Lau

4.5
I really liked this book. The writing is amazing! I loved that the narrator addresses the reader quite often. There are a lot rumbling throughout the story, which I had a bit of trouble getting used to. The pacing was a bit slow at the beginning but it worked to introduce all the craziness of Fairly land.
It reminded me of Alice in Wonderland with all the crazy characters and funny situations and of Narnia because of the way the world worked. I also really enjoyed the slight references to other characters in fairy tales.

As regards the characters, I loved all of them! September, the Green Wind, A-Through-L, Gleam (he was so cute!). September was compassionate but also brave. I liked that she admitted that she wasn't as tough as other heroes in stories but still didn't give up. A-Through-L was so adorable! I want a Wyvern like him as a friend. Iago was awesome and I kept picturing as panther version of Rajah from Aladdin. I love how Valente portrayed the relationships between her characters, even the villains.

All in all, I throughly enjoyed this book, even though I struggled a bit at the beginning.

I love Agatha Christie but I didn't really liked this novel. The begining of it was quite interesting, as it described classic Halloween parties, but the story seemed to drag on for too long.

I was hoping for a more interesting read but unfortunately, this one did not captivate me as some of her other work did.

I will try to re-read it when I'm not in the midst of uni homework and midterm exams to see if it was my tiredness that got in the way of enjoying this.

Fantastic book! I loved it from begining to end. Fforde created an amazing world filled with known fary tale and detective novels characters and he played with the idea of the readers knowing them as he made references, played with their names and made very funny puns.
 
I've already ordered the second book in the series and I can't wait to get my hands on his other series. I was really drawn by his style and his humor so I'm really looking forward to reading more of his work. Highly highly recommend it.

Although I still enjoyed Stephanie Perkins' writing even her Acknowledgements are cute and adorable, I didn't like this one as much as Anna and the French Kiss. I was interested enough to finish this in one sitting but I just couldn't like Lola. That made it difficult to root for her but the story is really cute and just what I needed.
St. Clair continues to be awesome and the man of my dreams, closely followed by Cricket. Damn you, Perkins and your ability to create perfect gorgeous male characters!

Adorable, light-hearted romance is kind of my guilty pleasure so I'm sure I'll be reading whatever Stephanie Perkins decides to write.

The Gun Seller I actually loved the first part of this book. It was funny, interesting, and full of satire and action. But as I continue reading, the story seemed to be getting serious and sometimes confusing.
 
During the second part, the characters and the story didn't seem like the same characters during the first part of the book. I was starting to get a bit disappointed especially because of the insta-love as it became the fuel for the development and the course the story was taking. At one point, it became too serious, not the novel I was expecting to read when I picked up this book, which made me struggle with it a bit.
 
What kept me wanting to read on was Hugh Laurie's style of writing. He used a lot of cliché lines and kept on questioning them and making fun of them. I really really like how Tom talked and narrated the story. He was a funny, realistic character and he was really a good man.
 
All in all, I really enjoyed this book and I immensely enjoyed Hugh Laurie's writing. I hope he does write something else.

I'm having a hard time rating this book. I did have really high hopes for it but it turned out to be an ok book.I really liked Pearce writing for the most part. It was a bit hard for me to get into the story at the begining but the mystery surrounding the characters made me want to read on.
 
I have a huge problem with the romance in this book and that's why I'm having trouble deciding how many stars to give it. The whole Samuel/Gretchen thing seemed really forced and really not necessary. I think that if Pearce would have left the romance out or maybe hint of a romantic relationship betweeen the two, the story wouldn't be affected.
 
I did enjoy the description of the town and the people in it very much. The chocolate shop and all the treats Sophia made really reminded me of Hansel and Gretel. I felt that Jackson Pearce incorporated some hints for the next book but they were really nicely done and with a delicacy that I really appreciate. So I'll be looking forward to read the other two.

This book is wonderful!
 
William Goldman writing was great and I thought that his way of telling the story was very inventive. He did a wonderful job creating the atmosphere and, by his comments as “editor”, he was able to create suspense and make the reader eager to read on (at least, I felt that way). I rarely finish books in one sitting but I just needed to know what was going to happen next.
 
I really loved all the characters, even the bad ones. The characters' backstories were so intersting that I didn't mind that they interrupted, in a way, the action.
 
Action-packed, funny, with great characters, The Princess Bride is a must-read.I read that the movie is as awesome as the book so I can't wait to watch it.

I really liked this book. REALLY liked it. Stephanie Perkins did a wonderful job in telling a cute romantic story. I loved the fact that she used Paris as much as she could, without falling to the typical “city of love” crap. She actually described the city, not only its landmarks but the little things. I felt like I was there and she made me want to visit Paris someday.

Also, she created the ultimate perfect boy. I can't really put into words how much I loved St. Clair. Perkins incorporated everything, and I mean everything, that makes me swoon in one super perfect guy. Lucky Anna that gets to keep him ¬¬

That being said, there was something that bothered me quite a bit. I thought the book was really great because it had a nice story, lovely characters, great dialogues and awesome writing BUT almost at the end Stephanie Perkins unleashed the drama. 90210-type of drama and I felt it was completly unnecesary. To be honest, if she would have taken out the whole Dave and slut naming drama and just picked up where St. Clair's dad comes in I would have liked it a lot more. That's the only reason I'm giving it four stars. Oh! And I did hate that Anna seems to love every boy she lays her eyes on.

Cute, romantic, a bit cliched but a really nice book to make me forget the horrors of war in Clash of Kings.

To be honest, I was expecting a lot more. I thought it would be an interview divided in different sessions, a sort of one-on-one conversation throughout the book. Instead, it gathers different interviews Stephen King did while touring and promoting his work, found in different magazines.Some interviews were more interesting than others but you still get a view on how King's mind works, his fears and opinions on various subjects (e.g. goverment, film industry, horror books, his own work, etc.). I was very amused by his answers and surprised at how honest he was. Even though he says otherwise, Stephen King puts a lot of thought into his answers and, therefore, I felt he was very critical and analitical of his own work, without taking it for granted.I would not recomend you read it from cover to cover in one sitting or in a short amount of time because the book would turn repetitive and boring. All in all, I enjoyed the book but I was expecting something else.

The Graveyard Book It's more of a 3.5 book than a 3, especially towards the end.To be honest, I haven't made up my mind about this book. The idea for it sounded really awesome but I was completly bored for half of the book.
 
The initial chapters didn't do that much for me and the characters I enjoyed reading about (Silas and Scarlett) were absent quite a long time.
 
I have to say that the last few chapters were indredibly good. I loved the interaction between the girls and Bod and how the events unfolded. There was a lot going on and I simply couldn't put it down.
 
I also appreciate that they decided to include Gaiman's acceptance speech as part of the extras of the book. I quite enjoyed reading about his relation with books and his writing process.

This novel was so interesting and compelling that I finished more than half of the book in one day. I literally couldn't put the book down. Having watched the film, I thought that I wouldn&‘t be as engaged with the book because I knew more or less how the story was going to unravel. I couldn't have been more wrong. Sacheri brought his character to life with his wonderful descriptions and dialogues filled with emotions and every day phrases. I felt as if I could run into Chaparro or Sandoval or even the corrupt policemen any day of the week.

I really liked the changes between first person and third person narrator. It was really intersting to see what went through Chaparro's mind while writing his novel. I've always been fascinated by the act of writing and the different insights we got of “writer-Chaparro” were very appealing to me.

I'm really surprised about how much I loved both the film and the book. I'm one of the the-books-are-so-much-better-than-the-films type of person but in this particular case, the book and the film managed to amazed me in (more or less) the same degree, in spite of the changes.

A very good and appealing story orchestred by an extremely talented author. I liked Sacheri so much that I'm even considering reading his football related work.

Wonderful, absolutely wonderful!
I strongly advice you to get the audio version of her book (as I did) because, since it is read and acted it out by Miranda herself, it makes the entire experience even more enjoyable.

If you are a fan of Miranda's sitcom, you'll love this book. It's like a new season for her show.
There are hilarious accounts about her growing up in a all-girl school, dealing with being as tall and clumsy as she is, dating, etc.

She touches on a few more “serious” topics but they are not extensive or annoying and, as Miranda admits, she cannot deal with a lot of seriousness without cracking a joke.

I was extremely delighted that she kept adressing the readers (listener, in my case) and making them active participants of the book by using the term “My dear reader chum” and her usual phrase “get it”.

Even though I laughed out loud during the whole listening process, I couldn't shake the feeling that some of her anecdotes were TOO weird and TOO comedic to be 100% true. That's the only thing I can criticize but, in all honesty, it didn't bother me that much.

Rick Riordan has proven once again that he's capable of writing amazing endings. As well as he did with Percy Jackson and the Olympians' last book, he successfully answered all the questions that had risen during the previous books without giving the reader a moment of boredom.

Even though I didn't enjoy this series as much as Percy..., I thoroughly enjoyed The Serpent's Shadow.
Every single chapter was filled with action and witty comments Riordan is known for.

The romantic aspect was always present but did not eclipse the main focus of the book and the ultimate challenge the Kane had to face. I think one of the main reason I endure reading Sadie's chapters was the promise of a sudden appearance of the flawless, swoon-inducing god of the dead, Anubis. I fell in love with the character as much as Sadie did.

Riordan hinted of a continuity of the series and even a crossover between his Greek mythology series by the end, which I find both interesting and disappointed. I know that a crossover would be AMAZING but I find that the whole children-descending-from-the-gods-with-superpowers-needed-to-save-the-world concept is starting to get a bit repetitive. Rick has a wonderful way with words that make his stories very interesting and amusing. That is why I feel that he should try to come up with a different idea. I know he's capable of writing page-turning books so I'd love to see him embark in another project completely different to his mythology works. Maybe a mystery story like his Tres Navarre series or a DIFFERENT fantasy novel.

All in all, another grand finale for a good (tiny bit disappointing for me but I did have very high expectations) series.

I've read this book only because my brother recommended it but it wasn't my cup of tea.
The style of writing made it very difficult for me to read it.
The author had nice things to say but the way in which he expressed them wasn't appealing to me at all. I felt like Jeffrey Zaslow did a poor job in helping Randy Pausch transmit what he wanted to say in paper.

Like I said, this not the book I would personally choose to read and that is why I gave it the rating I did.

Warning: I'm quite tired so sorry if this review does not make a lot of sense
I wasn't extremely excited about this trilogy after I read the first one but I figured I might as well finish it now that I had the time.
I enjoyed this one A LOT more than the first book in the series. The premise of all these adventure books can become quite tedious, though (there is always bunch of kids trying to save the world in an incredibly tight schedule with a bit of romance here and there) As always, Rick's writing style pulled me in and made me want to read the book in one sitting. He has a great sense of humour and great timing for it.
I came to terms with the fact that it's not as good as the Percy series when reading this one and I guess that helped the experience. I was a bit less annoyed by Sadie this time around but I may have grown accustomed to her personality.
All in all, a very good sequel that made me look forward to the final episode in the trilogy.

To be honest, I thought this book was going to be all ghost stories written BY Roald Dahl. Sadly, I was mistaken. (It was my own fault for not reading the blurb properly) But as I read the introduction, I got more excited. Dahl explains that he was supposed to adapt some of the stories in the book for TV show. Unfortunately, the pilot wasn't approved. He still kept all the short stories and compiled into this book.
Now onto the stories themselves. I was promised stories that would “give you the creeps and disturb your thoughts” and I personally feel as if I didn't get that. Most of the stories were extremely predictable and not at all creepy. I found that the first two or three were quite good but from then on the stories seemed to drag for pages and pages unnecesarilly. I felt like abandoning the whole thing a couple of times and I did fall asleep while reading some of them (which I never do).
I feel bad for the low rating but out of the 14 stories in the book, I think I only liked 5 of them.

I liked the book but there were details that prevent me from enjoying it more.
I liked the fact that we don't really know the second Mrs. Maxim de Winter's first name. It enhances the fact that she is so overshadowed by Rebecca.
At the same time, I was annoyed by it. I kept on rolling my eyes everytime the second Mrs. de Winter met a new character in Maxim's life. Her lack of confidence irrated me to no end. Her character never seemed to develop and she was constantly complaining about how she would never be the same as Rebecca but still, she didn't do anything to try to convince people that she was a REAL person.

The plot twist was pretty obvious and I saw it coming a mile away but I still enjoyed how the events unfold. Which brings me to my next “criticism”. I don't understand this woman's reason for marry Maxim. Yeah, he's rich but they have nothing in common and they practically ignore each other, except when Maxim bullies her. And still she claims to love him after he confesses having killed Rebecca. I really don't see it possible.

I guess I liked the concept of the book but I didn't enjoy the way it was executed.

This is my first John Grisham book and I can see what all the hype is about.
His style of writing is trully interesting and entertaining. I thought the use of the different points of view was ingenious, quite the page-turner. I think that's why I reached to the middle of the book on the first day of reading.
That being said, by the second half of book, I felt like the story started to drag on. The dialogues and the situations seemed to be the same as in the first half and the book felt repetitive.

I thought the book was a very interesting read and got a sense of Grisham's writing style, which I found quite amusing.

This book had everything I like in it:
- A good storyline
- Good characters who can create an emotional bond with and that are relatable.
- A thrilling page turning writing style.

Everything was amazing for me for half of the book. Then the supernatural elemenent was introduced and that's when Stephen King lost me.
I went into this book with loads of expectations and with an idea of a more realistic book but, unfortunately, that wasn't the case.
I guess that's entirely my fault for asking the book to be something else than what it is. However, I think that if King would have committed to a “normal” resolution to the problem, I'd like it a lot better.

I was a bit dissapointed when reading this book. I love love LOVE Rick Riordan and Percy Jackson and the Olympians is one of my favourite series ever. On top of that, I was an Egypt freak growing up. So naturally I was really excited when I got this book.

The plot and the writing, of course, are amazing! It's a bit like Percy at times but Rick Riordan has a way with words that really pulls you in.

Unfortunately, I found it very hard to get through Sadie's chapters. She was such a spoiled brat! However, I did see a slight change at the end. I am going to continue with the series and I'm looking forward to seeing how much her character develops throughout the books.

I heard about this book in a tv show here in Argentina where celebrities and famous people talk about their favourite books and authors. I thought the idea for the plot was really good but I was a bit disappointed with the end product.

Let's start with the plot. This book is about a retired Linguistics professor, Desmond Bates, that is slowly losing his hearing ability. The story starts when Bates meets Bloom, a college undergraduate in the midst of writing her dissertation at the university Bates' used to work in. The funny thing is that he agrees to help her after been talking to her but without actually being able to listen a word she says.
Unfortunately, I couldn't see that there was much development in the plot. The story seemed to be going nowhere at times and, at the end, I thought that the writer gave it a hasty conclusion without really resolving the big problem.

As regards the characters, I thought that Bates was a well developed character and his reactions to everything he was going through were understandable and, some of them, hilarious. Wheareas Loom's character didn't feel like it was fully formed. I'd love to see more of her backstory, but then again, she was a mysterious character.

I thought that the style of writing was amazing. This was the first book where I felt the need to get a pencil and underline passages and phrases. (I didn't, by the way. I couldn't bring myself to vandalize the book)
I really liked the shift between first and second person narrator, it gave the novel a nice effect.
In adition, I really enjoyed that the author included poems and insights of famous “deafties”, such as Beethoven and Goya, and how they dealt with it.
The strong point in the writing in my opinion were the misheard conversations: they were hilarious! I also enjoyed all the references to Linguistics and I was very glad that I read this after I'd finished college or otherwise I wouldn't get most of them.

I'm going to give this novel 3 stars out of 5, mostly because I enjoyed the extra information on deafness. I found that the author himself is becoming deaf (or has become, I don't know for sure) and I thought that writing this book was a great way to deal with his problem. However, as a storyteller himself, Lodge felt short. He had the potential to make a great novel but he just hurried the ending off as if he didn't know how to resolve things.