Jess :)

1 of 1 members found this review helpful.

• Rated 3 stars

“I really can't decide whether I want to give this 3 or 4 stars.....maybe 3.5. I was really excited to read this book because I love all of Godberson's work and especiallyvlove the setting of the jazz age. I was a little disappointed. The relationship between Letty and Astrid was almost laughable. We are simply told that this annoying and shy girl (completely opposite from Astrid) suddenly becomes "best friends" with an outgoing and sort of snobbish rich girl. Letty could have still been included in the book without relation to Cordelia and Astrid like in the first book because Cordelia and Astrid's story lines were interesting enough without her and most of the time you just wonder why she's even there. I think she might have been a lot less annoying if her storyline was not connected to the other two girls'. Basically, all Letty does is sit around and mope and has such oh so big dreams of becoming a real star. Her character could have been much more developed and well written as to make her at least a little bit likable and so the reader didn't have to spend a third of the book listening to her whine and whine and whine. Personally, I was wishing from the middle of the first book In This series that she would be written out. Despite this, there is only one annoying character out of the bunch and with the rich descriptions, gorgeous writing, and juicy stories, how could I resist reading the next one? Enjoy! ;)”

Jess :) wrote this review Saturday, December 31, 2011. ( reply | permalink )

• Rated 3 stars

“Although the vivid imagery is flawless, I expected a lot more from the plot. The first half of the book just dragged and even though it was never without the beautiful descriptions of the settings, it was a total snore. The last half of the book was better plotwise but the book still dragged overall and probably could have been cut down by 100 or so. The characters seemed overwhelmingly flat compared to the descriptive scenes around them and didn't help the plot move along at all. Oh well.....I think this bok would have been a better screenplay or movie than an actual book. Enjoy! ;)”

Jess :) wrote this review Friday, December 23, 2011. ( reply | permalink )

1 of 1 members found this review helpful.

• Rated 5 stars

“Mimi has officially usurped Schuyler in becoming the main character of this series and the book definitely does not disappoint. It was a lot more action-y than the last book and you'll be hooked page after page. I can't believe I have wait a whole year for the last and final (*tear*) book of this series to come out. :(”

Jess :) wrote this review Sunday, December 18, 2011. ( reply | permalink )

1 of 1 members found this review helpful.

• Rated 3 stars

“I thought I was going to like this book a lot more than I actually did. It fell way below my expectations. The concept is really interesting and had a lot of potential and I like the whole story of the background of the story but I still couldn't brin myself to love this book. Althought the different point of views weren't confusing, I didn't think it was necessary and sometimes took away from the book. Other than 3 characters (Nora, Bram, and Pamela), all of the different point of views sounded like one single voice and if they were excluded, the book probably would have been a lot better. The "action" and "suspense" scenes also were not as exciting as they could have been. Even though I felt like I was swept up in the action, the author isn't very descriptive and you just feel like a passive onlooker rather than being excited to read on. The lesser characters were not very likable either. Pamela was probably the worst. She makes stupid decision that on one hand shows her compassion, after a while, you just feel like it's forced because she just HAS to save everything single thing. Some of her decisions to be humanitarians don't make any sense either. Just hours after she attacked a zombie, she decides to go against her own intuition to make sure a little child (who she knows is dead) gets home safe?? Her chapters were just too annoying for me to handle with her provincial way of thinking when dealing with Michael - even though the reader can see that he is giving clear signs that he's interested in Nora - or the stupidity of her parents. You would think that the author would give her family more common sense than that what with them apparantly being hard working people and all. Mainly, Pamela just sits around moping about herself (even after she gets rescued) and "redeems" herself by making dumb and rash decisions in between. I'm not sure if I will continue to read this series but I feel like I'm almost obligated to. Oh well.........enjoy ;)”

Jess :) wrote this review Wednesday, December 14, 2011. ( reply | permalink )

1 of 1 members found this review helpful.

• Rated 3 stars

“Although the plot concept was interesting, the writing and characters were flat and mediocre.”

Jess :) wrote this review Sunday, October 2, 2011. ( reply | permalink )

• Rated 5 stars

“The only complaint I have is how clueless the girls were and especially how annoying Emily was. From the beginning I thought that "Courtney" was schizo and was impersonating Ali which is knid of true just reversed...but this may be because I read way too many books way too fast. Enjoy! ;)”

Jess :) wrote this review Tuesday, September 27, 2011. ( reply | permalink )

1 of 1 members found this review helpful.

• Rated 5 stars

“After the end of the last book I was really unsure of Brian's shift of the series toward the supernatural.....little did I know that I would be staying up until 5am to finish this book. It started off slow but after the first couple of chapters, you really get hooked. I think this was one of the most suspensful (and creepy) books in the Private series and I was really impressed at how well the author was able to transition the series from being primarily a mystery/suspense genre to a supernatural genre. Although some of the explanations of the past that tie to witchcraft don't really make sense, it is still one of the best books in the series. If you were skeptical (like super skeptical) about this book and were considering dropping the series (like I did), make your decision after you read this book because I know that my opinion has taken a complete 180. Enjoy! ;)

(sorry for any typos......this is me writing a review at 6 in the morning....after finishing the book)”

Jess :) wrote this review Friday, July 22, 2011. ( reply | permalink )

• Rated 3 stars

“This would probably be a 4 star rating if Harmony was completely out of the picture. It's a really interesting premise and I was excited to read it, but right when I was reading from Harmony's point of view, I knew I hated her. There are just some people/characters that you just can't stand, and I'm sure everyone out there relates to this.........and from reading some of the reviews, I know more than a few of your agree with my not so pleasant reception of Harmony.”

Jess :) wrote this review Saturday, June 25, 2011. ( reply | permalink )

• Rated 3 stars

“I don't think this book lived up to all its hype. The first half was really slow paced and some of the events that happen just don't seem to make sense (like when Cassia's father just randomly told her that he knew she was in love with Ky....I was like where did that come from??) I was also kind of annoyed that the author seemed to try to much to force symbolism on the readers. It just didn't seem genuine and it was really obvious and forced.......like there would be one or more examples of symbolism on each page and it was really obvious that Condie tried to make it one of those deep philosophical books filled with symbolism and all that.”

Jess :) wrote this review Sunday, June 12, 2011. ( reply | permalink )

• Rated 5 stars

“This book keeps you guessing until the end!”

Jess :) wrote this review Thursday, June 2, 2011. ( reply | permalink )