Vilandra
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.
I think this is the best Ruth Ware book yet. I loved the setting and the characters were well-defined. The killer wasn't completely obvious, even if it was a little Christie-esque. The explanation did fit though.
This one just felt churned out from a formula. I also don't think in general he writes women very well. 75% of the book was boring and then at the end they threw everything but the kitchen sink at it. This could have been just as good as Home Before Dark which is the book I've enjoyed the most, but I think they got so caught up in trying to have a twist that they forgot to just write an engaging story. The elements were there but it wasn't brought together.
The story is enjoyable enough, but it is obvious and predictable. The dialogue is pedestrian, as is using a lunch as a way to give a “who's who” of characters. Characters frequently contradict themselves after about a paragraph. The one bright point is that the author does capture the terror of being in a bomb raid very well.
Great character building - all very unique. I definitely want to go back and read the first book now.
I liked this book much better than the Hunting Party or the Guest List. It still features an unlikable main character, but all the characters in the book were well fleshed out. An easy, light read.
This reads more like a short story. There weren't enough factual events - it seemed like someone read Margaret Cavendish's Wikipedia page and then made up a bunch of day to day things to write about. This showcases the writing more than the (almost nonexistent) story - I don't have a good sense of Margaret's life or work.
This is what 84 Charing Cross Road should have been. It was wonderful to see the characters from The Jane Austen Society again - and I hope this is not the last time! Jenner's books are so relaxing and transport you to post-war England. Loved it!
I enjoyed reading this and its take on Peter Pan. I was disappointed in the way the ending was presented and felt that the stakes could have been higher with better payoffs. It was almost there.
I felt the author is very talented with her descriptions. This book felt a bit slow in parts, and I think the author struggled with the romance, especially between the main characters. I did enjoy it and want to find out what happens in the next book!
What a beautifully written book. It really captured the feel of Italy and being part of an Italian family. The characters are distinct and well crafted, and the story is beautiful. I truly loved this.
So. Much. Eyerolling. The characters are all one dimensional, with no real motivation for any of the things they do. This is a world supposedly with “magic” that is exactly like the actual world; the author used zero imagination and might as well have forgotten this part of the story because it added zero to it. It's clear the author can put sentences together but has no ability to craft a story. She improves in the last 100 pages or so - but that leaves an incredibly boring 450 odd pages to get to that point. I kept reading only because I thought that surely these characters would eventually go on a personal journey, learn a lesson, something. Nope. No profound reveal at the end that these characters are wrong in their outlook, that extremes in either direction are bad. I wanted her to astound me with her clever plot twist. But no. The entire point of this seems to be that white people are evil and you can only be on the same side as someone who is just like you. This book is trash. When I started reading it, I jokingly said to myself that if I didn't know better I would say that the CCP paid for this to be written. That got less and less ridiculous the more I read. That someone actually published this astounds me. The last 100 pages could have some redeeming value as a jumping off point for debate on the actions of the characters...but I doubt that in today's society that would be allowed. What a complete waste of time.
Too much of the book was Nan's backstory for my liking, but the ending is lovely. Would have liked more Agatha, more of the mystery.
It was an enjoyable read. A little simplistic but that's part of its charm. I liked the characters and the setting.
I liked it okay, but it dragged a bit in the middle and felt a bit disjointed in parts. It seemed like modern issues were shoehorned in after the book was finished without being planned. Also the 60s parts felt more like modern day.
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 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.
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.
This book felt like a fairytale, and I really enjoyed a story based in Japanese myth rather than the ones we see all the time. I also liked the flawed main character - so often “strong females” are one dimensional, but that wasn't the case here. Looking forward to the second book.
Really great fun! Especially for River fans. The book really gets River's voice down pat. It's more complex a story than Angel's Kiss, which I liked. This is the author I hope will write future River Song stories!
The concept and the writing were superb and kept me wanting to read more. I did sometimes feel like the stakes weren't as high as the characters thought, but overall enjoyable with good characters.
There's nothing exactly wrong with this book, but the story is nothing special. There is a buildup to when reveals start happening, and then everything seems rushed to finish. One of the main characters suggests the culprit and is rebuffed for it - only to have the protagonist come to the same conclusion two pages later. It needed some work.
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.