I’m reading authors that I didn’t enjoy the first time, and seeing if another of their books proves it was a one off. So let’s do this!

Jennifer Lynn Barnes

First Book – The Inheritance Games

4 stars

Interesting puzzles. Fun characters. Solid writing style.
Characters certainly hit the buzz words/characteristics – independent “don’tneedaman” women, “diversity” “broodingandsensitive” and “imamazingbutdontrealisetheyallcareforme”

A personal dislike was the few mentions every so often of new age references.

Second Book – The Hawthorne Legacy

3.5 stars

Intriguing puzzles and more complex personal dynamics than ever before.
It’s been a while since I had read book 1, but I picked up where I left off pretty well. Short and sharp chapters, clever and always keeping you guessing.

Summary

I know what you’re thinking, why did I have to give a second chance for a book I rated 4 stars! Well, it’s because I completely wiped this author off my list after this book. Honestly, it was not a decision that I recall. Ultimately, I liked continuing the series and I think I will indeed come back to this author again.

Matthew Reilly

First book: Cobolt Blue

1 star

Potential, but disappointing follow through. 

This book was power rangers meets superhero bloodbath. 

It was violently unnecessary and way too quick. No development of characters or world, instead one of the most annoying parts. 

This book is almost entirely ‘flashback’ driven. It’s almost all info dump flashbacks instead of cleverly weaved world building and information provided as the story progresses. 

The author couldn’t have screamed ‘Gold is the GAY character’ any louder – so much so that he became a characature instead of a real person. You can actually write gay characters without screaming it from the rooftop every time you mention them. 

A thoroughly disgusting portrayal of a Christian (most of us ARE NOT like that), which was totally unnecessary. 

This was short but certainly not sweet. It was irritating at the lack of depth and development. It felt like someone edited out half the story and just left the action scenes and random exposition. 

Second book: Hover Car Racer

5 stars
I loved the look not just at racing, but racing hover cars at a pro level, with an underdog team. The racing school and all other races were great, I loved the dynamics between characters and racers.
Special place in my heart for The Bug who was a quirky addition to the team, and it was a really fun time all around.
I wasn’t sure if the racing would lose my attention, but because of the hover car element it actually kept it quite well. The way the races were set out and described was fascinating.

Summary

I was not impressed with Matthew’s book Cobolt Blue – which was a superhero novella. The second story I tried however, Hover Car Racer, was my first five star read in quite a while. It was fast, fun and full of action and adventure. I’m glad I said yes to this second chance!

Taylor Jenkins Reid

First book: Daisy Jones and the Six

2 stars

I’m going to try and condense my review to short and sharp with no spoilers… so here we go.
Lots of drug abuse and sexual references.
Selfish characters who were horrible to each other and I didn’t feel sorry for any of them.
The writing structure of interview was fun, and it was an easy style to get through quickly, but that wasn’t enough to save it from me.
Some of the trigger warnings should be noted and I will include them here:

Content Warning: drug abuse; sexual references and content; abortion; domestic abuse; alcoholism; cursing

Second book: Carrie Soto Is Back

3.5 stars

I quite liked this one. I had tried other TJR books and not enjoyed it but this one was actually a good read for me.

No objectionable content outside of the unlikable main character (purposely written that way) who was such a bad sport/sore loser that it was pretty much insufferable but outside of that, you root for an unlikable person. I suppose because she’s the only one to root for because she’s the only tennis star we really know a lot about (outside of her male counterpart).

The tennis stuff was pretty uninteresting for me (not a sport girlie) but not so bad that I couldn’t continue on – palpable, which was nice.

Even though we had an unlikable character who was a shocking sport, self destructive and basically earned the name she was labelled, somehow it was still an enjoyable read. I can’t quite put my finger on why… I think it’s chalked up to being well written and not pushing the boundaries of unlikable too far. We did get somewhat redemptive information revealed and maybe that’s why I ended up finishing this book with a “it’s pretty good” opinion.

Summary

I am glad I gave another TJR book a go. While it wasn’t a 5 star banger, Carrie Soto was still a better read that I enjoyed more (and surprised me) than Daisy Jones.

Holly Jackson

A Good Girls Guide To Murder – first book

No rating.

Did not finish book. Stopped at 30%.

I looked into the trigger warnings when I was part way through and decided not to keep going. 
It was fine, but eh…

The Reappearance of Rachel Price – second book

3.5 stars
Kept me pretty interested. I actually couldn’t stand the suspense on who to trust and who not to so I looked up spoilers around halfway through.
You basically couldn’t trust ANYONE in this story, and that drove me a little insane. It keeps you on the edge but it’s also maddening to try and connect to anyone. Anyone at all.
At one point or another I basically hated everyone. It was twisty and maddening, and yet it still had me. It was really well done. The mystery overall was unexpected and great. The documentary elements were fun. Characters were a disaster, but on purpose.

Triggers/content warnings: Cursing is moderate. Domestic relationships are complex and gaslighting/abuse is present in various relationships. Kidnapping.

Summary

I have attempted and DNFd two books by Holly and thought that maybe she wasn’t for me. However, third time was the one that I not only made all the way through, but actually enjoyed.

David Yoon

Super Fake Love Song – first book

Did not finish book. Stopped at 30%.

2.5 stars dnf (skipped to end) at 1/3 mark

Funny writing, likeable and Interesting characters and story idea. What killed it for me, were the too many satanic/demonic references. 

Frankly I’m Love – second book

3 stars

Okay, so the satanic references were not specific to the other David Yoon book I read, but neither was the humor. 

He’s funny. It was funny. 

Racism explored, immigrants explored, terminal illness and cancer along with fake dating and high school shenanigans. 

It was pretty good.  

Summary

I am glad that I read another of David Yoon’s books because they are hilarious. I will say, more surprising satanic references, but nowhere close to the previous book I had read.

Katherine Centre

The Bodyguard – first book

no rating
Too slow to start. Not a fan of grief as a big character focus. Felt meh about it so didn’t continue. 

The Bodyguard – second book

4 stars

I’m so glad I gave this book another shot because I actually really enjoyed it!
It was slow to start, with a lot of grief hitting you in the face, but once we got past that and it took off running, I really enjoyed it. I liked the dynamic between the main characters, the element of fake dating and while serious drama or grief are not themes I normally gravitate towards, I think the author did a good job representing them.

Summary

I know, it’s the same book. But I honestly decided to give The Bodyguard another chance, and I’m glad I did. This was a win for sure, and probably not what I needed to read when I first gave it a go. Mood reading is definitely a thing people!

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Ha! So it was mostly worth the second try… it was surprising but amazing to find out that even though one book was a fail for me, doesn’t mean the author themselves will be. It all depends on the story and the kind of book I’m interested in at the time of reading.

See You in The Adventures!

Christy Grace