Leaves me unsatisfied.
588083
I found the writing lacking in any passion.
4708166
Thought it would relax me, but instead it annoyed me to death....but that is just me!
2037694
I can't quit put my hand on it but it just does not feel right, it feels to small in length and too tall. I feel like I have to curl my finger to much to activate the buttons Also, the texture of the plastic makes my hand feel sweaty. The software/drive has yet to work. At the price its basically a throw away anyways.
138144
I am not sure if it is the writing style or the content that places this book at the bottom of my reading experiences. It is a rare book that makes you feel cheated for having spent the time to suffer through it.
4712459
Really didn't resolve things to my satisfaction. Lots of things built up to a not-so-satisfying conclusion.
3084626
Given how much I truly love the first three books of the Mode series, I never would have pictured myself giving the fourth, _DoOon Mode_, a negative review.  Yet that's what I find myself doing.

To be fair, this book suffers from several disadvantages:  longtime fans of the series have been waiting for it for years--some as long as eight, since _Chaos Mode_ came out in hardback in 1993.  My expectations were bound to be high after a wait like that, particularly when I learned that it was to conclude the series.  I can also imagine that perhaps Piers Anthony lost the feel of these characters, this reality; though continuity errors were few, _DoOon Mode_ didn't really seem in synch with its predecessors.

Now for what requires all those excuses.  For starters, I didn't get any sense of depth from any character, even Colene, which may have been partially due to the frequent perspective-shifting--and this time most of the perspectives were used a sum total of once.  I couldn't really get into the heads of these protagonists, only seeing a slice of the action from their view.  And while I'm on the subject of the action, it seemed awfully glossed over to me.  Many things were skipped, shown entirely off-camera; I got little feel for the wonderful variety of the Virtual Mode and instead have a hunch that Anthony was trying to cut travel scenes as short as possible.  Saving, mind you, for one Xanth cameo that seemed totally unnecessary.  The characters' conflicts weren't explored to any significant degree; plot threads turned up and were swiftly cut off, not appearing to serve any purpose in the meanwhile.  (If anyone can figure out the *point* of learning that Nona's joy cannot be depleted, or the motivation for her change of mind/heart with regards to her home reality, could you please explain it to me?)

Meanwhile, I also have problems with the amount of sex in this.  All of the Mode books are heavily into sex-related issues; it's to be expected, and I'm not complaining about that.  What bothers me is that the sex seemed purposeless here, thrown in simply to have it present.  Even the new revelations about Colene's past trauma had the feel of something gratuitous.  And the sexiness of the young women was frequently described--something which was just the tip of the repetition iceberg.  Each new perspective brought yet another account of how the traveling party interacted, from a different and yet painfully similar viewpoint.  I lost count of how many times Colene was described as a "vessel of dolor."  That, to me, was wasted space that could have been better spent on more depth of plot.

Which brings me to the most disturbing thing--while all of the characters do achieve conclusions, and those conclusions are marginally satisfactory, they're... well, shallow.  Given how much I came to care about Colene and Darius, I was terribly disappointed with the book's conclusion; sure, they got the ending we all knew was coming, but it was so anticlimactic that I was dismayed all the same.  (Not to mention that if there were a romantic scene that I wouldn't have minded seeing, it would be the consummation of that relationship--something which is entirely missing!)  I have no real sense of closure with these characters.  Their finale was quick, bland, and left a bad taste in my mouth.

It shouldn't be surprising that I don't recommend buying this one.  Certainly not in hardback as I did.  However, Mode fans will probably want to read it just to know how things turn out--and it *is* worth reading, for all that I've said; my opinion of it may not be the greatest, but I'm glad to have had one last chance to slip into the worlds of Colene, Darius, and their companions all the same.  Just don't make it the first Mode novel you read, and don't get your expectations too high.
827318
-Spoiler-Free Rant-

I admit, I've read my fair share of bad series finales or even followups, but I think Ms. Mead may have taken the cake as being the supreme Queen of Disappointment. Not to say I didn't enjoy the book up until that fateful point, but I think if I would have know that it was going to leave me so dissatisfied, to the point of frustration and anger, I might not have bothered with it in the first place.  I understand that not every story is meant to have a happy ending, but I at least expected that an author would have the decency to attempt at wrapping up and answering most open-ended questions by the end. I guess that was pretty presumptuous on my part.

Without giving too much away, the book was much better as a whole than the final Succubus book, but that really isn't much of a consolation when it comes to the very loose ending. It really is difficult to keep my overall opinion of this book in perspective. Especially when the last thing you are left with is disappointment. The book was good if it wasn't for the ending. Some would say, just ignore the ending and rewrite your own, but it's hard for me to do so, when one ending is already so ingrained in my mind. Anger does that I guess.

I can only assume that the fan unfriendly ending is either a product of some greater machinations or just tactic to anger her devoted readers. I really don't understand either reasoning, but I do know that I won't be investing anymore time with this author's future works.
3279435
I usually don't mind unsettling books, but I honestly did not like this one very much. I didn't really like any of the characters. Actually, I despised basically all of them except the little boy, and I actually found him annoying at times, so I didn't like him as much as I feel I should have.
I liked the beginning of the story, but as it progressed, I liked it less and less. There were parts in this book that actually made me feel ill, and the ending was far from what I'd hoped it would be. The end felt a bit rushed as well, and with that on top of the fact that it also felt incredibly wrong and unsatisfying, I was very disappointed. After reading the last page, I just sat there for a few minutes with my stomach upset thinking to myself, "...that's all? Is that really how it ended? Are you kidding me?"
The author's writing was pretty good (although the various insect metaphors got a bit old after a while), but not good enough to bring up my rating. For me, this book is a pretty solid three stars.
2987997
Found this book slightly unsatisfactory. One of those annoying books you read and are annoyed by how things turned out because it didn't feel finished to me. The first book started off okay than story builds and suddenly everything comes to a screeching halt as incident after incident happen and you're left feeling annoyed and pissed off. Second book just seemed like a brush off and in a hurry to finish the story. Things seemed all over the place for me and though it's not always necessary that loose ends get tied up, this book had more than necessary. I know it's fiction but does this really happen? Within a two year period there have been so many up and downs I feel like I went hours on a roller coaster with no stop. I don't know... Just confused and unhappy with how thing turned out. Wasn't as good as I was expecting after her other books.
1215606
I've held off on my review for such a long time, because, frankly, I just don't LIKE this album.  I feel as though I should like it, but the truth is in the listening, and after 4 listens, well, I can't make myself listen anymore.  I'm not willing to put in the effort it might take to make me finally catch on to what they're doing.

I don't find anything in the album offensive, but nor does anything particularly grab me.  I find the vocals, lyrics and instrumentation, not to mention the arrangements, honestly boring.

I like all kinds of music, really, with my currently most-listened to stuff as of late being John Mellencamp's new album (I love it) and older Goo Goo Dolls albums (love them, too), with some Audioslave and Rage Against the Machine thrown in for good measure.

But, bafflingly enough, I do not like Elbow.

I'm really sorry.
2371044
Unlike the featured negative reviewer, I DID finish this novel, and I regret to say that it was most unsatisfying, generating one of my only one star reviews.  The characters seemed to substitute physical attraction for any meaningful connection(and their carnal interactions left nothing to the imagination).  Both doctors were shallow and self centered, and the conflict between them was resolved  without sufficient motivation.  Additionally, there was a bizarre and somewhat gratuitous subplot involving a bipolar patient.  This storyline was nonessential to the plot;I kept waiting for it to be integrated in substantive way, but it really wasn't, so I was left wondering why the author and editor included it in the finished work.  I wanted to like this novel but was disappointed.
4698760
I am also obviously outnumbered, but I really did not like this book.  I forced myself to finish it, hoping that it would get better, but only found myself getting more and more irritated.  Anyone who is a true RVer would dearly love to be able to quit going to work for a year to travel the country in a very expensive custom-built bus ($1200 for a bathroom sink;  marble countertops - really??).  And yet Dr. Orion does very little but moan and complain about how her crazy husband is forcing her to do this.  She screams at the sight of any insects, absolutely refuses to drive and instead perfects her martini recipes.  She tries hard to be funny and endearing but I'm just not buying it.  She comes across as self-important, spoiled and pampered.  I have yet to figure out why her long-suffering husband would want to baby someone like he does his wife - she proudly relates that she does no cooking, no laundry, and no real work that I could spot; she calls him Project Nerd instead of appreciating the fact that she has a very handy husband.  I feel like if I met her I would never want to be her friend.  I think we're supposed to be grateful that she learns to be (slightly) less materialistic by the end of the trip, but really - it shouldn't take a very expensive year-long trip in pure travel luxury to do that.  She needs to get over herself.  I will be donating this book to the next free book swap I can find.

And in case I were to get accused of jealousy, I have a high-powered degree too (just like her) and I love to go RVing in my cheap little travel trailer.  I have no intention of ever trading it in for a half-million dollar (or more) bus.  What a self-indulgent waste.
3991323
Well, I recently had to replace my old steam boiler and put in a forced hot air unit. I wanted a whole house humidifier and was told this was the best. I am now regretting my decision.  While the unit does seem to work, I find it very inefficient.  My electric bill is up at least $1.50 if not $2.00 a day, just to run this unit.  I have gone back to my old refillable unit and have this one set to only come on if the humidity get very low or if I am away for an extended period.  I am afraid that it is simply a waste of $1000. I think that a pair of room humidifiers would be infinitely better. Though they need to be filled manually, I am happy to do so to save $60 a month.
The unit draws about 8 amps for heating and 2 more for the fan motor.  That's 1.1 kilowatts per hour.  In addition, the air that comes out when just the humidifier is running feels cold due to wind chill.  I have had to set the fan only speed to the lowest possible setting so I do not get cold when walking by a vent.
3480544
I wish I can say I relate but I don't. It just makes me angry, sad, and happy all at the same time.
2226135
It feels unfair to me to give this a star. I couldn't get passed chapter 5 and I struggled that far. I hate giving bad reviews or saying many negative things but lately I've found myself doing both. I had high hopes for this. To high apparently because as I read I felt like this was a school project to attempt to write their own book. I didn't t like the author's flow or "voice". I feel bad that I didn't enjoy it. I really didn't like either character and kept telling myself that it would get better than the stilted beginning but it didn't. I ended up deciding to reread something else rather than try to finish this. I hate not finishing a book and it rarely happens even if I just skim and read to the end to see how things turn out. However with this story, I didn't even care what the end entailed and promptly forgot the plot, the character's names and couldn't begin to tell what this was originally about. Sorry to the author or fans of this series, maybe it is just me and I should have given this a chance but I really disliked the writing style. I really tried to give this a chance since this would have provided a long series to immerse myself in but instead I got frustrated put my kindle away and desperately wished I had my money back.
1173327
The overall concept is great but I am not happy with the product for the following reasons:

1) The wake up light is not bright enough and does not always wake me.
2) The LED read out that shows the time is too bright--and is not adjustable at all. I have to cover up the LED time readout or otherwise the room is too bright to sleep.
3) The fragrance beads smell cheesy
4) You have to operate the buttons in a certain order or it won't work--that's a pain.
5) The wake up light does not stay on long enough and there is no adjustment feature to adjust the length of time the light stays on.
6) The buzzer at the end of the wake up cycle is obnoxious and irritating which kind of defeats the purpose of the product.
7) The quality of the sounds is so-so

Here's what I like:
1) it is returnable
2640610
So far this series does not have a good ratio of good times to bad. Not that it needs to be 50/50, but cover-to-cover misery makes me grumpy. It's like reading about someone's perpetually bad day. All-in-all, I felt unsatisfied after reading this book. It just lacked something. It was more like a bit of a story here and a bit of a story there, but not a lot of anything. Filler material really, interesting tidbits but not fulfilling. Another reviewer called this book hot...I must have missed those pages.