eisenbuns's Reviews (368)

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie was basically exactly how it sounds -- it's a fun read, perfect for summer, with a little sweetness at the bottom. Watch out! It's poison! The main character, eleven year-old Flavia, is entertaining and adorable. She surpasses her years, but every once in a while the reader is thrown back into perspective when her age proves to be a limiting factor. That's always fun. I love it when authors do that! While this isn't on the same level as some of the greater mysteries (Agatha Christie comes to mind), Bradley pays homage to his predecessors. I look forward to reading the next one! Four stars because it was just so much fun. Very enjoyable.

This is by far the best book I have read in a very, very long time. I cried, I laughed, I cried again. It's unique, it's beautiful, it's everything I could ever ask for in a book. I can't even begin to recommend it or explain why it's so genuine and heartfelt, but trust me -- you don't want to miss this book.

Honestly, I was a little underwhelmed by this. I've heard for a long time, "You should read Scott Westerfield! His dystopia is great!" I guess it's my fault, because I'm not a huge fan of dystopian literature, as much as I'd like to be. I enjoyed the characters to some extent. The world was pretty cool. But for all the commentary on two-dimensionality, I found the characters (and the plot) to be a little, well, two-dimensional. I can see the set-up for the love triangle that's sure to come in Pretties, and I'm honestly not looking forward to it. Insert eye-roll and yawn here. Been there, done that. But it was still entertaining, and I thought some of the descriptions were really nice, so well done to Westerfield for keeping me somewhat entertained.

So, this is the first novel I've read by Charles de Lint. I read his collection of stories, 'Waifs and Strays,' and I really enjoyed his writing, so when my girlfriend picked this up at our local used bookstore and said she'd really enjoyed it when she read it a couple of years ago, I thought I'd give it a shot. I'm glad that I did. At first I was bored to tears. The dialogue was plentiful and the dialogue was stiff. I actually think Charles de Lint might be a fan of Gilmore Girls, because the relationship between the two main characters? Yeah. If Rory was a bad girl, this book would basically be like Rory + Lane meet supernatural goings-on. Still, I stuck it out because I didn't have anything else to read. As it went on, the story got progressively more interesting. It had a nice, sweet ending. I guess I was a little disappointed, but I think I enjoyed it overall. Four stars for Charles de Lint's beautiful descriptions.

3.5 stars, because the pace seemed a little confused to me. It was slow to start, got exciting, slowed down, somehow, for the climax, and then picked back up for the hook for the sequel.

Overall, the characters were pleasant, but fell a bit flat. There was a certain lack of depth to the goings-on of the school, of the media, and of generally everything. Also the romance was more than a little cringe-worthy and unfounded, but that's just me. And it may be setting up for a different relationship to develop later on. I certainly hope so.

This book does have some very unique aspects that I haven't seen before in paranormal romance, and I love fresh ideas. It promises to be an interesting series, at least, and I will be reading the next one.

I just hope there's a little more character depth and development in the following books.