Lisa
Way too long. I enjoy a good character development but when pretty much none of the story in present day I was looking forward to reading is in the book I got irritated. Everyone is flawed, and over the top. Not a single redeeming character
Reminded me of The Paris Apartment, but much better! My only critique was the end went a little back and forth and on too long. A good time, the writing was so good will definitely be checking out more from this author.
It was good, although a bit corny and instalovey. I didn't feel super connected to the characters and this won't be an all time fave, but I didn't see the twist coming and went through all the emotions with Ben. His character was kind of cringey, and I didn't like how he was so demanding and touching over Fallon even though it was clear she was uncomfortable. Very weird interactions at the beginning. The ending was clever and connected all the dots with a nice circle back to the beginning. I like the way it was broken up by November 9s, it was super readable. I read this in one day, just a couple settings.
I knew this book wouldn't be anything revolutionary, but it was still a fun time. This is my first cozy mystery and I liked the setting and all the talk about coffee. My favorite part I think was the sense of community amongst all the food truck owners. The mystery was fine, but I feel like there were more side stories going on, and some I really didn't care for. Some of the characters felt a little flat. I didn't like either of the love interests, and I found that those parts were unneeded and felt forced. I didn't expect who the killer was, so that's a plus. I may pick up the next book in the series, but it definitely won't be a priority.
I read this in pretty much one sitting, which earns it a star. I thought I would give this 4 stars almost all the way through. The only thing that bothered me was how quickly Jocelyn and Adira teamed up. It was really strange, and their dialogue with one another read very YA if that makes sense. It didn't seem authentic as two people would be talking. The ending was so out of left field it left me feeling very confused and was so different than the rest of the story.
Started out strong and was very readable. I liked the different perspectives but nothing really shocked me. I've seen this plot play out many times and this was not one of my favorites.
This was average, but I liked how cozy the writing felt. The end surprised me a little, but it didn't give enough suspense to get there.
Dark, but not as bad as I was expecting. This read like a movie, and I could picture the visuals really clear. I knew going into it that it would be more of a character study and not as thrilling, and even so, I found myself a bit bored. I wanted more from this. The ending was good, and this book gave me a whole array of emotions by feeling so sorry for the main character.
Liked the vibes of being in Mystic, but I feel like I was interested at the book and then about the middle it felt slow and I was finding trouble wanting to get back into it. I also felt like the ending was a bit rushed.
Spectacular. This book flew by and honestly I wished I could live in this world a little longer. The whole premise of having a husband disappear, find new love, and have your husband come back was so thought provoking. I loved Emma so much, I connected with her on such a deep level of finding herself and growing up. Each of the two loves was also very real. Taylor Jenkins Reid does characters like no other author. Everyone in this book felt REAL and just made me feel so cozy. Jessie and Emma's farewell was bittersweet but needed. They both needed to grow up and realize the true love they had was still real, even though it didn't last forever. Sam was perfect and I love him in every way. Emma's growth was so genuine, how she had dreams, pursued them, and then felt at place home with her family and her bookstore (and how she loved reading at the end!) The lines that Jesse and Emma say to each other at the end, “I am who I am because I loved you once” was so perfect and representative of the novel. TJR does it again, flawless.
Was nice to see this book brought to life, but I don't think it was done very well. I thought the illustrations were a bit too severe for my liking. Also so many plot points were left out, so I'm glad I read this after I reread the novel, otherwise I would have been missing such a huge chunk of the story. No Medusa?!?? Come on!
I liked Piper and Leo and Medea (which felt like a callback to earlier books with the villain trickery)but that was it. This book was far too long for no reason. I did not like how so many chapters opened with a dream sequence, it felt very repetitive. The cliffhanger of Percy being at a different camp and the new trio needing to get to Greece was redeeming, hopefully this means the future books will be better
The charm and real-world settings of the first book decreased with each book in the series. This one had too much going on. Did not like the dream sequences and flashbacks, and just overall felt like too much action and not enough heart was put into the final book of the series. I liked the end and Percy's gift granted of gods recognizing all of their childrenbut until then I just felt myself skimming to the end.
I really loved the setup and feeling of dread as the group of tourists find their fate. However, this book could use some editing as some parts either went on a little too long or felt repetitive. The body horror was not as intense as I had imagined, but I really enjoyed the setting. This book is very cinematic, and I am excited to see how the film and book differ once I watch it. Overall, this book has a bleak and helpless tone that I haven't really seen anywhere else. I liked how the group each died a different fate, and I found Eric's death of being eaten by the vines inside-out the most interesting. I also felt for Stacey and her choice to end her own life. There was truly no way out of this situation. Also the ending of the Greeks looking for Pedro only about to endure the same tragedies was great!
Maybe I'll give it a try again but it just read very juvenile, the characters felt one-dimensional, and the “game” aspect was thrown out for a boring romance.
Absolutely LOVED the vibes of the first third. Working at a theme park it was great to see the parallels of Karloff Country!!!! The second half got too weird and convoluted for me.
The writing felt too pretentious and wordy. It would go from being normal and then flash to surreal. The weirdness reminded me of Bunny which I also didn't like
Goosebump-esque short stories.
Into the Pit was fun, I loved the idea of time traveling and the pizza parlor setting. This one I think I liked the best.
To be Beautiful had a fun concept that I loved, a wish granted with a Megan twist. I liked this second best
Count the Ways I liked the least. Could not get over how dramatic the main character was as an emo girl. It was darker than I thought a children's book would be with intense themes of death and methods of dying.
This was so boring. None of the characters had a personality and nothing happened in the plot.
The writing of these types of books really bothers me. The characters speak much older than they seem, and they talk too formal. Nothing was realistic. I feel like I am reading something meant for a reader decades older than me. There were too many small storylines and flashbacks happening that I was getting confused about (and didn't care about). Almost as if the author couldn't decide which story to publish. I hated the miscommunication of Rebecca and Zach, and it went on way too long. Ben and Natalie tracking down Rebecca at the end was so unbelievable and unnecessary. None of the characters felt genuine to me. And the Christmas vibes were not strong enough to save it
I usually like Findlay's books but this one was just not for me. The only perspective I liked was Jenna's but then too many side characters kept coming in. Them what should have been the most intriguing part, the past chapters, was so confusing. I was skimming through them because they made no sense and were so strangely placed in the book. Sometimes just randomly in the middle of chapters.
As crazy as this sounds, this book was comforting to me. Maeve was very similar to me in many ways, and I just loved her story. This book was such a fun time. I loved the ties to Halloween, and might even have to reread it during the season, with a playlist of all of Maeve's favorite songs of course! The ties to being a Disneyland cast member were so relatable, and the LA scene was a great visual throughout. Many emotions were felt. Sometimes I was laughing out loud, and other times Maeve would think of something that would have me tearing up, neither I expected. Even the death scenes were fun and fresh. Definitely an all time favorite, I cannot believe this is the author's debut novel. I will read anything she writes.
Was a little out there for my taste. Did not feel like taking notes on the monsters and would have liked a glossary or something of the legend of them