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Phil Leader (619 KP) rated Dragonsinger (Pern: Harper Hall, #2) in Books

Nov 12, 2019

Dragonsinger is the second of the Harper Hall books and continues the story of singer Menolly as she becomes an established and accomplished harper on the world of Pern.

As usual with the Pern novels the way that ordinary life fits together is well described and the characters McCaffrey uses here are very well developed and incredibly three dimensional. It's a world that almost seems close enough to touch.

As with Dragonsong, having a book that does not focus on the rarified world of the dragonriders is refreshing showing a different take on the world, even if it is still a position of privilege in one of the most respected professions on the world.

However for me this does suffer the same weakness of the other books that are in essence a periphery to the dragon-centric stories: they don't move the overall story arc forward and as such are a pleasant enough read but ultimately not as satisfying as some of the other books. And anyone who finds characters being relentlessly talented and nice to each other grating won't appreciate a lot of the story. Still a good read though.

Kudos

Merissa (11958 KP) rated Dark Coven (The Wolfborne Saga #3) in Books

Jan 13, 2020

Dark Coven is the third book in The Wolfborne Saga and Zev has agreed to help out with a coven causing trouble. He is also accepting Alia is with Mitch whilst realising his protective feelings towards Isley may be more than he first thought.

I thought this was brilliantly written and is the best (so far) for me. I loved how Zev continues to grow and learn things about himself and the situations. He has a bitter situation to comprehend but, with his friends, he is able to work past the situation and continues to move forward.

This is part of a series so I would absolutely recommend you read them in order. The story arc is leading me on and I am loving every moment. This world is so eloquently written and the characters are incredibly life-like. I am thoroughly enjoying this story and series and look forward to the next instalment.

* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and the comments here are my honest opinion. *

Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!

Kudos

Eleanor (1463 KP) rated Eight Perfect Murders (Rules for Perfect Murders - UK) in Books

Feb 18, 2020

Mystery Homage

This book had such a great premise and was a lot of fun to read. Part thriller and part homage to mystery books classic through to the more obscure. It was handy to have the GoodReads page to hand to check out any books mentioned that I wasn't familiar with.

The owner, Malcolm Kershaw, of the mystery book shop "Old Devils" writes blogs for the shop's blog. The blog entry that this book relates to is the list of "Perfect Murders" where he gives examples of books with what he considers to be perfect murders in them. When an FBI agent turns up on the doorstep theorising someone is using his list as a guide, Malcolm can't help but get himself involved in the investigation.

I read this under what I presume is the UK title: "Rules for Perfect Murders" and loved all the book name drops; for an avid mystery/thriller reader it was a great kick. The ending was slightly anticlimactic for me but the story itself is a quick exciting read with plenty of nice little twists.

Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the ARC in return for an honest review.