I liked the first book in the series more than this one, but still really enjoyed it!

I read this one because I love Louise Penny‘s books, though political thrillers aren‘t usually my thing. I did enjoy it, mostly, so this one‘s a soft pick.

It starts slow, but it does pick up in the second half. I thought the characters were likeable (I love Betsy). I enjoyed the references to Three Pines. The plot was predictable and the villains seemed painfully obvious, but I still enjoyed watching things unfold.

I love going back to these early Discworld novels. Yes, they‘re a little rougher, but I enjoy seeing how it all began.

This was an absolutely delightful book. There was an extremely colourful cast of characters, utterly absurd situations, and lots and lots of baking. I found myself chuckling through a lot of it the book (Angry Bob literally made me snort out loud). I do wish it had been longer, I wasn‘t nearly ready for the story to end.

The story starts with Travis Wren, a man with a pretty cool ability, searching for a missing woman. Right as I started getting interested, it completely shifts, and the rest of the story is told from the perspective of three people in a commune.

I figured out the twist early on, which was fine, and it seemed blatantly obvious who the villain was… but when it was explained *how* it was done… I didn‘t buy it. Nope, sorry, no way, not possible.

It was really lovely to delve back into the world she introduced in Clockwork Boys, and I love how all these different books are very loosely related together (I get a little giddy whenever anyone from another book is mentioned, and I love how awkward and imperfect the characters are. And while romance novels will never be my genre of choice, I‘m becoming a fan of awkward romantic fantasy.

This is a surprisingly creepy, extremely well written middle grade book. Katherine Arden is another author who doesn‘t disappoint.

Another middle-grade winner! It didn‘t go over quite as well as the first book, but it was still definitely enjoyable.

It‘s been years since I last read this, but I decided to reread the whole series. I still enjoyed it, though maybe not as much as I did years ago.

My step kids and I tore through this book tonight and I‘m genuinely not sure which of us enjoyed it more. It‘s a wonderful middle grade book that all three of us loved.

“Inside every sane person there‘s a madman struggling to get out,” said the shopkeeper. “That‘s what I‘ve always thought. No one goes mad quicker than a totally sane person.”

I always forget just how much I love these book. And I really want my own Luggage made of sapient pearwood.

I wasn‘t completely sure what to expect, but I throughly enjoyed this one. It was, at times, heartbreaking, yet defiantly beautiful through it all. I loved watching the relationships develop between the characters, especially Katrina and Shizuka.

There is a LOT going on in this book, sometimes almost too much. There were a lot of smaller side plots that really didn‘t go anywhere, and I wish they‘d been developed further or just left out.

I like this one. It‘s quirky, a little dark, a little sad, and very well written. It‘s also fairly short, so it‘s a really quick read.

I know it‘s not usually a favourite in the “trilogy,” and I‘m not a fan of the end, but I enjoy this book. I remember giggling like crazy while first reading about the Domain of the King as a kid (I‘d never read anything quite like that before and the whole scene always stuck with me), and it still makes me chuckle.

It was a good premise and very fast paced, but… ugh. The characters are poorly developed. Interactions between characters were *really* odd and not terribly believable. Dialogue… is just awful. And there‘s SO MUCH crammed in book (none well developed), as if to throw as much as possible at the reader to make it harder to figure out what might be a clue, a red herring, or a random subplot.

This is a fairly long, complicated book, as a good time-traveling book should be - if you‘re looking for a quick, easy read, this isn‘t the book for you. The pace felt a bit slow at times and I definitely felt Joe‘s frustration as he tried to figure out who he was, but I did enjoy watching things come together. It didn‘t grab me the way Natasha Pulley‘s previous books did (I loved her previous three), but it was still an exceptional read.

Overall, I enjoyed this one. It is long and it does start a little slow, but it kept my interest and I enjoyed seeing everything come together. I wasn‘t a fan of the end part (other than the very last bit), it felt completely unnecessary and kinda dragged for me. Also, it took me an embarrassingly long time, as a resident of the northern hemisphere, to realise that in Australia, “October” and “last spring” were the same thing. 😂

Temperance Brennan of the books is a middle aged, recovering alcoholic with a daughter in college. She‘s not the most socially adept person, but she lacks the awkward charm of her alter ego on Bones. The humour and relationships I loved in Bones were completely lacking in the novel. The whole book is rather dry and if it hadn‘t been so short, I might have given up on it.

To be fair, it is a first novel of a series, so maybe the books get better.

I enjoyed this one. It‘s creepy and I enjoyed the back and forth between the present and 1929. I wasn‘t a huge fan of the ending, but I did still enjoy the book.

This is the first book by an indie author, so I expected it to be a little rough… but if I‘m honest, it was a struggle to get through. The story is fairly predictable. (It‘s mostly backstory, with LOTS of stereotypical high school drama.) The characters aren‘t terribly well developed. And the writing… it‘s very, very rough. There were some interesting elements, but the whole book could have used a really good editor and a lot of polish.

Ugh. This one had potential, but I was so disappointed. There are a lot of twists (though if you‘ve read many thrillers, you‘ll likely catch on pretty quick) I wasn‘t a fan of the writing style - there were a lot of cheesy lines like “secrets are only secrets for the people don‘t know them yet.” A lot of what happened seemed highly implausible and just didn‘t add up.

All in all, it was a quick read, but I didn‘t particularly enjoy it.

While I‘m still thoroughly enjoying this series, this third novel didn‘t grab me the way the previous ones did. It was still good, and I love the world and the banter (also, pretty sure I noticed a nod to the Dresden Files, which made me laugh), but it felt a little disjointed to me and the solving of the murder felt a little… abrupt?

I‘m not usually a big fan of romance novels in general, and I haven‘t read many (any?) gay fantasy romances, but I LOVED this book. I was cackling like a maniac through most of it. (And when I wasn‘t chortling, I might have been bawling because it had just ripped my heart out).

A word of warning - if you‘re offended by language or crude humour, this is probably one to skip.

#SamGirlForever

Rainbow Rowell writes books that make me feel a little better about life in general. The characters feel like real people to me - awkward and imperfect and trying to find their way through life - and though they deal with heavy and hard situations, they keep going and carry on. I‘m sure Rainbow will eventually write a book I don‘t enjoy as much, but she hasn‘t let me down yet.

Though I loved Narnia as a child (okay… still do…) this was never one of my favourites. The first half of the story always felt awkward, and Tirian, though a decent enough fellow, never felt like the old friend the other Narnians did. There were things I loved- the joyous reunions, promises of eternal adventures in a world beyond imagination… but all in all, it‘s a rather weak story.

I was looking forward to this one, but as a whole, it felt kinda meh. It was an incredibly ambitious book, with an interesting premise, spanning decades, with a huge cast of characters… but because of that, it felt like we just kinda skipped over parts of the story and barely got to know most of the characters on more than a surface level. It wasn‘t terrible, but it definitely wasn‘t what I hoped it would be.

This is such a fun series. More magic, a couple of decent mysteries - even if Peter is really slow to catch on in this one - and an introduction to a mysterious villain. I‘m really enjoying the magical world Aaronovitch is building.

It‘s definitely not my favourite of the series - there‘s a huge stretch of nothing going on and I‘ve always thought the ending was a little vague and poorly explained - but it does wrap things up nicely and I still enjoyed it.

What a crazy, twisted book! It was an interesting take on an old plot - Evelyn is an award winning scientist whose husband, Nathan, has an affair… with Evelyn‘s genetically replicated clone whom he‘s altered to be the “perfect” wife. (Think Stepford Wives, if you‘re old enough. 🙂) The story is told from Evelyn‘s point of view, and while she is certainly deserving of sympathy, she is also a deeply flawed, very complex character. Highly enjoyed.

The beginning of this book is very, very, very slow. Things do go utterly mad later, but it‘s a slow burn to get there. I know a lot of people enjoyed it, but it wasn‘t my thing and I found the characters completely unlikeable.

I only discovered T Kingfisher about 8 months ago, and I absolutely adore her. I don‘t think I‘ve ever found an author who consistently makes me chortle whilst reading as she does. This was the fifth books of hers I‘ve read and it is as wonderful as the others - and can I just say how refreshing it is to read a book where the protagonists are 30+ years old? I hope that this does turn into a trilogy, as I definitely want to read more.

I wanted to like this one, but to be honest, the plot felt unnecessarily convoluted and I was bored through a lot of it. A big part of the problem may have been that I listened to the audiobook… the female reader had a truly atrocious “French” accent that made me cringe, and the male reader had an incredibly monotone, robotic voice during any narration (though his French accent during dialogue was much better).

The premise sounded interesting and as a whole, it didn‘t disappoint. There were a few eye roll moments throughout the book, but that might very well be because I‘m not an angst-y young adult anymore. :)

I know the first few Discworld books don‘t get a lot of love (and they definitely do get better as the series goes on), but I absolutely love this one. Terry Pratchett was an outstanding writer. I‘d forgotten how much I enjoy the many, many misadventures of Rincewind, Twoflower… and the Luggage.

I‘ve been rereading this series for the first time in years, and I still love them.

I don‘t remember who initially told me about this one, but it was a pleasant surprise. While there were some cringe-worthy “what are you thinking?!?” moments, it was a solid story that I enjoyed, and there were a couple twists I didn‘t see coming.

While this may not be the strongest of the “trilogy,” it contains some of my favourite, utterly absurd moments. The plot is a little weaker than in previous books, but I still love it.

There aren‘t a lot of books that I finish and immediately want to read again, but TJ Klune‘s books seem to the exception to that rule. This was an achingly beautiful story of hope, love, loss, and redemption, with a cast of characters I fell in love with and didn‘t want to leave.