Hard to connect with the characters
354934
It was an interesting story, but no one was particularly likeable. It was difficult to root for Rachel, so I had trouble staying engaged in the story.
3220902
"The Rules of Magic" is a beautifully written book but it was challenging to get through. At times, the story felt repetitive, almost as if we were going in circles with these three lovely characters. I'd have to put down the book for a break, pick it back a day or two later, and so forth. It took me quite some time to finish this novel.

The book is about the three Owens children: Franny, Jet, and Vincent, as they grapple with the family curse, which began in 1620 with Maria Owens, who dared to fall in love.

"Beware of love," Maria Owens had written on the first page of her journal. "Know that for our family, love is a curse."

But of course, who wants to listen to the ramblings of a woman who has been dead for 350 plus years?

Growing up, the three did their best to break all the rules assigned to them by their mother, with the exception of this hard and steadfast rule. After a summer in Massachusetts with their Aunt Isabelle, the three teenagers head back to New York City to navigate their separate journeys, stumbling on their own forms of love. This is where the story became bogged down for me. There was too much indecision for me, too much going back and forth about doing the right thing, etc.

Whether the character chose courage or caution, nothing seemed to work out for him or her, anyway. It was rather depressing that they couldn't have some happiness without it being taken away. The pacing of the novel was also too slow for my taste, because there was too much emphasis on the day-to-day routine, which was kind of boring. Nothing really happens in those pages for it to be chronicled. I couldn't connect with the characters, which made reading it harder as well.

I found myself skimming to get to the end. It was rather underwhelming.
1762636
a bit hard to get involved in the plot line with characters oddities and movement between present day and past history.
4366314
It was difficult getting engaged in this book. The author's device of having the protagonist narrate other peoples' stories was unique but ultimately left me feeling one step removed from the action.
2566507
seemed to drag a bit and it was hard for me to get into the stories and the characters.
3545616
This book is definitely not for everyone. I could not connect with the characters. I wanted to tell them all to grow up and get a life, but then maybe that was the whole point the author was trying to make.
2513025
The book did not create a convincing link with the characters for me, and as such I could not identify with them, or their emotions.  As much as I tried, I just could not finish the book.
659466
This book takes some time to identify all of the characters.  It was difficult to get into and didn't seem to jell.
2878008
I had a hard time getting into this book. The main characters, Gideon and Louisa experience love at first sight. Basically, he needs to marry for money, and while she has it, they don't want it to be the reason for their marriage. This is a simplification of the plot, of course, but it really is the only real barrier for them, and I thought it made for a dull read. Dull enough that about halfway through, I just had to put the book down.

While their attraction to each other is clear from the beginning, I didn't actually care for Louisa all that much. I was perturbed early on that she's supposed to be the season's beauty and have this wonderful personality, but she tries to manipulate a man who wants to propose to her into proposing to a domineering friend instead. It's not that she sees them as a love match. Rather she sees him as dull and therefore, he should be easily managed by her pushy friend. Maybe we were supposed to see this as her being intelligent or recognizing other people's needs. Instead, I just felt like she was judgmental. As she didn't care about whether others found love, I found it difficult to care if she did either.

This book may have gotten better by the end, but frankly, I wasn't willing to invest the time to find out.
4577080
I like the premise of the book.  I had a hard time relating the characters.  Ending/Epilogue could have been a little longer to show how they had healed a little more.
2490463
While the story wasn't terrible I had to force myself ahead in reading. I haven't read the Twilight books but my friendmade me see them in the theater with her. I found myself comparing this book to the Twilight movies. That's not an insult of course but for me personally its just not my cup of tea. The story was well written but I just couldn't connect with the characters.
2750590
While I enjoy reading a variety of genres in books, I had a hard time getting through The Spirit Gate's first chapter and could not bring myself to finish the book.  I kept losing interest and forgetting the characters/places names (they were too crazy sounding and too many of them, i.e. Asenka, King Zelimir, Dalibor).  I wound up getting frustrated and putting the book down..so many times I just gave up.  I felt like the author was trying too hard.  I'm sure that many die hard fantacy fans might like this book, but I found it a difficult read.  I don't enjoy books that I have to work so hard to get through.
3619131
I liked the plot of the book even though it's not my genre of choice. The  issue I had with this book is that the characters were not developed in a way that makes you feel connected and the dialogue between characters was unrealistic. I was never able to fully immerse myself in the story.
3613176
This was a different kind of read.  It was hard for me to make any kind of connection to any of the characters in this book.  I would not recommend this as a good read.
3342903
I found myself struggling in the middle of this book to continue moving forward with it.  The story started out well with the mysterious "Alice" not having any knowledge of her past.  As the story progressed and the setting switched to the nursing home, I felt that there were a lot more characters referred to than necessary and I struggled to connect with Alice.  Her relationships with those around her were very strained, which does make sense due to her amnesia, but I kept waiting to like her more, or to become more invested in her story.  As more people died, I found myself drawn into the muster of the story, but I never really felt a connection or empathy for Alice and her plight.  As I reached the last quarter of the story I found myself drawn into the mystery even more and I very much enjoyed where the book went.  I think that the ending is unpredictable and I enjoyed it.  Overall, this book was lacking for me in my connection to the character, but as a mystery I did find it intriguing.
3472768
I really had a hard time connecting with any of the characters.  This is due to the fact that they are all criminals.  Seriously.  I found myself shaking my head more than once at the whole thing.  THanks to Edelweiss for the ARC.
4233433
I went into this wanting to like and understand the characters, but I didn't quite get there. The story definitely has potential, but the third dimension of the characters was not quite reached. First, I did not like the names given to the characters. Travis, Shepley, America called Mare and Abby called Pigeon as a pet name from Travis. The author did not provide enough descriptors to really help you envision how the characters looked. Travis' attraction and then obsession with Abby does not make any sense. The fact that she presents a meager challenge is not drawn out enough. The writing lost me at times as I would go back thinking I missed a segue, but it wasn't there. There are some good moments, but it reached a point where I didn't read anymore because I didn't care what happened. I have not given up on this author, though. I will maybe check out some of her other stuff. This particular book just wasn't drawn well enough for me, even though it had the potential to do some interesting things with two seemingly opposites who are essentially exactly alike.