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halellery's reviews
383 reviews
The Tomb of the Honey Bee by L.B. Hathaway
adventurous
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
4.0
Things are looking up. This was far more along the lines of Dame Agatha than anything else I've read that wasn't penned by that venerable lady herself.
It was good. Real good. Not that I didn't figure out whodunnit, but Hathaway spun a good yarn, and there was still the possibility I could be wrong, due to some red herrings swimming around. That was refreshing.
Also. Posie is coming into herself here. She didn't make the amateurish mistakes she made in book 1 (she learned!! What a novel concept!). Pesky Len was also dealt with adequately.(though I'm uncertain what Hathaway wants me to assume of his character here, having married him to that uppity little harpy.)
It was good. Real good. Not that I didn't figure out whodunnit, but Hathaway spun a good yarn, and there was still the possibility I could be wrong, due to some red herrings swimming around. That was refreshing.
Also. Posie is coming into herself here. She didn't make the amateurish mistakes she made in book 1 (she learned!! What a novel concept!). Pesky Len was also dealt with adequately.
Murder Offstage by L.B. Hathaway
adventurous
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
So-so for a first book in a series. Posie is a likeable enough lead, although at times she was 'sure' of things and declared other things as 'making no sense' without providing me with logical reasoning to back herself up. That smelled a bit too much of plot-no-jutsu for my liking.
There wasn't much of a mystery, in that we always kinda knew who the killer was. The job was to get to him. And for me that worked well enough. (Because I've had it up to here with Agatha Christie wannabes who are marketed as having written the next best mystery ever — only to flop a hundred pages in. It's panful to read of MCs blundering about, unable to figure out something so obvious, it's liable to poke my eyes out. #end rant#)
The pacing and the structure worked well enough to keep me involved, and I listened to this in one sitting.
There was a sprinkle of romance, but no more than a sprinkle, and thank god for that. It was easy enough to ignore.Also, the resolution of the romance in the next book was good. Not the usual saccharine thing. Bloody Len.
There wasn't much of a mystery, in that we always kinda knew who the killer was. The job was to get to him. And for me that worked well enough. (Because I've had it up to here with Agatha Christie wannabes who are marketed as having written the next best mystery ever — only to flop a hundred pages in. It's panful to read of MCs blundering about, unable to figure out something so obvious, it's liable to poke my eyes out. #end rant#)
The pacing and the structure worked well enough to keep me involved, and I listened to this in one sitting.
There was a sprinkle of romance, but no more than a sprinkle, and thank god for that. It was easy enough to ignore.
Clockwork Boys by T. Kingfisher
funny
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
So, this was a fairly fun ride, if terribly short. Characters were intriguing enough to keep me listening. Ms. Hvam did an awesome job narrating, although I normally prefer narrators who read in British or Australian English.
Where this falls short of 5 stars for me is in the structure. This did not feel like a complete book. It felt like part 1 of a book, at best. What I mean is, I didn't get a sense of rising tension, climax, and then a resolution, like you do normally.
It feels like maybe Kingfisher had written one long book, and they decided to publish it by splitting it into several shorter books, and so this was hurriedly cut off from the rest of the whole to stand alone as book 1.
I'm dissatisfied enough to question whether I want to read the next one.
Where this falls short of 5 stars for me is in the structure. This did not feel like a complete book. It felt like part 1 of a book, at best. What I mean is, I didn't get a sense of rising tension, climax, and then a resolution, like you do normally.
It feels like maybe Kingfisher had written one long book, and they decided to publish it by splitting it into several shorter books, and so this was hurriedly cut off from the rest of the whole to stand alone as book 1.
I'm dissatisfied enough to question whether I want to read the next one.
The Murder at Sissingham Hall by Clara Benson
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
Beware! This is not for fans of Dame Agatha, regardless that's how it was marketed.
'tis a pale imitation at best. Predictable and contrived; even before the murder happens, you can have a pretty accurate guess who's gonna be done in, and whodunit. After the fact, well. It was painful to listen to them all run around like headless chicken. Stuck through it in the hopes ms. Benson might throw in a twist at the end, but nope. No such luck.
'tis a pale imitation at best. Predictable and contrived; even before the murder happens, you can have a pretty accurate guess who's gonna be done in, and whodunit. After the fact, well. It was painful to listen to them all run around like headless chicken. Stuck through it in the hopes ms. Benson might throw in a twist at the end, but nope. No such luck.
The Binding by Bridget Collins
Did not finish book. Stopped at 24%.
Did not finish book. Stopped at 24%.
Intriguing premise, sloppy execution.
This seems to be my main trouble lately with the books I pick up. I'm developing a phobia of beginning new books, for having been so underwhelmed so often. And my 'dropped' list keeps growing.
Like seriously, binding up your bad memories in books so that you don't have to remember, and the people who practice that craft. That could have gone places. I was sold two sentences into the book summary.
And then, it flopped.
Flowery prose and a rambling, whiny narrator is a particularly unattractive combination for me, I'm finding. To top it off here it comes coupled with first person POV, which more often puts me off, rather than help toward further immersion.
Not to mention that very alluring premise, which remains forevermore undeveloped.
I'm told the book gets notably better in the second part. It might, at that.
But I'm past the point in my life where I was generous enough to plough through watery mush to get to the supposed 'good parts'.
Kudos to Carl Prekopp for lending his voice to the audiobook version. He's cool. He made the hours I wasted on this at least bearable.
*ALSO, I just discovered through a random review that there is a particularly brutal murder of a puppy in the second half of the book.
That's a trigger for me, which I would have appreciated being warned about in some manner, thanks a lot, Collins.
You now go straight to my blacklist for that.*
That's a trigger for me, which I would have appreciated being warned about in some manner, thanks a lot, Collins.
You now go straight to my blacklist for that.*
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty and Rape
Moderate: Vomit
Hikaru No Go, Vol. 1: Descent of the Go Master by Yumi Hotta
challenging
emotional
inspiring
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0