A 'meh' rating at best
358446
For all of Falconer's pedigree I thought this book would be a lot better, but it comes off as more of a romance novel than that of an adventure novel.

It was well written and easy to read, but pretty boring and overly simple.  Some details would have been nice.

I would give it a 2.5 stars if I could.
19635
i got this book based on the ratings and had to bang my head on a wall. this was NOT a good book. it wasn't even "ok". those people who gave it 5 stars - really? do you have any discrimination? the plot dragged on endlessly; it plodded and procrastinated and wheezed because there was a whole lot of NOTHING going on. there were half a dozen possible side stories that could have added interest, chances to round out character, but little was done. the premises the characters woes were based on.. surely not everyone has such overwhelming horror and evil in their lives to overcome? or been such lack brains about dealing with things. half of it would have been sufficient to explain the reticence and emotional frailty. the book was overly repetitive and emotionally icky/sticky, when it wasn't flat. even the sex scenes were boring.
1422435
Enough said.  Apologies for the one star rating, evidently you must at least rate for one star regardless...
3661151
I don't have a lot of demands for my phone, so it shouldn't take much to make me happy.  This pantech simply is not very good.  It started out ok, but I'm closing in on two year (almost at my trade-in date thanks goodness) and it's getting worse and worse.  And I'm not hard on it at all.  It charges poorly and often seems to suffer quick draining of the battery, without my having used any apps or anything.  Other times it simply powers off for no reason at all, even with plenty of battery power.  My wife uses the same phone for her job and like others have said, the internal memory is very limited, which is a problem for her.  Not a major issue for me, but worth mentioning that the camera is not up to standards of others, particularly related to not having a built in flash.  I'm not a fan of giving negative reviews but in this case I wanted to warn others out there to look for better options.
4579966
I don't understand all the high ratings this series is getting.  While the premise is fascinating and definitely reeled me in, the writing was about on par with my eight year old.  Granted, she's in the gifted program at her school, but I still expected more from an adult author who speaks really highly of himself on his author page.

The characters are quite flat and uninteresting--I'm not rooting for any one of them.  I would have liked to have heard from Snow White, since every single story is basically about her.  I would have liked the characters to have depth and reasonable responses.  I would have liked some of them--especially the Evil Queen--to read like adults and not whiny, snotty children.

There were parts of the Little Red story that I liked, but I HATED the title and the whole bit about the "Anguish Language".  It served no purpose whatsoever and didn't add anything to the story.  There were a LOT of "side bar" inserts that didn't add to the stories, and floated there, purposelessly.

And the Cinderella story didn't make any sense.  There's not enough backstory here for us to understand the Dreamworld and what purpose it serves, or why anyone was cast there. We're dropped into the middle of this story without knowing anything about what's really going on, and meet Loki and Alice, who inexplicably have this pseudo-witty, bantering relationship without ever having met before that moment.

The whole thing is weird.  The stories are laced together with innuendo and hint, but nothing more firm and concrete.  I won't read any more from this author, that's for sure.
2389157
Finders Keepers is a dreadful novel, much inferior to its predecessor, the mediocre Mr. Mercedes.  (To be fair, both novels have received largely enthusiastic reviews.  Mr. King may be receiving the benefit of the doubt from many critics who regard his supernatural writing as an inferior genre.  Im looking at you, Janet Maslin.)  Finders Keepers garners two stars here:  one, because Amazon offers no 0 option, and a second, thanks to some clever plotting and adroit structuring early in the book, and to the books ending.

What awaits the reader between those early chapters and the final few pages, though, is a tedious slog.  This is due both to an absurd, heavy-handed plot (you can read the plot summary elsewhere) and to a cast of characters who are flat-out uninteresting.

One of the few pleasures of Mr. Mercedes was its villain, Brady Hartsfield, who is genuinely evil and, it is suggested late in Finders Keepers, something more.  The villain in Finders, Morris Bellamy, is a low-rent psychopath.  Bellamy simply lacks the heart-of-darkness gravitas to be an antagonist of any stature.  (You want a Psychopath with a capital P?  Meet Annie Wilkes.)

The story that runs parallel to that of Bellamys, though shifted in time (nicely executed by Mr. King), is that of Peter Saubers and his family.  Many reviewers have praised Kings description of a family cracking under economic pressure, and rightly so (though we could do without Peters near-hysterical sister, Tina).  However, while Peter Saubers holds his own as a character, the remainder of the cast is driving a veritable clown car.

We are reintroduced to the gang-who-couldnt-shoot-straight from Mr. Mercedes -- Bill Hodges, Holly Gibney and Jerome Robinson:  a team that manages to be simultaneously uninteresting and annoying.  Hodges is a detective-turned-PI clich; Gibney is the obligatory King character who is emotionally wounded but has special gifts; and, most jaw-dropping of all, Robinson is a bright (he goes to Harvard!), handsome (for Tina, its love at first sight!) and rugged (he drives heavy equipment on the docks!) black man with a jive-talking alter-ego named Tyrone Feelgood.  At this point, its likely that King gets it that Tyrone is not one of his most inspired creations, and greatly diminishes his role in Finders Keepers.  However, like George Lucas with Jar Jar Binks, King just cant bring himself to kill his little darling.  This trio of would-be detectives doesnt really solve any mysteries or crimes:  like fortunate blind squirrels, they just trip over one fortuitous acorn after another.

(Along the way, King manages to make scruple a verb and use trice and ere with no apparent self-awareness or ironybut we nitpick).

In a recent interview, Mr. King acknowledged that writing crime novels is difficult for him.  It shows.  Throughout Finders Keepers, there is the sense that the author is laboring mightily, and having no fun at all (rather like the reader).  He has become the writer who would not be King.

Until, that is, the final few pages, where the book earns its second star, and Mr. King returns to being Stephen King.  Once the supernatural element is introduced, the writing becomes tighter and more sure-footed.  The Writer Who Is King is back, and the appetite of countless Constant Readers (I am one) is whetted.

Welcome back, Stephen.  Please don't wander away again.
1276253
This story was moderately well-written, but by the time I finished it, I was left unsatisfied. The story is supposed to be a romance, but there was very little actual romance within the story. I felt that the entire plot line was trying to lead us to an exciting conclusion, all the while misleading the reader as to where the plot was going. She was supposed to be falling in love, but her end-all "love interest" came off as boorish and even stuck up, all the way to the very end. The characters were pretty one-dimensional, even the main character; she was heavy, self-conscious to the point of self-debasing, extremely structured and simple; her sister was perfect, beautiful, and successful (though, obviously, shallow--from the main character's POV); the first man introduced in the story was comprised of "Scottish" colloquialisms, the occasional laugh (though I often missed why), and a great deal of seemingly self-centered absenteeism; the second man introduced seemed sweet (and was my dogged hope for her "love interest"), but again, not much else to the character. In addition to the poorly crafted story arc, there were numerous typos within every chapter, which made it difficult for me to dig into the text. This author's future stories could be much better if she were to take the time to think out each major player and make them more realistic, and also GET A NEW EDITOR!
1816657
By no means is this a terrible movie; it's just the very definition of meh. The plot is simple (probably a good thing); but the acting-aside from Eckhart is-subpar, and there's not one memorable scene in the movie. It's supposed to be an action flick-and there is some action-but there was nothing you haven't seen before, nothing you would describe to friends as "exciting". I watched it less than 48 hours ago and I'm already starting to forget what happened. I know I'll never watch it again and won't recommend it even as a 1 time viewing.
484600
Badly written, Insta-love vs. Insta obsession.  Did I seriously read the same book as everyone else?  The character development was sub par at best, the characters where too one dimensional and the story line was lacking in depth and intrigue.  This book wasn't horrible, but I gave up on it fairly early in and knew that I wasn't going to like it.  I made it to the end, but I most certainly won't be reading on with this series.  Congrats to the author tho for having such a huge success with this series.  I guess I am just one of the few who wasn't invested.
3412340
You know, this minimum word rating thing is kind of silly/stupid. A review of a product like this doesn't really require anything other than a basic summary...
4508931
I received the abridged audio version as a Christmas gift.  Maybe I should blame the abridgment, but it was about the least-thrilling thriller I've ever come across.  I listened to the entire set of CDs fairly quickly, in several days of my lengthy commute, and kept expecting there to be an increase in tension... especially when "the chase" started. Instead, it was a rather placid description in which everything goes along almost uneventfully and without a hitch, with basically no real threat to the protagonist.

Not a "bad" book; just boring.

There's also a puzzling "continuity" glitch, relating to the substantial amount of money the protagonist has for the initial part of his escape. Maybe the explanation got lost in the abridgment.
13590
This book, or at least, its premise, seemed so promising, but as an avid mystery reader I did not find that it delivered on any of those promises. While not actually bad or anything that defied credulity, the plot still manages to become simplistic because the author relies more on coincidence than brain work on her detective's behalf.

On that note, Lavender and Woods have the faint whiff of cardboard about them, though perhaps they were fleshed out more fully in the first book - which I have not read. But they were very much generic detectives, or rather, generic Holmes & Watson knockoffs, and there was nothing even vaguely unique about him or what I hesitate to call his methods.

I found myself growing increasingly annoyed as it played out, not only because of the irritating nature of many side characters plucked straight from the Book Of Cliches (don't get me started on how gratingly banal her "mobs" are), but because unbeknownst to this reader, a romance was also part and parcel with the book. I found myself skipping over the scenes with Magdalena, who is herself a caricature, because I simply do not care to have my mysteries with a side order of romantic angst. It's an annoying trend in historical mysteries lately, that just when the plot picks up, out of the blue will come a chapter devoted to the detective's love interest, and the story veers off into soap opera territory from thenceforth.

Inevitably, that is what forced me to give up on this, even though I hate leaving books unfinished.
3688920
Perhaps my expectations were too high. Perhaps I expected something entirely different than what was served. Perhaps it was just poor timing when it came to reading this... Though UNREMEMBERED by Jessica Brody was an enjoyable enough read, a poorly executed "mystery" and characters lacking in emotional depth caused it to fall a bit... flat.

Flat. What an excellent word to describe this book. Let's start with the main character, Violet (aka. "Seraphina" according to the description, which itself is a spoiler that completely kills one "mystery" element in the book). She is a positively "perfect" being, and we are constantly reminded of this fact throughout the book. Oh, and she has purple eyes. Seraphina is so perfect and flawless, in fact, (and don't forget she has purple eyes) that it is obvious that she is either a) an unnatural human/science experiment/robot or b) an alien. Take your pick. And she is super smart and probably has the highest IQ in the world, buy yet she knows nothing at all about the modern world... Hmm, I wonder where she came from? Either she comes from a) a different time or b) another planet. Again, take your pick. Other than these attributes, there was very little that made Seraphina interesting.

UNREMEMBERED was too entirely predictable and so straight forward in how it was presented from the very beginning. As a result, the element of mystery was killed for this (typically naive) reader. In fact, even though it is also supposed to be a romance novel, I found my self not at all invested with either of the romantic interests. So even that part of the story fell a bit flat for me. Sadly, the other half of the love story, Zen, simply came across as a lucky hormonal boy who happened to fall in love with the "perfect woman". I think that any boy who happened upon her could have easily fit the bill. I tried to find some redeeming quality that would make Zen special or stand out as more than just a cardboard character, but I couldn't... Not to mention, there seemed to be too many characters thrown in the story out of convenience, as though they were there just to help the characters along in their quest. And the bad guy... Is it bad that I didn't feel the tension with this one?

I do not want to sound too negative, though. The writing IS quite good and the words/dialogue flow fairly easily. While much time is spent running (from both the obvious truth and the bad guys) and the pacing is off a bit, I still found UNREMEMBERED to be a quick and entertaining enough read. At least, I wasn't bored, even though I knew the outcome before I read it. How exactly was the pacing off? Well, UNREMEMBERED starts right off with the discovery of Seraphina, but after that it contains an overly slow middle + a too quick resolution. While this is actually the typical pacing of mystery fiction, in this case the element of mystery wasn't exactly there... so phooey.

I do know many other readers who have found the story to be quite exciting and the mystery to be rather unpredictable, though. Maybe I will be the black sheep when all is said and done.

Will I be continuing the series? Well, UNREMEMBERED did end on a pretty big cliffhanger, one that sends the characters and story in a direction that could be insanely awesome. Plus, now that the predictable brouhaha of discovering the origin of Seraphina is over and done with, perhaps the story can move forward to something more gripping. I have a feeling that, in spite of my lack of a full connection with UNREMEMBERED, I will still be checking out book two when it is released.
581087
Meh...  Nothing Earth-shattering here.  Maybe it helped a little, but it's not worthy of the gushing reviews.  The animation is a bit cheap, music a bit annoying, and there is no real method, just repetition of steps.  It's fine, but we know a few others who've tried it, and we all felt the same...  Meh.

I guess when a child finally quits diapers, you attribute it to whatever method you were trying at the time, rather than the child's development. That's why I give the "bottomless chocolate milk party" five stars!!!
188618
I don't mind a simple concept in a simple movie, or the simple plot where the acting is okay, but it this one repeats such an over-used plot it becomes trite; not anywhere near as well as so many of the others.  I stuck it out, expecting maybe to be surprised, only to find it rather boring, trite, and repetitive with filler thrown in to give it the minimal length needed to be considered a movie and not a short. Really, the entire concept could have been done in 30  minutes instead.  I'm surprised only to find it being rated so well by other viewers.  Maybe are they all youngsters without having seen this concept a zillion times already?  Who knows.  Anyway, simple entertainment - don't expect even the slightest surprise.
3269161
Pretty sure the review system is being gamed on this book, and that a significant number of "reviewers" here are astroturfing.

The book's just not that good. Granted, I've only made it 50 pages in, but I've made it an increasingly more frequent habit to give up on books if they're not keeping me engaged. Life's too short to read every book you start to completion, including the poor ones.

The book starts out okay, with robots in a position where they're sentient, but used as slaves by humanity. They are rallying peacefully when humans blow a crowd of them to bits. The scenario is framed to parallel the AI uprising with slave revolts and civil rights movements in human history, which has been done many times in science fiction.

One of the main problems early on is that the AI are basically indistinguishable from humans. They think just like people, apparently look like them, have the same spectrum of emotions and motivations, etc. This just feels lazy, the framing of the conflict and the portrayal of the AI.

But that would still be all right once we get into the meat of the story. A particular AI, accompanied by a bodyguard are running around in abandoned buildings and forest when they encounter hordes of human zombies. Okay. The main character, Freeman, remarks on how he is worried they're going to eat him. What? Are the AI cyborgs? The writing is so sloppy we don't really know the nature of the AI. If there is some big reveal later on, that's just too coy. For me to invest in the characters I need to understand what, if any, kind of danger they're in. I have no idea why an AI would be worried about being eaten by zombies...it's just silly, and pulls me out of the story.

Plotting and logic aside, I could maybe shut off my brain and go along for the ride if the action was passable. It's not. Descriptions of events are confusing and jumbled. It's hard to tell who is where and exactly what's going on.

All that said, it's not the worst thing I've ever read, but it is certainly not a 4.5-star book. I'm just particularly disappointed because I was drawn to it by the stellar reviews, and I'm feeling duped and cheated by what looks like the publisher/author gaming the system here.
1768463
I skimmed the reviews before purchasing this item and was vaguely satisfied with the positive reviews. However after reading it I'm more than a little disappointed. The characters are terribly underdeveloped (primarily James, whom I found unbearably moody and melodramatic) and just stupid. It's highly unrealistic in regards to Naomi's dad allowing her to travel abroad with little knowledge of her whereabouts in the first place, and a lot of the events seem poorly constructed, as if no effort was invested in writing certain scenes. The beginning had some potential, I won't lie. The plot seems scattered and rushed in some places and plodding in others. James is a jerk and Naomi is naive and an idiot. She barely knows the boy and she "trusts" him and "loves" him, but he's an absolute coward. He's a walking self proclaimed sob story that just wants people to feel bad for him, which I found annoying. It justall around I think lacked a lot. Unfortunately I wouldn't recommend this.