Emotional and Imaginative
584921
Charming and imaginative. Refreshingly different art style and emotional story.  My 12 year old daughter and I very much enjoyed this amazing film.
Was reminiscent of the Secret of the Kells. Great characters and parts will have you welling up.  Superb piece of animation overall.
46059
One of the best books I have read in a very long time.  it has romance, mystery, mystical stuff (dreams and visions).  I usually do not like those elements but in this book they worked.  It grabbed me from page one to the very end.  The plot has many unexpected surprises.  A very moving, emotional journey from beginning to end with a very satisfying ending. This book brought me close to tears a few times.  it reminded me that everyone struggles with healing their past. I think one of the reasons for my love of this book is it is so different from anything I usually read.  The author has an exceptional imagination to create such a moving and believable story. I can't wait to read more of her work.
3850585
The Address of Happiness is a really wonderful story, one that takes the reader to places we all know, but down paths we don't always expect.

In each generation, stories appear that seem to capture the human condition, tales of joy and tragedy and where we all are going.  Sometimes they're big, sometimes small.  They catch our imagination and make us think and feel, and at their best, open our eyes.  And our hearts.

I really enjoyed this book.  It was not at all what I expected.  It's not an extended read, but it is an engrossing one.  And a very emotionally moving one, of characters we instantly understand and embrace.  It's emotionally moving in a very simple, disarming way.

Sit down and take this trip though these lives. You'll be glad you did.
1441992
This book takes you on an emotional journey. From the very first time you read the title, you understand it is not going to be a simple story. The book delivers much more than that. Youre hooked on to it from the first chapter and don't want to put it down till you have read the last page. And even after that you cannot stop thinking about the characters or the story.  Feel free to keep a box of tissues handy as you may need it. Ok, that may be a little exaggerated but be prepared to be moist and teary eyed sometimes as there are twists that the story takes; you soon start connecting with the characters and start feeling some of the pain, hope and emotion. That goes a great way to say that the writer has done an incredible job of not just beautifully weaving a story together but also the style of writing is brilliant.

This book is a good read for everyone in the family.  There are beautiful relationships described in the story.  The theme of the book revolves around life and expectations and how at times it turns up to be completely different than what you desired or the way you saw or thought of it. There is love, romance, hope and betrayal in so many shades described very eloquently through beautiful words and poetry.

I loved this book and cannot recall the last time I felt so connected to a fictional story. I would definitely recommend this book. It is well worth your time and money.
2248609
This book is for readers of fantasy who want complex characters engaged in a  thought-provoking plot. Missing for twenty years, Tara Martin appears on her parents' doorstep Christmas day. The reunion leaves her parents shell-shocked and her brother Peter angry and unbelieving when she claims she was in another dimension with magical people. Hit hardest is her former lover Ritchie, a burned-out guitarist. Tension increases as the family tries to make logical sense of her story, having her see a psychiatrist and take various medical tests. Tara reveals her sojourn in the other world in several sections interspersed with chapters in which her family and ex-lover struggle with her believability. Violence increases in the story, as Tara's fairy adventure culminates in a deadly duel, while her ex Ritchie suffers from grueling headaches and physical attacks by a mysterious stranger. Tara reignites her romance with Ritchie, fueling the reader's hopes that they will have a happy ending. The question is whether anyone who experiences the fairy world should return to mundane life.

In this novel, the reader will enjoy the characters, ordinary people who grapple with an extraordinary situation. They engage us by their intense but believable responses to a loved one who returns from a twenty-year absence looking no older. Their frustration and anxiety draw us into their lives. Tara's parents go into denial, while her brother Peter tries to make her experience fit a logical explanation.  The reader participates in his puzzlement: I'm sure most will add a few "solutions" to the list developed by Peter and the psychiatrist. At the end, we want a happy ending but recognize the inherent sadness of mingling with a magical world.
1685843
This is a book that will put you through the wringer emotionally.  The characters are unique and three dimensional and full of both admirable traits and flaws.  With a paranormal twist I didn't see coming, I was involved with this story from the start.

 The author has a strong, clear voice and helps the reader really see the scene as it unfolds.  Sometimes what happens isn't good or happy, and sometimes the characters make me want to slap them silly (Roxanne at the beginning and Nick for much of the book about drove me batty).  That I got so involved in them speaks volumes, though, to Ms. Gamble's skill with her writing.

 There were some parts of the book I didn't like ... but not because of the writing. Because I didn't like the route the story took in places.  Some decisions that were made rubbed me wrong, even when I could understand why the character made them.  And certainly the author doesn't give her characters and easy time of things... it's just heart-breaking so much of the time, right up to the end.

 This is a good book for readers who appreciate character driven, intensely emotional stories.
2397941
I am 10 years old and I rate this book 5 out of 5 because it is imaginative, thoughtful, and touching.
4257145
This may be one of my favorite novels by Neil Gaiman.  This story is imaginative, whimsical, and dark at times.  I love that part of this is his personal story, wrapped up in a fantastic story.  Luckily it isn't a long novel because once I started reading it, I couldn't put it down.
138070
The tears are still in my eyes when I think of this book.  Dang you Michael J. Sullivan, dang you. Age of War encompasses all the emotions one would feel during a war.  Not everyone makes it through battles and some sacrifices are as beautiful as they are heartbreaking.

This is a wonderful continuation to the story. It shows how incredibly invested I am in the characters, that even though I finished this weeks ago, every time I think about it Im taken back to the emotional moments, good and bad. and feel all the feels all over again.

First, I think the important thing to remember is it is not the end of the Legends of the First Empire series.  There are some very big moments and it is an end to one of the major ARCs for the first battles of the war between the Fey and humans.  But it is not the end of the line for many of the characters that made it to the end.

Suri is by far one of my favorite characters of the series and she has come a long way from the mystic child she was in Age of Myth.  After the sacrifices made in Age of Swords, she is a little bit harder and she has lost some of the innocence she used to carry with her.  But as a character in this series, she is still my favorite. Her journey is a harder one as she will be the one that needs to carry on after friends have been lost to her.

***Suri was surrounded by people, yet not a part of them. She was the daisy among the daffodils, the fly in the goats milk, the butterfly in the army. ***

There are a few romantic couplings and none of them have a conventional or easy time of it.  Roan and Gifford is my favorite pairing. They are both broken in some way. Roan is broken on the inside, after years of being a slave and Gifford is broken on the outside, but the most patient and kind man in the story.  I love the friendship and more that is between them even if Roan isn't sure how to express it at times. I really liked how Gifford played into the prophecy from when he was born. It was very well executed.

Persephone and Raithe.  Well if like me, you have already read the Riyara series, you know who Persephone is supposed to end up with.  I was really hoping for a twist to the story that showed how the legends got it wrong. These two put me through the ringer and while I won't say how it worked out, I will say  Im still emotional weeks later while writing this.

***Accept that you're going to get hurt, that you're going to die; embrace it, and youll find the freedom to live. This was one of the many ridiculous things his father had told him that sounded less stupid every day. ***

TeshI love that kid and it seems he has found another to love as well.  Tesh was the biggest surprise for me in this book. Again I know his legend from the Riyara series but to see how the legends got started was amazing.  I also enjoyed the little crush happening between him and a certain scribe.

***Whats it mean? What Sebek called Tesh?
Techylor? Malcolm said. It means swift of hand, or just swifthand, I suppose.
Great. The kids going to be impossible to live with now, Raithe grumbled.
Malcolm nodded. Probably, but you ought to consider yourself fortunate. Next to Nyphron, youve got the best Shield in Alon Rhist.
Raithe frowned. Apparently, Im second best to Nyphron in a number of things. ***

As for Malcolm, Nephron and the others, well their stories are all interesting and complex too. I will say I haven't decided if any of them are good or bad but the twist surrounding Nyphron was huge to me and Im still trying to get my mind around the implications of it.  I also am still uncertain about that mischievous Malcom. It was interesting delve into his origins and get some of his story but even after that, I still have no idea if he is on team good or team bad or a team I don't even know about.

There are at least three more books coming and Im eager to learn what more the ravages of a war between the humans and the Fey will bring.
4254860
A lovely, heartfelt story, full of rich characters and with themes of love and hope.  The novel combines both a human touch with science fiction.  I won't give away the plot, but I was very surprised when the sci fi aspects of the story were revealed.  The author clearly has a rich imagination as well as a warm soul.
3288071
I had great expectations for Mister Pip, shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize (and, in my mind, far more deserving than The Gathering). I'm pleased to say that my expectations were truly met.  This imaginative, courageous, and heartbreaking book captured my own imagination and will stay with me a long time.

The book takes place on a lush tropical island -- a paradise -- with Garden of Eden overtures. Here, Mr. Watts -- the only white inhabitant, a somewhat eccentric schoolteacher -- and Grace, the mother of the main character Matilda, wrestle for her soul, through fiction and religion.  Both are products of imagination;  both have the power to transform and both are redemptive. And ultimately, the moral values of both Mr. Watts and Grace emerge to be essentially the same.

There are surprises at the end and heartbreaks -- no spoilers -- that have haunted me since closing the last pages. There is wisdom about the power of imagination and reinvention, the nature of true courage, the way we repair ourselves with stories old and new.

And in the end, Lloyd Jones says it best: "Perhaps there are lives like that -- poured into whatever space we have made ready for them to fill... we needed a magician to conjure up other worlds and Mr. Watts had become that magician."  Nothing is ever quite what it seems, and both art and religion have power and limitations.  With its sparse, haunting prose and powerful story, Mr. Jones has conjured up some magic of his own.
1170857
The book is a mix of all emotions. Happiness, sadness and mystery. It was started with dead body of a boy who was hit by the train and other dead body follows in the other part of the story. What I like about this read is that it introduces all the characters very well in the first part, then it narrated the story smoothly. Until I came to the part where sadness mixed with mystery but there is hope. I really really got so emotional with this book. But every page also gives me eagerness and excitements.
3054608
I loved the first book, but this blew my mind. Andrea is able to convey everything these characters are feeling. I felt it all. Angry, hurt, and so many more emotions that just suck you in so deep into the story, it's like it's real. I went through a lot of tissues, and not just for sadness.
3534317
Lichgates is a vibrant, imaginative story of a world hidden within our world and accessed via a kind of portal called a Lichgate. Kara Magari is hiking along a hidden trail when she comes upon a Lichgate. She steps through and finds herself in Ourea, a world of mountains covered in deep forests and peppered with caves and massive waterfalls. She falls into a library and discovers the Grimoire, a magical book that has been hidden for 1,000 years. It turns its own pages, answers any question asked of it, and contain the images of a variety of magical creatures which can be called from the book into reality.

When she opens it, she becomes the new Vagabond, the bearer of the Grimoire and is tasked to continue the previous Vagabonds work of bringing peace to Ourea. The trouble is that the four different races all want to control the Vagabond and have access to the Grimoire's secrets.

She meets Braeden Drakonin, a native of Ourea, and reluctant prince of one of the races. He's spent his life trying to run from his evil father and hiding the nature of his heritage. He hopes that the Grimoire will free him from his father's control, so he aims to stay with Kara until he gets a chance to use it. But he ends up becoming her protector and only ally in a dangerous world.

Of the four races, only one is anything like humans, and none of them can be trusted. They live in amazing cities, one under the ocean and one built in huge trees. The world the author has built in this story is exceptional.

This is very much the first book in what promises to be an epic. Lichgate establishes the world, the task and the complex nature of the issues involved. As the story evolves so does our understanding of Braeden's personal challenge, one that echoes that of every child seeking autonomy from their parents, but in this case, the situation is painful and desperate.
The book held my interest and I enjoyed and grew close to all the characters. I particularly loved Flick, the little creature with the huge eyes and fury tail (I'm a sucker for that kind of character), and the characters of each of Kara's strange animal mounts and the relationship between them was beautifully done.

The book didn't so much end as just stop, which I didn't mind because it was a good place to stop and clearly we are just beginning the story. I finished it quite satisfied with the pace of the plot and the balance of action to character and relationship building scenes.

The only issues I had with the book were that although they were well done, the descriptions could have been tightened up quite a bit and made less repetitive, and there were some typos. Nothing that can't be easily fixed and I hope it will be. I'd like to give it 5 stars, but because of these issues which admittedly may not be noticed by other readers, I'm sticking with four. Anyone who likes high fantasy will enjoy this book, especially if you're looking for what is clearly going to be a good long ride through a wondrous world.
1777677
This is not your typical supermarket time-waster fiction. Ms Boynton takes you on a roller coaster ride of emotional adventure. The trials and tribulations of the main character would seem outre and extreme but they follow logically from the premise - what if your soul were snatched from the void just as it left your body, only to be attached to another person's body - someone of the opposite sex? What can compare with this kind of extreme identity crisis? Thus begins a trek to find, hold and reconcile identity with internal knowledge, external form, and society's expectations.

The author's style is rough and unpolished - which suits the work well. The story moves too fast to stop and dawdle on niceties of style. It's not PC and not romantic, just raw. I consider it a rare work striking to the core of experience.
4565155
This is a novel that earns it's melancholy ending. The characters are vivid, the premise imaginative, the plot engaging, the prose lovely. I can't recommend the read enough. You won't want to put it down because you'll be thinking "how in the world is this gonna play out?!"  I cried and I remembered why I love the people who are my "family." I don't have kids but this book, more than anything else I've ever experienced, gave me a glimpse into what it must feel like to be a parent. In that way, the book does the best thing fiction can do: let me experience the human condition from an angle that is not my own.
4678256
Very cool fantasy story.
Has modern vibes, contains pretty graphic scenarios.

The world it plays in has unique ideas, which I've never seen before.
Throughout the journey many unexpected, actionfull events happen.
Plays on the emotions as well.