Engaging but uninspired
936312
I'm trying to make this a critique of the book rather than of Jefferson.

First, I found this book hard to get into at first. I'm no slouch in the vocabulary department but I found myself overwhelmed with some of the word choice. Once I rid myself of outside distractions I was fine but this is definitely not a book to read while the kids are running around or the tv is on in the background. You might find yourself staring at the page, rereading sentences like "... he expressed frustration with the paralyzing combination of indolence and garrulousness that afflicted the Congress," over and over again.

I was surprised to read some of the reviews stating that this was not a favorable view of Jefferson. While Ellis did a god job of exposing the conflict of actions vs. ideals of Jefferson, I found his take on them to be too apologetic. It seemed as if this was one long book of excuses on how Jefferson was able to say one thing and do another. I understand that this was not intended to be a formal biography of the day to day life and events on Jefferson but Ellis skipped huge amounts of important areas. Jefferson's entire Vice Presidency was left out. His second term as president was mostly ignored with only brief mentions of some things. I would have liked to know Jefferson's reasoning and thoughts when he essentially quit the Vice Presidency and secretly helped establish partisan politics. I'd like to know his motivations behind the Embargo Act and his feelings on Aaron Burr and his scandals. I concluded that these events were left out because they were too unfavorable to Jefferson. I admit that I could be wrong and that there could have been very good reasons for leaving these out but I don't know what they could be.

I did find myself highly engaged in this book. I had internal debates over Jefferson's ideals versus what really happened then and what is happening now. If I could find someone to have actual conversations about this stuff with in my life, I'd be in heaven.
1186654
Beautiful art! That's this book's strongest suit.
The plot was an interesting concept, but not well done. The main character is flat, a genial, talented good guy with problems that don't resonate. He's simply not believable - or if you did meet him in real life, he'd be your friend's brother or boyfriend, someone you register but don't feel the need to deeply interact with. He's thoughtful, talented, and BORING. At least, his dialogue and actions are boring.
There were some cool twists in the book, but they didn't get fleshed out very well.
4616256
I was predisposed to love The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Vol. 1, as alternate history is a favorite genre, and famous character mash-ups a particular favorite as well. Volume One introduces a "menagerie" (as they are often referred to) of otherwise famous literary characters brought together to help Queen and Country with dangerous tasks in a somewhat steampunky Britain of an alternative history. Two characters, Mina Murray and Allan Quatermain, are favorites of mine from their original novels and I loved the idea of them having more adventures.

This graphic novel has many literary references, both in the text and illustrations, which is a delight for a book nerd. The pseudo-Victorian style and parody of Victorian serials used throughout the novel was highly amusing for a fan of that era and added an extra level of enjoyment.

Character development and setting introduction took the first few chapters ("issues") and was pretty well done. The personalities of the five members of the League were nicely established and tantalizing hints given about the world from both the illustrations and the text. I became quite fond of the characters, even the amoral Griffin, and was eagerly awaiting plot development.

When the plot did develop, however, it was unsatisfying. Perhaps because so much time had been spent developing characters and world, very little time was able to be given to generate a decent plot. It was a messy, mishmash of explosions and overaction (not to mention overacting) and made very little sense. If it was meant to be a parody of Victorian fiction, it didn't read like any of the multitude of Victorian novels I have read.

The art was nothing spectacular. While there were some scenes drawn with "hidden" references, these occasional treats did nothing to add to the story. The illustration of the panels is a very straightforward, comic book style, with no artistic angles or composition. The lines are harsh, the backgrounds busy, the colors generally unappealing. There were even times when panels were so busy with so many irrelevant details, that it was hard to find the action. I certainly did not feel that I was reading a graphic novel where the art is vital to the storyline; I felt as though I were reading a comic book.

Despite my interest in the characters, the lack of a real plot line and the average art made this very promising premise a mediocre read. I truly am interested in the characters, though, and may still give the second volume a try to see if Moore and O'Neill were simply getting established with this volume.
1063489
This story had a very readable quality that made it easy to read quickly. But my fascination ended there. I found nothing extraordinary or special about it. It seemed logical and straight-forward. But the conflict was too easily resolved without anyone being clever enough to outsmart the criminal. There were no clues to contribute to solving the problem and no evidence leading to hunting after the perpetrator. Maybe in an era of an abundance of forensic evidence to solve problems, it seems no one opened that door or even cared to. Why not? The author invested a lot of time in her character's flaws. Couldn't they still be motivated to care? Invest their time in some pursuit? And through that solve the problem. Too many people are selfish, and they turn mean or cruel when they don't get their way. What is unique about that? I did not think it had a surprise ending nor did it have a twist. The only harm done was to the mother of Anna and she did it to herself to escape. Then it was all over. That's not psychological or thrilling.
2831909
This book launches out of the starting gate with a bang: the protagonist wakes in dumpster with amnesia, ESP, and a killer on his tail. What fun! Unfortunately, I found the book much less engaging as it dragged on due to weak writing. The hero and his love interest, the brilliant nerd, the psychopathic businessman, the clich&eacute;d terrorist, the rogue soldier - I struggled to finish it. I founding writing about the love affairs particularly silly. If the author can bring his characterization up to the level of his plotting, he will go far.
1991970
This book has many of the hallmarks of epic fantasy: a mysterious orphan, a teenage monarch, a shifting point-of-view among several main characters, an existential threat from an enemy with utterly unsympathetic motives. But unlike most epic fantasy, which comes in multi-book sequences, Alphabet of Thorn comprises only about 300 brief pages. Perhaps for that reason, it's only moderately successful.

Nepenthe, a teenage transcriptor in the palace library, becomes obsessed with a mysterious book whose letters resemble thorns. Bourne, a mage-in-training, falls in love with Nepenthe and discovers magical powers he didn't know he had. Tessera, the reluctant queen, tries to grow into her power, while Vevay, an elderly mage and counselor, works to hold things together. Meanwhile, in Nepenthe's book, an ancient emperor and his mage/lover conquer kingdoms. It's a bit much for such a short book, especially with chapters alternating among five main characters. It's hard to get attached to so many characters so quickly, and Nepenthe is the only one I particularly liked. Bourne and Vevay seem bland, and the others just okay. The love triangle is uninspired, but I can forgive that as it's not the book's focus.

But I did like this book, albeit in a lukewarm sort of way; I actually enjoyed it more than&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Ombria-in-Shadow/dp/0441010164/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Ombria in Shadow</a>, which I rated 4 stars. Alphabet of Thorn includes much more interesting portrayals of women in power, and the story overall makes more sense (except for Nepenthe's apparently deciphering unknown languages from scratch in a matter of days; there's a reason real-life scholars needed the Rosetta Stone!). McKillip's rather dreamlike writing style suits the story well: we do get little details of the characters' lives, but the world itself is hazily drawn, as there's simply not time for much development in a book of this length. And the ending is rushed; Nepenthe has a frustratingly uncomplicated response to a major revelation and makes a crucial decision far too easily.

In the end, Alphabet of Thorn is a decent fairytale-like story, and if I liked traditional fairytales better, I might have enjoyed it more. But although it doesn't seem to be specifically targeted at younger readers, this one might be better suited for YA's than for adults.
4333719
The intriguing premise of Lara Avery's Anything But Ordinary is what initially drew me to this book- I mean girl-in-coma-wakes-up-years-later with visions sounds pretty captivating- unfortunately, the book's story execution and character development fell very flat.

Seventeen year old Bryce has a terrible accident on the day of her Olympic diving trials and ends up in a coma. Five years later, she miraculously wakes up and seems to recover swiftly. But everything is different- Bryce is now 22, her parents' marriage is breaking, her baby sister is now a rebellious, wayward 17 year old and her BFF and high school boyfriend have moved on. Then Bryce starts to have weird visions, visions of things that happened while she was asleep and visions of things to come. And through it all, Bryce must rediscover who she is and the life she wants to live.

Anything But Ordinary starts with a potentially complex and fascinating premise, but the story never lives up to that potential. This book seems to have an identity crisis of sorts; it can't decide if it's a contemporary or a paranormal or a love story. It has elements of all three, and individually these elements can, at times, be compelling and intriguing, but they don't really mesh well together or cohesively. The story just never finds its balance or flow.

The narration is anything but smooth and has a disjointed, clunky feel to it. At times I found myself fully engrossed in the story, but then the choppy flow would yank me out of the story. The writing itself is not bad, in fact there are quite a few really beautiful and thought-provoking lines, and the actual story being told is worth telling. However, the total story execution and development falls very short.

There are quite a few different arcs focused on in the story (Bryce's new romance, her parents fragile marriage, her sister's rebellion, her BFF and former boyfriend's relationship), yet not a whole lot actually happens from beginning to end. Avery crafts a poignant and insightful look into how Bryce's accident has affected everyone around her, but again the story as a whole lacks cohesiveness. However, I did appreciate the realism and believability found within this exploration. The fragile, distant and almost cold nature of Bryce's parents' marriage in the wake of their daughter's accident and coma feels startling real. And the reckless, desperate nature of Bryce's little sister's rebellion (drinking, smoking, relationships with many guys, etc) is easy to understand and believe.

For the most part, the characters in this book aren't particularly memorable or masterfully developed. I had a hard time connecting with Bryce. I certainly sympathized with her, but found her unrelatable; boring and, at times, unbearably selfish. I neither like or dislike the other important characters (Bryce's parents, her BFF Gabby, old boyfriend Greg and new boyfriend Carter) and never felt genuinely invested in them. But I did really love Sydney, Bryce's little sister. Now Sydney isn't always easy to like or take, she can be relentlessy bratty and makes stupid choices, but she's unabashedly honest and amusingly witty. But more than that, Sydney's pain, fear and desperation is so palpable and real. She's really the one shining gem in this otherwise dull lot of characters.

The ending of this book is annoyingly abrupt and unexpected and had me "WTFing" and scoffing in frustration. Honestly, after everything the author put her characters and me, the reader, through I felt kind of gypped by the ending *stomps foot*

MY FINAL THOUGHTS: I walked away from this book seriously conflicted and disappointed. Anything But Ordinary has a few bright spots (Sydney, a certain level of poignancy, and an arresting idea), but the disjointed flow, dull characters and less than great execution, makes it an overall lackluster read.
3115431
Archeologist Nina Wilde is on a quest, a quest she inherited from her parents, who died on the hunt.  She's searching for the lost continent of Atlantis.  When her own university refuses to fund an expedition to the Gulf of Cdiz, Nina is offered funding from billionaire philanthropist Kristian Frost.  Almost immediately, people start trying to kill her.  In addition to the funds, equipment, and logistic help for the expedition, Frost gives her two more things--two bodyguards, Eddie Chase and Hugo Castille; and his daughter, Kari Frost, to assist along the way.

Soon the foursome is jumping from continent to continent--Norway, Iran, France, and Brazil being just a few stops along the way.  And everywhere they go, they find themselves in mortal danger from a man called Qobras, the leader of a group determined to see that the remains of Atlantis are never discovered.  Why do Qobras and his followers want to suppress the greatest archeological discovery of all time?  And why is Kristian Frost willing to spend millions to find it?

Sounds good, right?  This is an excellent thriller/adventure premise.  Sadly, the execution of this debut novel was terribly flawed.  For starters, the female protagonist, Nina, is bland and uninteresting.  I can't say I really cared about her.  Conversely, the male lead, Eddie Chase, is portrayed as a diamond in the rough.  Unfortunately, there was not enough diamond and too much rough.  Eddie can be vulgar and exhibits an offensively sophomoric sense of humor.  (In general, what passes for humor in this novel fails.)  Ironically, it was the secondary characters of Hugo and Kari that I found to be more interesting, appealing, and dynamic, but alas, they aren't the focus of what will be a continuing series.

Another thing McDermott does right is action.  The book is full of it, and some of the fast-paced action sequences are really enjoyable to read.  But the 500+ page novel is overly long, and the pace and storytelling are uneven.  My biggest problem, however, is something I complain about a lot in these types of novels... just sheer stupidity.  Over and over McDermott puts his characters into or pulls them out of frankly unbelievable situations.  He succumbs many times to the cheat of convenient plotting.  But most unforgivably, much of what he writes is so purely wrong as to be ridiculous.

I completely lost my ability to suspend disbelief when the characters finally got onto/into the water.  Either research isn't Mr. McDermott's strong suit, he thinks his readers are stupid, or he simply doesn't care, but what he wrote displays a complete lack of understanding of the laws of physics, fluid dynamics, and several other sciences.  I can't give examples without spoilers, but the dumbness was fairly egregious.  And the novel's dnouement was the final nail in the coffin.  It was beyond ridiculous.

Debut novels are often tough going, and I do see glimmers of promise here, but not enough to inspire me to read further.
2947481
While there is certainly a lot to like about Amplified, the book fails to offer something new, interesting, or valuable to the genre.

Despite the personal quirks that make Jasmine a successful protagonist, her personal situation is one giant clich. Privileged daughter of a rich but distant, critical, and disapproving father decides to throw her amazing opportunities to the wolves in order to pursue a dream that seems frivolous and impossible. While there is a slight twist in the story involving Jasmine's mother, the overused plot device is not appreciated.

Jasmine's naive character and extreme self-consciousness are outweighed only by her determination to not give in to her father's expectations, essentially equating her with a petulant three year old who refuses to eat her vegetables just because someone told her to.

This affects the rest of the novel greatly, as it is difficult to feel compassion for a protagonist who is stubborn simply for the sake of being stubborn. In other words, rather than feeling she is justified for her actions, the reader is forced to view Jasmine's actions as reactions to what is expected of her by others around her.

The plot of Amplified revolves on Jasmine's ability to assimilate into the life she thought she wanted. There is a great pace to this story, with plenty of tension created between Jasmine and the other characters. On the surface, Amplified is a very successful YA contemporary novel: it is entertaining, contains a clear-cut message, and provides memorable characters.

However, where Amplified fails is in its ability to merge all of these elements together in a way that is not plagued by clich and predictability. Because the premise for the entire novel is a clich, the book seems to be doomed from the start.

Despite these rather large pitfalls, the book is carefully written, which prevents it from receiving a far lower rating than it does here.

A note on the setting of the novel: Amplified portrays Santa Cruz in a very balanced, but almost caricatured version of itself.

I grew up just a half hour from Santa Cruz and spent a large portion of my time there. I have ridden the unnamed rollercoaster at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk that frightens Jasmine to death in the beginning of the novel, the Giant Dipper, and let me tell you: that rollercoaster is just not scary. Even for a ten year old.

Yes, there are a lot of weirdos in Santa Cruz. A lot of eccentric, tattooed musician-types, surfer hippie dudes, and everything in between. But not everyone there is like that, which is what Amplified seems to portray in descriptions of the locals.

For those looking for a very entertaining and quick surface-read, Amplified is a great choice. But for readers who need less clich and more meaning, their time will be better spent with another book.
1964024
Diana Gabaldon said, "Midnight Riot is what would happen if Harry Potter grew up and joined the Fuzz." I think that's sort of a red herring. I get it, Harry Potter is wildly successful and the quote targets a massive audience that will enjoy Ben Aaronovitch's novel. However, if I was asked to write a more accurate blurb, it might read, "Midnight Riot is what would happen if Shadow from American Gods was an apprentice wizard with a wry sense of humor who wandered around London waxing poetic about it and solving crimes under supernatural circumstances." Ok, so that probably wouldn't sell as many books, but it's a lot more descriptive.

Peter Grant is a rookie copper working the streets of London. As he nears the end of his probationary period and decisions are being made about his long term position in the force, a ghost gives him a lead in a case of mysterious murder. Next thing Peter knows he's in up to his ears in the arcane, assigned to the department's in-house wizard Thomas Nightingale.

Most of Midnight Riot is spent with Peter wandering around London trying to solve a murder and/or settling a long standing dispute between the river gods. When Peter isn't doing either of those things, he's learning magic or trying to get laid both of which are endlessly entertaining.  And that's sort of the heart of what Aaronovitch's debut novel is all about - entertainment.  It has wit, action, and charm in spades.  Unfortunately the one thing it really lacked was a compelling plot which ultimately left me feeling a bit flat.

Don't me wrong, the novel itself is rather compelling and exceptionally readable.  Aaronovitch takes his readers on a guided tour of the city and her rivers, building into it an occasional history lesson and cultural what's what of modern London.  All that's very fun and more than a little cool, but much of it ended up feeling like a smoke screen covering the aforementioned average story.

I won't to get into details on why the plot underwhelmed me.  There are twists and turns I don't want to spoil.  Suffice to say, the story itself would fit nicely into a TV procedural without too much grief.  And I don't mean a season finale level episode either, more like the last episode before sweeps start.  The secondary plot, negotiating peace between the river gods while more interesting lacked any sense of impending disaster if Peter failed in his mission.  In other words, I just didn't care that much.

Now that I've panned the novel as 'uninteresting', I'm going to backtrack a bit because all the other things I mentioned like characters, setting, ambiance, and wit make Midnight Riot a pleasurable reading experience.  Because of the importance and emphasis Aaronovitch places on the city of London I have to think that Londoners will get more from the novel just as readers from Tempe, Arizona get a little something extra from Kevin Hearne's Hounded.  Still, there's a lot here to enjoy laying the base for, what I imagine will mirror Jim Butcher's Dresden Files, steady improvement with each installment.

I admit I'm not exactly Midnight Riot's target audience.  I'm not a huge urban fantasy fan, nor am I particularly ensnared by the police procedural.  Nevertheless I'm glad I was exposed to Peter Grant, Aaronovitch's London, and his excellent first person voice, all of which caught my interest and held it for 300+ pages. I absolutely recommend it to fans of the subgenre, and fans of fantasy in general with the caveat that the plot won't leave you out of breath.
1358880
Let me start by admitting I only made it about 215 pages through this 416-page novel before I gave up. I may eventually go back to it if only because I paid for the novel. I'd rate this 2 and a half stars. I didn't dislike it; it was more that my interest waned as Nekropolis (the city) overshadowed the main character.

The concept for Nekropolis is original and inventive, but the execution felt crammed with too many creatures and world-building details that overwhelmed the main plot: Zombie detective helps half-breed vamp-human offspring of Dark Lord locate missing object.

Matt Richter is a likeable character, less downtrodden than your typical noir-PI, but somewhat less "fleshed-out" so to speak, because of his lack of emotions, explained in the novel by virtue of the fact that zombies lose their human sensations and emotions after death. This makes him difficult to relate to. Matt's description of events often reads very dry because he is emotionally indifferent to events occurring to and around him.

Devona, the half-breed vampire who engages his services to locate a missing magical object from her father's collection, is annoying. And somewhat unbelievable. She is the bastard daughter of a powerful Dark Lord born and raised in a Halloween-Horrortown where all manner of evil creatures live and dwell, and her reactions are often reminiscent of a spoiled teenager. Naivite in a world where creatures openly commit heinous acts of violence on a daily basis just doesn't seem realistic.

Meanwhile, at any given moment during the investigation, Matt and Devona are randomly attacked by various bizarre creatures that serve no apparent purpose other than describing the electic pantheon of scary creatures who live in Nekropolis. One or two of these would have been enough, but the overload was enough to make me lose track of the original purpose to their investigation. I had to keep reminding myself what they were supposed to be doing as they escaped each new confrontation.

Often, the dialogue was cliche, particularly for villains who attacked them. (There are so many, I cannot recall names.) Overall, I think this novel could have benefitted by "trimming the fat" and paring down the story to its bare bones. This would have placed more emphasis on the characters than the world they are inhabiting.

I had high hopes for this story, but sadly, it was too dry to hold my interest. I prefer sharply-written urban fantasy with crisp dialogue and well-developed characters. Sadly, Nekropolis didn't qualify. I may return to this author after subsequent novels to see if the writing improves. I still love the idea of this story, but the writing just isn't there yet.
2639415
This fantasy novel is the first in the Crystal Kingdom series and deals with our hero, Lou, a farm hand, who loses his source of income and becomes a skuller, a local mercenary guard, to earn enough to get his family through the winter. This takes place in a cursed land where animals become aggressive killers at night.

Magic enters into the story in the form of a fire mage and an ice mage.

Despite a fair amount of repetition, the book is quite engaging but lacking in originality. It certainly has not convinced me that the rest of the series is of interest.
3483704
As much as this book is ingenious, clever, unique, poetic, and philosophical, I regret to say that it's tedious.  There is simply no momentum, after the first 25 pages.  The relationships have no plausibility.  There is not enough plot, not enough real life.  The main character does not "read" believably as a middle aged man.  His mental life does not hang together as a genuine possibility.  Events don't seem real. While reading I keep feeling like I was counting grains of sand, or sifting through cookie crumbs, or maybe sinking in quick sand.  Although the amusing, clever gems kept coming, the novel didn't create a palpable world I could enter into.
3240803
I was a little disappointed with this book considering the high average rating on Amazon. I found it at times engaging, tedious, intriguing, corny, exciting, preachy ... inconsistent. The main plot was a lot of fun, with complex yet understandable concepts, action, twists and turns. But it tries to incorporate a Dan Brown type subplot that gets bogged down in minutiae - I had to skim through these portions of the book. The key relationship in the story was pretty engaging but slow to develop and mired in pro Christian themes. So I liked a lot of this book but had to persevere through it as well.
3473849
Sadly I only got through the first 150-200 pages before I lost interest in this book. The focus on grand events and powerful magic left the characters lacking in depth. Several scenes were not played out to their potential, clearly functioning as plot points taking the reader to the next scene, leaving the setting cardboardlike and the people uninteresting. Examples are the surprise meeting with the empress in her throne room and the scene in the death realm. Furthermore, all of the main characters seem to have the same mindset and voice, which gets boring fast.

I can see the fun in throwing the reader smack into the action without explaining too much of what's going on at first, but this strategy will only work if the reader can latch on to compelling characters with their own unique voice.
4199461
The plot summary of Above World intrigued me. And the plot itself is intriguing. Far into the future, after overpopulation crowds humans out of their usual dwelling places, they transform themselves into beings based on mythical creatures (mermaids, harpies, centaurs, and so on) capable of living in other ecosystems - the ocean, high altitudes, the deserts, etc.

First of all, I love the concept. The world-building was rather good, with noticeable distinctions in culture between the Kampii (mermaids), Aviar (harpies), and all the rest. There was no shortage of action. The fight scenes were rather exciting, and detailed (the author studies martial arts, so.... There you go).

There's an interesting blend of fantasy and science fiction here...

...which is what made it so disappointing when I could not bring myself to fully love this book.

I never really was engrossed in it, perhaps because that action-packed, exciting pace is so fast. Things move so quickly that certain areas weren't developed as much as I would have liked.

Right from the beginning, things got a little Tell-y. The information was usually interesting. The placement just didn't feel natural. Characters talked too long about things that should've been common knowledge to them. While reading, I thought more than once, "This book is mainly about showcasing the world and/or technology."

Character motivations were sketchy in places. They flip-flopped - made rather dumb decisions on one page, then berated themselves for it (literally) two pages later. While some of the characters were interesting at first, I couldn't truly like them because of their nonsensical actions, or actions that were out of character.

Out of character. That's another thing I wasn't thrilled with. I ask you, how can two Kampii children (who to our knowledge have never left the water before) pull themselves onto land for the first time and immediately recognize the smell of smoke? The word `smoke' shouldn't have even been in their vocabulary. Little things like this were scattered throughout the book, just noticeable enough to distract me and make me question the narration.

For instance [Minor Vague Spoilers in this paragraph, but not too big because it all happens within the space of a few pages anyway] in a colony of all females, where reproduction takes place in a nutrient bed  (In other words, no males required) and a couple-in-love from another colony is something to gossip over... In about two pages a girl from this colony begins a relationship with our male main character. This colony began as enemies, not entirely trusting, holding our MCs captive, as prisoners - and then again, two pages later, they're all grand friends. *sigh*

Maybe a younger reader would be more entranced by Above World, but the logical inconsistencies and the info-dumps within the narrative made it hard for me to really get into this book.
1456675
This Young Adult debut novel  opens in 1939 Poland with all of the elements to be a truly great read, but unfortunately misses the mark. Seven-year-old Anna is a precocious child, the daughter of a linguistics professor and already fluent in multiple languages herself. Her father is taken by the Nazis and Anna finds herself choosing to be under the care of a tall, mysterious stranger she dubs the titular Swallow Man. He teaches Anna a new language, that of the Road and survival. The writing is compelling and the characters are engaging and the Swallow Man in particular is intriguing but by the book's end, there are no real answers and it just isn't satisfying. It does provide a interesting perspective of WWII, tinged with a sort of magic, but not even the scenes of beauty is enough to compensate for the overly open ending. The book may provide a good starting point for discussion, but there is not a very clear audience for the story, which may make finding the right group for a good discussion on the book difficult.