kewlkat70's Reviews (250)

Disappointed that I've read the entire series available. 

Looking forward to the book no. 8

What a fun read!  Peter Grant is an adorable protagonist, earnest and curious.  Magical London is a fabulous place to be. It reminds me of Gaiman's Neverwhere or Mieville's Bas-lag.  

This belongs to a certain genre of books that are spicy romance novels that can be read in a couple of hours.  They follow a certain formula and there is always a happy ending.  They are so enjoyable because they are so predictable but the characters are lovable and the writing is inoffensive and they always have something creative about the world in which they exist.  

I am glad to have found another series to add to the list of books that will fill the time when you just want to be entertained.  

A guaranteed good time! 

This is a reread, maybe the 3rd time read in my life time.  My first time reading this I was very young, maybe 11 or 12 and this is perfect YA novel.  The protagonist is 15 and she acts like a 15 yr old.  It will be a 5⭐ YA read

As an adult the read is a bit slowmoving.  The narration on this audiobook version is terrible.  All the adults sound like they are admonishing the  protagonist whether they are or not.  And the protagonists dialogue comes across as overly childish.   Not the way I read her in my youth. 

I would say the book only holds out to 3.5 or 3.75 today but I am averaging it out because the world of Pern is so wonderful and this book holds so much importance to me. 

I initially downloaded it to listen with my 15yr old daughter and she was not interested in the story. It's quite slow.  But she was also put off because Menolly is told she can't be a Harper because she is a girl and girls get married and do women's chores.   She was really put off by the gender roles. 

Even though I explained that this was written in the 70s and that the story of how Menolly overcame these expectations made this a feminist book for young people in a time when very little fantasy was written for girls.  

But now it's seen as an uncomfortable trope rather than a revolution.  Sigh 

This book was ok. I enjoyed it and made my way through it quickly.  My main complaint was the writing style was overly formal which made the characters seem stiff and cold.  
The book with the FMC and the love interest #1 as at least a  4⭐ read.  The merman was cold and formal but it worked as there is something alien about a creature from the cold part of the sea.  Unfortunately the other non human characters have the same stilted narrative style.  It's hard to see how the FMC falls in love with all the characters.   

The plot is a bit sticky as well.  It's predictable and the attacks become repetitive without bringing something new to the story line.  

I feel there is are good concepts here but the author does not seem comfortable with where she is going with her characters and their arcs.  
I picked this book in a stuff your Kindle event.  The rest of the series is not offered on KU.  If I am not able to find this series in a library app I don't think I will continue reading it at this time. 

This was almost a DNF so many times and to be honest I ended up skipping part of the book (it was an audiobook so it would play on for a few minutes when I was distracted or busy).  I would rewind only to find I didn't miss anything so I just stopped going back after a while.  
The biggest issue I had with the book is the constant indecision of the FMC.  She wavered on everything.  I don't know if she was written that way on purpose.  She exemplified the lack of choice a female would have in this warrior society.  She was sold off in marriage to awful men to give power and privilege to her family even though she would suffer for it.  
She is at once wholly trusting and totally suspicious of everyone around her.   She changes her mind on a whim, this person offers her a handout and she believes in them and this person acts in a way she doesn't understand she assumes it is somehow harmful to her.  

The story itself is slow.  How many raids can surprise them. How many times can she call on her god to save her (talk about a Deus ex Machina) when all is lost.  How many times can she be surprised and upset when shady people do shady things.  And how can she be so blind as to not see the obvious plot twist.  It was so obvious that I can only think the writer wants her protagonist to be as dumb as fuck.   It was all so predictable. 

Maybe this is better read than listened to but the narrator was quite good with an authentic Scandinavian accent.   Maybe it's the first person narrative that makes the FMC so annoying.  

Bottom line is I'm glad it's over.  

Hooray! What a holiday treat! Two of my favourite male characters in the same story.  Of course they start up a bromance.  

There really isn't anything to this short story other than a wonderful opportunity to see Julian and Simon, Alice and Cora interact.  I want a whole adventure of Julian and Simon having adventures together...

The writing is terrible.  The plot is weak. The premise is ridiculous.  BDSM isn't that much of a turn on for me. 

I don't know why I finished this book.. it's an easy read and there is something goofy and light-hearted under all of that.  The main character is kind of lovable and cute. 

I don't think I can recommend this book because it's mostly terrible.  But it also does pretend to be anything more than porn in written form.  There is no pretension in it at all.  It is exactly what it means to be. 

I can't say I will read the rest of the series but who knows. 

Kathryn Ann Kingsley is such a fabulous writer even though her books kind of follow the same formula.  MMC is undeniably evil and unhinged but lovable and the FMC has to come to terms with her truely neutral alignment.  Her sense of morality doesn't necessarily follow what we think of right and wrong. 

This can make some readers uncomfortable if they have a strong sense of what acceptable behavior looks like.   What seems forced is not always unwelcome.  Sometimes being overpowered and helpless is what is desired.  KAK likes to walk that line and it makes the spicy scenes VERY hot. 

While themes are repeated in her books she builds such great stories and worlds and sometime other characters around the romance that each story feels fresh and unique.  

I could read 100 stories with Simon Waite or Aon or Valroy, and now, Julian Strande in whatever new plot she devises and I would eat each story up like it was new.  

Maybe I relate to her FMC type.  I have a history that makes me look at life with more cynicism and acceptance and approach life as tones of grey not black and white.