Good Concept; Weak Execution in Areas
580975
I love the concept of this series. I love the characters. I really like that she's building a compelling universe.

But I hate that the author breaks her own rules. I hate the random info dumps. I hate the exposition through dialogue that seemed to take up half of this book. And the vocabulary just makes me grimace. Can we call them men, not males? And can we please, please, please, stop the purple prose?

Because I love the characters and the premise, I'll keep reading the series. But, if the things I've described above throw you out of a book, this one might not be for you.
513140
The idea is good, but this is poorly executed in terms of usability and layout. Pages are too narrow and, when combined with the explanatory type for each line item (e.g., username, password, site name, etc.), there is not enough room for writing the info that you need to capture - unless you can write very, very small. Too bad, because the overall quality of the product, in terms of materials and finishing, is quite good.
108282
I loved the idea of a pocket guide on my iPhone while I travel. Unfortunately this book had quite a few issues/bugs:
- There were a few pages I would stick stuck on (the page would switch). I had to work around the issue by going to another page and coming back

- The kindle UI at the bottom of the screen blocks links on the page so you can't tap them. I had to change the orientation of the phone as a work around

- Since the guide is electronic you benefit from live links that go to maps and other parts of the book. I couldn't figure out how to go back once I clicked a link, I could only turn the page, so I found myself constantly going back to the table of contents to get back to a point

- As for the quality of the information, I think the overall itineraries are good, but good luck following them. I traveled with a native mandarin speaker and the lack of detail in this book on how to get to various places was frustrating. We had to suplement the book a lot using our data plan with Google maps. The maps were mostly a tease because they weren't helpful and lacked enough detail to find a place.
3289196
I like the overall concept of this book but quite frankly, I put it down about halfway through and will probably not pick it up again. My main complaint is that the focus of the story does not stay on one character. Dozens of characters in several settings are introduced as the focus switches through the galaxy, and it is quite difficult keeping track of who's who and what is happening. The dialogue is stilted and does not seem realistic, and the characters seem flat.

The concept of this book is strong, and the writer puts forth an intriguing idea. The writer also does an excellent job considering everything that a spaceship would need to sustain thousands of lives for many years. I would love to see the writer revise this and strengthen the storyline and character development, as there are many excellent possibilities. However, the creativity of this book is greatly hindered by its organization and the way its characters are portrayed.
2102477
While the book itself it a fun idea, the execution of the idea is poor.

For example, a question asks:  "What would you do if you had to cross a busy street and no adult was there to help you?"

The answer according to the book is:  "Stop at the curb.  Look left, then right and then left again.  Continue to look as you cross the street."

Well that's good, but it fails to mention that you should make sure no car is coming.  Or better yet:  Just don't cross the street.  This may seem obvious, but it is not obvious to all kids.  I can see a very literal minded autistic kid reading this and doing exactly what it says, look and then cross no matter whether a car is coming or not.

Same problem with the next question:  "What would you do if while you are walking home from school, a car pulls up close to the curb and someone inside asks you a question?"  No mention in made in this question as to whether the person inside is a stranger or a parent or normal caregiver of the child.  A literal minded child can interpret this to run from all people in cars.

Same problem with the question about "someone" offering candy.

So this book requires an adult to explain each question.  The kind of child that needs to book cannot understand it without explanation.  Of course, it could be argued that the child that needs this information can't read yet -- but that is not always the situation.

Also, it is unclear that one should press on the number to get the response from the book.  The numbers don't look like something you should press.  It does say to press them on the front cover, so there are directions.  Its just not intuitively obvious.  I thought I was supposed to push the lights on the stop light.

That said, the book can be used by a parent to keep a child's interest while discussing safety issues.
502979
The idea for this mystery was an excellent one. The character and scene developments drew me in. However after the first half I found myself reading the beginnings of each paragraph, skipping to the next. And by the end I thought perhaps the author had been given a minimum of words/paragraphs and so he embellished. I would have been a lot more impressed had he edited the ending explanatory chapters into one concise chapter, then hinting more to come via a legal or police "venue." Both characters are strong enough to experience future compelling adventures.
2491118
The cover is pretty, and eye-catching. I am always a sucker for dark hues, and the image of a girl staring at something unknown in the forest is very striking.

Murderous Little Darlings is a book that I found to be great as a concept, but not in execution. Overall, the idea that there are little vampires causing havoc in the world is a good one, and the fact there are siblings who do not agree with each other does lead to some strong character moments. But unfortunately, this is a hard one to read.

Ultimately, it feels as though the novella is trying to be too clever for the story itself. There is nothing wrong with a book that tries to make the reader think-that happens so rarely and is a great thing for the author to try and accomplish. But in this case, however, it gets to the point where things become overly confusing very quickly.

To give an example, there is a scene where the vampire kids decide to attack a group of people mourning at a funeral. Their reasoning, it seems, is that people are so focused on the funeral they won't notice someone being dragged away. Okay. Questionable, but okay. They then get in a very loud argument with a boy, and the parents tell them to be quiet. Okay, well, they are no longer being quiet obviously. But they are able to do it anyway by knocking the bratty kid in a funeral hole that everyone is turned away from-wait, what? Why is everyone turned away from the hole in the ground someone is going to be buried in? Does that normally happen in funerals? Or is that another hole in the ground? Why aren't the parents double checking on the bratty kid which seems like the natural thing for them to do? Already I am so confused.

There is also a twist at the end that is supposed to be an 'ah ha!' moment, but it's the same problem as the story in general-it's great in concept, lacking in execution. Without giving it away, this twist does not work if the reader really thinks about it. Some character motivations are all mixed up as a result, and other characters have literally teleported to different locations in order to justify this twist, which does not work in the story either from a timeline point of view or due to the fact that other people were involved in those same scenes and might have mentioned that. That being said, I do appreciate the idea behind it-from a character standpoint, it is a great twist.

The novella ends on a satisfactory note with some loose ends as well, but it is supposed to be the first in a series of seven so hopefully more will be explained. I am personally curious to see what will happen to Officer O'Hara, as it seemed she was going to be part of the conclusion but was strangely absent.

http://www.blackhavenreviews.com
2817229
I WANTED to like this book.  I liked the idea of the main characters in this book: reluctant vampire with a heart of gold and a vicious streak and a dhampir born of rape to a family and community that shames her for various reasons (unknown father, vampire father, mother with a slut rep, weird abilities, etc) who turns herself into a (vamp) killer out of self-hate and a desire to please her mother.  There was so much potential there, especially for Cat in terms of self-discovery, making peace with her heritage, her attraction to a vampire, and with her mother. Sadly, the author was in such a rush to get the two leads licking each other that the leads weren't given any depth.

The writing, in addition to the pacing, also seemed amateurish in places.  I think this may have been her first novel.  I may give a book from a later series a try.
1739584
Premise? Solid. World? Intriguing. Execution? Stumbles.

Seed is a book with a lot of promise, but unfortunately, it fails to live up to all of it. Let me begin by saying: don't mistake me. It's a good book, it's simply not a great one.

As a exercise in ideas and potential, it is absorbing, and there are a lot of directions it could have taken. As a stand-alone novel, I think it went in the right direction story-wise, but the problem in its execution was two-fold: poor editing and unfortunately shallow characters.

Seed is post-apocalyptic sci-fi centered in a world where climate change has run amok and brought about a second dust bowl. It's the 22nd century (so, first of all: hurray! We made it to the 22nd century!), and as the residents of America struggle through a perpetual migrant existence, a corporation has risen to the top of the food chain (literally). Satori manufactures climate-resistant seed to feed humanity, while doing predictably darker things behind the scenes.

The nomadic life and particularly the incorporation of many Hispanic and other multiracial characters and themes (characters and themes tragically skipped over in many fantasy and scifi works) lends a unique air to things that immediately piqued my interest. Mexican slang and a decent amount of the dialogue is in (pretty easy to figure out) Spanish. These characters also come with, what appears to be, a rich amount of background to draw from: a special-needs brother, traumatic family situations, military backgrounds, partner/love interests.

Unfortunately, while many of the characters seem to think "about" these things, we rarely get any depth to them. We get quick glimpses, but much of the writing style is just that--quick-paced, never seeming to want to dwell too long on any one particular point. In that regard, at least there's no "bog down," but we also sacrifice an emotional and sensory complexity that might have otherwise pulled us deeper into the depths of Ziegler's world.

If you want action, you will have plenty. That is one thing that is never sacrificed, and generally speaking, if there's going to be an action scene, there are going to be consequences. You will feel for the characters therein; largely because you may be about to lose some of those you quite liked. The character Doss is typically the star of these particular scenes, and while she could have been something more, unfortunately, her role largely is to be the "action star" of the book, while the character Brood gives us the more human angle of things, as well as experiences some actual growth.

The writer is obviously skilled, with a lot of ideas, but the editing is not great. I mean this in several ways.
  1. While post-apocalyptic settings aren't necessarily grounded in the scientific, sci-fi has a strong tradition of bearing up that undertone, and particularly where we are getting into genetically modified crops, seemingly organic cities, and clones, we somehow weave through them all with very little explanation. There was no "grounding."
  2. Furthermore, it's not uncommon to happen across things like "souls of their feet" and skin "pealing" off, grammatical and spelling errors, as well as a great many reused bits of language to describe certain happenings. A solid editor could've corrected many of these, and while taken individually one might say, "Things happen," the fact that there are so many really does add up over time.

In all, this book can be choppy at times and it's nothing that's going to knock your socks off, but for a couple days' entertainment, it's a fun and active stroll through the wasteland. It has its issues, but Seed is worth a read.
599780
I really liked the overall concept, it was very fresh and unique. I especially liked how the Quasings' conflict on our planet were interwoven with different historical events.

I had a problem, though, with the characterization of the protagonist, Roen. I understand that he's supposed to be imperfect so the reader can relate to him better, but his buffoonery is so over-dramatized that it's just a distraction. I'm not expecting a Jack Reacher as a main character, but don't give me a Curly Howard, either. It makes it harder to believe, in such a short time, that he could overcome more skilled and experienced Genjix adversaries such as Marc and Sean in hand-to-hand combat, even with Tao helping him.

Warning: some spoilers below.

There seems to be a conflicting characterization of the Genjix. On one hand, we're supposed to believe that they are very technically advanced, and that they have centuries of experience with warfare. Yet despite a superior numerical advantage, and being on a heightened security alert after the kidnapping, they were caught by surprise and unable to defend the Capulet Ski Lodge?

Such a big deal was made throughout the story about Roen's revelation to his roommate, Antonio, about the existence of the Quasing that I felt for sure there would be some negative consequence, but nothing ever came of it.

The prose is a bit flat, too. Throw in some rhetorical devices, like a simile or two. Add more vivid descriptions.

Despite these shortcomings, I will probably get the second book, only because I'm interested in finding out what kind of host Jill will turn out to be. I think the story would actually have turned out better with a character like Jill as main protagonist: a smart, self-assured female whose life gets turned around by becoming a Prophus host.
2657065
Great idea, but execution needs some work.  I was looking forward to being able to use the RFLKT and my phone only, and leave my Garmin at home (and I was willing to wait for a future updated on Android to enable the ANT+ bridge).  HOWEVER...connectivity is a real issue.  Very slow to connect to my phone, and the data lags significantly -- not sure how much of this is software (Wahoo Fitness) vs. hardware (RFLKT), but I had the RFLKT side-by-side with my Garmin on a long ride, and the RFLKT data points were trailing/below the Garmin, e.g. HR of 128 on the RFLKT vs. 158 on the Garmin; speed of 18km/h on the RFLKT vs. 28km/h on the Garmin.

I really like this product concept, but am not willing to take a chance that future updates won't address these issues.  Item is being returned.
1919551
Wonderful idea, poorly executed towards the end. I really wanted to like this, but the last half of the book DRAGGED. Maybe one good reveal every 45 minutes (used the audio book). It also started to feel a little messy and disorganized with the jumping perspectives and timelines. 3 stars because while a solid half of the book was annoying, I enjoyed the tail end.
2004388
In general, I liked this story. It had a lot going on in the plot and great subplots. The general idea was good and I think I get the concept of where the author wanted to go with this, but I also think it fell short of achieving that goal.

First, the writing is a little weak, and the book could use a really good developmental and line edit. Getting a good developmental editor on this good concept could have made all the difference in the world. There were instances of misspelled words, missing words, duplicated words, lots of run-on sentences and more. I am not a stickler for perfect grammar, either, but grammar should be good enough to ease the ability to read the book. The grammar sometimes made this a difficult read.

I enjoyed the adventures the two main characters embarked upon, and I liked the premise of the story--the problem is, I think the book started in the wrong place and put too much focus on the wrong things, so that at the end, we have no conclusions. Is this supposed to be a part of a series? If so, then I see no evidence of that. And yet, the sub-plots were not tied up at all. What happened with the children? Why were they chosen? How are so few going to be able to do anything major to change the world? Who were their parents? I'm assuming high-ranking families, people with some power or political pull? THAT was the story... but instead, we are given some conspiracy theories by an ex-employee while the read story--and the perpetrator--hides in the shadows and we're never shown that. Then at the end, we get sort of thrown into a sub-story of the man in the wilderness with his sick daughter, and it ends on a complete cliffhanger. Why?

It doesn't feel complete. There's no real ending to it, but I see no evidence this is a series. So I'm left, instead of feeling satisfied by a good story come to an end, feeling quite confused.

I really wanted to like this book, because I really liked the premise of the 'advertised' plot, but the book didn't really give me that plot--it didn't fulfill its promise--so instead I'm left with a lot of questions and feeling slightly frustrated at the way it ended.

And what frustrates me even more is that it had so much potential... it could have been and should have been so good.

All that said, I do like the author's voice (with the need of better editing), and I like the tone of the story. The characters were mostly believable and authentic, though I'd like to see them developed more. I think point of view is really weak but I do like seeing the story from several different angles. The locations in the story were a nice bonus too, woven in between the plot.

Overall, it's a good effort, a decent book. But it took me a while to get into the story, because of the difficulties expressed above. In the end, I'm glad I read it and don't feel like it wasted my time. I think it's worth the read--but if you're expected a hard-core sci-fi, this isn't it. If you're expecting a Christian book, this isn't it either. But it's a good action/adventure genre, with a futuristic bent to it.
1985956
This book was free to me through the Amazon First program.  The plot was a fine idea, and had a great deal of promise.  Ultimately, some rough secondary character development held the story back.  There were points where characters were too easily moved from one point of view to another, or were underdeveloped, and it detracted from the believability.  I also strongly suspect that some of the things they thought and said would never have had the impact they did at that point in history, no matter the passion behind the words.

One gets the feeling this was meant to be a "strong female characters" book.  On the one hand, I enjoy seeing women take a lead role in books.  On the other, some of it just did not mesh well with how the book described women as being treated then.  One moment the barriers are all there, the next they vanish after a speech?  She also rather undersold men in the process.  This creates the additional problem of making the women seem less than they could have been, since they seem to utterly miss so much fickleness when they are otherwise canny.

That being said, the heroine was likable and the villain both dislikable and not too stupid, so I appreciated that.  I enjoyed the few medical parts, and some of the religious content, which was not clumsily ostentatious as with other books that involve faith.  The descriptiveness of scenery could have been better, but the author conveyed emotion we'll both through words and character action.  In sum, not bad, and enjoyable enough.
2620004
I wanted to like this book. The synopsis looked promising, and the prologue. But in the end it felt like just an "okay" book. It's good in that the action in the plot is a page turner, but maybe the characters needed a bit more work. But then it's a first in the series, so... Also I find the descriptions of locations and sometimes characters almost mechanical or detached rather than evocative, which is how I find more satisfying reads in a suspense thriller book like this. Except for the prologue where the premise of the "whodunnit" was laid. That was evocative enough to make me want to go on.

Like another reviewer, i had also a bit of a problem with how the protagonist was characterized as the story progressed. I get that there's gotta be some hint of stereotyping with this genre, but maybe this girl just went a tad over the line between plausible and contrived. Though, like I said, that may change with the following installments in the series.
203918
Yet another interesting concept, well begun, but ultimately retreating to clich. The first half of the book is quite good - detailing the travels of an embassy from Louis IV to the Negus (emperor) of Abyssinia in 1699. The novelist makes good use of the intrigues and mistrust among the various Catholic and other Western factions. The hero is a young herbalist whose medical knowledge gives him near miraculous powers, and provides several easy escapes from intricate plot devices. But these sections do impart a good sense of what it might be like to travel in these then unknown parts of the world, down the Nile, through Egypt and the Sudan, and ultimately to Ethiopia. (A good map would have been handy for this, as the areas involved are not well-known, even today.) But, about half way through, the descriptions and background can't hide the predictability of the plot, and the Candidean romantic subplot detracts from the overall effect.
2536813
This could have been so much better. It has a wonderful premise, terrific characters that you will really care about. The location is fascinating. But some parts of this were almost painful to read. The transitions are so abrupt you could get whiplash. The police procedural portions are totally laughable. The bad guy attacks s cop. You take him down and never get questioned, Don't go to the station, collect no evidence, never file a report. The autopsy was a joke. Little hint for you cause of death will never be determined without an internal. Never. Yet there were so many great ideas in this novel, so many unrealized plot lines that would have added so much were just hinted at. I really see potential here and hope this author keeps trying.