I hung on with this audiobook for longer than I should have, but I bought it and felt the investment deserved a really good attempt to like it. In theI hung on with this audiobook for longer than I should have, but I bought it and felt the investment deserved a really good attempt to like it. In the end, I had to give up.
Cleo is likable as a main character, but as described - being sheltered for most of her life before suddenly landing in London to live with estranged distant relatives - it was just beyond belief (well, beyond MY belief anyway) that she would suddenly be capable of the types of pushy and "outside her station" behaviours Cleo engages in to try investigating the murder at her family's hotel. I read a lot of books set in London in this time-period, and the way people respond to Cleo's busy-body activities is just not believable.
Then there are the other characters. In particular every member of Cleo's new family at the hotel. I disliked every one of them and found myself annoyed every time Cleo was conversing with any of them.
This just wasn't a great book for me. I will be moving on to something else....more
I should have loved this book - it has many things right in my lane: magic, librarians, magical books. But for reasons I can't identify I just could nI should have loved this book - it has many things right in my lane: magic, librarians, magical books. But for reasons I can't identify I just could not get into this and did not finish it.
I may, someday come back to this, because I didn't hate it, which is why I'm not rating it.
Maybe just the wrong time for me to have tried this book....more
I really enjoyed the first book in this series, but this second was a bit too dark for me and I did not end up finishing it.
This is a harsh world and I really enjoyed the first book in this series, but this second was a bit too dark for me and I did not end up finishing it.
This is a harsh world and I understand that, but the first book had some balancing lightness and some whimsy in how Octavia and Alonzo dealt with it which made the hard parts more manageable for me. This book was pretty much all harshness, violence and really rough circumstances for all the characters, at least to the halfway point which is where I gave up.
Basically, with all the harshness in the real world at the moment, reading a book that is unrelenting harshness and violence and ugliness is just not what I need right now. For the right reader this would probably be an excitingly dramatic story and world-building, but it wasn't the right read for me so I'll be moving on to something a bit lighter....more
I am not sure what to say about this. It didn't grab me, I couldn't really connect to any of the characters and it ended up a DNF about the halfway maI am not sure what to say about this. It didn't grab me, I couldn't really connect to any of the characters and it ended up a DNF about the halfway mark.
I may just be too old to be able to relate to Natalie, but she hit me as a whiny sad-sack who just wanted to complain, and expected everyone to just accept that her perspectives were "the" perspectives.
As I say, she is A LOT younger than I am, and possibly if I were at the same stage of life Natalie is, I would relate more to her dramas and travails. As it is this was just not the right book for me. I want to note that the writing is very strong, the sense of place in Paris of the time feels very real and evocative and the descriptions of the characters does help a reader visualize them. I just couldn't care enough about Natalie and her situation to stick with the rest of the book....more
I really tried with this book, but it just felt too much like a university textbook for me. Way too much minute detail (it really seemed like this autI really tried with this book, but it just felt too much like a university textbook for me. Way too much minute detail (it really seemed like this author was bound and determined that every single page of research he did for this book was going into it come hell or high water) and much more about the politics and history of Russis than I expected or needed.
I understand that the politics and history have impacted the Bolshoi, but that aspect could have been edited to augment the part about the ballet itself rather than drown the reader in that component; at least that's how it felt to me.
When a book is over 400 pages long, it had better engross me completely to convince me to commit to that kind of time spent with it. This book did not come even close to that level of engagement for me to continue with it when I have so many other books on my list that I desperately want to read. I very much DID NOT desperately want to keep reading this book, so back to the libary it goes....more
This used to be one of my favourite series' but the last several books have not been good for me at all. I had hopes for this one, but once I got intoThis used to be one of my favourite series' but the last several books have not been good for me at all. I had hopes for this one, but once I got into it and realized that Russell and Holmes aren't even together (at least for the first 10 chapters which is as far as I got before DNFing it) I was done. The best part of this entire concept is Holmes and Mary TOGETHER!
Oh well, at least I got the audio book from the library so all it cost me to find out this one wasn't for me was some time. Moving on to the next on my enormous TBR list....more
I have really enjoyed past books by this author, but I just could not get into this one and I did not end up finishing it.
The world felt a bit flat foI have really enjoyed past books by this author, but I just could not get into this one and I did not end up finishing it.
The world felt a bit flat for me, and there seemed to be a bit more complicated than I was looking for. The book just felt more like work than the others I have read from Holmberg. I feel compelled to say it may just have been bad timing, as I am crazy-busy at work right now and may just not be in the right mind-set for a book that takes a bit of thinking to understand the world and what the characters are dealing with.
I also didn't really gel with the charcters here and didn't feel engaged with their journeys.
I think this was just the wrong book for me at the moment. I definitely recommend this author's Paper Magician series, which I absolutely loved!...more
I was completely bored by this book and nothing about it drew me in. Even when there's an attempt on the main character's life, a ghost who saves her I was completely bored by this book and nothing about it drew me in. Even when there's an attempt on the main character's life, a ghost who saves her and the death of the assassin in the first few chapters, this book was way too filled with minutiae and mind-numbing detail for my liking.
I only got to chapter 10 and still did not care about anything that was going on, so it was clearly time to give up on this and move on to the next book on my list. Obviously, this was not a good fit for my reading style and interests....more
I really enjoyed the other two books in this series I've read, but this one left me a bit cold and I did not end up finishing it. Mainly because of HeI really enjoyed the other two books in this series I've read, but this one left me a bit cold and I did not end up finishing it. Mainly because of Hetty.
Look, I get it - these women of this time were not taught to be self-aware or to use rational, big-picture thinking, but of the group of women friends this series is about, Hetty is the only one who comes of as a completely prissy git and that was on full display in the approximately one-third of this book I read before giving up.
Lucien made every possible attempt to make her feel safe and comfortable despite neither one of them having planned to marry the other. Despite that, Hetty took every opportunity to misunderstand his motives and assume bad intent even though he gave her no legitimate reason to, and wouldn't listen when he tried to explain things. She irritated me too much to continue with this book.
I am certain this ends well, but I will wait for the next book in the series and read that, because this member of the league of extraordinary women has not struck this reader as particularly extraordinary at all....more
This started out well, but quickly became far too convoluted with - I assume - side stories that may or may not have been relevant to the main plot.
I This started out well, but quickly became far too convoluted with - I assume - side stories that may or may not have been relevant to the main plot.
I may just be too impatient to wade through what feels like extraneous, unconnected detail to get to the part where it all connects. I was totally into the main storyline that the book dives right into at the start of the book, but then we wandered off into these side-things and I kept wanding off mentally from the book. That's always a sign that a book just isn't a fit for me.
I tried to give this a chance to pull me back in, but it just didn't happen, so this is going back to the library so someone who will enjoy it more than I did can give it a try, and I'm moving on to the next audiobook on my list....more
I couldn't get into this at all. I thought it was for me but turns out, not so much.
I had this as an audio book and I was 90 minutes in before Tory evI couldn't get into this at all. I thought it was for me but turns out, not so much.
I had this as an audio book and I was 90 minutes in before Tory even finds out about the magic. It was way too slow-paced for me.
I also had trouble liking Tory. With the hair-trigger temper she was not likable. I feel like she was just obnoxious and not fun and quirky which is what I suspect the author was going for.
I love almost everything about the South so normally books set there are easy wins for me. This book and iI wanted to love this but it was not for me.
I love almost everything about the South so normally books set there are easy wins for me. This book and its characters, however, felt filled with the worst of the "red neck" stereotypes of Southern folks. The author is herself Southern (I checked) so I guess it's okay for her to write her characters this way, but reading about people that felt like caricatures rather than people made me feel really uncomfortable.
As I said, when the author is from the South, I figure that's a free-pass to write characters from the South based (one assumes) on her own experience. Unfortunately, the characters here did not work for me. I'll say that's on me rather than the book, but for whatever reason, I won't be finishing this....more
I enjoyed the first book in this series, but the second one fell flat for me. I did not finish this and probably won't be continuing with this one.
TheI enjoyed the first book in this series, but the second one fell flat for me. I did not finish this and probably won't be continuing with this one.
There's nothing really wrong with this book or the series. It just didn't have the "grab you and hold on-ness" that a really great series you connect with has in both the stories and the characters. All of those in this second book were fine, they just didn't get me chomping at the bit to spend time with them.
This is fine. For the right reader this could be a really enjoyable series they look forward to continuing with. It just wasn't "that" for me, and I have too many titles in my "TBR" to continue with "just okay" books. That's all....more
I have really enjoyed this series up to now but this book ran out of steam for me and even though I was about 75% finished, I realized I just didn't cI have really enjoyed this series up to now but this book ran out of steam for me and even though I was about 75% finished, I realized I just didn't care what was going on or why so I stopped. But because I read most of it I'm not classifying this as a true DNF....more
I so wanted to like this book. It has so many aspects I normall would like: set in a library, in a Southern small town, with a cat and everything. AndI so wanted to like this book. It has so many aspects I normall would like: set in a library, in a Southern small town, with a cat and everything. And yet, I just was not drawn in here at all. At page 79 of 300+ pages and still really just not into it, I decided this was a DNF, unfortunately.
I think the main problem for me was that I didn't really like or even connect with any of the characters. Particularly Tru came off as a major woe-is-me sad-sack. I like strong characters, and while I give Tru points for trying to save the books in her library, there was so much dramatizing about everything, and whining about how unrespected and badly treated she is that I just couldn't take it.
Thes characters and this world just were not a fit for my interests. I'm sure this could be a great read for some readers. It was definitely not right for me....more
I could not get into this at all, and did not finish it.
I was expecting more about the theatre and the players, but there was more about politics and I could not get into this at all, and did not finish it.
I was expecting more about the theatre and the players, but there was more about politics and wars, which, to be fair WAS going on at the time, but is just not that interesting for me.
As always, when I am a ways into a book and not really into it, I'm probably not going to finish it. When there are hundreds of other books on my TBR list [literally!] that I am dying to get to, it just doesn't make sense to stick with a book I'm not particularly enjoying.
Nothing against this book, just not a fit for me....more
There is nothing wrong with this book, it was just not for me.
I have really liked some of the books in this series, and not connected with others. It'There is nothing wrong with this book, it was just not for me.
I have really liked some of the books in this series, and not connected with others. It's not the books, it's really just a fit thing. Some of them don't fit me.
I felt like this book was trying a bit to hard to be clever and snappy. For some readers it would probably strike just the right tone of cleverness, but for me I felt it was too much. Again, nothing wrong with the book, just not the book for me.
I also found Meadow just a bit too "woo-woo" for my tastes. Maybe it's because I'm a city-dweller who loves the big city, but I found myself connecting with the annoying guy from the big city more than with the Half-Moon Hollow folks, which was a pretty good indication this wasn't the book for me....more
I thought this sounded right up my lane, but once I got into it, it really wasn't for me and I did not finish this book.
At the beginning, I found the I thought this sounded right up my lane, but once I got into it, it really wasn't for me and I did not finish this book.
At the beginning, I found the author's giving the main character the propensity to make up words that were sort of, but not quite real words that expressed what she was feeling or doing cute and clever, but it quickly got old for me once I realized this was going to be constant through the entire book. The occasional clever re-make of words is cute, doing it non-stop becomes - for someone like me who writes for a living - very irritating very quickly. It also slows down one in reading the story, as the brain processes what each made-up word is supposed to mean. I am sure some readers would enjoy this but it didn't work for me at all.
I also found Delly hard to like. She was intended to be anti-establishment, and is from a difficult upbringing, so I get that she wasn't a debutante, but even understanding that, she really seemed to be her own worst enemy in terms of her attempts to better her situation.
Overall, I think I am just the wrong audience for this book. It would probably be a big hit with readers younger and hipper than I am! ...more
This started out well, but about halfway through it took a turn that shifted into a different kind of story that was just not what I was expecting andThis started out well, but about halfway through it took a turn that shifted into a different kind of story that was just not what I was expecting and looking for and I did not end up finishing the book.
I was anticipating, from the description, for this to be a historical fiction version of the story of Belle Dacosta Green who was J.P. Morgan's personal librarian and an African American passing as white. That is what the story started out being and I was very interested in that story.
About halfway through the book, things shifted into much more of Belle's personal life, and her choices of how to have those personal relationships and with whom. I won't say more to avoid spoilers, other than to say that this was just not what I was looking for in reading this book. I appreciate that this was part of Green's story, and many readers may be very interested in that aspect of her story. It isn't what I was here for.
If the personal life stuff was a minor side-plotline of the main story about her work building the Morgan library and obtaining books and manuscripts I would probably have finished this. As it was, the relationship dramas basically took over the entire story at the mid-way point and went on for several chapters. Since I was not interested in this, that is the point where I gave up on this.
This is a well-written book about an interesting life that will probably be a good read for many readers. It just wasn't what I was looking for and what it was, just was not interesting enough to me to stick with it considering the length of this book....more
Well, this was a complete miss for me. It sounded so good but I was bored to tears.
I went more than an hour into this 9-hour audio book version, and lWell, this was a complete miss for me. It sounded so good but I was bored to tears.
I went more than an hour into this 9-hour audio book version, and literally NOTHING had happened! Also, neither of the two main characters connected with me at all - one was a mouse, and the other came off as an annoying poppinjay.
There was just nothing about this book I was enjoying so I did not bother to finish it. Fortunately, I got it from the library, so back it goes and no harm, no foul. On to the next....more
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