DNF - my physical body abandoned this at 50% and my conscience mind abandoned at 20%
Angels and Demons was my intro to Dan Brown and unfortunately every other book after that was complete let down. I - and I’m sure many others - have noticed the declining quality in writing, in execution, in characters, etc. While plots are grand, they never reach their potential. The main character never grows and developed, and the reason I fell in love with Angels and Demons - the history, the symbology, the puzzle solving - is not there, hasn’t been there a long time.
Angels and Demons was my intro to Dan Brown and unfortunately every other book after that was complete let down. I - and I’m sure many others - have noticed the declining quality in writing, in execution, in characters, etc. While plots are grand, they never reach their potential. The main character never grows and developed, and the reason I fell in love with Angels and Demons - the history, the symbology, the puzzle solving - is not there, hasn’t been there a long time.
DNF 50%
This is not my kind of book, but, occasionally, one wants to get out of one's comfort zone and read other things. But it seems "other things" don't like me either. So, please take this review with a grain of salt...
The premise in the book description - which made me pick this up in the first place - lasted just a few pages. The hot dude was a grump for about half a page and the rut wasn't really a rut. Overworked and underappreciated would describe this better. The writing was very primitive, the plot predictable, and tropes kept leaping at me from every space between words. Emily Dickinson quotes and references were superfluous and didn't add to the character of the main protagonist.
The only parts that had any emotional stamina were the family interactions. The author did a great job showing how clueless the parents and sister were in how their actions affected our girl.
This is not my kind of book, but, occasionally, one wants to get out of one's comfort zone and read other things. But it seems "other things" don't like me either. So, please take this review with a grain of salt...
The premise in the book description - which made me pick this up in the first place - lasted just a few pages. The hot dude was a grump for about half a page and the rut wasn't really a rut. Overworked and underappreciated would describe this better. The writing was very primitive, the plot predictable, and tropes kept leaping at me from every space between words. Emily Dickinson quotes and references were superfluous and didn't add to the character of the main protagonist.
The only parts that had any emotional stamina were the family interactions. The author did a great job showing how clueless the parents and sister were in how their actions affected our girl.
I have only one thing to say... If you're going to write about traumatic subjects you should be someone who can actually write about traumatic subjects. Colleen Hoover, you're NOT that someone!
The poor writing broke this book for me. It seemed as if it was written for elementary grades. Bland and simplistic! The incessant and overdrawn descriptions of inner dialogue and minute details surrounding the characters and places were disconcerting and took away from the story. It left nothing to the readers’ imagination. I feel that this issue comes from lack of experience on the author’s part. It seems the author is too preoccupied with making sure his/her readers are on the exact same page or thought process as him/her that they somehow insult the readers’ comprehension, imagination, and knowledge.
The gruesome parts may have been there to inspire compassion for the surviving characters, but it did no such thing for me.
The story itself - described as “action packed” - lacked action, again, being bogged down by long descriptions of what the characters thought or felt. The storyline was nothing new and the writing style made it even more uninspired.
I usually hate to skip pages and when I do I know I’m in trouble with a book!
Unfortunately, I had to skip many pages of this book just to get to the story. At the end, I realized that the author didn’t inspire or move me to care for any of his characters and what happened to them.
The gruesome parts may have been there to inspire compassion for the surviving characters, but it did no such thing for me.
The story itself - described as “action packed” - lacked action, again, being bogged down by long descriptions of what the characters thought or felt. The storyline was nothing new and the writing style made it even more uninspired.
I usually hate to skip pages and when I do I know I’m in trouble with a book!
Unfortunately, I had to skip many pages of this book just to get to the story. At the end, I realized that the author didn’t inspire or move me to care for any of his characters and what happened to them.
Any updates on the continuation of this series?
The title aptly describes my feelings! A whimsical notion indeed.
Thank you NetGalley for this book.
This read more like a screenplay than a novel! No surprise there.
The characterization was flat and devoid of any human nature or emotional depth. The dialog was extremely curt and flat offering no insight into the characters, their decisions, thought processes, etc. It seemed to me that the author just wrote out the bare-bone dialog and descriptions hoping his readers would fill in the emotional aspects or breathe life into his characters (like actors would do with a screenplay). It would truly be a feat if it worked! I’m sorry to say it didn’t.
The plot line moved along pretty fast due to short chapters and a short page count. The cliffhangers were placed in the most unreasonable and weird places along the story line cutting the scenes unduly short and without any sense.
I was looking forward to a thriller and a good mystery - the Kennedy assassination, c’mon! Unfortunately, it was not thrilling or, least of all, mysterious.
(I read the digital version on NetGalley app and the punctuation marks were all over the place! Quotation marks beginning and ending in random places where the dialog was still ongoing, etc. This definitely needs fixing).
This read more like a screenplay than a novel! No surprise there.
The characterization was flat and devoid of any human nature or emotional depth. The dialog was extremely curt and flat offering no insight into the characters, their decisions, thought processes, etc. It seemed to me that the author just wrote out the bare-bone dialog and descriptions hoping his readers would fill in the emotional aspects or breathe life into his characters (like actors would do with a screenplay). It would truly be a feat if it worked! I’m sorry to say it didn’t.
The plot line moved along pretty fast due to short chapters and a short page count. The cliffhangers were placed in the most unreasonable and weird places along the story line cutting the scenes unduly short and without any sense.
I was looking forward to a thriller and a good mystery - the Kennedy assassination, c’mon! Unfortunately, it was not thrilling or, least of all, mysterious.
(I read the digital version on NetGalley app and the punctuation marks were all over the place! Quotation marks beginning and ending in random places where the dialog was still ongoing, etc. This definitely needs fixing).
Heck, I don't even need to read to know this is gonna be another 5 freakin' stars! And if you've made it this far and intent to keep going, you already know that the standard is set!
3 stars for the fact that I made it through to about 65%, then skim-read to the end! This book was mainly a fast-paced and plot driven story with very little character development and world building. I say very little because there was some - however short it may have fell...
1. Character development was mostly in the form of the characters telling their entire life stories to other characters. There was very little room for any development because of the "events" that the characters were thrown into over and over. The side characters had some personality but very little impact or role in the plot, since the main ones just did whatever they wanted even though they were given direction! (The author may have wanted to show the rebelliousness and recklessness of the main characters, however, I don't think this was the best way to go about showing that!)
2. The plot was filled with action, but it seems like the side adventures pretty much took over and sidelined the actual mystery promised at the beginning. The digressed plot was predictable, and again, the villain and sidekicks told you everything they were going to do! A lot of telling and very little showing in the book!
3. The world building fell short on many aspects. Seems like this story could've taken place anywhere and anytime, and the fantasy setting was just one of the choices, rather the ideal choice for the story. There are many layers to the world, but it is not a lived-in world! It's a progression of fleeting show more scenes where characters come in and go out. There was so much potential because of the many layers (strata of the classes, people, nationalities), but again the overwhelming action of the plot didn't allow any room for development.
4. The language of the story was unremarkable only because it did not belong to the world of this story. It belonged to today's world! Besides some terminology, it was pretty much 21st century speak. I've seen many comments about the interaction between Lukan and Flea being the highlight of the story. But again, the lack of uniqueness of the language and all other things mentioned above, took away from how special those conversation could've been and how much they could've contributed to their relationship. Within the potential of the world building and deep character dives, those conversations could've been little pockets of refreshing oasis. Instead they took over the actual character and world building!
Seems like mostly Cons, I know. But the book gave many promises it did not deliver on, even though it was set in silverblood! show less
1. Character development was mostly in the form of the characters telling their entire life stories to other characters. There was very little room for any development because of the "events" that the characters were thrown into over and over. The side characters had some personality but very little impact or role in the plot, since the main ones just did whatever they wanted even though they were given direction! (The author may have wanted to show the rebelliousness and recklessness of the main characters, however, I don't think this was the best way to go about showing that!)
2. The plot was filled with action, but it seems like the side adventures pretty much took over and sidelined the actual mystery promised at the beginning. The digressed plot was predictable, and again, the villain and sidekicks told you everything they were going to do! A lot of telling and very little showing in the book!
3. The world building fell short on many aspects. Seems like this story could've taken place anywhere and anytime, and the fantasy setting was just one of the choices, rather the ideal choice for the story. There are many layers to the world, but it is not a lived-in world! It's a progression of fleeting show more scenes where characters come in and go out. There was so much potential because of the many layers (strata of the classes, people, nationalities), but again the overwhelming action of the plot didn't allow any room for development.
4. The language of the story was unremarkable only because it did not belong to the world of this story. It belonged to today's world! Besides some terminology, it was pretty much 21st century speak. I've seen many comments about the interaction between Lukan and Flea being the highlight of the story. But again, the lack of uniqueness of the language and all other things mentioned above, took away from how special those conversation could've been and how much they could've contributed to their relationship. Within the potential of the world building and deep character dives, those conversations could've been little pockets of refreshing oasis. Instead they took over the actual character and world building!
Seems like mostly Cons, I know. But the book gave many promises it did not deliver on, even though it was set in silverblood! show less
Havoc: A Twisty Psychological Thriller Where an Elderly Widow Meets Her Match in a Decadent Hotel by Christopher Bollen
DNF 50%
Life’s too short. Way too short. Moving on…
Life’s too short. Way too short. Moving on…
The only danger here is being drowned by an overload of similes, undeveloped storyline, absolute lack of character depth, and a “mystery” that is not even worth solving!
Zac lands in Iran, Zac is detained, Zac escapes. The end!
DNF - I will pretend this never happened and go on with my life.
This is one of the VERY few books I re-read. I appreciate the author's insight and imagination in carving Mary's character. Truly a well written book - both in language and character development!