I could tell this was a middle-grade book

Did not care much for the main character.

I was surprised by how much I liked this book. I generally don't care for books about serial killers. And this one had 2!

I really started to like the main characters and I can't wait to read the next one and hopefully find out how the story with Glover ends...

3.5 stars

I liked this book better once I actually got to know the characters. Unfortunately that wasn't until almost half way through. In the beginning they were just criminals and I just couldn't relate to them. The author keeps referencing their past but she doesn't actually reveal the stories until much later in the book. Once I found out why the characters were the way they were, I enjoyed the book much more.

I really feel like along with the multiple read dates, there should also be multiple ratings/reviews. This review is based on my second reading. While I still feel that this book is a 3-star, I felt like I understood it better this time around and the ending alone deserves a .5 star. So now I'm rating it 3.5. The ending for me is the best part of the book. The rest of it was hard to get into because of the constant alternating povs. The author changes povs so often that they change within chapters. It makes it so easy to stop reading when the pov changes but you haven't even gotten to a new chapter. It made the reading slow-going for me. I would have preferred shorter chapters and the pov changes to happen at chapter changes.

3.5 stars

3.5 stars. I enjoyed this book and it made me laugh quite a bit. I really liked Alvie, Ethel and Bennett, but I found the rest of the characters, including the villain, lackluster. I wished there had been more tie in with The Paper Magician series and I didn't find the magic of plastics nearly as interesting as the magic of folding. I feel like it was a good story with good characters but there were just some aspects that could have been better. But overall I enjoyed it and I look forward to reading anymore of the series that comes out.

Too dry.

3.5 stars

I have enjoyed this story first with the movie, then the play, and now finally the book. No matter the medium, it is a good story. I was torn whether to give 3 or 4 stars, but I settled on 3 by comparing how I felt after I finished this book with how I felt after others that I gave 3 or 4 stars too. I thoroughly enjoyed this story, but perhaps knowing what was going to happen and who the Scarlet Pimpernel was ruined it just a little for me. It would have been better if I had read the book first I think.

This book felt long but overall I enjoyed it.

3.5 stars

I really liked this book! Lots of fun!

I really like this series! Can't wait to read the next one

This book was confusing and wordy. It felt like things were just thrown in to maybe show Lord Peter's wandering mind? I don't know but it was hard to follow. Even after the confession, I still don't get the whole Peruvian oil aspect of the case.

I knew almost from the beginning who the killer was and that someone had impersonated Levy the night he disappeared. I did not, however, understand how the crime was committed until the conclusion of the book, so that at least remained somewhat of a mystery.

I didn't think there was much detecting, rather Lord Peter just had a miraculous epiphany and he suddenly knew what happened.

The best part of the book for me was the relationship between Lord Peter and Bunter. I loved their easygoingness even though they are master and servant (although you do find out they served together which would create a different dynamic). I just loved the humorous way they spoke to one another! It was so funny and charming.

Loved the bear!

I liked the story but I didn't like all the description. I had trouble imaging what he was writing because it was so vague. A lot of times I didn't understand what was going on: what was real and what was in the character's head. I also didn't like all the science that was thrown in. It was too technical.

I liked the characters a lot, especially Marie Laure. I'm not a huge fan of when a story jumps around so much. It makes it difficult for me to keep the chronology straight.

This book also felt a little too long. Towards the end, I felt there were needless chapters whose only purpose was to extend the book.

I don't understand why Marie Laure didn't tell Jutta that Werner saved her life. Instead she says that they spent an afternoon together?! It was weird.

I also felt like the rape scene was unnecessary and added nothing to the story. There didn't seem to be any lasting consequences from it for Jutta, which seemed strange in itself, and really made it superfluous.

3.5 stars. I noticed as I progressed in this series that it became more serious and there was less humor. I really enjoyed the humor of the first book and I wish they had all kept it going.

It took me a long time to get into this book, but I really enjoyed the ending of it.

It took me a long time to get into this book but I'm starting to wonder if that's a me problem instead of the book's. By the end, I loved it and I'm so ready for the next one...which of course isn't out yet 🙃

I would not recommend the audiobook. The narrator has a thick accent that makes it hard to follow.

This book had some really poignant moments but for the most part it was meh. I didn't care for the protagonist, Darrow, much. I did really like some of the secondary characters, but most of them end up dead.

Not sure if I'll read the next one or not.

To me, this book is the best of the series so far. It had all the great things that the other books had but without the weaknesses I found in them. I really liked Costis and seeing things from his perspective.

I didn't care for Ged much until the shadow came. I really liked Vetch and Ged's friendship with him and Ogion.

I felt like this book, like so many books where the main focus of the plot is a journey, was slow and boring. It was also sometimes hard for me to figure out what was going on. There was lots of descriptions but they didn't paint a vivid picture in my mind. I was also reading the Ebook on the Kindle and it doesn't let you zoom in to see the map in the beginning so for most of the book I was completely lost of the many islands' locations. Finally, I caved and looked it up on Google.

I also still don't quite understand the magic system in this universe. It's all illusion except when it's not. The only clear thing I took away was that an equilibrium as to be maintained, which is generally the case of most magical systems.

I don't know if I'll read the next book or not. I really liked the characters by the end of this book, especially how Ged had changed and become less prideful and more comfortable with himself. My favorite part of the book was when he was the wizard in Low Toring.
It will depend on whether the next book is just more of him traveling or if it's mostly set in just one place. I've had enough of his journeys.

I didn't enjoy this book as much as the first. Not only because of some of the heartbreaks that happen to the characters but also because even though there was a lot of action, it didn't really add much to the story. But that could be because this is the middle book and its leading up to the final one. There was also some events that didn't seem like they would have been very likely given the characters' past. Or at least wouldn't have happened so quickly. I'm still looking forward to reading the next one.

I enjoyed this book and I liked how it turned out in the end. Even though it's a short book (when I finished I was surprised that's all there was), the majority of the book is the journey and that was a bit tedious. I also felt like the end could have been longer. There could have been more explanation as to what happened and what was going to happen. It just kinda skimmed over everything.

I don't know if it's because I've been reading so many books lately where the protagonist is a girl or it's the writing, but for the longest time I kept thinking of Gen as a girl, even though I knew he wasn't.

I've heard good things about the other books so I'll probably them a try.

Watch where you leave your victims! I stubbed my toe on that.

Bartimaeus is a delight! I loved his snarky attitude! He was definitely the best part of the book. Nathaniel was annoying. I kept hoping he would see the error of his ways, or at least grow as a person as the book progressed. Neither occurred. I also kept hoping that Nathaniel and Bartimaeus would start working together, which they sort of did by the end.

This is a long book for a children's book. It seemed at times to go on and on. It would have been better shorter. It looks like the rest of the books in the series are just as long or longer.

I wasn't planning on reading the rest of the books but I enjoyed the end of this one so much that I think I'm going to give the next one a try.

Really good book to listen to: the chapters are nice and short so it's easy to stop when needed. The story was good and I really like Mike Bennett and his children. I didn't figure out who the neat man was - I guessed but I was wrong. I like when a book is able to keep you guessing til the end.

I don't like these books as much when the books focus on a journey. I find the journeys both too long (in that the whole story is devoted to them) and too easy (in that the characters never seem to be in any kind of danger where I truly fear for them - I almost think the books are too short for that). I also have a harder time getting into these stories when the perspective is from a new character that I know nothing about. I mean it took me forever to figure out who the Attolian was and if I had known from the start I might have enjoyed the story more. But honestly I didn't see much of the Costis I grew to know in the "King of Attolia" through Kamet's eyes.

Of course I've grown attached to the main actors in these books, Gen et al. And I am so waiting for a book centered on Eddis... I just felt this book didn't add much to the series. It truly was a companion book. Enjoyable, but unnecessary. I wish the next book were available but it's probably going to be awhile since there's not even a title yet. I hope it centers back on the main characters.

3.5 stars