Hooked on Books

This book had its ups and downs for me. The plot and the paranormal elements were really good and I enjoyed the actual story immensely. The author's writing however, was pretty shoddy at times and it was hard to overlook some of the poor construction.

For example, there was one character, "Sexy Sarah," that we were introduced to at the beginning but her story was completely forgotten about and never wrapped up.

And speaking of "Sexy Sarah," that wasn't the only cheezy name we were forced to endure. "City Boy" and "Country Boy" wers used more times then I even want to count.

Also, in one chapter, two of the characters, Harmon and Logan, were having a conversation and in every sentence the author restated the characters names i.e. How are you Logan? I'm doing good Harmon. Logan, have you looked at those papers? No, Harmon I've been busy with Sexy Sally...

It just went on and on and on. I'm not a professional writer or anything but to me, if it's crystal clear that two characters are conversing with each other, there is no need to repeat their names over and over again, in every single sentence.

So there were some pretty big bumps and pot-holes plot-holes along Tobacco Road, but if the author would hire a good editor, this could be a 5 star story.

*Buddy Read with Marie : )

The few books I've read by Cross haven't been "sleep with the lights on scary" but she can write a creepy, atmospheric ghost story that reels you in from page one and doesn't let up until the end. I had originally planned on rating this 5 stars but after pondering over the couple of issues I had with it, I felt like 4 stars was more appropriate.

The first thing that bothered me was: we were given the impression that Paula is a child, maybe very young teenager, still enrolled in school, yet the language she used (gd-d&mn this & gd that) and the way that she talked to her dad and acted wasn't very reflective of a young child. Then she was sleeping at home by herself and hanging out all night long with the snowplow guy who was a lot older and out of school already. So there was a definite age conflict going on.

Then we come to Jonah... Jonah supposedly had multiple brain surgeries over a period of 20+ years and had over 1/3 of his brain moved, yet his memory and ability to walk, talk and speak was not effected. That didn't come across as very believable to me.

Plus in Chapter 21,

Then in Chapter 23,

Then toward the end we find out

which I think is a huge plot hole that needs reworked.

If you can overlook those details it is a very entertaining ghost story and I had a lot of fun reading it as a buddy read with my GR friend Marie. : )

I was going to summarize the plot myself but every sentence I came up with made the story sound cheesy and did it absolutely no justice so I'm going to post the blurb and leave it at that.  : ) 

A lost ship. An unknown civilization.

The Renegade Star is stranded, its engines totally shot, surrounded by the unknown. Floating in the dead of space, they receive a strange transmission from a nearby planet, warning them to stay away or face the consequences.

When the message mentions how this world belongs to Earth, the lost cradle of humanity, Captain Jace Hughes knows he has no choice but to investigate.

With an endless snowstorm, bloodthirsty animals around every corner, and no sign of any colonies or people, the mission won't be an easy one.

Good thing they sent in the Renegade.

Experience a sprawling galactic tale in this fourth entry to The Renegade Star series. If you're a fan of Firefly, Battlestar Galactica, or Leviathan Wakes, you'll love this epic, space opera thriller. 

This is a great series you just want pure entertainment. It's lots of fun, tons of action and the characters, especially Jace and Siggy, the ships A.I. will make you laugh. 

*If you like audio books the narration is really good. Publisher's Pack #1 contains books 1 & 2 and Publisher's Pack #2 contains books 3 & 4.

This book is a continuation of Jace and his crew's search for Earth and their neverending battle to stay two steps ahead of the enemy. Perfect series if you like a lot of action, space battles and laugh out loud humor. The audio narration (Publisher's Pack #2) is also really good.

I didn't get to hear from Siggy, my favorite AI as much in this book though. : (

It was nice visiting Velaris again, catching up with the characters and seeing how they're rebuilding their lives after the war.  Now I'm ready for a full length story with some action...

After I fell in love with The Haunting of Maddy Clare several years ago, I read all of St. James books. I just love her stories and I was really excited and so looking forward to this!

Which is why it really pains me to say The Broken Girls just didn't do very much for me. Maybe my expectations were just too high, but it really felt like the plot, the suspense and the paranormal/haunting aspect, were all toned down; very mild and mediocre in comparison to her other books.

I'll always be a fan but I hope she ups the ante with her next book.

Whew this story was intoxicating! I got sucked in to Louise and Lavinia's lives and couldn't come up for air. The next thing I know it's 4:30 a.m. and I'm on the last chapter. The first 97% of the book was fantastic! The author nailed the characters personalities and their actions to a tee.

Then we come to the last 3% of the book... I didn't care for the direction the story went at the end with Rex at all and I also thought Louise's story could have been wrapped up a lot better. I felt like the author completely copped out on the end. It seriously felt like one of those 'got a meet a deadline endings,' so lets just throw a few words on the page and call it a wrap.

I still recommend reading it though. Just don't start it late at night or you'll be up all night long.

*I received this ARC from First to Read in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!

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This was absolutely fantastic- it's going on my 10* favorites shelf!

And the ending was perfect! I did not see that coming at all. I can just imagine the look of horror on Sam's face when realization hits him at the final interview. : ) 

This a definite 'must read right now' for horror fans!

I've been wanting to read an adult choose your own adventure story for a while so I thought I'd try this one out. I read it several different ways and it was tons of fun but I just wish the stories were longer. It seemed like I reached the endings of the stories too quickly so it wasn't quite satisfying to me. If you like short stories though, you'll probably enjoy it more then I did and it is a fun diversion from the norm.

Loved it! The suspense was great and there was non-stop action the entire ride! I literally held my breath through quite a bit of the book.

The boys, Corey and Malik, were my favorite characters out of all of them, besides the pilot, Captain Jana Volkova, I liked her a lot too, but the kids were seriously the stars of the show.

I only had an issue with one small part-

All-in-all a nice thrilling space adventure and definitely worth reading!

*I received this ARC from the author and the Goodreads FirstReads program in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!

Before I read this, I thought this was like a "part 2" of Go the F*ck to Sleep but it's actually just a clean version of it. It honestly didn't have quite the same effect I thought, but if you want to read to your kids or buy as a gift for someone who can't handle a few cuss words, then this would be the one to get. 

Now this was even better then Go the F*ck to Sleep! : ) I think because I related to it more and still battle with my youngest son about eating breakfast, eating healthy, and not waiting until 9:00 pm to decide he's hungry, etc. etc. : ) 

Mansbach's books are a definite must read for anyone with kids.

I remember those days! I needed this laugh when my boys were little. : )

I listened to the audio and read the book along with it. Samuel Jackson's introduction is just as hilarious as the story. Lol

This was sooooo good! It reminded me so much of some of Mary Stewart's stories. I've been looking for an author with a similar style for a while now and I finally found one! : ) I can't wait to read some of Marlow's other books. The author writes under a million pen names so I should have plenty to choose from. Lol

I was disappointed in this final book. It didn't do anything for me like the first two books. The pace was so slow and nothing exciting happened. I honestly got bored with it. The best part was the last few chapters I thought, up until the ending that is. Their solution for killing the spiders and saving the world was so completely anti-climatic it was utterly ridiculous. 

A really good novella about a crabbing trawler crew that rescues a girl off an iceberg, then all hell breaks loose when the crew learns the hard way that she isn't quite the innocence girl they thought she was.