Characters grow immature as the story goes on.
935850
The idea behind this book is really tremendous.  A telepath, Kai, struggles daily because she's always hearing and feeling everyone around her.  She has an additional ability in that she can transfer those feelings and she does so, to her husband, Oliver. But the telepathy is slowly killing Kai and Oliver decides she needs to get away from the crowded New York and he takes her - against her will - to the small town in Wisconsin where he grew up. But Oliver forgot to check his baggage at the train station - metaphorically speaking - and the quaint, peaceful small, Midwest town isn't all it's expected to be. From forgotten loves to kidnappings, Kai and Oliver have a lot to have to deal with.

I was really taken in by this book, first by the idea of it, as found on Goodreads or Amazon, and then by the opening chapter.  In fact, I read the first paragraph to a friend of mine as I was telling him that I was in a really tremendous book.

But the deeper I got in to the book, the less enamored I was with it.

Kai and Oliver don't belong together.  Author Kourtney Heintz can<em> tell</em> us how much they love one another, but what she shows us is something completely different.  I believed them in the first chapter, maybe first two, but after that I didn't think anything they did or said toward one another was realistic.  Any time one of them said something or did something, I wondered if they were being 'truthful' in the eyes of the character/creator or if it was all a plot device to lead us on.  It got very tiring and very annoying.

Because their dysfunctional behavior wore on me, I stopped having any sort of emotional attachment to them.  While I was fascinated and empathetic toward Kai in the opening chapters, I later found her petty and childish.  Oliver didn't come out much better. He was wishy-washy and alternating between dominant and pathetic.

The story ... what was the story? It started out being a story about a woman with a special and powerful ability that was destroying her.  (Great story!) Which became a story about kids falling out of love (boring story), which became a story about a missing child (huh?).

I can't recall the last time one book had me going through so many different reactions toward the book while reading it, but ultimately, I can't recommend this and I'm glad I didn't ask for the second book in the series.

Looking for a good book? The Six Train to Wisconsin by Kourtney Heintz is a paranormal romance mystery that might catch your interest at the beginning, but be warned -- it goes off in a strange direction and the characters grow more immature as the story goes.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.
2826341
I really didn't care for Summer's Song until about the halfway point.  The writing felt juvenile for characters in their late twenties.  Even the cover art makes Summer and Levi look like teens.  The story does deal with struggles common to new believers and provides discussion questions at the end, but I suspect it will appeal more to the New Adult demographic than to the AARP set to which I belong.
720235
This series has been a very fun read. However, this is my least favorite so far. The story had great potential. Most of the story was actually pretty good. What is killing it for me is the lack of growth in the main character and the decline in substance of her love interest. The plot line of the story was great. The interaction between the two main characters in this installment was totally phoned in. They said and did the same thing over and over again all the way through the book. These characters have been great up to this point. Please allow them to continue to grow and get some depth. Especially Landon. He went from someone I thought was very interesting to a 2 dimensional, egotistical, nose tweaking, horny, adolescent.  Bay isn't much better in this book. I can't imagine her letting him continue to behave in such a way without telling him off or at least questioning her attraction to him. Nose tweaking once is a little cute. By the third time I would be cursing him and I am not a witch. I will likely give the next book a go in hopes of improvement. If the characters don't grow and get a bit more depth, it will be time for me to move on.

EDIT - After reading the reviews for the next in the series it looks as if it has the same problems. Time to find something new.
4450129
The storyline is getting repetitive and now I need it to end OR develop more characters.
4863955
Unfortunately, the first few dozen pages of this tale where predictable and uninspired. A pre-apocalyptic story is a mainstay of science fiction, the expected achievement of any writer of this genre is to add a new twist to this type of story. At least in this book the the author has met the minimal expectations of a 'new twist," but nothing more.  Although the characters in the story do not rise above standard literary archetypes, the story gets better as it goes along.
1167692
Two stars because (1) the book doesn't actually end and (2) the main character keeps doing stupid things without any real reason to do them.  I love series where the characters evolve over several books, but the plot of the specific book is resolved in that book.  (Jodi Taylor's "The Chronicles of St Mary's" series is a good example.)  "Timebound" is primarily a lot of exposition with little actual progress in the plot itself.  As for doing stupid things, the character keeps demonstrating that, while she knows her actions are probably stupid, she'll just blindly act without any real thought or reason. I work with teenagers, so I know they can do stupid things, but the smart ones learn from their mistakes. There was potential here, I just don't think there was enough growth in author's plot development skills to justify sticking with the series..
1947299
The main characters in this book are supposed to be eighteen. So why does it read like it's written for twelve year olds? I mean, seriously, who over the age of twelve is actually scared of nightmare elves? The theme park is filled with childish images morphed into supposed horror scenes. None of it was scary.
Several of the group, who are supposed to young adults now, still acted childish and bullied each other like middle school kids.
I did give the book three stars because I liked the character of Ivy, and I felt so sorry for Natalie. They gave the group its only sympathy that made me root for them.
I also did like the ending, which after a bland, unscary book, finally gave me a little bit of a chill. I just wish the rest of it had been as scary as the cover seems to want it to be.
2120708
I wanted to like this story, and I wanted to like the series, but I think the author should have focussed on one of the girls in this book and fleshed out the others in the additional stories that are surely planned for the series.

The book begins slowly, with pretty much an "info-dump" about how the girls were born and why they are are named after the Disney princesses. They are pretty much treated as if they are actually one "person" for the first half of the book. "The Princess Sisters do this," or "the Princess SIsters do that."  This leaves very little room for character development except at the superficial level (describing their personalities rather than showing their characters through action.)

Still, this kind of characterization leaves it open for any reader to pick one of the Princess Sisters and pretend to be her, so it's not a bad idea in writing for this age group.

My one last quibble is that, while the book is obviously written for pre-teens, at least two of the mothers have never married (and thus had children out of wedlock.)  In a book for more mature readers this might be okay, but in something aimed at pre-teens who have little relationship experience, this might be something some parents would not be okay with their child reading.
2079870
This book which is to be the first book in a series does not start off well. First couple of chapters of the main character retelling her history. For one, it is not believable that the character herself would know all of those details as she was very young at the time and later didn't recall those same details. Those chapters pushed well beyond the limits of believability. As the story continued, the author continued to defy the rule that story tellers live by--show, don't tell. The main character continued to tell the readers who she was. This clouded the story line, distorting the fact that very little actually happened within these pages. The first few chapters of the character's dubious memory were more exciting than the rest of the book which was a let down because the story itself was interesting and new. Then, just when you get to the middle of this book when there is actual conflict propelling the main character into acting instead of telling, the book ends. I would recommend that the author, C. Greenwood, review his or her storytelling style. Less telling, more showing the world he or she created and please review the structure of the book. Just because it's the first in a series does not mean that it can't be a story in itself.
4689415
The story continues and the characters are growing and evolving.
4797595
As the series drag on the story seems to get lost. Long self analyses of characters and miserable and slow direction the series is taking is ruining the otherwise good story. Too short too slow and beginning to be boring. Time to finish the story before more damage is done.
3928614
I am promised it gets better the deeper into the series you go. I will stick it out. This book would be great if you're a preteen, but many of the characterizations are just painfully shallow and caricatured. Also, the thematic movements tend to be well telegraphed, followed by thorough explanations.

Eilonwy is a pretty decent character and interestingly independent, but I hope that she grows past what appears to be her hero reward role. Taran became more interesting when his teenage angst was suppressed by the amulet that grants visions. And then he lost it and only grew a little as a character.

Halfway into the book were introduced to the enchantresses/weavers as antagonists of a sort. They are horrid, and monstrously clever, and wickedly funny. The true highlight of this book.
3881236
Halli Sveinsson is descended from the hero Svein, he is a fourteen year-old boy who has grown up in the House of Svein hearing the stories of the founding heroes from times past. Things are different now, ever since the twelve heroes died in their final stand that drove monstrous creatures known as Trows away from the valley, the residents have taken up diplomacy, arbitration, and lawgiving. Halli wants to be a hero himself, thinking that the current state of the valley is very boring and unfulfilling. To make his days livelier, Halli makes a nuisance of himself. Eventually, Halli indirectly becomes the source of a tragedy that strikes his House, and when he feels that the Valley's beliefs are getting in the way of justice, he becomes fed up and decides to take it upon himself to right what has gone wrong.

Heroes of the Valley has a strong coming of age theme, as our hero Halli grows and changes during his adventures. He begins as an abhorrent prankster, but as he journeys further and further away from his House, he starts to realise more and more of the big picture and even starts to question the stories of the heroes and the sketchy existence of the Trows. Halli is a fully developed character by the end.

Often accompanying Halli is the girl Aud Arnesson. If not written well, she could have been a very annoying girl with "spunk" and "attitude". I could call her "capable", but not snobbishly so. She does not believe in the stories of the heroes and the Trows, and her skepticism influences Halli to make up his own mind on the subject. Through her relationship with Halli, she too develops and changes her opinion on the world. Also, a lot of the humor in the book comes from Aud, check out this passage where she and Halli are talking about the heroes:

Halli: "A little string bag? ...Sounds a bit girly. Who did that? Arne?"

Aud: "No, no, I think it was Gest, or one of the other rubbish ones."

The detail and prose are usually okay, but the word "gesticulated" is used too often, as is the phrase "slowly, slowly". One part of the story comes out of left field, it's a scene that does something important but is silly to read and juvenile. In this scene, Halli pushes his brother into a dung pile during a scuffle, the result is a big romp crashing into things and knocking things over. It goes on too long and doesn't belong. This part actually accomplishes something, but it didn't have to be done this way

I really like how there's a story about Svein before every chapter. It immerses you in the world and Svein's adventures parallel Halli's. The two seem to grow together. There are lots of other stories to be told by other characters, and it's interesting to see how each of the Houses likes to alter the tales so that their founder is the main focus.

The build up to the ultimate reveal about the Trows and heroes at the climax was very gripping. But like the scene I mentioned above, this scene comes out of left field and is totally silly. I'm not sure what Jonathan Stroud was thinking, what with spending an entire book alluding to things only to appear to shift genres at the last minute and go nowhere with what was already written. When I was done reading the book I stared at it and said out loud, "What...the bloody hell...was that?" The end leaves no resolution to a well done story. Something's missing.

Well, I wish I could give it a better rating, but Heroes of the Valley spends over 300 pages building up to nothing but a weird bait-and-switch. I guess that makes it kind of hard to recommend, but if you like the sound of the better stuff I mentioned, I suppose reading Heroes of the Valley just for what comes before the ending is worth it.
8 out of 10
3569009
The characters continue to develop but I don't think their interaction is well established. They have finally moved away from trying to find out what Hallan's "G" stands for which was a lame story line from the get go. (Now "Castle" and "White Collar" are playing around with the same weak story.)
2336153
While I thought the premise was promising, it did not live up to its potential. The main character is incredible naive and highly dramatized. The characterization and plot itself was juvenile as well, though not in a YA novel way. These characters live in extremes, but are not grounded in them. They float from one high to the next, or from highs to lows in an instant. These transitions often have little or no buildup and are glossed over as soon as the scene ends.
Like I said, the story potential was there. However, there's always room for improvement.
586843
The story could be quite good if the main leads were not overthinking and complaining to heavens as much as they did. Also the last part was overextended quite unnecessary. And the misunderstandings were becoming stupid.
4009270
This book is very immature... Childish even. The main character never evolves from childhood, using the same language and mannerisms as an adult. I usually am a fan of Fern Michaels, but this one is a dud. I quit reading about halfway, which is not normal for me. I found I didn't care how it ended, as the story was weak and I didn't care for the characters.