... was really looking forward to this book and am sad to say that I am sorely disappointed
595635
I was really looking forward to this book and am sad to say that I am sorely disappointed.  Having consumed all the blogs, podcasts, articles and even many historical documents related to the Colonial Parkway Murders, I can say without a doubt that the authors did little more than pull together the information that is already readily available on the Internet.  The thing that makes this book unique is that the authors took time to describe each person who was killed in the murders; however they did such a poor job with this that it made me question their expertise.  The descriptions of the victims' lives and personalities are repetitive, over-dramatized and over-simplified.  Most of the interview quotes are pulled from old articles.  I got the sense that they didn't interview many people outright. Certain  sections of the book seemed to be stretched for words like they were trying to reach a word # requirement.  If a reader is completely new to these cases, then this book provides a solid overview.  For those who are looking for new information, or for an analysis, don't waste your time.
897995
Let me begin by saying that I am a huge FSOG fan! I was counting down the days for this book to release. Unfortunately I was highly disappointed! I know this was the FSOG book from Christian's POV, but I skipped most of it because it was all the same from the first book. I had a feeling it was going to be this way but I hoped that there would be more perspective into Christian's past. His internal dialogue was boring and very simple for such a brilliant man. I expected more from him. All his good lines in this book were from the first FSOG book. I know that he is a very sexual man, but I would think he can conjure up other thoughts that aren't always sexual. This book did touch upon his past and demons but not as much as I was hoping. I have more questions now about his past than I did from the first books. I hated the way the book ended! I hope EL James is planning on continuing this, otherwise the ending was just aweful! She opens up a little about Christian's past with Elena (Mrs. Robinson) but left so many things unanswered with it. This book seemed rushed and quite amateur, considering EL James' past writing experience. I have read some authors first novel that are better put together than this novel. So like I said overall, very disappointed. I wanted to quit reading by 25% but I kept with it hoping it would improve but it didn't. If another "Grey" novel is released I don't think I would get it after reading this. I already advised many friends and family to not waste their reading time.
4419820
I must say I entered this book with very high hopes.  I care about too much and needed some help learning to care about that right things and let the wrong things go. While I like some of the ideas and concepts, I felt like I, personally, was left with a long road to go to get there. That was probably more of a fault of mine than it was the book (probably unrealistic expectations on my part).

The book was pretty somber. I had hoped, along the way to letting go of crap, that I'd feel a tone change or even an emotional change. Neither occurred.

It didn't help that I was looking for this book to magically start healing years of issues, depression, anxiety, and instantly feel better.
3285436
Well, this was disappointing.  When I saw that Kathy Reichs had written a stand alone novel, I knew that I wanted to read it.  I have really enjoyed her books in the past and was looking forward to this book.  This book never clicked for me and I found myself constantly setting the book aside.  There were some parts of the book that I did enjoy and I never really considered not finishing it but it wasn't a story that did much for me.

I think one of my main problems with this book is that I didn't care for the characters.  The focus of this book is Sunday Night, or Sunnie.  Sunnie is an ex-cop that carries a lot of scars both physical and emotional.  She was paranoid but had a lot of skills that were put to the test as she tried to find out what happened to the girl she has been hired to find.  There are sections of the book spread throughout the story that talk of Sunnie's past.  I thought that learning her backstory was way too drawn out and by the time any real information was given I had lost interest.

The mystery never grabbed me.  I just had a really hard time getting into the overall story.  Of course, I wanted to know what had happened to the girl but the story seemed to move really slow.  Everything was a waiting game wrapped up in Sunnie's paranoia.  It just felt like it took really long time for things to get moving.  So much so that this turned into a book that I kept checking how much more was left just because I wanted to be done with it.

The writing felt really choppy with lots of short sentences that never really flowed.  There was a lot of really traumatic things happening in the story but I never felt like any of the characters had a single emotion.  I did think that the book had a good start.  I like the idea of Sunnie.  I like that she was quirky and a little different but that feeling faded quickly.

I am not going to be recommending this one.  I think that anyone interested in reading Kathy Reichs should start with the Temperance Brennan series which I loved.  I haven't read the whole series but have read the first 13 books or so in that series and really enjoyed them and actually plan to re-read the series at some point.  This book was a miss for me but I do look forward to reading more of her work in the future.

I received an advance reader edition of this book from Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine via NetGalley.
3755553
Really loved first three books but this was MAJOR DISAPPOINTMENT
1691188
Disappointing. Would like my money back, please
157840
I was really hoping this would be a good book because I'm going crazy waiting for new releases from my favorite authors - it wasn't. The characters were really interesting and I had high hopes, but the story line was just plain bad and the writing was painfully contrived. I don't usually delete books from my kindle, but, this one, I will.
2652672
I was so looking forward to this book! I wanted to love the characters but found I just couldn't. They were annoying and unbelievable, which was disappointing after how much I loved Kelly Harms' first book.
3904016
I like romance, I like suspense and I love medical crime......so I was really looking forward to this one.  It truly was a disappointment and I would not recommend it at all.
3644117
I wanted to love this book, because I loved Miss Peregrine's, but I really feel like Ransom Riggs lost his way with this book. Miss P's was exciting and action packed, and this book was so slow I couldn't get through it. I have 70 pages left, and I feel like I'm reading it just because I can't leave a book unfinished. I actually have to force myself to sit down and read a couple of pages! He created a trilogy out of a story that should have been one long novel. I'm so disappointed because I have no desire to finish this book, or to read the last book. This could have (and should have) been awesome.....but it just wasn't.
2971676
I was very excited about this book's release, especially since it was supposed to be the longest one written yet.  I was thinking how much more involved, adventurous, and "telling" it must be given the size and hype surrounding its release.  I was sorely disappointed.

The size factor must have been in pages alone, because it's content was no where near what her other books have given as far as story, twists, and suspense were concerned.

I found the "teasers" to be more annoying than anything.  Yes, we "knew" someone was going to die - and were teased every 4 chapters with lame "could this be the person" scenarios.

The actual death itself was forced and strangely under-written - especially given who was lost.

I found the learning more of Tom Riddle/Voldemort's history/past tedius and under-developed.  So much more could have been done with the telling of those stories, and leave out some of the dreck about inter-relationships.  Yes, teen years are full of angst and personal drama - much of which is overblown when you come down to the realities of it - but I didn't feel that Rowling has good enough a perspective to really give *that* much page space while letting other areas of the stories suffer.  The story would have been much more rich with both had the pettiness of the relationships been well-balanced by rich storylines elsehwere.

Characters seem to have been thrown in and tossed out here and there, many times not ever finding any kind of significance in their telling.  One love twist would have been a welcomed surprise, had it not been tossed in, heated quickly, then smoothed out quietly in the next chapter.  It would have been great to see two older characters develop into a relationship that you never would have thought of.  They are two characters you'd definately cheer on to have a great relationship, but the moments were lost.

I did find some of the characters' development well deserved and very interesting to read.  LOVE where Ginny's character is going.  She is very smart, fearless, and stands her ground with pinache.  The development of Malfoy - especially in the train - was a great build, but did not have much in the middle.  Loved to see how he developed in the end - as well as not getting any answers just yet on where he really was going.

Otherwise, a lot of vapid, silly whining from many in the book.  A lot of great characters were left to the way-side, which had there been a clear purpose, would have been excuseable.

A lot of "passionate build-ups" without the story writing depth and conclusions to back them up.  I found myself skimming over more paragraphs and this book took less than a day to read through.  I hope the final book can make up for the lack of substance in this one, and that this was a fluffy build to an explosive ending.
127193
I was so impatiently waiting for this book and think because of that it just didn't deliver what I was expecting.  I understand the author had a personal reason for the delay but when you feel like you need to reread 5 other books just to read one...It was just to much time lapsed for me.  I really enjoyed the other books in both series that related to Brooke and Jett but this one fell flat.  I found myself skimming over most of the book it hopes that something was going to spark and make it live up to the hype.
4250229
expected so much more but sadly I can't leave more than two stars and I bought 4 books ugh
2309686
IM SO SORRY ABOUT THIS BOOK. I was driven to buy it due to all the good reviews. I don't know if it was because I've read this book right after "Beautiful Disaster" and "Slammed", that I kept waiting and waiting for something in the story to really caught my attention. i was hoping for something special to happened between us, like it did with the ones I have mentioned before but it never did. Towards the end, I kind of related but it was too late.
My Apologies to the author.
3318187
I didn't realize it was a direct rewrite of Pride and Prejudice. I feel cheated out of an original novel since the synopsis sounded like a fun read. So sad because I LOVE to read this author's books and once I have the money she's first on my list to buy whatever she has out. Sorry to say this book was a miss, and I'm sad I spent money on it. Definitely makes me rethink the auto-buy for her.
431715
I am truly disappointed with this book. The story is too stretchy, I knew who the culprit was very quickly, the dialogue is blah; but worst of all is the poor pace of the book and the repetitiousness. It is hard to believe that this book was written by one of my favorite authors. I think his last two books were also not so good but I forgave Shelter as a side branch. And so I was looking forward to the return of the author that wrote the Woods and Darkest Fear but I was sadly disappointed. I hope he will come back from wherever he is.
136935
I waited all year for Casual Vacancy.  I had high expectations after reading the best series of books ever "Harry Potter".  When I ordered it I "knew" I would love it.  As I started to read it I "hoped" I would love it.  Halfway through I knew I was continuing on with the knowledge that this is J.K. Rowling, it has to be great.  Right?  Ahh...Wrong.  I feel utterly let down by this effort.  While I appreciate the layers of writing and the characters - - I just don't care about them.  I can't say I hated it, but would I read it again knowing what I know now?  I wouldn't.  What a bummer...