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Merissa (13288 KP) rated Bella's Countryside Christmas in Books
Oct 4, 2024
BELLA'S COUNTRYSIDE CHRISTMAS is set in Haileybrook. To escape a boring conference, she fakes illness and goes to the church where she should have been married, if she hadn't called it off. While there, she saves a nativity scene from guaranteed disaster, as well as helping a cute man by pretending to be his date. After a better-than-expected day/evening and a moment of connection complete with a kiss, she disappears to help her younger sister, leaving Jack all alone. Fast forward a year (give or take) and Bella is returning to Haileybrook, this time to live and work.
This was such a great story! It is gentle, with no unnecessary angst or drama, with a healthy dose of mystery. Character-led with cameos from characters out of other books, this was a story I didn't want to end. The people here were funny and likeable, especially the ones from the home!
The flow of the story was smooth and left me wanting to continue reading, even when I got to the chapter breaks. It has Christmassy vibes but doesn't rule the whole story. A fantastic read and definitely recommended by me.
** 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!
Sep 25, 2024
This was such a great story! It is gentle, with no unnecessary angst or drama, with a healthy dose of mystery. Character-led with cameos from characters out of other books, this was a story I didn't want to end. The people here were funny and likeable, especially the ones from the home!
The flow of the story was smooth and left me wanting to continue reading, even when I got to the chapter breaks. It has Christmassy vibes but doesn't rule the whole story. A fantastic read and definitely recommended by me.
** 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!
Sep 25, 2024
Thoughtful thriller
If a book has "apocalypse" somewhere, anywhere, in the description, I'm pretty much guaranteed to at least attempt to read it. The Polar ice caps are a bit of a buzzword (buzz phrase?) at the moment, and this centres around an impending environmental disaster. Business vs. Ecology.
In The Ice, everyone wants to exploit the land under what was once protected by ice. Tom and Sean both love the Arctic: Tom is an environmental campaigner, Sean is a businessman who wants to make lots of money and get a Knighthood. This follows the accident that causes Tom's death and the Coroners investigation that occurs three years after his death.
I loved the story and the characters were easy to like (or dislike!). I especially liked the little excerpts from the books written by Polar explorers at the beginning of each chapter. These were largely written by the trailblazers: the men who made the first journeys in to the arctic in the 19th and early 20th centuries. This was a lovely touch, I felt. Well worth reading.
In The Ice, everyone wants to exploit the land under what was once protected by ice. Tom and Sean both love the Arctic: Tom is an environmental campaigner, Sean is a businessman who wants to make lots of money and get a Knighthood. This follows the accident that causes Tom's death and the Coroners investigation that occurs three years after his death.
I loved the story and the characters were easy to like (or dislike!). I especially liked the little excerpts from the books written by Polar explorers at the beginning of each chapter. These were largely written by the trailblazers: the men who made the first journeys in to the arctic in the 19th and early 20th centuries. This was a lovely touch, I felt. Well worth reading.
Haley Mathiot (9 KP) rated Broken Monsters in Books
Apr 27, 2018
Broken Monsters was what I call “High Concept, Poor Execution.” There were two major things that caused me to decide not to finish it.
The first reason: The story was written from several different characters perspectives, and it switched almost every chapter. Some books can get away with this (generally there are two or three PoV) but this one had like 5 different voices, and it was just too much to keep track of.
The second and most important reason: The relationship between the police officer and her daughter. Seriously, no police officer is going to pick up her high school daughter and start telling her all about the secret case they haven’t yet allowed the press to get wind of, or tell her details or hunches, or—what really set me off—have her daughter help her use a search engine to find photos from nasty crime scenes. You just don’t do that.
The premise was cool and the bad-guy was amazing (his PoV was my favorite) but I just couldn’t keep going with those two factors.
The first reason: The story was written from several different characters perspectives, and it switched almost every chapter. Some books can get away with this (generally there are two or three PoV) but this one had like 5 different voices, and it was just too much to keep track of.
The second and most important reason: The relationship between the police officer and her daughter. Seriously, no police officer is going to pick up her high school daughter and start telling her all about the secret case they haven’t yet allowed the press to get wind of, or tell her details or hunches, or—what really set me off—have her daughter help her use a search engine to find photos from nasty crime scenes. You just don’t do that.
The premise was cool and the bad-guy was amazing (his PoV was my favorite) but I just couldn’t keep going with those two factors.
Cynthia Armistead (17 KP) rated Spectre (Zoe Martinique #2) in Books
Mar 1, 2018
Hmm. <i>Spectre</i> feels less like a sequel to <i>Wraith</i> than a chapter two, if that makes any sense. Both books are full-sized novels, but they're so closely related that book two wouldn't make any sense without having read book 1 (and the novella in between). Unfortunately, <i>Spectre</i> ends on a cliff-hanger. I hate that.
At least I know (from her blog) that Weldon is working on the third book. I can only hope that it comes out soon and wraps up all the loose threads without introducing new ones that aren't left hanging again.
I do have to agree with another GR reviewer who mentioned that the main character carries on more like a 13-year-old kid than a 28-year-old woman. I have to agree. I understand that losing one parent early might, for some people, to a closer relationship with the surviving parent—but give me a break! Zoë apparently needs to move across the country to learn to live without Mommy. Or maybe Mommy should move?
At least I know (from her blog) that Weldon is working on the third book. I can only hope that it comes out soon and wraps up all the loose threads without introducing new ones that aren't left hanging again.
I do have to agree with another GR reviewer who mentioned that the main character carries on more like a 13-year-old kid than a 28-year-old woman. I have to agree. I understand that losing one parent early might, for some people, to a closer relationship with the surviving parent—but give me a break! Zoë apparently needs to move across the country to learn to live without Mommy. Or maybe Mommy should move?
David McK (3610 KP) rated The Magic of Recluce (The Saga of Recluce #1) in Books
Jan 30, 2019
If ever there was an argument for Goodreads to expand beyond a 5-star rating system, this is it: better than some other books I've rated 1 star, but not as good as some others I've rated as 2 stars.
The first book in what has become known as The Saga of Recluce, I found this to be quite unusual in that (in this world world), it equates the White Wizards with evil (or chaos) and Black Wizards with good (or order). In many respects, this is also a coming-of-age tale, with the central protaganist maturing throughout the course of the story: a story that, I felt, could have been told in about 1/2 the number of pages if the author didn't insist on detailing each and every little iota of noise - who wants to read about (roughly, and all told) a page or two per chapter of <i>Wheee-urrrggg</i> (stomach noises) or <i>caw-caw</i> (bird noises) or <i>thrum-thrum-thrum</i> (hoof-beats)?!?
The first book in what has become known as The Saga of Recluce, I found this to be quite unusual in that (in this world world), it equates the White Wizards with evil (or chaos) and Black Wizards with good (or order). In many respects, this is also a coming-of-age tale, with the central protaganist maturing throughout the course of the story: a story that, I felt, could have been told in about 1/2 the number of pages if the author didn't insist on detailing each and every little iota of noise - who wants to read about (roughly, and all told) a page or two per chapter of <i>Wheee-urrrggg</i> (stomach noises) or <i>caw-caw</i> (bird noises) or <i>thrum-thrum-thrum</i> (hoof-beats)?!?
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