Bizarre, review spoilers in case you haven't read
919877
This book is bizarre.  The characters never explain why they do and did not do certain things with any real truthfulness.  Why didn't Cameron ever contact Maggie again?  Why didn't she contact him?  Why was Emily suddenly the most dishonest person on the planet?  Why are wealthy people portrayed as evil while they all depend on them to patronize their arts and crafts world and businesses?  The whole storyline is lies from a group of people.  It made no sense and conveniently, the one person who has been used and deceived the most by both of these women dies.  Not to mention, why did Emily feel she had to marry someone?  Would the Emily we had been reading about do this?  She rejected her parents and yet she dove into their world.  Maggie never seemed to have a real job despite going to college and graduating.  Her situation could have been remedied if she had simply majored in something that would lead to gainful employment and then she could still pursue her dream of writing a book on the side.
2895651
This book was weird, and strange, and mysterious.
No I didn't listen to the podcasts- I didn't even know they existed before I read the book, and I don't have interest in them now. This book wasn't one of my normal reads. And I probably wouldn't read it again.
It was just strange, and weird. It brought up many questions into the mystery of Night Vale and King City, some answered, some not.
Jackie has been 19 for as long as she can remember. She has worked in a pawn shop also for as long as she can remember. Until a mysterious man in a tan jacket and deer skinned suitcase comes in and drops off a paper that says King City. Jackie can't let it go, and her life changes for the first time in years.
Diane's life is work and her son Josh. Until Evan from her work goes missing. No one else seems to remember him. She becomes solely focused on finding out about Evan.
Diane's son Josh wants to learn more about his absent father, even despite his mother not wanting him to know.
Diane's ex husband Troy keeps popping up around town. The diner, as a police officer, at the movie theater. He is everywhere.
If you want to know more about Jackie, Diane, Josh, Troy, the man in the tan jacket and even want to know about the mysterious librarian creatures, and about invisible pie- then pick up this book. You can learn about Night Vale, without having to first listen to the podcasts. It wasn't one of my favorite reads, but it wasn't all bad.
4953051
I've tried to read (and enjoy) this award winner twice now. I've plowed through the first 10% and it has to be one of the most ridiculously confusing books I've ever read. I even read a couple of on-line synopses to see if  that would clarify things. How did this thing win awards?
4868834
I found this book to be quite strange. Both in the literal and figuritive sense. There were definitely some major plot wholes to this book, and some parts were just down right ridiculous. And while I felt this way throughout the book, I also found that I could not put it down. So while I didn't really like the book, I also just HAD to finish it and see how it ended. All in all, I think I'm having very mixed feelings toward Bird Box.
522587
(Possible spoiler alerts)

 Its as if the new age/metaphysical realm somehow felt stagnant and dormant for a while. So, why not add the Archangels into the mix as fresh blood? Its worked like a charm in this realm, hasn't it? Dont get me wrong; I do believe that because the Archangels are the messengers/intercessors between God and humankind, one does not necessarily have to be Christian to want to study them and/or interact with them. Sadly though, within this new age/metaphysical realm, there aren't nearly as many regulations that would discourage some swindling activity just to make a profit without any care to the importance many place on spirituality in general.

  As it is, Archangels have been a topic of study with me off and on for about ten years. Theres at least one of the research books on Angels this author uses in their biography that I also have a copy of and I question just how much of that book they bothered using. One example is their perspective of Lucifer. The way Lucifer is described by the author left me questioning whether or not they bothered to look up Lucifer or other Angels such as Sam(m)ael or even Satan.

 I also questionno I take that back, I disagree with their perception of Uriel. (This is a slight spoiler alert that goes back to the authors first book thats a running theme in all three books). It doesnt make any sense to me on how any Angel can have a disdain for humanity that cant wait for the end times where were all dragged by him (and another Angel) to be judged and (possibly) punished by God yet be the patron Archangel of social injustice. Does that make any sense to you or does it sound, at best, contradicting? I think the latter. (Another spoiler alert): The author also claims Uriel as owning a couple of Chinese dragons on page 146 of her first book, yet claims the Angel Cassiel as having dragons as one of his icons whereas Uriel does not. So which is it? Well, upon my further studies, nowhere else did I find Uriel owning or interacting with any dragons, only Cassiel.

 These are just a couple of examples of how riddled the authors books are regarding various contradictions, hypocrisies and potentially, straight up lies. Personally, I think it is very dangerous to misguide anybody concerning spirituality in general in how much extra, un-needed turmoil it can cause in any individuals life. It never ceases to amaze me how many of those out there can be this venomous just to make that extra dollar. This author is of no exception to that rule.
369589
Book 3 of the "Left Behind Series."

Am I plagiarizing Charles Dickens? Or are LaHaye and Jenkins plagiarizing Charles Dickens? I mean "Chapter 1" starts with:  "It was the worst of times. It was the worst of times." Or are they cozying up to Gertrude Stein? You know: "A rose is a rose is a rose...?"

Far from answering multitude of serious religious questions, the book(s) so far managed to raise a multitude of less important but much more humorous ones:

1. Why would the Antichrist destroy "military ships en route to Baghdad?" Baghdad is nowhere near any sea shore? It's a completely land-locked city.

2. If you are a born-again Christian who just recently accepted Jesus, why would you be so mean as to coerce a lesbian character by threatening to report her gender preference to Antichrist? I mean he's the Antichrist, for God's sake! He KNOWS she is gay! I mean doesn't he?...  And if he doesn't, maybe he's NOT the Antichrist?... Or maybe you are not a such a nice Christian... I mean, like, you know... How would you feel if someone snitched on your religious preference to the Antichrist himself?... Just a thought...

3. Wassup with 'em Muslims? You mean they just let the United Nations bulldoze the Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa Mosque just so that Jews can build their holy temple on the Temple Mound? No suicide bombers? No planes flown into the New United Nations building? Where did you find these Muslims? 'Cuz you know, like, I wanna meet them too...
415152
Soooo. here goes:
Kricket: I love Kricket, she's a genuine girl who gets thrown into a world that she knows nothing about and has all of these expectations of her and she's just lost. She's young and in way, immature. She is loyal however and always wants to do the right thing. So, in this final book, I feel like she stayed true to herself and I am happy with all of her decisions.

The rest of the story:
I'm very disappointed. I'm not upset about the ending per say, it's what was sold to me and what didn't happen. Does that make sense? I'm sold a love story, a true romance with some paranormal tendencies and that's not what I end up with. Others might disagree but through the first and definitely the second, it's all Trey and Kricket. Heck, in her promos, Amy kept saying they would make their way back to each other. If I had known that it wasn't your typical romance, then I'd be just fine but I didn't and it's not fine! She makes you like Kyon which is okay but really, he wasn't even a player in the love game and now he is? There's just a disconnect for me with books 1-2 and then 3. What's up with Astrid and that whole thing? We never really meet her and they never discuss anything. I don't know, it was just okay for me
2675967
out of all the current reviews, i think mine is a mix of all of them.. im not going to go into a long detailed description or anything but this is definitely a crazy-weird book
if u have the time (its really long!!) Read it BUT im warning you though..its hard to put down! the characters are quite messed up and theres a lot of things that are really depressing and scary.. i think she's a good writer, its a good book, though not amazing, and theres so many characters and time switches that it confuses you at first.. and i really hated the way it ended it didn't leave me with a sense of satisfaction or happiness but then, its not supposed to be one of those feel-good books! im just rambling here but basically, read it if u have the patience, but be prepared for strange *horrible* things [that really make you hate some characters!!!] to happen ...
2087192
i've not *yet* read the book so am giving it a neutral 3 stars. i'm writing this only to share the observation that among the numerous (at least 20!) 1 star reviews, ONLY TWO are verifiable purchases. how utterly UNenlightening. wt*?, people?
1411097
I was drawn to this book by the amount of positive reviews it received, and read the first two-thirds of the book in two days as it was very compelling.  However, the ending is beyond creepy, but very sick and absurd (and extremely disappointing), that I can't rate this book anything but 1 star (and I would rate it less than if I could).  It's a little disgusting that people can actually think up of stuff like that ending, and I'm angry with myself that I actually paid for this book.  Hopefully this review will spare someone else his/her time and money.
434365
For those who are confused about how to give a book review versus a spoiler, shouldn't write anything. It is very nagging when you look through the reviews prior to reading a book and find people writing "Spoiler Alerts" versus an actual review of the book. There is a difference!
984167
I want to warn anybody who is seriously looking for a review to set the thing to 'oldest first'. the first 60-70 reviews are NOT actual reviews, but just a bunch of gibberish put there by a load of people that only came here to bash the book, while knowing nothing about it. They were refered here by a guy named Maddox, on his site MADDOX.XMISSION.COM Go check it out, but don't take any new reviews seriously.
4016171
What. The. Heck....

**There may be Spoilers, I'm not sure**

My first intake on this book,
It felt like I was reading or listening to the inner dialogue of a psychotic.

There is ALOT going on in this short story.
The chapters were divided like 1a and 1b, etc..
I read / listened to this book in a nice quiet setting, however, I still don't really know what it was about?
It sounds weird but its true.
A psychiatrist was mentioned, a cop was mentioned, and even a girlfriend who wanted to take the relationship to the next level was mentioned but it was all kinda.. chaotic.

I don't even know the character's names. I thought that I had just missed it but when reading the
brief yet vague synopsis, the author states that he left the names out on purpose...
um, ok.
There really wasn't any character distinction,  it was "he" or "she" alternating between
past and present tense so fast that it almost gave me Whiplash.

The story picks up, "slightly", towards the end and the Fast Food Worker's dialogue or rather "mental" musings were a bit funny:
"Welcome to Quick Burgers, How can We Help.. You!?"

Multiple murders? Multiple Killers?

I'm not sure why the author wanted his book to be so confusing and vague.
I'm sure he had a point but it went over my head.
The Author's writing style just isn't my reading style.

* I Read for Relaxation and this book had the opposite effect and almost gave me a brain freeze.

- Julie Hoverson did an Excellent Job on the narration considering what she was working with, and frankly, I don't even know "how" she was able to read it?
If it weren't for her reading / narrating skills, I would not have known when a different "character" was speaking.

Note:
"This audiobook was provided by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased Review ( posted on Audible, Amazon, and Good Reads ) courtesy of Audiobook Blast."
740598
This was probably the most messed up, weird, strange book I've ever read.  I swear I spent most of the book shaking my head and picking my jaw off of the floor.

First of all, way too much going on.  Nothing was ever dealt with before something else was thrown at you.  This guy was seriously abused and a heavy drug addict, yet 30 days in treatment and he's ready to take on the world.  (Never, ever happens in 30 days and by glossing over the pain and suffering abuse victims from all walks of life are done a disservice.)

Secondly: Ryan's messed up.  But guess what?  He doesn't come off as broken or damaged, he kind of comes off as a douche bag.  Yes, I went there.  If that had been addressed, I probably could have dealt with it, but I get the feeling he wasn't supposed to come off that way.  He was supposed to be this modest, perfect, man, but, yeah, he was a DB in designer clothes.

Thirdly: Iris...holy cow, where to start with her.  She's insecure.  Got it.  But seriously, the author made it seem like she was lucky to have Ryan when she was so damn fat.  Hello, 30 lbs overweight is not enormous.  Welcome to the year 2014 where a lot of women are 30 lbs overweight and <gasp> still lead productive lives and get interest from good looking guys.  I swear I almost threw my Kindle across the room into the wall when she woke up from a coma (after being injected with enough drugs to kill her and cause said coma for 2 months) and she was happy that she lost weight.  Then she confronts the crazy-pedophile-would-be-killer and discovers she's all better now, because crazy lady was missing teeth and everyone knows that only a redneck low-life would lose their teeth, so she could probably kick her butt now that she knows this.  Are you freaking kidding me?

I admit, I read through to the end hoping Iris would put on her big girl panties and kick this DB to the curb.  But, obviously, her big girl panties didn't fit anymore (hurray for comas! <eyeroll>) and she and everyone else still thinks this guy is a great catch.

I won't be reading any further in this trilogy. I don't mind some over-the-top happenings in my stories, but when every single incident is over-the-top it becomes a ridiculous parody of a contemporary romance.

QR
4722684
Ridiculous story line. And that ending,really?
352526
Am I the only reader who thinks Koontz just threw together the first half of Odd Thomas and the second half of The Taking? The last few chapters were all over the place, and the ending seemed silly.
My Synopsis:So, there's this guy who is perfect and can only go out at night (Odd Thomas) who sees Clears and Fogs (Again, Odd Thomas), and he gets together with this girl who is also perfect but can somehow disguise herself with goth makeup even though he himself can't even be seen in a ski mask and gloves.  And there's this bad guy who steals art and wants to rape the perfect girl, and who is somehow connected with the Archbishop. There are these mannequins that are central to the story for some unknown reason, and the artist who created them killed his family. There is also guy who has known both the main characters all along but never thought to bring them together.  And then, all the Clears come out (Odd Thomas) and everyone in the world dies of evil (The Taking) and a couple, some kids, and a bunch of dogs are saved.  (again, The Taking). Oh, and a girl comes out of a coma just in time to be saved...
1198950
Tuesday, February 20, 2018
6:22 PM

I really wanted to give this a better rating because there are moments in the story that I started to get into it...where I really started to enjoy it. The problem I am having is that there were a lot of moments where I was left very confused. I think its a timeline issue; there weren't any clues to let me know if I was back in the main character Rhonda's memories, or if I was hearing about a moment in her current situation.  I truly wish the author would remake this book with the past in italics. For much of the story I was floundering to catch up.  I admit, this may be on me- I've never read 'stream of consciousness' before.

Another issue I had was the editing.  It felt like this was a second draft, with ideas that should have been removed or reworded...along with the other editing error, like run amok splicing commas.  The story was fully outlined and fleshed out, but there were still parts that didn't fit or make sense. Take this sentence: "Holding him by the arms in an iron grip, he shook him violently as he walked over, closing in on him."  I'm having a very hard time understanding how you can walk over to somebody when you are already holding them in an iron grip.  From that same chapter this character lunged a  kitchen knife into the other character's shoulder and the victim dies from the punctured organs.  A shoulder wound that somehow this punctured the person's organs... fatally? (If I say any more or use the character's names, I fear I'll give too much away).  So many bits just didn't line up as I tried to imagine them, making reading this story a struggle.

Another editing issue that didn't make sense to me was the relationships that begin the story.  The first one that really bothered me was her opening reason for choosing Sam, her husband who she never felt any passion for, over Chris her amazing lover.  The reasoning was that Sam was stable and would provide a secure life whereas Chris was bohemian and would not.  But then you read on and find that Chris was a doctor, even while they dated.  And Sam was fired from a low level job and had never worked again, relying on Rhonda to provide for them.  Which, according to the book, she does not mind at all since she makes a sufficient income as a flower attendant.??!!  That was only the beginning of the logic that the book presented to me.

Finally, the reader is introduced to an autistic child.  The author labeled the child as such by his inability to hold eye contact, but the child had no qualms whatsoever with being held and smothered in hugs by a stranger.  Odd, because autistic children resist hugging and other types of physical contact.

But I digress.

Listed above are issues I had a very hard time getting around which made this a long, slow read for me.  But there were good parts too.  The mood of the story stayed consistent, the voice never changed - although it also never sounded like it belonged to any one character, either-  and since the book was written in what sounded to me like a British-based vernacular, there were new concepts introduced to me.  Would you believe that living landlocked in America, I had never heard of the term "offing"?  Well, now I have.  And, there were some really great lines in this book: "In wakefulness she slept. In sleep, she woke up." That's deep. Another line I love (referring to a tree) "It didn't stoop because it didn't know how to." And then there was: "He wooed her tenderly without a touch."  Yum, right?

It was for the lines that seemed totally quote-worthy that I really had wished I could rate this book higher.