the setting is boring the plot predictable
341301
I had high hopes for this book and was so disappionted in it.  The characters are so sweak, the setting is boring the plot predictable.  So boring frankly....
4099175
Uneventful, waste of time, didn't make a whole lot of sense. I read it because the setting was suppose to be where I live. Disappointing.
338858
This was hundreds of pages about roughly a week long time span in a family's life.  The author describes every single setting- what the characters are wearing, what background players are doing, etc. in a way that made me think of high school descriptive writing classes.  I kept waiting for something to happen.  The plot was predictable and the characters dull.  I can't imagine what we'll have to discuss about this book in our book club meeting.
151581
Less than halfway through, I had to make the decision whether to keep reading to find out what happens or quit because of the cliched characters and plot that I've seen a hundred times before. I kept reading, but didn't feel that it got that much better. I'm actually pretty surprised at the number of positive reviews and popularity of the author, as I felt this was pretty generic and predictable. The main character is superwoman, with not enough flaws to make her interesting. The dialogue is forgettable, and too many characters have names that are too similar to keep track of who is who.
1107435
There are some decent elements in this book, but none are developed enough to create interest. The heroine has some appealing qualities, and there are some potentially interesting subplots including a photograph of a long-ago murder, a complex bullying relationship with a police officer, some interesting dynamics with childhood friends and relatives and a town with some tangled history. The writing is smooth if not stylish.

On the bad side, the heroine's actions don't make much sense, you get the feeling the author is pushing her around to satisfy plot demands rather than letting her develop as a character. The mystery is barely-there. There are no clues to speak of, and the improbable solution is simply announced at the end. The reader will care little about that solution. The collateral aspects are so slow moving there is no discernible progress by the end of the book, it's almost a still life.

The only exciting parts of the book are some whiffs of paranormal activity and some action scenes, and neither are done well enough to raise anyone's pulse.

The best thing I can say about the book is that there's nothing unpleasant. Unfortunately there's not much period. It's a slow, boring read with an unlikely forced plot, and no point.
2211423
This is a romantic comedy that might be interesting as a movie with A list actors but it is very simple and predictable. Its not particularly interesting and the characters aren't very developed. I couldn't connect with the protagonist.
1407470
The characters are so dull. The acting is mediocre and the theme is so predictable that I would prefer to watch HOmer Simpson.
348188
Trite and predictable. I'd get back the money I wasted on this one if I could. Interesting setting but that's as far as it goes.
2430313
Others have summarized the plot well. I found the psychologist heroine interesting in dealing with patients--but very boring while repetitiously walking the streets of London at night.

The book jacket describes the lead policeman as "her equal in intelligence"--but she is always right and he is always wrong (and too rude and unresponsive to be credible). The minor, intended to be recurring, characters so far are shallow stereotypes.

I liked most of the writing and found the book exciting--but the solution to the first mystery is obvious long before it occurs and requires the police to have been remarkably lax in their investigation and the solution to the second lacks credibility in ways I cannot describe without spoilers.
2169734
The idea of having the animals talk was certainly unique, but that was the only thing about this book that was different or entertaining. All the characters were predictable and the author's PC views were obviouis. From the nasty, overbearing old-fashoned parents to the feisty, unconventional modern woman thumbing her nose at the fuddyy duddies of her day, we know how the author feels about the mores of the past. This author has a future writing plots for the next tough lady lawyer TV show. Yawn.

The mystery was not difficult to unravel, and overall this was a boring book with little to offer. I felt that I had wasted my time after having read it.
1884364
Starts off with an exciting opening chapter but slides into the dumpster by the middle of the book and I stopped at page 325. Characters enter uninteresting environments like hotels and offices, none which contain zombies. All of the dialog in this book is childish and there is rarely meaningful conversation. The first person inner-monologue is descriptive of the world they live but not particularly engaged to the mystery. I never felt like the reporters were discussing or trying to solve much. Extra characters don't seem to have much personality. The author does repeat certain ideas frequently, like Georgia's eye condition, and the repetitive blood tests. I liked some of the ideas of this book, especially the zombie reporting team. The worst parts of this book were detailed descriptions of dead children and pets, none which helped the plot. Kinda sick and not entertaining. Maybe this series is just too slow. Usually I come on amazon only to give good reviews. Not this time. I had to stop reading this book because it was too boring.
2018398
This book took me a very long time to read due to the fact that it was quite a dull read.  The storyline itself may have had some potential, but there were to many ideas started, characters introduced and ideas that lead nowhere.  There writing style is very predictable.  This would not be on my recommended list.
4962167
I was looking for beautiful descriptions of the French countryside and charming villages. Instead I got a predictable plot which I skimmed my way through to get to the predictable end.
I gave it 2 stars for the characters. They would really have shone in a more descriptive setting.
4618760
It is wooden, predictable and poorly developed. The characters are single dimensional and boring. This book was a snore and frankly has a terrible message.
4003047
This story took place over a couple years but the time dragged and nothing happened for months and months.  the ending was completely predictable and i have no intention of reading book 2.
2739002
The Awakened series - book 1 is interesting.  It's the tried and true plot of good vs evil  but the author tries a different spin and it is interesting.  Although the author creates some exciting scenario with key characters, he should  have been more creative to generate different races and conditions of people  ( Asian in character - martial arts experts), (dark skinned people - predictively and unfortunate victims of slave trade),  and the saviors of the world (blond and blue-eyed).  All too predictable.

This is the type of read when you want a mindless, get away from it all couple of hours in the day.

The book is not bad but the opportunity to enhance and create more interesting groups of characters and their condition was squandered in stereotypical genre.
986743
I like that this was a clean romance. It was written fine, but it was so predictable. There is just nothing exciting or interesting going on in this book. There was no conflict, the characters were not really developed and the conclusion was boring.