Heartwarming story but strange style
923392
This is a really warm story that will capture your heart. Especially the love between the two main characters. Liam is every woman's dream guy. This novel touches on some difficult topics but does so tastefully.

My only problem with this novel is that towards the end of the novel it switches voices between the main girl and guy. It was done so abruptly and was quite strange. It would have been better if it had stayed in the female voice.

A nice story, I would recommend you read it in one sitting one Sunday afternoon.
3973403
This is a really sweet story, full of hope. However, I was a bit put off by the amount of f words in this book, especially since it's marketed as a teen book. It also had some sexual content, however i felt like those scenes were not really explicit. It was more about the emotional connection between the characters than describing gory details. You may want to be cautious if you have a younger teen reading this, but it was a wonderful story & very well written.
1446335
Heart warming, a good change from typical love story
601887
I received this ebook for free in exchange for an honest review.  Please note that these comments pertain to the Kindle ebook version only and may differ from print versions.

This is a sweet story about adoption as told through the eyes of a bear in the human world.  Some aspects of this are uneven, such as an awkward mid-sentence mention of the bear not having shoulders to look over, yet apparently he has hands that can draw pictures.  The willing suspension of disbelief in terms of anthropomorphized animals would be stronger if the author didn't selectively highlight differences without bothering to mention why there are similarities.  I understand that part of the purpose was to establish the character as different, but it feels clumsy in the handling.

Unfortunately, the otherwise good story reads as unpolished and badly in need of an editor.  There were far too many errors, something my seven-year-old daughter noticed as well.  Some of the errors we noticed were:

- words that run together
- missing periods and broken paragraphs
- "yady" instead of "lady"
- "wish" instead of "wished" and other tense problems
- strings of "ands" that should have commas instead
- too many elipses
- sentences containing both semi colons and colons
- misplaced capitals

The formatting is also problematic making it difficult for a child to read, particularly the lack of paragraph indentations.  My daughter has read through book five of the Harry Potter series so she can handle dense words, but she could not read the wall of text on some pages of this book because there were no tabs to indent.  Further, some paragraphs have double spacing and others do not, some are justified, some are full-width, and some are half-width.  Headers and captions aren't set in a different style to separate them, making them appear to be part of the body text.  The text would also be better if it floated around the graphics.

These may seem like nitpicky things, but they seriously impacted my daughter's ability to read the text and made me want to skip sections myself.  In her words, "It was kind of hard to read because the paragraphs were all smushed together.  If the paragraphs were spacious, then there doesn't need to be as much pictures."  She felt as though she couldn't tell if this was a picture book or a more grown-up book because of the shifting back and forth between formats.  I noticed that the prose itself fluctuates between younger-child style and adult style, which also makes parts of the story harder to enjoy.

My daughter also didn't like the part where Baylard was confused about grocery store doors because she could not glean that's what the author meant.  She thought the pretty lady and Baylard actually entered the market through a window, even though she's quite familiar with the sliding glass doors the author intended to describe.  That confusion detracted from the scene a great deal for her and she insisted that I mention this in the review.  She also felt that some descriptions went on too long and "got boring".  These are the sorts of thing a good editor can help an author clarify and improve.

Overall, I think this story has potential.  The story itself is imaginative and does a good job covering the tumultuous realities of adoption.  Addressing the confusion and mixed emotions of what to call his new mother was nicely done, as were other aspects of the emotional difficulties adoptive children face.  With some solid editing both for grammar and consistency it could be a great resource for adoptive families.

My daughter and I agreed that it's a 4-star story, but the many errors that make it so hard to read - especially for the target audience - knock it down.  If this was for adults I'd take it down to 3, but a children's book must be held to a higher standard of readability so I'm taking it down to 2.  If it gets some professional editing and formatting, I'd be happy to change that back to the 4 stars the story deserves.
3097617
My kids loved this book.  It was a favorite in our house when our two oldest were two and three years old.
The story is simple, but conveys a message of love and caring between parent and child that young children really relate to.
Having said that, the story is written in a style that  reflects poor pronunciation and word usage ("dat" for  "that").  I found myself having to substitute correct  pronunciation and sentence structure for the actual words.  Children at the  age to whom the book is targeted may think the story as written reflects  correct word usage -- they are very impressionable at two and three!
But  for the writing style, I would have given it more stars.
3314648
This is an adorable story. Although I am giving it a 4, I would much rather give this book a 3.5, only issue I had was the ending. I did not realize that this was a Christian themed story. Nothing wrong with this, but it's just not my taste. The first 3/4 of the book was perfectly, I loved it. However, I had to skip a few pages in the last 1/4 of the book. The religious aspect was subtle at first, however the ending was so heavy in praying and even a exorcism of sorts. Simply put if it was as thick as it was in religious content in the beginning I would not have read the book. The ending was sloggish and it seemed the writing skill had gone down at these points. This would have been a five star book with me, but the drastic focus on the religion (which was present, but not a main point in the beginning) killed it. I do however, suggest this book dispite my issue with it. I would also say it would be age appropriate for the younger crowd if anyone is interested.
4093146
This is a strange book. It's not bad, but it kind of makes me wonder why he wrote this. I want to know the story behind this book.

It's a little wordy to read to a young child. As the title suggests, it's a series of short fables, each less than one page long and illustrated by a full-page image on the facing page. Some of them are reasonable and similar to popular parables, but some of them are rather unusual. Most of them are very reminiscent of Aesop's fables, where the characters act abnormally in order to prove a point in the story, or things don't actually follow the laws of physics. In one story, a hippopotamus eats too much and getting stuck in a table. In another story, a young kangaroo troublemaker gets a visit at home from the principal and the whole family throws spitballs at each other for fun.

Sometimes the moral seems kind of shoehorned into it like a story about a dog who finds a ring, mistakenly believes it to be magic and wishes on it, and ends up getting a reward because it was lost: "Wishes, on their way to coming true, will not be rushed." That story didn't really need a moral, but it wouldn't fit in the book otherwise. Or the cat who is fishing and then gets sad because he doesn't think he's going to catch anything, then catches something and gets happy again: "All's well that ends with a good meal." That's just strange.

A lot of these are really weird. They're all animal based, which is pretty common (the Aesop's fable about the fox and the grapes is where we get the phrase "sour grapes" from). They're basically modernized versions of Aesop's fables. The crocodiles are living in a house with wallpaper that is integral to the story. There's a baboon with an umbrella. Since the traditional Aesop's fables take place in ancient Greece, these are an interesting update to the formula. It's nontraditional to have camels wanting to be ballerinas.

I'm not sure I'm getting what the author intended from these stories, but they're really fascinating as a study on fable. It's got a lot of interesting characters and language, and words to learn, and compelling stories. This is probably for kids who are on the verge of reading to themselves, if not older.

For more children's book reviews, see my website at drttmk dot com.
4256616
A story about an abused girl. She also has an alcoholic mother. Luckily, even if she is not gifted with a loving and happy family, she is well-taken cared by a best friend named Sky and a lovely couple, Jolene and Josh. She also has an ability to see the aura of a person - if that person is good or bad. Finding a journal - where she can relate very well to the author as they seem to shared same dramatic life - she started having a dream where she can talk with the owner of that diary.

The book is good but definitely, it doesn't work with me that well. I love the lovely writing but there's some parts where it had too much details.

This novel tackles almost everything - family, friendship, and love.

The characters were fine. You can relate with them as you read this book. They can make you feel different emotions but mostly they will make you laugh and cry.

I love the plot and concept though I just don't feel like this book is for me.

Overall, a lovely novel was written this year by India R. Adams. The story is awesome. Just unfortunately, this book just did not really work for me.

Disclaimer: I received a reader copy from the author via Xpresso Book Tours.
4372184
Poignant story with classically different animation style.
3206807
The story is compelling and interesting.  We want to read about people who are able to overcome obstacles with such kindness, success and class.  Mr. K and his wonderful family had a terrible/wonderful story and it acts a source of inspiration.  I felt somewhat confused by the author though.  It made me wonder if a ghost writer had written the book, not Ms. Lipman herself.  The writing was a bit disjointed and flawed-- not what you would expect from a daily writer with a Journalism degree.  The book was about Mr. K, but it was also about 4 girls "coming of age" and Ms. Lipman was one of those girls.  She tries to paint a picture of her family being just an average family living in "cookie cutter" houses, but her home was a 4 bedroom one, so I felt a little manipulated there.  With that average family income ,I would have liked to have known how she was able to go to Yale or go on a family trip to London.  I would have liked to know how someone with no business background snagged an internship with "The Wall Street Journal".  I am skeptical that it was due to her questioning mind on an interview.  When you feel manipulated in one direction, you begin to doubt the entire story.
3098168
Set in an urban area of London where fox sightings are common, Mary is a troubled young woman with a lot on her mind. She's recently broken off her engagement and is on leave from work over a disciplinary issue.  As the story opens she sees a baby on her doorstep and a beautiful fox in her garden.  The fox soon becomes a regular around her home, he brings her little gifts and the two seem to have a deep soulful connection.  Is Mary losing her grip on reality or is there something more here?  The story is told mostly from Mary's POV but, occasionally we hear from the fox as well. An odd, quirky different kind of love story which focuses on loneliness and obsession.  (3.5/5 stars)
582994
I found this story to be completely uplifting and exhilerating at times but I also found that it had needless discriptions and too much tradegy.  The cover jacket claims that this novel is the "story of a  marriage".  However the main characters, Julie and Hank have only been  married a few months throughout the majority of the book.  Also, Hank  hardly talked enough for the reader to see what kind of relationship him  and Julie really had.  This book has its defining moments but overall it  lacked in defining its characters and the relationships they had with one  another.
2731136
I was looking for a story to teach my littles about the man St Nicholas and why we should be giving and mindful of people less fortunate than us during the holidays. This book definitely teaches about the man and part of his life but i had two problems with it. 1: the story used some bigger words and arcane language that lost my kids. I just don't need to spend that much time explaining terms. 2: it took a critical turn for me on the last page. There is a lovely picture of a family bringing gifts to a poor family, but the writing is all about how nicholas knew jesus. Now don't get me wrong i like the message about jesus, but it seems like a missed opportunity to be more blunt about giving to others. The book has pretty illustrations but the story left me wishing for more.
2913681
2.5 stars. Quick read. heartwarming. Difficult English phrasing. Some grammatical errors.
826349
This story starts out with Caillou witnessing his Mommy giving his Daddy a kiss. He wants to know why it is that Mommy doesn't kiss him the same way that she kisses Daddy. Mommy tells him that it's because they're married and Caillou says that he wants to marry her too.

His Daddy tells him a story about Prince Caillou, who wanted to be just like his father the King. He goes on a journey and meets a wise, old dragon.

This Caillou book is fairly nicely illustrated, like others. It's done somewhat in the older style of the series, but with nice coloring. But this is a story about Caillou wanting to marry his mother and it just seems a bit odd. Caillou normally deals with very real situations. I think most kids wouldn't identify with this story and would just find it odd. They might get a laugh, though, out of the idea that Caillou wants to marry his Mommy.
1498461
I have mixed feelings about this book. On one hand, I loved she story - it was inspirational and bitter sweet. I appreciated the questions it raised, and the fact that it made me wonder. On the other hand, I felt some of the characters were unrealistic, and the quality of writing wasn't there.

After a tragic accident takes Michele's mother, she is sent to live with wealthy grandparents she's never met before. Her mother also leaves her a key that allows her to travel back in time. In the past, she learns to cope with her own grief by connecting with and helping her ancestors at key points in their lives. In 1910, she also meets and falls in love with Phillip Walker, the young son of a rival family. While the love story is poignant, I felt like this whole book was really about Michele coming to terms with being a Windsor, even more than it was about her falling in love. The time travel elements in the story were a clever way to tie Michele to her family legacy.

The love story is bitter sweet at best. In the beginning it's almost sappy how much these two beautiful, perfect characters love one another, but how can a two people from different times make a romance work?

I liked all of the characters in Timeless, both past and present.  Michele was lovely - she's nobel, unselfish, brave, and caring.  She suffers greatly in this story but yet you never once see her whine or complain - all in all a very admirable protagonist.  However, she's almost too perfect, which brings me to one of my bigger nitpicks with the story. I had issues connecting with the characters. Why? After much debate, I've concluded they were just too perfect. It seems almost silly to say that, because perfect is good right? But I think it's essential to have some flaws in a character to make them likeable. The audience of any book is innately flawed (we're human after all) therefore the characters should also have flaws that allow us to identify with them.

The whole book has a sort of Disneyish feel to me, which made things seem a bit unrealistic. As a 34 year old, I realize I'm not the target audience for this novel though *sheepish grin*, so take that assessment with a grain of salt. Timeless was definitely meant for a preteen and young teen audience, and I'm sure I'd love the book if I still fell into that age range. While I enjoy YA fiction, I tend prefer YA books that sort of lean towards the adult side, and this is not that kind of novel.

Timeless is a great discussion book. It's, by far, one of the things I appreciated most about the novel. The time travel elements raise TONS of questions. The book was assigned by my reading club, and we have pages of theories and thoughts on some of the novel's time travel mysteries. Which is all good fun. I just hope the author can deliver answers that will make us all happy in future books.

If you are an adult that enjoys reading YA books, Timeless might be a little too fluffy for you, but the story is still enjoyable. It is inspirational and touching.  Despite my concerns, I'm definitely looking forward to the next book. Timeless piqued my curiosity and I really look forward to seeing where the author goes with the story.
1728068
this was a lovely romance story for Mary Bennet, very sweet and tender and quite surprising in some aspects. she is presented to us a bit different than in Pride and Prejudice, serious, not silly, and good-natured, not intend upon ruining everyone's day with long-winded speeches. she is also a devout christian and quite down-to earth. however, a really passionate love somes her way, which changes her in many ways. i was very disappointed by the portrayal of the Darcys marriage, for any spark was totally absent, but apart from that, Mary's love story was beautiful.