Currently reading
David and Goliath
Practical Paleo: A Customized Approach to Health and a Whole-Foods Lifestyle
A Million Miles in a Thousand Years: What I Learned While Editing My Life
I could write a blog post about this book but I wont--here. LOL I loved it, I"d recommend it but DAMN edit some shit already! Soo dies. We don't need to know about Soo's romance novels. Soo dies.
I hate when I anticipate a book and then it doesn't live up to my expectations, and that's what happened here.The first hundred pages suck and I do mean SUCK. They are confusing and poorly written, not to mention the hero spends most of them getting sh*tfaced. YOu're supposed to feel sorry for him because his daughter was kidnapped and murdered and his life fell apart, but that fact does NOTHING to make him likeable, or more importantly, make you care about him. And then there's the scene setting--or lack thereof. You have no real sense of place or time (except winter). At first, after the mention of Attica I thought it was set in NY State or the East Coast but at the end of the book--like in the last 25 or so pages-- you find out it's set in the midwest (state unnamed). Because I know this book was pubbed in the UK i thought it had been written by a Brit--who didn't know how to do research, let alone scene setting. I was wrong. It was written by an American living in Switzerland--who doesn't know how to do research or scene setting (and could really REALLY use a good editor).
All my griping aside, it's everything that takes place AFTER that first 100 or so pages (after the kidnapping of two girls--not a spoiler) that redeems this book. It doesn't make the hero or some of the other characters any more well-rounded but at least you actually start to give a crap about whether the girls are found in time.
I freaking loved this book--Craig Smith (and many other male authors) could learn a lot from Deaver. MOving on to Roadside Crosses next!!
Overwritten...really REALLY overwritten. I made it about two chapters in and gave up because it was so annoying.
I really liked this book--and I read cautiously after the last Baldacci (True Blue) was such a horrendous flop for me. I think I've discovered that his writing style just doesn't *quite* work for me. Sadly, I see this with quite a few male writers a lot (it's a preference thing; not a judgement thing), and it's hard to put into words why. Maybe it's party a writer thing--very hard to turn off the editor to read which is one of the reasons I"m so picky about what I read and my internal editor and Baldacci didn't quite mesh.
I LOVE dystopian/end of the world fiction but did not love this book. At times it was almost like walking into a movie you've missed the first 20 minutes of and trying to play catch up. The pacing was all over the place, as was the storytelling, which was sometimes confusing, and world building. There was a lot of backstory thrown in that was unimportant/unnecessary/I didn't give a sh*t LOL -- when, again more attention could have been paid to world building which is KEY in a book like this...and to character building.
Bottom Line: I liked it but I didn't love it. There's better books out there. But I'd still read the second book tho I'm not sure why.
I've also read two of her YA books and had similar issues with her writing so maybe this author's writing style just doesn't work for me.
Criminal (Will Trent, #6)
I'm a bit torn about this one. I loved it but a part of me wishes it had all been told in the past instead of skipping back and forth. That said, it was fascinating to see how some of the characters became who/what they are.
Keeping in mind I'm a huge fangirl of JT Ellison...you know how people say, "Man that so-and-so gets better with every book." Well in JT's case it's true. I LOVE LOVE LOVE her Taylor Jackson novels so approached this one with a bit of reserve but Taylor's BFF has always been one of my fave characters. Boy was I glad I did. A Deeper Darkness is a stellar, yet heart-wrenching suspense novel (and yes I almost cried at the end).
If you like suspense/thrillers, regardless of the age of the protagonist(s), you should check this out...or any of Michelle's books for that matter. Awesome book...far removed from the current crop of angsty contemporary ya out there...but be warned it end in a cliffhanger. :D
The story was interesting but the writing was mediocre at best. About halfway through, I gave up. I didn't hate it. I just didn't feel it was worth my time.
Hmmm I'm really on the fence about this one. It was good but not great. And a 288 page hardcover? ReallY??? I have big issues with that ($$$) but I realize that's not on the author but the publisher. 1. The writing, all in first person this time, wasn't stellar (In previous it was a mix of first/prsent and third person which worked real well). I know 1st person is difficult but I also know what well done 1st person is and I'm SUPER PICKY about reading it. All the 'I see' or 'I saw' and 'I smelled' got old fast.
2. I know this is the fourth book in a series but the backstory felt forced as did the character descriptions of her team (really? Lady Gaga'esque was the best you could do for a character as great as Mona? Come on!! Plus...that's how you described her in book 3 also.)
3. How many times did we need to be told what Rumspringa is? It was in the book description AND in the book itself at least three times. We get it.
4. Without going back to look I'm pretty sure someone mentioned that farm used to be part of the Underground Railroad...so how did the main characters forget?
5. The whole thing with the suicide not ever really being figured out kinda bugged me. I hope there's another book because it felt very much like a loose thread. I know in real life we don't always get justice but that was SAD on so many levels.
That said there was enough to like to keep me going--and I guess I felt I had a vested interest after three books to see how this one played out. Glad Kate isn't drinking as much and really glad to see her relationship with Tomasetti is going places (at a nice pace I might add).
Maybe I had high expectations because I enjoyed the other books so much. None of these are deal breakers but I can see myself waiting for the trade paperback of her next book rather than shelling out for the hardcover.