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beth_loves_books
This book made me really want to learn more about this period of history. It was very interesting and seemed well researched. I didn’t particularly like the writing style, though and I didn't really feel much emotional attachment to the characters.
I loved this so much! The characters were great! The romance was great! I loved the idea and I think it was executed so well. It was a cute and funny romance but more serious themes of illness were explored in the book. I can’t really find fault in book except for the slightly bittersweet ending but I think that’s just a me thing. I preferred this to Not My Problem by the the same author and would definitely recommend this book!
I didn’t dislike this short story but I don’t think it was my kind of thing as I very rarely read sci-fi. I found the ending incredibly predictable but that may just be because the plot has become so commonly used and at the time this was written, it would have been more original. I also didn’t think the way the sign changed when the character came back made any sense. The fact that the spelling changed but not the words, individual letters or grammar seemed unrealistic. Overall, if you like sci-fi I would definitely recommend this short story.
I was very excited to read this book and I was a bit disappointed when I did. It was good but it definitely wasn’t amazing.
The mysteries
I was very excited by the puzzles and mysteries aspect but they just weren’t that good until near the end. The reader didn’t really get a chance to solve them alongside Avery and this might be a personal preference but I prefer books where you get the same information as the main checker and are able to try and solve the mystery yourself, so when anything is revealed, it is surprising. The reveal that Sky was the one who helped Drake try to shoot Avery didn’t really surprise me. As we already knew it was probably one of the Hawthornes, I suspected either her or Zara. The reveals about Emily, I did find more interesting but I still think as we already knew she has died and it has something to do with the Hawthorne brothers, the plot twists were kind of ruined. I didn’t think there were any plot twists in the book which really shocked me except for the end.
The characters
There were quite a few characters in this book who were I though were really well developed such as the brothers. I was worried that they wouldn’t be too similar and I would get confused but they each had quite distinct personalities. I also like Libby’s and Avery’s characters. The one character who I would have liked to see more of was Max. We didn’t really know much about her other than that she had strict parents and the not sharing thing got quite annoying! I also thought it meant when Max got annoyed at Avery, I didn’t really care as much as I might have if she had been a more developed character.
The romance
I think this was my least favourite part of the book! This book would probably have been better if it had focused more on the mystery and not had any romance. I don’t normally hate love triangles the way that some people do but this one was just bad. It made sense to have it with Emily but with Avery it made no sense. If the author really wanted to include a romance, I think they should have just done it without the love triangle. I think the romance might have just been used to morir what harkened with Emily which hopefully means it won’t continue in the later books!</spoiler >
While I didn’t enjoy this book quite as much as I expected, it’s still a really good read and a YA mystery that doesn’t create around a murder. It also ended on quite a cliffhanger so I am very excited to read the next book!
The mysteries
I was very excited by the puzzles and mysteries aspect but they just weren’t that good until near the end. The reader didn’t really get a chance to solve them alongside Avery and this might be a personal preference but I prefer books where you get the same information as the main checker and are able to try and solve the mystery yourself, so when anything is revealed, it is surprising.
The characters
There were quite a few characters in this book who were I though were really well developed such as the brothers. I was worried that they wouldn’t be too similar and I would get confused but they each had quite distinct personalities. I also like Libby’s and Avery’s characters. The one character who I would have liked to see more of was Max. We didn’t really know much about her other than that she had strict parents and the not sharing thing got quite annoying!
The romance
I think this was my least favourite part of the book! This book would probably have been better if it had focused more on the mystery and not had any romance.
While I didn’t enjoy this book quite as much as I expected, it’s still a really good read and a YA mystery that doesn’t create around a murder. It also ended on quite a cliffhanger so I am very excited to read the next book!
Roald Dahl's Book of Ghost Stories
L.P. Hartley, Alfred McClelland Burrage, E.F. Benson, Mary Treadgold, Jonas Lie, F. Marion Crawford, Robert Aickman, Rosemary Timperley, Cynthia Asquith, Richard Barham Middleton, Roald Dahl, Edith Wharton, J. Sheridan Le Fanu
DID NOT FINISH: 50%
Moderate: Misogyny