Book Review: Shadowlands

Shadowlands by William Nicholson
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The problem with really short books... it's hard to give them four stars. This book was so, so, so great, but I didn't love it... I didn't have time to love it.

Nevertheless, really good book.  I love the image of C.S. Lewis questioning what he alway thought because he actually had an experience with it.  Life definitely has a way of testing our faith.  And that's good. Without adversity, there can be no strength.  I also love that he chose, after a time, to continue to have faith that it is all for our good... no matter how hard it seems.

A book that would be awesome for a book group because there's a lot to discuss.

Not a waste of time (I wanna see the film!)

Book Review: The Shadow Society

The Shadow Society by Marie Rutkoski
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Let down and then surprised...

I'll explain.

So, I really had a little bit of a hard time getting into this book.  The writing was choppy, the characters cliched, and the plot was cliche.

As Darcy grew as a character the writing smoothed out.  Maybe the author did this on purpose.  We'd have to ask.  But it seemed to fit.  As she calmed down and found her place in the world there was less angst (which translated into choppiness for me) and more calm, real, decent writing.

I don't mind a little cliche in plots... with SO MUCH YA BEING PUBLISHED... it's kind of inevitable and a lot of authors (or maybe it's publishers) seem to want to stick with what works rather than take a chance.  I can't fault 'em entirely, but I always loved something new.

So, yes, the type of paranormal characters were different (read: NOT vampires and NOT werewolves), but the feel of the characters and their roles in the story was not so much.

Not a waste of time. Not spectacular or miraculous, but decent on the side of good.

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Book Review: Count Down to Love

Count Down to Love by Julie N. Ford
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Bahaha. I don't know. It was cute. It was clean. It wasn't really cheesy... it just felt... obvious. It was clean, which was lovely. And quick which is often nice because I like to finish a book in one sitting whenever I can.

The characters were cute and likable and the books was fine, just fine. Nothing special, but cute enough.

These other two books are basically the same thing:

,

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And the hits just keep on coming...

Carla Kelly's Christmas Collection by Carla Kelly


 Heads Up... again!!

I'll be participating in this blog tour. The date I am posting on will be October 8th.  I just finished it and am starting my review.  Check back so you don't miss it!

Love, Me

Heads up!

I'm going to be part of another blog tour. I'll be posting November 7th.  Keep coming back so you don't miss anything!

-Brooke

Book review; A Long Way From Chicago

A Long Way from Chicago by Richard Peck
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Very... Dead End-esque .. though as good as it was, it didn't quite measure up.

It was fun, quick, witty, with a strong voice and loveable characters. It was fun to see their grandma huff and puff and then quietly show her good-as-gold heart. I especially thought Richard Peck did an amazing job making it sound like a good ol' boy was telling the story without making it seem forced, awkward, and lame. He did awesome. AWESOME.

I definitely recommend this book (slightly older kids... it does talk about a bloated, bloody body and a few other such things that I wouldn't recommend for first grade listeners).

I declare it not a waste of time.

I am excited to read the next book, "A Year Down Yonder". .

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Book Review: The Heirs of Southbridge

The Heirs of Southbridge by Jennie Hansen
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

So... wow. Um... glad I didn't buy this book when I was going to

I planned to purchase it... I had just read "Edenbrooke" and was looking for a book that would draw me in and keep me reading... a book that would be clean and sweet...  A book that was hardly ever cheesy...

This was not that book.

Not to be a negative Nel. It wasn't that bad. Hence the fact that I didn't rate it one star.  But... it just wasn't very good.

The writing wasn't poor... or crummy. It just... was boring. The plot wasn't when I think back on it. But man! I had the hardest time paying attention or getting into it. I had a really hard time caring about the characters at all... I just... it just... bah. It fell flat. There's no other way to say it.

And I am sorry for it. I am. I really wanted to like this book. I made myself finish it. I'll just never read it again and feel relieved I borrowed it from the local lib. instead of buying it.

I don't really feel like I wasted my time... but kind of.

The characters were not bad. They could even be likable... I just never felt a connection. Never really cared about any of them.

It was clean. Which was good. I appreciated that. And I could even see how the author may have set the book up for a spin off (Travis's story) if you enjoyed the book and wanted to see where things went (you might get lucky, it sure seemed like she was thinking in that direction).

Okay. Sorry if this seemed harsh. It's hard to find the line between honest and rude.  And maybe you'll love the book. I've never read a lot of westerns (like, almost none) and this, I would say, would fall into that category so maybe that's why I didn't like it much.

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