I can't put my finger on exactly why, but this whole series feels like a chore to read. The only book I was ever excited to pick up was Daja's book, and as a result it was the only to hit four stars. The characters and premise are great and I feel like I should love this series, but I don't. I have to bully myself to get through all of them. It took me over two weeks and I should be able to get through all four in a weekend.

I do like this book a little bit more than Sandry's book, though. Plagues are cool to me, and it was cool to see science used in tandem with magic in a fantasy universe to combat it. They weren't helpless in the face of the sickness. Not only did they have their teas and potions, but they had the education to work on finding cures. It's an idea that I thought was executed well.

This book is also rather sad and had me tearing up at bits. Plagues hit everyone, regardless of status. It even hit some important characters and characters who were meaningful to the story. I cared about them and Piece is good at tugging on your heartstrings.

But I still felt a bit bored this entire book. I never really felt invested, and I never lost track of time the way I do when I'm excited for a book. It just sort of dragged until it was over.

I wouldn't say this series is bad by any means. I actually think it's rather fun, and it definitely goes places in later books within the universe, but it's never going to be a favorite of mine, no matter how much I wish it were. I'd recommend this to people who really like middle grade fantasy or have already read Pierce and enjoyed her. It's still worth a read, even if it's not spectacular to me.

Reread 2/16/2020

My Harry Potter reviews are probably the laziest ones I write, but what's the point? It's Harry Potter. Everyone already knows everything they need to know and there are thousands of more eloquent, excruciatingly detailed sources if you want more discussion. I listened to the Jim Dale audiobook for the first time and while I don't love it, it's certainly a fun few hours. Will be continuing on with his narration for the rest of the series.

***

I love Harry Potter, but there's just so much exposition and info dumping in this book. The main plot happens in the last 80 pages and I still love this book so much, but I was the tiniest smidgen bored while reading it.

I could nitpick this series quite a bit. I actually did in my review of the first book. But honestly, I don't care to. Sure it has its problems, but the book is so much fun that I don't. I'm just along for the ride, enjoying the story as it goes. If you want my more in depth thoughts on some of the flaws, check out my review of the first book because I don't care to repeat myself on a bunch of negativity when it doesn't bother me that much.

There were two negative story points for me in this book. I'm not a huge fan of where Katharine's character has gone. It doesn't seem well explained (I know there are more books to go, but in this book I did want more from that; it felt lacking) and just in general, I don't understand what it means for Katharine the person. I think it could be handled well, but so far it hasn't been and just in general, I'm not a fan of that concept.

My second issue was the ending. Had this been the last of the series, the ending would have made me knock off stars. I didn't because there's still more to go, but I have no interest in where the story is going after that ending. Unless it just skips the last thirty pages, I don't think I'm going to be a big fan of book three.

My biggest concern for this series is that it's not going to get dark enough. I need that from this book (I understand not everyone does) and from the way things have unfolded so far, that does worry me quite a bit. When the stakes are as high as they are in this world, it only makes sense for there to be huge consequences.

But issues aside, I have the hardest time predicting this series. I didn't call the plot twist in book one and I didn't guess a lot of the twist and turns in this book. That makes it fun for me. I didn't necessarily enjoy every plot twist, but I had a fun time exploring them. I also still just really enjoy the premise and the world that's been created. It's so cool and fun.

Fun is the word I keep coming back to for this series. All issues aside, I have such a fun time reading these books and they go by so fast. I am excited to continue on to the second half the series.

There was a lot I liked about this book. Or- I should rephrase. There was a lot I should have liked about this book. A lot of elements that usually work for me really well in thrillers. The main character is investigating a child trauma she barely remembers, which is a trope I love. There's an organization of amateurs investigating missing persons cold cases that's handled in a (fairly) realistic way. There are a lot of mystery elements neatly tied together without loose ends and it feels well crafted.

But honestly, I was so bored throughout this whole book. I kept waiting for that moment when I was invested and cared about the characters, but it never came. The end got a little more exciting just because closure in any mystery is always exciting, but a superficially exciting ending wasn't enough to make up for so much boredom.

The ending became abundantly clear about halfway through the book. I guess thriller endings a lot so that alone wouldn't have bothered me, but it was irritating that other characters in the book already knew. Alice, the main character, is investigating her past with some people from the missing persons group, and you can literally see them pushing her toward the right answers for the last 150 pages. They're like 'here's this information, you should come to your own conclusions.' It was so frustrating because I knew and they knew, but the main character didn't know so we were all just waiting around for her to figure it out.

I feel bad that I don't have a really good, in depth review since I got this book as an ARC (not in exchange for a review, although still worth noting), but I don't have a whole lot of thoughts. It wasn't bad. Apart from my one complaint about the predictability, there wasn't anything specific I disliked. It was just boring. I'm going to have forgotten this by the time I wake up tomorrow, and that's almost worse than disliking it.

I feel like I'm getting worse at reviewing thrillers because I'm so tired of saying the same things. This was an okay thriller. Not great, but passable enough that I didn't dislike the reading process. Yet another book I won't remember in a couple of days. Most of my specific thoughts are negative, though.

Not a fan of this author's style. To me it felt overwritten, too many unnecessarily pretty metaphors or weird similes to say simple things. "The water gleaming like Saran Wrap in the sun." Characters were constantly saying things like "grief is a tarnish that only gets darker." And she had odd phrasing that felt almost backward sometimes, so I'd have to reread sentences to realize what they were saying. "Hannah seemed to not even glimpse her own beauty, so accustomed was she to the sight." Like sure it makes sense once you realize how it's meant to be read, but it doesn't feel natural.

I also struggled with the point of views. The story alternates between "Then" (1948) and "Now" (present day). Within each time period there are a few different POV characters. By the end of the book I had figured out all the characters and relationships, but it took me a good bit to get there and I almost DNFed this right at the beginning because I couldn't follow along. It does get better, but waiting for a book to get better sucks.

The whole focus on cheating was weird to me, especially since it took such a positive view on cheating. How can you blame them if they're now with the one they love??? It was meant to be and all that. I don't mind cheating in books, but it's irritating when the book tries to justify it and keep you from thinking too poorly of the main character. It usually doesn't bother me that much, but it was such a major focus of both timelines that it really just made me hate all the characters more.

Also didn't like the supernatural elements. I went in thinking it was a straight thriller, but there were constant odd premonitions, or characters having memories from generations before. Almost like they were kind of meant to be reincarnations or something. I dunno if it was metaphorical or literal or just supposed to suggest the idea, but it was weird.

The ending felt anticlimactic. Not unresolved or open ended because you, the reader, know what happened to everyone in the story. But the whole book is Abby trying to figure out what happened. And then it just kind of ends with a shrug. I wanted something a little more. Like it wasn't a terrible ending. It didn't make me angry like some thriller endings do, but I expected something more.

I dunno, I found this irritating but also it was fine. Just okay. Another passable thriller where I could sit here and nitpick every tiny thing I disliked for hours, but does it really matter? If it sounds good to you and you don't mind alternating timelines or hella cheating, go ahead and pick it up. But it wasn't for me and I'm mostly just glad that I finished it quickly.

I think of the three I've read so far, this book has been my least favorite, but only by a little bit. The first one was just barely 4 stars and this one just barely below that.

I still quite like the overall story, but so much of this book felt like an aside. Half of this book feels separate from the real story and the other half of this book feels like set up for the finale. It made it a little more dull because we don't get to see a lot of development, just backstory and side story. A large section of this book didn't need to be included at all.

I think by this point I'm also tired of the constantly shifting alliances that seem too easy. Thus far, the whole series feels a little too easy and I'm hoping bad things are to come that will give this book higher stakes.

But it's still fun, I still quite liked it. I think maybe this series could have been shrunk down to a trilogy, but I'm hoping for a good finale to top it off.

I found this whole book rather fascinating. I loved the almost overwritten aspect to it. Donna Tartt writes in such a compelling way and I love how her sentences unfold. It draws me in so completely to the story.

I also really liked the pretentiousness, which is a very weird thing to say. This book and its characters just embody 'pretentious' and at times it did get to be a little too much, but overall I really enjoyed it.

My favorite part is how borderline sociopathic they all were and how we got to see it from their perspective. For long sections of the book, it was almost easy to forget that they weren't in the right. But there was one moment when Richard was at a funeral witnessing other people's grief that the character actually realizes for the first time what he's done. I adored that moment.

I think overall, I quite enjoyed this book, but there wasn't a whole lot I loved about it. It was definitely a solid four stars, but probably not one that will make my favorites list for the year. I'd recommend it if you don't mind pretentious characters or writing.

Reread 2/27/2020

Continuing my lazy Harry Potter reviews. I liked this audiobook better than the first one. I think part of it is that I'm getting used to Jim Dale's narration, but also I just really liked his voice for Lockhart. Some of the voices I don't get along with because they're different from what I've heard before and have come to expect from the characters, but Lockhart was spot on. Excited to continue on with PoA!

***

Honestly, this one was better than I remember. It was never one of my favorites of the series, but rereading it, the story felt so much more full than the first book. The characters were more developed, and the pacing was smoother. I was surprised, honestly, because I'd have ranked this my least favorite of the series probably, but that's certainly not true anymore.

I think I like the Circle Opens quartet a little better than the Circle of Magic quartet, but they're still hovering around 3 stars for me. I just don't connect with these books the way I want to. Sandry is a great character and I'm interested in her life, but the concept of unmagic seems poorly devised and dealt with. I don't understand Sandry's powers as much as I would like to after so many books, or understand where her powers fit in comparison to other magic in the world. It feels very much like it's just being made up as it goes along.

I find myself fighting the urge to skim even though there are a number of things I do like. I like seeing Sandry as a teacher and the introduction of dance magic is cool. I love Sandry's relationship with her Uncle, who is the ruler of the country. I love seeing Sandry on her own for the first time without her friends.

It's a worthwhile series, but I do feel like I'm still waiting for it to get better.

*Tagged as both middle grade and young adult because I don't know where it fits.

I almost gave this book four stars, but I don't think I could quite justify it while the urge to skim read was still there. I feel like I'm reading this series to get it over with rather than for enjoyment, although I do enjoy a lot of the elements.

Evvy as a character has always kind of disinterested me. I never gravitated to her the way I do the other main characters. It always felt a little weird to me that of all the students in this series, she's the one who became a main character.

The whole gang warfare plot line is something I want to like, but it feels shallowly written. Maybe because it's for a younger audience, but it feels like the choices made by the gang members are too easy and the conflicts too simplistic. I want a little more from it.

Not a bad book by any means. Definitely worthwhile and a fun time, but I wish I connected better to the story and cared more about it.

*Tagged as MG and YA because I don't which fits better.