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The Night Circus
The Night Circus
Erin Morgenstern | 2015 | Fiction & Poetry
8
8.1 (106 Ratings)
Book Rating
Where to start... oh where do I start?

I found myself entranced with this novel but I still struggled to finish it. If I didn't have to read it for a book club I might have put it down.

The writing style was not my favorite. I found myself frustrated with the constant use of "He, She, They, It, or the character's name" starting every single sentence.

The book was hard to understand. The constant changing of time was unique to me, and challenging at the same time. It would have been nice to have an outline of what happened and when.

I will say that the reason I gave this novel a 4 star review instead of a 3 star review is that I loved the plot line and the idea behind the novel. I loved the characters (though I would have liked to have had more depth to them) and I loved the plot line.

I did struggle with the writing but ultimately, I found the novel enjoyable.
  
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Louise (64 KP) rated Bird Box in Books

Jul 2, 2018  
Bird Box
Bird Box
Josh Malerman | 2014 | Fiction & Poetry
6
8.3 (23 Ratings)
Book Rating
I wanted to read Bird Box after hearing so many rave reviews from BookTube and the blogosphere. From what everyone was saying, I was going to be scared shitless and that was what I was hoping for but it didn’t happen. This book for me has to be my most disappointing read of 2017 so far! The writing wasn’t bad but I feel like this has been overhyped and my expectations were set pretty high. I suppose the reason I was disappointed with this book was because you never really get any answers and the thing that is killing people you never get to picture what it is or why it’s happening. There was one small part of this book that had me scared and it was a paragraph and that was all. I thought the writing was great and I liked most of the characters but for me I needed more answers. I would also put this book as survival/post apocalyptic book rather than a horror.
  
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
J.K. Rowling | 2014 | Children, Fiction & Poetry
5
9.1 (271 Ratings)
Book Rating
Originality (0 more)
Style of writing (0 more)
Ok
I must be one of only people in the world that didn't really enjoy the book. When I first read it I really struggled to get past the first couple of chapters as I just couldn't get on with the style of writing and felt that there were so many other better books that I could be reading (I was very much into epic fantasy authors at the time and was reading Trudi Canavan). I tried it again when I was older and did end up finishing it this time around but I still only thought it was ok and could have done with being edited another time or two before publishing it.

I thought that the premise was really interesting and the world was well constructed but it didn't seem to flow as well as I thought it could have, some of the characters were very 2 dimensional and some of the events didn't really seem to be necessary for the progression of the story.

Overall, it wasn't a bad book but I just didn't enjoy it.
  
The Wrong Side of Right (Grey Areas #3)
The Wrong Side of Right (Grey Areas #3)
Brad Carl | 2015 | Contemporary, Crime, Romance, Thriller
9
8.5 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
The third book of the four part saga continues directly from the shattering events of the second and doesn't let up on the pace, or the twists.

Barrett Grayson is in custody, awaiting his long avoided FBI interview. But all he wants to do is get home to see his father before he dies. Meanwhile Sergeant Jackson's deal with the cartel means that someone is going to pay a heavy price.

The story follows all the protagonists from the saga as they each face their own struggles and make their own choices - for good or bad. As with the saga as a whole the writing is gripping and intense. There are many different plot strands interwoven here from police procedural to romance but each one is given time and space to develop and the reader is drawn into each one and pulled along.

As with the other books, the writing is superb. I would strongly recommend the Grey Areas saga to anyone. It is an extremely accomplished work of fiction.
  
Going into this book, I wasn't sure I was going to be able to get into it or not. I haven't actually read Ronan Farrow's articles in general, so I didn't know how his writing style was. Journalistic writing is sometimes hit or miss in book form.

Honestly, now I'll read his articles. This book encompassed the Weinstein scandal, and other creeps like him. It was thorough, and engaging throughout. In the author's note, it is stated that the violence these women were subjected to was presented exactly how they told it, with all the details. My stomach hurt after reading the descriptions, and I read very violent Nordic Noir novels. I like being presented with everything, so while it made my stomach hurt, I feel like it was all completely necessary as part of this story.

I also really liked his journey to get this published, and now... honestly, I don't even want to watch NBC News (as I sit here watching Dateline).

This is, by far, one of the best books that I've read this year.