Kate Mester

Sigh, would have quit if it wasn't on the BOB list. It's nothing new, has all the overused YA fantasy cliches (class warfare, abilities, double-cross plots, semi-love triangles) but the writing isn't very good, the characters don't exist as anything other than basic stereotypes, and even the “epic battles” are rather boring.

Her voice and the side bits with other actors made for a more enjoyable experience than I would imagine having with just the book.

More action and intrigue than the first, with thankfully less dumb love triangle. This series isn't a great work of literature, but these tales (Jekyl & Hyde here, Island of Dr Moreau in 1st book & Frankenstein in 3rd) are classics for a reason, so the story is fun and page-turning. The climactic action scene was surprisingly violent but in a weirdly satisfying way, and I like Juliet's growth in embracing her natural scientific mind over society's role for women. More of that and less of the dumb-girl-in-love trope has helped to keep me listening to the series while I wait for some BOB books on hold. Also , I recommend the audio at 1.4 speed, it's the same narrator throughout and she does satisfying British and Scottish accents.

I think this is a 1 1/2. The whole story is pretty formulaic and poorly written, there is virtually no world building, and there was no sense of urgency or reader investment in the plot. I was recommendinig this as part of my dystopian list but I think I'll leave it off in favor of stronger stories like Maze Runner or Blood Red Road.

Re-reading for BOB. Even better than I remembered. Christie's cleverness & humor still stand up, even if her milewide country stereotypes don't (oof). Still have a bunch of kids reading and asking for Christie in the library so plan to add some newer editions this year.

I've known the snippets of her story she's shared in her essays and in Bad Feminist, but I'm glad she gave voice to her full story about her day to day struggles and the history/mental states that got her here. Despite not having such an unruly body, I've always believed it to be, and shared exact understanding and empathy around the many mind-traps she described. This book will help people, both those that understand and those that need to.

Good content but too many unnecessary personal stories. Much better skimmed for main and worthwhile ideas

Honestly, probably would have quit if this wasn't on the HBOB list. The plot, when it's happening, is interesting in a classic adventure tale way, but there are so many infodumps between plot snippets that it was hard to keep listening, even with Will Wheaton reading. Rarely say this, but think it will be a better movie, with editing.

Pretty delightful. I actually really enjoyed the details that the movie added, though. I also think Gaimam's comments are spot on, that children reading this book just see a fun adventure story, but adults are truly creeped out...yep, I was creeped out, particularly by the movie images.

This book was fast paced and enjoyable. It reminded me a lot of the “Uglies” series, only more violent. I'm doing it as a read-aloud for school and so far the kids are edge-of-the-seat interesting, so hopefully that continues.

Rereading this for bookclub. Found my dog-eared high school copy on the shelf and am pretty interested in the experience of reading it as an adult without the heightened teenage angstiness. As suspected, was not as enthralled this time around...thankfully

Wanted it to be better because it's realistic fiction set in DC, but the characters felt like an adult's version of middle school kids and the focus on race issues from the main character's white outsider perspective was uncomfortable at best, especially because the book was designed to be semi-preachy about tolerance

I'm listening to this in the car to start preparing for BOB. Did I actually like this in grade school? Maybe it's because the woman who's reading it has a really annoying voice, but I can barely keep from zoning out. Not a great start to my BOB reading!

Ok, I finished listening, and now I remember why I liked it when I was in grade school. Speare provides such a nice closure to all the relationships, that you feel reassured when finished. I'm interested to see what the kids' reactions to it will be though, because it does feel dated.

I decided these books would be my fun summer reading and then I would get the HBO True Blood series and watch that. After the first couple pages, I almost stopped reading the book because the writing was so lame, but it does get better and the fun stories and characters eventually drew me in. I'm a fan of authentic, author-created worlds that you can get lost in, and I'm enjoying spending the summer in Bon Temps, Louisiana.

Started out slowly, but built to a powerful and emotional ending. Not sure I would have liked this as much reading instead of listening. Narrator did a good job of making Elijah less annoying than his character traits and more relatable

A unique fantasy world and concept, but I thought it was a little boring overall. That said, I am interested in what happened to Sapphique, but I don't know that I want to invest in the second book. Also, and maybe this is because I listened to it rather than read it so that it was more glaring, the overuse of the words guttering/juttering really annoyed me.

Like Jenn, I thought this was good but skews much younger than his intended teen audience. I'd say 10 and up. Also, the slang is funny and new at first and then really grates with overusage over time. But I did really like the concept and the illustrations.

Upsides: I'm really enjoying the direction she's taking this series, and this might be her best work (saying something, because she came up with Going Bovine!), as she pulls wider on the story and reveals that everything is really about the brutality of America's history, with (sadly) thoroughly modern parallels. Downsides: Not all characters got plot action this time, which made it a little forced that the only time with checked in with all of them was some sexy-time vignettes. But the biggest issue is that book this clocked in at almost 600 pages, and that combined with it being the third in a now planned 4-part series will be a hard sell for all but the most dedicated teen readers. I've gotten a few kids into Book 1, but I have yet to get anyone through all 3. I'll work on it, though, because this series is great and deserves lots of teen eyes.

Greatly enjoyed this book. Funny,true, and empowering. Definitely one I would recommend to girls.

Interesting, but the pacing was glacial. The true payoff didn't come until the last 40 pages and it felt like some work to get there, with too much extraneous detail. I'm somewhat intrigued by the ideas of the next 2 books, but not sure that I want to devote the time to them.

I know the kids love this book but it's so poorly written. What six year old speaks in whole paragraphs about their emotional state and the causes and consequences of the duress their under?

Really interesting and very different from the Uglies series, but still really adventurous. We'll see how the other books are, because I felt that Uglies declined throughout.

Greatly enjoyed this book. The writing was beautiful and the characters felt so real and genuine.

Eh. Felt a little too forced and overdramatic, but that's probably becaue I'm not a teenager myself (thankfully!). I do still think it was interesting and know quite a few kids I would recommend it to.

One of the best audiobooks I've listened too. I'm sure the book would be funny (my BOB kids confirm this is true), but him building and landing the jokes was a treat and I definitely laugh-snorted a few times in the car. I also appreciate how he used the intros to the chapters to give historical and cultural context to his personal stories, as I definitely learned from this book. All BOB team members have given this a super thumbs up!