Wanted to like it more...
589094
...but it felt dragged out. You definitely got to know the characters but it was difficult to imagine their situation ever being real.
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.
1698105
I am a big fan of the vampire romance books, and having read all of the big series already (Brotherhood, Midnight Breed, Demonica, Immortal Guardians, etc) I thought I would try this for some new blood.  I really wanted to love it, but I found myself disconnected from the characters, and from the "passion" she was trying to portray.  Maybe it's just me, maybe I'm burned out and should switch genres, but I found that it was just OK.  Worse yet, I could actually wait to read it.  Normally, I am dying for work to end so I can get back to my book, but I really didn't feel that pull this time.  I even downloaded and read the second book, thinking that maybe she just had to hit her stride, get past all of the business of building the mythology, and then maybe I would be connected.  Again, not so much.  I liked the idea of the world she creates, but I just didn't feel it.
4328683
I wanted to like this book more than I did.  I'm in Paris and ordered it on Kindle.

The five senses format doesn't work for me; it seems forced.  While I enjoyed Baxter's rambling excursions into film, family history and food, sometimes they didn't seem connected with the rest of the book.  In some places the book felt "padded" as if he were trying to get another book to market quickly after the success of "The Most Beautiful Walk in the World."

It's not a bad book, but I was hoping for something better.  If you're new to Baxter, begin your reading of him with "The Most Beautiful Walk in the World" or "Immovable Feast" rather than "Five Nights in Paris."
3370015
I really wanted to like this book. I thought about stopping several times while reading it but I always want to finish reading a book I start. It really has a great story to be told. But it lacks the ability to hold ur attention.  Something just seemed off with the book. :( Some of the reviews state that they really enjoyed it so maybe you should try it.  Maybe I shouldn't have expected more.
1391067
I wanted to love this book. There were a few points in the book where I thought it succeeded. However, upon completion, I am just left wondering, "are these characters strong enough to carry the plot further?" Don't get me wrong, I liked the characters. But I felt like I just saw the surface of them. There's something wrong with the fact that I was more interested in the other boys than our hero. Likable...that's about it.

The plot was and remained interesting. It wrapped up rather quickly, to my distaste, but generally speaking the mystery was not extremely predictable. I wish I was a bit more afraid of the enemy, but overall I give the plot 4 stars. Perhaps a 2.5 to the characters.

This definitely reads as the first part of a series. If I read on I'm sure I will grow to like the series more, but I don't feel the urge to read on right away. Give me more, Dashner! Make me relate to these kids! It was so close.
4805726
I wanted to like this book more, but the plot was just too "out there" for me.  The romance is hot (but clean) in places, but it is stilted and (*spoiler alert**) after everything is finally resolved, no wedding???
390872
I have wanted to read this book for so long, and I really wanted to love it, but it just didn't happen. The premise was great! I really loved the back story and the Order and of course the Fey, but the characters were cliched and just didn't do it for me.

I liked Donna. She was a good main character, if a little immature, but I really felt the author was trying just a little too hard to get the relationships across. Donna and Navin's--her best friend--banter and joking felt forced and overdone. On a good note, I loved Xan! He was probably my favorite character. I found myself reading much faster when he was in the scene.

The alchemy in the book was fantastic! I wish there would have been just a tiny bit more of it, though. I don't think there in enough alchemy in YA, so I really enjoyed all of those aspects, even more than the Fey aspects!

Even though there was things I didn't like about the book, I  enjoyed the premise and since this is the first book in a series I'm sure it will only get better and better! I'll give the next one a shot.
754964
I wish I could say I liked this book more, and it was very interesting most of the time, but I found myself just wanting to get through it quickly and just be done with it. And it's just part one of book one! The characters were developed, yes, but I just feel like relationships were formed deeply too quickly. And the book asked more questions than it answered, making for a confusing read. Overall, I probably won't continue on to book two, but I feel like it does have potential if readers liked part one. I just couldn't do it.
2587098
eh.... I wanted to like this book, but it's really not my tastes
623811
I wanted to love this book. At least, I wanted to like it.

However, I don't feel that it delivers what the title suggests. The tone inside the book isn't as inclusive as I'd like. In some passages, it's downright dogmatic.  Like another reviewer, I wanted to ask the author, "Okay... where did THAT come from?"

If it had been simple prayers, chosen from the Bible -- even a very modern version -- that would have made me happy.  Really, a seven-page book of powerful Psalms would have been fine.

Unfortunately, the tone and the opinions (even if the author feels they're inspired)... they turned me off just a few pages into this book, and I'm someone who reads Scripture daily.

The cover of the book is lovely. The title of the book drew me right in.

But then the contents lost me pretty quickly.  I'm glad it's inspiring and meaningful for others, but it wasn't right for me.
2803759
I've read a lot of create your own life type books which may have made me a bit jaded, but this didn't seem to bring a lot new to the discussion. I truly wanted to like this, but I felt somehow Id seen it all before, it reminded me of Tom Peters books in the early 2000's (not a bad thing, but a bit too deja vu). I love Danielle's enthusiasm, her spirit, but somehow it just felt like the book was a slightly long magazine article...perhaps I just read it on a bad day.
4793961
I wanted so much to like this book and listened (Audible) to 3/4th of it becoming more and more disappointed at the grave, bleak attitude that was surrounding each of the 3 siblings and just couldn't stomach listening to anymore.  The narrarator was very good, the books characters are interesting, the writing style of the story itself was very good.... but the content, what befell the characters did not have much humor, excitement nor magical depth and was frankly rather depressing.  I have really looked forward to reading/listening to this book,  First time I have returned an audible for my credit back.
2946163
This was a nice book.  The premise was interesting, and the themes of moving on after tragedy and discovering how you want to live life were presented well.  The principal characters were likeable and sufficiently developed that their actions seemed natural.
But it just seemed this was less of a story than it it could have been, that there could have been more exploration of what a just out of high school couple with a young child go through trying to make life work.  The reactions of the young couple's parents to the pregnancy were mystifying.  Harmony's parents seemed just evil -had they been that way all her life? Trey's parent's motivations were puzzling..  Although  there is some explanation, I'm not sure I got it - and I didn't understand why what they told Harmony would cause her to leave the love of her life and run off, even if she was worried that his profession was dangerous,  Nor did I completely buy a girl that age running off to Nantucket and living off her parent's credit card for a month with no contact with anyone,  Preston's finding her after all that time and not showing even the least little vexation that she hadn't contacted him.....I don't know.  It just seemd contrived.  Life is more ambiguous than this, I think.  How nice for her that he didn't really want to be a firefighter and she didn't really want to be a nurse so they could run the pub together and live HEA.
In short, I did enjoy reading this, but after I finished I felt let down.  I wanted Harmony to have more adult emotions , but then she wasn't really an adult.  I wanted the story to be a little grittier, to have more substance,  but my hat is off to anyone who can put together a good story and write it well enough to  keep me interested till the end.  This is an intense and emotional story, well written, and you won't regret reading it, I just think it could have been so much more.
4918174
I must say, I really wanted to like this book.  Before I say why I did not like it all that much, I'll give the positives.  The author is extremely good at writing dialogue, which is very rare in a "Star Trek" book.  The author also does a good job of setting up the potential for a really good story.
I was really hoping for a genre-bender here, given the cover and description of the book--something between Original "Trek" and "The X-Files."  Instead, the book is filled with self-referencing "Star Trek" trivia that span far more than the Original Series.  There's some "Enterprise," some "Deep Space Nine," and some "Voyager."  Not what I would call Original "Trek."  Instead of all this self-referencing there could have been a really cool and original story about the crew of the Enterprise encountering Gray aliens, Men in Black, and flying saucers.  Spock could have been abducted and given an implant.  Chekov could have received an anal probe, which would have allowed for his trademark scream.  Seriously, this could have been a really great book mixing the "Star Trek" and ufology mythologies.  But no, just self-referencing.  And talking in place of action, telling instead of showing, for hundreds of pages.
I can write a better "Star Trek" novel and someday I intend to prove it.
4924778
I've encountered a problem. John is such an awesome guy, and he went through all of the trouble to mail his book from England! But I am not a huge fan of it- which disappointed me.

I really wanted to like it. Here are my problems with it. The chapter headings are confusing because it is just a magnifying glass, no number- just the image. The characters fall into moments where they don't speak like kids and the context isn't necessarily age appropriate to what the cover suggests.

That being said, I loved the idea of story. I'm a big fan of ice cream. I also wanted to see the kids actually work on the case for longer than like five minutes, which is what it felt like. They didn't really follow any leads or get the feel for being a real PI, just sort of jumped in with both feet and there you have it.

This book wasn't for me, but it might be for someone else. So give it a shot.

*I received this book in exchange for an honest review*
1763523
I really wanted to enjoy this book, but, like many other reviewers, I kept thinking that I had missed some sections and my Kindle was acting up. I was fine with her choice in the end, but there was no reason as to why she chose one over the other.  The book skipped through time pretty quickly, which the relationships not advancing in dialogue much.  There was no depth to the story.  I'd like to see it re-written and have more to it.