really a drag for me and what should have been the most interesting and thrilling turned out to be quite the let down...The narrator does a wonderful job at bringing these characters to life and appropriately vocalizing the super creepy moments in the book, would love to listen to more narrations by him.
Return to form! Much more entertaining with an enjoyable mystery compared to “Career of Evil” looking forward to what's next for Strike and Robin and also very curious of what was being hinted at the end of this story.
Trigger Warnings: SA, violence against children, sexual violence against children
So this is my second read by Ms. Slaughter and while I did enjoy this book as well as the first I'm starting to see a reoccurring theme in her story telling which is horrific traumatizing events directed towards women. I understand that these are things that happen and these are “thrillers” or what have you but still surprised by the amount of detailed sexual violence against women in her stories for instance, (trigger warning incoming) this is only my second book by her but in both, a woman was r*ped violently with a knife, A KNIFE. Girl stop, please. Aside from that...I do enjoy her writing style and following these characters even when most of them are unlikable and self destructive.
Audio notes: another great narration by this performer.
Audio Book Review
**APRIL 2018 update:After listening to other books that were much less entertaining and further consideration, I came to the realization of how engaging and well-written this book is so I'm raising my rating from 3 stars to 4. Anna is so fleshed out and well developed she's nearly tangible, I almost miss her. This book is definitely worth reading and I highly recommend the audio book version.**
Details details details, this book is all about the details, big and small.
The Bad:
I have to say that given all the hype surrounding this book I was a little underwhelmed. It takes a while for the story to get on its feet, the author spends quite a bit of time establishing the Anna character and her world which is understandable given that 80% of the book is her alone in her home. When the main plot is underway it is very entertaining and holds that for quite a while but unfortunately, by the time I got to the last quarter of the book the two major plot points/twists were very predictable to me, making the book a letdown.
The Good:
The writing, I'm not a great writer as you can tell from reading this review but this book is BEAUTIFULLY written. This book is full of dramatic statements and descriptions of the simplest things that most of us do every day. Every sentence is grand yet it never seems to be unneeded or over the top, in fact, it only lends to spotlighting Anna's character and way of thinking. This book is basically about a woman who never (or very seldomly) leaves the house but I was never bored listening to describe her day to day indoors. Anna is the best and worst thing about this book (aside from being a bit predictable) she's so dramatic it's entertaining but also annoying due to her constant bad decision making.
Overall this author should be proud of his work especially for his first novel, it seems to be enjoying a decent amount of success, maybe a movie adaptation in the near future but the author has said he is already working on his second novel so I'll be looking forward to what he produces next.
Ann Marie Lee narrated the Audiobook and she was excellent, 5/5 rating
The mystery here was so-so at best and wasn't really worth the pay off and the investigation seemed to run in a circle leading to the killers clumsy unfulfilling capture. Ok that's the negative, the positive is that Strike and Robin are really compelling and likeable characters which is why I think they deserved a better mystery than this.
Trigger warnings: Graphic sexual violence, kidnapping, domestic violence.
So, this book would have received a 4 - star rating from me had it not been for 2 things I took issue in this book. 1. It was overlong, for the story that was being told a 1/3 or more of this book could have been cut. 2. The reiterated and repeated descriptions of graphic sexual violence. I'm surprised that a female author would engage in this amount of vile graphic violence against women without purpose of advancing the narrative.
Aside from those two issues I enjoyed this book and looking to check out more from this author.
Audio notes: Great engaging performance from the narrator 10/10.
3.5/5 rating Narrator 5/5 (His voice for Blue makes me smile)
This book was brought to my attention via the Love, Simon movie trailer (which is based on this book) I liked the actors cast in the movie and the synopsis so I checked it out and listened to it on my drive home for Christmas holiday. Overall I really enjoyed this book even though I only gave it 3-stars but there were a few YA/LGBTQ troupes that I found draining like the drama club and preparing for the play over the course of the book, unrequited love friendship triangles and probably most importantly, Simon is a little annoying. It seems to be a trend as of late to have unlikeable main characters in YA books whether it be intentional or not but I'm not going to dwell on it I still liked the book. One other thing that worked against this book for me is that the author brings attention to issues like race and classism but somewhat causally without really tackling it ie: Their school set in a fictional affluent, predominantly white neighborhood in the outskirts of the city of Atlanta, GA. When we're being introduced to the Abby character (Simon's new bff, who is a black girl) the author mentions that many of the black kids who attend this school live on the south side of Atlanta (usually home to families of low or lower income) have a really long school bus commute but its just kinda gets shrugged off. I don't hold that against this novel too bad though because I guess that ‘s not the focus here and I do appreciate a bit of social awareness but it just seems like an afterthought. Anyways, I love the relationship that is unfolding between Simon and Blue and Blue is just so likable from the beginning it's hard not to fall in with him. My favorite part of the book was of course when Blue is revealed and they actually get to spend time together. The romance is short but sweet and I am looking forward to the movie adaptation, though now having read (well listened) to the book, re-watching the trailer raises some eyebrows as to the liberties that are being taken, but time will tell...is it March 2018 yet?
This was a slog to get through especially after thoroughly enjoying Full Dark No Stars. Unenjoyable, unlikeable characters, no surprising twists...not gonna be in a hurry to read the sequels