Tag: Survival

ARC, Books

Book 196: The Laird’s Forbidden Lover – Amelia C. Gormley

Geoff W

Gormley, Amelia - The Laird's Forbidden Lover Where to start with this book . . . It’s not that it was a bad book, but it wasn’t a great book either. Overall the story was good and the writing was better than many of the romance novels I’ve read, but at the same time I felt the author could have done better.

I have to partially wonder if I stack the decks against this type of novel when I generally read them after having finished a tome of a classic (this time it was Middlemarch). But at the same time I have to think that it should still hold up regardless of what precedes or follows it. I will say that this book was definitely further along in the editing process than many of the galley’s I’ve read previously which was a nice change. I received a copy of this book from the publisher and received no compensation for my honest response.

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Books

Book 181: The Mark of Athena (The Heroes of Olympus #3) – Rick Riordan

Geoff W

I can’t wait for the next in this series to come out!

When it does, I’m going to re-read the first three all over again because there were so many details I only vaguely recalled AND their just fun reads! (Although this might not happen as The House of Hades‘ scheduled publication is August 2013, but I hope to get the chance!)

From what I do recall from the first two books, this is definitely more action packed and definitely not lacking. However, in the end it was just as much a tease as the others. For the entire book I held out hope that some of the major plot lines of the series would be wrapped up, but only one of them was (which was definitely nice). I was, however, very glad that the seven demigods from the prophecy were finally together and the teen angst in the book definitely added to the plot (although I’ve yet to read an author who does teen angst as well as J.K. Rowling).

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ARC, Books

Book 173: The Reluctant Assassin (W.A.R.P. #1) – Eoin Colfer

Geoff W

What a great way to start a new series!

I received a digital galley of The Reluctant Assassin from NetGalley and this is my honest review and I received no form of compensation. (Clearly, who would pay for my ramblings, but thank you to whoever approved it, I’m not sure I should have been approved because of the reader preferences on the publisher’s page!)

Although the story starts off slow, I feel this is a great beginning to a new series! I didn’t have an issue with the slowness in this story, but it was the one detraction. As with any first novel introducing new characters and concepts, there will be some pacing difficulties. How much action should there be? How much back story do you reveal? There were a few times where it seemed Colfer struggled, but it wasn’t enough to deter me, because the story is sound and engaging and the cast of characters are definitely interesting and keep you on your toes!

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ARC, Books

Book 171: Dirty Laundry (Tucker Springs #3) – Heidi Cullinan

Geoff W

Sometimes you just need a bit of fluff to make life seem less hectic. And that’s exactly what this series is for me: a temporary escape from I usually read and from the every day happenings of life. I mean as soon as I start reading one of these (or my Jane Austen fan-fic) I immediately have a smile on my face and start giggling to myself.

This is my first Galley of 2013 and I don’t plan on reading too many this year because of my huge backlog of owned books. I have one left over from 2012 and two additional I’ve requested this year, but I’m only planning on requesting them if they are for series (like this one) or by an author I really want to read, like the second one I’ve requested from the Other Press. I received a copy of Dirty Laundry via NetGalley and this is my honest response and I have received no compensation.

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Books

Book 162: The Casual Vacancy – J.K. Rowling

Geoff W

I felt this was a brilliant follow-up to the Harry Potter series. Well done J.K. Rowling, well done. However, I will say that it wasn’t perfect and it wasn’t easy to get into, but overall I thoroughly enjoyed it and it closed with a BANG!

I have to start with an admission that I have a heavily biased opinion about UK politics. While living in Leeds I was heavily involved in student politics and all of my friends and acquaintances were heavily involved in politics (local, national, activism). And while there, many people I knew stood for local elections, and since I left the UK more have stood and even more now hold office, so reading The Casual Vacancy was like a joyful return to Leeds and listening to the countless, often repetitive, debates about local/national politics.

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