Tag: review

Categories
Book Challenges Book Reviews Books Booktok/Booktube

I Read BookTok Favorites With No Rules | Here’s What Kept Repeating

Estimated Reading Time 3min

Normally, I avoid certain books (especially from Booktok or Booktube) because of content or trigger warnings. There are some books too explicit, too dark, too much with an ick of mine… but this time, I threw out all the rules.

I decided to read books that people swear are amazing, and ignore all my normal rules for reading – triggers and all! Let’s see if it was worth it 🙂

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

Having this many POV can sometimes be a bit messy, but I think this was really well done. It added such incredible drama to the story, I love to jump in and out of people’s perspectives, plus when everybody in a heist is in a different spot as part of the team layout like this is necessary. I liked everyone. All the characters in their own ways were fantastic, they interacted with each other really well, and the plot moved forward with these character dynamics in mind. The actual heist/prison break itself was really well done. I enjoyed the setup, the planning, the execution, and everything in between.
The magic system was quite good, it was a bit of a spin on the normal type of abilities you can see in people. I like the way that this particular system spun things, and I would love to see more.

Grab the book Here

November 9 by Colleen Hoover

Wow.
I wasn’t gonna read a book by Colleen but I’m really glad I chose this one. Even though there are some pretty intense themes in the story, I really enjoyed most of this. There is a little bit of trauma bonding, but a lot of really funny and cute moments as well. I was a lot more invested than I thought I would be. I liked the characters and the plot – it was really engaging.

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Icebreaker by Hannah Grace

I really wish this was not as spicy as it was, because I really liked this book. I don’t usually like spice however I was reading this as part of a challenge. The dynamics with the characters in this book was so fun to watch unfold. They were hilarious, I enjoyed the plot but it’s definitely a romance book that focuses on characters which was fine. I loved the characters. I had so much fun and I was giggling so often that if anyone else was home, they would’ve thought I was crazy.

Grab the book Here

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

This book was not what I expected.
There was some parts of that I really liked, like looking into the Hollywood in the golden age. I also appreciated how candid the character of Evelyn Hugo was, and the way the relationship with Monique was explored.
I understand what the book was doing, but if I knew that going in, I probably wouldn’t have read it.
Pretty well written, pretty interesting the way the plot was expressed, and pretty engaging characters.

Grab the book Here

I think this experiment was a success! For the most part, I got great books, some of which taking me by utter surprise! While I am happy that I opened up my expectations for this, I’m not sure if I will keep going…

Just kidding – let’s do it again!

Have you read any of these? Let me know what you thought of them.

See You in the Adventures!
Christy Grace

Categories
Book Reviews Books Featured Bookish Movie/Pop Culture

I Read ALL the Firefly Books and Didn’t Expect This

Estimated Reading Time: 5min

I LOVE the TV Show Firefly. I was so sad that there was only one season and a movie, but imagine my surprise and delight to find out that the world continued in books! Creators teamed up with talented writers to make several books, and once I read the first one, I was hooked. It was so amazing to see the characters once again, and I want to share the experience with you.

I didn’t read these in order, so you’re not getting the reviews in order… here you go!

Big Damn Hero (Nancy Holder)

I had more fun reading this and I thought I would. I really enjoyed the show Firefly, and this really did feel like it could have been another episode. I would have loved to watch this episode. I thought it was really well done, the characters felt pretty close to the show, we got some insight into each one’s perspective. I normally don’t like jumping around to too many characters in a book, but this was done really well. I really enjoyed seeing all the characters in what they got up to. There was almost a plot A and plot B element to this, but then all plots converged to the same spot. I really enjoyed that. I thought this was a great story and I’m excited to see what the rest of these books look like.

Grab the book Here

Generations (Tim Lebbon)

Another fun adventure with Firefly characters. This one had a little bit of mystery to it, and a lot more insight into some of the River aspects of the show.

Treasure map mixed with psychotic killers, yup that was this book. Another great storyline that would’ve been a good episode to watch, but easy to imagine the characters as I listened to the audiobook.

Grab the book Here

The Magnificent Nine (James Lovegrove)

Really interesting look into the background of Jayne, but also another Firefly story.
I thought the plot was quite good, and enjoyed seeing this different side of Jayne. Even though we got a little bit of it in an episode on the show, this was a little bit of a different look as well. The interactions between him and Temperance were really good, and I quite enjoyed Where the everything went.
I wish I had known about some of the content warnings beforehand, but I will say that they didn’t go too far into descriptive things that I couldn’t enjoy the book as a whole.

Grab the book Here

The Ghost Machine (James Lovegrove)

Really enjoyed this one. It was almost like a life the way it could be for all the characters. It was quite interesting, and gave you a look into what could explain their backgrounds and why some of them could be the way they are. Not everything, but it was quite authentic to the show.
So some of the clear links between the show and the movie, and I really appreciated a lot of what we saw in this story in that regard.

Grab the book Here

Carnival (Una McCormack)

Written very well, but there was an awful lot of information about a random character that we will never see again. Her POV which did link into the story but it took a while to finally get there.
When the mini plots all combined it was really good. I love seeing the characters as always, and overall it was a good story. I just could’ve done without the little girl character that we seem to get a lot of in the first half or so of the book.

Grab the book Here

What Makes Us Mighty (M.K. England)

As always, love to see the crew again in a story. Felt like it fit into the universe, but it was heavy on the feminism… very heavy. I saw what they were trying to do, and how they were choosing the write the story… but it did bring me out of the story when feminism ideology was slammed into my face every so often. I love a strong female character but this one was literally every guy = bad/stupid and woman = stronger/smarter. It felt unbalanced.
I did enjoy the story on the whole, and it is always good to see the characters back at it.

Grab the book Here

Life Signs (James Lovegrove)

Prison break on a frozen planet and a crew desperate to save a loved one. Who could want anything else.
I will say, the POV of a wolf was an unusual choice but it did well in the story.
I felt the plot sort of came out of nowhere with Inara but I was okay with it. Carried quite well across and I was pretty happy with the plot progression and where things ended.

Grab the book Here

Coup De Grace (Una McCormack)

I liked it, but it felt a little different than some of the others. Not sure why it was, but there was a lot of POV of a character that isn’t the Firefly crew so maybe that’s why..?
Still a fun read and of course, love to see another episodic style story.

Grab the book Here

Aim to Misbehave (Rosiee Thor)

Always reading like an episode of Firefly, this story was no exception. I really enjoyed seeing a little bit more into the Shepherd’s background, and the geese were a fun touch. Getting River’s point of view was also nice in this one as well.

Grab the book Here

I wonder if I got fatigue by the end, as the review scores started dropping, or if the stories were just not as interesting. Either way, I really enjoyed re-entering this world with new stories and the same characters.

Have you read the Firefly books? Are you a fan? Let me know below!

See You in the Adventures!
Christy Grace

Categories
Book Reviews Books Great Reads

The Recent Books That Completely Changed My Reading Mood

Estimated Reading Time: 3min

I had the absolute pleasure to read some AMAZING books recently. Some were 5 stars, others a little less, but all of them gave me such an incredible experience that I’m going to share!

The Perfect Rom-Com (Melissa Ferguson)

This book was hilarious, and I had so much fun reading it. It was not just giving two weeks notice, it was singing in the rain which I had so much fun with. I loved the characters, and found the story to be great. I enjoyed where we went, I loved how everything unfolded, and The relationship was so much fun. Getting a peek behind the curtain for writing is always fun, and I loved The relationships -they were so much fun. Getting a peek behind the curtain for writing is always fun, and I loved the humour and cool angle that was taken.
Fun from start to finish, and one of the best Romcoms I’ve read all year.

Grab the book Here

How to Plot A Payback (Melissa Ferguson)

She is two for two in recent reads!

Even without the reference to my favourite movie of all time, similarities to Friends (Neighbours.. I mean come on haha), and writer characters, I still would have loved this story.
The tv show element was really fun, and Lavender was not what I was expecting from the description. The characters themselves were great, and I loved seeing them interact and react.
Can I also say, no third act conflict or misunderstanding blah blah was so refreshing! I loved this. Things felt real and even though Lavender was a little push over ish, I know people like that so it still felt pretty authentic to the character.
It was fun, engaging, witty, romantic without being sappy, just good times all around.

Grab the book Here

Wandering Wild (Lynette Noni)

I had way more fun with this book then I thought I would. Even though I saw the ending coming 1,000,000 miles away, it was definitely a great way to end this – It made a great story, and it was a really good decision plot wise. I enjoyed the tension, I thought that the difficult background stories were woven in pretty well, and I enjoyed how the story progressed. It felt like a pretty natural progression given the circumstances, and I enjoyed the dynamics of the character characters and the plot.
A little Insta love-ish, but I didn’t mind so much.

Grab the book Here

The Chaos Grid (Lindsey Lewellen)

Enjoyed the world for this story, and could see the elements of Jonah in the story as well. The world Building was done really well, without slamming too much information in your face but also leaving too much out so you don’t understand. Well balanced, and very impressed with that.
I enjoyed the characters, the banter, and the way things unfolded. I thought it was really really well written, and there were some really great content in the book.

Grab the book Here

These books were so good that I had to share. What are some books that you’ve read recently that you would recommend?

See You in the Adventures!
Christy Grace

Categories
Book Reviews Books Great Reads

Books That Surprised Me (And Why I Didn’t See It Coming)

Estimated Reading Time: 4min

I read some books recently, some with high expectations, others with low or none – and the results were surprising!

Murder Between Friends (Liz Lawson)

Went into this book with Absolutely no context, hadn’t heard of it before, and wasn’t sure what to expect. I really enjoyed it. Even though I piece together bits and pieces of the story as I went through the book, I didn’t piece it all together in the correct order until the end. I was invested in the mystery, trying to figure out what was going on as I went through and was actually quite engaged. After reading a lot of books in a similar genre, I wasn’t sure if it would keep me engaged. It did.
The characters were very much acting like teenagers, but that’s the point in a YA book. I didn’t mind too much, though I did find Ally was very angry a lot of this book. It did kind of grate on me, and I also thought that Grace was a lot of a pushover all the way through as well, which also grated on me. Some of this book was written really well, the mystery in particular was fantastic. Character wise it was fine, I’m not a teenager so some of that is going to naturally not be as easy to connect to any more. Having said that, I still thought it was really well done.

Grab the book Here

The 49th Mystic (Ted Dekker)

dekker

I’m really of two minds with this story. On one hand, I see the deep theological concepts at work. On the other side though, I see some of what appears to be closer to New Age understanding. I don’t know how to marry the two together. I always thought that the Circle world looked a little too deeply into the demonic side (particularly the fourth instalment). I’m not saying that there wasn’t Christian themes and theology in the story – because you could find it in there, but a lot of what was explored felt less biblical/gospel related like the Circle series was originally, and a lot more of that “spiritual” kind. I always feel a bit squirmy in some of the exploration of the darker side of these books.
The story itself, I found to be quite interesting. I liked that Rachelle was trying to work through the idea of being blind both physically and spiritually. There were some very interesting themes that were explored and I liked the concept of the city of Eden. I was tossing up with the rating whether it would be higher or not, but I think that I was left with the feeling of unease more so than contemplation as is often the case with Dekker books. Having said that, there were moments that I was challenged in my own understanding, and my own situation. We can all be blind sometimes to things in our lives, but I think we need to weigh up a story like this with the Scriptures.

Grab the book Here

How To Lose A Lord in 10 Days (Sophie Irwin)

Mixture of how to lose a guy in 10 days and pride and prejudice. It was really fun, and this period of history in writing does not usually appeal to me. This was one of the exceptions. I am so glad I read this book, it was so much fun. I loved the back and forth, the one upmanship, and The absolute chaos. It was too fun to watch these characters interact, and how things unfolded.

Grab the book Here

The Frugal Wizard’s Handbook (Brandon Sanderson)

I wasn’t going to read this book, but when I started it just to check it out briefly I couldn’t stop.

It was funny, interesting and kept me engaged the whole way through. This was a prime example of the amnesia storyline done well. I’m not usually a fan of mediaeval timelines, or anything to do with wizardry, but there was honestly not really any magic in that way. I also enjoyed the mediaeval time, mostly because it had people from a little further in our time technology wise.

I enjoyed discovering our main character as he kept going through the series, and how he interacted with everyone as he went through it.

Grab the book Here

While some books were nice surprises, others were disappointing, but that’s the nature of books. Sometimes you like them, and sometimes you don’t.

See You in the Adventures!
Christy Grace

Categories
Book Advice Books Goals and Wrap Ups

I Was in a Reading Slump | Here’s What I Ended Up Reading (And Why It Didn’t Stick)

Estimated Reading Time: 6min

It’s been a while… and that’s because I’ve been in a book slump. Reading has been on the back burner, difficult to have time and space for, and overall just not much had been appealing to me. Having said that, I did get through some books in recent times, despite the slump, so here they are.

Two Can Play That Game (Leanne Yong)

Cute, fun, nerdy, everything you wanted. There was minimal romance, and most of it was about the games. If you love games, you’ll love this. I had a lot of fun seeing the Australian Malaysian world, and the character development was good too. I felt it was very slow paced, which made it a bit difficult for me to get through, but having said that, I also really enjoyed it. I found myself laughing out loud a lot, and I really liked Most of the book.

Grab the book Here

Unblemished (Sara Ella)

On one hand, I thought this book was quite interesting. The world had a lot to offer, the magic system quite fascinating, and I could see what the author was doing with plot and themes. However, there were so many points that made me frustrated or halted along the way. I will say one thing, this actually felt like a YA book – it was written for that audience – and I applaud that!
Unfortunately, there were a few things for me that didn’t make sense or just felt like they didn’t fit. Firstly, there is a steep learning curve (in my opinion) for the world and magic system. Especially for a YA story. You discover everything along with the main character El, but things are so complex (almost unnecessarily so) that it is a challenge to keep everything straight – including the people. That’s the next issue, so. Many. People. I had to try and keep track of a lot, who apparently are all their own islands and have depth. Normally this would be a good thing, but for a book so short and with so many other things to try and work through, it was too much. That leads me into another issue, so much of the book was eaten up at the start with the grief and real world stuff. I just wanted the story to start already; it felt a little too drawn out for me. Another thing that kept interrupting the flow of the story was all the flashbacks! They were so unnecessary. That page space could have been filled with more time to flesh out the world explaining; instead we got so many flashbacks that didn’t really serve a proper purpose.
Another thing is the very strange sibling dynamics in this book. Dude. Can we not?
I also don’t like love triangles so that was frustrating on a personal level. Joshua was so hot and cold and all over the place, it was hard to see what the heck the draw was. We didn’t see much of any of the reason we should root for him – a lot of that was just implied or seen quickly in a section of a flashback. We really needed more for him to see why El ignores all the bad treatment now for us to buy into it. Even if she won’t choose him at the end of the series (not sure yet how that’s going to work out), give us a reason not to hate him please.
I don’t see myself continuing but I don’t think it’s the target audience that is the reason.

Grab the book Here

Royal Heirs Academy (Lindsey Duga)

While I enjoyed this book, I did think maybe it was doing too many things in one book. There were four main characters we were following, or with their own back stories and their own current plot lines. There was The who’s gonna be the new air to the throne thread, there was also The how they’re going to get used to this exclusive and somewhat secretive unless you know the right people school, and make it work. There was a lot happening. Having said that, I still really enjoyed this book. I think a few less characters would’ve made it easier to follow, but I did like all the characters. I think the way the story progressed was good, but the ending felt a little bit out of character. I understand what they were doing, but I am a little split on how it went down. I thought it was very well written, and the characters were very interesting and easy to understand. I would read the next book, and I did quite enjoy it.

Grab the book Here

The Last Legacy (Adrienne Young)

It’s been a while since I read the first two as I knew this was a bit more separate from those and in doing so, I kind of shot myself in the foot.
Technically part of the series, but I don’t remember what the link even is. These people are very separate with only a minor link to the rest and without establishing with anyone in the main character list from book 1 and 2, it was just very separate.
I didn’t get the high seas pirate ship adventure like the first two books which was why I was interested in the first place. This felt boring, which for a family of criminals wasn’t expected. The last third was the most interesting but it honestly took me so long to get there that I didn’t care anymore. I just wanted this book to be over, which was different to my experience of the first two.
Didn’t really care about the characters or what was going on, but it was written well. If you’re interested in a book with this time period you may enjoy. Not for me.

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Out of Tune (Beth Reekles)

Pretty cute, pretty fun but also pretty standard. Not much that was particularly stand out. Nice writing, easy story, pretty good.

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I hope that the books I’m reading right now will help keep out out of a slump, but what are some tips that you know to get you out of the reading slump zone? I’d love some help!

See You in the Adventures!
Christy Grace

Categories
Book Challenges Book Reviews Books

I Finally Read My Most Anticipated Books | Here’s What Actually Delivered

Estimated Reading Time: 5min

I have a few anticipated books that have come out recently and I am so excited to finally read them and let you know whether they were worth the wait, or not…

Close Protection (Eden Victoria)

I liked it okay, but it was pretty mid level for me. The concept was average, romance was good but mostly average save few great moments, the writing was good but not incredible. It was nice but sometimes a little boring. Only because it didn’t really have a grab your attention premise amongst a sea of other options. It sounded great, but it was just good/okay.
It frustrated me that almost grown woman exclusively referred to her actual Father as Daddy continuously like she was 8. It gave booktok type hints but never properly followed through. Simultaneously characters were somewhat dull and unusually brutal at once. Everyone was good at everything.
It felt like it hovered around the edge of great but just never quite made it. Good, but not incredible. Still a worthwhile read though.

Grab the book Here

Thieves Gambit: Heist Royale (Kayvion Lewis)

I’m going to count this as “read” even though I did not technically finish it. I was really wanting to continue the series with this book, however it was released too long after I read the first for me to a) remember what happened and who I was supposed to care about and b) be interested in general. I am hoping to come back to this another time when I’m more in the mood for it, but I did find it difficult to get into this story.

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Games Untold (Jennifer Lynn-Barnes)

Mixed short stories following the characters we know from the inheritance games. Some were good, some were really interesting, and some only so so. A short story book is always a little challenging to review, because there are so many variables. But I will say, though, I did enjoy seeing the characters again and filling in some of the blanks that the main books didn’t flesh out.
Stories I really enjoyed was Hannah and Toby, I also love Xander. He is such a fun character. Nash is actually my favourite after this short story, I really wish we had more Nash in the main series because he is such a funny character.
Fun and really just for fans to get another little look into the characters that they like.

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Fragile Sanctuary (Catherine Cowles)

Ummm, well that wasn’t what I expected.
I didn’t realise this was an open door book until I was already in it. For some reason the content warnings I looked at did not put that on the list, which I really wish it would have. I’m a closed door book preferred reader, so it was a little bit Unusual. Having said that, I made it all the way to the end because I wanted to see how the rest of the plot would conclude. I liked it, I thought that the characters were on the heavy side, there was a lot of grief and loss that was looked at, discussed, and dealt with. I thought it was done pretty well, and pretty realistically. I enjoyed the mystery part of the story, however I will say the reveal at the end was more of the. “ Let’s not give the reader any clues whatsoever and throw an absolute curveball at the end” type of conclusion. I don’t like those, because they feel undeserved, and almost like a trick on the reader. Rather than laying down clues all the way through, if you were smart to pick them up or if you look back and think of course, those are the better reveals. This was very much a zero clues given type of a reveal.

Grab the book Here

Wes and Addie Had Their Chance (Bethany Turner)

There was a lot to like in this book, and I found the character of Wes to be really fun to read. There was a lot of elements going on, like the CIA, presidential candidate, being left at the altar, second chance romance, death of a spouse, alcoholism, fake marriage, and so much more. It was a lot packed into one story. There was also a small town romance, And links to the characters we saw in the first few books of this town. I didn’t love these characters as much as the previous, however Wes really was a great character. He was interesting, a little bit sloppy and crazy, but we love him for it. Addie was an interesting one for me, I am not 100% sure on how I feel about her. I understood her motivations, she was pretty well written, but as a character I didn’t really engage with her. I bought their story, I bought what happened in the plot when we came into it, but I really came to the story for Wes.
While this was printed under a predominantly Christian publisher, I wouldn’t call this book a Christian book. A lot of Bethany‘s earlier books would have an easier time being labelled as that, but a lot of her later books are not. There was one very small reference and in passing to Jesus in here, but if you are looking for what made her earlier books so great in the Christian space, you won’t get it here. In fact you won’t get it in this entire entire series. Not that I mind necessarily, I did feel like this book had a little bit of a sellout vibe to it though. I understand it’s a story that Bethany wanted to write for a very long time, so I understand if she had to do what she had to do to get this written, or she could’ve wanted the story to look like this the whole time. It doesn’t really matter, it was still a good book.
I liked the idea of the presidential campaign in the background, but it really wasn’t the focus of the book. There was even death of a parent to focus on, and a lot to try and pin down. I think perhaps that’s why some of this fell a little less than I was hoping for, because it was just so much jam packed into one story.

Grab the book Here

Well, there you have it. Have you ready any of these books? Let me know your thoughts below!

See You in the Adventures!
Christy Grace

Categories
Book Challenges Book Reviews Book Series Books

Why I Keep Starting Series I Don’t Finish (And What I Learned From Forcing It)

Estimated Reading Time: 4min

I am almost finished (just one book away) several series on my bookshelves, so I’ve decided to knuckle down and actually finish them!

The Ether (The Dragons Descent) by Laurice E. Molinari

molinari

By far the most mixed in terms of religious ideas and mythology. (For example, most Christian’s I know don’t hold a specifically listed place in Sri Lanka as “sacred” but all Christians were lumped together with a small minority that does think that, and we had lots of mythology creatures mentioned throughout that confuses with Scripture).
It was consistent with the characters and tone and wrapped things up pretty well. Though the final “big bad” confrontation felt a little thin and too rushed for me.
All in all, it was a pretty good finale to the story and I was invested to the point of finishing it in a day.

Grab the book Here

Divergent (Four) by Veronica Roth

I don’t know that this was needed, but I did enjoy the first 2/3rsds.
Once we stopped Fours backstory into Dauntless and moves into some of his POV in Divergent, I didn’t care as much.
His actual backstory was interesting, but I felt the whole novella was pretty meh.

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Defier (The Conqueror) by Mandy Fender

fender

Honestly, this was the best written book from the series. It still had a lot of editing problems, and character development seemed a little out of place. I never understood how Lennox managed to get to the place we see her in for this book. The plot was quite scattered, and it wasn’t really an understandable flow to it.
After reading all three, I actually think that if this series had been rolled into one standalone book, it would’ve been way better. She would’ve had more time to edit, vet, and really look at plot and structure a lot easier if it had just been one book. Having said that, as I’ve said in other reviews for the books previous, there was a lot of potential for this. It was just disappointing not to see it live up to its potential.
The ending was quite odd. This is not biblically based in terms of events listed in revelation. However, there is a lot of Christian phrases, words, and ideas, that don’t seem to fit into the story. If Mandy had used revelation quotes, or things that were actually prophesied about happening at the end of the world, rather than throwing random stuff at the wall, it would’ve been better. If she had also just not made it an end of world Revelation type story, this would’ve made a lot more sense as well. It felt a lot like she just needed to pick a lane, and either have something that was very well entrenched in Revelation, or not at all.
The final “big bad” confrontation scene was lacking. Everything was rushed, none of the characters made sense, and we didn’t get enough time with any of them to really feel anything for them outside of surface level.
As I mentioned earlier, this was the best written out of the three books. I think this was the actual story that Mandy wanted to tell, at least that’s how it read. The first two books were just a lot of set up for this essential story. Which again goes into my point of Just making this book one rather than three small ones. Lots of potential, just didn’t hit the mark.

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The Selection (Kiera Cass)

Nice ending for all the characters. I didn’t see certain. Things coming until book 2, but they did make sense.
I had a good time, and some things that happened – I KNEW IT. I think our main character ended in a good place, and the progression of her love story as well as the plot in general was pretty good.

Grab the book Here

Well, I am on my way, but there are still more. I am glad that these can officially be checked off my list, and while I really enjoyed some, others I could take or leave.

Have you read any of these series? What did you think of them?

See You in The Adventures!
Christy Grace

Categories
Book Challenges Book Reviews Books Unfavourited Books

I Read Books I Was Sure I’d Hate | And Got It Completely Wrong

Estimated Reading Time: 4min

Sometimes you think you’ll love a book, and other times you’re not so sure. I love it when those expectations are shattered (in a good way). So, I’m reading books purposely that I think I won’t enjoy to see if (and hope that) I’m wrong about them!

Final Touch by Brandilyn and Amberly Collins

Why I Won’t Like It: I tried reading the first and even second book of this series and I just couldn’t get into it. It wasn’t gelling with me, but when I saw the plot for this final book, I thought it might be worth hanging onto. I’m still skeptical, but we’ll see how we go!

My Review

Nail biting and pretty intense. Serious kidnapper, and horrible consequences if things aren’t handled well.
Not largely enjoyable, pretty much awful situation from start to finish. In that regard, well written.
I wasn’t connected to the characters anyway as I didn’t read the first two books properly.
It was short, and written well for the length.

Grab the book Here

The Mayan Apocalypse by Mark Hitchcock and Alton Gansky

Why I Won’t Like It: Apocalypse books are not always interesting for me (pretty hit and miss), and when you add the Mayan element, I’m really unsure if this will be a book that will be too icky for me. I’m very uncertain, so I guess we’ll find out.

My Review

I read maybe three pages before I decided to give it up. I didn’t really have a desire to read this, knowing there would be some Christian themes, but also some mystical ones as well. End of the world, I wasn’t really interested in this kind of scenario – so I just decided to give up the fight before it began.

Grab the book Here

The Witnesses by Robert Whitlow

whitlow

Why I Won’t Like It: This has an element of historical fiction buried into it. It’s not front and centre, but the first chapter certainly looks at it. There is a lawyer storyline throughout and while this can sometimes be interesting, it can sometimes be quite boring instead. So, I’m just not sure what to expect from this one.

My Review

Interesting swapping between war time and current day – though I was way more interesting In the current day lawyer storyline.
It was clearly some kind of “origin story” but I honestly just wanted to see more about how they could use the gift in the current day lawyer space.
Tons of focus into the old man and war time scenarios, but a nice amount too on current character relationships more so than cases. Some more heavy focus on that in the middle portion, then a random short detour towards the end that I would have loved to have seen explored more.
Pretty bland modern day characters for such an interesting hook, though Frank was the most interesting and fleshed out one. He was also the one I was least interested in hearing from as I wanted the lawyer storyline, not war deserter fisherman one.

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The Tehran Initiative by Joel Cl. Rosenberg

Why I Won’t Like It: I’ve tried to read this book a few times already. Middle East war books aren’t really my thing, but I do want to read this one. Again, we have an apocalypse type feel, so we’re already a few counts against this one. I’m still willing to give it a shot, so final chance, here we go.

My Review

Alright, I will admit that I cheated a little on this one. I didn’t actually pick it up and read it at all. I looked at it again, read the blurb and decided that I wasn’t going to enjoy this book, so I donated it and decided to spare myself from the read. I’m sure it’s amazing, well written, and definitely worth it for some, but just not me.

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Raging Storm by Vannetta Chapman

Why I Won’t Like It: I read the first book via audiobook, and wasn’t super impressed. It was fine, but nothing spectacular. And, as it appears a theme in this experiment, another end of the world theme – I guess I am not naturally drawn to this genre of story. Final chance to see if this second book in a series is for me, and if not we might have to forgo the final one in the series.

My Review

Started out finding this okay but not super engaging but the second half of it actually pulled me in quite a bit more.
I was invested the further into this book we got, I just wish it came earlier. I think the discovery of the different ways people have adapted to the crazy new world was interesting. The quest was fine, though Shelby felt a little much at times (I’m not a mum though so I suppose it might be due to that).

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Well, those were the results. How about you? When did a book surprise you for good?!

See You in the Adventures!
Christy Grace