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Morgan Sheppard (926 KP) created a post
Aug 23, 2023
Heather Cranmer (2721 KP) rated Passionaries (The Blessed, #2) in Books
Jun 7, 2018
(This review can also be found on my blog <a href="http://themisadventuresofatwentysomething.blogspot.com/">The (Mis)Adventures of a Twenty-Something Year Old Girl</a>).
I loved the first book in this series! Precious Blood was a fantastic read. However, Passionaries was a bit mediocre in my opinion.
I like the title, and I believe it is quite fitting for the book. A minor character in the book defines what passionaries are. They are some kind of books related to the Catholic religion. I don't know if that's fictitious or not (I did try searching for it and found nothing).
The cover is very gorgeous as are all of the covers of Tonya Hurley's books. The cover fits the book especially with the guitars and the sword.
The world building was a bit hit and miss. There were times when it seemed like something like this could happen. I mean, who says we can't have modern day saints? However, there were also times when it seemed a bit too unreal such as when people were getting murdered. For example, in one scene, the girls get attacked so they end up killing their attackers. They don't get arrested because there's no evidence. Surely they would've caught them on CCTV or someone would've seen the girls with blood all over them. Plus, there'd be so much forensic evidence. I also felt that sometimes there was sometimes some fight scenes just for the sake of having a fight scene.
The pacing started off slow but eventually find a decent pace. The pacing isn't as good as the first book in the series, but it still held my attention.
As for the plot, I don't really know what's going on. At least in the first book, it was the girls finding out they were saints. However, after reading this book, I don't know what's going on! I realize the girls are saints and there are some people that don't want the world to know that, but what I don't know is the why. Why do these people not want the world to know these girls are saints? I felt that the answer is just not very clear. Passionaries did have a plot twist that I never saw coming. There's also a big cliff hanger at the end of the story as to make way for the third book in the series.
The characters were all fabulously written. The girls are stronger in this book, and their saintly personalities show through. Saying that, Cecelia is more hardcore in this book then in the first one. At least I thought so. Dr. Frey is still very cunning as ever in Passionaries. One thing that did irk me was that Hurley brought in the character of Finn. To me, Finn is a totally pointless character. I really didn't see the relevance in bringing him into the story.
There were times when the dialogue did seem a bit awkward although this was mostly in the beginning of the book. I felt that the meeting between Dr. Frey and some of his associates at the beginning of the book had painful dialogue. It just didn't seem to flow naturally. Luckily, the problem is quickly solved. There is some swearing in Passionaries as well as graphic violence.
All in all, Passionaries fell short of my expectations. It was a little bit too confusing, and the world building just didn't seem all that realistic. I do want to read the next book in the series because I've invested so much time in this series. However, the expected publication is some time in 2015, so I may give it a miss since I tend to forget things that happened in books after so long.
I'd recommend this book to those aged 17+ who want to know more about Lucy, Cecelia, and Agnes.
I loved the first book in this series! Precious Blood was a fantastic read. However, Passionaries was a bit mediocre in my opinion.
I like the title, and I believe it is quite fitting for the book. A minor character in the book defines what passionaries are. They are some kind of books related to the Catholic religion. I don't know if that's fictitious or not (I did try searching for it and found nothing).
The cover is very gorgeous as are all of the covers of Tonya Hurley's books. The cover fits the book especially with the guitars and the sword.
The world building was a bit hit and miss. There were times when it seemed like something like this could happen. I mean, who says we can't have modern day saints? However, there were also times when it seemed a bit too unreal such as when people were getting murdered. For example, in one scene, the girls get attacked so they end up killing their attackers. They don't get arrested because there's no evidence. Surely they would've caught them on CCTV or someone would've seen the girls with blood all over them. Plus, there'd be so much forensic evidence. I also felt that sometimes there was sometimes some fight scenes just for the sake of having a fight scene.
The pacing started off slow but eventually find a decent pace. The pacing isn't as good as the first book in the series, but it still held my attention.
As for the plot, I don't really know what's going on. At least in the first book, it was the girls finding out they were saints. However, after reading this book, I don't know what's going on! I realize the girls are saints and there are some people that don't want the world to know that, but what I don't know is the why. Why do these people not want the world to know these girls are saints? I felt that the answer is just not very clear. Passionaries did have a plot twist that I never saw coming. There's also a big cliff hanger at the end of the story as to make way for the third book in the series.
The characters were all fabulously written. The girls are stronger in this book, and their saintly personalities show through. Saying that, Cecelia is more hardcore in this book then in the first one. At least I thought so. Dr. Frey is still very cunning as ever in Passionaries. One thing that did irk me was that Hurley brought in the character of Finn. To me, Finn is a totally pointless character. I really didn't see the relevance in bringing him into the story.
There were times when the dialogue did seem a bit awkward although this was mostly in the beginning of the book. I felt that the meeting between Dr. Frey and some of his associates at the beginning of the book had painful dialogue. It just didn't seem to flow naturally. Luckily, the problem is quickly solved. There is some swearing in Passionaries as well as graphic violence.
All in all, Passionaries fell short of my expectations. It was a little bit too confusing, and the world building just didn't seem all that realistic. I do want to read the next book in the series because I've invested so much time in this series. However, the expected publication is some time in 2015, so I may give it a miss since I tend to forget things that happened in books after so long.
I'd recommend this book to those aged 17+ who want to know more about Lucy, Cecelia, and Agnes.
graveyardgremlin (7194 KP) rated Feast of Fools (The Morganville Vampires, #4) in Books
Feb 15, 2019
Yet another fast, fun, and easy read featuring Claire, her friends, and the town of Morganville (and all it's vampy inhabitants!). I enjoyed this foray and was pleasantly surprised the 'rental units' weren't in it much at all. The story held my attention and I do look forward to the next installment. However, I am so over the cliff-hanger endings. Does Ms. Caine think teenagers won't read the next book if there isn't that 'to be continued...' aspect of a T.V. show? Because I remember as a teen I did <i>not</i> need that incentive to read the next book in a series, and frankly, it's kind of insulting. There is a way to tie up a book <i>and</i> leave the reader (even a young adult *gasp*) wanting to read the book. I wish the author would realize that.
graveyardgremlin (7194 KP) rated Kiss of the Night (Dark-Hunter, #4) in Books
Feb 15, 2019
Another great book in the Dark-Hunter series! The love story was nicely done, and both Cassandra and Wulf were great characters. My only minor complaint is that some of the dialogue was awkward and stilted, the modern references were unnecessary (Britney Spears, etc. I always hate that in a book, it makes it feel so dated), and the book had a few editing problems (for example, in Elysia, one of the Apollites was called a Daimon). Other than that, the book was terrific. I especially liked how Sherrilyn Kenyon made Apollites and Daimons more, for lack of a better word, human. I really can't believe how many more books Ms. Kenyon can write, and how many directions she can go into, with the world(s) she has created - it could go on forever - or at least we can hope so! :)
4.5 stars
4.5 stars
Auburn (57 KP) rated Finding Kyler (The Kennedy Boys, #1) in Books
Apr 10, 2019
The good: Romance, twists, turns, brooding Kyle, and damaged Faye. The plot to this book is wonderfully well written. It brings you into the Kennedy family and makes you care for not just the main characters but the other boys in the family. Add on the forbidden cousin relationship and you have a story you won't want to put down. The bombshell cliffhanger insures you will be heading to the next book ASAP to find out what will happen.
The bad: I had a hard time with the whole cousin thing for a lot of the book. But if you can get past that the steamy push pull is pretty well done.
The epilogue: This book is for fans of the Royals series as well as anyone who enjoys a good angst ridden push pull relationship.
The bad: I had a hard time with the whole cousin thing for a lot of the book. But if you can get past that the steamy push pull is pretty well done.
The epilogue: This book is for fans of the Royals series as well as anyone who enjoys a good angst ridden push pull relationship.
Caffeinated Fae (464 KP) rated Fifty Shades Darker in Books
Jul 10, 2018
This was another good read from E.L. James. I thought that it was well done. The book seemed to flow better than the last book and I found myself enjoying it more.
I think my favorite part of the books were the emails. They seemed to bring the characters to life. I think that this is a guilty pleasures book. I definitely did not read it for the writing styles.
Like I said previously with the first in the series, the characters are likable. I like the fact that the characters do have flaws. It makes it easy for the reader to relate to them.
I would have liked less sex. The reason I say that is that in each chapter there were at least two sex scenes. Sometimes less is more.
All in all, this book was enjoyable.
I think my favorite part of the books were the emails. They seemed to bring the characters to life. I think that this is a guilty pleasures book. I definitely did not read it for the writing styles.
Like I said previously with the first in the series, the characters are likable. I like the fact that the characters do have flaws. It makes it easy for the reader to relate to them.
I would have liked less sex. The reason I say that is that in each chapter there were at least two sex scenes. Sometimes less is more.
All in all, this book was enjoyable.
Otway93 (567 KP) rated Resident Evil Volume I: The Umbrella Conspiracy in Books
Oct 22, 2019
True to canon (2 more)
Detail
Nostalgic
An excellent novelisation of a classic game.
I thoroughly enjoyed S.D. Perry's 1st volume of her seven book Resident Evil series.
The book not only stayed true to the original game, and managed to not miss a single detail, but somehow goes into more detail without inventing her own non-canonical parts of the story.
The book brings a great sense of nostalgia, a throwback to the day you first played the game, and the most nostalgic part is Barry's famous "Jill sandwich" line, that Perry keeps intact.
My only criticism is the narration, the way the reader actually reads the book. Sometimes characters appear to be breaking the fourth wall, answering to the author, distracting you from the tension the author has just created.
All in all a good read!
The book not only stayed true to the original game, and managed to not miss a single detail, but somehow goes into more detail without inventing her own non-canonical parts of the story.
The book brings a great sense of nostalgia, a throwback to the day you first played the game, and the most nostalgic part is Barry's famous "Jill sandwich" line, that Perry keeps intact.
My only criticism is the narration, the way the reader actually reads the book. Sometimes characters appear to be breaking the fourth wall, answering to the author, distracting you from the tension the author has just created.
All in all a good read!
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