Jenn's Review: On The Hunt

Author: Iris Johansen
Series: Kira Drake #1
Publication Date:  August 1, 2020
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Pages: 364
Obtained: owned
Genre:  Thriller
Rating: 2/5
Bottom Line: Not need to search this one out
Grab, Just get it at the library, or Remove from your TBR list? Remove

Summary: Kira Drake has come to Paris with her highly trained Golden Retriever, Mack, to investigate the horrific bombing of a museum in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower.  What she doesn’t know is that one powerful man has a special reason to find the person responsible.  

Jack Harlan has all the money in the world, but it can’t bring his brother back. His sibling was murdered during the theft of a scientific discovery that could have made the world a better place. Now, after a four-year search, Harlan learns that this bombing was the work of the same twisted man. ~amazon.com

Review: I’ve adored many other Iris Johansen books and I so wanted to love this one, but I just didn’t. The novel drops the reader right into the story with absolutely no plot exposition. I knew the characters of Sarah and John Logan from her Eve Duncan series which gave me a little context… but not enough. While we are given more background on the characters as the story progressed, it felt like they were never really fleshed out; I was never fully invested in any of them. 

The main character of Kira seemed to be neurodivergent so her interactions were awkward but they became even stranger when paired with Harlan whose character was almost cartoonish. And although I found the plot interesting, the two dimensional characters made it seem like a rough draft of an excellent Iris Johansen novel.

The true test is whether or not I would continue this series: maybe, but based more on Ms Johansen reputation for writing exceptional novels, in hopes that this series improves.

Jenn's Review: Tryptich

Author: Karin Slaughter
Series: Will Trent #1
Publication Date:  July 26, 2006
Publisher: Dell
Pages: 480
Obtained: Amazon First
Genre:  Mystery, Crime
Rating: 4/5
Bottom Line: Solid start to a long standing series
Grab, Just get it at the library, or Remove from your TBR list? Grab

Summary: From Atlanta's wealthiest suburbs to its stark inner-city housing projects, a killer has crossed the boundaries of wealth and race. And the people who are chasing him must cross those boundaries, too. Among them is Michael Ormewood, a veteran detective whose marriage is hanging by a thread and whose arrogance and explosive temper are threatening his career. And Angie Polaski, a beautiful vice cop who was once Michael's lover before she became his enemy. But unbeknownst to both of them, another player has entered the game: a loser ex-con who has stumbled upon the killer's trail in the most coincidental of ways and who may be the key to breaking the case wide open. In this gritty, gripping firecracker of a novel, the author of the best-selling Grant County, Georgia, series breaks thrilling new ground, weaving together the threads of a complex, multilayered story with the skill of a master craftsman. Packed with body-bending switchbacks, searing psychological suspense and human emotions, Triptych ratchets up the tension one revelation at a time as it races to a shattering and unforgettable climax.

Review:  I wanted to read this because I recently stumbled across the show "Will Trent" and I have been loving it. It didn’t take me too long to remember I am not a fan of Karin Slaughter’s prose. Her metaphor-mania is enough to make me manic, but she has something with Will Trent. After I got past the few chapters of descriptive hyperbole, I found the thread of the show I’ve been enjoying so much. I do not enjoy switching points of view or knowing the killer before the characters do, so I’m hoping that won’t be a theme in this series.

I will give this series a chance because, although the TV show has taken liberties with the characters, I do like the premise. Will and Angie are fascinating studies of foster care at its worst growing into broken but functional adults. Would I have liked Angie as much if I hadn’t seen the show? Maybe not, but I have a feeling she would grow on me across the course of the series.

Jenn's Review: Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore

Author: Matthew Sullivan
Series: None
Publication Date:  June 13, 2017
Publisher: Scribner
Pages: 338
Obtained: purchased
Genre:  Contemporary Fiction, Mystery
Rating: 3/5
Bottom Line: Ultimately, didn't work for me
Grab, Just get it at the library, or Remove from your TBR list? Library

Summary: Lydia Smith lives her life hiding in plain sight. A clerk at the Bright Ideas bookstore, she keeps a meticulously crafted existence among her beloved books, eccentric colleagues, and the BookFrogs — the lost and lonely regulars who spend every day marauding the store's overwhelmed shelves. But when Joey Molina, a young, beguiling BookFrog, kills himself in the bookstore's upper room, Lydia's life comes unglued. Always Joey's favorite bookseller, Lydia has been bequeathed his meager worldly possessions. Trinkets and books; the detritus of a lonely, uncared for man. But when Lydia flips through his books she finds them defaced in ways both disturbing and inexplicable. They reveal the psyche of a young man on the verge of an emotional reckoning. And they seem to contain a hidden message. What did Joey know? And what does it have to do with Lydia? As Lydia untangles the mystery of Joey's suicide, she unearths a long buried memory from her own violent childhood. Details from that one bloody night begin to circle back. Her distant father returns to the fold, along with an obsessive local cop, and the Hammerman, a murderer who came into Lydia's life long ago and, as she soon discovers, never completely left. ~amazon.com

Review: This is not my usual read and I’m honestly not sure how I feel about the novel. It’s a novel about secrets and their destructive nature set in a book store, how could it go wrong?

I’m still trying to put my finger on it. While the mystery was intriguing and unfolded nicely, the novel just didn’t grab me. There are shifting story tellers, a technique I generally find off putting, but it was well done; one person’s perspective dovetailed into another so it was not confusing or jarring.

I guess my biggest complaint is that I never connected with any of the characters. While I found myself empathetic many times, none of the characters drew me in. In fact, some characters seemed more like a plot devices than true characters in that they were abandoned once they had served their plot advancement. While most brought about their own destruction or pushed their destruction on others.

Did I appreciate the twisty intrigue? Yes, it’s what kept me reading. Did I feel satisfaction upon completion? Not really. It won’t be a read I recommend.

Jenn's Review: The Viper

Author: John Verdon
Series: Dave Gurney #8
Publication Date:  July 18, 223
Publisher: Counterpoint LLC
Pages: 400
Obtained: purchased
Genre:  Crime, Thriller 
Rating: 4/5
Bottom Line: Couldn't get it out of my head
Grab, Just get it at the library, or Remove from your TBR list? Grab

Summary: Pushed to his breaking point and accused of murder, retired NYPD detective Dave Gurney must face his greatest adversary yet to solve a mystery that is quickly tearing his world apart. Tennis bad boy Ziko Slade is serving twenty years for the grisly murder of small-time criminal Lenny Lerman. The facts of the case--and Slade's checkered past--seem indisputable. What begins as a cursory review of the case as a favor to Dave Gurney's wife's friend soon spirals into something much more complicated. When Gurney's involvement threatens to expose a viper's nest of corruption, he finds himself framed for murder and pursued by a sensational media, a ruthless district attorney, and a coldblooded killer. As he evades the law and attempts to solve the case to salvage his reputation, Gurney grapples with the realization that his unshakable need for police work is costing him more than the brilliant detective ever suspected. The Viper is the most shocking and riveting chapter yet in the internationally bestselling Dave Gurney series. ~amazon.com

Review: I have been a long time fan of this series and I returned to it for a comforting familiarity and a visit with old friends, but this installment of Dave Gurney was too unsettling.

After the last case I would have imagined Gurney becoming more protective of his wife and the effects of his investigations. Gurney seems to have become more recklessly obsessed with solving the case. True, this time she brought him the case, but he was blinded to the point of recklessness. This case brought out a darkness in Gurney. I missed his meticulous attention to detail and moral compass.

I have long thought Gurney and his wife were mismatched but being a bystander to the self destruction of their relationship was hard, more difficult than I imagined, actually.

Although the case is mostly resolved, there are a lot of open ends and unresolved issues. There is no neat ending here and many of the methodical fact gathering was abandoned. I realize I’m not meant to, but I don’t like where things were left. I hope none of the characters are broken beyond repair but it is a definite possibility. It was a difficult place to leave my Walnut Crossing friends and definitely not the comfort I was seeking.

Jenn's Review: The Wife Upstairs

Author: Rachel Hawkins
Series: 
Publication Date: January 5th 2021
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Pages: 290
Obtained: purchased
Genre:  Suspense
Rating: 3.5/5
Bottom Line:What wild you do for security? For Love?
Grab, Just get it at the library, or Remove from your TBR list? Just borrow it

Blurb: Meet Jane. Newly arrived to Birmingham, Alabama, Jane is a broke dog-walker in Thornfield Estates—a gated community full of McMansions, shiny SUVs, and bored housewives. The kind of place where no one will notice if Jane lifts the discarded tchotchkes and jewelry off the side tables of her well-heeled clients. Where no one will think to ask if Jane is her real name. 

 But her luck changes when she meets Eddie­ Rochester. Recently widowed, Eddie is Thornfield Estates’ most mysterious resident. His wife, Bea, drowned in a boating accident with her best friend, their bodies lost to the deep. Jane can’t help but see an opportunity in Eddie—not only is he rich, brooding, and handsome, he could also offer her the kind of protection she’s always yearned for. 

 Yet as Jane and Eddie fall for each other, Jane is increasingly haunted by the legend of Bea, an ambitious beauty with a rags-to-riches origin story, who launched a wildly successful southern lifestyle brand. How can she, plain Jane, ever measure up? And can she win Eddie’s heart before her past—or his—catches up to her?strained to the breaking point, Gurney must throw himself into a deadly battle of wits with the most frightening opponent he has ever faced. 

Review:  I’ve read Rachel Hawkins YA books so I thought I’d give this one a try. As I started this book I remembered that I found her writing a little… shallow. Her stories are great, but I feel there isn’t the depth in characters, settings, or details. It makes for a great light read but I always find myself wanting more. This is fine if you love the characters, but I didn't.  I don't mind flawed characters, but there wasn't a single character that was likable for me. I was never able to fully invest in the story.

It is billed as a modern day retelling of Jane Eyre but it has been lightened to the point where I  found it neither thrilling or suspenseful.  While I enjoyed the story, there are some great twists, I found the ending a little too open for my taste and perhaps a little unrealistic. It just feels unfinished.

I have Hawkin's latest Reckless Girls in my TBR pile but I think I will be relegating it to a “beach read.”

Jenn's Review: Wolf Lake

Author: John Verdon
Series: Dave Gurney #4
Publication Date: July 12, 2016
Publisher: Counterpoint
Pages: 375
Obtained: purchased
Genre:  Crime/Suspense
Rating: 4/5
Bottom Line:"What crueler and more wicked way could you kill a man than make him kill himself?"
Grab, Just get it at the library, or Remove from your TBR list? Grab

Blurb: Could a nightmare be used as a murder weapon? That’s the provocative question confronting Gurney in the thrilling new installment in this series of international bestsellers. The former NYPD star homicide detective is called upon to solve a baffling puzzle: Four people who live in different parts of the country and who seem to have little in common, report having had the same dream—a terrifying nightmare involving a bloody dagger with a carved wolf’s head on the handle. All four are subsequently found with their wrists cut — apparent suicides — and the weapon used in each case was a wolf’s head dagger. 

Police zero in quickly on Richard Hammond, a controversial psychologist who conducts hypnotherapy sessions at a spooky old Adirondack inn called Wolf Lake Lodge. It seems that each of the victims had gone there to meet with Hammond shortly before turning up dead. 

Troubled by odd holes in the official approach to the case, Gurney begins his own investigation — an action that puts him in the crosshairs of not only an icy murderer and the local police but the darkest corner of the federal government. As ruthless as the blizzard trapping him in the sinister eeriness of Wolf Lake, Gurney’s enemies set out to keep him from the truth at any cost — including an all-out assault on the sanity of his beloved wife Madeleine. 

With his emotional resources strained to the breaking point, Gurney must throw himself into a deadly battle of wits with the most frightening opponent he has ever faced. 

Review:  John Verdon is one of my favorite suspense authors and his books stick with me long after I put them down.  Such is the case with Wolf Lake, though I read it on vacation, the return to snowy WNY seems to keep bringing Madeleine and Dave Gurney's adventure foremost in my thoughts.

For once, Maddie is encouraging Dave to investigate, which should be a red flag from the beginning that this is not going to be your typical Dave Gurney novel.  Not only is Maddie encouraging Dave to assist Harding in his wild case, but she is going to come along for the ride.

The case seems to be going off in wildly different directions and layering on Madeleine's unusual behavior, things become complicated very quickly.  I will say, for the first time, I partially solved the case before Dave did.  I'm not sure if I'm proud of that fact or a little disappointed, but I think it's a combination of both. The big reveal felt a little rushed and some of the characters weren't fully fleshed out for me but the case itself has stuck with me all week.

Google+

Jenn's Review: Midnight at the Blackbird Cafe

Author: Heather Webber
Series: None
Publication Date: July 16th 2019
Publisher: Forge Books
Pages: 336
Obtained: Purchase
Genre:  Women's Fiction, Magical Realism
Rating: 4/5
Bottom Line: family, secrets, and misunderstandings 
Grab, Just get it at the library, or Remove from your TBR list? Grab

Summary: Nestled in the mountain shadows of Alabama lies the little town of Wicklow. It is here that Anna Kate has returned to bury her beloved Granny Zee, owner of the Blackbird Café. It was supposed to be a quick trip to close the café and settle her grandmother’s estate, but despite her best intentions to avoid forming ties or even getting to know her father’s side of the family, Anna Kate finds herself inexplicably drawn to the quirky Southern town her mother ran away from so many years ago, and the mysterious blackbird pie everybody can’t stop talking about. As the truth about her past slowly becomes clear, Anna Kate will need to decide if this lone blackbird will finally be able to take her broken wings and fly.

Review: Heather Webber has long been one of my favorite authors ever since Julie introduced me to her Lucy Valentine  series years ago. She has a way of writing characters that is warm, inviting, and oh-so-accessible. I was intrigued by Midnight at the Blackbird Cafe as it is her first novel that ventures into the realm of Women's Fiction.

It's amazing how the strand of a single person's life can run through so many other lives and how events can change and shape who we become.  Even when several people are touched by the same experience the individual effects can be so incredibly different.  These are the themes Heather Webber skillfully explores and there is much to love here.  There are several character's stories that unfold gently and I was enthralled watching their past catch up with their present. Despite the fact that the story is told from several different points of view, the transitions were not jarring and I felt drawn into the quirky town and all of its inhabitants.

As much as I enjoy magical realism, I found that it was the only thing that seemed slightly out of place in the novel.  Don't get me wrong, it was artfully done and it gave the novel quaint charm. However, the magic of the pie would have been enough for me and I felt that the story could have easily stood on it's own without much of the rest of it.

The novel ends as quietly as it begins and one can't help but feel you are leaving the character's behind too soon.  I found myself wishing to be back in in Wicklow, sitting down for a piece of pie, and catching up with all the neighbors.  That's the thing about a Heather Webber novel, it sticks with you for days after you close the cover.

Jenn's Review: The Book of Life

Author: Deborah Harkness
Series: All Souls Trilogy #3
Publication Date: July 15, 2014
Publisher: Viking Adult
Pages: 561
Obtained: purchased
Genre:  contempory paranormal
Rating: 4.0
Bottom Line: Captivating
Grab, Just get it at the library, or Remove from your TBR list? Grab

 Blurb:  After traveling through time in Shadow of Night, the second book in Deborah Harkness’s enchanting series, historian and witch Diana Bishop and vampire scientist Matthew Clairmont return to the present to face new crises and old enemies. At Matthew’s ancestral home at Sept-Tours, they reunite with the cast of characters from A Discovery of Witches--with one significant exception. But the real threat to their future has yet to be revealed, and when it is, the search for Ashmole 782 and its missing pages takes on even more urgency. In the trilogy’s final volume, Harkness deepens her themes of power and passion, family and caring, past deeds and their present consequences. In ancestral homes and university laboratories, using ancient knowledge and modern science, from the hills of the Auvergne to the palaces of Venice and beyond, the couple at last learn what the witches discovered so many centuries ago.   

Review:  This is the final book in the trilogy and I have been looking forward to it for a long time.  Perhaps too long a time.  I wish I had had time to go back and read the first two books again -or even listen to them as audio books (but the library doesn't have them on tape)- because I think that would have helped to reconnect to the story.

For me the first book in this trilogy, A Discovery of Witches, was spectacular.  The second, Shadow of Night, though cumbersome was really intriguing.  The Book of Life is a good solid finish to the series, but nothing is as stellar as the first book.   Deborah Harkness has a fluid style that pulls you in as a reader.  I loved how things from the last book came into the third book as the travel to the past affected the future.  Some of the major plot points were resolved and tied up neatly however there were so many things I wanted to know more about.  I felt like The Book was never properly explained.  I hated how things ended with certain characters... especially Gallowglass.  I was not satisfied with the conclusion on Blood Rage especially with all the time spent researching it.  While I enjoyed the read, I ended up with a bit of a "that's it?" feeling at the end.  

That being said, I think the All Souls Trilogy is worth the read.  The first two books outshine the last book, but it's still a fantastic story.  Will I read Deborah Harkness again?  You bet.

  Google+

Jenn's Review: The Queen of the Tearling

Author: Erika Johansen
Series: The Queen of the Tearling, #1
Publication Date: July 8, 2014
Publisher: Harper
Pages: 448
Obtained: publisher
Genre:  NA Fantasy, Dystopian
Rating: 3.25
Bottom Line: A stumbling novel that could have been brilliant with more editing
Grab, Just get it at the library, or Remove from your TBR list? Library

Blurb:  Her throne awaits . . . if she can live long enough to take it.

It was on her nineteenth birthday that the soldiers came for Kelsea Glynn. They’d come to escort her back to the place of her birth – and to ensure she survives long enough to be able to take possession of what is rightfully hers.

But like many nineteen-year-olds, Kelsea is unruly, has high principles and believes she knows better than her elders. Unlike many nineteen-year-olds, she is about to inherit a kingdom that is on its knees – corrupt, debauched and dangerous.

Kelsea will either become the most fearsome ruler the kingdom has ever known . . . or be dead within the week.

Combining thrilling adventure and action, dark magic, mystery and romance, The Queen of the Tearling is the debut of a born storyteller blessed with a startling imagination.


Review:  Most reviewers either loved or hated this book and I am on the fence.  I don't read many dystopian novels because they usually fail to capture my interest in the premise.  Although this caught my eye, establishing the world took so many chapters my interest began to wain.  In fact, I attempted to read this book several times and failed miserably... however listening to it worked wonders, so welcome to my first audio book review.

The first few chapters are very detailed in the setup (I remember a particularly long passage about a door)   and also switched points of view several times which disrupted the continuity. Once I got beyond the first third of the book, I found it was intriguing.  The story is modernistic Arthurian with a compelling though somewhat familiar in premise.  However for all of the plot exposition I felt that there wasn't a clear definition of the time period the book is set in.  Had you not read the blurb you would never have known it was set in the future until midway through the book.

This is definitely and Adult or New Adult Fantasy -which I rarely read because I find the adult themes distracting to the magic of the fantasy.  There are lots of mature themes in the book, rape, sex, murder, child slavery... and while I will be the first to admit some of it helped with the world building and were necessary to the plot, a lot of it felt gratuitous and existed only for shock value.  None of it was overly graphic but I was particularly bothered by the fleeting treatment of the victims and the glossing over of the aftermath.  If you are going to deal with these topics, take them on in their entirety or just edit them out.  

Kelsea's naivetee leads to some cringeworthy moments.  I still have no idea who or what the Red Queen is besides a sex-crazed sorceress.  However, there are plenty of interesting characters, perhaps a few too many to keep track of at first but they all sort themselves out eventually. I want to know more about all of them and in the murk of this novel, that is Erika Johansen's shining success.  By the time I was two thirds of the way through, I found myself involved in the story.  Things start to get rolling and the novel comes to a close.

Will I read the second one?  Yes, at least I'll try (I may have to listen to it).  I can't help feeling that somewhere underneath it all is a decent series -- with different editing, it may even have been a fantastic series.

Google+

Jenn's Review: Mr. Kiss and Tell

Author: Rob Thomas & Jennifer Graham
Series: Veronica Mars #2
Publication Date: January 20, 2015
Publisher: Vintage Books
Pages: 336
Obtained: purchased
Genre:  Crime, Mystery
Rating: 4.0
Bottom Line: A must for Veronica Mars fans!
Grab, Just get it at the library, or Remove from your TBR list? Grab!

Blurb:  The Neptune Grand has always been the seaside town’s ritziest hotel, despite the shady dealings and high-profile scandals that seem to follow its elite guests. When a woman claims that she was brutally assaulted in one of its rooms and left for dead by a staff member, the owners know that they have a potential powder keg on their hands. They turn to Veronica to disprove—or prove—the woman's story.

The case is a complicated mix of hard facts, mysterious occurrences, and uncooperative witnesses. The hotel refuses to turn over its reservation list and the victim won’t divulge who she was meeting that night. Add in the facts that the attack happened months ago, the victim’s memory is fuzzy, and there are holes in the hotel’s surveillance system, and Veronica has a convoluted mess on her hands. As she works to fill in the missing pieces, it becomes clear that someone is lying—but who? And why?

Review:  I adore Veronica Mars from the series right through to the fan funded movie.  There is just something about that snarky girl that I can never get enough of...  so it was an obvious choice to pick up the novels to continue where the movie left off. While I enjoyed the first book, The Thousand Dollar Man, it was a lot like reading a script in that we seemed to get only the surface details.  Mr. Kiss and Tell was more fleshed out and far more satisfying in the story telling department.

The case was one of Veronica's heavier ones but Rob Thomas has never shied away from tough topics.  Neptune is full of familiar characters and it's not surprising that this case centers around someone we've met before.  It's one of the many things I love about this franchise.  The characters go on existing in Rob Thomas's world and every  once and a while we get a glimpse of them.  Although sometimes, this time, it can be a little heartbreaking.

Logan and Veronica fans said there wasn't enough Logan last novel.  While this is remedied in Mr. Kiss and Tell, Rob Thomas can't seem to stop poking at their relationship.  It's like he keeps throwing cherry bombs at it hoping to trigger a bigger explosion.  Now it is Logan who is stable and Veronica who is floundering.  I LoVe Logan and Veronica together but I'm not sure that Rob Thomas knows how to write them happy.

This is a series I can't stay away from ...and if this is the only way to get my Veronica Mars fix from now on, besides re-watching the DVDs, I'm okay with that.  Would you like this if you aren't a VM fan?  Yes.  I don't think the first book worked outside the VM realm, but the second one is solidly written.  You will miss all the references though and if you aren't a Veronica Mars fan, why the heck not?!?

 

FacebookTwitterGoogle+PinterestEmailLinkedInRedditTumblrWordPressStumbleUponGoogle GmailWhatsAppAIMAmazon Wish ListAOL MailApp.netBaiduBalatarinBibSonomyBitty BrowserBlinklistBlogger PostBlogMarksBookmarks.frBox.netBuddyMarksBufferCare2 NewsCiteULikeDeliciousDesign FloatDiary.RuDiasporaDiggdiHITTDiigoDZoneEvernoteFarkFlipboardFolkdGoogle BookmarksHacker NewsHatenaInstapaperJamespotKakaoKindle ItLineLiveJournalMail.RuMendeleyMeneameMixiMySpaceNetlogNetvouzNewsTrustNewsVineNUjijOdnoklassnikiOknotizieOutlook.comPinboardPlurkPocketPrintPrintFriendlyProtopage BookmarksPushaQzoneRediff MyPageRenrenSegnaloSina WeiboSiteJotSlashdotStumpediaSvejoSymbaloo FeedsTuentiTwiddlaTypePad PostViadeoVKWaneloWebnewsWykopXINGYahoo BookmarksYahoo MailYahoo MessengerYoolinkYouMobYummly

AddToAny

FacebookTwitterGoogle+PinterestEmailLinkedInRedditTumblr

Google GmailAOL MailOutlook.comYahoo MailAny emailEmail app

More…

Google+

FacebookTwitterGoogle+PinterestEmailLinkedInRedditTumblrWordPressStumbleUponGoogle GmailWhatsAppAIMAmazon Wish ListAOL MailApp.netBaiduBalatarinBibSonomyBitty BrowserBlinklistBlogger PostBlogMarksBookmarks.frBox.netBuddyMarksBufferCare2 NewsCiteULikeDeliciousDesign FloatDiary.RuDiasporaDiggdiHITTDiigoDZoneEvernoteFarkFlipboardFolkdGoogle BookmarksHacker NewsHatenaInstapaperJamespotKakaoKindle ItLineLiveJournalMail.RuMendeleyMeneameMixiMySpaceNetlogNetvouzNewsTrustNewsVineNUjijOdnoklassnikiOknotizieOutlook.comPinboardPlurkPocketPrintPrintFriendlyProtopage BookmarksPushaQzoneRediff MyPageRenrenSegnaloSina WeiboSiteJotSlashdotStumpediaSvejoSymbaloo FeedsTuentiTwiddlaTypePad PostViadeoVKWaneloWebnewsWykopXINGYahoo BookmarksYahoo MailYahoo MessengerYoolinkYouMobYummly

AddToAny

FacebookTwitterGoogle+PinterestEmailLinkedInRedditTumblr

Google GmailAOL MailOutlook.comYahoo MailAny emailEmail app

More…

Jenn's Review: All Fall Down

Author: Ally Carter
Series: Embassy Row #1
Publication Date: January 20, 2015
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Pages: 320
Obtained: purchased
Genre:  YA
Rating: 3.5
Bottom Line: An underwhelming start to a new series
Grab, Just get it at the library, or Remove from your TBR list? Just get it at the library

Blurb: This exciting new series from NEW YORK TIMES bestselling author Ally Carter focuses on Grace, who can best be described as a daredevil, an Army brat, and a rebel. She is also the only granddaughter of perhaps the most powerful ambassador in the world, and Grace has spent every summer of her childhood running across the roofs of Embassy Row.

Now, at age sixteen, she's come back to stay--in order to solve the mystery of her mother's death. In the process, she uncovers an international conspiracy of unsettling proportions, and must choose her friends and watch her foes carefully if she and the world are to be saved.

Review:  I adore Ally Carter's books and couldn't wait for this one to come out.  Both Heist Society and Gallagher Girls are series I love so much that I enjoy re-reading them.  I was desperate to love the Embassy Row series too, the setting is fascinating, the premise has promise, but so far I just don't.

From the blurb, you know going into this that Grace is not a reliable narrator.  That would be okay if there was an anchor provided by the other characters but her friends flitted in and out of the story too much, mostly because Grace was busy pushing them away.   I think I was most disappointed with the lack of character development for the surrounding cast --- Ally Carter always has such a fascinating array of supporting characters and I felt as if I barely got to know them, which is a shame because it would have helped the story immensely.

The pace of the book went from frenetic to stumbling.  Perhaps it was meant to portray Grace's state of mind but it only succeeded in frustrating me.  I felt for Grace but I can't say that I ever connected to her character.  I understand that Grace is suffering from post traumatic stress, along with a myriad of other things, but she is out of control and there isn't a single adult in her life that steps in to take care of her.  (In fact, her grandfather puts her in her dead mother's unchanged bedroom!  That's not just negligent, it's cruel.)  Yes, her family is grieving too and at least they got her therapy but that was obviously not enough.  Without giving away the plot twist I will say that keeping the truth from her was not the best policy.  Especially when, after more than a year, they can see that it's not only not working it's making things worse.

The plot twist at the end comes suddenly and unravels everything in a snap.  I was more than a little incredulous over where things ended.  It was the ending of the book that solidified my interest in the rest of the series.  But the fact that the hook came in the last chapter reinforced the pervasive feeling that this book was just plot exposition for the rest of the series.  In retrospect, I suppose the first book of the Gallagher Girls series could also be considered in the same manner, but that was a far more enjoyable read than All Fall Down.  If anyone can pull this series together it's Ally Carter, so I will still be pre-ordering my next Embassy Row installment, but overall, I was underwhelmed.

Google+

Jenn's Review: The Silkworm

Author: Robert Galbraith (Pseudonym), J.K. Rowling
Series: Cormoran Strike #2
Publication Date: June 24, 2014
Publisher: Mulholland Books
Pages: 455
Obtained: purchased
Genre:  Crime, Mystert
Rating: 5/5
Bottom Line: Captivating
Grab, Just get it at the library, or Remove from your TBR list? Grab!

Blurb:  When novelist Owen Quine goes missing, his wife calls in private detective Cormoran Strike. At first, Mrs. Quine just thinks her husband has gone off by himself for a few days—as he has done before—and she wants Strike to find him and bring him home.

But as Strike investigates, it becomes clear that there is more to Quine's disappearance than his wife realizes. The novelist has just completed a manuscript featuring poisonous pen-portraits of almost everyone he knows. If the novel were to be published, it would ruin lives—meaning that there are a lot of people who might want him silenced.

When Quine is found brutally murdered under bizarre circumstances, it becomes a race against time to understand the motivation of a ruthless killer, a killer unlike any Strike has encountered before... 

  Review:   Rowling as Galbraith is just as enthralling as Rowling as Rowling. There is something engaging about the worlds and characters she creates that makes them captivating. I’ve actually been saving this novel for a while because I knew I’d be disappointed to have to wait for the next installment… and I am.

Cormoron has been busy since the Landry case, although for once he’s not scrambling for cases, he’s scrambling to keep up with his caseload. Yet when Mrs. Quine walks into his office with an odd request that may or maynot recompense, Strike feels inclined to take on her case. From the beginning nothing plays quite right with the case and as the idiosyncrasies mount, Cormoran gets pulled further into the case.

Robin is frustrated at home and at work. Her fiancée continues to disparage her career choice and her association with Strike in general. Strike, sensing the tension, has been trying to shift investigative responsibilities away from Robin which is making her miserable as that’s the part of her job she enjoys most. When Strike is forced to rely on her, Robin does her best to prove her value but her extra efforts will not go unnoticed on the home front.

As per usual, I had no idea where the mystery was headed. The twists and turns had me completely flummoxed… and thoroughly intrigued. I had a difficult time putting it down. If you are looking for spellbinding contemporary crime novels with realistic characters the Cormoran Strike series is definitely for you.

  Google+