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I loved this story so much!! There is fantastically creepy magic and good writing. I was sucked in pretty much immediately and I just can't get enough of The Hinterland. This reads fast and easy, but feels super complex and heavy in the best of ways. The world building is sly and super, with magical pieces dripping in here and there through the pages. This is a seriously hugable book and I CAN NOT WAIT to get my hands on the sequel!!
* Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. *
I LOVED this book so much! Seriously cute with an incredibly comfortable writing style that is both age appropriate for the characters without being annoyingly cutesy. Weston is the boy every teenage girl wants to know and Tessa is appropriately flawed in a way I could understand. The characters didn't feel overly imagined...they felt real. The story moved at a comfortable pace and the dual narration style was made for this book. It just worked so well. I loved just about everything about this and look forward to more from Abbie Emmons in the future.
** See full review at EPJ.
I LOVED this book so much! Seriously cute with an incredibly comfortable writing style that is both age appropriate for the characters without being annoyingly cutesy. Weston is the boy every teenage girl wants to know and Tessa is appropriately flawed in a way I could understand. The characters didn't feel overly imagined...they felt real. The story moved at a comfortable pace and the dual narration style was made for this book. It just worked so well. I loved just about everything about this and look forward to more from Abbie Emmons in the future.
** See full review at EPJ.
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This is the best addendum to the Harry Potter series! J.K. Rowling is ridiculously talented and this is so incredibly creative. I loved learning about all of the magical creatures. The references to other "magical texts" were great additions. I am constantly amazed at how detailed this world has become.
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* Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. *
Okay...fair warning here...this review is going to get a little ranty.
The premise for this book sounded good, potentially humorous even. The cover is super cute. I was excited to get started on it. And then I saw the addendum to the title. Really? "A delightful laugh-out-loud romantic comedy" as part of the TITLE? No. That's not okay. As a blurb? Sure. But don't put it in your title. It sounds way too cocky and pretentious. But...I soldiered on and started the book anyway.
First impression? The main character is annoying. She gave ME anxiety with her anxiety. It was all immersive and way too much. Is it accurate for a hypochondriac? Probably. So, points for accuracy. But it still was just hit-you-in-the-face assaulting. I took a few deep breaths and kept reading, despite the heart palpitations it induced.
I settled into the writing a bit more as the story went on and I will admit that Pinotti does have a good style. She is creative and the narrative does move fairly well MOST of the time. There are occasions where the plot just abruptly changes direction and there are times when pieces of the plot dissolve into oblivion. That could use a little work. But when things go in the right direction, the writing is good.
I got this book as an ARC and generally expect that there will be some errors in typography or phrasing (let's be frank, there are doubtless some irritating errors in this very review), but this was way excessive. Sometimes the writing was so jumbled that I had trouble sifting through it. That irritated me. As a reader, I need to know that the author has taken some care with the writing. And some of these errors should have been caught on an initial editing, with ease. When it feels like the author doesn't care about that kind of detail, it makes me care less about the work. A little basic effort goes a long way. I can overlook some punctuation errors here and there or maybe a misspelling and rough transition or two, but this was...to be blunt...an editing disaster. And as much as I should generally ignore these things with ARCs, I just couldn't; because I don't know how much of that is going to get caught prior to publishing.
The storyline at its core was good and I have to assume that there will be/have been some major editing corrections prior to final publication, so I let my rating have a little bit of a bump up. Maybe this is too generous, I don't know.
After fighting the urge on several occasions to DNF and constantly looking at how many pages remained, I did manage to finish the entire book. Was it worth it? Meh. It was okay. There wasn't anything beyond a regular trope and nothing terribly unexpected or marvelous happened. It was pretty predictable. But, with maybe toning down the character in the first third of the book and some careful revision, this could be a decent book that would rate a 3 or 3 1/2 for me. As is, I initially wanted to give it a 1.5. However, I gave that extra credit for the assumed power of the editor and ultimately landed on a 2.
* End Rant *
Okay...fair warning here...this review is going to get a little ranty.
The premise for this book sounded good, potentially humorous even. The cover is super cute. I was excited to get started on it. And then I saw the addendum to the title. Really? "A delightful laugh-out-loud romantic comedy" as part of the TITLE? No. That's not okay. As a blurb? Sure. But don't put it in your title. It sounds way too cocky and pretentious. But...I soldiered on and started the book anyway.
First impression? The main character is annoying. She gave ME anxiety with her anxiety. It was all immersive and way too much. Is it accurate for a hypochondriac? Probably. So, points for accuracy. But it still was just hit-you-in-the-face assaulting. I took a few deep breaths and kept reading, despite the heart palpitations it induced.
I settled into the writing a bit more as the story went on and I will admit that Pinotti does have a good style. She is creative and the narrative does move fairly well MOST of the time. There are occasions where the plot just abruptly changes direction and there are times when pieces of the plot dissolve into oblivion. That could use a little work. But when things go in the right direction, the writing is good.
I got this book as an ARC and generally expect that there will be some errors in typography or phrasing (let's be frank, there are doubtless some irritating errors in this very review), but this was way excessive. Sometimes the writing was so jumbled that I had trouble sifting through it. That irritated me. As a reader, I need to know that the author has taken some care with the writing. And some of these errors should have been caught on an initial editing, with ease. When it feels like the author doesn't care about that kind of detail, it makes me care less about the work. A little basic effort goes a long way. I can overlook some punctuation errors here and there or maybe a misspelling and rough transition or two, but this was...to be blunt...an editing disaster. And as much as I should generally ignore these things with ARCs, I just couldn't; because I don't know how much of that is going to get caught prior to publishing.
The storyline at its core was good and I have to assume that there will be/have been some major editing corrections prior to final publication, so I let my rating have a little bit of a bump up. Maybe this is too generous, I don't know.
After fighting the urge on several occasions to DNF and constantly looking at how many pages remained, I did manage to finish the entire book. Was it worth it? Meh. It was okay. There wasn't anything beyond a regular trope and nothing terribly unexpected or marvelous happened. It was pretty predictable. But, with maybe toning down the character in the first third of the book and some careful revision, this could be a decent book that would rate a 3 or 3 1/2 for me. As is, I initially wanted to give it a 1.5. However, I gave that extra credit for the assumed power of the editor and ultimately landed on a 2.
* End Rant *
4.5 stars.
This is a very moving story that I found out later was loosely based on a real couple. The writing is sweet and well formulated and the narrative moves smoothly. I don't very often tear up at books, but this one got me right in the feels. It's not overly dramatic or morbid, but does paint a realistic, non-cutesy picture. Five Feet Apart tackles the topic of terminal illness with tact and with emotion in a very balanced way. A VERY good read!
This is a very moving story that I found out later was loosely based on a real couple. The writing is sweet and well formulated and the narrative moves smoothly. I don't very often tear up at books, but this one got me right in the feels. It's not overly dramatic or morbid, but does paint a realistic, non-cutesy picture. Five Feet Apart tackles the topic of terminal illness with tact and with emotion in a very balanced way. A VERY good read!
* Disclaimer: I received a copy of this novel from the author in exchange for an honest review. *
A 3.5 star read.
The synopsis for The Weaver piqued my interest very quickly. I'm a sucker for books that blend the literary world with the real one and this one is a pretty solid execution of that trope in an original way.
A book of blends, ,The Weaver is fantasy meets romance with a little bit of historical fiction. For me, it read somewhere between YA and New Adult. It has a bit more maturity than a typical YA read, but doesn't read overly complex or too risque. The narrative was smooth moving and stayed intriguing from beginning to end. There was a bit more of a rush to movements in the last third of the book and I could have used more meat to that section of the narrative. Overall, the story wasn't overly complicated, but still maintained some surprises and wasn't too thin. The development of the fantastical element could have been bolstered, so I am happy to know that there will be two additional books to help me experience and understand this fantasy world to a greater degree.
Laney is an interesting main character, her maturity level reading true to her stated age...not always something authors can adhere to. Kudos to Kindt for that. It is perhaps this maturity level, at the ends of being a teenager and just kissing the edges of being adult, that gives the book the appropriate YA/New Adult blended feeling. All of the characters could have used some additional depth, but I still felt that I got to know Laney fairly well. I didn't feel quite as satisfied with the character development for some of the side characters, most notably Jason.
I am not typically a romance reader, so there was maybe a bit more of that element than I am really interested in, but it didn't saturate the book. A fantasy reader can still enjoy this with ease, especially those who like their fantasies with a little bit of a love element.
This was a good and smooth read with a likable plot and characters as well as a unique twist on a plot device I love. I enjoyed The Weaver by Heather Kindt and look forward to the remaining books in the trilogy.
A 3.5 star read.
The synopsis for The Weaver piqued my interest very quickly. I'm a sucker for books that blend the literary world with the real one and this one is a pretty solid execution of that trope in an original way.
A book of blends, ,The Weaver is fantasy meets romance with a little bit of historical fiction. For me, it read somewhere between YA and New Adult. It has a bit more maturity than a typical YA read, but doesn't read overly complex or too risque. The narrative was smooth moving and stayed intriguing from beginning to end. There was a bit more of a rush to movements in the last third of the book and I could have used more meat to that section of the narrative. Overall, the story wasn't overly complicated, but still maintained some surprises and wasn't too thin. The development of the fantastical element could have been bolstered, so I am happy to know that there will be two additional books to help me experience and understand this fantasy world to a greater degree.
Laney is an interesting main character, her maturity level reading true to her stated age...not always something authors can adhere to. Kudos to Kindt for that. It is perhaps this maturity level, at the ends of being a teenager and just kissing the edges of being adult, that gives the book the appropriate YA/New Adult blended feeling. All of the characters could have used some additional depth, but I still felt that I got to know Laney fairly well. I didn't feel quite as satisfied with the character development for some of the side characters, most notably Jason.
I am not typically a romance reader, so there was maybe a bit more of that element than I am really interested in, but it didn't saturate the book. A fantasy reader can still enjoy this with ease, especially those who like their fantasies with a little bit of a love element.
This was a good and smooth read with a likable plot and characters as well as a unique twist on a plot device I love. I enjoyed The Weaver by Heather Kindt and look forward to the remaining books in the trilogy.
* Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. *
4.5 stars. This is a little different from the usual Philippa Gregory novels if you're a reader of the Tudor and Plantagenet series like I am. There is still strong historical reference present in the text, but the approach of the primary characters is something new. Gregory just has a way with weaving an intriguing story and her historical knowledge and little bits of detail are always fantastic.
The start to this one was a little slow, which did hurt things in the ratings department, but really shouldn't be held against it too hard. The story is still really good and the narrative is detailed without being tedious. And when it came to the last bits of the book, I was shook. I couldn't put it down and I couldn't read the ending fast enough. It was well-built suspense and I was loving it.
Overall, this is a great read with a ridiculously strong ending. I am very much looking forward to continuing with the series.
** Full review at EPJ. **
4.5 stars. This is a little different from the usual Philippa Gregory novels if you're a reader of the Tudor and Plantagenet series like I am. There is still strong historical reference present in the text, but the approach of the primary characters is something new. Gregory just has a way with weaving an intriguing story and her historical knowledge and little bits of detail are always fantastic.
The start to this one was a little slow, which did hurt things in the ratings department, but really shouldn't be held against it too hard. The story is still really good and the narrative is detailed without being tedious. And when it came to the last bits of the book, I was shook. I couldn't put it down and I couldn't read the ending fast enough. It was well-built suspense and I was loving it.
Overall, this is a great read with a ridiculously strong ending. I am very much looking forward to continuing with the series.
** Full review at EPJ. **
I loved this book. I was skeptical going in, having heard mixed reviews and not really having a big love for sci-fi, but it surprised me. I've enjoyed Hank Green for many years, having come across him like many have, via his author brother John Green and their shared YouTube channel(s). This is a new platform from which to enjoy his often worldly ideas. The story is interesting and poignant, a comment on human nature without being overly preachy. It is entertaining and thoughtful while staying immensely creative and smart. There is a lot to unpack in the pages and I liked the fact that not only could I enjoy the content, but there were bits and pieces that left me thinking and considering things even when I stopped. I loved how tangible and accessible he made April. She felt like a real person, as if this story was one that was true. That feeling was a lot like the one I experienced with listening to Daisy Jones and the Six, where the characters really took on a life of their own. I like that kind of writing. It's immersive and just feels great to read. I enjoyed the ending and I am very glad to hear that Green is working on a follow-up novel. There is so much more I want to know. This was a great book and I will likely be reading it again in the future.
I read this book for my local book club. Meh. While I can see some merit in the message behind the writing, the narrative itself bored me to tears. The writing was okay, but seemed pompous and condescending...perhaps a reflection of the nature of the protagonist, but still really annoying and obnoxious to read. This absolutely would have been a DNF for me if not for needing to finish it for book club. I will never understand how this won the Man Booker--there are so many better books out there.
* Disclaimer: I received a copy of this novel from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. *
4.5 stars.
Scars Like Wings by Erin Stewart is a YA contemporary about a young woman's "reintegration" into high school life after a house fire that killed her mother, father, and cousin and left her with burns over 60% of her body, including her face. The story is incredibly well-written, with a voice true to a teenager. Ava is present in many different emotional states with a sense fantastic accuracy. In places, the story feels like a more mature version of Wonder. Erin Stewart clearly did her due diligence in researching this topic as her portrayal of the disability and its social ramifications reads as if it were a biography.
I inhaled this book. I read it over the course of two days and was impatiently awaiting the time when I could return to it. I stayed up late just to complete the last few pages. I didn't want to put it down.
4.5 stars.
Scars Like Wings by Erin Stewart is a YA contemporary about a young woman's "reintegration" into high school life after a house fire that killed her mother, father, and cousin and left her with burns over 60% of her body, including her face. The story is incredibly well-written, with a voice true to a teenager. Ava is present in many different emotional states with a sense fantastic accuracy. In places, the story feels like a more mature version of Wonder. Erin Stewart clearly did her due diligence in researching this topic as her portrayal of the disability and its social ramifications reads as if it were a biography.
I inhaled this book. I read it over the course of two days and was impatiently awaiting the time when I could return to it. I stayed up late just to complete the last few pages. I didn't want to put it down.