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greek_myth5's review against another edition
4.0
Fun, quirky read
I enjoyed this read very much. Like the other books I've read by this author it was full of sarcasm and snark and I loved it. I'll definitely be reading the next book.
I enjoyed this read very much. Like the other books I've read by this author it was full of sarcasm and snark and I loved it. I'll definitely be reading the next book.
starlitbooknerd's review against another edition
5.0
Awesome
RJ Blain never fails to impress and I love her new series so much! I can’t wait until Janette and Bradley finally admit their feelings to each other!!
RJ Blain never fails to impress and I love her new series so much! I can’t wait until Janette and Bradley finally admit their feelings to each other!!
crator's review against another edition
2.0
2 stars. The concept is absolutely lovely. The execution is awful. The writing is very repetitive. "I should do *xyz*, she thought." Then two sentences over, "she did xyz."
The main character is boring. She's just so versed in absolutely everything there is. Magic? She's amazing. Information gathering? Expert. Technology? Basically a hacker. There's just no substance to her nor is there actually any challenges to her.
The main character is boring. She's just so versed in absolutely everything there is. Magic? She's amazing. Information gathering? Expert. Technology? Basically a hacker. There's just no substance to her nor is there actually any challenges to her.
jscarpa14's review against another edition
3.0
Interesting
I like Janette but her relationship is strange to say the least and I'm not entirely sure how I feel about it. I can see correlations between this world and recent politics but in an amplified manner, that said its just so jarring to me the way its just accepted that this is how the world works and while it sucks the battle is to prevent things getting worse. The whole concept of the world just sits so wrong with me, I can see the relevancy but it still just bothers me. I'm sure it's supposed to, but at the same time you know. My biggest issue with the book is too much is happening at once. While there are a whole bunch of threads here all this book really succeeds in doing is introducing the main character well and a massive cast of characters poorly. Relationships are told about rather than shown and a sense of why we should care about anyone other than Janette isn't really established well. Also while Blain keeps telling us that Janette is a strong, independent character, most of her showing Janette involved the character being extremely passive and allowing others to rule her life. As a writer Blain is far more talented than this so I feel she could have done a much better job of truly establishing the character relationships and better furthering the plot. It's a good book but not one of Blain's best even though I find the premise one of her most intriguing and intend to continue with the series.
I like Janette but her relationship is strange to say the least and I'm not entirely sure how I feel about it. I can see correlations between this world and recent politics but in an amplified manner, that said its just so jarring to me the way its just accepted that this is how the world works and while it sucks the battle is to prevent things getting worse. The whole concept of the world just sits so wrong with me, I can see the relevancy but it still just bothers me. I'm sure it's supposed to, but at the same time you know. My biggest issue with the book is too much is happening at once. While there are a whole bunch of threads here all this book really succeeds in doing is introducing the main character well and a massive cast of characters poorly. Relationships are told about rather than shown and a sense of why we should care about anyone other than Janette isn't really established well. Also while Blain keeps telling us that Janette is a strong, independent character, most of her showing Janette involved the character being extremely passive and allowing others to rule her life. As a writer Blain is far more talented than this so I feel she could have done a much better job of truly establishing the character relationships and better furthering the plot. It's a good book but not one of Blain's best even though I find the premise one of her most intriguing and intend to continue with the series.
hgranger's review against another edition
1.0
I tried really hard to finish this and finally gave up. It seems like such a promising premise — vigilante librarians, a protagonist who has become disabled and has to deal with the changes in her life stemming from that, and a mystery to solve. Yet this book took all these excellent ingredients and somehow mixed them into the dullest book stew I’ve encountered in a long time. It was slow moving, mostly because of the absurd amount of repetitions. And not just small things like “he was a very tall man” or “the cat was cute” like some other books manage to drill into their readers heads. This book has conversations and descriptions repeated verbatim within the same chapter. I’m impressed with anyone who could get through that. I couldn’t.
The final nail in the coffin for me was when I was supposed to believe that a reasonably intelligent, magically powerful woman, who has worked as a bodyguard for the same man for years, thinks that growing her hair out and wearing glasses is a disguise that this man who spent most of his waking hours with her wouldn’t see through. (Which he does, of course, but the idea that she’d even think that is just silly.)
The final nail in the coffin for me was when I was supposed to believe that a reasonably intelligent, magically powerful woman, who has worked as a bodyguard for the same man for years, thinks that growing her hair out and wearing glasses is a disguise that this man who spent most of his waking hours with her wouldn’t see through. (Which he does, of course, but the idea that she’d even think that is just silly.)
telerit's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
mysterious
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
emlickliter's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
5.0
Booked for Murder (Vigilante Magical Librarians, #1) by R.J. Blain – It may be a slightly different magical system than the massive RJB series that I have a clinical addiction to, but this world is just as cool! I may be nearly as fainty as Mickey when it comes to blood, but Janette was worth being slightly queasy for! How am I going to survive waiting for the rest of the series to be written???? I didn’t even know that I needed a badass librarian and her wealthy almost fiancé to embroil me in political terrorism, but I am here for it! Happy Reading!
wendycherie's review
Casual and constant mention of beating children for discipline. I just couldn’t stand it.