Search
Kara Skinner (332 KP) rated Lady Danger in Books
Jun 12, 2019
Genre: Historical
Page Count: 368 pages
Average Goodreads Rating: 3.88/5 stars
My rating: 3.5/5 stars
When the Norman king gives Pagan the Rivenloch keep and a daughter of the current laird for a wife, he knows it’s too good to be true. Not only is Rivenloch’s laird suffering from dementia, but the two oldest daughters are not content to take on house-making duties like most women. Instead they are skilled fighters who command Rivenloch’s army. It isn’t long before Pagan realizes why the king chose him for Rivenloch. Only the strongest, most hardened men could conquer the Warrior Maids of Rivenloch.
Deidre isn’t about to give up her power to some Norman, even if he is supposed to be their ally. She’ll marry him to spare her sisters, but that doesn’t mean she’ll make it easy for him. She’ll conquer the Norman before he realizes it.
This book took awhile to get good, but I have to admit, both Pagan and Deidre have very realistic reactions and feelings considering the situation. Pagan comes from a very misogynistic society, so female warriors are unnatural to him. And Deidre sees Pagan as another enemy invading her territory and taking control. But their irrationality them makes them unlikeable at times.
I liked them, then I didn’t. Then I liked them again. Pagan’s devout honor and chivalry is admirable. Although he thinks in terms like “taming” and “conquering” Deidre, he would never actually force her or hurt her in any way. Nor does he want women to fear him. Seeing Miriel, the youngest sister, scared of him made him feel sick. Despite his flawed yet historically accurate upbringing, he does see the value in Deidre and Helena knowing how to fight after learning about the dangers they faced. But there’s so much misogyny in him. He actually thought Deidre would prefer having a man protect her than protecting herself, and he forbid her from sparring.
Of course, Deidre resents all the changes Pagan makes to Rivenloch, even though they were changes that desperately needed to be made. She also has deeply misguided views about sex and men. She planned to control Pagan through his lust by withholding sex, even denying her own desires. During this time, she considered him beating her and forcing her, but the idea that he would commit adultery never occurred to her, even though she repeatedly told him that she would never want him. However, I did enjoy watching Pagan’s massive ego get checked.
They drove me crazy, even though their emotions were realistic. However, after they put their absurdities aside and started working together, the story immediately improved. I loved them working in harmony and the fight scenes at the end were fantastic. Lady Danger is lame at first, but is worth the wait. Medieval romance fans will enjoy this book.
Page Count: 368 pages
Average Goodreads Rating: 3.88/5 stars
My rating: 3.5/5 stars
When the Norman king gives Pagan the Rivenloch keep and a daughter of the current laird for a wife, he knows it’s too good to be true. Not only is Rivenloch’s laird suffering from dementia, but the two oldest daughters are not content to take on house-making duties like most women. Instead they are skilled fighters who command Rivenloch’s army. It isn’t long before Pagan realizes why the king chose him for Rivenloch. Only the strongest, most hardened men could conquer the Warrior Maids of Rivenloch.
Deidre isn’t about to give up her power to some Norman, even if he is supposed to be their ally. She’ll marry him to spare her sisters, but that doesn’t mean she’ll make it easy for him. She’ll conquer the Norman before he realizes it.
This book took awhile to get good, but I have to admit, both Pagan and Deidre have very realistic reactions and feelings considering the situation. Pagan comes from a very misogynistic society, so female warriors are unnatural to him. And Deidre sees Pagan as another enemy invading her territory and taking control. But their irrationality them makes them unlikeable at times.
I liked them, then I didn’t. Then I liked them again. Pagan’s devout honor and chivalry is admirable. Although he thinks in terms like “taming” and “conquering” Deidre, he would never actually force her or hurt her in any way. Nor does he want women to fear him. Seeing Miriel, the youngest sister, scared of him made him feel sick. Despite his flawed yet historically accurate upbringing, he does see the value in Deidre and Helena knowing how to fight after learning about the dangers they faced. But there’s so much misogyny in him. He actually thought Deidre would prefer having a man protect her than protecting herself, and he forbid her from sparring.
Of course, Deidre resents all the changes Pagan makes to Rivenloch, even though they were changes that desperately needed to be made. She also has deeply misguided views about sex and men. She planned to control Pagan through his lust by withholding sex, even denying her own desires. During this time, she considered him beating her and forcing her, but the idea that he would commit adultery never occurred to her, even though she repeatedly told him that she would never want him. However, I did enjoy watching Pagan’s massive ego get checked.
They drove me crazy, even though their emotions were realistic. However, after they put their absurdities aside and started working together, the story immediately improved. I loved them working in harmony and the fight scenes at the end were fantastic. Lady Danger is lame at first, but is worth the wait. Medieval romance fans will enjoy this book.
Tracy Anderson's 30-Day Method
Genre: Exercise
ISBN: 9780446562041
Published:September 20th 2010 by Grand Central Life & Style
Rating: 4.5
When reviewing fitness books, I look for books that tell the reader how to fully use their bodies. I really like Anderson's method for two reasons:
1. She knows muscles. She knows how they work, she knows how to train them. In the book, the concept of using certain muscles to perform an exercise is clearly explained. This is a crucial part of muscle training.
2. She had a good balance between aerobic exercise and anaerobic exercise, and she has put them together in a good way.
Anderson was a dancer, she also took Pilates (the right way) and I could see both of those influences in her method. Don't get scared away by that—even if you've never seen the inside of a ballet studio, you'd be just fine working her method! But there is a reason that it is said that dancers are the athletes of God: because they are. Combining cardio (aerobic exercise) with Pilates (conditioning) and dance (alternating engage-disengage exercise to increase stamina) is the perfect combination for weight loss and muscle toning.
Now how to get there if you have never experienced any of that?
Anderson breaks the book down into different sections. The exercise portion, where she fully explains every stretch, position, and movement, is well described for the absolute beginner. More athletic users or advanced athletes would benefit also, but they wouldn't have to read the descriptions of the movements in their entirety.
The DVD is very good: It features Anderson working the exercises in the book enough time to hear the description, see all the details, and do it yourself.
There is also a section in the book with some great meals. The first section is a very thorough introduction that I do not recommend skipping! You'll learn tons about your body! I was also amazed at how much research Anderson did to create this method.
The only thing I don't like: The cardio routine has no verbiage. I expected some talking, either voiceover or real time, with some counting or some description of what you should be doing. However, it was just music and Anderson dancing. It would take me, who has been dancing for almost five years, two or three times doing the DVD to get the combination. It would be a lot more difficult and confusing for someone who doesn't have practice taking what they see and converting it for themselves.
The other thing I wanted to see more of was proper stretching techniques. I honestly have yet to find a book that explains how to properly stretch without injury (it is possible!). My recommendation to anyone who uses this awesome program: stretch well. Stretch correctly. Get a dancer or a sports doctor to give you advice if you need it.
Recommendation: Ages 14+ for anyone serious. This program takes time, energy, and commitment. If you can't commit to about two hours of your day, it's not for you. If you use the program, make sure you follow instructions very carefully to avoid injury! doing exercises incorrectly is a very fast way to end up in the physical therapists office (I can tell you that from personal experience, though not experience from this book).
Genre: Exercise
ISBN: 9780446562041
Published:September 20th 2010 by Grand Central Life & Style
Rating: 4.5
When reviewing fitness books, I look for books that tell the reader how to fully use their bodies. I really like Anderson's method for two reasons:
1. She knows muscles. She knows how they work, she knows how to train them. In the book, the concept of using certain muscles to perform an exercise is clearly explained. This is a crucial part of muscle training.
2. She had a good balance between aerobic exercise and anaerobic exercise, and she has put them together in a good way.
Anderson was a dancer, she also took Pilates (the right way) and I could see both of those influences in her method. Don't get scared away by that—even if you've never seen the inside of a ballet studio, you'd be just fine working her method! But there is a reason that it is said that dancers are the athletes of God: because they are. Combining cardio (aerobic exercise) with Pilates (conditioning) and dance (alternating engage-disengage exercise to increase stamina) is the perfect combination for weight loss and muscle toning.
Now how to get there if you have never experienced any of that?
Anderson breaks the book down into different sections. The exercise portion, where she fully explains every stretch, position, and movement, is well described for the absolute beginner. More athletic users or advanced athletes would benefit also, but they wouldn't have to read the descriptions of the movements in their entirety.
The DVD is very good: It features Anderson working the exercises in the book enough time to hear the description, see all the details, and do it yourself.
There is also a section in the book with some great meals. The first section is a very thorough introduction that I do not recommend skipping! You'll learn tons about your body! I was also amazed at how much research Anderson did to create this method.
The only thing I don't like: The cardio routine has no verbiage. I expected some talking, either voiceover or real time, with some counting or some description of what you should be doing. However, it was just music and Anderson dancing. It would take me, who has been dancing for almost five years, two or three times doing the DVD to get the combination. It would be a lot more difficult and confusing for someone who doesn't have practice taking what they see and converting it for themselves.
The other thing I wanted to see more of was proper stretching techniques. I honestly have yet to find a book that explains how to properly stretch without injury (it is possible!). My recommendation to anyone who uses this awesome program: stretch well. Stretch correctly. Get a dancer or a sports doctor to give you advice if you need it.
Recommendation: Ages 14+ for anyone serious. This program takes time, energy, and commitment. If you can't commit to about two hours of your day, it's not for you. If you use the program, make sure you follow instructions very carefully to avoid injury! doing exercises incorrectly is a very fast way to end up in the physical therapists office (I can tell you that from personal experience, though not experience from this book).
Jessica - Where the Book Ends (15 KP) rated All the Bright Places in Books
Jan 30, 2019
First let me start by saying that though I try to do spoiler free reviews I don’t know if I can do that with this one, so read this review at your own risk. People may not like my review of this book, and that’s okay. To be honest I don’t really like my review of this book, but it’s how I feel and I can’t change that. I desperately wanted to love these characters, but I didn’t. So, lets start with what I did like…
I loved the premise of the story. I loved the feels that the circumstances the characters dealt with gave me. But that’s about it…
For me, the characters were flat. They didn’t show enough emotion given the situations that they dealt with in their lives. Violet doesn’t show much emotion around the death of her sister, the death of Finch, the way her family doesn’t talk about Elenore, the way her friends treat her or Finch. Finch is just as bad, he doesn’t show much emotion over the demise of his family, or the way his dad treats him, and not about the fact that his mom is just a shell who drinks wine and doesn’t care about her children. They bottle it up and that leaves the reader with nothing to relate to, or feel. Feelings your characters have is a way for you to reach out to your reader and pull them in. Make them want more. Essentially, you’re their feels dealer and you must give them the first hit to pull them in and keep them coming back for more. In order for you to do that you have to have some emotion for the reader.
There is so much going on with these characters and I don’t feel like the author even touches it. I understand that teen suicide is the main focus of the story, but there is more to it than that. The bipolar disorder, and anxiety, depression, they are just mentioned almost as a way to explain how the characters may have gotten to that point. The book just kind of ends and there is no epilogue to tie up how the characters are doing. Finches parents, where did Violet go to school, did her online magazine take off. There was so much I was left wondering.
I was told by several people that this book was a must read and that I would love it. I guess my over-all thoughts were that for me this book was lacking. I expected and wanted so much more from this book and these characters, and at the end of the day it just didn’t do it for me. So, I’m giving this a 3 star rating. This is a subject that should be read about and should more prevalent. There needs to be an awareness amongst teens about suicide. They need to be told about the signs and what to do if you think someone you know is contemplating suicide.
Most importantly remember if you’re ever in crisis and you need someone to talk to just text 741741 which is the number for the Crisis Text Line. You will be able to speak with a trained Crisis Counselor.
I loved the premise of the story. I loved the feels that the circumstances the characters dealt with gave me. But that’s about it…
For me, the characters were flat. They didn’t show enough emotion given the situations that they dealt with in their lives. Violet doesn’t show much emotion around the death of her sister, the death of Finch, the way her family doesn’t talk about Elenore, the way her friends treat her or Finch. Finch is just as bad, he doesn’t show much emotion over the demise of his family, or the way his dad treats him, and not about the fact that his mom is just a shell who drinks wine and doesn’t care about her children. They bottle it up and that leaves the reader with nothing to relate to, or feel. Feelings your characters have is a way for you to reach out to your reader and pull them in. Make them want more. Essentially, you’re their feels dealer and you must give them the first hit to pull them in and keep them coming back for more. In order for you to do that you have to have some emotion for the reader.
There is so much going on with these characters and I don’t feel like the author even touches it. I understand that teen suicide is the main focus of the story, but there is more to it than that. The bipolar disorder, and anxiety, depression, they are just mentioned almost as a way to explain how the characters may have gotten to that point. The book just kind of ends and there is no epilogue to tie up how the characters are doing. Finches parents, where did Violet go to school, did her online magazine take off. There was so much I was left wondering.
I was told by several people that this book was a must read and that I would love it. I guess my over-all thoughts were that for me this book was lacking. I expected and wanted so much more from this book and these characters, and at the end of the day it just didn’t do it for me. So, I’m giving this a 3 star rating. This is a subject that should be read about and should more prevalent. There needs to be an awareness amongst teens about suicide. They need to be told about the signs and what to do if you think someone you know is contemplating suicide.
Most importantly remember if you’re ever in crisis and you need someone to talk to just text 741741 which is the number for the Crisis Text Line. You will be able to speak with a trained Crisis Counselor.
Natacha (374 KP) rated The Rose and the Thorn (The Riyria Chronicles, #2) in Books
Oct 19, 2019
As soon as I finished the first book I immediately order this book. I couldn't wait to dive back into this world and follow Hadrian's and Royce's adventures. And as you can tell by my rating I didn't like it as much as the first one.
[Warning this review contain spoilers]
Things I liked:
-It was so nice to be back with the boys, their dynamic and their friendship. I can't get enough of it.
-The book was a little more focused on Royce this time instead of Hadrian. I tend to have a little soft spot for the "broken" man trope, hence I love Royce (I need to point out that I don't like the "broken" man trope that uses his past as an excuse to be a d*ck and borderline abusive to his love interest). And do you know what I like even more than the "broken" man trope? The "broken" man that put his guard down for the woman he loves. I like that Royce was sweet and nice to Gwen and to her only, and then take his knives out and cut anyone that dares to hurt her. I loved seeing him trying to hide his feeling and yet being so obvious. My heart melted.
-Reuben was also a sweetheart. I like his character overall and his arc. The mystery around his mother kept me guessing
-I was pleasantly surprised to see the relationship between Reuben and the Price being genuine. When this subplot started I would have bet that the Price will end up being a jerk to Reuben and use him for his own purposes but it didn't go that way.
-The plot was interesting and fast pace. There were twists I guessed from the get-go and others I didn't see it coming. Also from what I gathered from other reviews and discussions in this book, we have a lot of characters that are also present in the original series The Riyria Revelations and I think readers who have read the first series will appreciate that.
Things I didn't like:
Unfortunately, there were two major points that kind of ruined my enjoyment a little.
-I picked this book because I wanted more Hadrian and Royce adventures. But this story felt very, very much Reuben's once instead. We spent so many pages following him that I was counting the chapters until we go back to my two beloved characters. I felt like their story was just a subplot.
-Because the story of Hadrian and Royce felt like a subplot I was expecting at the end the two stories to connect in an epic way that will redeem the fact that I spent so little time with them. But it didn't. In the end, although the stories where connected (Hadrian and Royce looking for Rose and Reuben I knew were Rose was) it didn't matter. No matter what Hadrian and Royce did it barely affected the story main story. [SPOILER] They didn't save Rose and they didn't kill the guy that killed her. The only thing they did is scared another character and force him to protect Gwen and her business. What? That's it? If you take them out of the book it will make no difference and won't really affect Reuben's story. I don't know, maybe I missed something but I was left disappointed.
[Warning this review contain spoilers]
Things I liked:
-It was so nice to be back with the boys, their dynamic and their friendship. I can't get enough of it.
-The book was a little more focused on Royce this time instead of Hadrian. I tend to have a little soft spot for the "broken" man trope, hence I love Royce (I need to point out that I don't like the "broken" man trope that uses his past as an excuse to be a d*ck and borderline abusive to his love interest). And do you know what I like even more than the "broken" man trope? The "broken" man that put his guard down for the woman he loves. I like that Royce was sweet and nice to Gwen and to her only, and then take his knives out and cut anyone that dares to hurt her. I loved seeing him trying to hide his feeling and yet being so obvious. My heart melted.
-Reuben was also a sweetheart. I like his character overall and his arc. The mystery around his mother kept me guessing
-I was pleasantly surprised to see the relationship between Reuben and the Price being genuine. When this subplot started I would have bet that the Price will end up being a jerk to Reuben and use him for his own purposes but it didn't go that way.
-The plot was interesting and fast pace. There were twists I guessed from the get-go and others I didn't see it coming. Also from what I gathered from other reviews and discussions in this book, we have a lot of characters that are also present in the original series The Riyria Revelations and I think readers who have read the first series will appreciate that.
Things I didn't like:
Unfortunately, there were two major points that kind of ruined my enjoyment a little.
-I picked this book because I wanted more Hadrian and Royce adventures. But this story felt very, very much Reuben's once instead. We spent so many pages following him that I was counting the chapters until we go back to my two beloved characters. I felt like their story was just a subplot.
-Because the story of Hadrian and Royce felt like a subplot I was expecting at the end the two stories to connect in an epic way that will redeem the fact that I spent so little time with them. But it didn't. In the end, although the stories where connected (Hadrian and Royce looking for Rose and Reuben I knew were Rose was) it didn't matter. No matter what Hadrian and Royce did it barely affected the story main story. [SPOILER] They didn't save Rose and they didn't kill the guy that killed her. The only thing they did is scared another character and force him to protect Gwen and her business. What? That's it? If you take them out of the book it will make no difference and won't really affect Reuben's story. I don't know, maybe I missed something but I was left disappointed.
Christine A. (965 KP) rated What She Saw in Books
Jun 15, 2019
Slow burn, debut novel
I was provided with a complimentary copy of this book so I could give an honest review.
In What She Saw by Wendy Clarke, you meet Leona, a loving and extremely protective mother of teenaged Beth. They do everything together, absolutely everything. They seem to be perfect and have the perfect life. Of course, things are not always what they seem. Leona and Beth both have secrets which they keep from each other and from everyone else. The question asked is, "how far will a mother go to keep her child safe?"
What She Saw is a slow burn which I had difficulty getting into. However, since I did, I could not put it down. I was a Psychology major and am a sucker for when a character meeting with a psychologist partly reveals the story.
The story uses flashbacks and the present. It starts slow but is suspenseful and well-written.
According to Goodreads, Clarke has published over three hundred short stories published in national women's magazines, and this is her debut novel. As of 6/13/19, it has a rating of 4.25 out of 5. Most of the ratings are 5 stars, and none are 1 star. For a debut novel, that is quite impressive.
I am looking forward to reading more by Wendy Clarke.
This review was published on Philomathinphila.com on 6/15/19.
In What She Saw by Wendy Clarke, you meet Leona, a loving and extremely protective mother of teenaged Beth. They do everything together, absolutely everything. They seem to be perfect and have the perfect life. Of course, things are not always what they seem. Leona and Beth both have secrets which they keep from each other and from everyone else. The question asked is, "how far will a mother go to keep her child safe?"
What She Saw is a slow burn which I had difficulty getting into. However, since I did, I could not put it down. I was a Psychology major and am a sucker for when a character meeting with a psychologist partly reveals the story.
The story uses flashbacks and the present. It starts slow but is suspenseful and well-written.
According to Goodreads, Clarke has published over three hundred short stories published in national women's magazines, and this is her debut novel. As of 6/13/19, it has a rating of 4.25 out of 5. Most of the ratings are 5 stars, and none are 1 star. For a debut novel, that is quite impressive.
I am looking forward to reading more by Wendy Clarke.
This review was published on Philomathinphila.com on 6/15/19.
ashezbookz (32 KP) rated The Gifted (A Joanne Kilbourn Mystery #14) in Books
Jul 5, 2018
Mid range rating - I think I would have found it more entertaining had I read the first books in the series as I was a little lost with all of the characters and all of the names being thrown around - there was a LOT of people in this book.
Overall it was alright - there were moments that were suspenseful and that was fun, there were moments that were glaringly obvious (the whodunit was not as fun as it was a wee bit obvious to me) but the surprise was cool at some moments.
I think the art aspect was cool too, I havent read many books that were heavy in that, though it was also heavy in politics and I didn't like that much.
I also didn't like the authors repetitive use of landmarks/streets/city names - using the city name repeatedly in just a few pages was excessive to me, I get you were trying to make this hometown based or saskatchewan based (believe me I'm from Saskatoon, shout out to the "small towns") but excessive use of Regina and the house address was just frustratingly annoying. There was also the reference to November 24th and plus 10.. have you lived in Saskatchewan?? it's November 22 today and it's going to be -11 feels like -18 .. and the Riders have you seen a game...........that's all I have to say about that one *snort*
Overall it was alright - there were moments that were suspenseful and that was fun, there were moments that were glaringly obvious (the whodunit was not as fun as it was a wee bit obvious to me) but the surprise was cool at some moments.
I think the art aspect was cool too, I havent read many books that were heavy in that, though it was also heavy in politics and I didn't like that much.
I also didn't like the authors repetitive use of landmarks/streets/city names - using the city name repeatedly in just a few pages was excessive to me, I get you were trying to make this hometown based or saskatchewan based (believe me I'm from Saskatoon, shout out to the "small towns") but excessive use of Regina and the house address was just frustratingly annoying. There was also the reference to November 24th and plus 10.. have you lived in Saskatchewan?? it's November 22 today and it's going to be -11 feels like -18 .. and the Riders have you seen a game...........that's all I have to say about that one *snort*
Alice (12 KP) rated Untamed (Uninhibited, #1) in Books
Jul 3, 2018
Actual rating: 3.5 stars.
<i>Many thanks to the publisher for providing me with an advanced reading copy in exchange for an honest review. </i>
I was a little dubious reading this little serial as I've not read anything by the author before and I generally don't read 5 star reviews because of personal choices.
Going into <i>Untamed </i> I was pleasantly surprised by the way it was written. I had expected it to be a quick serial number with little going on and a quick steamy sex scene but there was plenty happening in this serial.
Dr Cari Dunn is a celebrity architect with a stalker. A pretty crazy stalker as stalkers are want to be. The network she does a TV show for hires a bodyguard to protect her - queue Jasper. A sinfully hot male with an alpha streak - just how I like my males!
As it's a pretty short price of writing everything meshes together nicely with a wickedly good sex scene and a great cliffhanger that leaves the series open for the next instalment which is released a week after this one.
I think the one big thing that put me off a bit was the mention of Christian Grey. Those are two words that will put me off any book but thankfully he was only mentioned once in passing.
We'll see where the next part takes us in this ride.
<i>Many thanks to the publisher for providing me with an advanced reading copy in exchange for an honest review. </i>
I was a little dubious reading this little serial as I've not read anything by the author before and I generally don't read 5 star reviews because of personal choices.
Going into <i>Untamed </i> I was pleasantly surprised by the way it was written. I had expected it to be a quick serial number with little going on and a quick steamy sex scene but there was plenty happening in this serial.
Dr Cari Dunn is a celebrity architect with a stalker. A pretty crazy stalker as stalkers are want to be. The network she does a TV show for hires a bodyguard to protect her - queue Jasper. A sinfully hot male with an alpha streak - just how I like my males!
As it's a pretty short price of writing everything meshes together nicely with a wickedly good sex scene and a great cliffhanger that leaves the series open for the next instalment which is released a week after this one.
I think the one big thing that put me off a bit was the mention of Christian Grey. Those are two words that will put me off any book but thankfully he was only mentioned once in passing.
We'll see where the next part takes us in this ride.
Eleanor Luhar (47 KP) rated The Disappearances (The Killables, #2) in Books
Jun 24, 2019
This is the sequel to Gemma Malley's The Killables which I read recently. It consists of the same characters as before, such as Raffy, Linus, Lucas, Evie, the Brother, and also some extra characters. It, obviously, takes place after the System has been shut down - this having caused some issues, such as the Disappearances.
This is written in a rather different way to the previous book, in that it is told from different viewpoints and even during different time periods. The reader must piece together what is happening without it being explained to them, and how it's relevant to the plot. We're given insights to the start of the Horrors and the past lives of some of the characters.
I was honestly quite surprised with how dark this was quite early on; I was expecting the Disappearances to have a happy ending, not the pile of bodies that is actually given. Personally, this made it more thrilling and exciting, though.
The love triangle is slightly irritating, as all YA love triangles are. But I like that Raffy has his issues - anger and possessive issues, in fact, which is a very real problem for many people. And the backstories of the characters make them so much more real and lovable.
I think I prefer this to the previous novel, if only just a bit. I think 4 stars is a good rating for this.
This is written in a rather different way to the previous book, in that it is told from different viewpoints and even during different time periods. The reader must piece together what is happening without it being explained to them, and how it's relevant to the plot. We're given insights to the start of the Horrors and the past lives of some of the characters.
I was honestly quite surprised with how dark this was quite early on; I was expecting the Disappearances to have a happy ending, not the pile of bodies that is actually given. Personally, this made it more thrilling and exciting, though.
The love triangle is slightly irritating, as all YA love triangles are. But I like that Raffy has his issues - anger and possessive issues, in fact, which is a very real problem for many people. And the backstories of the characters make them so much more real and lovable.
I think I prefer this to the previous novel, if only just a bit. I think 4 stars is a good rating for this.
Chess - tChess Pro
Games and Entertainment
App
tChess Pro is the high-quality, critically acclaimed chess game with the richest features for the...
GoMore – rental & ridesharing
Travel
App
Your must-have free travel app! Ridesharing and peer-to-peer car rental right in your pocket. -...