Vilandra

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

Hardy has such a way of melding the happy & the tragic. A terrific story of an imperfect man.

Awesome, couldn't put it down, just like the other books in the series.

Predictable and poorly written. I would not read another book from this author.

This is a short book, but delightful. You get so much from so little correspondence. The people we meet really stick with us.

I'm not that big a fan of romance novels, so the romance-y bits took away some of my enjoyment for me at reading this book. But if you like romance novels, you will probably give this five stars. I find it feels very like the show, so if you enjoy watching Bridgerton, you will enjoy this book. I very much like the characters and the base story, but would have personally enjoyed a more trimmed down novel more.

I kind of hated Tris by the end, but I enjoyed the story and liked the way it ended.

I enjoyed this book, but I was surprised to see that most of the book is about Michael, not his birth mother. Honestly, I more enjoyed the way the movie focused more on Philomena's story.

This book reads like a college term paper; I kept wondering what the point of it was supposed to be.

Very enjoyable - had some books I hadn't read which was nice.

This is a book that can appeal to readers of all ages - especially to anyone who has ever given up on love. The well-crafted characters and the book's imagery remind us of being almost-adults, navigating the minefield of friendships and dating. Instead of more of the same old, with this tale we get a story with a moral, a lesson we learn with the characters. The supernatural aspect of the story is subtly woven in to it, rather than hitting us over the head with it or using it as a crutch. I really enjoyed this book, and the memories and emotions it conjured.

The main downfall of this book is the shoehorning in of modern partisan political viewpoints where they don't fit into the surrounding text. I don't know if the original draft was re-edited to take advantage of the modern fashion to attack all things having to do with the founders, but it doesn't feel like it fits with the “on-topic” parts of the book. The author also has a tendency to overquote other historians, which could be cleaned up. This book has a lot of potential - with re-editing it could be a 4 or 5 star book.

I loved this book! It's Shadowhunters meets X-Men. The chemistry/antagonism between the characters is so well done, and each character is its own. So often supporting characters are forgotten when doing the development, but that is definitely not the case here. I honestly could not put the book down - the story just pulls you further and further in. 5 stars!

This was the worst book I have ever read.

I'm not one for short stories usually, but these all seemed interconnected. They seemed to be more about the feeling of them, seeing the scene in your mind, than about the story being told. The characters are as vivid with a few lines as if a whole novel had been written about them.

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.

Enjoyable short story - my only complaint is how quickly the characters believe what is happening to them is real, but the author didn't really have the luxury of drawing it out. I liked both the characters and the storyline.

There are such horrible people in this book that it is uncomfortable to read. It's obviously well written, with an interesting premise. But the reading of it sort of leaves you feeling kicked in the stomach.

I thought this was pretty good - I didn't work it out until the end and I stayed interested in figuring it out.

A very good book to read for Christmas. It was clever. The story was pretty well crafted I thought, not so predictable as to be ridiculous. The only things I didn't like were two annoying things the author kept inserting needlessly: the endless talk about corsets, and hitting us over and over and over the head about biphobia etc. The story worked well incorporating same sex romances - it was diminished by the author making these “no one understands people who are bi/lesbian!” comments. Let the story speak for itself!

An excellent book to read at Halloween time, I think I liked it better than the Ex Hex. The setting and the characters are great. It feels like one of those comfortable young adult books you love reading growing up, with the sassy witches and the witchy shop...until you get to the “adult” parts. It's not that they were badly done, they're just not my thing, and felt incongruous with the feel of the rest of the book. I would love to lend this book to my mother...but there's no way I'm lending this book to my mother.

I enjoyed this one more than Dark Matter. The concept is interesting and there were some good surprises.

I worked out the twist somewhere around chapter 2, but that really didn't diminish my enjoyment of the book. It feels like a better written Lucy Foley, and the And Then There Were None influence is apparent. The setting and the characters were very good, and my only complaint was that the reveal felt very rushed, like too much was being explained at once.

There was nothing really wrong with this book - it's a nice little book, the writing is good. I just wasn't blown away by it.

What an enchanting story - this book feels like listening to a ghost story by the light of a campfire. It's magical, and Gothic, and a small town village story in one. It draws you in, as the story in revealed little by little. Really well done.