Good at first, but lost some of the tension
349978
I felt this book was similar to Wife by Wednesday in the way it had tension in the beginning but then loses it about half way through.  I think it takes a very good writer to keep that tension all the way through and that's hard to find in many series romance novels.
2910982
I voluntarily read an advanced reader copy of this book.

This is the second part of Andy Mulberry's "Of Witches and Wolves" series, and it's a decent follow-up to the first volume, if a bit more flawed - something that isn't all that uncommon with the second part of a series. The first part introduces us to the characters and familiarizes us with the world the story takes place in, while also setting up the pieces of the plot and putting them in motion. With all of that to accomplish, first books tend to be pretty strong stories with just enough dangling threads to lure you back in for more. By contrast, second books serve more as bridges - picking up those threads and moving the plot pieces to their next place on the board before laying out some new threads to be picked up in the next book, fleshing out and evolving the main characters a bit, and maybe shining a bit more light on some secondary characters. Because they have less to accomplish, second books can end up feeling a bit weak by comparison. Unfortunately, "Ice Girl" suffers a bit from that.

In my review of "Fire Girl" I'd noted the romance seemed a bit lacking because one-half of the couple was under a spell that compelled those feelings, and I'd expected the romance to be more vibrant in this volume. Sadly, it wasn't. We didn't really see our main couple together that much, and both were feeling quite insecure about their relationship because they were making assumptions rather than talking to each other. We got to revisit some of the side characters from the first book, but in some ways, their appearances felt a bit like cameos. A few new characters were introduced and seem promising, though a couple didn't have a whole lot to do besides establishing that they are a part of the story.

As for the story itself, it started pretty slow, but once it got going, it was one heck of a ride. Things went from bad to worse very quickly, and it was in figuring out how to resolve the situation that we really got to see how strong of a bond our main characters have, which was really nice.

So, even though it may be a weaker book overall - largely due to "second-part-itis," there was certainly enough to hold my interest and I'm looking forward to seeing where the story goes from here.
4394183
I started this book with great excitement and high hopes. The premise sounded fascinating and it's the first book I've read by Ted Dekker (co-written with Erin Healy).

It started out great. The prologue grabbed me and I couldn't stop turning the pages. I read the first half in one day. Almost in one sitting. Twists, turns, high stakes, and a maze of clues all made for an exhilarating read. But, once Shauna starts figuring out who she can and cannot trust, it started to lose me. More than once, she puts herself in situations that make no sense. Her father, Landon McAllister, seems a bit gullible for a presidential candidate. And the final confrontation felt somewhat anticlimactic, with Shauna not taking a big enough role.

Having said all that, I still enjoyed the book and would rate it at 4 out of 5 stars. I just wish the end had lived up to the promise of the beginning.
4777213
The first 3/4's of the book were very well done and then, instead of a tight wrap-up, the scene expanded and events, including reluctance to view evidence in a timely manner, became too far-fetched. Also, the ending was somewhat anti-climactic.
3583576
I enjoyed the first half of the book quite a bit more than I expected. About halfway through, however, I hit a serious problem with suspension of disbelief - not about the mermen but with the behavior of certain quasi-villainous human organizations. The behavior of one of the human principles also became a bit murky for me. I was hoping Jayson's behavior, at least, would come clear as the story progressed, but the book ended without much resolution there. Worse, the action plot, if you will, resolved magically without any input from the principles. Together those two factors left me rather unhappy with the ending. And my final criticism: there's no sex. Some kissing and one non-descriptive leg-humping scene, but no sex. I expected sex.
4632315
The beginning was explosive and I liked this book a lot almost till the end, but there was a not so good third and last part that made me change my evaluation of the book in its wholeness. I still consider this novel a very good one, but it seemed to me a story that didn't keep up with the expectations it has created in the first part of the book, but is just my evaluation and doesn't have necessarily be true for other readers.

L'inizio mi ha preso tantissimo e il libro mi  piaciuto moltissimo e poi molto quasi fino alla fine, ma la terza e l'ultima parte hanno in parte cambiato il mio giudizio sul libro nel suo insieme. Penso ancora che sia un bel romanzo, ma in qualche modo non ha tenuto fede alle aspettative create nella prima parte del romanzo stesso, ma questa  solo la mia opinione e non quella degli altri lettori.
611759
I am not really sure how to categorize this book. I liked the overall premise, but at times I felt like the author got lost in theory (or once, in song content). These lapses took away from the movement of the story. The Formula For Desire and The Sixth Extinction seemed like two books, and it was broken up in that manner. The first dealt with the initial event, and the second, with following disaster. The differences between these two sections was notable, with the first getting lost in theory, as mentioned previously, and the second, at time, getting bogged down in lecture. The initial story moved along and had my interest. The second part dealt with the loss of some of the main characters, and how the "children" took over to attempt to save the earth. However, I had less empathy for these characters (Sam/Stella) than the initial (Gabe/Jesse) ones. I actually was rather frustrated at the actions of Sam, and actually felt like screaming at him to just get over his problems with Stella and/or Rosa. Sam, especially, behaved like a petulant child, although he was supposedly an adult. Based on this, I can't say I recommend this book although it has promise and merit. I think that the ideas were fresh and technically good, yet the overall impression I got of The Formula for Desire and The Sixth Extinction was rather ambiguous.
2356336
I was immediately pulled into this book, given to me as a gift, by the interesting premise.  But that interest only carried me so far.  While the plausibility of her trip never bothered me, as I read along certain other things did.

For one, I never felt emotionally connected to the character.  It was as though we just had to watch her do all these things without seeing enough of her thoughts.  That distance really aggravated me the further I read, though there were maybe one or two scenes where I did feel more connected to her.

The other problem was that I felt like some things were either explained too much or too little.  The narrator would remind me three times who a certain person was that I already knew, but then the action would make huge jumps with no explanation about what happened in between.

I still think it's a great premise and the plot develops in fabulous ways, but sadly these two issues prevented me from enjoying the book.
2806262
As soon as I finished the first book, I was ready to devour this one, especially since I was still reeling from the cliffhanger.  Needless to say, there was much anticipation and eagerness on my part, and I think this might've ruined the book for me a little.

Things started out great -I had really liked Forgetting August and the beginning of Remembering Everly was the continuation of the story I had thoroughly enjoyed.  However, somewhere along the way, the book lost its grip on me.  I can't really pinpoint where and/or how but I simply started to lose interest.  The story seemed to be dragging and there just wasn't much excitement.  I found myself reading pages and pages where nothing worthwhile was really happening.  I feel like it just took too long for the story to unfold or at least, for anything meaningful to happen.  As a result of this, it took me a long time to finish the book.  I found myself skipping reading at night (which I hate), until I finally decided to read through the slump and finish it.

The story was still a good story, and putting aside my above mentioned issues, I was satisfied with how all the loose ends were tied up.  The characters were still the same likable characters from the first book and I was glad to see that everyone got what they deserved. Overall it was a good book and perhaps I just had high expectations.  Other readers might not have trouble with the flow, so don't let that discourage you from picking up this book.

*I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*
937666
"Think of a number" starts out fine: An interesting premise, some surprising twists, intriguing riddles. Unfortunately it can't sustain this momentum: The subplot about the investigator's marriage sometimes feels forced and pointless, some later riddles are very easy to guess yet the police takes forever to figure them out, and parts of the plan only work because the policemen in the book never pursue some avenues real-life investigators would. Furthermore, the finale feels a bit drawn out, "revealing" things long after the reader already figured them out.

Still, it kept my attention until the end, even if it left me a little bit disappointed. It's a solidly written freshman thriller, and the first and second act work very well.
4595076
I did like this unit better at first especially as it can connect to two devices as once.  My iPad and my phone and takes calls as needed and switches back to my video, etc when the call is done - but an issue has caused me to only go three stars. The small screen covering on the mic has begun to fray and cause an uncomfortable feeling on my skin.  The second dislike is the constant need to re-seat it in position on the ear to keep from falling off and to be able to hear well as when it slips out some as the volume is not enough to hear well.
4574806
I really liked this idea.  And the characters were pretty interesting as well.  The little scenes were exciting. But after a while the lack of a clear plot line got a bit wearing.  I can see where this may have been more entertaining as a series of short stories.  When the overall plot finally emerged, I was already losing interest in the book, and it wasn't enough to fully engage me again.

Also the ending?  Eew.  That was just not something that I would consider a happy ending.
4567212
Story definitely captivated me in the first few chapters. Characters are good, plot is good, writing is good sometimes & ok sometimes. But it was like it lost steam towards the middle there, the magic just kind of fizzled out for me. Narration became inconsistent, so I had a jarring experience. To illustrate: most chapters are written in 1st-person, but then some chapters are written in 3rd-person (sort of?),  but you don't actually know whose perspective is being presented then. My brain couldn't get into the places/events she describes, I don't know why. Lacking a sense of atmosphere? Towards the end, after the climax of the story, there was a long, drawn-out resolution that wasn't very satisfying. After the motorcycle incident in the beginning, everything became so predictable and kind of haphazard. To recap: Great Beginning > Okay Middle > Unsatisfying Ending. I would attribute this to lack of atmosphere, some jarring narration, predictability, and just losing steam there in the end, when the magic and promise of something great just disappeared.
4360082
While I'm a big fan of Val McDermid's books, I would not call this one a favorite. It started out full of tension and suspense, but then it became a bit tedious. When I reached the end, I could understand why she included some of the excruciating detail about the development of the friendship between the main characters, Scarlett and Stephanie, but in the process of getting from the start to the finish, I nearly lost interest. Some of the detail was necessary to establish Scarlett's complete obsession with making a success of her life. She used a reality TV show to catapult her to the top of pop culture and raise her from poverty to riches. It quickly became clear that nothing and no one will be allowed to stand in the way of Scarlett getting what she wants.
Near the end, there's a red herring that I thought was completely unnecessary and the final part of the book seemed rushed. Ultimately, I was not sure that the finale was realistic even given the extreme situation in which Stephanie found herself. I've read all of McDermid's Tony Hill/Carol Jordan series and most of her stand-alones, and found them all to be excellent. This one just didn't quite measure up.
2782891
I loved the concept of this book and thought it started out great. Somewhere along the way it lost me. I wasn't expecting there to be so much focus on Emma's abusive marriage and I felt there was not enough development of James as a character or Emma and James' relationship. While the state of Emma's marriage is important to the story, I was hoping for more focus on Emma and James and their connection. Also, point of view changed between several characters which made it feel disjointed at times.

A good portion of the book was about how evil Craig was and how badly he treated Emma. It became somewhat repetitive. I got really frustrated with Emma for not leaving when the abuse escalated and found it hard to believe that she didn't have access to any money. As a high profile wife she was expected to maintain an image that would be expensive to support. She ordered a Chanel gown for their anniversary dinner! It seems to me she could have found a way to put money aside. Especially since her marriage didn't go south overnight.

Given all this, I hoped for a really strong ending. Instead, once Emma was finally free and Craig got what was coming to him, the book moved so fast it made my head spin. The very end just left me utterly confused.
988352
Okay, so this book started off great about the adventurous spirit of man. Awesome. I thought it really hit home in a lot of ways talking about how men want to live dangerously and adventurously and then tied it in religiously saying that we were designed that way. It was pretty compelling and helped me understand myself better. There are some cheesy parts but overall, the first half of the book was great.

Then, half way through the book, it takes this turn about men having issues from growing up and how we have these great wounds that need to be healed. It becomes quite sappy, very religious (uncomfortably so), and tries to convince you that you have some horrible wound that you can only cure by sobbing your eyes out and taking to God. Now, this might be great for a lot of men because this is a harsh world and many of us might have these issues. However, for someone like myself who had a wonderful upbringing, this second half of the book becomes quite uncomfortable and I'm unable to relate.

Maybe that was the whole point of the book and I didn't realize that before starting. Either way, it might be worthwhile to read just to get some perspective.
372829
this movie started off really well. i love the beginning part, and was fixed on the screen as the tragedy happened on the cliffside at the beginning of the movie. but from there on, i actually lost interest. they made the first part of the film too good, so that the rest seemed paltry.