Should have declared this one a DNF early on - I didn't care for anything about this one
920761
~1.5 stars~

I love a good fairytale retelling and have been a fan of some of this writers previous work, so I was eager to read this one.  I guess it's one of those situations where it "must just me" because this book has quite a few positive reviews, but for me personally it was brutal.  The story concept sounded intriguing.  I loved the idea of Author being female.  Sadly, even that wasn't enough to redeem this story.  There seemed to be no character depth at all.  It was a time travel read, but it seemed to be all over the place.  I had a hard time even finishing this one and Im surprised I was able to do so.  No romance, no intensity, it just fell flat for me in all areas.  I'm glad it was offered as a kindle unlimited, and I will still read more of this writers work but this particular book was a disappointment.
1480629
DNF....got bored. The plot said they were to be guardian protectors, but not much protecting was happening. Too much politics interfering in the story creation at the beginning.
4407509
This is the first time I have DNF'd a book from this author. The first in this series was a 2 star for me, and this one was not worth attempting to finish. I like this author, but I will not be reading anything new from her until she dumps this series and moves on to something else.
2285868
This was a DNF. I picked up this book so many times, only to be discouraged and end up setting it aside after only a few pages. And that's saying something, because I'm not sure I've ever had a DNF before. So here's what I think.

THE BAD
1) Far too slow. This is largely due to...
2) Too much detail in the setting and the characters' appearance/surroundings. But (ironically) not nearly enough in the story or background (where it could have actually been put to good use). Leading me to my next (and biggest) problem...
3) Too little detail! There is so much past history/mythology that is not explained or understood by the reader. This could be good to a certain extent, when you are trying to set up your own world. But it was vastly overdone. For example, if I were to say, "It's the War of 1812 all over again!" to someone who had no knowledge of American/British history, they would have no clue what I were talking about. Or if I said, "Guess what - I saw a minotaur the other day!" to the same person who also had no knowledge of Greek mythology, they would be completely lost. It would be one thing if I then explained the War of 1812 or the concept of a minotaur, but that doesn't happen here. The story just goes on with no explanation. Of course, info dumps and huge expository sections are bad... but even a little bit of information would help greatly! Especially when references to things that the reader doesn't understand are being made almost non-stop throughout the book.

THE GOOD
1) It seemed like a good storyline. Yes, there were too many unanswered questions, but I think maybe these all would have been answered in the end.
2) Rich characters. Again, still too much unknown (especially about the history of the protagonist), but they were interesting characters.

Why did I put it down??
1) It kept feeling like it was going to pick up - I was hoping that something big about the history/mythology would be explained or we would get past the crazy little details... But it never happened. I would think this for a few pages, then get frustrated and bored and put the book down. Then pick it up again a week later and repeat.
2) I felt guilty about not finishing this book, so I stopped reading other books in an attempt to focus on this one.
3) As a result, I've gone almost 3 months without reading more than 50 pages of any book (I can usually plow through a book per week - 2 weeks for a long one). I'm done punishing myself for not reading this book and ready to move on!

I know there are plenty who like this book, so if these issues seem minor to you and you're thinking, "I can put up with the suspense," then please, by all means, give it a try. It just was not a good fit for me at all.

**Received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review
2922000
Not better than before, could have skipped this one.
1946655
THE ALMOST MOON

I knew by the second paragraph of this book that I would NOT like it.  I loved the LOVELY BONES and, while I don't like to compare novels, this one was a waste of my time. Especially compared to the LOVELY BONES, God forbid I compare!

Helen murders her aged mom.  Her mom was a horrible person, she took over Helen's life and made everyone around her miserable.  Did she deserve to die?  Who cares!  Did Helen get away with murder?  Who cares?  Helen was so messed up because of her mom and her past, but I just didn't care.  The book revolves around the murder, Helen trying to cover up the murder, her actions for a few days after the murder, and constant flashbacks of her life.  I ususally enjoy books that are written in this mode, but did NOT care for this one.

But I guess you, the reader, have figured that out by now.  I am so glad I am DONE with this book --

I don't like giving negative reviews.  There is no way to mince words here; however, this book was not good. I just didn't care about anyone or anything that happened to anybody.  The main reason I did not care for this book was the main character, Helen.  I didn't like her as a person and for that reason, didn't care for how she handled anything in her life.  In my mind, since I didn't like her, NOTHING she did or anything she said seemed correct to me.  That may be a wrong basis for not enjoying a book, but she totally rubbed me the wrong way.  However, maybe the author intended for her character NOT to be liked.

I am surprised that I even finished this book, but I wanted to see how it ended.  How I wish I would have just peeked at the ending and saved myself some time.

I will not be recommending this book to ANYONE. I will pass my copy along to my local library.  However, check out THE LOVELY BONES, it was great.

Thank you and sorry for being such a grouch re this book!

Pam
2173427
Did not care for....silly and poorly written

Connects directly to the first book, but I dsliked this one so did not go back and get the first one.

Must have been free or I can't imagine why I bought it.
1455854
DNF. Got to chapter 8 and felt like nothing had happened, so quit there.
2972620
8/2 - Tucker's Claim is just not clicking for me like Caine's Reckoning and Sam's Creed did. I don't like the language Sally Mae uses, ostensibly because she's a Quaker. I have no idea how Quaker's talk now, let alone 150 years ago, but I can't stand the constant thys, thees, and thous. It's really annoying and distracting from the flow of the narrative, especially during the sex scenes. I don't if I'll DNF this or not. I'm about to go overseas and I'm not sure I want to sacrifice good book space for mediocre books, plus it'll be due back while I'm away and I know it's not worth risking a fine if I can't renew it till I get back.

Reading a few of the low star reviews I'm seeing a theme and it looks to only get worse with sex toy anachronisms. I find it exceedingly hard to believe that sex toys were a big thing in the 1860s wild west or, that an uninitiated Quaker woman would be fine and dandy about them being introduced on her first night with a man other than her husband. To be continued...

10/2 - Read another 30 pages and I just couldn't be bothered with Sally Mae's language any longer. DNF on page 60.
484600
Badly written, Insta-love vs. Insta obsession.  Did I seriously read the same book as everyone else?  The character development was sub par at best, the characters where too one dimensional and the story line was lacking in depth and intrigue.  This book wasn't horrible, but I gave up on it fairly early in and knew that I wasn't going to like it.  I made it to the end, but I most certainly won't be reading on with this series.  Congrats to the author tho for having such a huge success with this series.  I guess I am just one of the few who wasn't invested.
2028631
DNF at page 163/35% in. I feel awful for rating this one star when there aren't any other reviews to balance it out right now, but seeing as I can't review a book on Amazon without rating it and it's required I review this... However, feeling like an awful person isn't enough to overrule my gut's decree that I need to rate this one star.

I knew I'd lost the enthusiasm for Stormdancer that I had last year, partially due to my own evolving tastes and how reviews I agreed with pointed out genuinely problematic elements I missed. However, I underestimated how much enthusiasm I'd lost until this 464-page monster jumped out of its package and fell on my foot. On yeah, and when I started reading, but frankly, the ache of my foot after this book fell on it was an omen. AN OMEN.

Kristoff's prose is as overwrought as ever and the division of the story between Yukiko, some children and handmaidens back in Kigen City, and even Hiro (who is now about to become Shogun) doesn't help. I never really felt invested in these characters in the first book and it's no better here. Combine it all and it's a real storm of trouble for me.

Speaking of whom: Hiro, he of the much-swooned-over green eyes. I didn't think much of it at the time, but what is a man with foreign eyes doing so high up in the ranks with so little problems when Shima has been at war for twenty with a foreign nation where green eyes are undoubtedly more common? AND NOW HE'S ABOUT TO BECOME THE NEW SHOGUN. Considering what Shima does with foreign prisoners... Why is he living untroubled in such a xenophobic nation?

The slow pacing, overly detailed prose, and all had me close to my DNF point already. What Yukiko says to a female arashitora Buruu is pursuing but failing to catch because Lady Arashitora wants nothing to do with him (something about him being the Kinslayer, but I don't care that much, sadly) is what did it.

Yukiko's words: "I know it's probably expected of you to make him work for his supper, but if you could skip the foreplay and let him catch you, I'd really appreciate it. We've been flying for four days and he's about to have a heart attack (ARC p. 161)."

What I saw in her words: "Hey, I know you want nothing to do with a Buruu in heat, but he really wants to screw you and is about to kill himself trying, so let him rape you so this can end."

Yeah, no. The arashitora have minds of their own enough for consent to become an issue for me.

Most of my friends love this series and the few who got ARCs/already read them loved it, but they feel the way they do and I feel the way I do.
3888687
This was a DNF for me. It wasn't that it was terrible, it was just kinda boring and I didn't care for either of the MCs. I kept trying to get back to it and realized that I wasn't looking forward to reading any more of All I Want. So I quit and went on to something with more zing.

Elliott is naive to the point of exasperation (mine). He believes every dumb lie that Ash/Ben stumbles through. Ash is a bratty, entitled whiner who isn't smart enough to do a plausible job at pretending NOT to be a gazillionaire. Oh, lets go to the most expensive restaurant in town. Oh, let me plunk down daddys AmEx Black. Oh, Im going to keep wearing super expensive clothing. And then Ill come up with the most ridiculous reasons to explain it all. Ashs transformation into a decent person happens practically overnight (hes still whiny and entitled, though) and I just didn't buy it.

There are long speeches about the magic of Christmas and the spirit of giving and the true power of believing. Blah, blah, blah. It gave me a toothache. No one enjoys Christmas this much unless they are 7 years old, Buddy the Elf or a simpleton. Since Elliott isn't 7 or Buddy, unfortunately I kept thinking of him as the last alternative. These are the happiest minimum wage employees you will ever meet. So happy, in fact, that they are ecstatic at the idea of dressing up in silly costumes and standing around all day looking like dopey reindeer, elves and nutcrackers. Not a single person even makes a joke about cracking nuts. These are not real people. This is the Mayberry version of people and the Mayberry version of a department store.

There is a lot of awkward writing. At one point, Elliott says Someone go call 911. Um, couldn't they all just pull out their cell phones and call 911 without having to go anywhere? Nick, his wife and their house are described as if they are in an 18th century fairy tale (apron, silver tea set and all). At the beginning, the department store staff takes photos for a store yearbook. A yearbook? Is that a thing? Ive never heard of any store doing that. A webpage? Probably. An-house e-newsletter? Maybe.  A store yearbook? Wha? Kids routinely call people mister (which I don't think anyone has done since Leave It To Beaver left prime time). A young adult actually uses the word sourpuss. It felt like Starling was trying to write a modern story with old fashioned details (or an old fashioned story with modern details), but it just didn't work.

There is a lot of repetition. We are told multiple times that the department store staff members are paid minimum wage. Multiple times that Ashs contacts bother him (wouldnt it have been more realistic to make Ash a contact lens wearer to start with and just change the color of his contacts?). Multiple times that employees cant pull their cell phones out while they are working.

The dialog between almost everyone doesnt feel natural at all. People laugh at things that aren't funny. Elliotts excuse for not using his employee discount on clothes for himself is one of the dumbest things Ive ever read. In one paragraph the Giving Tree is sparsely decorated with tags and in the next paragraph there are tons of tags on the tree. Does no one proofread? Tons and tons of telling. Very little showing. Long passages where the MCs are thinking in their heads and nothing really happens.

I hope that Ash took ALL the gift tags off the Giving Tree and paid for them (at the point Id stopped reading, hed only taken one. ONE? Really? Mr. My Shoes Cost More Than Your Whole Minimum Wage Earnings For A Year?).

If you like your romances super sweet without a lot of reality intruding, this is the book for you. If you want something spicy, savory or salty, don't bother.
3229927
spoilers no spoilers? i don't even know just don't waste your time on it.

This book played almost like a romance mystery- barely. To call it a mystery thriller doesn't really work for me. Edward, the main man in the story, is a rich mogul with a creepy dark past and creepy present habits. He built this house (and my god if I have to hear the name of the house one more time, I may just flip) and it has a ton of crazy rules. A minimalist- they call him. Apparently no one can move in to the house because Edward has to approve them first-in person....okay

so we get a series of 'then' and 'now' chapters where we know Emma's story (then) and Jane's story (now) without giving too much away I will say this: Their stories are ridiculous! RIDICULOUS. they both sleep with Edward, and that's pretty obvious since he approves them both and 'there is an obvious attraction' when they meet.

What really bothered me was the first sex scene where Emma calls him "Daddy" I don't mind that in a book- whatever you like is not for me to judge- BUT the story doesn't even tell us what happened! she just wakes up with "little memory of last night" and some blood and him apologizing. Of course this makes him look very bad because apparently he was angry but we have no clue what happened.

when he sleeps with Jane (now) she just says that "what happened last night won't happen again". ... okay .... are you going to tell us what happened and what exactly won't happen again? nope.

*see how this is frustrating and leaves you feeling a little empty? haha

Another thing I didn't like was that it was practically the same story told twice, back to back. Until the end when a few things do change, but the 'then' and 'now' is exactly the same because Edward says the same things to both. It's not even a different effect, and the women don't even react differently to their words. I get that it is for effect but it was too much too long and I really understood what was happening early on, I didn't need it repeated to me chapter after chapter EVEN when they both saw a psychologist we were told almost the same story.

So all along we think we know who the bad guy is, but VERY quickly and abruptly that changes. not even in a good whiplash "you're kidding" eyes wide sort of way, but in a "wait what just happened" because that was so random it didn't add up. whatever it makes sense now- so now that we know who the bad guy is, Jane is realizing this-very slowly- also repeating the same thing we just heard in the 'then' chapter. omg woman just get on with it.

LOL MOMENT OF THE DAY- I'm listening the the audio which is great but there is a 'then' chapter, Emma's chapter and so it is introduced- "then, emma." then it goes silent .... hahahahah! ok it was silly. I am positive that if i were reading the book rather than listening I would've reacted the same way. Like DUGH i know the 'then' part is over, this chapter is 100% unnecessary because the rest of the book doesn't have a 'then' idk it was just so dumb to me.

and then there is the ridiculous ending. ugh apparently everyone but Edward is a liar in here. Yeah he's a total creep and has creepy tendencies, but whatever he's rich he can do whatever the hell he wants lol. Jane's last 'confession' or whatever you call it didn't make sense to me. i thought, 'why is this a confession' whatever

in the end another new girl moves in, giving the sense that the cycle will continue, but all i think 'so?'

what a disappointment. give me my credit back! lol
434184
Like everyone else, I waited for the final instalment of this series. I don't think disappointment begins to describe the feeling I was left with. Also, that it sounded like bad fan fiction. It really bugs me. Books 1-4 of this series felt like well-written novels. But this one, was not.

*Might contain spoilers*

1. The book completely lost focus and half way through the book you will hit the WTF moment. I lost interest. I finished it because I had already wasted the $9.99.

2. Unnecessary details that don't go with the rest of the story. The Monica storyline is what I'm talking about. If you wanted this to be a way of understanding Monica, it should have been building up from Book 1 or a separate book altogether. It had no business in Book 5.

3. As a result of Monica's story, a lot of important loose ends weren't addressed. I can give  you examples but there are so many to pick from like Cary, Tatiana, Gideon's mom (where is she?! Seriously)...

4. Eva and Gideon were still married and were going to work together. This was a big assumption after she quits her freaking job.

5. The most horrendous part was no one was really emotional about Monica. You want to announce a big event? Follow through. I would've been more shocked if Ms. Day had killed Cary. That would've made more sense. Eva loved him like a brother.

6. There's a few pages of a new series...I didn't even bothered reading. I was so disappointed that I just couldn't.

I'm giving this book only one star for the editor/publisher that actually thought this book was ready to be published. It lacked focus. Like an essay written the day before it was due.
325898
I really enjoyed Elizabeth Bear's "Carnival," and I thought "All the Windwracked Stars" was pretty good, but I didn't particularly like "Whiskey and Water," the last one I read.

So I passed on a couple of her books that came through my mail drop, but decided to dip my toe back in the water with "Chill" (Ballantine Spectra, $6.99, 310 pages). It quickly became very apparent that "Chill" was not a standalone novel, but there was absolutely no way to know by looking at the cover of the book. As it turns out, "Chill" is the followup to "Dust", and after going to Bear's website, I discovered it's the second volume in the Jacob's Ladder trilogy.

Unfortunately for any reader (like me) who thought that "Chill" might be a nice read, the book is pretty much incomprehensible without first reading "Dust." For example, there are many references to "The Enemy" in "Chill," but not once is that reference explained. Early on, it becomes clear that a character named Rien recently died, and everyone mourns her - obviously Rien was a crucial character in "Dust," which of course I didn't read because I didn't know "Chill" was book two of a three-part trilogy.

This is simply inexcusable. Bear should be furious with Ballantine because any casual reader will find "Chill" frustrating and pointless, as there's no hint that it's book two of a three-book series, and so her rushed ending that solves nothing is no reward for plowing through 300 pages of a book that is based on a world carefully developed in "Dust."

Ballantine supposedly is a professional publishing house that will nurture its authors and their audiences, but no one who encounters Bear for the first time in "Chill" is going to come back for more, because on the evidence of these 300 pages, she doesn't explain anything, she's hard to read and the book doesn't go anywhere.

"Chill," by the way, is OK for volume two of a trilogy, but nothing special - though maybe my attitude might be a lot different if I'd read "Dust." Or had any clue that this wasn't a standalone novel.
4539763
Got to say, I feel a little let down by the other reviews here. I bought this book, when it was on sale, based on the reviews, and then bought the other two, as well. I thought I'd stumbled upon an NR trilogy that I'd somehow missed over the years, but what I found was a ridiculous mess.

First, Bailey, the "heroine" of the tale, is the worst sort of damsel in distress trope. So incredibly weak, weak, weak. My imagination kept putting white gloves on fluttering hands, delicately pressing a linen handkerchief to tear-stained cheeks and rose petal lips. Woe is she - a victim to the core with little backbone.

Then we have Cade, the "hero", who seems to have been drawn with shades of Sam Spade or that's the idea, I guess (he refers to Bailey, when first seeing her, as a dame, though he was throwing back to the gumshoes of old, it wasn't surprising and it wasn't good), and who falls immediately in love with her. I want to say he's a caricature, but I can't imagine of what. He calls her "sweetheart" almost immediately, in a way that never once fails to make me think "get me some coffe" should follow.

We spend 90% of the book alone with these two, and I'm not entirely sure why I tortured myself trying to finish it when I knew perfectly well how it would end. (Obviously.) I guess I kept hoping that it would get better. It really only got worse, with terrible cliches, hollow characters and a story that is just plain boring.

I'm guessing this is one of Nora's early efforts, dime store romance early, but you couldn't tell by the prices of the books. Kindle book prices are becoming ludicrous considering they don't have to be printed, bound, packed, shipped, etc., but NR's are truly outrageous.

I gave it 2 stars for the gemology, but I got a refund for the other 2 books - no way am I going there again.
2340988
If I had not known that Olivia Goldsmith had written "Bad Boy" I would have thought it was a first time novel from a novice writer. I really have enjoyed her previous novels, but this one left me puzzled.  It was missing something important---heart.  That spark that makes us really care about her characters.  I didn't care about Tracey.  I didn't care about Jon. They both seemed rather insipid, and if they were actually friends of mine, I would dump them in a heartbeat.  The only remotely interesting character in the entire book was a formulaic waitress that recurred throughout the book, and frankly, I can't even remember her name, so she wasn't all that remarkable.  After the first two chapters, things really got slow. I think naptime at the nursing home would be more lively.  There was just no life in this book.  And quite frankly, I don't know how the author ever thought she knew anything about the great state of Washington, but she doesn't have a clue!  Here's hoping that Goldsmith's next book makes up for this clunker.