What fun! I liked this one a lot. The characters are hilarious, and I love the long-winded Dad of the family. The plot and the mystery are very obvious, but still a fun read.

Didn't actually finish it, of course. I've just stopped reading it. You know, they say that it is impossible to read the entire thing in one lifetime.

I really liked this second book about the Toddlians! Those tiny people have such interesting and varied personalities, and they keep me laughing.
Todd has grown up a bit; he's more confident and self-assured, but still struggling with the concept of responsibility. Todd is such a great character! He's learning and growing all the time. He makes dumb mistakes and brilliant decisions. He's brave and scared at the same time. Just great writing!

I love the interaction between Todd and his friends, especially the girls. They are wonderful supporting characters to Todd's story. Lucy is such a fun character, with all her science-experiments and everything. I think I love her the most.
It was delightful seeing Todd's reactions every time he saw Charity. His descriptions of her hair are priceless!

The plot in this book really kept me interested, and I loved how all the different elements in the story pulled together at the end.

Once again, while I only gave this book 3 stars, I'm sure that any young kids would be giving it 5 stars! I'm not the target audience, after all. If I had read this when I was 10, I would have given it 5 stars, no question.

Also there's a reference to Veronica Mars! This book is legit! My nerdy heart just loves it.

I loved seeing a Christian perspective for yoga in this book! I really loved that the author goes deep into Scripture, talking about using the whole body, mind, heart, and spirit to worship God! I wish that the book had gone more in depth into the history of yoga though.
Also the writer has this dorky middle-aged-mom condescending way of writing, with all the sickly-sweet mom jokes that you would expect from that. So that was annoying, but the overall message is great!
There are great answers in here for those people who are asking, How can yoga be Christian since it is widely used by Hindus? and a lot of other concerns are addressed too. The answer is that yoga is not connected to any one religion and can be practiced by anyone.
The poses and sequences in the back of the book are a great tool for yogis of any level, and I loved reading about the meditation and breathing techniques.

I had high expectations from this book since I love fantasy, I was told that it is similar to Narnia, and I had met and liked the author. Plus the cover design is absolutely gorgeous! So when I very quickly began to be disappointed, I tried to lower my expectations and continue on. I tried to reason away the many flaws in the writing. I tried to overlook the lack of structure in the story. I tried and failed. I wanted so badly to like this book! (sigh.) Alas, it was not to be.

I read through page 57, because I always give every book at least 50 pages to prove their worth, but then I just had to stop. I can't finish this. It grates on my nerves so badly!

First of all, everything, and I mean EVERY thing, is super-uber-extra-dramatic all the time. People scream their words, and flail their arms, and "despair in terror" because they lost their favorite knife. If the character is already in "despair" over a lost possession, then what word are you going to use when they are in a situation that calls for ACTUAL despair? When normal or small situations are over-dramatized, then REAL drama has no meaning, and the small drama just feels like a silly parody or joke. I hoped this might get better as I read along, but it actually got worse.

There are some words that are misused or strangely used, and it confused me. For example, "Terrible blood-letting and carnage followed the execution." So people are being killed, yes? Except "blood-letting" is a medical procedure that supposedly balanced the "humors" in the body. So are they being killed or being cured by old-timey medicine? I don't know.

The use of parentheses weirded me out! I don't think I've ever read a single novel anywhere that uses parentheses. Parentheses are usually for essays and research papers, aren't they? I had a writing teacher who said that if it needs to be in parentheses then it doesn't fit your paragraph, so either move it to a place where it does fit, or cut it out completely. It was jarring to see in a narrative. Just weirdness.

There is a ton of clumsy foreshadowing, to the point where it's actually funny. "Her fate would later profoundly affect the life of the young Prince Lael of Tundrand."-pg. 8
"He could not know that soon he would face the harshest gauntlet."-pg. 11

This story is not written in scenes. It is written more like a history book than a story. There is way too much narration and long explanations of the world politics and family histories. It doesn't focus on any one character long enough for me to connect with them. Far too many characters are introduced and left aside in the beginning chapters. I can't remember them all, mostly because few of them have any dialogue. They don't play out any scenes, so they aren't memorable. The characters and their relationships or actions are just explained, instead of told like a story. I felt no emotional connection with any of them.

There is practically NO structure whatever, not even chronological. The flashbacks are so numerous and random, that I can't even bring myself to call them "flashbacks". It's more like a big ball of wibbley-wobbley timey-wimey stuff all swirling together in a time vortex, so that everything (past and present) is happening in the present all at once to every character all together. Yay. That's not confusing at all!!
The characters have these little "remembering moments" that start something like this...
"These thoughts led to another recollection." (Cue flashback.)
"Soon his thoughts led him to another memory..." (Fourth flashback in this chapter.)
"Lael recalled how..." (Long flashback that last several pages.)
"Lael smiled, and thought of his early years."
"Lael's mind went back in time to his first journey..." (Agh, make it stop!!!)


The writing is excessively verbose, using great quantities of adjectives and unnecessary adverbs. The writing is so cluttered that the message is entirely lost. A character's dialogue will be "screamed" or "desperately whispered" instead of just plain "said". The author "tells" instead of "showing" to the point where I want to cry.

I'm sorry.
I really am.
I hate writing bad reviews, and I always try to find something positive to say about every book. I loved the poetry/quotes at the beginning of every chapter! I think this author has potential, but they need a good editor who will cut half of every sentence.

Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher/author in exchange for a free and honest review. The opinions here are my own true thoughts, and are not influenced by anyone.

I was disappointed in this book. I was excited to read a Pilgrim's Progress type of story told from the sinner's POV, but there are so many problems with the writing that the story doesn't come through. It desperately needs an editor. I only read the first 20 pages, and I just couldn't continue.

The writing is extremely verbose and redundant. There are multiple problems with sentence structure, punctuation, and even word usage. For example, the word "self-perseverance" is used, when I'm pretty sure the author meant "self-preservation". The word "nowhere" is written as two separate words "no where". There's a sentence that talks about the "faucets" on jewels instead of the "facets", and another says how beautiful the "pedals" on flowers are. I even saw the words "their selves" instead of "themselves."

I like the idea of retelling Pilgrim's Progress from another viewpoint, but this book needs some help before it is reader-ready.

Disclaimer: I received this book from the author in exchange for a free and honest review. The opinions here are my own true thoughts and are not influenced by anyone.

The further story of the giants has a much bigger scope than the first book! Thomas is still a main character, but now there are many other characters, including his family members, who have their own journeys. We see more of the world of the giants and the neighboring towns and lands. The problems the characters face are larger too, and the stakes are higher. There's more action in the plot, and more suspense and obstacles to overcome.

One of my complaints about the first book was that there was only one storyline, but this book corrects that. There are several storylines which converge and move alongside each other for a full story that develops from several angles.

The writing is still preachy and a little stiff. It doesn't flow as easily as it could. The plot has some pacing issues, but the story is enjoyable and I like the characters. The writing makes me care about the characters and their growth!
I see a lot of improvement in this book from the writing in the first book! Can't wait to read the third one!

Disclaimer: I received this book from the author in exchange for a free and honest review. The thoughts expressed here are my own true opinions and are not influenced by anyone.

This cute little book would be a great way to tell children that they can soon expect a new sibling in their midst. Mommy Monkey has to tell her little son that a new baby is coming, so there won't be room for him on her lap, because her stomach will be too big.
It's a sweet little story about a mother's love being big enough, even if her lap isn't big enough.

I felt like the story could have used more development. We don't really see the little son monkey reacting to the news of a baby being on the way. It would be nice to see him express that is reassured, or excited, or curious. The story just kind of ends without addressing many of the questions that a child might have about a new baby.

The illustrations are incredibly childish and unpolished. I suppose that is part of their charm, but I expected more than kids drawings for the illustrations.

I like that the story rhymes, and it has such a positive message of a mother's love for her children! I think it's cute that while the Mommy Monkey explains her pregnant belly, a thought bubble appears above her head with a pregnant version of her, and we see her stomach growing larger. haha! That's sweet!

This would be a great book for young kids aged 3-7 who are expecting a new sibling!

Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher/author in exchange for a free and honest review. All the opinions stated here are my own true thoughts, and are not influenced by anyone.

I love this adorable book about children going "Trunk or Treating" instead of "trick or treating". Many churches do a "trunk or treat" autumn event instead of celebrating Halloween, and this book details all the different car trunks decorated with fun themes as the kids go around and get their candy, play games, and have their picture taken.

The story is told in rhyme and follows a little princess and her cowboy brother as they visit each car trunk, gather candy, and generally have fun at classic autumn activities like bobbing for apples or playing a ring toss game. The children in the book express their entertainment and wonder at the many costumes and decorations at their trunk or treat event, and that makes the reader share in their enjoyment.

The illustrations are done in a cartoon style with lots of details to look for on each page. I love children's books with lots of background stuff and extra details that enhance the story! The colors are bright, and the whole tone of the pictures is playful and wholesome.

This delightful book would be a great gift for children (aged 4-7) around the month of October!

Disclaimer: I received this book from the author in exchange for a free and honest review. The opinions stated here are my own true thoughts, and are not influenced by anyone.