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Laura Doe (1350 KP) rated The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes in Books
Nov 6, 2021
Quite often after the success of a series when the author comes back to write more, it falls flat. This did exactly the opposite for me! I was hooked from the first couple of pages.
We follow Coriolanus Snow during the tenth Hunger Games as he becomes a mentor to an underdog, the female tribute of district 12 - Lucy Gray Baird. What follows are a series of disastrous events following the tributes and their mentors, which makes you wonder how the Games were still around when it came to Katniss’s Hunger Games.
It was perfect finding out more about Coriolanus Snow, and what made him the way he is when it came to the Hunger Games trilogy. We find out where his love or roses comes from and whether he has always been as ruthless throughout his life or if something made him that way.
Whilst the book seems a bit long when you pick it up, I loved every minute of it and when I was coming to the end I really didn’t want it to end at all! I would love to carry on reading about Coriolanus and what happened after this book and how that shaped him into President Snow.
This has renewed my love for the Hunger Games series, and I hope that Suzanne Collins has more plans for the series as I would love more. An easy 5 star rating from the start.
We follow Coriolanus Snow during the tenth Hunger Games as he becomes a mentor to an underdog, the female tribute of district 12 - Lucy Gray Baird. What follows are a series of disastrous events following the tributes and their mentors, which makes you wonder how the Games were still around when it came to Katniss’s Hunger Games.
It was perfect finding out more about Coriolanus Snow, and what made him the way he is when it came to the Hunger Games trilogy. We find out where his love or roses comes from and whether he has always been as ruthless throughout his life or if something made him that way.
Whilst the book seems a bit long when you pick it up, I loved every minute of it and when I was coming to the end I really didn’t want it to end at all! I would love to carry on reading about Coriolanus and what happened after this book and how that shaped him into President Snow.
This has renewed my love for the Hunger Games series, and I hope that Suzanne Collins has more plans for the series as I would love more. An easy 5 star rating from the start.
Whatchareadin (174 KP) rated Chat Love in Books
Apr 9, 2019
Let me start by saying that this was a cute little love story, that I read quickly. I give it such a low rating mainly because it was pretty predictable and I figured out what was going to happen 1/3 of the way into the book.
Lucia is from an Italian family. Being 28 and single means she is practically an old maid. She has a couple of serious boyfriends, but she has never found THE ONE. One of her co-workers has recently found the man of her dreams on an online dating site called Chat Love. When her married younger sister announces that she is pregnant, the pressure is really on then. After pressure from her friends, Lucia decides to join Chat Love and try something new. Her dates are very interesting, to say the least. But you never know where you will find love.
As I stated before, this was a quick and fun read. The story is cute, but very predictable. The dates that she goes on are always dinner dates, there is no variety to them. The main character Lucia is an Italian bombshell from the way she is described by her dates and her peers. She is loved by all, but can't seem to find love. She goes on several dates in the book that range from good to just plain weird. She even had a stalker for a brief moment. In the end, she ends up with the guy she would have least expected, but the reader knew from the start. There is a part in the book, where I wanted to jump through the pages and smack Lucia for not knowing she was talking to the man she wanted online the whole time.
I will try another title by Justine Faeth.
Lucia is from an Italian family. Being 28 and single means she is practically an old maid. She has a couple of serious boyfriends, but she has never found THE ONE. One of her co-workers has recently found the man of her dreams on an online dating site called Chat Love. When her married younger sister announces that she is pregnant, the pressure is really on then. After pressure from her friends, Lucia decides to join Chat Love and try something new. Her dates are very interesting, to say the least. But you never know where you will find love.
As I stated before, this was a quick and fun read. The story is cute, but very predictable. The dates that she goes on are always dinner dates, there is no variety to them. The main character Lucia is an Italian bombshell from the way she is described by her dates and her peers. She is loved by all, but can't seem to find love. She goes on several dates in the book that range from good to just plain weird. She even had a stalker for a brief moment. In the end, she ends up with the guy she would have least expected, but the reader knew from the start. There is a part in the book, where I wanted to jump through the pages and smack Lucia for not knowing she was talking to the man she wanted online the whole time.
I will try another title by Justine Faeth.
Tender by Shai Amit (#promotion) This book looks like it a story about a young boy. This young boy goes on a journey of his life. We see how deals with his growing up. We also see how he deals with all kinds of emotions from death, to finding his love of this life. We get in an depth of how you can destroy your own spirit. We get to learn and get try and get understanding. We also see his success and many crashes. He learn even what love is like or is and though friendships. You could be looking and end up emptying your spirit of that love. You really can not say it based on one thing. It goes about this with giving you different way as it could be about yourself. The rating I would give this is a 4.5 moons. The reason for this is that I really did not get what most of it was about except that it might be a romance. I do know it a little more about trying to understand himself and what love is about. Well that's want I think if about. You can destroy yourself be giving all the time and not know if it really love that doing the drive or if it sex driven drive. This book I would suggest only be for Adults that are 18 and up. There a few words in here that are not for young adults. These words are a bit sexual. I have parents be advised and I will let you decide for your Teenagers if this book is appropriate. To me I advise for this to be for Adults ages from 17 and up.
This book looks like it a story about a young boy. This young boy goes on a journey of his life. We see how deals with his growing up. We also see how he deals with all kinds of emotions from death, to finding his love of this life.
We get in an depth of how you can destroy your own spirit. We get to learn and get try and get understanding. We also see his success and many crashes. He learn even what love is like or is and though friendships. You could be looking and end up emptying your spirit of that love.
You really can not say it based on one thing. It goes about this with giving you different way as it could be about yourself. The rating I would give this is a 4.5 moons. The reason for this is that I really did not get what most of it was about except that it might be a romance. I do know it a little more about trying to understand himself and what love is about. Well that's want I think if about. You can destroy yourself be giving all the time and not know if it really love that doing the drive or if it sex driven drive.
This book I would suggest only be for Adults that are 18 and up. There a few words in here that are not for young adults. These words are a bit sexual. I have parents be advised and I will let you decide for your Teenagers if this book is appropriate. To me I advise for this to be for Adults ages from 17 and up.
We get in an depth of how you can destroy your own spirit. We get to learn and get try and get understanding. We also see his success and many crashes. He learn even what love is like or is and though friendships. You could be looking and end up emptying your spirit of that love.
You really can not say it based on one thing. It goes about this with giving you different way as it could be about yourself. The rating I would give this is a 4.5 moons. The reason for this is that I really did not get what most of it was about except that it might be a romance. I do know it a little more about trying to understand himself and what love is about. Well that's want I think if about. You can destroy yourself be giving all the time and not know if it really love that doing the drive or if it sex driven drive.
This book I would suggest only be for Adults that are 18 and up. There a few words in here that are not for young adults. These words are a bit sexual. I have parents be advised and I will let you decide for your Teenagers if this book is appropriate. To me I advise for this to be for Adults ages from 17 and up.
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Shelle Perry (66 KP) rated The House on Crow Mountain in Books
Sep 1, 2021
Mystery Thriller, Cozy Rules
The House on Crow Mountain is probably the most uncozy-like cozy I have ever read. Don’t get me wrong it totally adheres to all the cozy rules; no graphic language, sex, or violence. It also follows the popular cozy tropes; a small town, a broken-hearted woman who returns home to make a new start, clever pets, etc. It is just I consider cozy to be a light afternoon read. More fluff than serious. I mean no disrespect to the books and authors I have read to date, some are among my all-time favorites.
This book from the first sentence to the last pulled me into a hard mystery thriller that just happened to follow cozy rules. It has everything; gripping suspense, a leading lady wracked with grief and guilt, and a possible love interest trying to redeem himself from a tragic mistake, or was it? There are far-reaching family secrets, menacing red herrings, and a sinister plot. There was no guessing whodunnit before the reveal. I really (I mean really) did not like the person, but there were so many other people to not like, to suspect, to think about that it barely registered. I could not put this book down as the story unfolded and the floating, maybe relevant plotlines merged bringing the story to its climax.
I seriously hope for this to be a series as there are characters that I would love to learn more about, but I tell you, I would be okay with this being a one-off. The story as it stands has mostly been told and it is that good.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 5 out of 5.
I received an advance review copy for free through Great Escapes Virtual Book Tours, and I am leaving this review voluntarily
This book from the first sentence to the last pulled me into a hard mystery thriller that just happened to follow cozy rules. It has everything; gripping suspense, a leading lady wracked with grief and guilt, and a possible love interest trying to redeem himself from a tragic mistake, or was it? There are far-reaching family secrets, menacing red herrings, and a sinister plot. There was no guessing whodunnit before the reveal. I really (I mean really) did not like the person, but there were so many other people to not like, to suspect, to think about that it barely registered. I could not put this book down as the story unfolded and the floating, maybe relevant plotlines merged bringing the story to its climax.
I seriously hope for this to be a series as there are characters that I would love to learn more about, but I tell you, I would be okay with this being a one-off. The story as it stands has mostly been told and it is that good.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 5 out of 5.
I received an advance review copy for free through Great Escapes Virtual Book Tours, and I am leaving this review voluntarily
Kristy H (1252 KP) rated The Christmas Escape in Books
Nov 18, 2021
Christy Sullivan and her best friend Alix have spent Christmas together since they were children. This year they are planning to go to Lapland, a snowy wonderland. The trip will include Christy's husband and their young daughter, Holly. But when Christy faces trouble with her marriage, she asks Alix to take Holly to Lapland without her. She'll be joined by their family friend, Zac--whom Alix has been avoiding ever since Christy's wedding. But as Alix, Zac, and Holly enjoy their time in Lapland, Alix realizes she may have made a mistake in avoiding him. Meanwhile, Christy starts to wonder if her friendship with Alix and marriage will survive the holidays.
I hate rating books low, but this just did not work for me. It was a sweet enough story and I liked the fun, snowy Arctic setting, but, oh, this book could have been so much shorter and enjoyable. The repetition is intense, to the point I found myself skimming sections. We are constantly bombarded by everyone's thoughts and issues. Did you know Alix has commitment issues? Oh you will. Christy struggles with perfection? The overwhelming focus on the characters' tropes and the rehashing and pontificating on thoughts and feelings was incredibly frustrating. It was very slow moving with far more telling than showing. I was not that invested in Alix and Zac's relationship.
There's a sweet storyline involving Christy's aunt, who lives at Lapland, which I enjoyed, and others have enjoyed the overall story more, so take my review with a grain of salt, but most of this book was just too repetitive and trite for me. 2.5 stars.
I received a copy of this book from Harlequin and Netgalley in return for an unbiased review.
I hate rating books low, but this just did not work for me. It was a sweet enough story and I liked the fun, snowy Arctic setting, but, oh, this book could have been so much shorter and enjoyable. The repetition is intense, to the point I found myself skimming sections. We are constantly bombarded by everyone's thoughts and issues. Did you know Alix has commitment issues? Oh you will. Christy struggles with perfection? The overwhelming focus on the characters' tropes and the rehashing and pontificating on thoughts and feelings was incredibly frustrating. It was very slow moving with far more telling than showing. I was not that invested in Alix and Zac's relationship.
There's a sweet storyline involving Christy's aunt, who lives at Lapland, which I enjoyed, and others have enjoyed the overall story more, so take my review with a grain of salt, but most of this book was just too repetitive and trite for me. 2.5 stars.
I received a copy of this book from Harlequin and Netgalley in return for an unbiased review.
Haley Mathiot (9 KP) rated A Jolly Good Fellow in Books
Apr 27, 2018
A Jolly Good Fellow by Stephen V. Masse
Genre: Fiction, Comedy, sort of Crime Fiction but not really
Rating: 3.75/5
Summary: Duncan is driving to the kids house. He has a plan—he’s going to kidnap him. But then he sees the kid hitchhiking in the snow. What better way to kidnap someone that to pick him up off the road and offer him a ride? Duncan dresses up as Santa Clause and sits on the street ringing a bell all day. The funds go to the needy—needy as in him. Duncan wants revenge, and he wants the ransom money. But Duncan isn’t exactly the sharpest knife in the drawer… he has no idea how to do a proper kidnapping.
Thoughts: A JOLLY GOOD FELLOW was really cute. It made me laugh, it made me smile, it had its nerve-wracking moments. It’s right in between a 3/5 and a 4 on the scale for me. The reason why is this—the plot was awesome, very unique, original, and very cute, the characters were hilarious and enchanting, but it was a little slow through the first three quarters of the book. Not that it dragged, just that it felt like the last section was fast paced, and the rest was slower and more relaxed, and those two things didn’t go well together and didn’t transition well.
I laughed a lot while I read A JOLLY GOOD FELLOW. If I had to pick a category, I’d choose comedy. It was cute and funny and a little silly, but silly in a good fun-to-read way.
The characters’ dialogue was written so that you could hear their voices in your head when they spoke. I loved hearing their accents while I read, it gave a lot of life to them. Duncan and Gabriel were very animated. Gabriel (the kid) was so full of life and energy. He was also very real. He acted the way a normal kid his age would act, he wasn’t a “perfect” child, an unrealistic character.
Content: There were a few bad words scattered throughout the book, but not much. Duncan went to the triple-X rated movie one night, but nothing was described. All in all, this was a very clean book.
Recommendation: Ages 14+ to anyone who wants a good holiday laugh. I stayed up pretty late reading this one because I couldn’t put it down. I can’t wait for more from Stephen Masse.
*This book won the INDEPENDEND PUBLISHING BOOK AWARD*
**Thanks to Pump Up Your Book for my review copy!**
Genre: Fiction, Comedy, sort of Crime Fiction but not really
Rating: 3.75/5
Summary: Duncan is driving to the kids house. He has a plan—he’s going to kidnap him. But then he sees the kid hitchhiking in the snow. What better way to kidnap someone that to pick him up off the road and offer him a ride? Duncan dresses up as Santa Clause and sits on the street ringing a bell all day. The funds go to the needy—needy as in him. Duncan wants revenge, and he wants the ransom money. But Duncan isn’t exactly the sharpest knife in the drawer… he has no idea how to do a proper kidnapping.
Thoughts: A JOLLY GOOD FELLOW was really cute. It made me laugh, it made me smile, it had its nerve-wracking moments. It’s right in between a 3/5 and a 4 on the scale for me. The reason why is this—the plot was awesome, very unique, original, and very cute, the characters were hilarious and enchanting, but it was a little slow through the first three quarters of the book. Not that it dragged, just that it felt like the last section was fast paced, and the rest was slower and more relaxed, and those two things didn’t go well together and didn’t transition well.
I laughed a lot while I read A JOLLY GOOD FELLOW. If I had to pick a category, I’d choose comedy. It was cute and funny and a little silly, but silly in a good fun-to-read way.
The characters’ dialogue was written so that you could hear their voices in your head when they spoke. I loved hearing their accents while I read, it gave a lot of life to them. Duncan and Gabriel were very animated. Gabriel (the kid) was so full of life and energy. He was also very real. He acted the way a normal kid his age would act, he wasn’t a “perfect” child, an unrealistic character.
Content: There were a few bad words scattered throughout the book, but not much. Duncan went to the triple-X rated movie one night, but nothing was described. All in all, this was a very clean book.
Recommendation: Ages 14+ to anyone who wants a good holiday laugh. I stayed up pretty late reading this one because I couldn’t put it down. I can’t wait for more from Stephen Masse.
*This book won the INDEPENDEND PUBLISHING BOOK AWARD*
**Thanks to Pump Up Your Book for my review copy!**
Joe Goldberg works in a bookstore in New York. One day, a gorgeous girl walks into his store, and Joe is immediately transfixed. She charms Joe in their brief encounter and so he searches for the name he saw when he swiped her credit card. He lucks out, easily finding Guinevere Beck all over the Internet. In fact, she seems to live a great deal of her life publicly on Facebook and Twitter, allowing Joe to digitally watch her from afar. But quickly, Joe begins to actually watch "Beck," as he learns she is called: hiding outside her apartment and eventually arranging a chance encounter. Beck and Joe's lives quickly become entwined, as Joe becomes more and more obsessed with his perfect girl. Beck thinks Joe could be the ideal boyfriend, and he's determined to be just that: no matter what it takes.
Oh my, I have some mixed feelings about this book, but ultimately wound up rating it 4 stars simply because I just couldn't put it down, and I don't think I will stop thinking about it anytime soon. I actually found myself feeling suspicious of other people during and after reading it, as if being watched -- that's how good Kepnes was at weaving her tale of stalking and obsession. Joe is a fascinating character, and you become almost immediately sucked into his delusions. The book is told from his point of view, and it's written as if he's speaking directly to Beck. Once you become used to that, it's compulsively readable.
This is not a book full of characters with whom you will love and empathize. Now I admit that there were times that Joe felt so normal that you forgot he's basically batshit insane, and sometimes Beck herself (the victim, you have to remind yourself) is pretty terrible, too. This is a book about awful people doing terrible things to everyone in their lives. It's dirty (Joe's brain is not a pretty place) and dark, so dark. It dragged a little bit for me about 3/4 through (it's a pretty long book), but picked up very quickly as it neared the end.
In the end, I found this book to be amazingly intense. I continued to have complicated feelings for Joe up until the last pages. The novel is certainly a warning about our digital age and how easy it is to have your digital footprint (and subsequent actual life) invaded. It's also a twisted story of obsession. It will keep you turning the pages late into the night (with the curtains CLOSED).
Oh my, I have some mixed feelings about this book, but ultimately wound up rating it 4 stars simply because I just couldn't put it down, and I don't think I will stop thinking about it anytime soon. I actually found myself feeling suspicious of other people during and after reading it, as if being watched -- that's how good Kepnes was at weaving her tale of stalking and obsession. Joe is a fascinating character, and you become almost immediately sucked into his delusions. The book is told from his point of view, and it's written as if he's speaking directly to Beck. Once you become used to that, it's compulsively readable.
This is not a book full of characters with whom you will love and empathize. Now I admit that there were times that Joe felt so normal that you forgot he's basically batshit insane, and sometimes Beck herself (the victim, you have to remind yourself) is pretty terrible, too. This is a book about awful people doing terrible things to everyone in their lives. It's dirty (Joe's brain is not a pretty place) and dark, so dark. It dragged a little bit for me about 3/4 through (it's a pretty long book), but picked up very quickly as it neared the end.
In the end, I found this book to be amazingly intense. I continued to have complicated feelings for Joe up until the last pages. The novel is certainly a warning about our digital age and how easy it is to have your digital footprint (and subsequent actual life) invaded. It's also a twisted story of obsession. It will keep you turning the pages late into the night (with the curtains CLOSED).
Jemma Walsh (81 KP) rated Gone Girl in Books
Aug 31, 2018
A good twist (1 more)
Characters and their backgrounds
Weak ending (1 more)
Slightly long winded
It was ok! I liked the twist.
Contains spoilers, click to show
Firstly I apologise for any spelling mistakes.
Luckily I borrowed this book, always lured in by “thriller of the year” but honestly if I had paid for the book I would feel more unsatified, maybe I like gory crime books more, always expeting the worst outcome in the worst way ...
Begins this book enjoying the where had Amy gone!? My wife is missing, thinking “ohhh where will she turn up?” With her side of the story about how things weren’t so great, nick hiding thing from the police being secretive.. the book clearly pinning what happened to Amy on the husband but that’s always to obvious... half way through this book I started to get bored, thinking when will something thrilling happen, that’s right this book has three parts!
I’m trying to work out what’s happen to Amy, maybe Go has done something? ( Go? What a strange way to spell it, made it hard for ready to for naturally, Brian is constantly debating go or Jo?) or maybe did nicks fatehr do something seeing as her a confused angry man.... oh man was I so far off!
Then I get the the second part and finally I feel somewhat satisfied! At last what a great twist to the story! Got me totally hooked when I was so close to calling it quits! How could she do that to nick! All them months of dedicated planning and Scheming, to see how all the pieces fell into place, realising how insane Amy was, and for her “logical reasoning”
Then you get to part three, and again it gets abit dull but your so far in you need to finnish it rather than quite so you keep checking how much more you have left to ready, come on!
The ending is just “so,so” they could have done so much more! The detective could have come across some evidence to show that desi had an alibi during the time Amy went “missing” I feel like tommy and Hillary should have gotten justice, and then the ending is just nothing they clearly live their lives together the end ? Just not closed up enough for my likings,
So my Rating Is low because for a thriller of the year and the addictive no1 is bestseller I had higher expectations and felt so disappointed and underwhelmed, over the story line is good and I enjoyed the characters, but not that thrilling
Luckily I borrowed this book, always lured in by “thriller of the year” but honestly if I had paid for the book I would feel more unsatified, maybe I like gory crime books more, always expeting the worst outcome in the worst way ...
Begins this book enjoying the where had Amy gone!? My wife is missing, thinking “ohhh where will she turn up?” With her side of the story about how things weren’t so great, nick hiding thing from the police being secretive.. the book clearly pinning what happened to Amy on the husband but that’s always to obvious... half way through this book I started to get bored, thinking when will something thrilling happen, that’s right this book has three parts!
I’m trying to work out what’s happen to Amy, maybe Go has done something? ( Go? What a strange way to spell it, made it hard for ready to for naturally, Brian is constantly debating go or Jo?) or maybe did nicks fatehr do something seeing as her a confused angry man.... oh man was I so far off!
Then I get the the second part and finally I feel somewhat satisfied! At last what a great twist to the story! Got me totally hooked when I was so close to calling it quits! How could she do that to nick! All them months of dedicated planning and Scheming, to see how all the pieces fell into place, realising how insane Amy was, and for her “logical reasoning”
Then you get to part three, and again it gets abit dull but your so far in you need to finnish it rather than quite so you keep checking how much more you have left to ready, come on!
The ending is just “so,so” they could have done so much more! The detective could have come across some evidence to show that desi had an alibi during the time Amy went “missing” I feel like tommy and Hillary should have gotten justice, and then the ending is just nothing they clearly live their lives together the end ? Just not closed up enough for my likings,
So my Rating Is low because for a thriller of the year and the addictive no1 is bestseller I had higher expectations and felt so disappointed and underwhelmed, over the story line is good and I enjoyed the characters, but not that thrilling