Daughter of the Reef shares the tale of Tepua, a chieftain's daughter, who's on her way to a different island to get married to a man she doesn't know, and ends up almost drowned. The book starts off nicely, with some background setting the scene and the characters, but ends up being too slow paced for me.

I didn't like the pacing very much the first half of the book, but enjoyed the story line enough to keep on going for the first half of the book, but by the halfway mark, I just wanted the novel to be over.

There was a little too much romance and not enough historical detail for me, and the pacing was just so slow, and I didn't feel the characters were drawn enough to really get to know them or care about their lives. I really wanted to like this book, as I really enjoy other, similar novels and I don't think I've ever read a novel set in Tahiti before, but I wanted to learn about the culture and the people, and that was sadly lacking.

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I was asked to read and review this book by the publishing company, received a free copy of this book to review but was not paid for my thoughts or review

I picked this book up on a whim from my local library, and fell in love. I've been dabbling with the idea of making my own wine, looking up the occasional how to when I come across a post on pinterest that looks interesting, but this book pushed me over the edge, and I now can't wait to try making my own wines & meads (I'm researching sources of local honey now in preparation!) I discovered wild grapes on my property, and not being a big fan of grape jelly (which is what I made last year), I'd much rather turn them into wine!

The book has gorgeous photographs, is very well laid out, explains all the steps (and most important to me, doesn't just tell you what to do, but explains why doing something this way is so important, so instead of just telling you how to make wine, it educates you). It's a must for any gardener looking for alternate ways to preserving their crops.

I requested this book from net galley because I'm currently obsessing with trying to organize my life, be more productive, and most of all, get more from my day and get more things actually done. I thought saving time would work well with those goals, and I'm all for saving time as well.

I was doubly disappointed with this book. First off all, very few of the tips had anything to do with saving time (for example, raising chickens may be cheaper and healthier in the long run, but certainly won't save you time). The book was really just general life tips, but unfortunately, every suggestion is common sense stuff that anyone learns just by being an alert, someone intelligent human being. I'm a horrible cook, for example, but the kitchen tips were laughable and weren't tips at all, just a collection of how to's. I've only been gardening for a couple of years & definitely consider myself a beginner, just learning gardener, yet the gardening/outdoor section was equally laughable.

I'm not sure who this book was trying to target, and I'm sure the author put her heart and soul into this book, but it was a waste of time and effort and every tip is found every day on pinterest without even trying.

(there's also religious tidbits spread throughout the book; not sure what the point of that was)

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received a free copy of the book from netgalley in exchange for my honest review

I definitely have a thing for reading memoirs and books about cults - I'm a bit obsessed, truth be told. I was born in 76, and had really only heard of this cult before, but other than the name and that it was a cult, knew nothing at all about it. I prefer autobiographies to memoirs but actually read more memoirs than autobiographies, and this book was the first book I found through interlibrary loan when the time came to read about this cult.

Williams is clearly not an accomplished writer; her book reads very flat. That being said, her life is fascinating. You can clearly tell she's censoring herself a lot, and I do get that, but on the other hand, she was the one who chose to write this book, you can't now only share half your story, and you definitely get the impression that that is what she is doing here.

Her constant, reoccuring theme throughout the book is how she would do absolutely anything to protect her children and claims she finally leaves the cult because of her children, when that's clearly not true. I also really hated the fact that she constantly talks about how much she loves her children (plural) and constantly tries to tell us what she did that made her such a good mother, when in fact she mainly obsesses over her oldest child, and mainly puts him (and her other children) in harm's way, rationalizing that she's in fact exposing them to emotional and psychological abuse. Williams seems more interested in telling us what a good mother she is, then in actually sharing her experiences in a cult.

I also was surprised, when she finally got to how she left the cult, by how she actually left. Without spoiling the book for you, she constantly tells us how she left the cult because she wanted to save her children, when it seems more like she just got left behind. The whole thing reads as a story, and I wonder where the truth actually lies.

Alright, I finished rereading this last night and it's time to write out my thoughts!

It's a long, long book. Yup, all the Outlander books are long & yes, I love my big fat books, but this one was long. A lot happens, they bounce around all over the place, and once Claire goes back in time things pick up speed and they run around the globe chasing after people, things, etc. It's a lot to cram into a book, and all of the main action in the book takes place in about 5 months time.

I still don't really care for this book in the series. I liked it more this time through, but I don't really care for it. A lot of that is all the action crammed into a short time period; a lot of it is the book really, really relies heavily on coincidences & I just feel like that is a cop out for an author to take. I don't really care for the ending, either, and as with all the Outlander books, this one just ends. They arrive in Georgia and boom! Book's done, and that's another reason why I don't care for this one. Another thing I don't really care for is how Jamie is so dishonest to Claire throughout the book and she doesn't even call him on the lies. "Oh, guess what I have a son I didn't tell you about & I didn't tell you about it 'cause I thought you'd be made, even though you left me to go back to your husband who you've been sleeping with for 20 years" and she's all like "Oh OK that's cool, you didn't tell me 'cause you thought I'd be mad".

And Claire is just so damned perfect throughout the book, killing me, getting injured, saving people left and right, and never reacts except one scene in the end where she cries for a night while Jamie holds her. And oh she's OK because she just happens to have enough pencillin left from the modern era to save her life even though she lost all her clothes and belongings several times over. Geez.

Still, I enjoy the series, though re-reading through the books I'm finding I like them so much less than I did say, ten years ago (if you are curious, I'm currently almost 39, and read them the first time in my twenties, where I was perhaps more sentimental & liked the romance bits more).

Oh, and one last thought: am I the only one who wonders if Claire is an alcoholic? Geez, in every scene she's drinking. Yes, I know water wasn't clean &/or easily available & everyone drank, but does she have to drink whiskey in every scene?

I requested this book from netgalley to read on a whim, and I was glad I did! I don't normally read books like this or really, self help books at all, but I've been struggling lately with being more organized, better planning, where do I want to be in a year or ten years and how do I get there? This book is a roadmap, and is constantly asking you questions that make you think about those very same issues. I've written down many of the questions Chopra asks so I can think about them more in more detail.

I like the fact that Chopra repeatedly admits how her own life can be a mess, that she's not perfect, that she too is striving to make sense of her life, and gives you the sense that if she can create order from chaos, so can you.

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my review. I was not paid for my review

LOVED it! Got through the first season in about ten days. I was trying not to rush it too much. Can't wait to start season two - in about ten minutes from now.