miyurose

• Rated 4 stars

“This series was recommended to me by someone a few years ago, and I’m just now getting around to giving it a shot. I really enjoyed this! It’s more contemporary romance than romantic suspense, but it’s a much more developed story than you get from something Harlequin-esque. Melinda is a fish out of water in Virgin River, and I liked seeing the town and its people through her unfamiliar eyes. The cantankerous old doctor is a bit of a cliché, but he’s endearing enough that it doesn’t matter. And who doesn’t love a Marine? The series as a whole focuses more on the town than on a specific main character, but I’m hoping to see familiar faces in the next books. If you like a little more meat to your romance, this is a series for you.”

miyurose wrote this review yesterday. ( reply | permalink )

• Rated 3 stars

“I liked this a bit more than the last Dresden book. The plot felt more solid and easier to follow, though there still wasn’t enough Murphy or Bob. I really like Murphy and Bob. I’m not as big a fan of the Knights of the Cross and that whole side to the story. And I’m hoping this whole vampires vs. wizards war ends soon, because it’s really being dragged out. I like Harry best when he’s trying to figure out a mystery rather than running for his life. I’ll continue with the series, but I’m definitely hoping for a sea change.”

miyurose wrote this review 5 days ago. ( reply | permalink )

• Rated 5 stars

“I loved this. Being from Maine, I felt like it was very authentically "Maine", from the speech patterns and atmosphere to phrases like "Jeezum Crow", which I haven’t heard myself in at least 13 years. Add to that Olive’s occasional resemblance to my great-grandmother, and in a lot of ways reading this book was like visiting home. It’s not a particularly happy book, though there is a little bit of light at the end. Sometimes Olive is the center of the story, sometimes she’s a bit player, and sometimes she’s just walking by, but she always makes a mark. Olive’s life is hard, and there’s so much you really don’t know about her, which you realize during her heart-wrenching visit to her son’s home in New York. I think the thing that sticks with me the most is the tangible love between Olive and Henry, which is most apparent when she calls to talk to him at the nursing home and maintains her one-sided conversation. Overall, it’s just a beautifully constructed collection of stories.”

miyurose wrote this review 7 days ago. ( reply | permalink )

• Rated 3 stars

“This book, about dead people and the sorts of things that are done to them in the name of science and mourning, completes our own personal Mary Roach trifecta. It was an interesting book… I didn’t realize all the different things that can happen to your body if you donate it to science. She even travels to China in search of a crematorium that allegedly used cadavers for dumplings in a family restaurant. It is definitely on the gory side, so if hearing about guts and bugs and unpleasant biological functions isn’t your bag, you might want to skip it. But if you’re curious, Roach does an excellent job of making non-fiction interesting and entertaining.”

miyurose wrote this review 9 days ago. ( reply | permalink )

• Rated 2 stars

“This will be my last Queen Betsy book. As much as I like the characters, there was just no plot here! You get a few promises of interesting stuff that might happen later, particularly with Betsy’s sister (the daughter of the devil), but nothing actually happens. I expected there to be a lot more involvement between Betsy and Nick as they search for the Driveway Killer, but instead, it’s all wrapped up inside of a chapter in a pretty anti-climatic way. Oh yeah, you get some expected bickering between Betsy and Sinclair, but that’s pretty much par for the course now. There wasn’t even any vampire politics. So I’m no longer wasting my time.”

miyurose wrote this review 9 days ago. ( reply | permalink )

• Rated 3 stars

“This was just your basic formulaic romance… Man and woman are best friends, man and woman end up on vacation alone together, man and woman discover mutual attraction, but of course, don’t know how to handle it, etc, etc, etc. Throw in a dead husband, a young son, and a prying yet well-meaning mother, and you have a party! That being said, it was a very enjoyable formulaic romance. Sandra Brown sure knows how to give you likable characters that you want to see together in the end.”

miyurose wrote this review 2 weeks ago. ( reply | permalink )

• Rated 4 stars

“I think this ranks up there as one of my favorite Baldacci books (though I don’t think anything will ever top Wish You Well). I hated Mace’s name, especially the way the symbolism is pretty blatantly spelled out, but I liked her as a character. Roy turned out to be a good partner for her — patient, steady, and with just a little bit of crazy to balance out her wild amount of crazy/reckless abandon/obsession. The mystery does get a little bit confusing, as there are several layers of bad guys, but it’s all spelled out pretty well at the end. I do suspect that this isn’t the last we’ve seen of Mace and Roy…. She still has a lot of questions she needs answered.”

miyurose wrote this review 2 weeks ago. ( reply | permalink )

1 of 1 members found this review helpful.

• Rated 5 stars

“I’m sure that this novel has found itself compared to The Hunger Games, as they are both young adult dystopian novels. The Hunger Games is a hard title to surpass, but in some ways, The Maze Runner has done just that. From the start of the story, when Thomas wakes up in a strange elevator knowing only his name, you know nothing more than what the characters know. And the characters don’t know much, which makes everything a mystery. Where are they? Why is there a maze? Who keeps sending them supplies? Will they *really* die if they stay in the maze at night? And what is the deal with the girl who suddenly shows up the next day? I found this story to be much more complex than The Hunger Games, even if it isn’t suspenseful in quite the same way. It certainly kept me reading, and I blew through the second half of the book like someone was going to take it away from me. The ending is incredible, because just when you think you know what is going on, you find out that you’re completely wrong. Can’t wait for the next one.”

miyurose wrote this review 3 weeks ago. ( reply | permalink )

• Rated 3 stars

“I really do like these Dark Hunter books. They’re quick and steamy and don’t really require a lot of extra thought. Tabitha is one of the more interesting heroines in Kenyon’s world, a woman who does more sticking up for herself than some of the women in this series. I did think that this one addressed an interesting issue… What is life like for a Dark Hunter who has been given back his soul? How do they deal with no longer being immortal and having to worry about things like disease, bills, and bad knees? Though it is brief, I thought it was one of the better parts of the whole book. Unfortunately, Kenyon decides to sweep it all under the rug with a little manufactured magic that rends all parties involved immortal again (or for the first time, for the humans involved). I think I would have liked to see that theme continued in some of the later books rather than the quick happily ever after.”

miyurose wrote this review 3 weeks ago. ( reply | permalink )

• Rated 3 stars

“I thought this was a touching story… a little bit coming of age, a little bit romance. Bea has moved to a new town and is starting in a new school for her senior year of high school. Fate, the alphabet, and a shared affinity for late night radio call-in shows lead her to a tentative-at-first friendship with the Ghost Boy, Jonah, who has long been the misfit of the class. Bea is a bit of a misfit herself, not really interested in the usual teenaged girl things and saddled with a couple of parents that are far to involved with their own problems to really pay much attention to her. I really liked this story, though the ending is a bit bittersweet. I did have one problem with it…. I didn’t like how casual underaged drinking was in this book. I know that it happens, a lot, but I don’t think that a book that is marketed to young adults should treat it in such a "this is normal, everyone does it!" way. And though I’ve spent a fair amount of time in Baltimore, I don’t really believe that there are business establishments in this day and age where 17 year olds can waltz in and buy alcohol on a regular basis.”

miyurose wrote this review 3 weeks ago. ( reply | permalink )