This story was fun with some great setting moments but too hard to believe in both plot and characters. It was very hard to connect with the caricatures; no way would the 23-year-old unmarried daughter/granddaughter be that responsible for all the older adults. The dad really can't do anything? The mom is that clueless? Everyone is that obvious with their matchmaking? I like believable Christian fiction, but all the religious content was told, not shown, and felt too heavy-handed to really fit the world. I think Bell could write a good story, but this one was a little too eccentric for me.

Sanderson knows how to write a sequel to expand the world, stakes, and roles of the characters from the first. I liked seeing David's evolution here, including dealing with his fear of water. It's interesting to see another Reckoners team and how they interact. I do think that all the character quirks stretch believability in being TOO gimmicky, but that is also part of the charm.

I am not typically a short story reader, but Eldredge's collection was a quick and intriguing read. My favorite story was "Dangerous Currents," which managed to delve into themes of responsibility, power, and sacrifice with a vivid setting. The progression of the science in "Cuts and Folds" was fascinating. I think Percy Jackson lovers in particular would find "Olympic Politics" entertaining. The story I connected with least was "Half-way House to Heaven" just due to my personal taste in not preferring second person, but I still liked the concept. These stories would be great to read and discuss for a book club!

I am having a hard time settling on a rating for this one but I'm going to go with 4.25 stars because it was a super engaging read. However, I was disappointed with what I felt like were missed opportunities. Rather than showing the consequences of being a victor over time, most of the page time was devoted to games we already knew the outcome of, so the stakes didn't feel as real, plus much of the action was repetitive or convenient. (Why do some people get tailor-made deaths but not Haymitch?) There were a LOT of cameos/references to the other books, which got over-the-top quickly and often also stretched believability (like why would Katniss not know her dad was best friends with Haymitch?). The romance was very surface-level to me. Still, Collins knows how to keep us turning the pages, and there were emotional punches for sure.

This is a hard book to rate; I decided on four stars because I think the writing was really accessible and the family relationships were done well. The romance was, unfortunately, underdeveloped for my taste, with flashbacks that were almost entirely superfluous and a repetitive "we'll talk about us when we have time" in the present that never got resolved satisfactorily. The plot itself, with the murder and more, was SO ridiculous in a both fun and crazy way. 

I don't agree with many of the choices Aiken made based on the hints we get in Austen's original start to the story, but I still enjoy this read overall (especially when I just consider it Aiken's story). Emma ending up with a character almost entirely off page was the most disappointing part, and the complicated exploration of the relationship between Elizabeth and Emma was the best.

This was a quick and sweet YA romance with a magical ghost adventure. My favorite aspect of this book were the sister relationships and interactions, and I wished we got more depth to the sisters other than their conversations about boys. In my personal opinion, the faraway gay best friend didn't add much to the story, and the over-the-too mistaken identity twin tropes stretched believability. I get that the theme centered on connection, but the wrapping up felt too tidy for me, since every character had convenient ties to others with multiple overlapping roles. Also why would someone who was in the car when his parents died in a car crash say it's not a big deal when someone hits his car? 

I inhaled this book in basically one sitting! The dark romance with witches and demons had a nice setup; the mood and setting were done really well. Where I wanted more was the character development, especially when it came to the twin relationship. Speaking as an identical twin girl, I found it extremely unrealistic that a twin wouldn't know/care what her sister was doing to that extent, especially when they shared a room. Still, this was an intriguing world.

This is a contemporary YA romance with fun intertextuality with texts and tweets in the text about teens who talk about books on social media. The protagonist's arc is very slow, which was frustrating to read, since she had so many friends and her love interest give her so many chances that she repeatedly spurned. I liked the premise a lot, and moments were great, plus the grief struggles felt authentic, but the pacing didn't work for me.

I read this without knowing about the other book, but it worked fine as a standalone. Tristan is a troubled music producer going through a dramatic court case for custody of a child that is not even his, and Scarlett is a struggling baker who is raising her sister's son. Neither of these POV characters could really catch a break through the story - lots of heartache mixed in with the healing and romance. This was a clean romance with lots of deep themes that ultimately emphasized the power of showing up for those you love. 
To explain my 4-star rating, I should be clear that my main concern with this book is related to personal taste, and I can easily see this as a 5-star read for most people. As an identical twin myself, I couldn't get past the tired twin tropes - in a book with so much depth to explore other types of connections, I really didn't like that one twin was so unilaterally evil and that they were still confused for each other. Again, this is just my personal drama, and even while dreading any time the twin thing was brought up, I still really liked this story. I also wanted more page time for Ben (the nephew) - he felt like a realistic boy of his age from what we saw of him.