Andrea Ward
Chloe Gong is amazing! She created a Romeo and Juliet story that is creative and fun, but also suspenseful. I remember some of the plot points from the play, so I kept wondering how that was going to show up in the story. That was so clever! It kept me on the edge of my seat. The illness and struggle for power were both good motivators for action and tension. I can’t believe it took me this long to read this book!
I am in love with the characters from this book! Faron and Elara work so hard to do the right thing for their nation as well as for each other. It is the driving force in this book.
I love that this starts after the war where the hidden princess becomes queen and the chosen one does their thing to save the nation. Seeing how the chosen one and the queen are working to live after this war was a refreshing spin on a fantasy trope.
The world building was sometimes confusing because I wasn't sure how technologically advanced they were supposed to be. The world felt vaguely Caribbean, but I did not feel that there was a strong Jamaican feeling in the book. There were dragons and they were important, but I would have liked just a little more of them.
To me these complaints are minor compared to the characters. I have to know what is going to happen to them! But now I have to wait until 2025. :(
This is the best one yet! I loved following Amanda as she was discovering what was happening. I was suspicious of everyone including Amanda because we are so inside her head that it is hard to know if she is a reliable narrator or not. The ending was a total surprise! It all made sense and I could see how people go to those ends. There are plenty of secrets and bad decisions to go around, but that doesn't leave me hating any of the characters. The author did a good job making the characters feel human.
The audiobook is absolutely amazing! There are just the right amount of background noises to really make me feel like I was in Mexico City. Ada and Miry are wonderful. They learn and grow as people, but also with their powers as well. The solution to the problem is not easy and I thought that the solution was very well done. I love the way the author used the mythology of central Mexico! It wasn't trying to teach about the mythology. It was a story using the mythology. I can't wait until book two to see what happens next with Ada and Miry.
If you have ever been to central Mexico, read this book. If you would like to know more about central Mexico, read this book. If you like learning about lesser known mythologies, read this book.
I am in love with this house! The author did an amazing job at making the house feel vaguely alive. The colors, smells, and feelings are well described and there is a feeling that the house reacts to these things and the people within. The historical story is well told. The author does a great job of making even the horrid people seem almost reasonable or at least pitiable. The found family aspect of the modern storyline is heartwarming. The djinn haunted the background. I wanted more of the djinn, but that would have made this a different story. The twist at the end was pretty obvious by the time we got there, but I wasn't upset that I had figured it out because I wanted to know what that character had to say.
Beautiful writing, memorable story, and a great setting.
I loved the multimedia opening to the story. Yared's voice is strong and funny. There were a lot of new words and concepts thrown at me in the beginning. I was afraid I wouldn't remember them and get lost later in the story, but that wasn't a problem at all. As I continued the book, it was clear what all the words and concepts are and how they fit in the story. The author's note at the end put a whole new perspective on the book and amazed me at how he was able to weave real history into this futuristic story.
I loved visiting Confection and the race to fix the world! I also love the back and forth between worlds and characters that we get in this series. We don't settle in one place, but instead we see adventures here and there for various characters and various worlds.
Ah. I am so in love with this series.
This one is much darker than the previous book, but that makes sense based on the world Jac and Jill come from. I liked seeing how they got they way they are and I also liked the different kind of story we get from this one. It still feels like a part of the series, but it is a different kind of story. I think I am falling in love with this series.
Wow! This is the ultimate isolated snowstorm book! The cold and isolation are really descriptive. There is gore, but it is not over the top. The reason that they are all together is a well used reason, but it does not make the murderer obvious. I had the ending spoiled, but I was still surprised. This was so good!
I would give this more stars if I could! I laughed, I gasped, I clutched my chest. This book put me through all the emotions! The comps to The Birds is accurate! The Princess Bride comp is a little less accurate, but there is a unique group of people who don't understand the full range of their skills that come together to fight for something.
I ended up falling in love with several characters and that surprised me. When I began reading the book, I wanted to know how they were going to get out of the situation. I didn't expect to care so much about the characters. Some of them really annoyed me. Some of them felt like good friends. There were a range of characters ad would be expected.
There was a touch of gore. It was just enough to make me fear the owls and fear for the characters.
The outside people were very inept and even heartless. So the people in the library were really all on their own. That definitely increased the tension because I did not know if everyone would get out safe or not.
Mad's tragic backstory was scary and unexpected. It was used to effectively throughout the book to influence her behavior and decisions.
I was impressed with the way the characters got information and ideas about how to save themselves. They used the library effectively. Then the way they implemented those ideas! That was impressive. And then ultimately the solution! So good.
This was a great fluffy romance! I loved the found family and the town of Smile. I loved the way that Beckett and Presley supported each other and pushed each other to become better. The third act break up is well done and doesn't totally follow the trope of third act break up. The country boy/ city girl dynamic is well done. There were only a couple brief moments where I thought it was too much. Overall it was the fluffy closed door romance that I needed. I hope we get to visit the town of Smile and the Get Lost Lodge again.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the audio review copy.
It begins very slowly and it was hard to connect with the characters, so I just read a couple pages at a time for awhile. The pacing also seemed too planned because each chapter ended on a cliffhanger and then we switched perspectives. I didn't mind that too much, but as it went along that got a little annoying. Towards the end of part 1, when I got to about 50%, I figured out where it was going and I didn't care about the characters enough to keep going. It wasn't bad, but I wanted more action.
Lana did not spend as much time as I would have liked at Perkatory in this one, but we did get a good explanation of the whole building. I didn't know it was 3 stories tall! There were some big changes by the end of the book, so I am ready for book 5, so I can see what happens next. The murderer and the big clue were used in unexpected ways, so I couldn't have guessed the murderer. It was a good visit to Devil's Beach, but not my favorite.
The tension and the emotions! There are so many times that Gyre could have died, but even as she is working to survive, she and Em are both dealing with grief and obsession. That moving back and forth between emotion and tension was the strength of the book. We also get a pretty good sense of place being underground in the cave. It feels weighty and a bit claustrophobic. If you want to spend time underground trying to survive obsession as well as all the problems in an underground cavern, pick this up!
Bonus stories!
I enjoyed learning about the tradition of well dressing as well as visiting with Sophie and her friends again. The investigation was a little intense at times, but the ending was well done as I have come to expect with Charleton House books. I was able to guess the murderer, but only briefly before Sophie.
The bonus stories were wonderful as well. I enjoy getting to visit other characters and see a bit more about their lives.
This is becoming my favorite cozy series.
Really good ending
I enjoyed all the different genres this novel touched on. The foreshadowing was well done also. Throughout much of the book the characterization of Liv and Saffy seemed lacking, but the end made all the waiting for character development make sense. I would have enjoyed a bit more lighthouse, but that's a minor issue.
The message I will be left with from this book is the way that modern times can look a whole lot like historical times.
This was a fun superhero story. It felt very accurate to teenage experience, break ups, meeting new friends, concerts, and worrying about fitting in. I don't know about DC characters, so I was a little confused about their powers and how they knew each other. However, that resolved itself as I kept reading. I would definitely like to read more about these teenage DC superheroes.
I love the hardware store. I love the mother daughter relationship. The murderer was obvious to the reader, but the detail was missed by Dawna, a first time sleuth. So it increased the tension while reading. I am anxious to see how these characters develop in further books. This is a great first book.
The art work in this is stunning. The plot is incredible. The characters are endearing. This is just amazing! The history is incorporated with the story seamlessly. The reader cares about the characters and then they see the realistic challenges they face and overcome. It makes for a feel good story, but the reader leaves the story with the knowledge of what Chinese immigrants really faced and that sticks with you.
There is a big battle near the beginning and I wasn't sure what was going to happen next. I didn't expect to have such a uniquely populated fantasy world to experience. This book was a new experience. I didn't know what I was getting into, but I enjoyed the experience. If you like a unique fantasy world and people battling for what is right, you will like this one.