Vilandra

Really enjoyed this. Wish I’d read it before seeing the movie so I could have been surprised at the end.

I thought this was pretty good - better than I expected actually. I can’t decide if I think the end was bad because it was just explained out of left field…

Books in this genre are pretty much all the same - nothing really wrong with their writing, just nothing special. This was something different, though. The author really knows how to ramp up the tension and make you feel it. I really didn’t want to stop reading and read most if it the same day. This is the first book of this kind I’ve read in a long time where I really wanted to read another of the author’s books right away.

I enjoyed this. It had an unusual way of telling a haunted house story, but in the end and taking the two books together it worked. Written in the seventies but feels as if it was written earlier. I definitely wanted to keep reading.

I enjoyed this - it was written in the 70s but feels like something earlier. My only criticism is the way it ends - it feels unresolved. I’m happy there’s a second book to continue the story.

This is a good book for people who like to work out the details of a mystery from the clues. The format was hard to get used to, to a good idea. Some things were guessed but not the full picture.

Well I’m not exactly sure what the purpose of this was. It’s incredibly short, so I’m glad I got it from the library rather than spending money on it. It’s hard for it to not feel like a money grab. It’s also one of those “look how terrible men are” stories. It’s supposedly feminist while Galatea herself seems to lack a brain. Which, I get it, she’s a statue, but you can’t have it both ways. There was some unnecessary vulgarity I thought. It’s okay for a less than half hour read.

There were a couple things I guessed but overall I thought this was very good - better than the usual of this genre.

Really does a great job pointing out what remains of Victorian London. My reading was greatly enhanced by using Google Earth to follow along. The book promised at the beginning that after reading I’d be able to spot a Victorian building and by the end I can definitely say that was true. I really liked how the author included places to stop and get refreshment along the way that fit into the walks’ theme.

Beautiful book. Accessible for young readers. Enjoyable read of Norse myths.

This is a beautiful book, appropriate for beginners. My only criticism that beside the beautiful illustrations there weren't photographs of the herbs.

When I started reading this, I was pleased because it seemed so much better than the Lost Apothecary (which I thought was ok but not great). This was my Book of the Month book and I got it in the hopes that the author had improved with her second book. But this book turned out just ok. Some reworking could have made this a very good story. Like others have said, this book was very well researched. It's clear the author put a lot of work into the spiritualism parts of the book. The story itself had issues. The main character, who is unlikable, is also an idiot in a lot of the situations she finds herself in. This is also a “men are creepy and terrible” book. When one male character seems to be redeemed, the author makes sure to tell us that, no, he's really not a good guy after all. The reveals are eye-rolling or unsurprising. There's no chemistry between characters who are supposed to be romantically involved, after knowing each other all of two weeks. The author felt the need to include cringey “50 Shades Lite” scenes. The main character is an expert in her field, again, after about two weeks. This author has good ideas but her books so far have needed some rewrites. I don't think I will read another book by this author.

This is a beautiful book, with color plates on almost every page. It is more of a catalog, with captions for each plate. There could have been more explanatory text - what was there felt a tad disjointed. This is not the book to read as your first foray into this topic, but for scholars it us a great asset.

I really enjoyed reading this. It could have been 5 stars with a little editing. The characters aren't really likable, but this is more about the story so it actually matters less than it normally would. The author's virtue signaling really draws the reader out of the story at times though. If you're going to have characters give their pronouns, just have them give their pronouns. Don't shoehorn in a lecture to the reader about why it's needed. That's not normalizing it. Some of the comments that were clearly in there with the intent to say, “Look how progressive I am!” didn't even make sense. Also, parts were more vulgar than they needed to be. This isn't (as far as I can tell) a romance novel. The graphic sex comes off as the author trying to be edgy rather than serving the story. Having said that, I do think it's worth reading and the annoying bits can be overlooked for the overall story. But it would have been nicer if I didn't need to overlook them and could have stayed immersed in the story. I would absolutely read another book by this author and recognize that she might have been pressured to add in some if the disjointed stuff by her editor.

Even for people who are not religious, this is an amazing and inspiring tale, from someone who doesn't think himself inspiring.

This book is not terrible - the second half is probably a four except for a loose end that's tied up badly at the end. It's interesting for the tie in bits to the show but there are things that could have been done better.

The origin story of Lenobia and Martin. I thought this was better than Dragon's Vow. It was a lovely story.

A lovely little story, giving more background to the characters. I wish I had read it in continuity though, instead of after all the main books.

I found this accessible, and it was interesting. There is a section that drags though after the accused are put on trial, and I would have liked more on how the affair influenced the Terror and Revolution - I felt there wasn't much on that at all other than a summation at the very end.

This was a good story - a Frankenstein for the digital age. The only thing I didn't like were a few instances of virtue signaling that seemed to run counter to what he was actually trying to say. Also, I kept finding myself thinking the main character was a man instead of a woman, which doesn't really bode well.

A nice little story. I liked the hopeful message at the end.

This was okay, but could have been cleaned up a bit. The main character is not very likable, and you wonder how she became a police detective. The sanatorium location wasn't used enough - it could have just as easily been a hotel built on the ruins rather than the actual building. A missed opportunity. I think it's obvious a lot of thought went into this, but it could have been smoothed out more.

I read someone else's review that said they really wanted to like this book, but couldn't. I feel the same way. Fifty percent in I really wanted to stop. It's boring in long stretches and the main character is not likable at all. She criticizes her adult daughter for talking with her mouth full while she herself is basically a high functioning drunk. She hates the students at the university...but she's chosen to live and work in a university town. She's so self centered she doesn't bother to contact the wife of her colleague of 40 years who's had a stroke, or the husband of another one who has disappeared, or really worry that said colleague hasn't shown up for work until a week later. And has surprisingly little guilt that she blew the woman off when she looked like she was having a nervous breakdown.

It's like all the bad stereotypes of academics were put unironically into this book. All the men are bumbling idiots. All the women are portrayed as knowing everything from the beginning with no flaws. The “villain” is made so though his crime seems more a security problem than a true crime, but he's a man so he's vilified. Men can't have affairs but it's fine for the women. Ugh. I just wanted this book to end. I think the author might have done alright if she had forgotten about writing a mystery and done what she seemed to want to be writing about, which is late middle aged relationships. And if she had left the one dimensional characters and “down with the patriarchy and rich people!” stuff at the door.

This was a really good haunted house story. Though the twists weren't surprising, exactly, the story was well crafted and interesting. I definitely wanted to keep reading until the end. And I would reread this. The only thing I can really criticize is that the ending seemed rushed and too short. This is definitely the best that I've read of her so far (Daughters of the Lake and the Haunting of Brynn Wilder).

I actually don't really like voo doo stories, but this really did continue the nostalgic, relaxing feel of this series. This was was finished by a different author after Bellairs' death, but I don't think it feels written by someone else.