Not what I was hoping for
350654
This book introduces children to the concept of remainders, and in a  round about way, division.  The problem is, children who would be learning this type of math may find the story to babyish for their tastes.  There is no point to the story of marching ants other than to show that there is always one odd-ant out until a group can be formed to include all 25.  As my son pointed out quickly in the book--"just use rows of 5 and be done with it", as well as, "why must that ant always be the one left out--he should just switch places with another ant!"  Out of the mouths of babes!  He suggested 3 stars on a scale of 1-5 and that is about right.  I can see this book being used by an educator as a starting to point in a classroom to discuss equal groupings, but do not look for it as a good bedtime story--the story alone is not compelling.  I would check out a copy from the library before you invest in the book for your own collection.  It may not be one that is read over and over again.
3273166
I use laughter in my classroom. I struggle bringing students back from the laughter and keeping the students from going to far, that is keeping them from crossing the line between fun and chaos. I was hoping to see ideas and strategies in this book that would help me with these issues. I didn't find what I wanted. Instead, the book is filled with gimmicks to make students laugh. It isn't bad, but it isn't what I was hoping for. I'll try some of the gimmicks, but most of the ideas weren't in line with my style. I don't feel that this book was worth the time I devoted to it.
2752308
I mainly bought the book for the recipes, and was hoping for a good list of quick and easy to make meals. The book has one chapter 3 on recipes which have a few good recipes but overall I was disappointed with the selection. I also found chapter 3 on How to Testing ph to be very confusing and have read other books with much better instructions.
2748236
Based on other reviews, I was expecting much more out of this product. I was hoping for more of a guided devotional where this more or less has her daily story with a minor connection to God. Needless to say if you are looking for something more detailed, helpful, and guiding to your relationship with God and reflecting on that as a new mom, then I would choose a different devotional.
574065
I just finished The Blue Bistro and loved it.  I was looking for another Nantucket escape but this is not it. While I'm sure it's a fine read, it's not what I was looking for.  I will finish it though but as some of the other reviewers have done, I am starting to skim over pages to find out the secret.  I will probably read all of Elin Hilderbrand's books -- I love her stories -- but this is not my favorite one.
4419820
I must say I entered this book with very high hopes.  I care about too much and needed some help learning to care about that right things and let the wrong things go. While I like some of the ideas and concepts, I felt like I, personally, was left with a long road to go to get there. That was probably more of a fault of mine than it was the book (probably unrealistic expectations on my part).

The book was pretty somber. I had hoped, along the way to letting go of crap, that I'd feel a tone change or even an emotional change. Neither occurred.

It didn't help that I was looking for this book to magically start healing years of issues, depression, anxiety, and instantly feel better.
3237095
I was looking for a novel not short stories.  I was disappointed with most of the stories but there were a few gems in this book.  I most likely won't read more from this series.
83610
I was disappointed in this book. It has a lot of potential and I was expecting more.

Im not sure if it was because it was narrated or what, but I didn't feel any connection to the characters. The beginning was slowand didn't seem to really get exciting until the last 20%. Then so much was happening and I was left wanting more.

Hoping for more in the next book.
3681942
Based on the title of this book I was hoping for a different type of plot. I can and do read stories with difficult material but it was not what I was hoping for here. I found this plot too unsettling for me and did not finish the book.
4449402
Not what I was hoping for. The picture looks fairly thick but this one that arrived was very thin and for my living room window that faces the street in a city...I wanted it to let a nice amount of light in without losing too privacy during the day when I open the heavy curtains. But this is disappointing. I should have just gone to a local store for the same price I'm sure I could have found what I needed.
2428209
I wanted desperately to love this, but it just wasn't for me.  I'm a huge fan and there was a lot of hype around this book, but unfortunately it didn't resonate with me and I am sad about that. I read it twice and it just didn't work for me.
883297
I wanted to really like this book. But I really had a hard time getting into it. It moved rather slowly for my taste. I think there's a good story here somewhere Just got to find it. It took me entirely too long to read this book simply because I wasn't thrilled to pick it up every day. I was, however determined to finish it. Which I did. Sadly I will not be reading any more books in the series.
1299354
Disappointed in the selections; I was expecting more hymns and real gospel.  Felt like it was thrown together to appeal to people like me who love gospel music and also love Elvis.  His voice was excellent as always but just didn't meet my expectations.
2510749
I feel the synopsis of what the book is about makes it sound a lot better than what it is.  I wanted to like this book, I really did. I had high hopes for it.  Unfortunately, it didn't do much for me.  I was expecting more of a ghost story. Instead I got more of a sci-fi story, and one that wasn't very good.

Jacob's grandfather tells him of a magical island of which he spent his childhood. He shows him photos and tells him stories about the peculiar children he grew up with. As Jacob becomes a teenager, he stops believing in his grandfather's ridiculous stories until something awful happens. Jacob travels to the mysterious island to find out about his grandfather.  Little does he know that by going to that island he's put himself and many others in danger.

First off, I thought the word building/setting were fantastic.  The author made me feel as if I was on the island. I'll give him props there.  The description of the world was beautifully described.

I couldn't relate very much to the characters. I can't really place why that is.  I just couldn't connect.  I found myself not caring what happened to any of them.  Perhaps the author should've spent a bit more time character building to make me relate to at least one the characters.  The characters just felt a bit one dimensional.  There wasn't even one that I could remotely say that I favourited. Okay, that's a lie. I liked Fiona, the Irish girl, but I only liked her because she was Irish, and I love all things Irish. That's it.

I found the pacing to be a bit slow. I'd read a chapter, then I'd get bored with it and go off to do something else. I really struggled with this book.  There are a couple of chapters that the pacing is great in, but it's not until the last two chapters that the pacing definitely picks up.

The dialogue was easy to understand although some Americans may not get all the slang British terms.  There was one scene where a character says "I was taking a piss" where he meant that he was joking around. The phrase he meant was "taking the piss" which is a British slang phrase for joking.  "Taking a piss" isn't a typo either as it's mentioned a few more times.  This annoyed me because taking a piss, is just that, it means urinating. "Taking the piss" means to be joking around.  Other than that, the dialogue was good.

The best part of the book was the photographs found within the book. I loved that little touch! I found myself studying the photos and enjoying them a million times better than the actual book.

The cover is also something I loved about the book.  How freaky does that little girl look??? The German cover looks even better.  It's the same photo, just with a green hue.  If I was marking the book based on the cover alone, it'd get 5 out of 5 for me.

The title of the book doesn't really leave anything to make you wonder what the books about. It says exactly what the book is about - a home for peculiar children.

All in all, this book left me feeling empty. I didn't really feel much of anything reading it until I got to the last two chapters where it got exciting.  However, I will not put myself through the torture of reading the second book in the series especially as I don't care about the characters or what happens to them.  I'm just glad I won this book in a competition and didn't buy it.

I was going to give this book a 2 - 2.5 star rating but the ending saved it a bit.

My overall score of this book would be 3 stars out of 5 at the best. It's okay, but not great.

(This review can be found on my blog).
1100240
So far it just didn't seem to be what I had hoped it was. I was hoping for a good solid book on marriage, but it's just articles of opinions. Go read Tim Keller's (same title) if you want something more biblical!:)
2875900
I really was looking for a cookbook that swayed away from Soy and this does that.  But I must admit it is not a very appealing book.  So I haven't tried anything out of it as of yet.  once I do I will adjust my stars.
2386116
I was looking for more of a historical book rather than a book trying to sell me home worship.  After the first few chapters, it became evident, it was not as I had hoped.