This is the first book during the Covid19 pandemic that I was able to pick up and completely escape into. I’m not at all surprised, Briggs 5 stars!!
This is the first book during the Covid19 pandemic that I was able to pick up and completely escape into. I’m not at all surprised, Briggs is a master of storytelling. In these dark times, reading this book was like being able to visit with old friends again. I was so happy to be amongst Mercy and the Pack, and all the characters we have grown to love over the years. I loved it, the perfect escape. And if you haven’t read this series, now is the time to start!
And seriously, how has this series not been picked up for a television show yet??? Blows my mind. Netflix?? Hulu?? Amazon?? Get it together!...more
Took me almost a month to finish, not because it wasn't good, but with COVID19 I am having trouble focusing. Someday I will get back to this b3.5 stars
Took me almost a month to finish, not because it wasn't good, but with COVID19 I am having trouble focusing. Someday I will get back to this book for a reread and the series, but that will have to wait for now....more
There's a reason Telgemeier is so successful, every single one of her books is relatable and delightful!There's a reason Telgemeier is so successful, every single one of her books is relatable and delightful!...more
“Monsters are real. Ghosts are too. They live inside of us, and sometimes, they win.”
A family is hired to take care of a hotel over th 4.5 stars!
“Monsters are real. Ghosts are too. They live inside of us, and sometimes, they win.”
A family is hired to take care of a hotel over the winter while it is closed to the guests and weather conditions are damning. Jack is hoping to spend the winter as the caretaker working on the hotel and his writing. His wife Wendy wants them to go back to a normal family. Their son Danny has been seeing some very strange things around the hotel. As it grows colder, the hotel starts to come awake and the three of them will be having a very tough time.
“The tears that heal are also the tears that scald and scourge.”
I’m trying to read King’s books in the order they were published. This was third on the list and since I loved the movie I was excited to read this. I also have seen the hotel that inspired it a few times and have always been meaning to get around to reading this book.
This book has what most people would consider a slow start, but I really liked it. King did an incredible job with the setting and the tone and both kept me completely sucked in from the first page. Obviously there were many differences from the movie, I tried not to compare but it’s hard not to. My favorite part about this book was deep inside, this family loved each other very much despite all odds and they tried to keep together as a family unit while outside forces tried to rip them apart.
If you haven’t read this book and always meant to (like me) it’s the perfect, spooky time to give it a chance. Just don’t read it before going to bed.
“Sometimes human places, create inhuman monsters.”
I think this book is everything a middle grade novel should be. A story filled with family, friendship, compassion and history. I love that the main cI think this book is everything a middle grade novel should be. A story filled with family, friendship, compassion and history. I love that the main character was a girl who loved science. I also think this book presented what is a tough subject in a gentle but truthful manner. Only criticism (and why 4 not 5 stars) is some editing issues, at one point a character was addressed by the wrong name and it was confusing. Also the same information was presented as new information a couple times....more
A great middle grade horror series. Arden does a splendid job of balancing the genre for a younger audience. I got goosebumps reading this! I cannot wA great middle grade horror series. Arden does a splendid job of balancing the genre for a younger audience. I got goosebumps reading this! I cannot wait for more books in the series....more
I listened to the audio book. While I enjoyed it overall, I found myself tuning out or choosing to listen to music on my commute instead of 3.5 stars
I listened to the audio book. While I enjoyed it overall, I found myself tuning out or choosing to listen to music on my commute instead of listening to the book, which isn’t the best sign. I can see why everyone loves it, but it didn’t wow me. I wonder if I had read this back when it was released 10+ years ago if I would have loved....more
"One by one Two by two, The Hardesty witches are traveling through."
I don't know how Briggs nails it every time but she does. Mercy Thom 4.5 stars!
"One by one Two by two, The Hardesty witches are traveling through."
I don't know how Briggs nails it every time but she does. Mercy Thompson is a series I've been reading almost since it started, and though time goes by and my reading tastes change, this series holds its own and remains a constant source of joy for me.
In the previous book Mercy made the tri-cities area a safe haven for citizens in her territory. Now with that proclamation, she needs to uphold it. When a new coven of witches comes in and threatens everything, she must fight them to keep those close to her safe.
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First things first, miniature zombie goats. Who knew that would be a thing and that it would be cute and hilarious? A very riveting book for me, most of it I couldn't put the kindle down. My only thing is I wish I had a character guide, because as I approach my 30s, I cannot remember a damn thing and didn't know who some of these people were because it's been so long since I last read a Briggs book.
Honestly one of my favorite books of 2019. If you haven't read this series, seriously get your act together and make it work. I can honestly say this series only gets better and better.
"I've learned that there are always terrible things, and sometimes it is very important to grasp what joy and beauty you can, whenever you can."
ARC provided by the publisher via netgalley. All/any quotes in this review came from an advance unedited copy and may be subject to change in the final product.
I grew up watching the 1963 film The Haunting which is based off of this book. So going in I had a good idea of what was going to happen. Jac 3 stars
I grew up watching the 1963 film The Haunting which is based off of this book. So going in I had a good idea of what was going to happen. Jackson's writing is incredible... but the pacing was all off for me. Maybe because of when this was written in 1959? But very few horror moments a lot more conversation about trivial things than I expected.
I'm glad I read it because I always meant to, but this wasn't anything special to me. I cannot see myself rereading it (but I can see myself rewatching the 1963 film and the Netflix series).
“Never in any Jane Austen novel did the love interest pretend to be a fortune-teller," Helen said, "Why would someone do that?”
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^^ 4 stars!
“Never in any Jane Austen novel did the love interest pretend to be a fortune-teller," Helen said, "Why would someone do that?”
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^^Just kidding. But in this book she can see ghosts.
I really enjoyed this book, it's a fanciful retelling of Jane Eyre that is so aware of itself and also pokes fun at itself. In My Plain Jane, there are people who can see ghosts and Jane Eyre is one of them. Growing up starving at Lowood school, Jane jumps at the chance to be a governess in a new position. But there is a society of ghost hunters who wish to recruit her and well, it's all shenanigans from there.
I love the tone and humor in this book. I found myself laughing out loud way too many times. I do think if you know nothing about Jane Eyre, at least watch one of the many movie adaptations to catch up because then you can follow along with where the authors changed things.
I highly recommend if you need a good laugh. I hope these authors write more together.
Another short review! What a wonderful series!!! Loved this book mostly because of Kate's relationships with so many of the side characters and the deAnother short review! What a wonderful series!!! Loved this book mostly because of Kate's relationships with so many of the side characters and the development that came with it. Also, the conflict between Kate and her father? Brill!
I know they'll never do it, but I'll be sitting over here forever waiting for an MM romance from this author about Christopher and Barabas. A girl's gotta have hopes and dreams, right?...more
Audio re-read August 2019. Thoughts remain the same!
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4 stars!
“Of the first few hauntings I investigated with Lockwood & Co. I intend to say Audio re-read August 2019. Thoughts remain the same!
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4 stars!
“Of the first few hauntings I investigated with Lockwood & Co. I intend to say little, in part to protect the identity of the victims, in part because of the gruesome nature of the incidents, but mainly because, in a variety of ingenious ways, we succeeded in messing them all up.”
Who knew a middle grade novel could be TERRIFYING! It took me a while to get through this book because I was too scared to read it at night!
The Screaming Staircase takes place in England, where an epidemic of ghosts has covered the country with people taking extra precautions to keep them away. Since younger people have better abilities to see and sense them, they are the front of the army against this supernatural issue.
Lucy has the gift of hearing ghosts and is excellent at what she does. She joins the Lockwood and Company, a small ghost hunting agency run by Anthony Lockwood with another boy named George. The three of them work to rid the world of ghosts, one haunting at a time….
“Really?" "No. I'm being ironic. Or is it sarcastic? I can never remember." "Irony's cleverer, so you're probably being sarcastic.”
I’ve had several people recommend me this book and I’ve always meant to get to it. I am very glad I finally did and tried a new to me author, because this book is excellent. It’s like Supernatural for tweens, but in England and with a female lead character. I love the concept of younger adults being placed into adult situations because they are the only ones who can help.
As I mentioned before, this book was fairly scary. So much so that after finishing it I needed to watch rom coms to get me out of my frightened glow. Stroud is a compelling and excellent writer and I am definitely going to be reading the other books in this series soon.
“Well, when you're being held at gunpoint by a geriatric madman in a metal skirt, you've kind of hit rock bottom anyway. It can't really get much worse.”
"It appears you're right --- I simply can't go an entire day without murdering someone.”
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Gosh I wanted to love this book so bad 3.5-4 stars
"It appears you're right --- I simply can't go an entire day without murdering someone.”
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Gosh I wanted to love this book so bad, the first three books in the series were amazing, and while this one was enjoyable.... I merely liked it instead of loved it. I remember getting a newsletter about Frost's family, I felt so much for this author. Her mom dying then repeated issues with her dad's health, that's more than anyone should have to take in. Knowing this, as a true fan would do, I understood and knew she needed to take her time to write this book and I think the wait was worth it. (FYI, this is all mentioned in an introduction of the book as well).
I had to reread the entire series before picking up this final book, as I had picked it up and by page 3 I was terribly lost. Hence an epic reread of some of the best PNR there is. No author has the voice that Frost has. So much witty humor and so much emotion packed into her books. There's a reason I'll read anything she publishes.
This fourth novel involves Vlad and Leila working to destroy the link between her and a powerful necromancer. Their bodies and lives are tied together, so if one of them dies, the other does too. But finding the necromancer proves to be more difficult than anticipated.
My favorite part of this book was the crossover of the character Ian. That man no doubt was the best part, bringing endless comic relief and making me laugh my ass off out loud in public. I swear this man needs his own spin off-ASAP!
The flawed aspect of this book is it's almost information overload and focuses more on action than the romance and relationship between Leila and Vlad. I can understand why fans were let down by this book.
The Night Prince series is one you must read! Look past the god awful covers and you'll discover one of your favorite romance couples!
Silence Fallen begins with Mercy being abducted by vampires and brought to Europe. 4.5 stars!
“I only get weirder the longer you know me.”
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Silence Fallen begins with Mercy being abducted by vampires and brought to Europe. She escapes her captors and ends up in the gothic city of Prague, where she has no clue if the people and supernatural creatures she comes across are friend or foe. As time goes by Mercy discovers there is more than one creature that has her in their sits, it’s just a matter of whether or not she can find a safe place to go.
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“I looked like a victim. I was done, really done with being a victim.”
I love this series, it never ever fails to deliver a thrilling story and a smile to my face. Patricia Briggs writes hands down one of the best urban fantasy series ever. I love getting lost in the Tricities realm, the characters feel like friends and family as you read along. This is book ten and the series is still going strong, connecting the previous happenings of the books before while creating a new and unique story.
I was majorly geeking out when reading this book. Why? I studied abroad for a year in the city of Prague, and the majority of this book was based there! And it was all accurate! I felt as if I was walking the streets of that city again and it made me miss it. Briggs very obviously either knows the city well herself, or did some awesome research. Plus the addition of the Prague Golem to the plot? Genius! And amazingly well done.
Anyways, I gave it 4.5 instead of 5 because honestly, Adams bits were kinda boring to me with all the political stuff. But otherwise I LOVED this book. And that twist at the end? I never saw it coming, even though thinking back there were some clues. I just missed them.
This is a series you need to be reading, and if you already are, read this book immediately!
“Where is the glory if there is no one left to tell the story?”
ARC provided by publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review
I had a lot of high hopes for this book and to say I am disappointed is an understatement. I didn't even know this spin off series existed DNF at 56%
I had a lot of high hopes for this book and to say I am disappointed is an understatement. I didn't even know this spin off series existed until a week ago and the minute I saw it I wanted to devour it.
I will say what I liked was at the beginning this felt like one of the older BDB novels, with the focus on a few characters and not 20 in one book. I was excited for Butch and Marissa and the idea of new fresh characters.
My problem with this book? I was bored out of my mind reading it. 200+ pages in and it felt like the plot wasn't going anywhere, it didn't move forward. All we got for 200 pages was Butch and Marissa having problems and the new couple "fighting" their attraction for each other. On top of that I felt all the new characters were just rehashing of older characters.
So while this wasn't for me I can see why die hard fans of BDB enjoyed it. I'm just disappointed this PNR series is no longer sparking excitement for me to read it, especially since the beginning books are ones I love so much.
"I feel like each day is leading me down a dark path I might not be able to come back from."
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First off, YOU CAN READ VEILED WITHOUT HAVING READ EXPERIMENT IN TERROR. Wait, did you get that?? YOU CAN READ VEILED WITHOUT HAVING READ EXPERIMENT IN TERROR!!! Okay, now that we have that out of the way, you're gonna read Veiled now, right??? Right?? (You'd better).
I first discovered Karina Halle when I saw a trusted reviewer on Goodreads review one of her Experiment in Terror books. So one day during jury duty I picked up Darkhouse and the rest is history. I fell in love. So when EIT ended and there was a possibility of an Ada book, I waited and hoped and dreamed. And it didn't come. When I gave up hope that Veiled would happen, something magic happened: Karina wrote it!
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So I am beyond ecstatic we have Ada's story, it truly is a special gift to EIT fans and quite honestly, any Karina fan. I want ALL my friends to read this book!!!! Beware, because I will start pushing this one on you if I haven't started already.
"You have a fight ahead of you, one that goes far beyond what you've seen in your dreams."
Now let's get back on track. Veiled is the story of Ada Palamino, eighteen years old and already well aware of the fact that ghosts and demons haunt our world. After the death of her mother, two years later she is still reeling. Her nightmares become more vivid and strange things begin to happen around her. On top of this, a sexy ginger from her dreams pops up in real life, meant to be her guide and protector. As crazier stuff keeps happening, Ada must learn to find her inner strength and fight the demons surrounding her, figurative and literal.
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"The past doesn't define us. It's what we do here and now, today that does. This world was built on second chances."
Veiled is equal parts scary, sexy and intense. This is a book where I resented needing to accomplish real world tasks because I wanted to constantly be in Ada and Jay's world! I also made the mistake reading the majority of this book at night, not a wise idea. I was pee in my pants terrified at some parts and wished I had my own sexy ginger to keep me safe and warm at night. Speaking of sexy gingers, leave it to Karina Halle to create a hot sexy GINGER that I swooned over. And I'm not even really attracted to gingers!!!! But Jay is the sexy, smoldery exception.
I loved the feel of this book, it was uniquely Ada if that makes any sense. This book was about Ada transitioning from a girl to a woman and finding her inner strength to fight for the people she loved. Ada overcame her fears and her demons, fighting for the side of good while trying to survive at the same time. Ada and Jay were perfect for each other, their romance sigh worthy. I would love to see more of the two of them, but I am happy enough for this book to have happened!!!
Again I would like to reiterate, Veiled can be read as a standalone despite technically being a spinoff book! You do not have to read the Experiment in Terror series first (unless you want to).
"You're destined for something great, Ada. I know this. And it's an honor to help see you through it."
ARC provided by author in exchange for an honest review
I ended up liking this book a lot more than I thought I would! This book is about a teen named Delia who with her family has traveled t 3.75 stars!!!
I ended up liking this book a lot more than I thought I would! This book is about a teen named Delia who with her family has traveled to an estate left to Delia by her Aunt who recently passed. Upon arrival they find the house is actually a former institute for troubled young girls. The more time Delia spends there, the more freaked out she becomes until eventually she discovers the place in indeed haunted. Delia must find a way to get rid of the evil in the house in order to save her ghostly friends and her family.
Katie Alender has a wonderful writing style that just flows across the page, I found myself halfway done with this book in a matter of a couple of hours. If it hadn't been for the need to sleep I probably would have finished this book in one sitting. I felt this was a unique ghost book that stands out against other teen books with similar plots. And being a romance junkie, I actually really liked that the majority of this book had no romance, and it kept my attention.
If you're looking for something different and fun from your normal reading tastes, give this one a chance!
“If you could read my mind, you wouldn't be smiling.”
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Every Last Word is the story of Sam, a teenage girl with a debilitating case 4 stars!
“If you could read my mind, you wouldn't be smiling.”
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Every Last Word is the story of Sam, a teenage girl with a debilitating case of OCD. Not the kind like you and I think, where it's like people keeping things nice and neat, but one that messes with her sense of reality. One of the popular girls at school, she is forever in fear of her group of friends finding out her secret and ridiculing her for it.
One day she discovers a new group of people at school she never really noticed before. With some encouragement from a new friend, Sam makes an effort to join this new group who loves poetry and expression. But her past and her friends make it difficult for this new group of people to trust her, and she must prove her worth to them.
“I didn’t go there looking for you. I went looking for me.” My voice is soft, low, and shaky. “But now, here you are, and somehow, in finding you, I think I’ve found myself.”
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I liked this book a lot more than I thought I would. This is an author I've always been meaning to read, she has another series that looks good but I never got around to it. I love reading stories where the main character becomes disillusioned with their current life style and looks to other ways of spending their time. It's one of the better ways of promoting character development in a story (and we all know I must have my character development!) so I really enjoyed this book.
I liked the romance aspect because I wasn't really expecting it. AJ was a little bit too good to be true and I thought he forgave Sam for her past a little bit too quickly, but ultimately it worked for the book as a whole.
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I did guess the "surprise" fairly early on, but I loved that part of the story. It's amazing what the human mind can do and a great added twist to the plot. I also liked the use of words and how they helped Sam get through rough spots. Her OCD was based on words and thoughts, and by joining the poetry group she learned a way to manage and control them in a healthy way.
“Mistakes. Trial and error. Same thing. Mistakes are how we learned to walk and run and that hot things burn when you touch them. You’ve made mistakes all your life and you’re going to keep making them.”
I will say, if I tried to write poetry, this would be me:
I am a huge fan of PNR and urban fantasy, really I am. But this series is ALL OVER THE PLACE! Charley just always has a snappy coI just can't anymore.
I am a huge fan of PNR and urban fantasy, really I am. But this series is ALL OVER THE PLACE! Charley just always has a snappy comment. I for real do not get the whole Reyes thing. Like there's just this attraction between them? And yet I am supposed to believe it???
And just like book 1 the plot was all over the place. Are we investigating someone missing or focusing on Reyes? Because I don't like the back and forth.
Anyways it's safe to say this series isn't for me despite everyone else loving it. That's why I am the wildcard reader!...more
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