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Merissa (13765 KP) rated Hashtag Holidate in Books
Nov 25, 2025
HASHTAG HOLIDATE is a standalone story set in the Made Marian world, with plenty of mentions of the Marian family to make you feel at home.
Adrian is an influencer who travels from place to place, hoping to make it big with his 'Twelve Holidates' feature. Maddox is the owner of a four-generation hardware store, who dabbles in photography, and has his roots set firmly at home. So, yes, these two are opposites from the very beginning, and even more so if you count the grumpy/sunshine vibe too.
This was an easy, well-paced read that has lots of tension between the two MCs. They obviously get together, which leads to steamy times. I don't say this very often, but while I enjoyed them together, I loved the snark and tension more.
One thing that personally didn't work for me was the use of hashtags at the end of each chapter. I skipped over them to get to the main story, but that's a me thing. I'm sure for others who follow the Insta/influencer lifestyle more, they were a fun feature.
Anyway, an easy Christmassy read that made me smile, and one I definitely recommend.
** Same worded review will appear elsewhere. **
* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book; the comments here are my honest opinion. *
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Nov 25, 2025
Adrian is an influencer who travels from place to place, hoping to make it big with his 'Twelve Holidates' feature. Maddox is the owner of a four-generation hardware store, who dabbles in photography, and has his roots set firmly at home. So, yes, these two are opposites from the very beginning, and even more so if you count the grumpy/sunshine vibe too.
This was an easy, well-paced read that has lots of tension between the two MCs. They obviously get together, which leads to steamy times. I don't say this very often, but while I enjoyed them together, I loved the snark and tension more.
One thing that personally didn't work for me was the use of hashtags at the end of each chapter. I skipped over them to get to the main story, but that's a me thing. I'm sure for others who follow the Insta/influencer lifestyle more, they were a fun feature.
Anyway, an easy Christmassy read that made me smile, and one I definitely recommend.
** Same worded review will appear elsewhere. **
* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book; the comments here are my honest opinion. *
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Nov 25, 2025
Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2482 KP) rated The Case of the Canterfell Codicil in Books
Jan 26, 2024
“One Doesn’t Just Ignore an Old School Chum with a Locked Room Mystery.”
When Anty Boisjoly gets a telegram from his friend Fiddles, he can’t help but be intrigued. Fiddles’ uncle has recently died under mysterious circumstances, and Fiddles wants Anty to come and help. It isn’t long after Anty arrives that Fiddles becomes the prime suspect. Who was with the victim in the locked room? Can Anty figure it out in time to save his friend?
I was intrigued by this series when I saw it described as Dorothy L. Sayers meets PG Wodehouse. If you take those two authors’ output and put it in a blender, you have a pretty good approximation of this series. It did take me the first chapter to adapt to the writing style, which mimics the 1920’s when the book is set. But once I did, I was hooked. The mystery was intriguing, with plenty of twists on the way to the logical climax. Anty makes a fantastic lead character, and picks up on quite a few things I missed. The rest of the cast are equally fleshed out. And the humor was wonderful. It’s very dry British wit, so it might not be for everyone, but I was as hooked for the laugh as I was the twists. And the book had plenty of both. I will be reading the next one as soon as I can.
I was intrigued by this series when I saw it described as Dorothy L. Sayers meets PG Wodehouse. If you take those two authors’ output and put it in a blender, you have a pretty good approximation of this series. It did take me the first chapter to adapt to the writing style, which mimics the 1920’s when the book is set. But once I did, I was hooked. The mystery was intriguing, with plenty of twists on the way to the logical climax. Anty makes a fantastic lead character, and picks up on quite a few things I missed. The rest of the cast are equally fleshed out. And the humor was wonderful. It’s very dry British wit, so it might not be for everyone, but I was as hooked for the laugh as I was the twists. And the book had plenty of both. I will be reading the next one as soon as I can.
Kyera (8 KP) rated Frozen (Heart of Dread, #1) in Books
Feb 1, 2018
The story Frozen, by Melissa de la Cruz and Michael Johnston, is a tale about a girl with powers who lives in a world unlike our own. In post-apocalyptic New Vegas, Nat fins the one object that might allow her to escape the frozen landscape. The map to help her find the Blue, a promised land untainted by the cold and destruction her world knows. A place that maybe she can live a good life and not spend each day fearful that she will be discovered.
For an established YA writer, this book is surprisingly wrought with errors and would make an English major cringe. It was a poorly written novel with a multitude of punctuation, grammar, and spelling errors. Those completely detracted from the book and made it difficult to read the novel fluidly. There was an overuse of commas, "For days upon days she had been left in the room, alone, in total silence, with little food and water, the weight of solitude becoming ever more oppressive, the silence a heaviness that she could not shake, punishment for refusing to do as she was told, punishment for being what she was." I ran out of breath just reading that incredibly long, run on sentence. It also illustrates another example, the banal repetitiveness. Some examples would be, "She walked down the road, the road that was smooth." Or "The fire that raged within her. The fire that destroyed and consumed. The fire that would destroy and consume her..." How many times does one need to write the fire? Many of the sentences are just reworded versions of the one that came before it. Unnecessarily repetitive and it makes the book sound like a novice writer threw it together in a slap-dash manner with no editor to speak of.
It also cannot decide what genre it wishes to fall under. The magical elements and new species lend itself to a label of fantasy, like books about faeries or nymphs. Paranormal romance perhaps, for the love story that blossoms over the course of the novel? Or the more recently popular zombie novels, with their diseases and alterations of the human dNA, like Forest of Teeth and Bones? Perhaps its a post-apocalyptic or dystopian style novel, akin to Divergent or the Hunger Games - with its frozen world, scarce resources, and tyrannical governments. Whatever it is, the fact that it cannot decide makes the book quite confusing. It does not flow well as a result of the colliding and conflicting worlds. There also is no world-building, which is incredibly important to me in a book. And character building, or even character personalities? Almost non-existent. I would recommend this book to young teen readers, but not anyone who finds themselves frequently noticing errors in novels (even minor ones)as this will drive you crazy. I almost didn't finish the first chapter because the book was so poorly written, but I wanted to see if it would improve.
For an established YA writer, this book is surprisingly wrought with errors and would make an English major cringe. It was a poorly written novel with a multitude of punctuation, grammar, and spelling errors. Those completely detracted from the book and made it difficult to read the novel fluidly. There was an overuse of commas, "For days upon days she had been left in the room, alone, in total silence, with little food and water, the weight of solitude becoming ever more oppressive, the silence a heaviness that she could not shake, punishment for refusing to do as she was told, punishment for being what she was." I ran out of breath just reading that incredibly long, run on sentence. It also illustrates another example, the banal repetitiveness. Some examples would be, "She walked down the road, the road that was smooth." Or "The fire that raged within her. The fire that destroyed and consumed. The fire that would destroy and consume her..." How many times does one need to write the fire? Many of the sentences are just reworded versions of the one that came before it. Unnecessarily repetitive and it makes the book sound like a novice writer threw it together in a slap-dash manner with no editor to speak of.
It also cannot decide what genre it wishes to fall under. The magical elements and new species lend itself to a label of fantasy, like books about faeries or nymphs. Paranormal romance perhaps, for the love story that blossoms over the course of the novel? Or the more recently popular zombie novels, with their diseases and alterations of the human dNA, like Forest of Teeth and Bones? Perhaps its a post-apocalyptic or dystopian style novel, akin to Divergent or the Hunger Games - with its frozen world, scarce resources, and tyrannical governments. Whatever it is, the fact that it cannot decide makes the book quite confusing. It does not flow well as a result of the colliding and conflicting worlds. There also is no world-building, which is incredibly important to me in a book. And character building, or even character personalities? Almost non-existent. I would recommend this book to young teen readers, but not anyone who finds themselves frequently noticing errors in novels (even minor ones)as this will drive you crazy. I almost didn't finish the first chapter because the book was so poorly written, but I wanted to see if it would improve.
Zuky the BookBum (15 KP) rated Mentor, The in Books
Mar 15, 2018
Oh, Im so sad I can only give this book a 3 star review. I really wanted to love this one! The synopsis sounds so dark, intense and creepy, but it let me down in that department
almost completely!
The first 40% of this book was definitely enthralling, at times silly and over the top, but still exciting to read. The characters were interesting, the story was moving along nicely and the writing was simple, but not bad. It was about when I got to 50% that I realised I was getting a little bit bored by this novel.
Characters in this one werent so bad. They were well developed and even though there were a fair few number of them, we did get to know them individually, quite well. My problem was that they were pretty unbelievable and I didnt really like any of them. Im not sure if Kyle was meant to come across as an anti-hero, but thats kind of what he felt like although for me, it was mostly anti, less hero. I really didnt like the introduction to the character as being a semi-graphic description of the sex he had with his girlfriend.
The plot for this book sounded amazing! An English professor writes a depraved book that sounds like an unsolved murder case from years ago? Is it just a coincidence or is it something more sinister? Doesnt that sounds amazing? Well, it isnt, I hate to say! Yes, this professor does write a depraved, and terribly written, book about kidnapping a girl but it doesnt allude to the fact it might be about a cold case until around the 60% mark, which is ridiculous!
At 336 pages, this isnt a long novel, but it definitely could have been cut down! Most of this novel was a very repetitive back and forth between Kyle and his mad professor. Repetition like this in books is something I absolutely despise and with each new chapter, I could feel myself losing the will to read this book.
That was my first issue with the writing, and then my annoyance moved on to the number of spelling, grammatical and sentence structure errors. Considering this novel was about an editor, you would have thought the real editor would have caught the vast number of cock ups in this book!
I got very irritated by this novel towards the end. The story was convoluted, silly and unrealistic. I got to the point of skimming pages in the ending chapters, yes, it was that disappointing. Not to mention this wasnt creepy or tense at all. It was pretty predictable all the way through and the ending was a cheap way out.
Overall, I wouldnt recommend this novel. It gets 3 stars because I did enjoy the first 40% or so, but the story became silly and I couldnt get over the number of errors in the writing.
The first 40% of this book was definitely enthralling, at times silly and over the top, but still exciting to read. The characters were interesting, the story was moving along nicely and the writing was simple, but not bad. It was about when I got to 50% that I realised I was getting a little bit bored by this novel.
Characters in this one werent so bad. They were well developed and even though there were a fair few number of them, we did get to know them individually, quite well. My problem was that they were pretty unbelievable and I didnt really like any of them. Im not sure if Kyle was meant to come across as an anti-hero, but thats kind of what he felt like although for me, it was mostly anti, less hero. I really didnt like the introduction to the character as being a semi-graphic description of the sex he had with his girlfriend.
The plot for this book sounded amazing! An English professor writes a depraved book that sounds like an unsolved murder case from years ago? Is it just a coincidence or is it something more sinister? Doesnt that sounds amazing? Well, it isnt, I hate to say! Yes, this professor does write a depraved, and terribly written, book about kidnapping a girl but it doesnt allude to the fact it might be about a cold case until around the 60% mark, which is ridiculous!
At 336 pages, this isnt a long novel, but it definitely could have been cut down! Most of this novel was a very repetitive back and forth between Kyle and his mad professor. Repetition like this in books is something I absolutely despise and with each new chapter, I could feel myself losing the will to read this book.
That was my first issue with the writing, and then my annoyance moved on to the number of spelling, grammatical and sentence structure errors. Considering this novel was about an editor, you would have thought the real editor would have caught the vast number of cock ups in this book!
I got very irritated by this novel towards the end. The story was convoluted, silly and unrealistic. I got to the point of skimming pages in the ending chapters, yes, it was that disappointing. Not to mention this wasnt creepy or tense at all. It was pretty predictable all the way through and the ending was a cheap way out.
Overall, I wouldnt recommend this novel. It gets 3 stars because I did enjoy the first 40% or so, but the story became silly and I couldnt get over the number of errors in the writing.
Sophia (Bookwyrming Thoughts) (530 KP) rated Dance in Shadow and Whisper (The Marionettes of Myth, #1) in Books
Jan 23, 2020
Original Review posted on <a title="Dance in Shadow and Whisper by Sarah Godfrey and Victoria deRubeis" href="http://bookwyrming-thoughts.blogspot.com/2013/09/review-dance-in-shadow-and-whisper-by-sarah-godfrey-and-victoria-derubeis.html">Bookwyrming Thoughts</a>
Original Rating: 4.5
Note: Formatting is lost due to copy and paste
<i><b>Disclaimer:</b> The authors provided a free copy of the book in exchange for an honest review. The review is not influenced in any way.</i>
Basically from the first chapter, I was pretty hooked. Actually, I would say the first sentence, but that could have changed from sentence two or even sentence three.
Though if I said I nearly chucked the book across the room after sentence one, I would be telling a white lie.
So I actually did like Dance in Shadow & Whisper. Really liked it. And I pretty much believed I was in for a good read from sentence one. In fact, I would have recommend it to my school book club but due to language, I would probably get whacked in the head. Literally.
Yeah. Not happening. I'm the last fan of migraines and headaches (and bruises). I'm pretty sure the lot of us are as well.
But here are a few reasons why I really liked the book and labeled it potential book club recommendation:
1. I think this tends to be the very obvious in a lot of books I read: the idea. Demons vs. Vampires. Finally vampires have a new group of people they don't really like that aren't called werewolves.
~ ABOUT TIME in my very humble opinion. Not that anyone cares because they're probably too busy screaming Team Jacob! or perhaps Team Teen Wolf! (I probably made the Team Teen Wolf up. It is about werewolves after all.
2. I loved almost all of the characters' personalities, in which most are humorous and witty. But I particularly liked Kali, who is the main character in the book and seems to be a really fun person to be around (pigtails, lol).
3. Even though there are a few different POV changes throughout the book, it's easy to tell who's POV it is when it's not Kali.
4. The ending. Literally. If I say why I like it, I'll spill the milk and I might get haunted in the middle of the night. Because really...
<img src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PewNyeCe7Do/TcGApe1JtjI/AAAAAAAABeU/2mvFe0wDB4s/s1600/cat-cats-kitten-kitty-pic-picture-funny-lolcat-cute-fun-lovely-photo-images-oh-god-why-would-you-do-that.jpg"; />
It was flawless in the transition. That's all I'm going to say about the ending. But now I'm in another waiting room... just keep waiting.
That's all I'm going to say and I refuse to say any more. But for Sarah Godfrey and Victoria DeRubeis's debut novel, Dance in Shadow & Whisper is definitely worth a read.
Original Rating: 4.5
Note: Formatting is lost due to copy and paste
<i><b>Disclaimer:</b> The authors provided a free copy of the book in exchange for an honest review. The review is not influenced in any way.</i>
Basically from the first chapter, I was pretty hooked. Actually, I would say the first sentence, but that could have changed from sentence two or even sentence three.
Though if I said I nearly chucked the book across the room after sentence one, I would be telling a white lie.
So I actually did like Dance in Shadow & Whisper. Really liked it. And I pretty much believed I was in for a good read from sentence one. In fact, I would have recommend it to my school book club but due to language, I would probably get whacked in the head. Literally.
Yeah. Not happening. I'm the last fan of migraines and headaches (and bruises). I'm pretty sure the lot of us are as well.
But here are a few reasons why I really liked the book and labeled it potential book club recommendation:
1. I think this tends to be the very obvious in a lot of books I read: the idea. Demons vs. Vampires. Finally vampires have a new group of people they don't really like that aren't called werewolves.
~ ABOUT TIME in my very humble opinion. Not that anyone cares because they're probably too busy screaming Team Jacob! or perhaps Team Teen Wolf! (I probably made the Team Teen Wolf up. It is about werewolves after all.
2. I loved almost all of the characters' personalities, in which most are humorous and witty. But I particularly liked Kali, who is the main character in the book and seems to be a really fun person to be around (pigtails, lol).
3. Even though there are a few different POV changes throughout the book, it's easy to tell who's POV it is when it's not Kali.
4. The ending. Literally. If I say why I like it, I'll spill the milk and I might get haunted in the middle of the night. Because really...
<img src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PewNyeCe7Do/TcGApe1JtjI/AAAAAAAABeU/2mvFe0wDB4s/s1600/cat-cats-kitten-kitty-pic-picture-funny-lolcat-cute-fun-lovely-photo-images-oh-god-why-would-you-do-that.jpg"; />
It was flawless in the transition. That's all I'm going to say about the ending. But now I'm in another waiting room... just keep waiting.
That's all I'm going to say and I refuse to say any more. But for Sarah Godfrey and Victoria DeRubeis's debut novel, Dance in Shadow & Whisper is definitely worth a read.
The Vintage Tea Party Book
Book
"The Vintage Tea Party helps you plan not only stunning recipes for all sorts of delicious treats...
Debbiereadsbook (1653 KP) rated The Victorian (Lavender Shores #9) in Books
Feb 4, 2019
totally surprised by this one! Loved it!
This is book 9 in the Lavender Shores series and I *think* Seth pops up in every one! You don't need to have read the other books, before this one, but I think you should. They are all 4 and 5 star reads from me, bar one.
We met Seth right at the beginning of book one, The Palisade. I thought it was chapter one, but it is in chapter two he makes his first appearance. I am SOOOOOOOOOOOOO glad he got his own story, he deserved it!
Seth runs the B and B and Charley has a restaurant in town. They have history, a deep sated hatred of each other that Seth knows not from whence it came. Charley does though. When they are thrown together for a food and drink festival, sparks fly. But sparks is far too tame a word for what Seth and Charley begin to feel for each other. Each man has his demons, and those demons need banishing before they can admit who they really want.
There is an . . . incident . . . at the beginning, though, before all of this and I'm not saying what. It's kinda thrown at them by someone else and I think it was a bit unfair. It does, however, give Seth and Charley a taste of what could be between them, should they want. And they DO want, that much is obvious, even with the tempers between them!
So much passion between these two, it jumps off the page right from that incident (but again, far too tame a word for what happens!) Not just the anger between, or rather from Charley, but the connection that keeps pulling them together. And when Seth sees Charley, I mean really SEES why Charley is so angry all the time? Oh! Seth is just . . ..oh!
I cried a lot for these two. I wasn't expecting any of this, because there was no indication that this was coming! Or at least, I never picked up on it! There was not a single point along the way, in any of the other 8 books, that I can pick up and say ""oh yeah, that story is gonna be good!" And I was going to comment that this was a negative, but actually, I'm GLAD I did not see this one coming, I really am. I'm GLAD I did not see Seth's story unfolding because it might have taken away the surprise out of this story and it's the SURPRISE part that MAKES this book!
So many surprises, and I'm not pointing them out cos of spoilers, but I did NOT see any of them coming at me, and I am so freaking glad I didn't!
There is another story planned, I believe, about the instigator of that *Incident * I don't want to be too hard on him, because he really did think he was helping, but I truly hope he is sorry for the way he went about it, rather than what he did.
This book carries some darker moments, both for Seth and Charley and some readers may find it difficult. I did, because they both have difficult pasts.
But so bloody good! I read it in one sitting, after 6 days straight at work, two back to back 14 hour shifts, starting it at 10pm and did not stop til I ran out of book! And it ain't a short one either, some 330 pages!
So, 5 bloody amazing stars!
**same worded review will appear elsewhere**
We met Seth right at the beginning of book one, The Palisade. I thought it was chapter one, but it is in chapter two he makes his first appearance. I am SOOOOOOOOOOOOO glad he got his own story, he deserved it!
Seth runs the B and B and Charley has a restaurant in town. They have history, a deep sated hatred of each other that Seth knows not from whence it came. Charley does though. When they are thrown together for a food and drink festival, sparks fly. But sparks is far too tame a word for what Seth and Charley begin to feel for each other. Each man has his demons, and those demons need banishing before they can admit who they really want.
There is an . . . incident . . . at the beginning, though, before all of this and I'm not saying what. It's kinda thrown at them by someone else and I think it was a bit unfair. It does, however, give Seth and Charley a taste of what could be between them, should they want. And they DO want, that much is obvious, even with the tempers between them!
So much passion between these two, it jumps off the page right from that incident (but again, far too tame a word for what happens!) Not just the anger between, or rather from Charley, but the connection that keeps pulling them together. And when Seth sees Charley, I mean really SEES why Charley is so angry all the time? Oh! Seth is just . . ..oh!
I cried a lot for these two. I wasn't expecting any of this, because there was no indication that this was coming! Or at least, I never picked up on it! There was not a single point along the way, in any of the other 8 books, that I can pick up and say ""oh yeah, that story is gonna be good!" And I was going to comment that this was a negative, but actually, I'm GLAD I did not see this one coming, I really am. I'm GLAD I did not see Seth's story unfolding because it might have taken away the surprise out of this story and it's the SURPRISE part that MAKES this book!
So many surprises, and I'm not pointing them out cos of spoilers, but I did NOT see any of them coming at me, and I am so freaking glad I didn't!
There is another story planned, I believe, about the instigator of that *Incident * I don't want to be too hard on him, because he really did think he was helping, but I truly hope he is sorry for the way he went about it, rather than what he did.
This book carries some darker moments, both for Seth and Charley and some readers may find it difficult. I did, because they both have difficult pasts.
But so bloody good! I read it in one sitting, after 6 days straight at work, two back to back 14 hour shifts, starting it at 10pm and did not stop til I ran out of book! And it ain't a short one either, some 330 pages!
So, 5 bloody amazing stars!
**same worded review will appear elsewhere**
Zuky the BookBum (15 KP) rated NOS4A2 in Books
Mar 15, 2018
<i>I read this novel as my BookBum Club book for January! Check out <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/297482-the-bookbum-club">The BookBum Club on Goodreads!</a></i>
A darkly disturbing thrill ride of a book! I was expecting it to spook me out a little more than it did, but it was super enjoyable even still.
I’ve never read a Joe Hill book before this one, but now I know I want to read more of his work. I don’t think there’s any denying that his writing style really sucks you into the story and he’s a genius as describing things. How can one man come up with so many different Christmas similes? I also loved how this book was set up, where sometimes the end of sentence in a paragraph wouldn’t end because the title of the next paragraph completed the sentence. I thought this was a really unique aspect of the novel, as well as several illustrations dotted throughout.
One thing I really loved about this novel was the characters. I’ve seen some less that glowing reviews whinging about Vic, and while I can understand some people’s frustration at how frustrating she was, I think the whole point of her character to be frustrating. I personally found her troubled but sweet. Lou was equally sweet, a nice human being through-and-through, but at the end of the day, I don’t think he brought an awful lot to the story.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, of course, was Charlie Manx. What a genuinely terrifying character. I’ve read through several books with horrifying characters (Annie Wilkes springs to mind immediately) and Charlie Manx is definitely up there with the worst of them. What made him so chilling, for me, was how I imagined his voice. Every sentence of his speech was lifted at the end by an exclamation mark! He was always so cheery! Always so sinister! And then, of course, we have Bing Partridge who may just be the most repulsive character I’ve ever read about.
I loved the story of this novel, but I’m not going to explain what happened because this novel needs to be experienced, not told, in order to reach its full potential. My only issue was I though maybe 700 pages was a bit long. Chapter after chapter was a new dip and dive in this roller-coaster of a story, but sometimes it just felt like stalling time.
Another thing that disappointed me about this book, and this is what brought it down to 4 stars, is that I was expecting this to be scarier than it turned out to be. Don’t get me wrong, it’s seriously sinister and has some really creepy moments, but I wanted to get to “I can’t sleep” scared. Though saying that, when I was driving home in the dark one day, an old classic black British car (we have a lot of old car conventions around where I live) pulled up behind me and followed me nearly all the way home and I did get the heebie-geebies (don’t worry, I didn’t break the speed limit though).
Overall, this novel is well worth the read if you’re into dark, sinister novels filled with the really weird and the really wonderful. I’m so happy I’ve finally read this novel and have been opened up to the world of Joe Hill’s writing. I will definitely be reading more of his stuff.
A darkly disturbing thrill ride of a book! I was expecting it to spook me out a little more than it did, but it was super enjoyable even still.
I’ve never read a Joe Hill book before this one, but now I know I want to read more of his work. I don’t think there’s any denying that his writing style really sucks you into the story and he’s a genius as describing things. How can one man come up with so many different Christmas similes? I also loved how this book was set up, where sometimes the end of sentence in a paragraph wouldn’t end because the title of the next paragraph completed the sentence. I thought this was a really unique aspect of the novel, as well as several illustrations dotted throughout.
One thing I really loved about this novel was the characters. I’ve seen some less that glowing reviews whinging about Vic, and while I can understand some people’s frustration at how frustrating she was, I think the whole point of her character to be frustrating. I personally found her troubled but sweet. Lou was equally sweet, a nice human being through-and-through, but at the end of the day, I don’t think he brought an awful lot to the story.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, of course, was Charlie Manx. What a genuinely terrifying character. I’ve read through several books with horrifying characters (Annie Wilkes springs to mind immediately) and Charlie Manx is definitely up there with the worst of them. What made him so chilling, for me, was how I imagined his voice. Every sentence of his speech was lifted at the end by an exclamation mark! He was always so cheery! Always so sinister! And then, of course, we have Bing Partridge who may just be the most repulsive character I’ve ever read about.
I loved the story of this novel, but I’m not going to explain what happened because this novel needs to be experienced, not told, in order to reach its full potential. My only issue was I though maybe 700 pages was a bit long. Chapter after chapter was a new dip and dive in this roller-coaster of a story, but sometimes it just felt like stalling time.
Another thing that disappointed me about this book, and this is what brought it down to 4 stars, is that I was expecting this to be scarier than it turned out to be. Don’t get me wrong, it’s seriously sinister and has some really creepy moments, but I wanted to get to “I can’t sleep” scared. Though saying that, when I was driving home in the dark one day, an old classic black British car (we have a lot of old car conventions around where I live) pulled up behind me and followed me nearly all the way home and I did get the heebie-geebies (don’t worry, I didn’t break the speed limit though).
Overall, this novel is well worth the read if you’re into dark, sinister novels filled with the really weird and the really wonderful. I’m so happy I’ve finally read this novel and have been opened up to the world of Joe Hill’s writing. I will definitely be reading more of his stuff.
Phil Leader (619 KP) rated A Game of Thrones in Books
Nov 13, 2019
I've been reviewing books online for nearly a year now... and in that time I have finished every book I have started and more-or-less enjoyed every book and given positive reviews.
But this book has put an end to that. As a fan of writers such as Joe Abercrombie who cite this series and George R R Martin as a big influence, I thought I should give this a read. After all, with so many plaudits and a hit television show it couldn't be that bad, could it.
Unfortunately it could. I liked the prologue - that was interesting to read and had some good writing and interesting characters in it. The one star is purely for this part of the book. Treat it as a short story and ignore the rest of the weighty tome and you won't go far wrong.
From this point forward nothing works. I can see that Martin was trying to inject a bit of reality and grit into fantasy, though it could be argues it had not exactly been all sunlight, dancing elves and heroes with rippling muscles for several decades so I don't see it as the massive change in direction it has been touted as in some quarters.
What we have is a succession of dreary, uninteresting characters taking part in a series of dull and stilted conversations attempting to create some sort of dramatic tension simply by existing. And then quite often there will be sex, not for any reason other than it seems this is what Martin thinks makes characters interesting. And the sex scenes are really, really awful. They read as if an over-excited 15 year old boy has written them.
The structure - where each chapter is told from the point of view of a different character - probably sounded really good on paper. But the end result is almost impossible to read as there is no continuity between sections that are dealing with the same characters, So for the first half of every chapter the reader is trying to get to grips with the new main character while also working out which kingdom they are in and how they related to the many, many other characters. It's just plain too confusing and exhausting as an actual narrative device.
And the characters themselves... I was expecting Martin to try everything possible to avoid any of the usual tropes, but no. Accepted there are no magicians, elves or pure-hearted swashbuckling heroes. But what is left is just the usual supporting cast - the bastard half brother with a grudge, the scheming dwarf, the wronged heir to the throne... there is absolutely nothing new or inventive in any of the characters.
What this book reminded me of most was the Harry Potter series. Completely derivative, averagely written and heavily marketed fantasy stories eagerly consumed by people who don't actually read fantasy. To those who do read fantasy this is such a poor relation to the other fine works that have been published in the last 30 years it's not even worth considering.
If you have never read this, don't bother. Instead do yourself a favour and pick up something that actually has something to say and contains some truly interesting characters and worlds. Joe Abercrombie or Mark Lawrence, for example.
But this book has put an end to that. As a fan of writers such as Joe Abercrombie who cite this series and George R R Martin as a big influence, I thought I should give this a read. After all, with so many plaudits and a hit television show it couldn't be that bad, could it.
Unfortunately it could. I liked the prologue - that was interesting to read and had some good writing and interesting characters in it. The one star is purely for this part of the book. Treat it as a short story and ignore the rest of the weighty tome and you won't go far wrong.
From this point forward nothing works. I can see that Martin was trying to inject a bit of reality and grit into fantasy, though it could be argues it had not exactly been all sunlight, dancing elves and heroes with rippling muscles for several decades so I don't see it as the massive change in direction it has been touted as in some quarters.
What we have is a succession of dreary, uninteresting characters taking part in a series of dull and stilted conversations attempting to create some sort of dramatic tension simply by existing. And then quite often there will be sex, not for any reason other than it seems this is what Martin thinks makes characters interesting. And the sex scenes are really, really awful. They read as if an over-excited 15 year old boy has written them.
The structure - where each chapter is told from the point of view of a different character - probably sounded really good on paper. But the end result is almost impossible to read as there is no continuity between sections that are dealing with the same characters, So for the first half of every chapter the reader is trying to get to grips with the new main character while also working out which kingdom they are in and how they related to the many, many other characters. It's just plain too confusing and exhausting as an actual narrative device.
And the characters themselves... I was expecting Martin to try everything possible to avoid any of the usual tropes, but no. Accepted there are no magicians, elves or pure-hearted swashbuckling heroes. But what is left is just the usual supporting cast - the bastard half brother with a grudge, the scheming dwarf, the wronged heir to the throne... there is absolutely nothing new or inventive in any of the characters.
What this book reminded me of most was the Harry Potter series. Completely derivative, averagely written and heavily marketed fantasy stories eagerly consumed by people who don't actually read fantasy. To those who do read fantasy this is such a poor relation to the other fine works that have been published in the last 30 years it's not even worth considering.
If you have never read this, don't bother. Instead do yourself a favour and pick up something that actually has something to say and contains some truly interesting characters and worlds. Joe Abercrombie or Mark Lawrence, for example.
Sophia (Bookwyrming Thoughts) (530 KP) rated The Fall in Books
Jan 23, 2020
*puts on best announcer voice* Ahem.
I'd like to present to you the <b>most confusing book of the year</b>, <i>The Fall</i> by Bethany Griffin. It's a <b>very odd and peculiar book </b>based on Edgar Allen Poe's short story, <i>The Fall of the House of Usher</i>. In Griffin's retelling, Madeline Usher believes that she can break the curse on the Ushers, but then she wakes up in a fabulously claustrophobic box called a coffin.
In all seriousness, <i>The Fall</i> is actually <b>a retelling on one of Poe's stories </b>that I didn't actually read, but watched instead (so bad, it was good). From reading the synopsis of Griffin's retelling, <b>it sounded like Madeline Usher had spent most of her life trying to break free from the curse.</b>
I ended up with something different. At least, that's what I would probably end up with if I actually made it to the end of the book, which I chose not to. I totally admit I peeked at the last few pages just to see what would happen, and it was nothing special.
<b>Griffin starts us out right when Madeline wakes up in a coffin. The rest of the book, however, is all flashback from Madeline's childhood, starting from when she was nine. It's a little out of order, but has a pattern to it in a way</b> – one chapter is nine, the next is fifteen, and occasionally there's a diary/journal entry from Lisbeth Usher. I'm no fan of chapters being even remotely out of order (they can get confusing when you're busy and come back to the story a few days later), but <b>at least Griffin had a pattern.</b>
At least, until about page 150. <b>WHERE IS THIRTEEN AND WHY ARE YOU SKIPPED.</b>
Of course, we go back to thirteen in the next chapter and continue the pattern. In my little game of peek-ahead, I found out <b>there <i>is</i> no particular pattern. My hypothesis to all this is Griffin portraying Madeline's madness increasing as her age increases. As Madeline grows older, she becomes madder. </b>How's that for implementing science?
Anyways, about 50 pages later, I'm pretty much going, "Your point is..?" in a very uninterested mental voice that may or may not include a mental eye roll or two in the process. Here's all that I've found out from what I read:
<ol>
<li>Madeline wakes up in a coffin – Go figure.</li>
<li>She and her brother Roderick is cursed – Knew that.</li>
<li>The House of Usher is, well, alive – Knew that.</li>
<li>The House of Usher is malicious – Knew that, but this was ten times creepier from the cheesy short film.</li>
<li>Madeline has a desire to break the curse on her family – It's very subtle.</li>
</ol>
In the long run, <b><i>The Fall</i> is written in a scattered format (see my hypothesis!) to emphasize the fact that the House of Usher is alive, malicious, and will do <i>anything</i> to keep an Usher within its walls for all eternity. It's nothing remotely impressive if you read or watched the original.</b>
And this is when the book club kills me.
<a href="https://bookwyrmingthoughts.com/dnf-review-the-fall-by-bethany-griffin/"; target="_blank">This review was originally posted on Bookwyrming Thoughts</a>
I'd like to present to you the <b>most confusing book of the year</b>, <i>The Fall</i> by Bethany Griffin. It's a <b>very odd and peculiar book </b>based on Edgar Allen Poe's short story, <i>The Fall of the House of Usher</i>. In Griffin's retelling, Madeline Usher believes that she can break the curse on the Ushers, but then she wakes up in a fabulously claustrophobic box called a coffin.
In all seriousness, <i>The Fall</i> is actually <b>a retelling on one of Poe's stories </b>that I didn't actually read, but watched instead (so bad, it was good). From reading the synopsis of Griffin's retelling, <b>it sounded like Madeline Usher had spent most of her life trying to break free from the curse.</b>
I ended up with something different. At least, that's what I would probably end up with if I actually made it to the end of the book, which I chose not to. I totally admit I peeked at the last few pages just to see what would happen, and it was nothing special.
<b>Griffin starts us out right when Madeline wakes up in a coffin. The rest of the book, however, is all flashback from Madeline's childhood, starting from when she was nine. It's a little out of order, but has a pattern to it in a way</b> – one chapter is nine, the next is fifteen, and occasionally there's a diary/journal entry from Lisbeth Usher. I'm no fan of chapters being even remotely out of order (they can get confusing when you're busy and come back to the story a few days later), but <b>at least Griffin had a pattern.</b>
At least, until about page 150. <b>WHERE IS THIRTEEN AND WHY ARE YOU SKIPPED.</b>
Of course, we go back to thirteen in the next chapter and continue the pattern. In my little game of peek-ahead, I found out <b>there <i>is</i> no particular pattern. My hypothesis to all this is Griffin portraying Madeline's madness increasing as her age increases. As Madeline grows older, she becomes madder. </b>How's that for implementing science?
Anyways, about 50 pages later, I'm pretty much going, "Your point is..?" in a very uninterested mental voice that may or may not include a mental eye roll or two in the process. Here's all that I've found out from what I read:
<ol>
<li>Madeline wakes up in a coffin – Go figure.</li>
<li>She and her brother Roderick is cursed – Knew that.</li>
<li>The House of Usher is, well, alive – Knew that.</li>
<li>The House of Usher is malicious – Knew that, but this was ten times creepier from the cheesy short film.</li>
<li>Madeline has a desire to break the curse on her family – It's very subtle.</li>
</ol>
In the long run, <b><i>The Fall</i> is written in a scattered format (see my hypothesis!) to emphasize the fact that the House of Usher is alive, malicious, and will do <i>anything</i> to keep an Usher within its walls for all eternity. It's nothing remotely impressive if you read or watched the original.</b>
And this is when the book club kills me.
<a href="https://bookwyrmingthoughts.com/dnf-review-the-fall-by-bethany-griffin/"; target="_blank">This review was originally posted on Bookwyrming Thoughts</a>