This is a horror story about what happens when you give up everything so your man can act on his midlife crisis and chase his delusional dreams.

Õudne sonimine. Kirjavigu täis. Pidev kaldkiri on häiriv.

Couldn't put it down! This is the second book I've read by this author and I'm definitely going to read more. I wouldn't say it was unpredictably by any means – this type of story isn't exactly unique in the genre, and if you read a lot of mysteries and psychological thrillers, you'll probably guess what's going on here, but even so I found myself incredibly immersed in the story. The characters were horrible to the point I had my ereader in a death grip simply because strangling them wasn't an option. The kids were a bit annoying and all the "yays" made me roll my eyes. But I loved that it wasn't filled to the brim with red herrings. It was nice to read a pretty straighforward story for a change. The ending was a little bit rushed and I'd have loved more character growth from the MC, hence the .5.

One of the most gripping page-turners I've read for sure.

I know many were annoyed by the repetitions, but I quite liked them because it felt like I was living what Liv was going through, constantly discovering the same thing. However, they got bothersome when they happened within the same “memory loop” (before falling asleep and forgetting everything). Repeating the same thing twice on the same page or in two consecutive paragraphs made the book seem unedited and as if the author couldn't remember what she had already written. This combined with some embarrassing typos (expresso, curtesy, more then you, etc.) did the book no favours. I also found it really weird that so many random people in the city knew about her memory problems, but instead of helping her fill in the gaps, they kept her in the dark, treating her like a child. The ending was a little rough and unpolished, too.

A perfectly enjoyable read, but it is marketed incorrectly as mystery.

I didn't like this as much as I thought I would. I find the premise of it absolutely fascinating, but the execution lacking. 

It's weird.. I've never finished a book and thought that it was simultaneously about so much and nothing at all. I think what's bothering me is that the book didn't really have any sort of resolution. There was no goal the characters were striving towards. They were just going from one place to another, killing people/creatures of other races. This plus the author's way of skipping over so much made me wonder what I even got out of the book. The first half is essentially one long prologue and even then so much is glossed over, so the book feels slow and fast at the same time.

I'm also confused about the message this book is trying to convey. For a while, I felt like the author was making commentary on the ruthlessness of humans and the nonchalant use of the military instead of attempting peaceful means at first, but then that kind of fell apart. Then he kept mentioning other races who thought humans made a good meal, farming humans for meat, which of course disgusted the MC, so I thought maybe he's trying to make a point here, to show the hypocrisy, but nothing came of that either. So at the end, I was left with nothing. I'm disappointed that there was barely anything about how fucked up it was what they were doing. Yeah, the MC has one moment where he feels terrible, but then he's fine again because someone he cared about got killed.

The MC leaves a lot to be desired as well. He's a prime example of a Gary Stu and once you realise that, you can't even pretend that he's also in constant danger and might die at any moment, so there's not even that tension.

I did enjoy the friendships of the Old Farts, the brief discussions on aging, marriage, getting a second chance, but from characterisation to the attempts at humour, this book feels like something written with one thought in mind: "What would a dude like to read?"

A bittersweet ending to an amazing series. From beginning to end, I loved this journey with the cunning Amara/Timarete. The three books form such a perfect complete story.

This one started out rather slow, to set the scene of Amara's new life in Rome, but once she gets back to Pompeii, it's full on. I was most excited to see how Harper includes the eruption of Vesuvius and it did not disappoint. I don't know whether I foresaw

Amara's decision to start a new life with Philos, and surely the simple life wasn't what she imagined herself having at the Wolf Den, but I think it was the right one. In Rome, she was still imprisoned, just in a much, much nicer way – a pawn living in luxury –, and even though she decided for a peaceful life, we saw at the end that she didn't lose any of her guile. 

I loved how towards the end, Amara used new names for her family, but still though of herself as Amara, until Felix's murder finally allows her to embrace her new identity and be free.

Menander and Britannica being alive was such a nice surprise.

 

I'm sad to have finished the series, but I also feel really fulfilled. It's rare for every book in a series to be this good.

Loved it so much and I'm kicking myself a little bit for waiting so long to read it. I've never read Carrie, nor have I watched any adaptations (to my knowledge), but of course I knew the general gist of it beforehand.

I really enjoyed the inclusion of podcast transcriptions and witness statements. They made it so much more real to me. I think the inclusion of racism was done really well, although it was very, very heavy-handed. At first I was confused why someone being biracial would be such a big deal in 2014, but then the setting was revealed to be one of those ultra-racist towns that are still stuck in the 1960s. You will encounter all the widely used excuses white people make to convince you they're not racist, and you will seethe, knowing that there are people and places that are still like this.

I don't know what to think and feel about this book. It was a rollercoaster for me. It started out really strong. I loved Iris and Roman writing to each other and seeing their relationship develop. I think 

the magic typewriters

were one of the coolest and strongest parts of the story.

In the middle of the book, however, I suddenly realised that I didn't even know why the gods were fighting. There are pieces of lore in the first half, and at first I thought the myths must be true, but then realised it doesn't really make sense because how

does a centuries-long war with gods and humans that supposedly ended just 234 years ago and culminated in humans putting the gods to sleep and burying them become a mere myth and not widely accepted and known history?

So now I'm wondering if we're not supposed to know yet what exactly caused the war, especially with

the history of Dacre and Enva being ripped out of library books, which hints that someone is trying to hide what actually happened

. I'm truly not sure what's going on here, but I really wish all of this had been made more clear.

I thought everything else about the book was great– the atmosphere, both the sleepy Oath and the dangerous, but idyllic Avalon Bluff; the characters; Iris and Roman's relationship. It's just that one thing that I can't figure out and that ultimately drags everything down because it's such a fundamental part of the book.

I want a Philippa and Al.

I found myself frustrated for a big part of the book. Jenny and Joe's attraction to each other were instant, so her mental gymnastics about still being with Matt drove me a little crazy because it was obvious they belonged together as much as socks and sandals. 

Also, since they met so early in the book, I kept wondering whether I'd have to suffer her being with Matt the Twat until the end. At the same time, the author provided enough information throughout for me to understand why Jenny was confused, and I was pleased with that because it allowed me to turn that initial frustration into understanding.

I really loved the characters and the setting of this book. If I had friends like Philippa and Al, I'd be unstoppable. It was so fun and heart-warming to read about their friendship. I especially liked that they weren't the typical serious adult stick-in-the-muds you so often see in books. Yes, they were in their late 20s/early 30s, but they had this childishness and zest for life about them that I loved to see.

Another thing I appreciated a lot was the Jenny and Mum storyline, as well as the parallels between their individual stories. I loved her mum being able to have the fun she deserved.

The dynamic between Jenny and Joe, however, was a tad too much for me. Their relationship was immediately so full on and I found myself turned off by Joe's excessive cheesiness. I guess I should be all swoony at the idea of being called gorgeous and beautiful in every sentence, but it kind of made me cringe. It was almost caricatureish.

I'm not sure I liked the ending all that much. I think I'd have preferred it without the Larry Lemon thing because, again, it was just a bit too cheesy.

The writing was good, but nothing too special, and it seemed like the editor gave up in the second half of the book with all those run-on sentences. I also don't know if the author intended to give weird racist vibes at the beginning, but after the MC hypes Philippa's white skin, the way she described Joe's skin as 'the right colour, not too tan, creamy' definitely made me question.