Good story, but Rowlings needs an editor's help!
932602
Jk Rowlings is a true talent. The books are wonderful and fun. But books 1-3 were short and to the point and very tightly written. It looked like they had an editor's help there, in retrospect. Because as the books get longer and longer, I am amazed at how much an editor's guidance is needed in order to get the stories back to their original ship-shape form! In this latest book, there are somewhere around 50 sets of elipses in the first chapter alone. Not to mention dashes. Rowlings can no longer end a sentence with a period. Rowlings takes 200 pages to even get the story started. This is disconcerting to a reader who was such a fan of the first books - and who truly appreciates the Rowlings talent.
695091
Good story but could use editing. For this reason I couldn't give it more than three stars. I'll keep saying it: Authors, just because you offer your books for free or at a discount, doesn't mean to skip the editing/proofreading process.

This story could've been much more enjoyable if it had been scrutinized by an editor or proofreader.
2161368
I enjoyed the story. The first couple of paragraphs really grabbed me. The book really needed an editor for spelling, typos and grammar. I liked the book, and would recommend it but at one point I actually wondered if maybe the author was mocking the reader, with the grammar and spelling, trying to see how much s/he could get away with. I realize that's a really random thought, but I honestly thought it several times because some errors were egregious. Bight is not bite and periods don't go smack in the middle of a thought. If those things bother you, you might want to wait until the book is cleaned up. If they don't, it was a cute YA contemporary.
3617019
While this is a great fantasy, the atrocious editing for errors ruins the flow of the story.  This story was only spell checked.  Too many homonyms mistakenly crept into the story, and cause grammatical confusion.  Perhaps a simple grammar checker could have been used as well.  There are areas of very poor grammar sprinkled throughout as well.

NOT recommended for young readers because of the glaring grammatical confusion and incorrect use of homonyms.  Our children will never learn to read and write well if exposed to such material.

Otherwise, the plot and storytelling were good.  Characters were adequately developed and their moral dilemmas expressed nicely for the reader to consider.

I will not purchase further books given this example of his offerings.  There are far too many excellent authors with better editing skills for me to waste time reading such poor grammar.  Try Lackey, Bradley, Hambly, Austen, Doyle, Dickens, McCaffrey, Roberts, Dumas, Clancy, etc., etc., etc.
2815055
My friend told me I might like this book and I heard that it would be part of a series, so I thought I'd give it a go.

THe story is good.  Engaging, really.  But the problem I have is with the cover.  This is another example of an author with an ego so big he or she feels compelled to put their name on the cover.  I'm hear to read books, not author names.  If Mr (Ms?) Rowling ever decides to remove their name and just let the reader enjoy the story, I'll give this another star.
4300264
Phaedra Weldon writes a good story, but desperately needs a good editor.  I scored it three stars for the story line itself.  It would have been 4 stars but there are too many gaps where information is missing.  It feels like the book was rushed to publication somewhat incomplete.  Yes, I do intend to read the next episode and see if it improves... but please, please, please get a good editor!
1700481
I liked this story and enjoyed the characters, but it does need some editing and that is why I have not given 4 stars. I feel that there are more editing issues in the second half of the story where it is a little stilted at times, and repetitive.
It is easy to see where the plot is going, maybe a bit too easy in places for me.

BUT it's full of great ideas and after some polishing I would recommend it to young readers.
3601694
I really love my Kindle and hope to see more books appear in this format (still waiting for the entire Harry Potter series to be released on Kindle).  This is a surprising good story and it has totally kept my interest.  However, I am on Book #3 of this series and must say that the editing is absolutely TERRIBLE!  HORRIBLE!  Misspelled words, missing words, incorrect sentence structure, proper names mixed up, and much more.  It's all of the books so far, not just one.  Someone really needs to review these before releasing them to the public.
4775589
This was a GREAT story, and story is what always matters most. I was enthralled, I wanted to keep reading, and I kept thinking about the book during the day. However...the author needs a professional editor and proofreader badly. As an editor myself, I marked dozens of corrections in grammar, punctuation, continuity.... just in casual reading, not even a close edit. It was distracting, but the story was so good, I kept reading anyway. This is a good writer, but falls short on plain English skills. Hire an editor next time, and I'll enjoy the book even more!
1990955
This story in three parts is really an excellent story that kept me busy almost from start to finish.  I'd love to give it the five stars it deserves, but the editing was very poor, particularly in the last part.  Too many misspelled words, poorly written sentences, and mixed up names, made it tedious and negatively affected the flow of the story.  Character development was passing, but description of the locations and the effects of the entities on the humans involved was excellent!
1361599
This is a great story, but having said that, there are some editing problems.  Someone should have done a point edit before this book went to release. i do hope the next 2 books a better edited.  Young adults are reading these books and we need to give them the very best we can give them.
3020007
I really like this series, but it is in serious need of an editor. There are too many grammar mistakes and (small) plot contradictions. If a good editor read through it, it would be a 5 star book for me. Maybe I'm too picky, but when words such as its, it's, your, you're, their, there and they're are misused, it jerks my attention away from the story. Like I said love the series, but, PLEASE get a good editor!!!
2586729
The story itself deserves five stars, but I gave it a four because of all the problems with it.

This six book series could have been condensed into four. The story jumped around so much that many times it was hard to remember who was who. Every chapter ended with the characters never catching a break, but always winning. It was exhausting to read. The descriptive fighting got to be way too much by book five.

The one thing that bothered me the most, and many other reviewers have stipulated, was the lack of attention and care the author gave to the Kindle series. It was as if those of us reading her books on a Kindle weren't as important than those who bought the physical book. The typos and inconsistencies were atrocious! Its mind boggling that a professional writer would take such little pride in her work to allow this to be electronically published. I sure hope the printed version was proofread and edited. It was a good read, but Im glad its over.
2003608
I really enjoyed the story and it was a good read. Sure, it is somewhat predictable and fluffy, but all in all, it was a good book. I did NOT enjoy the gay sex/rape/torture scenes!!! There are a few of those in the story, and I had to just skip over them. Also, I'm not sure if it was just my copy (hardback purchased on sale from B&N), but there were quite a few grammar/spelling errors, such as saying "had got" instead of "had gotten," and ending sentences in prepositions. Correct me if I'm wrong, but that's what I was always taught! There was also a typo somewhere that was something along the lines of "remind my of my bad luck," which I'm sure was supposed to say "remind ME of my bad luck." I find errors like this to be distracting and it makes me distrust the author. Whoever edited this book needs fired! The Tilly Bagshawe/Sidney Sheldon thing is confusing and misleading. Who actually wrote this book?? I appreciate honesty! Bottom line: if you can look beyond these errors, the majority of the book really is entertaining and engaging.
271899
This would be a wonderful series if I wasn't constantly having to fix spelling errors, change sentences from redundant and/or superlative descriptions, and just plain rewriting it! Get an EDITOR!!!! Other than that it could be a great story and series. I'm on Book 6, borrowed digitally from the library, and I can't take anymore. Does anyone know if the printed books are this bad?
4110119
The story was enjoyable sometimes.  Some of the plot devices were a little overdone.  It certainly needed a good profreading, not to mention editing--a lot of misused words and "apostrophe's" almost killed it for me.  Self-published authors don't have editors; I get that.  However there are plenty of style and usage guides out there.  This author has a lot of potential as a stortyteller and would really benefit from some nuts-and-bolts work on her craft.
3650856
Excellent book! However Mr Galbraith is annoying. The book ends like "what?! I need to wait another year or two to learn what happens???!!!" I could really hate Mr Galbraith (Ms Rowling). Furthermore, when I finished, I just sat and wonder: WHAT can I read next? It has a mood, a feeling which grabs you in.

About the story: shockingly Robin gets a woman's leg via a guy in motorbike - by the way she is preparing her wedding. Strike thinks that there are three men who should have done the murder. I won't spoiler, but the story is about these people, Robin and Strike growing feelings for each other - declining that though, fighting against it. We can see it of course.

Rowling (Galbraith) can put ourself in her / his books, pulling us in, build tension, we just want them to realize: they belong together. And the ending does not help, Mr  Galbraith / Ms. Rowling!

I want the sequel NOW!! :)