Lyndsey Gollogly (2893 KP) rated Faceless in Books
Apr 15, 2020
Been a while since I read a Martina Cole and I forgot how brutal her books can be. Bringing so much mayhem into her characters lives. She has to be one of my favourite authors she makes everything hit home and so real. Your heart was lost to Marie from the start and the strong feelings you develop along the way reading this is like a rollercoaster. Only issue I felt it a bit drawn out in the middle but still a brilliant book.
Dear Heartbreak: YA Authors and Teens on the Dark Side of Love
A.S. King, Corey Ann Haydu, Nina Lacour, Gayle Forman, Heather Demetrios, Sandhya Menon, Ibi Zoboi, Becky Albertalli, Libba Bray, Jasmine Warga, Amy Ewing, Sarah McCarry, Kim Liggett, Varian Johnson, Adi Alsaid, Zach Fehst, Kekla Magoon and Cristina Moracho
Book
This is a book about the dark side of love: the way it kicks your ass, tears out your heart, and...
Coven Deception
5.0
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Forbidden romance. Secrets and lies. Supernatural species. The town of Arcane Grove has a lot going...
The Iron King (The Iron Fey, #1)
8.3
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Meghan Chase has a secret destiny; one she could never have imagined. Something has always felt...
Descender, Vol. 2: Machine Moon
9.0
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Young Robot boy TIM-21 and his companions struggle to stay alive in a universe where all androids...
robots space future
Taking Root (The Eros Tales #1)
10.0
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I’ve been burned by my ex-fiancée and sentenced myself to long shifts at the hospital ever since....
Contemporary Romance Suspense
Amy Norman (1048 KP) rated Ready Player Two in Books
Jul 23, 2022
***No direct spoilers as such but you may infer some details from what I have said***
I didn't struggle with the referencing and overexplaining that some people felt occurred in the first book but this was something completely different in the sequel.
In the first book, there was passion and a sense of urgency, and it drew you along to a satisfying conclusion. There were specific parts to the book that stood out, and it felt like a fully realised story that could almost happen.
I was really invested in the first book but this time round it was missing something.
Although the stakes were set higher it never felt like there was any real danger. There are some truly dramatic scenes but at no point did I feel like Cline had the heart to go all Game of Thrones on us.
I think Cline overstretched himself with trying to cram in 7 fantastical quests, world's, and puzzles to solve, that all the magic of the first book was completely lost.
He could have made this work well but the sped up timeline forced him into a corner there was no escaping from.
Rushed in places, where fans of the first book would have adored more detail and reveled in it, and then hyper focused and drawn out details of some really odd choices, means this book just falls flat.
There was so much potential here, but it felt like Cline was trying too hard to pay lip service to his peers and people he admires in a Halliday-esqe way, this can be felt if you actually read the acknowledgements. The comparison to Cline and some of the characters becomes quite apparent there, and are almost beyond cliche.
There is still ongoing talk of a movie adaptation for this sequel, and I feel like Cline really leaned into the idea of this (after the success of the first one). As this book would probably work better as a screenplay. I feel like this may be one of those extremely rare occurrences where the movie has the potential to be better than the book.
I often try to leave balanced reviews and can find a positive to end on but I was mostly disappointed by the end of reading, so I am struggling to end on a positive!
How about this?
There is no mention of a part three in the future but I feel like Cline has given himself the opportunity to have a fresh start, if there were to be a Ready Player Three, there are so many avenues he could explore, and bring the magic back! So I am hopeful for the futute.
Molly J (Cover To Cover Cafe) (106 KP) rated Restoring Love in Books
Feb 27, 2019
Let me get myself together for a moment. *Deep breaths*. Ok. There,that's better. Where was I? Oh yes. I was going to tell you my thoughts on this book. This is my first Jennifer Slattery book. It most certainly will not be my last. It's like this book is speaking to me. It's a book on second chances, on honesty, on restoring faith and hope. That's what this book did to me now, after recent troubles in my life.
Through the characters, both good ones and bad, I fell in love with this book. Their stories showed me that if I believe, if I have faith, my heart will be restored. Leaning on God and understanding that it's all in His time, His will, love can be restored no matter what. Letting go, forgiveness, and acceptance make up wonderful pages of this book. The characters blended perfectly with the plot line and captivated me, heart and soul.
Ms. Slattery's book is deserving of no less than 5 stars. If I could give it 5,000 stars I would. I highly recommend that you grab this book, devour it and feel the feels that I felt in this book. You won't be sorry when you do. I can't wait to read another amazing book by her talented hands. <a href="http://cafinatedreads.com/review-restoring-love-jennifer-slatterly/"; target="_blank">This review was originally posted on Cafinated Reads</a>
The Ramblings of a Little Lost Soul
Book
"When I was seeing my husband smiling at me, trying not to show how much pain he was in, my heart...
Kristy H (1252 KP) rated The Nearness of You in Books
Feb 13, 2018
I am a bit conflicted about this novel. Ward wrote [book:The Same Sky|22716408], which is a beautiful novel and one everyone should read in this current political climate. It's hard not to compare others to that magical book, and this one did fall short. She does, however, have a way of weaving stories with her words, and while I wasn't nearly as attached to the characters in this novel, I still found myself reading the last half of the book somewhat compulsively.
The novel started out slow, but picked up about 1/4 through, with a twist in the plot. It's told from a shifting rotation of perspectives, including Suzette, Dorrie, and Hyland. There are some large shifts in time as the novel progresses, which did make it harder to attach to some of the characters. None of the plot twists are exactly surprise, as they are foreshadowed a bit in each character's description: this is more of a character-driven novel versus a shocking dramatic novel. Still, even though I tore through the last half of the novel, I just felt the book lacked something, and I felt a tad let down by a story and characters that weren't completely fully developed (the ending is a bit abrupt as well). I enjoyed the perspectives on motherhood that the novel offered, but felt there could be more. That's not to say the novel isn't worth reading; Ward is a wonderful writer, but I just felt a little perplexed and frustrated when this one ended. I had hoped for more.
I received a copy of this novel from the publisher and Netgalley (thank you!); it is available everywhere as of 02/21/2017.