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Christine A. (965 KP) rated Once Upon a River in Books
Dec 19, 2018
I was provided with a complimentary copy of this book so I could give an honest review.
"Once Upon the River" by Diane Setterfield is a difficult book to categorize. It’s part fairy tale, part mystery, part fantasy, and has a dash of historical fiction thrown in for good measure. It revolves around a little town, its pub, its residents, and the river that flow nearby.
The residents are a colorful cast of characters. I enjoyed Setterfield’s use of the pub’s regulars and how they helped move the story along with their storytelling. Storytelling is a significant topic discussed in the story.
I found the beginning of the story confusing. I think it was because of all of the people involved in the storyline. Three separate storylines run parallel and intermingle in the story. Once I was able to keep the characters straight I thoroughly enjoyed the book.
I also listened to a preview of the corresponding audiobook and recommend that also. The narrator, Juliet Stevenson, uses different voices that allows the listener to clearly recognize that character.
I devoured Setterfield’s “The Thirteenth Tale” (my rating is 4 out of 5 stars) and now “Once Upon a River” (4 stars rating). Diane Setterfield is now an author I follow and am looking forward to her next story.
"Once Upon the River" by Diane Setterfield is a difficult book to categorize. It’s part fairy tale, part mystery, part fantasy, and has a dash of historical fiction thrown in for good measure. It revolves around a little town, its pub, its residents, and the river that flow nearby.
The residents are a colorful cast of characters. I enjoyed Setterfield’s use of the pub’s regulars and how they helped move the story along with their storytelling. Storytelling is a significant topic discussed in the story.
I found the beginning of the story confusing. I think it was because of all of the people involved in the storyline. Three separate storylines run parallel and intermingle in the story. Once I was able to keep the characters straight I thoroughly enjoyed the book.
I also listened to a preview of the corresponding audiobook and recommend that also. The narrator, Juliet Stevenson, uses different voices that allows the listener to clearly recognize that character.
I devoured Setterfield’s “The Thirteenth Tale” (my rating is 4 out of 5 stars) and now “Once Upon a River” (4 stars rating). Diane Setterfield is now an author I follow and am looking forward to her next story.
The Ultimate Step-by-Step Kid's First Cookbook
Book
This book offers delicious recipe ideas for 5-12 year olds, from lunch boxes and picnics to quick...
Micky Barnard (542 KP) rated The Book of Life in Books
Mar 2, 2019
The best of the trilogy
Wow, this was literally absorbing from start to finish and it is my favourite of the trilogy; it is not often that the final book achieves the highest rating. This truly is a story and a bunch of characters that have built and built.
So much change came to Diana and Matthew's lives in this book, more than in book two in the past. I found the plot to be fantastically planned, intricate and well-researched. There were details for days but not so that I got lost.
Family was more central to THE BOOK OF LIFE than any other book and it was the side characters that enriched the read so fully. I have the biggest soft spot for Gallowglass and I want a book just about him. What was subtly fascinating was the meeting of the human and creature world in this book the crossing of threads, meeting of similarities and shared-being.
The narration was excellent, Ikeda can even sing beautifully in French and German as part of the story. Again, sadness that she doesn't narrate any more.
If you are like me and you found book two a bit of a hard trudge, please don't let that put you off the final instalment, it was the best of the three.
So much change came to Diana and Matthew's lives in this book, more than in book two in the past. I found the plot to be fantastically planned, intricate and well-researched. There were details for days but not so that I got lost.
Family was more central to THE BOOK OF LIFE than any other book and it was the side characters that enriched the read so fully. I have the biggest soft spot for Gallowglass and I want a book just about him. What was subtly fascinating was the meeting of the human and creature world in this book the crossing of threads, meeting of similarities and shared-being.
The narration was excellent, Ikeda can even sing beautifully in French and German as part of the story. Again, sadness that she doesn't narrate any more.
If you are like me and you found book two a bit of a hard trudge, please don't let that put you off the final instalment, it was the best of the three.
Haley Mathiot (9 KP) rated Oblivion in Books
Apr 27, 2018
Rating: -2
I listened to the first three tracks of this book, and can honestly tell you I have no idea what was going on. It was two different stories flashing from one to another, and they didn't seem related at all. One was interesting, the other felt like I was doing math homework. On top of that, the reader sounded like he was reading something very exciting, when he was really just describing the length of someone's tie or the type of knot they used to tie their shoelaces.
Suffice to say, I quit. I sincerely apologize, but I can't recommend this book. I can't even tell you a content or age recommendation because I wanted to die twenty minutes after starting.
I listened to the first three tracks of this book, and can honestly tell you I have no idea what was going on. It was two different stories flashing from one to another, and they didn't seem related at all. One was interesting, the other felt like I was doing math homework. On top of that, the reader sounded like he was reading something very exciting, when he was really just describing the length of someone's tie or the type of knot they used to tie their shoelaces.
Suffice to say, I quit. I sincerely apologize, but I can't recommend this book. I can't even tell you a content or age recommendation because I wanted to die twenty minutes after starting.
Erika Kehlet (21 KP) rated Archetype in Books
Feb 21, 2018
The first 2/3 of the book kept me reading every chance I got in order to figure out what exactly was going on. You only learn things as Emma does, and I liked the style. Once Emma does figure everything out, I thought both the storyline and the writing went downhill. The dialog wasn't great from the beginning, but up until that point the story made up for it. I was very disappointed in the ending, which wouldn't have dropped my rating so much if I felt that it was the right ending, but after watching Emma grow and find her strength throughout the story, I could not believe that she would have acted the way she did at the end of the book.
Roxanne (13 KP) rated The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time in Books
Nov 9, 2018
★★★★ 4 Star Rating
This was quite a strange book to get into but once I did I really enjoyed it. I thought the author did a very good job at writing from the view point of an autistic boy.
This is kind of like 2 stories in one in the sense that the theme changes part way through, it flowed quite well, not perfect but it kept my interest. The diagrams were a great idea, however, occasionally I did find them a bit distracting and irritating.
This book was popping up on my GR home page quite a lot with many mixed reviews so I thought I would give it a go and borrow it from my local library. I'm glad I did!
This was quite a strange book to get into but once I did I really enjoyed it. I thought the author did a very good job at writing from the view point of an autistic boy.
This is kind of like 2 stories in one in the sense that the theme changes part way through, it flowed quite well, not perfect but it kept my interest. The diagrams were a great idea, however, occasionally I did find them a bit distracting and irritating.
This book was popping up on my GR home page quite a lot with many mixed reviews so I thought I would give it a go and borrow it from my local library. I'm glad I did!
Logan (76 KP) rated Ready Player One in Books
Jan 14, 2019
This rating is of the audio book narrated by Wil Wheaton.
I only played one MMORPG seriously (Guild Wars, I'm looking at you!), and it consumed my life for a good year or so. This is important - all sorts of games are mentioned in Ready Player One, but it takes place within an MMO, and I'd wager that experience with MMOs will vastly increase your enjoyment of this book. It brought back all my fondest memories of gaming culture. It wasn't the most complex story of all time, but it did constantly manage to remind me of how much I loved hanging out with friends, arguing about games, and competing to see who truly had the best grasp of combat mechanics in super smash bros.
I only played one MMORPG seriously (Guild Wars, I'm looking at you!), and it consumed my life for a good year or so. This is important - all sorts of games are mentioned in Ready Player One, but it takes place within an MMO, and I'd wager that experience with MMOs will vastly increase your enjoyment of this book. It brought back all my fondest memories of gaming culture. It wasn't the most complex story of all time, but it did constantly manage to remind me of how much I loved hanging out with friends, arguing about games, and competing to see who truly had the best grasp of combat mechanics in super smash bros.
Holy Bible NKJV Offline for iPad
Book and Reference
App
We are proud and happy to release Holy Bible NKJV in iOS . This app contains both "Old Testament"...
Tamil Bible - Bible2all
Book and Reference
App
We are proud and happy to release Tamil Bible in iOS for free. This app contains both "Old...
Frecklesxoxo (6 KP) rated The Night Child in Books
Feb 27, 2019
I received an arc copy of this book for an open and honest review
I would have loved to give this book a 5 star rating as the whole story was so raw, so heartbreaking, so terribly sad that I truly wanted a happy ending, and I suppose hope and the knowledge that she has started to resolve her issues are a happy ending but I just wanted more from the ending. I couldn't put this book down, it gripped me, it was compelling. The writing was sound and the build up of the characters were great, apart from Paul - I just could not connect with him, but perhaps that was the point? For me the let down was the ending, what happened to Nora? Fiona? between Nora and John? It just seemed to leave a lot of loose ends! Other than that it was great!!!
I would have loved to give this book a 5 star rating as the whole story was so raw, so heartbreaking, so terribly sad that I truly wanted a happy ending, and I suppose hope and the knowledge that she has started to resolve her issues are a happy ending but I just wanted more from the ending. I couldn't put this book down, it gripped me, it was compelling. The writing was sound and the build up of the characters were great, apart from Paul - I just could not connect with him, but perhaps that was the point? For me the let down was the ending, what happened to Nora? Fiona? between Nora and John? It just seemed to leave a lot of loose ends! Other than that it was great!!!
Allison Knapp (118 KP) Jan 26, 2019
Christine A. (965 KP) Jan 27, 2019