Vilandra

This book is like the lost Christmas episode of Fleabag - I dare you to not picture Phoebe Waller-Bridge as Carmen. I liked this one a lot - not saccharine sweet romancey, but more of a how real people makes choices (and mistakes). The characters, even the children, are each distinct, and the family scenes which often go very Hallmark were instead heartwarming. Also, I actually cared about what happened next. I definitely recommend as a Christmas read.

I really loved this book. Well-written, great characters, and an interesting historical subject.

I waffled between giving this 3 or 4 stars. But since most of it was 4 star, and only the ending making me think it should get 3, I went with 4. This was a lot better than I had expected. Novelizations are not usually that good in my opinion. The author has the characters' voices down well, and my only complaint for the first 36 chapters was too many callbacks to the show in the beginning. I was interested in the story and in finding out what would happen next. But then the ending happened. It didn't feel genuine in a lot of ways, and I thought several characters acted out of character. I think it needed another draft and some revision. Overall, if you like Firefly and like adaptations, I think you would enjoy this for the most part, but I was let down by the last 2 chapters.

Really great twist - made me want to go back and reread to look for the clues. Probably her best so far that I've read.

Great character building - all very unique. I definitely want to go back and read the first book now.

I liked this a lot more than the Midnight Library. I liked the characters and the historical time periods it portrayed. It wasn't fantastic, but I enjoyed reading it.

This was not a novel - it was an excuse for the author to spew his personal vitriol against law enforcement, Giuliani, Bloomberg, Cuomo, modern New York City, television... It's the 600-page equivalent of an 80 year old man saying, “In my day...” It's not even that these were woven into the story: the reader is beat over the head with how great NYC was back in the crime-ridden 70s and 80s. If these aren't the author's personal beliefs, then it certainly feels that way and completely takes the reader out of the story. After 125 pages, I really wanted to stop reading. Marcianna is the only character I cared anything about, and the dialogue sounds like it came from a bad comic book. Oh, the stereotypes! Also the characters use British terms for things that Americans just do not use. Then there's the creepy older man with 20 year old girl romance. Not to mention that the premise of the book just doesn't make sense. The hypocrisy of a book that talks about the Thought Police while spewing inaccurate Thought Police talking points...that talks about inaccuracy in tv while doing the very same...I expected better from this author. He's been around Hollywood too long, ironically. If you liked The Alienist, do not read this book - it will change your opinion of this author. I wish I could take back reading this. I will not even donate this book to the library because I don't want anyone else to have to read it.

Very accessible story - not dry at all. Told with humor and drama. I really enjoyed her way of telling the story, and would definitely read other history by this author.

This is a very well made book with a lot of pictures and drawings. It gives a nice summary of Austen history and Regency times.

I decided to read this because I loved the film, knowing in advance that the film was nothing like the book. It has a couple slow parts, but the last quarter of the book is delightful.

The message of the book is a good one, but I only liked it. I thought it was over sexualized, and there wasn't one character that was a good person.

I was liking this book alright most of the way through. It was a bit slow - too much description and not enough happening, but okay. But by the end it became a “men are terrible” book that fell flat.

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.

I liked it, but I expected it to be spookier (which is my fault). The setting was wonderful though - it's just not very fast paced.

It took me some time to get into this one, and I felt like Poirot didn't stick out as much as usual.

This was a great book! The way all the threads of the story weave throughout and then come together and are revealed at the end. And such beautiful prose. Terrific.

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'm not one for romances, but I really enjoyed this in spite of that (I think if you like romance, you'll like the romance-y bits). I found myself really wanting to know what happened next and find out the mystery. The only thing I didn't like about it was that I felt the antagonist was viewed through a modern day lens and so was cut more slack than they deserved. I would definitely read more from this author (and watch it if they made this i to a movie lol).

Like visiting with old friends...

I enjoyed this, and didn't exactly see the twist coming. I think it's well written, but I was ready for it to finish when it did.

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.

I would say this is more a book for those who need inspiration rather than tips. It felt like there were a lot of extraneous stories. It motivated me to look at what things I was really using, but I didn't find much that was new in this one.

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.

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 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.