A great end to a great series! I will admit that book two was my absolute favorite, but the trilogy in a whole was a wonderful, suspenseful ride! Definitely read Mr. Mercedes first if you haven't yet. Book two is pretty good as a standalone, but book 1 and 3 are connected and you need to read 1 first!

I can't do it. Mags, I can't stand you. I tried reading the Collegium Chronicles but barely got through book one. I read the synopsis of the other 4 books in that series to catch up with this one... which has MORE Mags in it. I'm not impressed with this character. I also don't have as much time to read as I did as a teen, so lets hurry some of this shit up, shall we? Get to the point! Gah! So, until you're done with Mags, I'm currently on a Valdemar hiatus.

Okay, so this book is more like a 2.5. It wasn't bad, it just took me along time to get into it. I was expecting something really creepy, surreal, a haunting and suspenseful buildup, which it finally gets to around page 300, but honestly, there was too much jumping around for this book to get really scary. This was recommended by an article about "Top books that scared Stephen King!" I guess we're not scared of the same thing.

A coworker recommended this to me when I said my current book wasn't spoopy enough. And while this is way scarier than the book I had been reading, it didn't give me nightmares or keep me up (a good indicator that my brain thought it was scary well after finishing the book or movie). It still is a great comic though and I loved the artwork. A great scary story and an original take on that scary witch in the forest...

Ooooh man, there is a lot that goes on in this book as Tess gets deeper into the conspiracies that involve many of her friends and family, as well as the terrorists that are threatening her family, friends, and country. But who are the real terrorists?

Sorry for the harsh star rating, buuuuut it just didn't click with me. Sure, it wasn't written by J.K. and it just didn't have that World of Potter feel to it. In fact, all the way through this book I felt it read like fanfiction. No joke. So I make this comment to my husband who says something like, "Only if someone makes out with their mother, THEN it's fanfiction" to which I pointed out to him the polyjuice potion scene. And the friendship between Albus and Scorpius just FELT like an OC fanfic. Seriously. So, yeah, if you like your OC HP fanficiton with tons of angst and a very present Father and Son theme in the form of a screenplay, I would recommend this book to you. If you're reading this expecting to be transported back to the magical days of growing up with Harry, then you will be slightly disappointed.

I listened to this on audio and it was perfect. I love how the author reads it. It had me laughing out loud PLENTY of times! But it also gave me some better insight into what it feels like to have depression. Like she says, everyone experiences it differently, but the people I know with depression have a hard time explaining exactly how it feels. Like her spoon analogy. You start the day off with so many spoons, perhaps ones you accumulated the day before. You get a spoon for every time you accomplish something that gives you a boost of confidence, or helps make your life easier. Get a chore done? Spoon. Call mom? Spoon. Those spoons give you the strength and energy to make it through the day to accomplish more things and be around others with their spoons. Meanwhile, with depression, it's hard even starting the day. You don't have any spoons from the day before, so even building up the energy to even begin the first spoon-earning task is difficult. But depression has the power to take spoons away, as well. Have to interact with mom? Take away a spoon. Have to go to busy grocery store with people? Take away a spoon. Depression makes you feel guilty about your life and your actions, and takes away those energy-spoons. So this book is a wonderful work of literature that is great for people of all mental stabilities, either giving you a different point of view, or letting you know you aren't alone in your depression.

While this one is just as soap-opera-ish as the previous book, thankfully it wasn't AS ridiculous. Very soap-ish though. Babies being born, miscommunications, rape, pirates, hangings, survival, Indians, ghosts, more time traveling (of course), devious plots. Honestly, I don't see how this is any different than some of the anime I watch. I guess that's why I like this series. It's very much like my "stories". :) Anyway, time to read other books. Phew! These books take me a long time to get through!

Do you have a grandpa? Had a grandpa? How well did you know him? How well did he know himself as he slowly succumbed to dementia? Carol had never met her grandpa until her father made her entire family stay the summer with him. They are preparing the dry, desolate sheep ranch to sell so that they can ship Grandpa Serge off to a nursing home where they can deal with his downward spiral into dementia. But as Carol gets to know her grandpa through his wild stories (how much is true and how much is the babble of a rotting brain?), she is also getting to know more about her family and its roots.

Keep your tissues near, this one is a WONDERFUL book for all ages!

First off, I LOVE the art in this. I'm always a sucker for pretty people and flowing hair and bright colors. The lower rating is from the fact that I couldn't follow what was going on. I mean, I get the gist of it, but boy was I lost in the dialogue sometimes. Maybe reading more volumes will clear that up for me.