I really wanted to like this book....
930747
I recently bought a crockpot and have spent a lot of time on Amazon.com's website looking at crockpot recipe books.  From what I can gather from reviews, there are two basic types of recipe books:  1)  those that use a lot of prepared ingredients like frozen vegetables, canned soups, salad dressings etc. as time-savers, and 2) those that involve more cooking "from scratch" using a crockpot instead of the stove.

This book falls into the second category, which is what I was looking for.  But I sent the book back for a refund and I'm only giving it 3 stars because the book description says the author "pushes the slow cooker to places no one ever expected it to go..."  There are recipes that are more exciting and I want to acknowledge them, but there are too many simplistic recipes:  chicken stock, vegetable stock, black beans, slow cooked chickpeas, black bean dip, 2 types of mashed potatoes.  I think the book description just made too strong a claim for this book.
4604112
I really wanted to like this book - and around page 200 - I think I finally started to.

From the offset the story travels in a bee's flight start to finish approach: but wait let's pause - and then resume - but never quite get back to the original point that a chapter or paragraph launched with. The story is frustrating (as if not edited or re-read subjectively by the author) - and often puts on airs of self-importance and name dropping to tie this autobiography onto some larger world or into the world's important events and happenings. A pattern Sessums seems to have been leaning into since his early life as the story tells it. He also seems to have an incredibly detailed memory from about 3.5 to 6 years of age... which at times seems a little filled in by a creative and self-flattering imagination.

Sessums is fascinated by his own "natural grace", "heightened sensitivities" and "exotic"-ness. He mentions these alluring attributes several times throughout the story - typically writing that these traits have been realized by other persons who he's encountered.

Sessums weaves back and forth interestingly for a while with an interesting imaginary friend crossing into real life as real people seem to fade out of the real world. He lays out tons of great references to "American classics" and other authors as well as to musicians, singers and musicals - some I am familiar with - others I've scratched down a list to look into.

He gives up an entire chapter of his own story to his brother's account of his time with Reverend Graham - which is so bizarrely out of step with the story in a forced fairytale tone - that by the end I thoroughly imagined bird's landing on ladies' outstretched fingers and a choir of angels bursting from the clouds.

In disclaimer, I will add: There is no way for me to imagine the losses Sessums encountered at a young age, matched up with being a sissy in southern culture, as well as with molestation. The book sloppily attempts to string itself into the issue of racism in the south through 1) an imaginary playmate, 2) a nanny/housekeeper type figure and 3) finally the man who takes his virginity.

Still wanting to have really liked this book, I dug into his website a bit before sitting down to type - trying to get a better feel for him as a person since the books gives so little (or what it gives seems incredibly far-fetched and not terribly likeable) - and found it interesting that an early negative review of his book dents his ego and he then makes a point of blogging that the critic gave no credit to the sensitive issues of race in the book (!) - that the critic isn't his "target audience" - that this mean critic is known to have no taste for "Southern gothic literature" - and that this is one more time in his life that the sissy is getting beat up on by a bully (and a lesbian at that).

His list actually makes her the perfect critic.

While Sessums blog is more current... it follows the same patterns as the book - it never lets the story tell itself - at least not until about page 203.
883297
I wanted to really like this book. But I really had a hard time getting into it. It moved rather slowly for my taste. I think there's a good story here somewhere Just got to find it. It took me entirely too long to read this book simply because I wasn't thrilled to pick it up every day. I was, however determined to finish it. Which I did. Sadly I will not be reading any more books in the series.
592720
I really wanted to like this book. It was heartwarming, touching, the setting was nice, and the characters were believeable. But I just could not care about their problems. There just seemed to be too many problems, and they seemed too ordinary. In the end, the writing style and the plot, while nice, could not generate in me enough interest to get me to want to keep reading. It's a nice book for somebody, but the pace was just too slow for me.
4637142
I really tried to like this book, I really really did. Unfortunately it was not to be as I just got bogged down with its slow pace and inconsistent characters. The story was not unique but interesting enough to get me from the sample to the purchase but once I got into the rest of the story I realized that this book is a bit bloated. I know that you cannot rush character development and that there is a balance with pacing that has to be maintained but honestly I just kept being surprised that so much of the book had gone by and so little had been accomplished. Then you have the main character who goes from saying that she is resolved to be strong from now on, to throwing can only be described as a temper tantrum, and throws out all common sense with the flick of a switch.

I hate giving bad reviews but after reading about 70% of this book I just had to move on. I hope it works out for you if you buy it because it sure didn't for me.
3821191
I wanted to love the book, I just could not get into it.
3522032
I really wanted to like this book. In fact, even as I'm sitting here writing a 2-star review, I wish I could give it more stars.  The truth is that, while I liked the characters and the story showed promise, I couldn't get past the blatant grammatical errors.  If this novel was not self-published, then the author needs to rip into her publisher and editors.  If it is self-published, then I'd strongly suggest hiring a (different?) editor.

So what were some of the problems?

Missing words:  There were so many missing words that were necessary for the sentences to make sense.  If this just happened once or twice, I'd understand -- the author has read her book so many times that she "sees" things that aren't there that should be.  But her editors should've caught more than they did.

"Should've/Could've went" are like nails on a chalkboard.  I could almost get past it in dialogue, but NOT in the actual writing.  Character's never "should've went' anywhere...they "should've gone."

The words "past" and "passed" are not interchangeable.  You cannot say "He ran passed her."  It should be, "He ran past her."

The words "your" and "you're" are also not interchangeable.  "You're" means you are.  "Your" is possessive, as in "It's your house."

Now, I realize I've been really negative and I hate doing that, so let me tell you the positives:

I liked the characters.  I dang-near fell in love with Mason/Razor.  It's why I kept reading so long past the point of irritation with the grammar.  I loved the fact that he was not your stereotypical geeky hacker.

I loved the idea of a batshit crazy ex-girlfriend out for revenge.  Nice touch.

I liked the pace and the not knowing what was going to happen next...twists and turns were awesome.

And I liked the relationship that was developing between the two characters.  It showed really good promise, and there were some really "real" aspects to it.

But I couldn't get past the grammar, as hard as I tried. And it's for that reason that I stopped reading at 47%.  I just couldn't do it anymore, even though I wanted to push through.

There is one "good" in this overwhelming negative review.  Normally I'd give an "I couldn't finish" book only 1-star.  This one gets two for keeping me reading long past the point where I should've stopped.  And, like I said, it really does show promise. But, as much as I'd love to know how Mason unravels himself through the next twist and turn, I just don't have the patience to sit through any more "Should've/Could've wents."  If the author doesn't know better, then her editors should've.

If these things won't bother you, then I'd recommend giving this book a try.  If you do, let me know how it ends. :)
1266794
I really wanted to like this book, but I just couldn't get into it. Too many pages devoted to football and the feelings of characters (and the feelings of characters about football), too little action. I gave up about two thirds of the way in, when I decided to read the reviews to see if I was the only one who felt this way, and then I found out that the reveal and the reveal are major disappointments so I will not waste my time any further.
4916833
I really wanted to like this book.  In fact, I looked forward to getting a chance to read it and review it through the vine program.  Perhaps my expectations were too high.  The main character, Peter, is a sweet and well fleshed out character.  Unfortunately, something in the writing style was just missing for me.  The premise here is great, looking at a Chinese young man, the only son in his family, who is living a lie....he believes that he should have been born a girl.  The writing is free of that "preachy" or outmoded view of the trans life.  Just not enough to rate it higher, the style is just lacking something.
392405
I really tried to like this book...really! I struggled through - hoping it would get more compelling. Too many characters, too many shifts in time, too many plot twists - some of them impossible to follow, all of this leading to an implausible ending. After sampling the multitude of 5 star reviews, I expected better.
4253863
I really wanted to like this book.  I'm not a Parrothead, but I enjoy Jimmy's music.  I'm not a pilot, but I like airplanes.  I like the Caribbean culture and lifestyle ad wanted to learn more about the area.  50 is in the "rearview mirror," but I wanted to see how Jimmy had handled that milestone.  I figured this book might scratch all those itches. Well...not so much.  I enjoy reading and did finish the book, but found it more of a chore than a nightly read I looked forward to.  It rambles a lot, and as someone else reviewed here, more resembles a disjointed blog than anything else.  I found a used copy here and  was glad I didn't pay much for it.  My money would have been better spent on a margarita and a digital download of one of Jimmy's tunes.
2386852
Given the premise, I really wanted to like this book, but by 100 pages in I just wasn't hooked. Most of the books I read beg to be opened and finished. This one just sat on my nightstand until it was replaced.
771298
I really wanted to like this book. Some of the characters were very intriguing and I liked them. But the writing...The editing... Those things were very rough around the edges.

Jerry Lee Lewis is mentioned in the book as... Jerry Lee Louis. Those types of things just shouldn't happen anymore! The transitions were almost non-existent in places. The speaking style of the American tour group was peppered with Irish phrases that we really don't use. I'm 100% okay with those things coming out of the Irish characters, just not the American ones.

Having said that, I really liked Dylan, Conor, Ellen and Bert. They were all strong characters with something to offer the story. There were a few scenes that made me tear up, but overall, I was quite glad to finish the story. And I am honestly shocked at all the 5-star reviews!
987434
I really wanted to like this book but...

The characters were two dimensional and I couldn't grow attached to any of them.  I did like the love interest though.  The author focused well on her two main characters but then seemed to have trouble utilizing the rest of them.  The storyline was not compelling for me either.  The story was based on Lex needing to find a boyfriend so that her grandmother wouldn't cut funding for the school volley ball team.  The author barely focused any reading time on the volley ball team and so I struggled to even care about what happened to them.  It seemed like since the whole book was about saving this team, that the author would have focused better on them.  The storyline struggle for any focus.  The book flitted from one topic to another and left me having a hard time caring about anything that was going on in Lex's life.  I couldn't understand why Lex just didn't make up a boyfriend for her grandmother.  It seems like it would have been simple enough for her to take one of her friends to family functions.  I can understand where Lex wouldn't think that this is moral, but the fact that the idea never even crossed her mind seemed strange to me.

I could have handled all of the above flaws a lot better if I liked Lex.  However, I found her to be one of the most annoying main characters that I have ever read about.  She whined about everything.  The book was a cycle of things going wrong for her and then her complaining about them.  I understand that we all do this but the extent to which she did this was sickening.  She also came off as extremely selfish.  She was constantly asking people for help and then was rude to them when they did help her.  She didn't handle it well when someone wasn't able to help her.  The one time that she actually helped someone, she sulked and complained about it the whole time.  She was rude at some point to every single person that she came in contact with.  I couldn't for the life of me understand in the beginning why her love interest even liked her.  She was rude to him for their first few encounters-especially their first encounter.  He must have been glutton for punishment or something.  I found it hard to relate to her.  I, personally, am not a big sports fan and she was a major sports fan.  I wish that the author would have included a few other interests of hers.  That's just me personally though.

I skimmed this book and still felt like I wasted my time.
446219
2.5 STARS
**My thanks to the author for providing me with a free copy for an honest review**

I really wanted to to like this book, the description captivated me and i liked the front cover, but the story itself, just didn't do it for me in the end.

Things moved just a a little too fast, there were too many silly secrets between the two, or lies that you just knew straight away that were going to come between the two and bite them in the butt.

The characters themselves were well rounded and we got a good backstory in order that we could understand them a little better, i just wish that they hadn't been quite so stupid about things.
4681433
I really wanted to like this book. Unfortunately, there were simply too many glaring issues to warrant a better review. First, the presence of simple typographical errors is simply inexcusable in a book with an editor. They grate my patience like nails on a chalkboard. One is bad but easily overlooked but the numerous issues within the text of this book combined with the next issue made it too much.

The second issue with this book is the writing style. It's rambling. Plain and simple. The author attempts to explain a topic with an example and gets steered off course and presents things out of order or that simply don't expound on the central theme. I find myself becoming impatient with paragraphs and wanting him to get back on track.

The layout of this book is its weakest and most glaring issue. There are a ton of colorful photos throughout the text -- and they in no way relate to the text you happen to be reading. They're just there for eye candy. Oh, they might be referred to several pages prior or after, but you will not find a visual example of what you're reading at the time. This just made the entire book seem amateurish and poorly laid out.

Overall, this book was a disappointment and I would highly recommend Dave Hughes's masterful Wet Flies instead. It covers all of the material covered in this book, and does so with a masterful storytelling arc, but also contains information about how to fish the patterns in easily understood terms. There aren't the gloss photos in Hughes's books, but his writing style is so good you don't need them.
2222635
I really liked the premise of this book, but the execution of it left much to be desired.