rebeccasreadingrambles's Reviews (3.06k)

This was a super quick book. The writing was really carefully and well done. The story moved very slowly and deliberately, which really helped set up the tone of the book. Sameness sounds terrible dull and I think life would just drag on in a society like this. No super emotions or dramas...and that is really depicted in this book. I loved the scene where Jonas learned words and sensations he never knew existed.

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I wish I knew what happened in the end!

Not as fast passed or action packed as other dystopian novels I've read, but this one was the first. I can see aspects of other books that have been influenced by this one.

This was my least favorite books of the series, but that may just be because it is very dark and doomed. Very few songs or lighthearted times in this book (at least in the first half or so). When it picks back up the story things are very bleak for all the characters involved. However, things are resolved more quickly that I would have thought and there is a peaceful lull in the middle. The story goes out with a bang though, because there is more drama happening in the Shire and just when the Hobbits think they are ready to sit back and relax at home...they are fighting once again!

There is so much to this trilogy that I can see why people return to it so many times. It is definitely a story that needs to be read multiple times to truly grasp and understand everything that is going on!

This was an interesting book to read because it puts you through a range of emotions. First, you meet Mia as s broken girl who has

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lost her memory and has obviously been through something traumatic. Then the pieces start to come together from both before, during and after her abduction.

I love the way the author matched together the pieces in such a precise way that made the book hard to put down. I think that's what really made this book so well written. I also found it interesting that we never

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get a chapter from Mia's POV which made me suspicious of her. The ending was a great twist, that Mia actually planned her kidnapping to punish her dad. I started to suspect her of being part of it pretty early on, because she wasn't really acting how I would expect someone who was abducted would. Instead of begging to go home and talking about all the things she left, she starred silently a lot. It was like she was more confused why she was there, specifically at the cabin, rather than taken in general. Also the fact that she never really tried to leave Colin's apartment. When she started hinting that she had secrets and it was he fault, it was pretty clear. But still the epilogue was so interesting to read. I can completely understand why Mia is devastated because she knows us her fault that Colin was even involved.

I also thought it was so interesting that the author look you on this path with Colin. First he seems like a mean terrible guy. Then he started to get better and less angry. Then eventually you start to like him and I actually felt so sorry when he was killed. It's crazy to feel sympathy for someone who volunteered for this kidnapping, but I think that's what the author wanted. In the end he was about the only character that I actually half liked.
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Overall this was a good book with an interesting story that was quick to read. I'd definitely recommend it.

This was a quick but delightful story. Isabel always likes to meet with fellow philosophers to discuss and think about a variety of things. Her minds wanders constantly and it is fun to follow her tangential train of thought. In this story, a chance meeting gets her involved in a dramatic situation involving people she doesn't really know. She is accused of having an affair and sorts it out in a very Isabel-like fashion (lots of thinking) before she comes to a conclusion. I was shocked by the truth and smiled a lot during reading this.

I did not enjoy this book. The reason I gave it 3 stars was because it was really well written, and I actually really enjoyed the last (and title) story. I think I was just not in the mood for these dark and strange stories. Probably not a fault of the book, but a personal preference. I did not understand the point of them (read:there was no point) and I was very glad it was a short book. I dragged myself through it and I'm glad to be finished.

Meh, this book was okay, but definitely not going to be a must read series. There just wasn't anything that really hooked me and connected me to the book. I usually love small island mysteries, but the fact that the MC didn't know anyone took away the feeling. The mystery had so much potential with the

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valuable wine bottle, secret passageways, and multiple murdered. But when it was all found it, it fell very flat. I suspected Emmerson right when we met him (a super heavy antique coat....come ON), but not Mabel at all. It almost felt as if Mabel was a random after-thought rather than part of a killing team. No dramatic conclusion when confronted, they just drop the gun and almost say "aww shucks, we were caught". And the ending, when it was almost "by the way....you now have millions of dollars" and the MC basically said "oh super" AND THEN IT ENDS. What kind of ending is that? Very anti-climactic indeed.

Also none of the characters really wowed me and really my favorite was Mal. I think I will try another series from this book, because I can see the author has a talent for snarky MCs, but I think this setting and the surrounding characters are just not that interesting.

Another really enjoyable book in this series. This is only the second one I've read, but I really LOVE the setting of New Orleans and the characters of Ava and Carmela. I'm not a huge fan of Babcock, BUT I'm happy that there's isn't a love triangle going on here. There were so many suspects in this one, that I didn't actually guess the murderer until right before Carmela did.

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Mavis must have been a good actress, because I really did think she was a slightly pathetic and strange girl who was struggling to find her way and put her life together. Did not think she would steal something so precious and then murder! Really good red-herrings in this book.

This book reminded me of the first in the series because again it centered around a huge holiday time in New Orleans (or maybe it's like that all the time down there). Parties and events and parties galore. Dangerous people in costume. I love the atmosphere and I think it adds to my enjoyment of these books.

I really enjoyed this book. I think it was written so well and it was a quicker read after Volume 1 (once the action picked up).

The ending was a bit strange.

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But maybe when the author basically said "I'll let you imagine the happy ending for Emanuel and Lucy" maybe she was telling us that he never came back without telling us. I think I'll choose to think he did and they were happy (Lucy deserves some in her life). I hate to think of her sitting around and waiting for him year after year. Also I'm glad that Dr. John and Pauline finally got married...and he stopped messing around with insincere Guinevere. I was surprised that Pauline's father so disliked the match, but am happy for them in the end.

This was not a book I would have picked up on my own, but I'm so glad it was picked so I got to experience it. I thought it would drag on and on, but it didn't after she got to Villette. Poor Lucy had so many demons to live with...and the people around her did not help! I think Charlotte Bronte did an excellent job describing her depressing and all that was running through her mind. By the end I was despising Mrs. Beck and Guinevere!! I also appreciated that there were not too many characters, so I could actually keep them all straight!

I am starting to really love this series. Lucy is a great character and I love reading about her cozy home and town surrounded by friends. She is nosy, but not annoyingly so and she gets a lot of information through her job with the local newspaper. I didn't see the ending coming at all and was surprised when all the pieces came together. There is a heavy emphasis on underage drinking and drugs in this one, and it was interesting to see everyone's different POVs about that. This is just a cozy place where I'd like to live and love to relax and read about.