Fiona

The author has clearly done a buttload of research and, irritatingly, his determination to include all of it interferes with the narrative; I suspect many will give up on the book in frustration. But about halfway through, it becomes quite engaging and the story really starts to flow. Unfortunately, being non-fiction, its a truly depressing tale, full of nasty men who wield power cruelly and never get punished for being such thorough assholes. A worthy read but full of weltschmerz and reasons for outrage.

I recieved a free copy of this book from some publisher for review.

I distinctly remember enjoying the first book in this series but I struggled to get back into Julia's fictional world. I struggled to recall who many of the supporting characters were and there was not enough recapping to pique my memory. The setting, which is clearly meant to be China before the Boxer uprising, feels fake and forced to me, likely due to unnecessarily specific details which do not serve any purpose but to prove, “Hey, they went somewhere foreign!” Basically, this book needs more story and less scene but I hold out hope for the next book's awesomeness.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher for review.

Sloppy and badly executed, like the author couldn't be bothered to make any real effort and believes that acceptable for publication. Don't waste your time.

Some interesting information but not enough to justify the length of this book.

I'm glad I was never told by my parents that if you can't find something nice to say, say nothing at all because that was really, really awful. The writing is unreadable, being recursive and tedious. The plot is poorly constructed, with all kinds of unnecessary backstory introduced at odd times. The characters are uninteresting and indistinguishable from each other. The attempts to create a near-future setting, weirdly laughable (I'm tempted to introduce “databrick” to my vocabulary I find it so amusing). I weep for the trees that were sacrificed at the altar of this waste of ink.

I recieved a free review copy from the author via Goodreads, and I wish to god I hadn't.

This book is timely and topical but fairly meh in terms of the actual writing.

Well, that was just grand. I'm a sucker for well-done historical fiction, especially when there's a sassy protagonist ahead of her time. Throw in some well-drawn characters, a baffling murder, and some solid head fakes and I really enjoyed this. The pacing seemed kind of uneven, though, and Ellie's emotional lability and jumping into bed with Isaac so rapidly strained my credulity just a little (there's a big difference between sassy and stupid).

Thank you to Seventh Story Press for the advance reading copy.

A very simple narrative about a boy who takes up Akido because his father feels it will help with the anxiety attacks he has suffered since his mother left. Neither the anxiety nor the mother's absence takes up much room in the story and become unimportant, unexplored elements. The novel's focus is on Riley's interactions with the other kids, notably the Muslim girl whose hijab is a key plot element. Overall, an enjoyable read but unexciting.

Thank you to Orca Books who were kind enough to send me this copy for review.

For a thriller, this was pretty tedious. At no point did I actually feel like the narrator was in any kind of actual danger. And I wouldn't have cared if he was, since he's completely uninteresting.

A fairly depressing coming-of-age story set against the backdrop of the Beslan terror attack and its aftermath.

I received a copy of this book free from the publisher for review.

I'm giving up on this. Other reviews have said this is a 500 page book that reads like a 300 page one and I agree; there's not nearly enough going on that the tale needs to be this long. There are an interminable number of scenes where Nothing Happens and the writing isn't good enough for me to waste my time.

Some interesting information but sloppily organized and written. One of the traits psychopaths have an abundance of is focus so its a shame the author isn't one.

Formulaic.

The story itself is intriguing but the structure of it left me unable to connect with the characters. If the flashback scene, which is told as one continuous narrative that is far too long and happens far too late in the book, had been doled out piecemeal throughout the novel it would have changed things entirely. As it was, I could have cared less about these protagonists because I just didn't understand where they were coming from until it was too late for me to enjoy the tale. So frustrating.

Thank you to Candlewick Press who were kind enough to send me this ARC for review.

Gritty and beautifully written. The subject matter is depressing though; I would love if Courtney wrote a fluffy romance one of these days...

A cute if mediocre tale of a WWI mascot. The illustrations are charming although not clever and the text is unimpressive. There were parts of the story that cried out for more page-time but its as if the writer wasn't thinking about the target audience and what they would be engaged by.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher for review.

A fairly easy read, if rather darker in tone than the cover art would suggest. There are serious themes being dealt with here but, related through the lens of a fourteen year old boy's self-denial and worldview, the story doesn't let them take over.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher for review.

Meh. I'm all for disabled people as main characters but the writing is pretty wooden and the characterizations are so flat I couldn't keep track of any of the narrator's friends.

From a narrative standpoint, its a bit boring; I guess that's reality though and its very relatable. The illustrations are adorably done, although they fail to add dimension to the story. The section at the end featuring actual bug science is my favorite part of the book.

I received a copy of this book free from the publisher for review.

Disappointing. Vowell tells us about travelling to various places while researching this book which seems like a lot of trouble given how little information she conveys about her purported subject.

A well-written gloss of the current attitudes and practices in mental health. The stories of a number of young adults who have dealt with issues such as schizophrenia and intergenerational trauma make the book very accessible and the tone of the writing echoes this.

Thank you to Orca Books for the free review copy.

The first 200 pages of this is great. After that it's mostly fodder for fans, I think, with the author recounting various “adventures in skepticism” which are vaguely snarky and smack of superiority.

I was expecting something more clever, given the accolades. A decent read though.

There's a lot of very sound practical advice in here and I like the sense of control and can-do attitude the book fosters but some of the “missions” require a level of economic privilege that not every kid has. Overall, an informative and easy-to-understand read.

I received an ARC of this book from Candlewick Press free for review.

This is the most tedious political biography I have ever read. It was so uninteresting that about three-quarters of the way through, I started wondering (purely for narrative purposes and not due to any dislike for the man) if Brown might die in some tragic way before the end and make things more interesting. But no, the subject is still with us and might do all sorts of things worthy of note yet (although the writer has clearly written him off as too old.) Biographies are best written when the subject has shuffled off this mortal coil, obviously.

I received an ARC of this book free from the publisher for review.