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Review Date: 4/26/2007
Helpful Score: 11
Amazing book. I couldn't put it down. It has one of my favorite passages in any book. You'll love it especially if you like myths and legends.
Review Date: 4/24/2007
I really do adore Jim Butcher. After reading LKH's book and going on the elusive search for a plot it was nice to find a book that had one up front. One that not only had a plot but kept it going throughout the book. With multiple plotlines even. Hooray!
Jim Butcher also has another thing that I miss from the LKH books, a kick-ass female lead. No, Harry Dresden isn't female but he has a female associate that kicks ass. She's the woman I want to be, forceful, forthright, has an icy stare suitable for bad guys and wise cracking wizards alike, and she apparently has a damn fine ass. She knows how to handle weapons, rides a Harley (though Janet Evanovich's series has got me drooling over Ducati's), and knows a handful or more of martial arts. This is my kind of woman. I can't decide if I want to be her or do her.
Throw in some family drama, a few more women who can kick ass, some truly hilarious scenes involving a frozen turkey, flaming monkey excrement, great one liners and this is why I read Jim Butcher. And why I go back and read books when I've already learned major plot points. Because honestly, it doesn't get better than vampires quoting I Corinthians.
Jim Butcher also has another thing that I miss from the LKH books, a kick-ass female lead. No, Harry Dresden isn't female but he has a female associate that kicks ass. She's the woman I want to be, forceful, forthright, has an icy stare suitable for bad guys and wise cracking wizards alike, and she apparently has a damn fine ass. She knows how to handle weapons, rides a Harley (though Janet Evanovich's series has got me drooling over Ducati's), and knows a handful or more of martial arts. This is my kind of woman. I can't decide if I want to be her or do her.
Throw in some family drama, a few more women who can kick ass, some truly hilarious scenes involving a frozen turkey, flaming monkey excrement, great one liners and this is why I read Jim Butcher. And why I go back and read books when I've already learned major plot points. Because honestly, it doesn't get better than vampires quoting I Corinthians.
Review Date: 4/24/2007
Helpful Score: 8
Oh my. My my MY.
I don't quite know where to start. I devoured this book. I carried it around in my purse with me. I read it in restaurants and at work. And I'm reading the second book in the series much like I did the first.
In a lot of ways Bishop's writing reminds me of Guy Gavriel Kay's writing. Not necessarily in voice and cadence but in craftsmanship. I find myself as much involved with these characters as I was with Kay's while reading The Summer Tree. Though I hope I can manage to finish this trilogy as Kay's Fionivar Tapestry is still languishing on my bookshelf because I don't want to see the characters hurt any more!
One of the many reasons I enjoyed Daughter of the Blood is that while it is sort of high drama with intrigue and nefarious plots by people who want power, I found myself nearly laughing out loud many times. Jaenelle's exploits, whether we read them or not, are rather amusing, many times because of the reactions her adventures provoke in her guardians.
It was also nice to see the Bishop could take a thread and weave it through the entire book. Something you read in the beginning chapters would be fully understood only later on. It was gratifying to read the more in-depth reasons for something you had already gathered was important and find that it was not only important it was more important than you had guessed.
I don't quite know where to start. I devoured this book. I carried it around in my purse with me. I read it in restaurants and at work. And I'm reading the second book in the series much like I did the first.
In a lot of ways Bishop's writing reminds me of Guy Gavriel Kay's writing. Not necessarily in voice and cadence but in craftsmanship. I find myself as much involved with these characters as I was with Kay's while reading The Summer Tree. Though I hope I can manage to finish this trilogy as Kay's Fionivar Tapestry is still languishing on my bookshelf because I don't want to see the characters hurt any more!
One of the many reasons I enjoyed Daughter of the Blood is that while it is sort of high drama with intrigue and nefarious plots by people who want power, I found myself nearly laughing out loud many times. Jaenelle's exploits, whether we read them or not, are rather amusing, many times because of the reactions her adventures provoke in her guardians.
It was also nice to see the Bishop could take a thread and weave it through the entire book. Something you read in the beginning chapters would be fully understood only later on. It was gratifying to read the more in-depth reasons for something you had already gathered was important and find that it was not only important it was more important than you had guessed.
Review Date: 5/12/2007
Helpful Score: 12
While it is sort of high drama with intrigue and nefarious plots by people who want power, I found myself nearly laughing out loud many times. Jaenelles exploits, whether we read them or not, are rather amusing, many times because of the reactions her adventures provoke in her guardians.
It was also nice to see the Bishop could take a thread and weave it through the entire book. Something you read in the beginning chapters would be fully understood only later on. It was gratifying to read the more in-depth reasons for something you had already gathered was important and find that it was not only important it was more important than you had guessed.
It was also nice to see the Bishop could take a thread and weave it through the entire book. Something you read in the beginning chapters would be fully understood only later on. It was gratifying to read the more in-depth reasons for something you had already gathered was important and find that it was not only important it was more important than you had guessed.
Review Date: 4/24/2007
Helpful Score: 1
I was eager to pick this one up after the last Jim butcher book I read (Blood Rites) but I don't know... slow start. It took me about half the way through the book for me to finally go âyes!â and want to devour it.
I'm intrigued by the book's ending. And by some of the points it raises for future books in the series.
I like Lasciel. Which considering what she is, I suppose I probably should. What is it she's called in the book, the Seducer? I guess if I didn't like her she wouldn't be doing her job very well, huh? I'm looking forward to how this relationship develops and seeing if Harry can use her power without corrupting himself.
I found the developments with the fallen angel especially interesting in light of Harry's new status as Warden. Complicated life ya got there Harry. On the surface Harry isn't going to do much different as a Warden than he's doing now: protect Chicago, offer assistance to those who need it, foil bad guys. But what about Thomas?
Kumaori made sense, though she was a bit of zealot about it. If the power Harry uses can be turned toward evil why can't the darker power be turned to good? Will that help Harry in the struggle with Lasciel or get him in trouble?
I missed Murphy in this one. I missed the interaction between the two of them. I liked Sheila too though that's hardly surprising I suppose. Still I prefer Murph. I'd love to have known what made Hawai'i interesting for a few days there.
I'm intrigued by the book's ending. And by some of the points it raises for future books in the series.
I like Lasciel. Which considering what she is, I suppose I probably should. What is it she's called in the book, the Seducer? I guess if I didn't like her she wouldn't be doing her job very well, huh? I'm looking forward to how this relationship develops and seeing if Harry can use her power without corrupting himself.
I found the developments with the fallen angel especially interesting in light of Harry's new status as Warden. Complicated life ya got there Harry. On the surface Harry isn't going to do much different as a Warden than he's doing now: protect Chicago, offer assistance to those who need it, foil bad guys. But what about Thomas?
Kumaori made sense, though she was a bit of zealot about it. If the power Harry uses can be turned toward evil why can't the darker power be turned to good? Will that help Harry in the struggle with Lasciel or get him in trouble?
I missed Murphy in this one. I missed the interaction between the two of them. I liked Sheila too though that's hardly surprising I suppose. Still I prefer Murph. I'd love to have known what made Hawai'i interesting for a few days there.
Review Date: 3/30/2007
Helpful Score: 2
The only problem with this book was it ended. And Connor doesn't have another book in the Diane Fallon series due until February of 2008! It's going to be a very long year while I wait for another book from one of my favorite authors.
I eagerly wait for every Connor book but especially books in the Diane Fallon series. Diane is an anthropologist who is the director of the Rivertrails Natural History Museum. But she also wears another hat as the director of the Rosewood Crime Lab, a lab that's housed in the museum she runs on what insiders affectionately term the "dark side".
This book found Diane investigating the explosion at a meth lab not far from her own home. Someone was cooking meth in the basement of a converted house when it exploded in their face. Tragic enough to begin with but when the house was in the midst of a party for students of a local college the body count goes from one, potentially two to a possibility of thirty or more. And it's up to Diane and her team to identify the dead in a town where everyone knows everybody else and the body in front of you may be a loved one.
I didn't like the blurb on the back cover of this book. I don't think it did the complexity of this story justice. Yes, the book does involve a young woman who's been the victim not once but twice but for all we see her throughout the book the main investigation deals with the meth lab and sorting out the suspects from the innocent and how more deaths intertwine with one another. This is one book I think you have to read without any knowledge from the back of the book; otherwise you might be waiting like I was for a plotline that only developed in the last 100 or so pages.
I eagerly wait for every Connor book but especially books in the Diane Fallon series. Diane is an anthropologist who is the director of the Rivertrails Natural History Museum. But she also wears another hat as the director of the Rosewood Crime Lab, a lab that's housed in the museum she runs on what insiders affectionately term the "dark side".
This book found Diane investigating the explosion at a meth lab not far from her own home. Someone was cooking meth in the basement of a converted house when it exploded in their face. Tragic enough to begin with but when the house was in the midst of a party for students of a local college the body count goes from one, potentially two to a possibility of thirty or more. And it's up to Diane and her team to identify the dead in a town where everyone knows everybody else and the body in front of you may be a loved one.
I didn't like the blurb on the back cover of this book. I don't think it did the complexity of this story justice. Yes, the book does involve a young woman who's been the victim not once but twice but for all we see her throughout the book the main investigation deals with the meth lab and sorting out the suspects from the innocent and how more deaths intertwine with one another. This is one book I think you have to read without any knowledge from the back of the book; otherwise you might be waiting like I was for a plotline that only developed in the last 100 or so pages.
Review Date: 5/6/2007
I was completely off on who the murder was. I didn't think it was the person the police was pursuing but I also didn't click on it being the eventual guilty party until the police were clicking on them as well. I was surprised but I probably shouldn't have been; looking back I can see the hints and the little bits of information
Review Date: 4/24/2007
Helpful Score: 8
This series continues to impress me. I love the rich culture of the world created by Bishop. I'm fascinated by what goes on in each of the Realms and how they've changed yet still echo what they were created to be. And the characters--I find myself drawn to them, again and again, as if they're old friends already.
I'm amazed by how fast the books are moving. Thankfully Bishop doesn't feel the need to explain every last moment of Jaenelle's life. Sometimes whole years are acknowledged in mere sentences. It's rather refreshing after reading so many books that seem to detail every crumb the main character ate for breakfast; skipping through years that occurred but which didn't need to be talked about extensively is a nice surprise. After all, we're getting older in increments--it isn't the minutes that count, it's the years.
This second book focuses on Jaenelle after the events of Daughter of the Blood. Roughly two years have passed. This book got off to a rousing start with one of my favorite characters, Saetan Daemon SaDiablo. Demon-dead, Guardian, the High Priest of Hell itself petitions the Council for parental rights to Jaenelle. And we get to see a taste of Saetan's power. Not that we didn't know how powerful he was in the first book--he is the High Lord of Hell after all--but this is a very public, very ... emphatic show of power.
In this book we also meet many of the friends Jaenelle talked about in Daughter of the Blood. Each of them are as amusing as Jaenelle and they keep Saetan on his toes even more than just Jaenelle did.
The ending is one I know I'm going to want to read again and again. In fact I've read it a few times already. It is lushly and powerfully written allowing us to see that Jaenelle is a match for her adopted father's power.
I'm amazed by how fast the books are moving. Thankfully Bishop doesn't feel the need to explain every last moment of Jaenelle's life. Sometimes whole years are acknowledged in mere sentences. It's rather refreshing after reading so many books that seem to detail every crumb the main character ate for breakfast; skipping through years that occurred but which didn't need to be talked about extensively is a nice surprise. After all, we're getting older in increments--it isn't the minutes that count, it's the years.
This second book focuses on Jaenelle after the events of Daughter of the Blood. Roughly two years have passed. This book got off to a rousing start with one of my favorite characters, Saetan Daemon SaDiablo. Demon-dead, Guardian, the High Priest of Hell itself petitions the Council for parental rights to Jaenelle. And we get to see a taste of Saetan's power. Not that we didn't know how powerful he was in the first book--he is the High Lord of Hell after all--but this is a very public, very ... emphatic show of power.
In this book we also meet many of the friends Jaenelle talked about in Daughter of the Blood. Each of them are as amusing as Jaenelle and they keep Saetan on his toes even more than just Jaenelle did.
The ending is one I know I'm going to want to read again and again. In fact I've read it a few times already. It is lushly and powerfully written allowing us to see that Jaenelle is a match for her adopted father's power.
Review Date: 4/24/2007
thoroughly enough Tempe and the people she surrounds herself with. For this one Tempe finds herself helping Claudel investigate the burial of three skeletons in a pizza-by-the-slice joint's basement. Claudel feels the bones are ancient and that it's a non-priority case; Tempe feels differently. The book has a slow start with a few subplots that don't really add to the book (and in fact seem to be a device to make sure one character is available at the end of the book) but don't detract from it either. I figured out the twist about 30 pages from the end; not bad for me when it comes to these sorts of books. I'm not sure if that means the book was a bit more predictable or if it means that I'm getting better at the sleuthing thing. The little blurb in the back of the book advertising for Cross Bones makes me want to run out and snatch that book up to read next.
I'm happy with the way Reichs seems to be working on her annoying habit of giving too much description. She doesn't lapse into that nearly as much in this book as she has in previous ones. Her writing appears to be getting tighter with a better flow. Another satisfying read.
I'm happy with the way Reichs seems to be working on her annoying habit of giving too much description. She doesn't lapse into that nearly as much in this book as she has in previous ones. Her writing appears to be getting tighter with a better flow. Another satisfying read.
Review Date: 4/24/2007
This was my first try with a new author. I've never heard of her before though she is acknowledged as âthe New York Times bestselling authorâ on the book itself. I will probably read another by her again but I think it might be a little bit before I try it. If all of her books are as emotionally charged as this one I'm going to need some recovery time. I will say that it was a page turner for me though; I read it in two nights at work.
The premise of this novel is that thirteen year old Anna has a sixteen year old sister, Kate, and Kate suffers from a rare form of leukemia. Anna can rattle off medical terms and procedures faster than most medical experts; not surprising since she's been the donor for Kate's numerous life-sustaining treatments since Anna was born. In fact, Anna was conceived as a perfect donor match for Kate--her first donation was the placenta, rich in stem cells. Now, Kate is in late stage renal failure and Anna is taking her parents to court for the right to make decisions about her own medical treatments.
I loved the turns this book takes at the end though I would have preferred a different ending. I never saw either of the main twists at the end coming though one of them I should have. The last one hit me out of left field though once I started reading it I knew what was coming.
Picoult does a good job using alternate viewpoints to portray each member of the family, the lawyer Anna retains and the guardian ad litem appointed to her, as richly drawn characters. I was impressed by Picoult's ability to manage lots of minute details in what was already a fairly complex story. Each of these characters that tell their story gives some insight into what is going on in this family's world or into the motivations of the characters. At times, the alternate viewpoints pick up right where the previous left off, showing us the scene from another's point of view; at other times the action moves some other place, showing us that the world continues on for others even as Kate and Anna's world is spiraling around them. This management of detail adds to the story for me, by giving us glimpses into why the son acts out, into the lawyer's past, into how the decisions were made for Kate and subsequently for Anna. Not all of the story centers around the child who is sick and the child who is well but might as easily be sick given how often she sees the inside of a hospital yet even the parts that don't contain bits of information about them add to the story in complex ways.
And that is perhaps the true gift of this book, that it intertwines the complex with the simple, the past with the present, the moral with the just. Reading I could understand why the decisions that were made were made but I could also see how one child seemed to be invisible to her parents because of the sicker child.
All in all I give this book a good rating but I warn you, it's a tear jerker. I also don't recommend reading it in public, least of all at work where people can see you crying your eyes out.
The premise of this novel is that thirteen year old Anna has a sixteen year old sister, Kate, and Kate suffers from a rare form of leukemia. Anna can rattle off medical terms and procedures faster than most medical experts; not surprising since she's been the donor for Kate's numerous life-sustaining treatments since Anna was born. In fact, Anna was conceived as a perfect donor match for Kate--her first donation was the placenta, rich in stem cells. Now, Kate is in late stage renal failure and Anna is taking her parents to court for the right to make decisions about her own medical treatments.
I loved the turns this book takes at the end though I would have preferred a different ending. I never saw either of the main twists at the end coming though one of them I should have. The last one hit me out of left field though once I started reading it I knew what was coming.
Picoult does a good job using alternate viewpoints to portray each member of the family, the lawyer Anna retains and the guardian ad litem appointed to her, as richly drawn characters. I was impressed by Picoult's ability to manage lots of minute details in what was already a fairly complex story. Each of these characters that tell their story gives some insight into what is going on in this family's world or into the motivations of the characters. At times, the alternate viewpoints pick up right where the previous left off, showing us the scene from another's point of view; at other times the action moves some other place, showing us that the world continues on for others even as Kate and Anna's world is spiraling around them. This management of detail adds to the story for me, by giving us glimpses into why the son acts out, into the lawyer's past, into how the decisions were made for Kate and subsequently for Anna. Not all of the story centers around the child who is sick and the child who is well but might as easily be sick given how often she sees the inside of a hospital yet even the parts that don't contain bits of information about them add to the story in complex ways.
And that is perhaps the true gift of this book, that it intertwines the complex with the simple, the past with the present, the moral with the just. Reading I could understand why the decisions that were made were made but I could also see how one child seemed to be invisible to her parents because of the sicker child.
All in all I give this book a good rating but I warn you, it's a tear jerker. I also don't recommend reading it in public, least of all at work where people can see you crying your eyes out.
Review Date: 5/6/2007
Helpful Score: 8
This is the very first "In Death" book in the series and I enjoyed seeing how Roarke and Dallas dealt together the first time they met. It's no wonder this falls under the heading of romantic suspense! The other books, while they've got some definite sex scenes and romance to them, seem to deal more with the mystery than with the relationships; this book focused pretty heavily on the relationship between them.
Review Date: 4/24/2007
Helpful Score: 7
I was most definitely pleasantly surprised by this book. Even though Id heard good things about the author (or I wouldnt have been interested in reading a book by her) so many times new authors fall into the predictable pattern of a mystery where you know exactly whos done what and youre just waiting for the hero(ine)(s) to figure it out. This book proved different.
I still wasnt sure until the very end just who exactly was guilty. I kept vascilating between well it could be him... oh wait no with that it could really be him but I didnt think it was because of this. It was good to finally find a mystery book that kept me guessing. Not to mention that it was creepy and thrilling without needing to go into horrific descriptions of the blood and guts of murders. That was quite refreshing as well.
I still wasnt sure until the very end just who exactly was guilty. I kept vascilating between well it could be him... oh wait no with that it could really be him but I didnt think it was because of this. It was good to finally find a mystery book that kept me guessing. Not to mention that it was creepy and thrilling without needing to go into horrific descriptions of the blood and guts of murders. That was quite refreshing as well.
Review Date: 4/24/2007
Helpful Score: 1
This is the first Picoult book I've picked up that I just couldn't get into. I don't know what it was about the book, the premise was interesting, the characters were ones I cared about (I even skipped to the end to make sure everything was "okay") but I just couldn't finish it.
Review Date: 4/25/2007
This was quite the powerful book. I was reminded again that everyone in high school has something to deal with. Some of us have harder things than others. More than a few times during my reading of this book I said a prayer of thanks to whomever was listening that my life was never threatened, that I was never attacked physically, and that I had an understanding Mother who didn't seem to think the problem was with me. Still, I have my scars from childhood and high school; my scars though are emotional rather than physical in nature.
Review Date: 4/24/2007
Helpful Score: 3
Reading the other reviews I have to laugh. For me this is the first book I can point to where I start saying the series went downhill, and fast! Really didn't like the books.
Review Date: 4/24/2007
Helpful Score: 3
The first part of it was quite good. I was just as much in love with the characters as I was in the first two books. I enjoyed the small amusements even in the face of the adversity. The kindred Blood were more important in this book and so we got to see more of them; this was a pleasant happenstance for me because I enjoyed how Bishop wrote them. Unfortunately, the ending was less than satisfactory for me. Don't get me wrong, it was âgoodâ as these things go but it left me with more questions than it did answers! I know the main outcome of the story but I want to know how things continued from that point. It's my understanding that Bishop has written another book with for novellas of a sort from this world. One continues the story and so I think I'm going to have to find it and devour it like I did the other books in this series.
Review Date: 11/27/2007
I just could not get into this book. I don't know what it was but it didn't grab me. I think it was a little too much Buffy the Vampire Slayer and not enough regency romance.
Review Date: 6/25/2007
Helpful Score: 3
Interesting book. It was a tad fluffy but it was good fluffy. It didn't require a lot of brain power and it was a fun quick read. I liked it enough to order the second book.
Review Date: 4/24/2007
Helpful Score: 3
I'm not sure where to start. I love Hamilton, have loved her for years. But honestly, she's writing porn. And it's not even good porn. It's porn trying to be literature and failing miserably. It's not bad writing, she seems to have improved from the 650 page exposition that was Incubus Dreams, but it still feels like the plot is trying to claw its way out of the bloody pages of the book. I'll still read the next one because, no matter what else she does, she's made me care about and be fascinated by these characters. But I'll probably borrow the next one again and wait for the paperback to come out.
The one thing I actively disliked about this book is that it takes place immediately following the last. Virtually no time has passed between Caress of Twilight and The Stroke of Midnight and where does she come up with these titles? It feels as if she could have made the two books into one longer one, worked a bit more on the oh--plot and still kept all the sex (metaphysical though it appears to be) intact.
Okay, so what did I like? I saw hints that perhaps not all is as hopeless for our Merry's remaining guards as it would appear should she become pregnant. I liked that power is returning to the faerie and that even the rather unflappable Doyle is mystified by some of it. (And I am, if nothing else, firmly rooted in the Doyle/Merry camp.) I enjoy the political wrangling that Merry has to do and the force of power she seems to wear easily. And isn't that at base the reason so many find these books readable? A woman with power that isn't afraid of it, a woman that enjoys sex and isn't afraid of that either. It certainly can't be all the sex she's getting; how many of times have I heard the complaint about too much sex not enough plot? How many times have I made the same complaint? Yet we're still reading.
The one thing I actively disliked about this book is that it takes place immediately following the last. Virtually no time has passed between Caress of Twilight and The Stroke of Midnight and where does she come up with these titles? It feels as if she could have made the two books into one longer one, worked a bit more on the oh--plot and still kept all the sex (metaphysical though it appears to be) intact.
Okay, so what did I like? I saw hints that perhaps not all is as hopeless for our Merry's remaining guards as it would appear should she become pregnant. I liked that power is returning to the faerie and that even the rather unflappable Doyle is mystified by some of it. (And I am, if nothing else, firmly rooted in the Doyle/Merry camp.) I enjoy the political wrangling that Merry has to do and the force of power she seems to wear easily. And isn't that at base the reason so many find these books readable? A woman with power that isn't afraid of it, a woman that enjoys sex and isn't afraid of that either. It certainly can't be all the sex she's getting; how many of times have I heard the complaint about too much sex not enough plot? How many times have I made the same complaint? Yet we're still reading.
Review Date: 4/25/2007
Ah, a good fun read. I always look forward to reading an Evanovich book, as long as it's a Stephanie Plum book.
This one has Stephanie doing some B
This one has Stephanie doing some B
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