Doesn't quite meet its potential
933269
For my full review, check out my blog: [...]

This book had lots of potential and there are areas where I feel like it's interesting and well-done. However, as a whole, I just wasn't feeling it. Perhaps because this is supposed to be the beginning of a series, the author felt the need to shoehorn in some things and leave out others that I felt needed more explanation. In the end, I found it a bit lacking. I don't regret reading it, and it was a surprisingly fast read, so I'll say this: check it out from the library or get a cheaper e-book version. I don't think this is a full-price read.
1870578
Man, this is a "could've been" movie. As in it could've been really good, but just didn't quite hit the mark. I really wanted to like this movie a lot, but it just fell short too often, too many times. I'd really give this film a 2.5 star rating if I could, cause it doesn't really merit a full 3, nor does it merit just a 2. Either way, I'll round up because frankly, the acting for the most part, was really good. I felt that Kaylee Defer did a fantastic job of playing the role. The others did good as well. Some of the lesser characters could have been better, but they played such a small part, I don't feel that brought the movie down a bit. The real problem with this movie lies in it's editing. It's continuously cuts back and forth from different time frames and personally, got pretty confusing at times to follow. One second Bonnie (Kaylee Defer) is in a medical treatment facility, the next she's in a bar, then the next she's a model in some old asylum. See what I mean? It never really transitions, just goes from one scene to the next without cause or explanation.

The movies begins with Bonnie sitting in a counseling session, in what appears to be a mental facility. Apparently she was the cause of some sort of accident that lead to the (assumed) death of some of her friends. I thought it was understood that she was supposed to be intoxicated but during the flashback (that appears almost towards the END of the movie) she seems just fine? Anyways, she's working on her problems and eventually gets released. During this time the scenes flash from her time in counseling and sometime in the near future at her new job.

Upon release, her counselor, Rachel (Elisabeth R&ouml;hm) recommends she take a job at a local asylum(?). I put a question mark there because I'm still not sure exactly what the job was SUPPOSED to be, but she ends up replacing a model that a photographer had lined up. Maybe she was supposed to be the assistant? This is one of those places in the movie that was sort of blurred for me. Either way, she agrees and eventually finds herself locked in a small chamber. It's a tight fit with only a small tube-style television (that has metal bolted around the edges - maybe to keep her from turning the channel, or turning it off completely?) and a metal chair. She realizes as a "home" video plays that she is not there to work, but to be purged of her so-called "sins". This pretty much sums up the movie.

She begins being antagonized by the 3 siblings that live there. I'm not going to give anything else away, but they have all had THEIR sins purged as children by their psychotic mother.

Bonnie discovers a way out and that's where the movie FINALLY becomes somewhat interesting. Only problem is,...it's about 2/3 of the way through the film.

All in all, as I said before the movie itself could have been really good. It has some "hostal" potential, albeit VERY little, but enough that it could have been pretty entertaining. If you've got time and you're in the very specific mood of watching a "horror/thriller" that isn't so adrenaline pumping,..this is your movie.

Final Verdict:  Watch it if it's on cable.
136502
The idea for this product is great, but the band and its app lack the features that I felt I was going to get based on the initial product pitch when I got this on kickstarter.

Yes, they seem to be launching new apps (such as the alarm clock with zap), but overall this is mostly a self monitoring tool. With this sort of price tag I want it to do a lot more.
1071467
I enjoyed this book, and I'll agree with some of the other reviewers who said that the plot was solid.  But having said that, I don't think this book was as good as it could have been. I think maybe that had something to do with the killer, who plodded along like a dolt doing what he had to do, and the way he killed people.  I give the author credit for his imagination in that area, but I had a hard time seeing how it could actually be done.
I also didn't particularly care for the mother in this story. Having been a cop before she turned to writing, I guess I expected more from her -- in the sense that she should have been a little more savvy -- when it came to facing danger.
The story itself is interesting.  It has a little of everything -- action, romance, and suspense.  But it fails in putting it all together into a compelling read.  My guess is, that different characters could have pulled this one off, and made this into the great story it could have been.  I would recommend it, but I suggest you borrow it from the library or purchase the paperback.
4507641
This is the story of a slave, Josephine, who attempts to run for freedom, and a present-day attorney, Lina, who is endeavoring to find a suitable plaintiff for a class action suit to gain reparation for African Americans whose ancestors suffered under slavery. While there were enjoyable moments in the book, I found the story dragging in many parts and had to force myself to continue. Also, having working in the legal field for many years, I found it improbable that such a class action suit would ever be seriously considered. That is not to say it shouldn't be, I'm just skeptical that it would be. This book could have been great, but unfortunately I found it lacking.
3282295
It's got great potential to be right up there with John Sandford, but falls a little short. There are some stretches to the main character's abilities to work outside of his office in the manner he does. And I still don't know why the antagonist chose this guy to target in the first place....
2992476
It is a good concept, but I wish there was more to it. It felt unfinished needing more substance, plus better photography would really add weight (no pun intended) to this book.
2109254
This middle grades novel had a lot of potential. Mark, a boy facing a recurrence of cancer, runs away from home to climb Mt. Rainier. He is joined by his dog and Mark's journey is intercut with scenes from his best friend Jessie's point of view as she struggles with whether or not to reveal where Mark has gone.

Ultimately, I think this book has several problems. It's way too short. I expected a story about a boy climbing Mt. Rainier. I expected something like "Hatchet" or "My Side of the Mountain." Most of the story is about Mark's journey to Mt. Rainier which would have been compelling too, but again the story is too short to develop the characters in the way they deserve.

For example Mark and Jessie love haiku. They frequently communicate in a secret haiku language. That's a great and interesting characterization which never goes anywhere. Because we join the story after Mark has already run away, we don't get to see Mark and Jessie interacting. Why are they friends? Why does Jessie struggle with Mark's secret?

Not a bad book. But it could have been so much more.
4018879
Wish I could have given it a 4.5 but could not -- not quite a 5 though.
4725993
I wanted to love this book, but couldn't quite get there. I just love the concept, and I hate giving semi-negative reviews to indie authors. But I feel pretty strongly about this book and I want to be straightforward. It's a super cool concept - the horsemen have to save the world, hell is not as it seems - and the description is really quite good. This author is definitely capable of some memorable scenes. The issues, in my opinion, are with the pacing and the character voices. The book moved really rather slowly at first, without managing to suck you into what should have been a very interesting world. That part could have used a really good edit to move things along. But more than that, the world of hell needed to be a bit more compelling and believable. The joviality of the tone didn't really mesh for me: It didn't quite hit the right blend of gallows humor and dire portents.

Part of what alienated me was the tone of the character's voices. It comes off as very modern, rather young, and they tend to all sound the same. It basically read to me as a bunch of teenage boys joking around with each other. I wanted more. And that' a really good thing, that I *wanted* more from these characters. They piqued my interest. I wanted more depth, to get to know them, find out what made them different and unique.  The story for me didn't really take off until we got to see the flashbacks to the character's lives. I could have read a whole book just about that.

At any rate, I think this author has got something special, and I would definitely consider reading more. I want to see these works grow and change, live up to their full potential, and knock some socks off.
3222522
To me, Forever In Love reads like an early draft of a novel.  The bare bones of the overall premise and plot line are there, but the story is not fully fleshed out.  As other reviewers have mentioned,  The main characters are not completely developed.  The backstory is hinted at, but never really explained.  A bunch of minor characters are introduced, but I'm not sure why some of them are even there.  (Maybe to set up future installments in the series?!?!)  This is a story that I wanted to like, but in its current state, it just has too many holes in it.  It has potential, but ultimately, I had to force myself to read through to the end, and I came away dissatisfied.  I think that if it were reworked and filled in, it could be something really good.
2968779
It has potential, just needs better build up of characters, more description and better punctuation to clarify the story. The characters are established within the story, but they need more depth to them. Keep working on the writing, the potential is definitely there.
4059697
It has many clever concepts and does a great job developing the setting, it was well made, and had thought put into it, however it just doesn't deliver in the end. Perhaps would have worked better as a longer series, as a shorter film, or a play.

This could be seen as one of those polarizing movies - where film aficionados might claim that "if you don't like it you didn't get it."

I get it, but I just don't like it.
4762532
The premise of this narrative promises more than it delivers. The protagonist has healing powers, but that plays a very minor role and does not contribute to the plot in an important way.  The story seems to build up to an extraordinary event, but nothing of the kind actually happens.  In addition, the character to whom the protagonist tells her story has features that, if developed and connected to the main plot, would have allowed the author to explore the magician's healing powers.  However, this secondary character just disappears without resolution.  Macallister writes satisfying prose, but her plot development needs strengthening.  Were I her editor, I'd work with her on plot development and give her another chance.
3084038
I'm not going to rehash the story line; this is a review, not a book report. You can get a full summary from Amazon's product page.

I've enjoyed many of Childs's books, but there have also been some that just didn't hit the mark. This one falls somewhere in between.

There are overtones of his early novel, "Relic", in that we have archeological aspects mixed with the supernatural. But whereas in "Relic" it was pulled off very entertainingly and with a great deal of dramatic tension, this novel just doesn't quite seem to fizz.

I found the archeological background material and thematic setup pretty entertaining; but then I'm kind of into that stuff. But as the story moved forward and there seemed to be an attempt to set up the idea of spiritual possession and mummy curses and things of that nature, it just seemed to fail for lack of thoughtful development. I'd grade this as a pretty detailed treatment of a novel in progress, one that still needs a lot of work.

I liked the characters, but again, they seemed to be kind of wasted here.

As a quick read by the pool or in a plane, where you're looking to kill time rather than  get enthralled in a full story line, this book would work pretty well.

So, on that basis, three stars.
128277
Initially, I liked this novel, but in the end could not wait to be done with it.  It held so much promise.  The characters (too many of them) were one dimensional and not likable.  Many were just stereotypes.  At times it felt like the writer had a chip on his shoulder when it came to people in high tech - particularly anyone in IT.  Ok, so ignoring the characters, the premise of the novel held lots of promise.  The concept of "Cleaning" was good (but I figured out the twist before it was unveiled), the hints at the history behind the silos was intriguing, and the discovery of others all provided an opportunity to give the story a real punch.  In the end, it just flopped for me.  It just ended, as if the author ran out of ideas.  Disappointing.  Maybe it's a series and all with be unveiled later, but I won't be joining in because I just lost interest.
3870304
This movie certainly isn't bad, the first half of it was quite strong.  The characters and their society fleshed out nicely, a good job was done building tension.  I have to admit some of the actors did not seem like the best pick for their roles, but the acting was fine.  The concept behind this film is an interesting one, but unfortunately not pulled off as well as it could have been.  The end of the movie has a very rushed through feel, and doesn't give a feeling of closure.  I can't go into too many details because it would give away the twist, but this movie could have gotten very philosophical at the end, but instead left me feeling like it simply didn't live up to its potential.