Jordaina Sydney Robinson

I actually enjoyed this much more than I expected.
But I didn't get a typical Cozy Mystery vibe at all even though I can see why it technically fits.

I had one huge issue with the book that sadly threads through the entire book and is part of at least the next one in the series as well.
Everyone treats the MC like shit.
She is being patronized, disrespected and her basic human dignity is trampled underfoot.
The MC is obviously mad about it and gripes and whines about it constantly but she never show more actually does anything beyond an initial token effort against it and just keeps on taking it.
It completely contradicted the personality she displays otherwise and makes it really hard to take her seriously as a person which in turn makes it almost impossible to take anything else seriously either.
This is supposed to be part of the humor. It's as funny as light-heartedly getting your toenails ripped out by particularly funny pliers to me.
This is something I see a lot in books that try to be humorous but it just ends up compromising any and all integrity of the MC instead.
This is not to say that there isn't a lot of different and enjoyable humor in the book. There is. I just can not enjoy this particular brand of humor at all.

This would've been a 4-star rating otherwise. show less

Who doesn't love a snarky narrator? The protagonist Aurora North is a pretty sassy reporter on the paranormal desk at a smallish news outlet in Manchester (but we don't learn the name of the city until chapter 7). Wait, is that even real job? She's also brainy, pushing 30, tends to fall asleep at her desk. But a real bulldog when it comes to her investigative reporting; and she's way ahead of the local cops. (Oh, her godfather Trank is a cop, just btw.)

This book had me smiling and chuckling show more from the first page. I liked the narrator a lot. Briefly: in the course of investigating so-called "vampire" attacks on a nearby campus, she acquires a (student) side-kick and reluctantly takes him under her wing. There's a vampire themed night club involved, as well as the drama department.

Note: This is apparently the same book as "The Theatre Production Murders", which I obtained as a freebie via Smashwords. I ran across it via recommendation in a blog I follow. (Thanks Amber!) At this point the book doesn't seem to be filed in Goodreads under the title I got.

Anyway, I liked it well enough to purchase the next book in the series and it's on top of my TBR pile right now. show less

I do genre-based ratings. Meaning for a chicklit fun beach read this gets a five. Does it compare to the classics? No. But for a fun beach read - it's tops in its class. If that's what you're looking for, you'll find this indie is better than the output of most of the big publishing houses.

This fell into the category of books that I wasn't quite sure I was going to bother finishing, but still wanted to see what came next. It is the first in a series, and left me considering whether I want to invest the time reading takes to assuage my curiosity.
I like the premise- exploring an after death world which is much like, and overlaps our own. I figure the barrage of rules that are enforced but neither warned about before they are broken nor explained after, although many other show more seemingly pointless rules are, lessons that are supposed to teach you how to cope with the world but mostly consist of you working it out for yourself while being harassed by bullies, combined with typical fictional coincidences, and Bridgit's shallow concern for clothes and make-up indicate that this is aimed at high school students. Frankly, if I woke up dead in that afterlife, I'd want to have a second death to get out of it as soon as possible. I certainly hope it's better organized! It does address the way there seem to be many and contradictory versions of how ghosts, haunting, mediums, etc. are "supposed" to work- only without actually doing it helping at all.
I can assume that she's going to get romantically involved with Oz, her parole officer. Her trouble seeking friend Sabrina hasn't been locked up, nor have they caught the "outlaw" ghost, so there's a potential for ongoing characters. There are apparently four books in the series, and I started with a free electronic version, it's not available from the library, and I don't know that it's worth spending money on the next book(s). show less