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Molly J (Cover To Cover Cafe) (106 KP) rated When You Are Near in Books
Mar 11, 2019
Characters (2 more)
Plot
Writing Style
Those that know me, know I love to read Historical novels, so it will come as no surprise at all that I love this novel. It’s my first Peterson novel in a long time, and I was excited to see what she had in store for her readers with this one. Let me tell, I was taken on a whirl wind ride with this one and I loved every minute of it! Those that know me, also know that I love to be around horses and ride them (though it’s been a while since I’ve ridden one!), so I definitely enjoyed this book for that aspect alone.
I adored Lizzy’s character. She’s beautifully chiseled and I loved that she was a trick rider in this story! I haven’t read a book like this one, about women trick rider’s, so it made Lizzy’s story that much more fun for me. I felt a connection with Lizzy, having lost my mother a few years back, and I dealt with my own pain and struggles much like Lizzy did. Watching her blossom from that pain and struggle, seeing her connection with her horse, seeing how she realized that love is what she truly needs to get through it all, was a fantastic experience!
If you love novels that are beautifully written, filled with rich Historical detail, and filled with characters that come to life, then you need not look any further than Peterson’s new novel. She has tremendous talent and fills her books with hope, understanding and love, along with some powerful messages for her readers. This book is fast paced, and before I knew it, it was over, so I’m highly anxious to get book 2 in this series, as I am not yet done with these trick riders and their stunning horses! Grab this 4 star novel now and see what I’m talking about! You won’t be sorry.
*I received a complimentary copy of this book from Bethany House Publishers and was under no obligation to post a review, positive or negative.*
I adored Lizzy’s character. She’s beautifully chiseled and I loved that she was a trick rider in this story! I haven’t read a book like this one, about women trick rider’s, so it made Lizzy’s story that much more fun for me. I felt a connection with Lizzy, having lost my mother a few years back, and I dealt with my own pain and struggles much like Lizzy did. Watching her blossom from that pain and struggle, seeing her connection with her horse, seeing how she realized that love is what she truly needs to get through it all, was a fantastic experience!
If you love novels that are beautifully written, filled with rich Historical detail, and filled with characters that come to life, then you need not look any further than Peterson’s new novel. She has tremendous talent and fills her books with hope, understanding and love, along with some powerful messages for her readers. This book is fast paced, and before I knew it, it was over, so I’m highly anxious to get book 2 in this series, as I am not yet done with these trick riders and their stunning horses! Grab this 4 star novel now and see what I’m talking about! You won’t be sorry.
*I received a complimentary copy of this book from Bethany House Publishers and was under no obligation to post a review, positive or negative.*
Cynthia Armistead (17 KP) rated First Drop of Crimson (Night Huntress World, #1) in Books
Feb 23, 2018
Every review I've read has been bad. Honestly, this novel was no better or worse than any of Frost's other books, in my opinions. The main complaint I've seen is that the book isn't about Cat and Bones. Well, their story has pretty much been told in the four Night Huntress novels, and now Frost is moving on to other people in that world.
Given, I was never terribly attached to Cat or Bones, and apparently some fans were. I would advise them to write fan fiction or roleplay or do whatever it is that other obsessive fans do when their favorite authors stop writing about their favorite characters rather than writing negative reviews of Frost's newer fiction because they want it to be more like her older books. (<b>Please</b> note that I have absolutely no idea what Frost's position on such things is, and would strongly recommend querying her or her authorized representative on the matter before acting. Some authors are fine with fanfic/RPing, and some are rabidly against both. I can think of examples who go to extremes each way.)
While Denise never made a big impression on me while reading the NH books, it is nice to find out what happened to her after her husband was slaughtered and her life was screwed up so badly. While minor characters are often affected in Very Bad Ways during the course of paranormal romance novels, we seldom see them getting any kind of compensation. And who could possibly compensate anyone for the loss of a loved one, anyway?
That said, this is not a fantasy novel. Sometimes I waver on how a "paranormal romance" novel should be classified, but that isn't the case here. This is a romance with urban fantasy features tossed in. There's a damsel in distress saved by a hero. There's an obstacle to be overcome before they can be together, blah blah blah. The whole formula is there.
It doesn't suck terribly, but I don't recommend it to anyone who doesn't already like the setting to some extent. If you truly hate the romance formula, don't bother with this one.
Given, I was never terribly attached to Cat or Bones, and apparently some fans were. I would advise them to write fan fiction or roleplay or do whatever it is that other obsessive fans do when their favorite authors stop writing about their favorite characters rather than writing negative reviews of Frost's newer fiction because they want it to be more like her older books. (<b>Please</b> note that I have absolutely no idea what Frost's position on such things is, and would strongly recommend querying her or her authorized representative on the matter before acting. Some authors are fine with fanfic/RPing, and some are rabidly against both. I can think of examples who go to extremes each way.)
While Denise never made a big impression on me while reading the NH books, it is nice to find out what happened to her after her husband was slaughtered and her life was screwed up so badly. While minor characters are often affected in Very Bad Ways during the course of paranormal romance novels, we seldom see them getting any kind of compensation. And who could possibly compensate anyone for the loss of a loved one, anyway?
That said, this is not a fantasy novel. Sometimes I waver on how a "paranormal romance" novel should be classified, but that isn't the case here. This is a romance with urban fantasy features tossed in. There's a damsel in distress saved by a hero. There's an obstacle to be overcome before they can be together, blah blah blah. The whole formula is there.
It doesn't suck terribly, but I don't recommend it to anyone who doesn't already like the setting to some extent. If you truly hate the romance formula, don't bother with this one.
Adam Colclough (3 KP) rated Slow Horses in Books
Mar 12, 2018
The awkward squad to the rescue
Slough House is the place where the secret service dumps those operatives who don’t’ make the grade. A bureaucratic limbo as far away from the glamourous world inhabited by James Bond as Biarritz is from the outer moons of Saturn.
The crew of misfits incarcerated there under the command of the objectionable Jackson Lamb are called back to active service when a terrorist gang kidnap a teenager and threaten to behead him live online. Suddenly the awkward squad are players in a deadly game with only one possible winner.
In this book, first published in 2010 and part of an award-winning quartet, Mick Herron delivers all the thrills you would expect as he pits his cast of oddballs against a chillingly plausible enemy.
Spy novels often describe hidden worlds as a way of talking about the one with which we are all familiar. In the Sixties Le Carre wrote about a secret service that resembled nothing so much as minor Oxbridge college down on its luck but clinging tightly to past glories. Any similarity to a Britain that for all the promises of wonders delivered by the ‘white heat of technology’ was starting to look decidedly seedy was entirely intentional.
Mick Herron writes about a service that has been capture by bean counters and career obsessed middle managers. Drowning in paperwork, stymied by procedure and inclined to try and be a little too clever for its own good.
He also creates delightfully complex characters, the ‘slow horses’ of the title may all be difficult individuals, but that gives them fears and failings that make them infinitely more interesting than monochrome supermen like Bond or Bourne. By the book’s end he even manages to provide them with if not redemption than the unexpected feeling they may have a purpose after all.
The best spy novels are always about more than just chasing after a McGuffin. This book is unafraid to look at troubling ideas and to present characters who don’t tick the boxes of traditional heroism. That puts it in the running to become a classic of the genre.
The crew of misfits incarcerated there under the command of the objectionable Jackson Lamb are called back to active service when a terrorist gang kidnap a teenager and threaten to behead him live online. Suddenly the awkward squad are players in a deadly game with only one possible winner.
In this book, first published in 2010 and part of an award-winning quartet, Mick Herron delivers all the thrills you would expect as he pits his cast of oddballs against a chillingly plausible enemy.
Spy novels often describe hidden worlds as a way of talking about the one with which we are all familiar. In the Sixties Le Carre wrote about a secret service that resembled nothing so much as minor Oxbridge college down on its luck but clinging tightly to past glories. Any similarity to a Britain that for all the promises of wonders delivered by the ‘white heat of technology’ was starting to look decidedly seedy was entirely intentional.
Mick Herron writes about a service that has been capture by bean counters and career obsessed middle managers. Drowning in paperwork, stymied by procedure and inclined to try and be a little too clever for its own good.
He also creates delightfully complex characters, the ‘slow horses’ of the title may all be difficult individuals, but that gives them fears and failings that make them infinitely more interesting than monochrome supermen like Bond or Bourne. By the book’s end he even manages to provide them with if not redemption than the unexpected feeling they may have a purpose after all.
The best spy novels are always about more than just chasing after a McGuffin. This book is unafraid to look at troubling ideas and to present characters who don’t tick the boxes of traditional heroism. That puts it in the running to become a classic of the genre.
Veronica Pena (690 KP) rated Fifty Shades Freed in Books
Jan 15, 2020
Okay listen, this is my favorite book of all of them - including the Christian perspective novels and when I said on my other reviews that I would rage about this one not having a book written in his perspective, I didn't think I'd be this angry about it. There is so much juice in this novel - lots of thrill, the fighting (Ana FINALLY grows some cajones and stands up to Christian and that's the most satisfying character development), I NEED a Christian perspective!!! It would round out this series so nicely.
There is this whole section of the middle of the book involving Ray that just feels dumb and useless. It was like it was thrown in there because they needed more pages and I almost think that the production staff on the film agreed because that plotline doesn't happen in the film.
Again, I wish more than anything that there was a Christian perspective. After reading the other 2 books from his point of view and knowing what was happening in his head at certain points, I found myself really craving that with this novel. There's this one fight that happens and I so wanted to be inside his head to know what he was thinking!! Does anyone want to start a petition with me to get E.L. James to write it?
Anyways, I think that this is the best novel of all of them. I think that it's the climax of the story, anything more than these 3 novels and it would've just felt like too much. I don't have any desire to read any of the other books again but I could find myself wandering back to this one to read as a filler if I wasn't sure where I wanted to go next. Overall, there are definitely some holes in the story, some dead parts that could've just been cut entirely, and obviously I still have a major issue with the dialogue BUT it's still my favorite. It's a guilty pleasure. It's worth reading just to say you did.
I'm a little more sad to be done than I thought I would be but I suppose it's time to bid Christian Grey adieu. After watching the last movie, of course.
There is this whole section of the middle of the book involving Ray that just feels dumb and useless. It was like it was thrown in there because they needed more pages and I almost think that the production staff on the film agreed because that plotline doesn't happen in the film.
Again, I wish more than anything that there was a Christian perspective. After reading the other 2 books from his point of view and knowing what was happening in his head at certain points, I found myself really craving that with this novel. There's this one fight that happens and I so wanted to be inside his head to know what he was thinking!! Does anyone want to start a petition with me to get E.L. James to write it?
Anyways, I think that this is the best novel of all of them. I think that it's the climax of the story, anything more than these 3 novels and it would've just felt like too much. I don't have any desire to read any of the other books again but I could find myself wandering back to this one to read as a filler if I wasn't sure where I wanted to go next. Overall, there are definitely some holes in the story, some dead parts that could've just been cut entirely, and obviously I still have a major issue with the dialogue BUT it's still my favorite. It's a guilty pleasure. It's worth reading just to say you did.
I'm a little more sad to be done than I thought I would be but I suppose it's time to bid Christian Grey adieu. After watching the last movie, of course.
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Kirk Bage (1775 KP) rated Rusty Brown in Books
Aug 6, 2020
Just look at what a beautiful object this book is! It gets better on the inside, too. The detail and creativity is immense; the dust cover unfolds into a gorgeous mosaic, with puzzles, and even the copyright notes have a little Easter egg snuck in there. Every satisfyingly thick page of it is dense with ideas and art of admirable quality. It’s heavy and well made. Simply, one of the nicest books aesthetically I’ve ever owned.
I don’t have a big history of reading graphic novels. In fact I can count them on one hand: this one, Watchmen, V for Vendetta and Persepolis. But what I see I like. There is something extra on the storytelling that is the best of both a book and a film – like a film unravelling at the pace of a book, with your imagination made into still images. I love the possibilities of them! There really isn’t anything you couldn’t do with it given enough imagination. I must try a few more as I go through life.
Rusty Brown, by Chris Ware is rich, melancholy, sometimes downright sad, but always truthful. Nothing is exaggerated, only presented, as we see snapshots of all the children and teachers that live in a small American town. They are dealing with regret, nostalgia, self-esteem, bullying and secret Joys, but in a mundane way as the routine of life plays out around them. Yet it manages never to seem bleak or hopeless, as enough moments of beauty keep everyone afloat.
There is a hint of subversive politics going on under the surface, but no more than issue flitting through Chris Ware’s mind; there’s no agenda or propaganda going on. He’s basically showing us a place he knows and saying, huh, what do you think of this. It made me laugh out loud many times, and cry at least twice. Remarkable work.
Both this artist and graphic novels in general are now very much something on my radar to learn more about and enjoy. If you haven’t ever really tried, I recommend Rusty Brown Chris Ware whole-heartedly as a starting place.
I don’t have a big history of reading graphic novels. In fact I can count them on one hand: this one, Watchmen, V for Vendetta and Persepolis. But what I see I like. There is something extra on the storytelling that is the best of both a book and a film – like a film unravelling at the pace of a book, with your imagination made into still images. I love the possibilities of them! There really isn’t anything you couldn’t do with it given enough imagination. I must try a few more as I go through life.
Rusty Brown, by Chris Ware is rich, melancholy, sometimes downright sad, but always truthful. Nothing is exaggerated, only presented, as we see snapshots of all the children and teachers that live in a small American town. They are dealing with regret, nostalgia, self-esteem, bullying and secret Joys, but in a mundane way as the routine of life plays out around them. Yet it manages never to seem bleak or hopeless, as enough moments of beauty keep everyone afloat.
There is a hint of subversive politics going on under the surface, but no more than issue flitting through Chris Ware’s mind; there’s no agenda or propaganda going on. He’s basically showing us a place he knows and saying, huh, what do you think of this. It made me laugh out loud many times, and cry at least twice. Remarkable work.
Both this artist and graphic novels in general are now very much something on my radar to learn more about and enjoy. If you haven’t ever really tried, I recommend Rusty Brown Chris Ware whole-heartedly as a starting place.