Very disappointing...
924859
The description said....
" Art Defined: The quality, production, expression, or realm, according to aesthetic principles, of what is beautiful, appealing, or of more than ordinary significance. "
"....mesmerizingly beautiful to look at"

I can't believe the things they are claiming in the description or how untrue some of the photos were. And the description that describes exactly nothing... The truth?
A bunch of very common quotes I've seen all over other home decor that was not antiqued. Printed on particle board and not nearly as eye bright as shown. A heavy hunk of boring. So dull that the parts that are supposed to look cut and placed in...just looked like the rest of "pieces".

I bought these as Christmas gifts and did not have time to replace or return. They went from something I was happy about to something I literally told my family "this is really no big deal".

Oh yes and absolutely FAR, far over priced.
3887015
This review might contain spoiler(s)...I'm desperately hoping that Mr. Connelly doesn't fall into the trap that other authors such as Stuart Woods has...that of writing for the buck versus the joy of writing.  The Brass Verdict was disappointing, to say the least.  I never thought I'd be bored with a Michael Connelly novel.
The parts of the book where Haller interacts or thinks about his client seemed cloned from one of Connelly's previous books.
In the past, Connelly's novels were so tightly written that nothing, absolutely nothing was wasted.  Not so with the Brass Verdict.
Who didn't see it coming with Judge Holder?
872471
I'm disappointed to say that I was just not impressed with this book.

The idea of a story being set in/tied-to Neverland, a place where the young do not age. Mythical creatures abound...it kind of gives you the idea that you'll be reading something fun and exciting. The fact that it was not fun, nor exciting, just made the story fall flat.

Honestly, how many stories having to do with Neverland are out there? That being said, I expected to read something a bit more fresh or new when I jumped into this one. Sadly, not even the fact that Peter Pan was an included character could help this. He really only existed because the story needed someone to blame when a child went missing, like MC Gwen's little sister, and thus having to reveal that, 'oh yeah, so magic is real, and Peter Pan's the one who took your sister'...

We're then told that modern-day inventions happen to be powered by magic, and did you really believe that scientists or inventors would have actually been able to further the economic age without it? Your cell phone? Yeah, another thing powered by magic. Satellites? Seriously???

Right...

Anways, so Gwen's sister is "taken", which soon after leads to her ending up in Neverland as well. But, seriously, Gwen as an MC is such a buzzkill!!! She's constantly worrying about everything, including what the Lost Children (wouldn't be Neverland without them, right?) say or do, thinking that she, as the oldest, has to be some sort of mother-figure or something. But she doesn't seem to realize that she's in fricking NEVERLAND, so who in heck knows how old these kids have been there, surviving without her annoying self?? Gwen, and her annoying "Please be PC" self just wore on me without any real progression to her character.

...or even progression with the story-line, for that matter. It's like, 'oh, what should we do today?' 'I don't know, let's go and wander around, pretending that we're doing something in order to keep this story going!!' (Insert manic laughter here...) This was just plain boring, seriously.

One more thing I have to mention about Gwen, is that she was brought in because her sister told the others she was an amazing storyteller, so I'm assuming that when we hear one of her stories, they'll at least be interesting, right?

Wrong.

Sure, it can't be easy to come up with a clever story within a story, one that will intrigue the audience, while supposedly amazing the children, but if you're going to use that as a selling point, then you should probably come up with something good to tell...just saying. But at this point, I've already pretty much passed judgement on this book, so what does it matter anymore?

This copy was received from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest Review. Huge thanks to both.
3665517
Hmm this has to be the most disappointing book in the series. In fact it is the singularly most disappointing book I have managed to buy...ever! I must admit that the writing was on the wall so to speak in the previous book. Unfortunately turns out I am a slow learner and went with Undead and Undetermined. Should have known better.
It seems that the plot line for Queen Betsy has reached terminal & she should be put to bed before she does herself any more harm. Maybe a good sun bed on a hot day.
In short the book tries too hard with its time travel plot lines that have been dealt with far better by other authors. In fact I wonder if the sole reason the book was written was because of a contractual obligation because it sure lacks the earlier free flowing story lines.
Hmm poorly written, badly developed and not looking good for future publications.
Save your money on this one and borrow the next one from a library just in case.
2477804
I have been a fan of BBC's "What Not to Wear" and I thoroughly enjoyed the first book, but What Not to Wear for Every Occasion was a grave disappointment.  Not only did I not agree with most of the looks created, I felt that often the "don't" examples would work far better than the "do's".

I did not heed some of the negative reviews I read before purchasing this book and that has proven to be a mistake.  Don't be fooled-this is not the customary Susannah and Trinny fare and that is disappointing.
610504
Ever since I discovered Ms. Moning's early books at a library sale, I have really looked forward to each of the further adventures of the time travelling mystical hunky Highlanders and their bright, brave, modern soul mates. From the cover illustration (which for the first time featured faces) to the contemporary prose (full of allusions to 2004 pop culture) to the unsympathetic lovers, this latest book was a HUGE DISAPPOINTMENT.

This book was so inferior to the others, that I thought perhaps she had a new publisher or something, but it appears to be the same publishing house.  You'd think the publishers could have at least got it right wrt hair length and color of hair if they're going to put faces on a book cover.  Perhaps the distracting allusions to Godsmack, Buffy and the Vampire Slayer, and even her other romance novels were meant to provide humor that was otherwise lacking in the characters themselves.  But those will date this book in a flash, making it awkward rather than a pleasure to reread.  Finally, the lovers were pretty immoral and one-dimensional.  For one thing, whatshername was perfectly content to let Cian rip off hotels, airlines, and small businesses.  For another, you'd think a guy who had been imprisoned for over a thousand years and who thought he had lost his entire family might express at least a little interest in finding out what had really happened to his mum and the ensuing generations of his clan once he had got his jollies off.  And even descriptions of aforementioned jollies used words that were much cruder and far less erotic than Moning's previous couplings.  I still want to think I'm reading romance, not porn.

Like a previous reviewer, I'm hoping that it was Ms. Moning's publisher who wanted quantity rather than quality, who is to blame for this debacle.  I am still looking forward to her next book; perhaps she'll incorporate some of her newly married experiences in it.  But I am rather glad that the next publication is a less expensive paperback.
635480
Quick Note: This book is the sequel to Marsha Canham's "Through a Dark Mist."

Canham has written some of my favorite books, including "Blood of Roses" and "The Pride of Lions."  I also liked "Through a Dark Mist", so I had high hopes for it's sequel.  I'm very disappointed.  In "Through a Dark Mist", the hero character has a teenaged son named Eduard who was born out of wedlock.  He was an excellent part of the story, so I was excited to see that he had his own story in "In the Shadow of Midnight."  Unfortunately, it didn't hold up to my expectations.

I'll avoid repeating the plot as it is already spelled out in other reviews.  Here is my personal review:

First, I was immediately turned off by the heroine character, Ariel.  She constantly belittles Eduard by calling him "[...]".  She actually uses the word in place of his name throughout the book. She is snobby and just plain mean, telling him he should show respect "for his betters."  She truly believes he is beneath her.  Eduard is a man with a highly respected reputation as a knight, known for is unwavering honor.  I could not see how a man like him (or any person for that matter) could possibly fall in love with Ariel.  Again and again, he risks his life for hers.  Still she hasn't a single kind word for him.  He is known to be one of the fiercest and bravest knights of his time, still he is dirt to her.  Total turn off for me.  I can't get into a story where either of the main characters treats the other so badly.  There is nothing "romantic" about it.

Second, the story had way too much excess info.  I was constantly skimming through the pages, hoping to get back to the relationship between the main couple.  Then, I realized that there really was no relationship between them.  Just a few love scenes that dropped out of nowhere every few chapters.

About 3/4 of the way through the book, I gave up.  I put the book aside and looked through my library. (Yes, I have that many romance novels.)  I ended up rereading Julie Garwood's "Honor's Splendor."  I knew I'd find real romance in it's pages.  I was not feeling any sort of loss over not reading the rest of "In the Shadow of Midnight."
2322793
There was nothing I liked about this book....
707656
Let me start by saying that I am a huge fan of Y/A books, and sci-fi...and romance....but this book is just so terrible! As all the other reviews have stated...way too much drug use and sexual stuff going on here for young adults....the humor is idiotic....not like childish, but more like a sad joke you can't laugh about....the characters are lame, and their names are ridiculous. Dice is not a heroine I can relate to at all...I have read exactly 118 pages, and I know it's cheesy to give a review without having completed the story, but after reading the reviews I will not finish this book....and I make a point to see the story through, I like to see if it redeem's its self, but in this case, I'm done. I'm just bummed that I wasted the 19 bux instead of getting it from the library...seriously do NOT waste your time on this one!
2493316
After hearing mention of it (positively) in reviews for other books I've enjoyed and reading many of the (again, nearly all positive) reviews out for this book in particular, I was expecting a great piece of storytelling packaged with impressive "groundbreaking" art.  I was incredibly disappointed.

Basic story as follows- City of Barrow, Alaska spends 30 days (according to the story) in near complete darkness as the sun passes over the Southern horizon.  A group of vampires finally puts together the fact that 1) "30 days of night" means no interruption to their normal shenanigans will be caused by a sunrise, and 2) A small, isolated community in said darkness means little reason to hide said shenanigans.
Chaos and Terror ensue as the story unfolds concentrating on the struggles of the town sheriff and his wife's (also with the sheriff's dept.) attempt to guide the survivors through to the end of the extended night.

While the art was very impressive and done in a style that felt comfortable for the subject matter, there were many frames that got excessively sloppy and that, combined with the *lack* of writing, made it difficult to figure out exactly what was happening at some points. (Difficult beyond the "Hey that's cool, it's chaotic, the art reflects it, etc." way).  Impressive and cool looking?  Yes.  A little over the top in an attempt to be impressive and cool looking?  Yes.

The writing.... is awful.  Many times throughout the read, I was actually double checking to make sure that my book wasn't missing pages or I had skipped over some.  It wasn't, and I hadn't.
Zero character development, very little to any follow through on many events that happen, and to be honest, beyond the very general idea, a very boring and stereotypical horror story.  I did make the mistake of ordering the following books in hte series at the same time, before reading this one.  So maybe in those books we will actually find out who these characters who appear for 3-5 frames, yet are treated as key characters, really are.  Or, "What ever happened to that video-feed that seemed to be such a huge big deal?"  Or why I, as a reader, should really care either way about ANY of these characters I know nothing about?  ...but I'm not holding my breath.

As I said in the title, apparently I just don't get it.  Clive Barker (writes the forward if I remember correctly) seems to think this is interesting and original work.  The vast majority of reviewers on this page seem to agree.  Nearly every professional review I read seems to talk about how amazing this book is.  I disagree.

Save yourself the money- buy a good horror novel/graphic novel with developed writing (I definitely recommend Robert Kirkman's "Walking Dead" series), and just look at some pretty artwork by itself.
1546434
Let me start off by saying I had high standards for this book: I have a degree in literature and Bioshock is my favorite video game series. Sadly, I was very disappointed by this book. The character descriptions were far more "tell" than "show," a problem which got worse when the author started making such liberal narrative use of the audio diaries (especially the ones he made up, i.e. that weren't quoted from the game). (I mean, seriously? You have both Lamb and Steinman literally muttering their secret plots to themselves under their breath while in conversation with others?) Bioshock's visual aspect is such a main part of its appeal, and the author seemed to make no effort to describe the environment beyond saying they were "Art Deco" (or, in one attempt at variance, describing something as "Art Decoratif"). Every now and then I'd find a phrase that I thought was well-turned, but a lot of the descriptions were kinda lazy (he described three different female characters in the book as "frowzy"). I know only marginally more about the characters' backstories with the exception of Ryan, McDonough, and Fontaine. We already know that Sander Cohen is crazy, effeminate, and obsessed with bunnies; we played the games. Give us a sense of WHY he's that way. What character descriptions were given, were shallow, off-target, or just didn't make sense (see e.g. Tenenbaum's bewildering relationship with Frank, or the unrealistic explanation of her experience in the concentration camp). The emotional spectrum was fairly limited. The dialogue was disappointing, and not just because McDonough's/Atlas's/Tenenbaum's/Suchong's accents/speech styles were unconvincing. There was so much missed opportunity here, and that made me sad. I feel this should've been an early draft, not a finished product. There was very little of it that actually added to what I knew from the games, and it detracted from the actual story's emotional depth for me.
133092
After reading (and very much enjoying) Gena Showalter's "Lords of the Underworld" books, I was really looking forward to beginning this "Atlantis" series.  However, Heart of the Dragon was a complete let-down.

The idea of dragons protecting Atlantis from the "surface dwellers" was intriguing - especially when you factor in all of the other paranormal creatures that live in the underwater city with the dragons.  A third of the way through the book, though, I found myself completely bored with all of the characters.  Darius, the "hero" of the story, was a bossy brute and spent 99% of his time thinking about sex or killing.  Grace, his love interest, was so lacking in character that I had to look up her name again before writing this review - and I JUST finished reading the book last night!

I was disappointed by the romance factor also.  Mostly because it was nonexistent.  When Darius and Grace first met, they went right for each other in a hot and heavy make out session.  No matter that Darius was thinking about killing Grace, and Grace was thinking about escaping.  From that point on, their relationship only progressed by each of them wanting sex even more.  I never believed that their was any cause for either of them to feel love for the other.

Also, there was a lot of information that the main characters somehow were aware of without any evidence of a conversation having occurred.  I eventually started skimming through pages just to get to the end.  Overall, this felt like a YA novel only with explicit sex scenes.
1506321
A huge disappointment...a thin, random collection of dialogue snippets from the original series and some bits of trivia, all of which will be familiar to even occasional fans. This could have been so much richer and more fun. Plus, errors: misspelling Roddenberry and calling an episode "Balance of Power"--it's "Balance of Terror." I'm also very saddened that a similar review/comment I posted on startrek.com was taken down. Did I hurt someone's feelings, folks?
4897581
Like the other reviewers, I was profoundly disappointed
in this book.
I was a loyal Auel reader for her first four, though
admittedly they descended into mostly tedious botanical
descriptions and repetitive sex scenes by the third and
fourth books.
There was so much potential in _Shelters of Stone_--a
pregnancy, marriage, Other-Clan relations, intrigue.
But none of it is developed.  I can't believe how much
time Auel spends on inane repetition of details from
the earlier books, and on incredibly annoying side
comments to the reader about scenery and reasons for
traditions.  (A good author makes those clear from
the story.)
Much of the book reads like a bad home movie, with
no editing--for instance, we read about how Ayla was
thinking of stopping to say hello to Folara, and then
how she does but Folara is a little bit busy right
now, so they decide to talk later when she gets a
chance.  I mean, please.  Who needs to read that??
My eyes started to glaze over at around page 200, when
really there had been no plot development whatsoever.
This book reminded me of the movie _The English Patient_
(though if possible, it's worse)--the darn thing goes
on about three times as long as it needs to.  Really,
for the number of years Auel spent on this book, she has
produced a surprisingly poor result.
I wish that a loyal Auel fan would condense/edit/revise
this book and add some punch to the plot.  There are
a lot of people who would really like to read about what
happens to Ayla.  But please, not another thousandth
identical breast->oralsex->intercourse scene.
4588004
As an absolutely devout Roberts fan, I'm sorry to say that this novel did not in any way live up to my expectations. The beginning of this series was wonderful, but by page 20 of this novel, I felt the story was already over, and more importantly, the romance was gone. For the first time I was more interested in the marriages that had already taken place than in the current romantic focus. How droll!
I thought the theory that Mia's fate was to reject Sam and except that separation was interesting... and reinforced so thoroughly by her AWFUL and shallow behavior, that by the end I'd hoped it was true. Her stubbord independence, normally charming in Roberts' romantic females, was so absolute and unyeilding that by the end of the novel I wished she'd jump off the cliff and save all of her friends a lifetime of watching after her and struggling to understand her "mystic" ways.
And as for the Wiccan influences... it was an interesting premise in the first two novels and, having once practiced, I thought fairly reverent and honest. The magick in this book, however, was so grand and so precocious, I felt at times that I might as well be reading Harry Potter - and at least they had learned spells to recite and not just quippy little rhymes that they just HAPPENED to come up with at a moment's notice!
I am still a big Roberts fan and would tell any would be reader to skip this series in favor of any of her Irish novels, especially her Born in Fire, Born in Ice, Born in Shame series. It's in those straight forward romances that Roberts shows some true magic - not in the hocus pocus of this deflated story.
1838997
I just finished reading Twelve Days of Christmas an hour ago, and immediately went back to Amazon to look through ALL the comments, as I was sure someone must share my opinion! I bought this book after seeing so many good and positive reviews, but I was very disappointed as it left me feeling very very bored and frustrated. It seems that I am categorized with the minority.

1. there are WAY too many details in this book for the reader to fully be able to enjoy him/herself and get lost in the story, cooking, cleaning, planning, etc and 2. the writer seems to have no idea how to create realistic dialogues between the characters as it all sounds very contrived, and it seems as though all the characters are excitedly shouting at each other as Ms. Ashley seems to OVERUSE her exclamation marks.

Also, I bought this book hoping to get that warm, fuzzy feeling you usually get when reading a Christmas book but also a ROMANCE novel. And I felt neither. The romance rated lower than 0 for me. And the book lacked SO much on every emotional level. I finished this book feeling as though I've read this boring narrative about how to cook and clean and take care of animals!

As my title implies, this book needs to have life breathed into it, because as of now, it is very dead - dead boring.
951602
Extremely disappointing...and this from a fan who has enjoyed most of Turtledove's other "alternative history" efforts.  This one is sluggish, vapid, and baseless.  I searched in vain for any unifying thread to connect the antics of Lincoln, Clemens, Jackson, Custer, et. al. And Orlando Willcox as a major character???  One almost feels that the luckier characters were the Mormon leaders hanged by Pope and Custer.  At least THEY didn't have to muck through the rest of this overblown humbug of a novel! I certainly hope Mr. Turtledove returns to form with his Great War project.