Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.79k reviews by:
kailey_luminouslibro
Perfectly marvelous. Overall it's very well-written and the plot is fascinating. Rather choppy in places with some one-dimensional characters.
This book is the story of Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy on their honeymoon, and it's so badly written that it's like this disaster that fascinates you; like not being able to look away from a train wreck! I just had to read the whole thing. I couldn't stop reading, despite (or maybe because of) the horror of the bad writing.
There is no plot. No plot whatsoever. There's a string of everyday events, and one bit of action closer to the end, but nothing that connects the story. Literally, nothing at all happens for 90% of the book.
There's no Jane and no Bingley at all, and very little of Georgiana or Col. Fitzwilliam. There's a bunch of lists of random people that Elizabeth makes friends with at social gatherings, but the people have no depth. They are ghost people with no character to them. Names on a list of invitations to dinner. Supporting characters who don't support the non-existent story in any way. What is their purpose?
Elizabeth and Darcy are horrifyingly sentimental on EVERY page. I mean, I can understand there needs to be a little of the over-the-top cutesy romantic stuff since they ARE on their honeymoon, but OMG every page is full of the most trite, repetitive, sweetsy dialogue. "I love you." "No, I love you more." "No, I love YOU more." Forever and ever, on and on. "My darling, my love, my sweet, my life, you are my everything. I die for you!"
Gag.
I love romance, but there's a point where it's just too much, tooooooooo much, and that point was reached by page 25 in this case. When it's repeated on every page, it just doesn't feel sincere somehow.
Don't even get me started on the unrealistic historical setting. This is not Austen's world. Nope. The dialogue makes this pathetic attempt to imitate Austen's style, but there a ton of modern idioms used and modern ideas, and it just makes me cringe through every sentence!
I was surprised to see that the author is a Christian, because the book is more than a little racy! I blushed through most of it.
There is no plot. No plot whatsoever. There's a string of everyday events, and one bit of action closer to the end, but nothing that connects the story. Literally, nothing at all happens for 90% of the book.
There's no Jane and no Bingley at all, and very little of Georgiana or Col. Fitzwilliam. There's a bunch of lists of random people that Elizabeth makes friends with at social gatherings, but the people have no depth. They are ghost people with no character to them. Names on a list of invitations to dinner. Supporting characters who don't support the non-existent story in any way. What is their purpose?
Elizabeth and Darcy are horrifyingly sentimental on EVERY page. I mean, I can understand there needs to be a little of the over-the-top cutesy romantic stuff since they ARE on their honeymoon, but OMG every page is full of the most trite, repetitive, sweetsy dialogue. "I love you." "No, I love you more." "No, I love YOU more." Forever and ever, on and on. "My darling, my love, my sweet, my life, you are my everything. I die for you!"
Gag.
I love romance, but there's a point where it's just too much, tooooooooo much, and that point was reached by page 25 in this case. When it's repeated on every page, it just doesn't feel sincere somehow.
Don't even get me started on the unrealistic historical setting. This is not Austen's world. Nope. The dialogue makes this pathetic attempt to imitate Austen's style, but there a ton of modern idioms used and modern ideas, and it just makes me cringe through every sentence!
I was surprised to see that the author is a Christian, because the book is more than a little racy! I blushed through most of it.
I enjoyed this book about a group of children who participate in a lock-in at their local library and have to solve puzzles to find their way out and win a grand prize! I love books about puzzles, and this one reminded me of [b:The Mysterious Benedict Society|83369|The Mysterious Benedict Society (The Mysterious Benedict Society, #1)|Trenton Lee Stewart|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1342715444s/83369.jpg|80497], at least in the puzzle and codes aspect of the story.
The codes and mysteries are truly delightful to unravel, and I loved the setting in the fascinating library! This library has holograms and a reading rotunda and a dome that lights up with clues. There are museum displays and game rooms, entertainment consoles and fountains and statues. I could really imagine myself in this incredible library along with the characters!
My biggest problem with this book is that there is no character development. The characters are flat, and they don't really grow. I'm a very character-centered reader, so this is a big deal for me.
Both characters and plot lack depth.
Mr. Lemoncello is pretty much a Willie Wonka rip-off, with a funny voice and a weird sense of humor, strange costumes and cryptic comments. I wish his character had been more original.
The only character who really intrigued me was the librarian, Dr. Zhenchenko, and she is barely in the book. I wish her character was more developed.
The other character I really liked was Sierra, who just wants to read all the time instead of playing the game. I also wish she had been more developed and had some depth to her character.
I didn't particularly care about Kyle, the main character. I wanted to see him win, mainly because I wanted to see the puzzles solved, rather than wanting the hero to win because of any emotional attachment to him. He has a tiny bit of character development, but it's so small as to be negligible. There's no real change in his person.
Take away the puzzles and the cool library setting and this book has no story really. There's no depth, no underlying problem that needs to be resolved, no major life change for any characters, no emotional upheaval, ...even the bad guys are flat, and I don't really care when they are defeated. eh.
But I DO adore puzzles, mysteries, codes, conundrums, riddles, word games, and especially... libraries!
The codes and mysteries are truly delightful to unravel, and I loved the setting in the fascinating library! This library has holograms and a reading rotunda and a dome that lights up with clues. There are museum displays and game rooms, entertainment consoles and fountains and statues. I could really imagine myself in this incredible library along with the characters!
My biggest problem with this book is that there is no character development. The characters are flat, and they don't really grow. I'm a very character-centered reader, so this is a big deal for me.
Both characters and plot lack depth.
Mr. Lemoncello is pretty much a Willie Wonka rip-off, with a funny voice and a weird sense of humor, strange costumes and cryptic comments. I wish his character had been more original.
The only character who really intrigued me was the librarian, Dr. Zhenchenko, and she is barely in the book. I wish her character was more developed.
The other character I really liked was Sierra, who just wants to read all the time instead of playing the game. I also wish she had been more developed and had some depth to her character.
I didn't particularly care about Kyle, the main character. I wanted to see him win, mainly because I wanted to see the puzzles solved, rather than wanting the hero to win because of any emotional attachment to him. He has a tiny bit of character development, but it's so small as to be negligible. There's no real change in his person.
Take away the puzzles and the cool library setting and this book has no story really. There's no depth, no underlying problem that needs to be resolved, no major life change for any characters, no emotional upheaval, ...even the bad guys are flat, and I don't really care when they are defeated. eh.
But I DO adore puzzles, mysteries, codes, conundrums, riddles, word games, and especially... libraries!
This is the story of Amadeo, who wants to discover something that will bring him fame. When he begins working for Mrs. Zender, he hopes to find a treasure of some kind among her dusty old things, but he is also looking for friendship. Egh. I disliked this book intensely, but I can't muster up enough emotional reaction to it to actually say I hated it.
The plot moves sooooooo slow. I kept waiting and waiting for something to happen. Finally, towards the end of the middle, they find the drawing, and finally finally after a long drawn-out bunch of nothing, we find out the mystery of the drawing, which is another long bunch of extra stuff that I didn't really care about. The end was so incredibly under-whelming.
The characters are supposed to be quirky and interesting, but I find them boring. I just don't care about any of them. Some of them are nice, I suppose, but I don't like any of them. They are so rude and snappy to each other, and everyone is circling tentatively around everyone else.
I can't figure out why William and Amadeo are friends. All they do is nitpick and fuss at each other. There is not a single conversation between them that says to me, "Ah, these two are good friends!" Their dialogue is acidic, and they pick on each other.
Peter is especially boring. What is his problem? He can be overly dramatic, but no one else is allowed to. He just has to be the center of attention at all times. egh. He's annoying.
Why do I keep reading this author's books? I never like her books. I like her writing style, but I hate her plots and characters. The only one that I have ever liked, out of all her work, is [b:From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler|3980|From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler|E.L. Konigsburg|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327784751s/3980.jpg|1384549].
The plot moves sooooooo slow. I kept waiting and waiting for something to happen. Finally, towards the end of the middle, they find the drawing, and finally finally after a long drawn-out bunch of nothing, we find out the mystery of the drawing, which is another long bunch of extra stuff that I didn't really care about. The end was so incredibly under-whelming.
The characters are supposed to be quirky and interesting, but I find them boring. I just don't care about any of them. Some of them are nice, I suppose, but I don't like any of them. They are so rude and snappy to each other, and everyone is circling tentatively around everyone else.
I can't figure out why William and Amadeo are friends. All they do is nitpick and fuss at each other. There is not a single conversation between them that says to me, "Ah, these two are good friends!" Their dialogue is acidic, and they pick on each other.
Peter is especially boring. What is his problem? He can be overly dramatic, but no one else is allowed to. He just has to be the center of attention at all times. egh. He's annoying.
Why do I keep reading this author's books? I never like her books. I like her writing style, but I hate her plots and characters. The only one that I have ever liked, out of all her work, is [b:From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler|3980|From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler|E.L. Konigsburg|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327784751s/3980.jpg|1384549].
This beautiful little book for kids answers questions about the Bible in a simple but deep way they can understand. Who wrote the Bible? How can I know that the Bible is true? How can I understand the Bible? What are the most important messages in the Bible? How does God preserve His Word? How can I use the Bible in my life? All these questions and more are answered from Scripture with illustrations and Bible stories that go along with each lesson.
The pictures are delightful, and I love the language and how the chapters are structured. This would be a wonderful book to read along with a young Sunday School class, or to read with a child at home. Even as an adult, I was inspired while reading it!
Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher/ author in exchange for a free and honest review.
The pictures are delightful, and I love the language and how the chapters are structured. This would be a wonderful book to read along with a young Sunday School class, or to read with a child at home. Even as an adult, I was inspired while reading it!
Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher/ author in exchange for a free and honest review.
I was starting to get bored with the Henrys, but this one revived me a bit. There were some especially rousing speeches, and I didn't completely hate every character.
I feel like every situation and scene was gone through twice. Twice Edward is on the throne and Henry is forced to compromise or flee. Twice Henry is on the throne and Edward is fleeing. Twice they summon all their allies to send soldiers. Twice somebody sends to France for soldiers. Twice Henry is thrown into prison in the Tower, then Edward is thrown into prison as well with the Archbishop. Two big battles where half of everyone is killed. Two different scenes where young boys are killed. So much back and forth. Ugh. I feel like I read the same play twice.
King Henry VI is still getting on my nerves, just like in the last two plays. He's such a good guy with a compassionate heart, but no wisdom, no cunning. He's not circumspect enough to see that everyone is plotting against him and betraying him right and left. He lets himself be bullied by his wife; he's such a doormat. They won't let him speak at parley; they won't let him lead the battles. Poor Henry, he's such a lovable idiot.
I felt truly sorry for him in this play. At the end,
Queen Margaret is as acidic and mean as ever. What a shrew! She just shrieks at everybody, but she does have some amazing lines.
Warwick is a complicated guy. I was actually surprised when Up until then, I thought he was just a horrible blood-thirsty soldier, but he really cared about his honor more than anything. He had a weird sense of honor that didn't quite align with actual righteousness, but still, I can admire his attitude... sometimes.
All the characters are such liars. They're always switching sides and breaking oaths of peace. Bunch of selfish ingrates! haha! That's royalty for you, I guess.
So now I only have one more Henry left to read about. Richard III and then Henry VIII, and I'll be done with all the historical plays, I think. Yay!
I feel like every situation and scene was gone through twice. Twice Edward is on the throne and Henry is forced to compromise or flee. Twice Henry is on the throne and Edward is fleeing. Twice they summon all their allies to send soldiers. Twice somebody sends to France for soldiers. Twice Henry is thrown into prison in the Tower, then Edward is thrown into prison as well with the Archbishop. Two big battles where half of everyone is killed. Two different scenes where young boys are killed. So much back and forth. Ugh. I feel like I read the same play twice.
King Henry VI is still getting on my nerves, just like in the last two plays. He's such a good guy with a compassionate heart, but no wisdom, no cunning. He's not circumspect enough to see that everyone is plotting against him and betraying him right and left. He lets himself be bullied by his wife; he's such a doormat. They won't let him speak at parley; they won't let him lead the battles. Poor Henry, he's such a lovable idiot.
I felt truly sorry for him in this play. At the end,
Spoiler
I think Henry wanted to die. He baits and taunts Richard to spark his anger, hoping that Richard will kill him quickly. It was almost more of a suicide than a murder, but Henry, being such a religious man, could never have brought himself to actually commit suicide. I wonder what book he was reading so intently in that last scene? The last words he ever read.Queen Margaret is as acidic and mean as ever. What a shrew! She just shrieks at everybody, but she does have some amazing lines.
Warwick is a complicated guy. I was actually surprised when
Spoiler
he turned on Edward and joined Henry's side.All the characters are such liars. They're always switching sides and breaking oaths of peace. Bunch of selfish ingrates! haha! That's royalty for you, I guess.
So now I only have one more Henry left to read about. Richard III and then Henry VIII, and I'll be done with all the historical plays, I think. Yay!
I only read three of the stories out of this book. One by [a:Agatha Christie|123715|Agatha Christie|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1321738793p2/123715.jpg], a Miss Marple story I had read before, "What Mrs. McGillicuddy Saw". It's longer than I remembered, and I think I liked the TV version better. I do love that very iconic scene of the old lady witnessing a murder through the windows of a train into another passing train car.
I read one by [a:Dashiell Hammett|16927|Dashiell Hammett|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1287255332p2/16927.jpg], "Fly Paper", that was the very "shoot 'em up, Joe" type of stuff I have come to expect from the author of [b:The Thin Man|80616|The Thin Man|Dashiell Hammett|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1321111302s/80616.jpg|1336952]. Nobody writes about private detectives like this author! His style is very clipped and to the point, which is perfect for a short story.
Then I read "The Landlady" by [a:Roald Dahl|4273|Roald Dahl|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1311554908p2/4273.jpg], which was extremely short, rather obvious, but written in his inimitable style. I love how he never actually comes out and says what is happening in the story, but leaves the reader to draw their own conclusions. He really is a master at telling a whole story with half an actual story.
All in all, a great collection of stories!
I read one by [a:Dashiell Hammett|16927|Dashiell Hammett|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1287255332p2/16927.jpg], "Fly Paper", that was the very "shoot 'em up, Joe" type of stuff I have come to expect from the author of [b:The Thin Man|80616|The Thin Man|Dashiell Hammett|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1321111302s/80616.jpg|1336952]. Nobody writes about private detectives like this author! His style is very clipped and to the point, which is perfect for a short story.
Then I read "The Landlady" by [a:Roald Dahl|4273|Roald Dahl|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1311554908p2/4273.jpg], which was extremely short, rather obvious, but written in his inimitable style. I love how he never actually comes out and says what is happening in the story, but leaves the reader to draw their own conclusions. He really is a master at telling a whole story with half an actual story.
All in all, a great collection of stories!
So many wonderfully quotable lines! What strong and powerful characters! This goes on my list of favorite plays of the Bard.
Surprisingly easy to read, with very few "flights of fancy" or long descriptive poetry about the moon. Lots of focus on the action, with (relatively) concise to-the-point dialogue from each character.
Spoilers:
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
I love the secret meetings and cryptic notes and sneaking around; it makes for great drama. Brutus has some really marvelous speeches about honor and comradeship and the glory of Rome. Antony fairly breaks your heart eulogizing Julius Caesar. Each of these men are charismatic in their own way with plenty of flair.
I could have done without all the "honorable" assisted suicides on the battlefield, but of course, it works within the history, and you can't have a tragedy unless 90% of the cast is dead at the end. Especially pathetic is Cassius who commits suicide by mistake. He thinks that he sees his friend being overrun by the enemy on the battlefield, when actually he is being welcomed by his own troops. But Cassius assumes the worst and kills himself. What an idiot! It almost makes me sad for him.... almost.
"Great Caesar's Ghost!" I love the added touch of all the supernatural events forewarning of Julius Caesar's death, the superstitious dreams and prophecies, and then the sinister ghost haunting Brutus on the battlefield. It makes the play so much darker and portentous.
I wish there were more lines for the few female characters, but the scenes they do have are powerful and memorable. I like how Portia reprimands Brutus for not telling her all the things he is planning when he is conspiring to kill Julius Caesar. She can tell he is up to something, and she's really angry with him for not including her.
And I love Calpurnia convincing Caesar to stay at home because she had a bad dream about him dying. She is very persuasive, and she would have saved his life that day if weren't for that meddling traitor Decius.
I really like the exploration of different philosophical viewpoints. Brutus is a Stoic, and Cassius is Epicurean. Their philosophies are tested to the limit. Brutus hears of his wife's suicide, and philosophically says that we all have to die sometime so why not now. But he is obviously distraught over his wife's death and questioning his own philosophy. In the end, Cassius is disillusioned with his philosophy as well. They both lose hope because their philosophies are not based on truth.
Out of all the conspirators, Brutus was the only one who killed Caesar out of patriotism. The others all had some sort of jealousy or feud against him, but Brutus acted to preserve the freedom of his country. Both Brutus and Antony are honorable, but their perspectives are so widely different that they end up as enemies. Brutus was convinced that Julius Caesar was a tyrant, but Antony saw him as a just and wise and generous ruler.
I love that this play shows both perspectives. We get to see such a wide range of qualities from all these characters.
This was a nice fluff read, but I wasn't really impressed or entertained. The plot is trite and predictable, the characters are obvious, and the writing tells instead of showing.
This is the story of Lady Gwendolyn, who longs to fight as a knight and sneaks into a tournament. She is wary of romance, because her father is a mean old tyrant, but she learns to love the low-born Sir Allen. Meanwhile, Sir Allen is determined to prove that despite his low birth, he is just as noble of heart as the other knights. Typical Medieval stuff, and utterly unoriginal.
I skimmed through most of it, just reading the first sentence of every paragraph and the dialogue, and I still got the entire story. There are a couple of good scenes, but most of it is very predictable and the same old Medieval things we've read a thousand times and seen in the movies.
The worst-written character was the villain, Sir Warner. He was a cardboard-cutout bad guy with all the cheesy dialogue and badly-laid evil plans. He even had a witch who foretold his future. Really? That's just a rip-off of Robin Hood. That's just sad.
The POV switches between Gwendolyn, Sir Allen, Sir Warner, and Gwendolyn's maid, Rosalind. I hate it when the POV switches in the middle of a scene! That's just ridiculous and completely unnecessary. Agh! Pet peeve. It takes a special author to pull off multiple POVs, and this author did it very badly.
The ending was way too convenient and left story threads hanging all over the place.
Still, I give it two stars for the couple of scenes that I liked.
This is the story of Lady Gwendolyn, who longs to fight as a knight and sneaks into a tournament. She is wary of romance, because her father is a mean old tyrant, but she learns to love the low-born Sir Allen. Meanwhile, Sir Allen is determined to prove that despite his low birth, he is just as noble of heart as the other knights. Typical Medieval stuff, and utterly unoriginal.
I skimmed through most of it, just reading the first sentence of every paragraph and the dialogue, and I still got the entire story. There are a couple of good scenes, but most of it is very predictable and the same old Medieval things we've read a thousand times and seen in the movies.
The worst-written character was the villain, Sir Warner. He was a cardboard-cutout bad guy with all the cheesy dialogue and badly-laid evil plans. He even had a witch who foretold his future. Really? That's just a rip-off of Robin Hood. That's just sad.
The POV switches between Gwendolyn, Sir Allen, Sir Warner, and Gwendolyn's maid, Rosalind. I hate it when the POV switches in the middle of a scene! That's just ridiculous and completely unnecessary. Agh! Pet peeve. It takes a special author to pull off multiple POVs, and this author did it very badly.
The ending was way too convenient and left story threads hanging all over the place.
Still, I give it two stars for the couple of scenes that I liked.