More Than Pleasantly Surprised
586494
I am 51 and have been shaving for 35 years. My beard is heavy enough that in Army basic training the drill sergeants called me "Flintstone" and made me shave twice a day.  I've tried just about every shaving "technology" imaginable: electrics, safety razors with mug-and-brush soap, single-, double-, and tripled-blade disposables with foams and gels, double-, triple-, quadruple-, and even quintuple-bladed cartridge razors with foams and gels and tube-based creams of every description. I've shaved in the shower and out of the shower. I've been shaved at upscale barber shops with hot towels and hand-massaged lathers and straight razors. So I think I'm on pretty solid ground in evaluating Somersets shaving oil, which I purchased to make packing for air travel easier.

It's great. It works just as advertised. I wouldn't say it gives me the best shave I ever had, but it certainly gives me the closest and least irritating shave I've ever had in the amount of time it takes to use. I've been using it for a month now, and my shaving time is now 2-3 minutes where a month ago it was 5 minutes or more -- and even that seemingly short period of time makes a big difference in a busy morning.  As other reviews note, it takes about a week to get your face used to the transition and, in my case anyway, it was a somewhat bloody week. I use a water cooker to heat water to the boiling point and then add it to the tap water in my sink. Somersets claim one can shave with cold water; I don't doubt it, but I haven't had occasion to try it.  There is one trick, and I haven't quite got the hang of it: too much water applied to the face before shaving dilutes the oil by rather a lot, while too little doesn't prepare the skin sufficiently.  I'm still experimenting with that -- from mildly damp to dripping wet. Somersets recommend using 3-4 drops, but I find on my whiskers a 5th drop is helpful. The oil is less successful if I've gone two days or more without shaving. I experience some pulling and discomfort at that point and am inclined to use a traditional lather to knock down heavy growth (and I've also used Somersets "heavy whisker" oil).

All in all, this is a very good product, and I recommend it to anyone who would like to simply his life, cut out the cans and tubes, and to anyone who wants (as I did) to not have to deal with that pesky 3-1-1 carry-on packing rule and the tiny cans of foams or gels.
1729533
I wasn't expecting too much from this book but it was a pleasant surprise. The plot is interesting, although it is not totally seamless in the way it unwinds. Nevertheless, the characters are interesting and the protagonist has a good voice. It has some unexpected aspects to it that keep the reading flowing forward.
2325509
I didn't expect it to be this good. But it was. Certainly a pleasent surprise. Very originial, very fun.
3144149
I admit I thought I bought / downloaded this book mistakenly and at first I thought I wouldn't like it for sure, BUT I was very pleasantly surprised .this book held me captive and leaves me anxious and excited for the next in series.
4649849
Works surprisingly well, much more than I thought, after having others in the past.  Well worth a try!
4694002
A pleasant surprise.  I'm now reading the second one in series and look forward to more.
2953444
Amazing.  Exceeded expectations.  Actually better than advertised.
3365900
I wasn't expecting this to be a good book. I was pleasantly surprised. I plan on buying the others and reading it them as well.
3713596
I enjoyed this far more than I expected. After I finished, I immediately grabbed a copy of Vol. 2 and have been enjoying it just as much. Many of the books in this genre can have scenarios that seem overly contrived with their escalation of events, but this one felt plausible. The characters are engaging. And being a local to the area in which much of this book takes place make for an interesting twist for me as the reader.
2126423
This was my first book of Ms. Paradis.  I went in with no expectations and was very pleasantly surprised.  This book immediately surpassed my meager expectations and jumped to my favorites list.  This book was not as "dark" as I expected, but nor is it a feel-good love story.  I felt satisfied by the conclusion of the story.

I can't recommend this book enough.
3298698
I didn't expect to enjoy this book so much, but this was a real pleasure to read.  The writing quality is higher than I would have expected.  The author is both funny and insightful in his observations, and the style is thoroughly engaging.  I look forward to reading more from him in the future!
1475937
I was actually really surprised by this book. I didn't think I'd like it, but I really did!
1899968
Better than expected. I highly recommend it.
278680
A nice and unexpected surprise. It's been long since I'd found a good sf novel with some new ideas and reasonably written. The parallel plot is very well paced. It pays somehow with a certain lack of character develpment but, all in all, it's quite effective.
English is not my mother language and so I'm not a good judge about style, but I dare to say this book is high above the average writting seen  in scifi this days..
All said, not military series, not fantasy mix, not steampunk, not trascending humanity (well, perhaps a little bit), just a  story with science in it's core and some sense of wonder in it.
3106451
I have to say that I was surprised by how much I liked this book. I actually stayed up late reading it because I wanted to see what happened next. The characters were very likable and full (except for the villain, which seemed a tad bit contrived). The dialogue and humor were actually funny, making me laugh out loud a couple of times. Maybe because I didn't expect much of it, knowing "the storyline" as most people do, it took me by surprise. I definitely look forward to other books by this author.
4682018
Pleasantly surprised!  Very high-quality equipment
4402822
I enjoyed the characters and the story, I was pleasantly surprised.