) I enjoyed GAR a lot
349328
I enjoyed GAR a lot. It is fun and imaginative. I especially liked Nell - a strong female character who likes art, fishing, and school (I think I'd like her in real life). The story is an unconventional mystery - think aliens with unknown motives and kids as detectives - that keeps you interested until the end. I'd strongly recommend it .. especially if you want to justify any paranoia you may harbor about  librarians.
482689
I'll look for more from Cogburn. The characters were not over done but we're well defined. Main character rolls with whatever's thrown his way.
2462937
I'm new to this genre, but I really enjoyed the story.
4050395
I felt it was similar to rest of Eskkar series.  I enjoyed it. Eskkar and Trella's son Sargon comes of age.
3755119
I loved the last book in this series. There were some surprises but the resolution,to me,was very satisfying I was always team Gabriel. I will miss this wonderful cast of characters and the Gargoyles. I did have quite a hard time with pronouncing all the different names. I really liked the Druids,Helia and Alexios they added a touch of humor. I will sadly miss the Tylwyth Teg and the Cwn Annwn but look forward to Kelley's next adventure.
4527729
I expected the book to be dryer than the television show, but I liked it a lot. There were some parts that I was glad were not on TV, and I know time restricts some content, but the characters are wonderfully fleshed out here.
4319460
The controls for Inheritance were done very well; everything worked smoothly.  The writing was good and very intriguing.  I'm not sure if it's because I have played games similar to it often in the past, but I was able to get through it in less than an hour.  I didn't mind since I enjoyed that time so much.  I hope there is more to come!
1999644
I adored it. I think the top two things I didn't like was that there was too much emphasis on god and praying for my taste, and a character I enjoyed doesn't make it. Those are more personal opinions though, so feel free to take them with a grain of salt.

I understand the religious basis for the story, I really do. It adds a certain amount of intrigue and conflict with the whole whose-side-does-god-support thing. It's simply that I am a non-believer(I spent years studying science, and so the scientist in me demands proof and logical thinking), and therefore so much faith and prayer is a little grating to me. Just seems like there is an underlying message here that belief and prayer will fix all your problems and fill you with purpose, and I don't necessarily agree with that. It's my opinion, and you certainly don't have to agree with me, I don't judge, lol. The fact that this book is clearly fantasy and fictional makes it all a little easier to swallow.

Speaking of it being Fantasy... it's so very refreshing to see a powerful and strong female heroine. Fantasy is usually dominated by male leads, and so I really enjoyed having the tables turned here. There IS still quite a bit of emphasis put on Elisa's weight, and how she is somehow more valuable after roaming the desert caused her to slim down and become more attractive. While that is complete crap, it is also a very minor thing, so I'll try not to nit pick on it anymore.

As for the character dying, well, I'm sure it has it's purpose. I also read an interview with the author where she implied that this particular character was only a love interest because of Stalkholm Syndrome. Now there is some food for thought!

I will say that I'm very intrigued to see where this series goes, and can't wait to pick up the second book.
4084880
It was a lot of fun :) It was a very good read! Yes well worth it you'll enjoy some good stories here.
4878568
First.  I am going to assume you have already read Wingling.  That way I don't give away any of the story.  Both books were very enjoyable.  For me there was just the right amount of descriptions.  Not so much that you get bogged down and want to skip ahead but enough to paint a decent mental image.  This allowed the book(s) to concentrate on what was happening, and there was a lot.  Having read both (highly recommend reading Wingling first), I am hoping there will be more in the series.  And that says a lot, considering I am not normally a big fan of the girl-coming-of-age sort of stories.  What helped me was that Ellery was coming of age as a dragon.  The good guys were capable but not infallible.  More like real life than either extreme.  All in all, very enjoyable, fun to read, and exciting.
4469856
A very entertaining variation - I enjoyed it immensely.
2802960
I am going have a hard time explaining why I enjoyed Hidden Fire so much. As a romance it is mild and up front - and without being too spoilerish - I have to say that while the ending is hopeful, Hidden Fire is just the first episode and the story continues in&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/This-Same-Earth/dp/B006HIR944/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">This Same Earth</a>, just so that no one expects all the elements of the story to wrap up in a single book.

I really enjoyed the slowly building relationship between the gorgeous and unusual book scholar Giovanni Vecchio and library student intern Beatrice De Nova. The way that the mysteries surrounding the leading man Gio unfold is really interesting and Beatrice is a really good and intelligent heroine who is written in such a way that you can see why she caught Gio's interest even though she is way younger than him - she really seemed special enough to actually warrant the interest she stirred up. And in fact all of Hunter's characters are good, I liked Beatrice's grandmother, and Gio's friends Carwyn and Castor who are nice counterpoints to the enigmatic and serious Gio. And I also really enjoyed that there was a nice sprinkling of humor throughout - the leads and the supporting characters all had some great lines.

So this is where I need to add a big thank you to all my book friends for turning me on to Hunter's Elemental Mysteries, it is always a delight to find a really good character driven diamond in the rough of the self published world (and the next one This Same Earth was almost as good, plus there's still two more to go with the third book The Force of Wind out the first week of March 2012 and the fourth book slated for June 2012.)

As a note of advice though, I would avoid reading the teaser for the next book, This Same Earth, (which is included after the end) too soon after finishing A Hidden Fire. Teasers are not always your friend and this one made me hesitant to pick up the next book, even though I had been okay with the ending of A Hidden Fire until reading the teaser. But having overcome my worry that the next one couldn't possibly be as good (expectations are my bane) and having already read This Same Earth, I really think that the scene is better read in the context of that book which actually has a prolog to prepare you for this part, so do yourself a favor and wait.
3873145
I enjoyed the book "Nutter Nero".  I will reread it many times in the future.  It was so brilliantly done, he was such an engaging character, and the way the action was broken up into a series of little sketches which kept the readers attention...  It was charming.  ;)  I liked the way Maverick was drawn to Nero's odd personality and looked after him.  I liked the way Nero spoke; taking one thought through a long train of logic in his mind, then just speaking out the results, leaving his listeners totally confused about how he had arrived at that point. Nero wasn't good at speaking to people and the author skillfully conveyed his troubled but hilarious attempts at it.

  Gunnar was really good too, in that he completely accepted Nero and didn't get annoyed with him.  The cosplay was out of left-field in a good, weird way.  It showed Gunnar was a deeper character than showed on the surface and actually a really funny, imaginative guy. He was really the right guy for Nero.  I wish the author would take those characters and make one more book about them.  Or a whole series.  Nero and Gunnar could make a great detective team.  I don't know how many crimes would be solved but it sure would be a fun ride. ;P
4761231
I really enjoyed this story. The writing is fantastic, style-wise, and I was fascinated by the clock magic. I loved when Marco showed up and thought he was LARPing (live action role play). The two of them had great chemistry, and their banter was fun.

The story was a bit slower paced than I expected, and there were times when it felt a bit confusing. I realize a short story doesn't have much space for world-building, but some of the stuff about the clocks left me puzzled. Even so, the mix of mechanism and magic was intriguing, and I loved the mystery angle.

While I was glad to have a story featuring an asexual character, one thing which stood out to me was that it was basically unnecessary. The whole story could have been exactly the same with any two people of any orientation, in fact. And the romance could have been eliminated entirely. Not that I think asexuality (or any orientation) needs to be at the forefront, but I kind of feel like if it's not necessary to advancing the plot, and the only reason to mention it is because there's not going to be any sex (which wasn't needed in this story anyway), then it comes across kind of as "Hey, look! An asexual [or whatever orientation] character!" That's okay, but it's not really my cup of tea.

I liked this a lot, but the fantasy was way more interesting than the love story part. So it gets 5 stars for the plot (really cool and unique) and 3 stars for the romance (cute and sweet but unnecessary), averaging out to 4.
2663878
Honestly this book was just such a delight to experience.  The writing was beautiful and had the level of description and finesse that I find common in the fantasy genre and have been missing as I've been reading more contemporary and sci-fi at the moment.  I will say that the passage of time in the beginning was quite confusing.  It's not really clear how much time has passed - I for some reason thought it was 5 years...but it's 16.  Once you get past the first couple chapters and realize this, it's smooth sailing for the rest of the book. I especially loved how the romance was handled.  I won't give spoilers, but it was subtly done and surprising, and definitely takes a backseat to the big parts of the story (which in my book is a good thing).  So if you are looking for swoons, you probably won't find many here.  There may have been a few things I wish more time had been spent on, like fleshing out the villain a bit more, but honestly the book was such a fun read that I just don't care that much. This is a good book to go for if you just want a really fun light read to get you through your day.

The full review can be found on my blog.
4248254
Read (audibly) this lovely book before my trip to Ireland and felt I had a more personal and "full" experience while I was there.  I enjoyed the reader very much, and the way the history was told as stories was delightful.  The story behind the histories was interesting and clever, too, and helped pull together the stories... though that was not my favorite part of the book.  What I liked best about the book was the way the author presented history as an oral story passed down by a storyteller... a very personal way to talk about something more dry and detailed.

I "listened" to this book, but it is a good one to have a hard copy if you are traveling so that you know the spellings of the names (they don't always look like they sound, so aren't always recognizable if you haven't seen them before).  However, the fact that I could pronounce many of the Irish names (having heard them while listening to the book) impressed some of the locals.  :-)  Also, the audible book gave me the joy of feeling like I was truly listening to the traveling story teller.
1710684
I was torn between giving this a 3 or a 4.  I really enjoyed it but a big part of that was because I'm recovering and his thoughts and comments in that area were so spot on.  And funny; made me laugh out loud several times.  The mystery itself wasn't bad either but as is often the case for me I thought it wrapped up a little clumsily.  But now that I've said all that, what I'd rate it is 3 1/2 stars if I could.  Not quite 4 star material but very entertaining, especially if you're familiar with AA.