This was nothing special. I wasn't invested enough to keep going to the end.
Blair hit me as kind of whiny and wimpy. I couldn't connect to, or care abThis was nothing special. I wasn't invested enough to keep going to the end.
Blair hit me as kind of whiny and wimpy. I couldn't connect to, or care about her so I also didn't care about her situation.
There was nothing terrible about this story, there just was nothing special about it either. It was meh, and with so many books on my TBR it just doesn't make sense to stick with "meh" books. I'm moving on....more
I have tried several books by this author and have always been disappointed. The descriptions always sound so good, but the author would benefit from I have tried several books by this author and have always been disappointed. The descriptions always sound so good, but the author would benefit from a stronger editor of her books. I find them always overblown with melodramatic prose and way too much unnecessary and extraneous detail.
This book really sounded like something for me, and this was the best of the author's books I have attempted. But that said I still did not end up finishing this book and will not try any future books by this author. They simply are not for me....more
For me this story suffered from way too much "set up". I had this as an audio book from my library, and of a This was a miss for me and will be a DNF.
For me this story suffered from way too much "set up". I had this as an audio book from my library, and of a 13 hour book, it took 3 full hours just to get to the plot we are sold in the blurb. I found it completely excessive and unnecessary to take so much time to get to where Samantha has to run away from the life she knows into the underbelly of London.
That is what I was here for and by the time the story finally got there I was so bored and distracted I already didn't care what happened to Samantha.
The set up could have been much more condensed in my opinion and would have gotten us to the meat and action (at least I assume that is what would come next though I had already move on by that point) of the story. That would have kept my attention and interest.
As it is I will be moving on to something else that will hopefully be a better fit for my interests....more
I wanted to like this but it just didn't work for me and ended up being a DNF.
First, Freya was the kind of "woe is me" doormat of a character that I jI wanted to like this but it just didn't work for me and ended up being a DNF.
First, Freya was the kind of "woe is me" doormat of a character that I just cannot connect with. I may understand why she took so much crap from everyone around her, but that doesn't make her a character I can be with and root for. I just wanted her to stand up to all the people around her who push her around, tell her what to do, and take advantage of her and tell them all to go all the way to hell and leave her alone to do what she wants. At the 45% mark of the book I saw no indication she was going to do that and I was just over her.
I also didn't feel the approach of having multiple characters perspectives alternating to tell the story worked here. I'm not opposed to that, but it has to flow smoothly and allow the reader to easily move along through the plot and that wasn't how this felt to me. Instead it felt disjointed and choppy and I kept having to stop and figure out where and when we were everytime the POV switched to another character. I was distracted each time which pulled me out of the story.
This just wasn't for me. Other readers might really enjoy it....more
I wanted to like this - it sounded like exactly my kind of story. But it just did not work for me and it will be a DNF.
I couldn't connect with any of I wanted to like this - it sounded like exactly my kind of story. But it just did not work for me and it will be a DNF.
I couldn't connect with any of the characters so it was hard to care about what was happening to them. I also found the pacing to be a big draggy and hard to follow.
There was just nothing really engaging to draw me in with this story.
It kind of felt like this was a second book. It felt like there were things I neeThere was just nothing really engaging to draw me in with this story.
It kind of felt like this was a second book. It felt like there were things I needed to know to really follow the plot here even though this was the first book in a series.
I also was not connecting to any of the characters. They all felt very grey to me.
This book was unfortunately very bad and I could not finish it.
The author's writing style is very clunky and awkward. I don't know if that was on purpThis book was unfortunately very bad and I could not finish it.
The author's writing style is very clunky and awkward. I don't know if that was on purpose or inadvertent but it made reading the book difficult.
I also don't think the book is well-titled. The supposed "hauntings" are mostly things that happened to people who lived during the Civil War period or after and there is little I would define as in any way paranormal. Most of them (as far as I read anyway to about page 35) were just coincidences. The book was just odd and not at all what I was expecting. Definitely not for me....more
I tried to like this. It sounded right up my alley. But it just didn't work for me.
Kiela was simply not a character I could connect with, like or rootI tried to like this. It sounded right up my alley. But it just didn't work for me.
Kiela was simply not a character I could connect with, like or root for. Look, I get what the author was going for in writing the character. She has issues. She's sequestered herself in a library for years without interacting with any other people unless absolutely necessary. I get it.
But once she ends up back in her tiny small town because of upheaval in the city where her library life was, her behaviour and attitude to people who were literally just being kind and trying to help a newcomer seemed extreme, even understanding Kiela's issues.
I also didn't really "get" the world-building. The descriptions and explanations for the various - apparently - magical people in this world are given without any real detail or placement connections within the world so we got characteristics - like Kiela's blue skin and hair - without any context for that. What kind of being is Kiela? Why is Bryn described as having "furry" skin? I wanted a bit more detail to understand who these people are and what is their role and place in this world. It confused me to not have that as I was meeting characters.
As I said, this just wasn't the right story for me. Could be fabulous for some other readers....more
Eh, this was okay, I guess. But I was bored and it ended up a DNF for me.
There was nothing exactly wrong with this, but it was also just nothing partiEh, this was okay, I guess. But I was bored and it ended up a DNF for me.
There was nothing exactly wrong with this, but it was also just nothing particularly special about it, especially in the cozy genre. There are so many books to choose from in this genre that a book that is just okay doesn't really give me a reason to finish it.
I like historical stories, I like murder mysteries, and I like American history. This book is all of those things, and yet, I didn't care for this booI like historical stories, I like murder mysteries, and I like American history. This book is all of those things, and yet, I didn't care for this book.
I feel like the author was trying to do and be too many things here. From the title I was expecting learn about how Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton (who history buffs of the era know were mortal enemies) worked together to solve one of Colonial America's first murders.
What I got was pages and pages of mind-numbingly dull minutiae about the city and its business. Discussions of the Quakers in New York and how they lived their lives, discussions about the various businesses in town and how their proprietors did daily business. It was all just way too much unnecessary detail that didn't bring me any closer to finding out the solution to the murder.
I made it to page 88 of a 200 page book and almost nothing related to the solving of the murder (except the discovery of the victim and the arrest of the suspected killer with virtually no evidence) had yet happened.
I just couldn't wade through more daily details of New York to get to the good stuff. This was a miss for me and I am moving on....more
This sounded so good, but I knew pretty early into it that it wasn't for me.
I love stories about strong female characters, and this book ostensibly haThis sounded so good, but I knew pretty early into it that it wasn't for me.
I love stories about strong female characters, and this book ostensibly has two that the book was about. I'm also interested in the 1920s as an era, and Prohibition is another thing that interests me.
The problem for me was that both of the two main characters are introduced with a bunch of emotional and relationship baggage. I wanted the story to get to the roles these women play in the two sides of Prohibition, not their personal issues.
Possibly the story pivots further in to actually get to the story the blurb sold me, and away from their personal dramas but I wasn't sure how long I would have to wait and how much more personal detritus I would have to get through for that, and I just wasn't interested in that, so I'm moving onto something else. This was a miss for me....more
I really liked the first book in this series and I liked the second book, but this third book fell kind of flat for me and it ended up being a DNF.
I wI really liked the first book in this series and I liked the second book, but this third book fell kind of flat for me and it ended up being a DNF.
I was getting tired of Jessica being all drama and angst-ridden about her family history and all the baggage that comes with it. By this point - in both the series and her FBI career - she should have either gotten over it or gotten some therapy. Either way it's boring for the reader to hear about it ad nauseum.
Also, the case in this book I found very dull and uninteresting. I gave up on this at almost the halfway point and it felt like almost nothing had happened. I was bored and just not engaged enough to keep going. ...more
This sounded like my kind of historical fiction, but I couldn't connect with any of the three main characters across two timelines. I also found the wThis sounded like my kind of historical fiction, but I couldn't connect with any of the three main characters across two timelines. I also found the writing very clunky and hard to get into.
For me, a great read is a book that is so easy to follow that I almost forget I'm looking at words, instead having the words flow over my eyes and straight into my brain. Unfortunately, this book wasn't that for me so I'll be moving on to something that will hopefully be a better fit....more
I hoped to like this but it wasn't to be. I just couldn't get into this.
I found the writing in this to be choppy and jumping around. The way the chaptI hoped to like this but it wasn't to be. I just couldn't get into this.
I found the writing in this to be choppy and jumping around. The way the chapters switched between the perspectives of multiple characters felt disjointed to me and I had trouble following the plot and knowing where we were and what was happening. It just didn't work for me.
Ultimately, trying to read this book felt like work for me, and that shouldn't be the case. A book that is right for me is easy to read and immerses me in the story without having to work for it. I'm moving on to something else....more
I really wanted to like this book. I honestly thought I would as it sounded like a story that was right in my lane, but as I kept going and hoping forI really wanted to like this book. I honestly thought I would as it sounded like a story that was right in my lane, but as I kept going and hoping for it to grab me it just never happened. This is going to be a DNF for me.
I feel like the author was trying to work way too many things into the story. From conspiracy theories to Colonial era puzzle mystery, to witch hunts, to political intrigue to family drama, and the list goes on. I felt the whole time I was reading that I needed a spreadsheet to keep track and keep up with all the various plot components. As I'm not a fan of spreadsheets, feeling I needed one to read a book was not a positive thing for me.
Bottom line is that a really great read is a story that is easy to read and almost makes you forget you're reading, losing complete track of time and becoming completely immersed in the story without even realizing it. Unfortunately, this book simply wasn't that experience for me, so obviously I am not the right reader for this....more
Well, this was a disappointment, and a DNF. I didn't even make it Wickham's murder, which was really the main reason I read this because what fan of PWell, this was a disappointment, and a DNF. I didn't even make it Wickham's murder, which was really the main reason I read this because what fan of Pride & Prejudice WOULDN'T want to see Wickham actually get the comeuppance he so richly deserves for all his sins??!! But it wasn't to be.
First I should probably acknowledge that while Pride & Prejudice is my favourite book, I did not care for any of Austen's other novels. So the fact that this book is peopled with characters from all the Austen books probably did not bode well for me enjoying it.
That said, I have read a number of either P&P homage stories, or books that took Austen's characters and gave them new or different plots to experience and I have liked many of those books, so I don't think this was me.
First up, the author does not seem to have a good handle on Austen's style, which I assume she was trying to pay homage to. While Austen's books did celebrate the little things of Regency life, she did not prattle on about mundane things ad nauseum which this book did. As an example, one of the characters wakes in the night and breaks her chamber pot trying to access it. What follows is an extremely lengthy discussion with herself about whether she should call a maid to get a new chamber pot - and the many, many judgements she anticipates the entire staff making about her (as if staff in one of these houses don't have more to do than judge a guest for accidently breaking a chamber pot?!) - or if she should go outside and use the privy instead. This internal mental angst goes on FOR AGES!! I mean for pity's sake WHO CARES???
That excessive amount of unnecessary detail and mental dramas inside characters' heads was just one issue I had with this. I also felt like trying cram all of Austen's characters into a single story really just didn't work. Austen's novels have similarities, yes, but the characters are very different people living different sorts of lives, and I just didn't connect with the idea that they would have all been together at the same house party. It felt very forced to me.
I got this as an audio book from my library, so all it cost me to find out this wasn't for me was a bit of time. Back it goes and I am moving on to something that will hopefully be a better fit for me....more
I tried to like this, but it just did not work for me and ended up being a DNF at about the 45% mark.
I really liked Kit - she was a great character: sI tried to like this, but it just did not work for me and ended up being a DNF at about the 45% mark.
I really liked Kit - she was a great character: spunky, whip-smart, kind and caring of the less fortunate in her world and able to build a mini empire in one of the worst parts of London with barely more than her wits.
Jackson was another story, unfortunately. If the stick he was carrying around was any further up his butt I would wonder how he could even walk. It's kind of sad when the best word to describe a man is "prissy" but that was the word in my head every time Jackson proselytized at someone (which he did a lot) or tried to tell others how they "should" behave or do things. I found him extremely irritating.
Even once he starts to trust and work with Kit he's still trying to tell her how to better live her life and judging how she currently does so, when in fact Kit is a far more laudable human than Jackson full stop.
I assume the plot is eventually going to get the two of them together, since this is a multi-book series, but I just could not see them as a couple and wasn't interested in continuing with this story given how little chemistry I saw between these two characters. It just didn't work for me....more
I seem to be on a bad run for audio books lately. This is the third in a row that has been a DNF.
I don't mind a cranky MC, which is how the descriptioI seem to be on a bad run for audio books lately. This is the third in a row that has been a DNF.
I don't mind a cranky MC, which is how the description gives us to understand Edith Wharton is, but the story was so boring I just couldn't keep going to see if it go more interesting once the murder happened.
I wanted to read something a bit different and this time period is outside my normal reading, but it was still a murder and suspense story so I hoped I wanted to read something a bit different and this time period is outside my normal reading, but it was still a murder and suspense story so I hoped it would be good. There were definitely good aspects to it, but it turned out not to be a fit for me and it was a DNF.
The writing here was strong, and the characters and character development were both also quite good. I like flawed complicated characters and this book is full of those, but they are also written such that they are interesting and likable and I definitely found myself rooting for most of them.
The issue for me was that this was a really dark story with a lot of harshness and violence, and while I understand it, and it is accurate to the time and world these characters would have been living in, it was just too much for me. Possibly with current events in the real world, a lot of darkness and violence in my reading just isn't what I need right now.
Either way, this one is going back to the library and I'm moving on to something a bit lighter....more
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