rebeccasreadingrambles's Reviews (3.06k)

I did not expect this book to hook me, but it did and almost right away. The synopsis does not do this book justice (IMHO). The characters are completely over the top, but bubbling with energy that they almost jump off the page. I liked Ella immediately and just wanted her to succeed and find happiness and some safety. Her emotions were so raw and well written that I felt them all with her. So much of the story line seemed over the top and ridiculous, but it worked! It worked and I was dying to know what would happen page after page. I don't read many romance books, but the romance in this book was great and not too much (At least for me). This book is a guilty pleasure that I don't actually feel guilty about loving at all! The end had me enraged and intrigued and THANK GOD I had the next one handy because it would have been KILLER to wait to see what happened. I am continuing on with this series right away.

3.5 Stars
I thought this would be a fun book to pick up. I pretty much flew through the first half and really liked the characters. Felicity grew on me and I thought Percy and Monty were both endearing characters. However, the story started to feel flat for me and I struggled through the second half. The characters just didn't seem that complex and were mostly surface (also stereotypical). The story turned into just a series of misadventures that all seemed a little ridiculous and repetitive. There was almost forced character growth that I just didn't really believe. I just got easily tired of it and felt maybe it could have moved a little faster on the whole. I usually love YA and HF and romance, but this just felt like it wasn't much of HF and romance. I think it was enjoyable, but wish it was shorter because it definitely lost its pace just when the story was getting "dramatic and mysterious".

I have to admit I'm disappointed. I wanted so badly to like this book. The first book was okay, but I didn't love it. The first book was slow and took the whole book for me to really feel like I knew the characters. So I hoped that this book would be more fast paced and I would love the plot. But it was even slower and the pacing was strange. I love the world I love the characters and their interactions, but the plot was just flat for me. I think having the characters separated severely and thus eliminating these interactions was a real blow to the story. This plot just meandered and I didn't feel the tug to read it and find out what happened next.

Note - this is one of the few audiobooks that I do not recommend. As the POV switches constantly between characters, there was barely a pause or a change in inflection. So many times I got confused and had to rewind just to realize the POV had changed. Even the action bits didn't have much more intensity or drama in the reading.

4.5 stars
This book had been on my possible TBR list for a long time, but thanks to the Netflix series coming out, my book club chose to read it. And I'm so glad that I read it. I was expecting a strange and kind of dry book (although I have no idea why, since I've never read anything by this author before). But the writing was fantastic and I was completely enthralled. It took me a little time to get used to the narrator jumped backwards in time, reminiscing about the past, but I did like the technique. This world was very strange indeed, but I could see the "realistic" set up for the transition to this strange dystopia. I can absolutely see that Margaret Atwood wrote is as a warning for the future. Hopefully society never comes to these terms. Women are treated like breeding animals and even men are stripped of their dignities. I avidly followed Offred's daily life and just wanted her to escape. I was left wanting more! That ending! So many questions.

Spoiler

Did she "get out" or is she really going to jail? What happened to her daughter? Is she really pregnant with Nick's child?

Note: the audiobook was really really well done!

I really enjoyed this first installment in a new series. I have read a book from this author before and I was not disappointed this time around either. Heather Blake hits the cozy writing style perfectly and I could easily have read this book in one sitting if I had the time. The characters were fun and interested and I loved the small wedding town feel. There were many comedic moments (especially thanks to Carly's mother) that made it even more endearing. I thought I had everything figured out a couple different times, but was surprised by the ending. Anything magical is usually a hit with me and this was no exception. I found myself really wanting to try one of the potions and loved that the magic part wasn't too over the top. I can't wait to read another in this series.

Ok wow. I'll admit that I have been putting off starting this series for years and I don't know why. It just never called to me. I think because I binged The Infernal Devices series and I kind of burned out on the whole Shadowhunters world. Also that series is super super intense and dark and gave me all the feels that I wasn't ready for more of that intensity. Luckily for me, this book was not nearly as gothic and broody and intense. It had very intense moment and my feelings were whipped around, but it also some how felt lighter. I'm sure some of that was due to the time period in which it was set and the characters themselves. I chugged through this book and really enjoyed it. Whenever I stopped, I was left wanting more. I think we just scratched the surface on the complexity of each character and I am longing to learn more about them and have them more developed. So much happened just in this book, but it didn't seem like too much was crammed in. I am definitely more excited about this series now and can't wait to start the next one!

PS: I did the audiobook for this and I highly recommend it. The narration is great and I will be doing the whole series this way.

Wow what a beautiful book. The writing was so lyrical and beautiful that you need to read it slowly to savor each word. The descriptions were stunning and even the overall tone fit the settings so I really felt like I was in Pern. I was really in awe with this world full of dragons and dragonriders. Now I desperately want my own dragon to ride. The bond between dragon and rider is intense and unlike anything else I've read about. The characters were well developed and interesting. I loved how strong Lessa was, and her sass and determination were really fun to read. I have such a crush on F'lar and I can't wait to see more of them (and F'nor and Manora) in future books! This is a classic book that will withstand all of time.

First of all...THIS ->

“Having depression is no more out of your control than Sagan’s intolerance to milk, or Utah’s pale skin, or Honor’s bad vision. It’s nothing to be embarrassed about. But it’s not something you can ignore or correct on your own. And it doesn’t make you abnormal. It makes you just as normal as these idiots,” he says, waving toward everyone else.”

I enjoyed this book and it was a quick read. It was very dramatic and kept me interested the whole time, with many twists that I was not expected. The family is dysfunctional, but not absurdly so. The characters were interesting and pretty well developed for a solo novel. I liked the reference to the Syrian civil war and I'm glad because these are real world issues that we need to remember are happening (though it seemed almost out of place in this quirky novel). However, it wasn't really developed much, leaving it kind of a random, but serious insert into the story. I liked the theme of this story that everyone has secrets and quirks and that doesn't make you a bad person.

I recommend this, though it isn't my favorite COHO novel (and there is little romance).