Michelle
It took me a little while to get into it, as it's more character driven than plot driven. But beyond the heartbreaking story, Thomas explored ideas about the things we think that will make us happy, the ways we feel our time should be spent, and how much of ourselves do we owe to others.
The way all of these ideas are interwoven throughout the book is just genius. Loved it!
This took me forever to read. Maybe I would have had a higher opinion of the book had I read it in fewer sittings. I just couldn't do it. I don't know if it was the stilted manner in which Van Helsing spoke or the slow pacing throughout the middle of the book. There were sections of the book that I thought were great, but there were just not enough of them to keep my interest.
The beginning starts out with Jonathan Harker held captive by Count Dracula in his mansion in Transylvania. I thought this was a fantastic beginning and I was totally on board. The epistolary format allowed me to see exactly what was going through Harker's mind as he fully realizes the situation he's in. His earliest journal entries are full of superstitions and doubts and those niggling feelings. By the time he finally leaves, he is so out of his mind with fear and crazy thoughts that he's admitted to a sanitarium. It was awesome. I really enjoy being inside of a crazy person's head (other than my own).
Afterwards, more characters are introduced and the very slow ramping up to the next bit of scary stuff. I found myself irritated with Van Helsing more than once, as he tends to come off as a pompous, secretive, misogynistic ass. And it seems that he really likes to talk. A lot. About not much of anything that can be understood by anyone in the room.
Overall, I'm glad I read it but I don't see myself picking it up again.
I started this book with pretty high hopes. I absolutely loved [b:Mudbound 2138727 Mudbound Hillary Jordan https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1296591096s/2138727.jpg 2144215] by Jordan and I really liked this premise. A dystopian future where law-breakers are color-coded by the type of crime they commit? Sounds bizarre - sign me up!Ultimately, I ended up with mixed feelings about this book. The first half was great and a fantastic start for a [b:The Scarlet Letter 12296 The Scarlet Letter Nathaniel Hawthorne https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1327879100s/12296.jpg 4925227] retelling. The main character wakes up to find that she has been “chromed” red. All of her skin is as red as a fire truck to symbolize that she is a murderer. She had an affair with a married man and was caught having an illegal abortion, so now she is doomed to be red for 16 years.The second half is where I feel that the book loses steam. It stops being about racism and the extreme religious-right type government and tries being an action packed adventure with a lot of preachy dialogue. The whole story just seemed rushed and the main character seemed to evolve too fast to be believable.
Fantastic October read! I really appreciate the way that the author wove the spooky factor into a great story. Sometimes horror novels really amp up the scare-factor without creating a really good story-line. This book has all the feels, including the scared-out-of-your-wits! I promise you that I will never look through a keyhole, that's for certain!
I received this ARC through First Reads from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Rachel, the narrator, is a children's book illustrator. She's recently separated from her cheating husband (who sounds like a total putz). She likes the school her children attend, but isn't very anxious to volunteer for any of the “mom duties”. On the other hand, most of the other characters are falling over themselves to volunteer for PTA duties. They're all competing for the attention of the queen bee mom, Beatrice (who of course is a total snob). She's the PTA chairwoman, and it quickly becomes apparent that the icky jobs, such as sorting stinky laundry for a fund-raising yard sale, is delegated to the moms she does not like. Then her and her friends work on the activities that are more fun.
Somehow, Rachel has lost her status as BFF with Beatrice. When Rachel challenges her about their friendship, Beatrice explains it wouldn't be right to “take sides” after Rachel's separation with her husband. From here Rachel pretends not to care even though she still takes an awful lot of interest in what Beatrice is doing.
The mothers all are one-dimensional and somewhat unbelievable. I am a mother of school aged children, and I don't really identify with any of these characters. Maybe as a satire that is blowing some of the typical behaviors out of proportion, but certainly not true to life.
It's a vaguely amusing summer read. Just don't expect a lot of aha moments as you identify some of the annoying moms you know in real life.
I received this ARC through First Reads from the publisher in exchange for my honest review.
I love dogs. Namely, my own dogs :). I am a complete pushover for a good story about a great dog. And this is most certainly that.
This is a simply amazing story of a rescued puppy named Pax, his life and the lives of those he touched. Rick is the professional baseball player that first found Pax and Francesca joins the family shortly after when she and Rick are married. When Rick is called off to war, they decide to allow Pax to “do his bit” as well by joining the K-9 corps. His partner in the war is Keller and they form a very tight bond. When the war is over, everyone wants to keep Pax. Through this dilemma, it is decided that they will all stay with Pax.
I loved and hated each of these characters (except for Pax - only love for Pax). I really loved when the narrative switched back to Pax and we got to see his point of view. It is heart wrenching and heartwarming and I honestly didn't know how Susan Wilson would wrap up this story without making me angry.
I would recommend this book to any and all animal lovers. If you don't care for animals, you should also read this book.
I received this ARC through First Reads from the publisher in exchange of an honest review.
I was really excited about this book. The premise just sounded so amazing! And after having read the book, I can definitely see why some people are raving about it. All of the elements of a good literary novel are there. It's beautifully written, themes of human existentialism, an examination of human nature, etc.
Unfortunately, I found it to be incredibly boring. I was about 3/4 of the way through this book and had to force myself to finish. I doubt I would have finished it if it were not an ARC copy. As it was, I did do a bit of skimming in the middle because OMG NOTHING WAS HAPPENING. I mean, sure, the writing was really beautiful and subtle and all that, but who gives a crap about the writing when FREAKING NOTHING HAPPENS.
I suppose what I said above isn't 100% accurate. Something does happen very very late in the book. I do have to say that the last few chapters are the reason I did not give this one star. The ending was quite good. Rather powerfully, it brought together the underlying themes in the novel. I also liked the extra little excerpts in bold/italics from the points of view of various Returned people. They were probably the most interesting sections in the novel.
Personally, I wasn't exactly sure what I was expecting from the novel, but I at the very least wanted to discover WHY the Returned were there. Or, barring that, HOW they got there. I mean, was it everybody that ever died? Cuz holy hell that's a lot of people.
In the end, I would say that this book is not a bad book. It's just not the book for me.
I received this arc from the publisher through First Reads. I was super excited when this came in the mail, as I love mystery/crime fiction! I had not read anything by Sophie Hannah and did not really know anything about this series.
The story begins as Amber Hewerdine decides to see a hypnotherapist for her ongoing insomnia. During her first session she says the words “Kind, Cruel, Kind of Cruel” without knowing the meaning behind them or where she saw them written. Next thing you know, she is picked up by the police for questioning regarding the murder of a local school teacher, Kat Allen.
The point of view shifts back and forth between Amber, the therapist, and each of the detectives involved with the case. This shifting narrative becomes very complex and sometimes difficult to follow. I did, however, discover that I didn't care much for any of these characters. Which is unfortunate because a large chunk of this book is spent on character development. The plot on the other hand was interesting, but not particularly compelling.
Overall it was an okay read. I probably would have enjoyed it more had I read the previous books. If you are a fan of Sophie Hannah and enjoy the series then you will probably like this book.
I absolutely loved the beginning! I enjoyed the flashbacks that give us more insight into Alexander's story before he and Tatiana meet in the first book. Even though they are apart, I still enjoy the love story that is Tatiana and Alexander!
The middle left me frustrated. It tended to drag on forever and make me wonder what kind of love story would spend hundreds of pages on everything but ROMANCE or feelings of LOVE. I seriously wanted to claw Tatiana's eyes out every time she contemplated dropping her son off with the nearest stranger or putting a bullet through her head. If she even remotely believed that Alexander was dead, what reason did she have to live?? Apparently their son was not reason enough ...
The end was the familiar romance against all odds, and it was fantastic.
I really wanted to like this book. The premise was unique, the dystopian genre is fantastic, and it has a beautiful cover. So it should have been awesome.
Sadly, I was only left frustrated by the usual insta-love triangle scenario and confusing descriptions. I didn't feel attached or connected to either of the love interests so the romance certainly didn't reel me in. The weaving descriptions were strange and almost ridiculous. During the climactic ending I found myself visualizing the main character shooting spidey-webs from her wrists to save herself and her two boy toys. This high suspense cliff-hanger ending only left me laughing at the overall bizarreness.
Loved it! Very unique storyline! I doubt I could describe this book, so I won't try. :)
I really enjoyed the imagery. I often quit books with a ton of descriptions because ... BORING!! The details were woven into this story really well, so I never tried to skip ahead. :)
I think this would make an excellent movie!
It was just ok. I would not normally continue the series, except that I picked up the second book at a library book sale. It does, however, explain why the second book was only 50 cents (hardcover)!
It was hard to figure out where the story was going for most of the book and I can't say that I'm really all that attached to any of the characters. If it wasn't such a short book, I doubt that I would have finished it.
