Get past the first page...trust me
926823
Whew...any author that dares to start their book with a sentence that stretches the full page, should perhaps be suspected of having produced an entirely unapproachable work. You would find your assessment entirely in error with this book. It's astounding in its ability to set your mind squarely in the period, yet be comprehensible in its portrayal of a deeply rich and engaging cast of characters. Read it. Anticipate it. Be thrown by the tornado twister ending. Reset your own views on life and perceptions of others.
3549060
...you are reading it in the evening and you have to work the next day
...you have sleep problems
...you use reading to help you sleep at night

I mistakenly chose this book to read before going to bed last night and today I am exhausted. I'm sixty-three years old and thankful that I took early reirement because I would be calling out sick today for work.  I started reading it before going to sleep around 8:00 PM and did not put it down until 3:00 AM. The book grips you from the first page and keeps you guessing throughout, "should she trust or should she not?"  I hurriedly clicked each next page to see if my guesses were correct, but, I won't tell you anymore about that. If you like drama, suspense and a feeling of being "pulled into" imaginary worlds this book is for you.

As for me, I'm going to lie down and take a nap to try to catch up on my lost zzzzzzz's.
4744386
Don't stop after the first page or so! The story and characters will drag you into this wet dank world until the end.  Only reason I didn't give it 5  is that it needs a bit of copy editing.
568605
This book was amazing! From the into to finish. Once you get to page 24 trust me guys! You will come back to thank me
4336342
I read the first page or two, but that's all I could stomach. For God's sake, learn the purpose of a comma and use it!!! Also, any book that begins with people who prefer Debbie Macomber books to classic Agatha Christie has lost me right away. What the heck is there in a Macomber book to discuss for two hours?
1585067
One of the best reviews I ever read was something like this:  "Just read this. Stop reading reviews and just buy this book". I agree, anything I say will be a spoiler.
If you are even reading this review, it means that the genre is up your alley. And if so - stop, buy and read. Warning: wait to start until you have a day off the next day, because you are not going to want to put it down.
176714
TL:DR
Scrolled through 2 chapters and bailed.
770 pages worth every penny on Kindle: $0.00
3630948
Do not peek at the last page of this book.

 Do. Not. Peek.

 No! Stop!!!!!! You really don't want to know how it ends before...well...it ends.

  Why do I feel the need to post this warning? Because you will become so emotionally invested in these characters you will be in agony wanting to know how things turn out. You will be squirming in your seat and frothing at the mouth and howling at the moon but you need to reader up and just plow on through. So, no peeking at the last page. Is that clear?

 I spent most of the read wanting to smack the author upside the head while screaming "Tell me how it ends already!!!!" That's because Johnson has woven such a compelling and complex story that honestly, I've never been so close to throwing my highly held reader standards out the window and devouring the last page first. LOL. I'm still gutted.

 Phew, now that I've gotten that off my chest, I can get on with the review.

 Johnson gives a voice to thousands of World War I veterans -- men and women who were grossly misunderstood and under treated. We're just starting to get it now in the 21st century but after World War I -- well, there are parts of this book that are painful to read and parts where you want to lambast the doctors and a certain mother and...I guess y'all are getting the idea that this was an emotional read for me. I don't think my blood pressure is back to normal yet.

  I loved Annemarie -- her unwavering faith, her desire to move forward in the midst of intense emotional turmoil, her strength in the face of adversity, the creative spark that brings a whole new dimension to her character. This heroine makes the read a rich and immensely satisfying one.

 As to the hero -- that's a more complicated matter that I'll leave up to fellow readers to discover.

 And one final warning. You will reach a point of no return and will have to compulsively read until you reach the end so it is best to clear your calendar and send your family on holiday without you so you can enjoy a reading staycation. Would that be a readcation? Whatever you call it, you'll enjoy every minute of it!
4920821
I'm going to have to be really honest here: I haven't read the book properly.  Amazon offered it, and the previous books all had good reviews, so I took them up on the offer.  I immediately used prime to order the first books on the series, as well as the side books that the author has written in this world.  I thought I'd have time to read them all before this review came due.  I  was wrong, and now I'm late and I really don't want to read this book since I've invested so much time into reading the series correctly (in order).  I just need to read more, and read faster.

But I need to review this book, because, as I said, I'm late.  To do that,  I simply dedicated a morning spent carefully reading two or three page excerpts at random.  It hasn't ruined anything for me, that I know of (yet), and I've randomly read a lot of pages throughout the book.  Quite a few things were a little tantalizing to read.  I'm sure when finally get to it in order that I'll probably have a little foreknowledge of what's coming, but oh well, I know it's going to be good!

My first thought is that is more of the same that I already knew (assuming this isn't your first book of the series): he's a good writer.  Especially when I'm just jumping around randomly.  But the exposition is notably good.  Good enough that I never really feel lost in it.  Just enough is said to either remind me about what's going on (if I already knew) or give me a heads up if I didn't recognize anything.  So, if you're just completely crazy and want to read this book first, it probably wouldn't go poorly for you.

My second thought is "why oh why did I invest in a novel series that wasn't done yet?"  I'd thought I'd have learned my lesson by now.  I should only read novel series which are finished!  I'm going to really regret reaching the end of this book because then I have to wait.

Overall, I'm quite happy that I was introduced to this entire series.  This one included.

As for the plot, I almost never go into that in reviews.  Go to google if you want to read about the plot, lots of people have surely lain it out by now.  There's probably a wikipedia page on it already.  I, instead, talk about my likes and dislikes.  And, for what little exposure I've had to this novel, I like it!  Mostly because he's a good writer, and those are hard to find these days.  I also like it because (the entire series) has an interesting and somewhat novel world that it takes place in.
1861800
Does any of this matter?  It goes on and on and on.  You can open it anywhere and read until you're numb and cross-eyed, flip 180 pages, start again.  It's all the same.  It's all a bit much.
2982071
Please don't read this book... Until you've read books 1 and 2 in the series.  Then, I challenge you to NOT read this book!  Just try!

Okay, maybe I'm not a "typical" reader (meaning you may not love this series as much as I do), but skipping the usual synopsis of the story line, just trust that you'll truly like (maybe love) the characters, and that they will be so real to you you'll want to extend your relationship with them.

Please read my review (and others) of Book One: The Old World, and then give that book a try.  If it doesn't suck you in and compel you to keep turning pages, then leave you panting for the next volume, well just skip the rest of the series and move on to another author.  I devoured books one and two, then salivated waiting for this book to be released, pounced on it, and gobbled it down as fast as I could.  Yes, I know this sounds like hype, but I promise you it isn't.  I can't recommend this book and this author too highly.
2233481
Let me go to another book. Please!!  Why won't you let me leave this page?  How can you force me to review this book?  Is that even fair?
4890284
Am I the only one thinking, "Great read.... how long until the next chapter?"
4957804
This book hits the ground running from page one and it Does. Not. Let. Up!  I burned through this book in one sitting.  It was like crack!  'Just one more page, just one more page...what will happen next?'  This book blew me away.
1969170
Not a bad first effort, but you can tell the author is new at the writing game. I hate being a critic, since so many critics could not write their way out of a paper sack. But I am going to point out a few things...

Wonderful premise... with a lot of potential. But the way it starts left me feeling confused... it went from a lady and child moving to a new house, to a bunch of witches talking about prophecy... no explanation or smooth transition. It gets tied together  a little further into the book, and makes more sense. But it was confusing enough to where I went back to see if I had missed something, lol!

Transitions are way to fast... not believable.

1. The main character goes from "Muggle" to believing in witches, and using her own powers almost overnight. I doubt that most people are that resilient.
2. The witches start doing things for her that would freak most people out, and yet she just accepts it and goes on.
3. (this is the biggest issue) The new "Queen" instantly solves a problem that has been hurting the witches for decades, even though she has no real training, background or understanding (although I guess anything is possible with magic)! Just too much, too fast! Better story line would have been to left such a momentous item for two or three books down the road, after she had a clue.

I also wish that Aurora (the four year old daughter) was a larger part of the book, she is almost just a foil or window dressing for her mom.

Way too short.... and the ending is a bit harsh.. it just stops (not really a cliffhanger, either).

If this is aimed at girls under fifteen.. it will hit it's audience. But I think the majority of adults may find it less than satisfying. I love YA books, and read a lot of them... but this one has a ways to go. This author will be interesting in a few years, if she sticks with it... and finds a good editor to mentor her.

My opinion!  :) That and a dollar might buy you a cup of bad coffee, right?
965499
I'm not going to go into details about what this book is about, there are lots of those reviews posted here for you to read through. Suffice to say that the book looked interesting enough for me to pick up and, as other reviewers have noted, it is an engaging read, one that is hard to put down. It was jam packed with interesting observations on our Google+, FB, Twitter, Instagram, web-cam, Google Glass world that we are all residing in and I would gladly have given it 5 stars but for the following:

The book itself is dividing into three "books." The first two books were great, both in terms of the story as well as the thoughtful commentary on our social media driven world. Again, I had a hard time putting the book down as I read it, following the transparency of Mae's life and the issues it was causing her parents and close friends. With great anticipation I flipped the page to start reading book three, only to find...

that it was the worst let down of any book that I have ever read. And I've read a LOT of books.

Mr. Eggers, what were you thinking? It's like you took us on a wild roller-coaster ride to the edge of a cliff and just as we were ready to experience the final plunge you simple end it by having Mae tell us in a single line what happened? (I'm not going to post a spoiler for anyone, but the sentence begins "With a duty that felt holy...") Book three was supposed to be the climax of the story, where all of the secrets were revealed and the truths exposed. Instead you give us five pages of character reflection on a plot summary? Come on! If I may paraphrase from your book, "The Circle needs to be closed" and I'm disappointed that you didn't take the time to finish the book. It's like you saw you were getting close to a certain page limit and then decided, whoops, better end this now before I cross the 500 page threshold.

Definitely a frown, thumbs down and unlike from me. The first 492 pages I was giving you 5 stars, but you get ZERO stars for the last 5 pages. Spend your money if you wish, readers, but be prepared to feel like Mae did after one of her sexual encounters with Francis.
4726958
After getting to about the middle, you'll do better by reading a page and jumping ahead 6-7 pages---believe me, you don't lose much!  Thank goodness this was free--I would have been upset if I paid for it.