I don't think so...
A curious little haunted house story about a husband and wife that move into a new house and strange things begin to happen. If this book was a horror film it would be one of those new, contemporary horror films that has absolutely no musical composition to it whatsoever. Just the dry straight facts. Let me tell you why... This book is written in a first-person style jumping back and forth between the husband and wife's POV and is also written in present tense. You can imagine how monotonous it is to read texts written in such a manner. Another problem I had with the way this book is written is that the chapters are so terribly short (there is literally 92 chapters in a book of only 273 pages) and each chapter alternates between the husband and wife so that just as you are getting into one story it pulls you back out and throws you into a different story from a different point of view. It's very difficult to emerge yourself into the story when it is written this way. The premise and the story of the book were just fine. The ending sucked if I do say so myself. The rest of the issues that I had with the book go into personal issues that I have with the characters being flawed. Like why the hell would they buy a house with water stains and weird secret passages? Why the hell would they stay in a house that is making the wife sick and the husband crazy? They did not decide to leave the house until way too far in the book. I understand finances and all that but when something like this starts to happen you have to wonder. And as I stated before the ending sucked more because it made me absolutely hate the two characters. With everything stated above I don't think I'm going to be recommending this book. I just have too many issues with it.
1 Comment
Not scary at all... Vic McQueen has a very unique gift, she can travel to different places by way of a magic bridge that she makes appear with her trusty bicycle (and later on motorcycle). But there is someone else that has this gift. A man named Charlie Manx has the same gift with his antique Rolls-Royce. And Charlie manx is not a good guy. When Vic goes looking for trouble one day she ends up finding Manx. After that her life will never be the same. Okay I would just like to say that I read this book because it was our book club pick for the month of July and because people were broadcasting this to me as one of the scariest books they had ever read. Let me just assure you, this book is not scary in the least. I don't even know if this could be classified as a horror book but rather more of a thriller with some horror elements in it. Please don't get me wrong, it's not that the book was bad in any way because it was very good and very well written. It's just that I can't seem to see where exactly this book was scary. Ania Ahlborn books are much scarier (just an example). I don't know maybe I'm being too harsh on the book because it didn't scare me personally. Obviously this book has scared others in the past. Taking up the baton for his father Joe Hill writes in very much the same writing style as Stephen King. There is a whole lot of fluff in this book. Lots of stuff that doesn't really need to be there for the story to take hold. Their writing styles are almost line-by-line similar. I did want to say that I found the little mentions of previous Stephen King novels within this book very refreshing as almost like an honor to his father and his work. It was very sweet. And he did it in a way where it wasn't in your face. He just sprinkled them in and it was very well done. I found all of the characters to be believable and relatable and the storyline to be quite engaging. The ending was great but I sort of felt that it was almost like a video game that I was playing through the book. The buildup of the levels that Vic goes through are very reminiscent of something that harkens back to my childhood like the Super Mario Brothers games. I found myself very much anticipating the end boss fight. She even gets a significant power up with some major explosives before moving on to the final level at the end 😉. All in all this was a fun read and I'm glad to have read it. I would definitely recommend this book to people who enjoy good thriller books but maybe not necessarily horror in general. Written by Liz Crowe
I’ll admit it. I’m kind of a Sci Fi fiction neophyte. I’ve not dug too deeply into it and that is to my detriment as a reader. My taste runs more toward near-future possibilities of what the world will be in a few short years, thanks to how badly we’ve treated it--most notably, the Oryx and Crake trilogy by Margaret Atwood. I mean I’ve read the Big Books--The Martian by Andy Weir, which was so incessantly scientific it sometimes felt like I was reading a physical textbook but in a good way; Wool by Hugh Howey, which fed my inner claustrophobic very nicely; Dune by Frank Herbert because, well, it’s “Dune;” Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer which is super confusing and has little to nothing to do with the movie other than its inherent confusion. A few others. Anyone who claims this genre is not formulaic is mistaken or hasn’t read enough of it. Survival is the goal, no matter what cost, regardless of what’s thrown in front of the characters to prevent it. How authors put a twist on that, is where good sci fi books exist. How the author makes you believe what’s happening is possible--that’s where great sci fi books thrive. Burning Horizon by T.M. James has a lot to recommend it as great. The pacing is excellent (fast, which is what I prefer). The author gives vivid life to something that’s been endlessly described by others (the inside of a cavernous spaceship). The plot unfolds in a way that doesn’t give everything away up front. My only complaint about it really is that two seemingly key points in the past are not ever really fully explained. What’s even more satisfying to me as a reader is that the ending is what should happen--not necessarily what we want to happen. It has that “wow, I could see this happening, and pretty soon,” realism element that I find compelling. It has a fair bit of gore and perhaps somewhat overdone descriptions of, well, gross stuff. But other than that, I found it entertaining and very nearly un-put-downable. Disturbing...
Cujo is a good dog. He would do anything for his man, his woman and his boy. He would even die for them if it came to that. But when Cujo goes messing around and contracts the terrible disease rabies, he turns into a completely different dog. A dog that Donna and her son are about to meet face-to-face. This is a very sad cautionary tale. Above all things that I say in this review, I pray that you take this one thing with you... PLEASE VACCINATE YOUR ANIMALS!! With that out of the way, let's proceed to the review of the book. Like any Stephen King novel this book has a LOT of fluff. There is a lot of character build up and the beginning is filled with not much more than that. The action of this book does not start until more than halfway through it. I found Donna to be a very dislikable character. Not just in general but also because I don't appreciate people who cheat on their spouses. It shows a lack of fine character and moral values. I liked her husband Vic but more felt sorry for him than anything else. And poor little Tadd. I have mixed feelings about the way this book ended. I don't quite remember it ending like this in the film which I watched years and years ago and am having difficulty remembering. However again like most Stephen King novels this is absolutely masterfully written and the story, though slow to start, is very engaging for the reader. This is definitely one that will terrify you! I think the realism in this book is what makes it so scary. This could really happen! Very good storytelling. I would recommend this to anyone who likes a a novel that will truly scare you! Monumentally disappointing...
Grace is late for work one day and ends up having to walk through Grand Central Station. On her walkthrough she finds a briefcase and when she opens that she finds pictures of other women in uniform. She decides to take these pictures with her and embark on a journey to find who these women were/are. I can't help but wonder why this book has so many 5-star shining reviews. I'm a little curious to know if we are reading the same book here. Okay so let's talk... The Grace character in the story I found to be completely pointless. There was really no reason for her storyline whatsoever other than finding the briefcase. But then again the author just could have decided to write about Marie and Eleanor without Grace. Marie is so stupid for lack of a better way to put it. She is completely and without a doubt the worst person that Eleanor could have chosen for the job. Then when Julian hits the stage, she becomes even stupider. And one thing that I had a problem with Julian, he's the leader of a French rebel group and does not speak a lick of French.... W.T.F? But back to Marie, she is willing to give up King & country for Julian and makes the stupidest decisions that just about anybody I've read in a book makes. I was really hoping for a book that had 3 heroines. A book about their courage throughout the war but instead I got stupidity and a romance that seem to have been thrown in for no reason whatsoever because it doesn't make any sense in the story. I guess this book was a good idea to start with but the execution of it just completely fell flat. The writing wasn't even that great. I found it choppy and sloppy with lots of holes in the middle. Unpopular opinion but I personally cannot recommend this book. I know others have loved it dearly it seems but this is not a book that I would recommend to others. Beautiful...
Bella and her sister Rita decide to switch places until Belle meets Rita's soon-to-be husband the king of Bolivia. But when rebels surround Belle's inn, she is whisked away in secret by the prince in disguise. Love is in the air for Belle, and it's not for the king of Bolivia. Despite the slightly confusing plot, this is such a cute historical romance. L. J. Dare's writing is light-hearted and even funny at times throughout the book. The tension between the two main characters is sizzling hot! You can almost feel the tension as it drips from the pages. Very well written, this book keeps you turning the pages to see what happens next. I really liked this book because it reminded me of how it was to be young and flirtatious. Flirtation is part of the key to a good romance in my opinion. I would definitely recommend this to anyone looking for a good historical romance or romance in general. Good but a few issues...
Andrew is a young kid who has a very difficult life. He has expectations that he can't possibly live up to and no one understands him it seems except for his best friend. When Andrew is suddenly whisked away to the future he finds himself in the middle of an adventure he never thought possible. Will Andrew be able to help them defeat the Harbingers before everything is destroyed? Okay so I have a few problems with this book. The first problem is rather obvious and that is the fact that this book is full of dialogue to the extreme. There is not a lot of scenery description and the reader is left to completely use their imagination on what they are reading. Most readers would not be sucked into the story because they would not be able to paint the right picture. This is a big problem because this is part of what lets you fall into the story and be enveloped in the author's world that they have created. Secondly I have a pet peeve, in the story it refers to something called The Great War, which in the book refers to a war that has not happened yet. However anyone that has read a history book or that can look up "the great war" on Google will know that this for actually refers to WWI. I found this piece to be a slight show of incompetence in research for the book. If you are going to write a book that starts off in the real world, which this one does, and then moves along into fantasy you want to make sure that you still do your research. But this is just a personal pet peeve. The story itself is well written but not fleshed out enough. I feel that instead of marketing this as a YA book it would be better marketed as a preteen fantasy that is suitable for younger readers ages 7 to 13. I feel that with its shorter length and the way that the story is written that it would be more advantageous to market it in this way. Other than that it was an enjoyable short read. I personally would recommend this to the proper age group and not target it towards an older age group that may not get as much enjoyment out of it. Not for me thanks...
Jack Quinlan is an American writer that decides to travel to Ireland for the span of three months in order to gather information for his new book that he is writing on the potato famine of Ireland. While he is there he witnesses some very strange things and starts seeing apparitions. This book is far too stereotypical. And what I mean by that is it's like looking at Ireland through an American lens. The people and the countryside are exactly what people in America think that it looks like and how they act which coming from a person who's actually read books on Ireland by people from Ireland, makes this entire book one big eye roll. While Jack's cocky American attitude makes him an interesting character and his love interest and the banter that they have between the two also very interesting, I found this book to be little more than dry and boring. Most of the book is of Jack driving around, seeing his apparitions, and going to the pub. Speaking of Jack and his love interest let's talk about that for a moment... Jack seems to be absolutely obsessed with her breasts and mentions them more than several times throughout the book. Their sex scene was also completely overdone in my opinion and the writing seems to be completely outlandish at this point in the book. Not to mention the fact that at this point they had only met up with each other a few times and now all of a sudden they're having sex in the rain after just seeing a ghost.... like WTF? The last thing that I had a problem with was there really seems to not be any danger aspect in this book. I mean yes he is seeing ghosts and that is pretty creepy but they are not doing anything and nothing really happens throughout the book. It just comes off as very foolish and pointless. All in all I will give this book 2 stars for the author's effort and because I didn't hate the book but I really didn't like it either. Can't say I'd recommend this one. As sexy as it is sweet...
Sara is charged with getting an exclusive interview for her beauty magazine with an up-and-coming tattoo artist in a very popular tattoo parlor. But there is more to this interview then just playful words. Mitch is definitely getting under Sara's skin in more ways than one. This book had me laughing from the very first paragraph. And Mitch had me swooning over him from his very first sentence. I mean what woman wouldn't want the sultry tattooed bad boy? Mitch is definitely my new fictional boyfriend. ❤️ Their banter is hysterical yet realistic. Although I felt the novel was a little too short, I also felt that it also ran at a good pace for its size. The writing style is perfect and the characters are so relatable. It was like looking into my own life from the outside looking in. And I'm sure a lot of people will say that when they read this book. With how realistic it is and given who the author of the book is, I have to ask, is some of this actually based on reality? If so then bravo putting it all together! It translated very well. 👏👏👏 I really enjoyed this book a lot. This book is perfect for anyone who wants a cute but steamy romance. Highly recommend! Written by Liz Crowe
This present-day spy novel has a lot going for it you’d expect: * handsome, romantically-down-on-his-luck FBI agent * someone trying to build a nuclear bomb piece by piece * post-cold war descriptions of Russia and Poland as gray, monolithic, truly sad places to live * double crossing, greedy police officers * a military guy who thinks he should be king or emperor, or both But it adds in a few unique twists that you don’t: * a gay CIA agent willing to do whatever it takes to get the information he needs * a truly whacky, egomaniacal mad scientist * a love interest for the FBI agent that sort of goes nowhere (although this could be filed under “what you’d expect” for some readers of the genre) * a surprisingly tender story about a marriage gone bad that leads to involvement in a lot of the above items The Fourth Courier moves fast. The dialogue reads more like a screenplay than a novel in many places, which is something I normally enjoy. It also has a fairly large cast of characters which, at times, made for some confusion, given the lightning fast pace. But the author is truly gifted at putting you in a place where you experience the pelting cold, the dreary monotony, the general gray-ness and overall futility of life in Poland and Russia. It’s the sort of book you pick up and don’t put down too often until you reach the ending in a breathless rush of “wait, what?” It’s entertaining and well worth the time spent. 4 stars |
Sumi's Books
Archives
May 2020
|