la tessitrice

Only about 1500 hours until my data imports from GR. Guess a ton of people are jumping ship!

One buys more bookshelves. And then a bigger house. (Speaking from personal experience, that is.)

Not the strongest in the series, given its slow start. It takes some time for various plot threads to come together and for the real mystery to get going. That being said, 'not the strongest in the series' still makes it better than much of the genre and it's funny from the very beginning, so it's still an entertaining read. I could easily find something to quote from every page.I genuinely didn't see the twist at the end coming and the next one in the series will be pre-ordered as soon as it's available.

More like 3.5 stars. Better than the Georgina Kincaid series already, although there's still a whiff of Mary Sue about the character (everyone who meets her wants to have sex with her, beyond the central premise about the prophecy). Also love triangle, ugh. I can already tell she isn't going to end up with the guy I want her to. But love triangles in one form or another seem inevitable for a Richelle Mead series. At least there's enough of an actual plot around the romance to make the book worthwhile. Her take on fairies is interesting and I do want to see more of the world and how it all works.

The premise. Just...no.I mean, read this http://www.goodreads.com/author_blog_posts/2673697-white-and-in-the-minority and tell me she hasn't completely missed the point.

I gave up halfway through and never went back.

One of the most boring books I ever read.

I finished this at 2am this morning and it took me a long time to sleep afterwards, specifically because of the ending.The story certainly went where I never expected it to at the beginning of the first book, but it was worth the journey. Sanderson showed that he is capable of weaving hints and pieces of world building right the way through, so that in the end it all made sense. I didn't have any unanswered questions and was left with a sense of wonder at how it fit together.It's the best book, or series of books, I've read in a long time, and Sanderson skilfully avoids the trap many Lord of the Rings wannabes* fall into, which is having to move characters around on a vast landscape, resulting in long walks with not much happening (or random incidents thrown in to keep the journey interesting, without actually forwarding the plot). However, there are points when the plot sags, such as the middle of book 2, when we get very deep into Luthadel politics. I felt that could have been cut down without losing anything, and that pacing is ultimately why the series only got four stars instead of five.And so to the ending.It killed me. When Elend found himself with Marsh's axe in his chest, I believed it was going to spur Vin into defeating Ruin, then she'd revive him. That delusion only lasted a few paragraphs until he was beheaded. Then when Sazed took the power, I thought he'd be able to revive the pair of them. Right until the moment when they are found in the field and Sazed announces he couldn't bring them back to life, I was sure they would be resurrected.Maybe some people would have thought Vin bringing Elend back to life or Sazed bringing them both back to life would equate to a deus ex machina, and it would have been only in the literal sense that we were dealing with the power of a god - the power of Preservation, which we were told brought life to humanity in the first place. There would have been nothing out of the blue about that one small piece of mercy Sanderson could have thrown the readers. A throwaway line about the pair of them - and all those who died - being somewhere peaceful isn't enough for me. If they fought so hard in life, then it only seemed fair they get to enjoy that peace in life too.Part of me immediately wanted to reread the story to watch the pieces fit together now I knew what they were, but I don't think I can. I don't know if I'll ever be able to. It's one thing witnessing J K Rowling slaughter beloved characters from the viewpoint of a character who survives. It would be another reading the viewpoint of someone you know is doomed to die in the end. I don't think my poor broken heart could take it..I suppose this means I'll have to seek out and devour everything else he's written instead**.*Actually, my personal opinion is that Lord of the Rings falls into this trap too. Cries of blasphemy will be ignored.**Except his ending of the Wheel of Time because that series is the worst example of endless-walking-not-much-plot I've ever comes across.

Richelle Mead isn't the best author out there. Her writing style can tend towards the pedestrian and I found her adult series to be overwhelmingly on the meh side, stretching out the plot as far as it would go. I loved Vampire Academy though, despite thinking it would be a throwaway read - each story is a compulsive read that has you by the nuts within a few chapters. I knew Adrian was never going to end up with Rose in those books, but he would have been my choice, and him having a beefed up role in this spin-off is no hardship. Once again I found it hard to put the book down by the end of chapter two, which resulted in some bleary-eyed days at work after reading too long into the night.Is it without its faults? No. A few of the plot twists can be seen coming a mile off, but I don't think they were supposed to be huge surprises anyway. The dialogue occasionally veers into the awkward and the descriptions into the banal. I don't care.Adrian. I melt. I cannot explain how hard I am ship, ship, shipping after this book. I know we'll get our happy ending in the end, because Richelle Mead's characters always do, but that happy ending is likely four books and some serious heartfail away. In the meantime I'm going to try and find something else to read to distract me, but it won't be easy. This is YA supernatural done right and even some of the adult writers could learn a thing about weaving a compelling yarn from this. *Side-eyes Laurell K. Hamilton and Charlaine Harris*.

This was a better effort than the previous books, even if there was still a lot of padding, but there was an actual plot this time around. However, the villain behind the mystery in this book was a bit of a let down and their motivation made no sense to me. Certain plot threads are being pulled together and tied up nicely in anticipation of the end of the series. I'm fairly sure I know who Sookie will end up with, but then I guessed who it was within the first few books - it's been signposted throughout the series. I still believe this could have been merged with the previous book (the story is really two halves of a whole) but I'm now hoping the last book might be able to do the series justice.Edit: I'm not a massive fan of Eric so I'm not too bothered about where their relationship has ended up and if she doesn't end up with him. It seems the reviews that really hated this book were in the main people who love Eric and want him and Sookie to get a happily ever after. So your shipping stance will likely affect how much you enjoy it.

I picked this book up mainly because of the setting - I grew up in a village on the edge of moorland, not too far from Saddleworth itself. There was a lot of promise in the premise but that seemed to be squandered, lost in a sea of cliches. It's rather like transplanting The Wickerman to the Pennines. I hoped the whispers of witchcraft, devil worship and child sacrifice at the beginning were going to be misdirection, leading into something (hopefully) more original. Sadly, it just makes it very easy for the reader to figure out what is happening far ahead of the protagonist, Cass.Despite this I still found there were a lot of questions left unanswered (what the hell were the creepy dolls?) and some scenes in retrospect appear to have been added purely for creepiness but don't make much sense when considering the reveal (in particular, one scene with a lot of rats).The writing is solid, if not incredible, but not much actually happened. Cass spent an awful lot of time walking around the village or in the flat, pondering what was going on, and while this was probably meant to increase the feeling of isolation and build the suspense, it just slowed everything down. Also, a couple of nitpicks I had: First, that a little village like this seemed to have so many shops, but only one church and no mention of a pub. If the village is big enough to have its own primary school, it would have one or two pubs, but the shops would likely be relegated to one general convenience store place, possibly combined with a post office. I know this because all the villages around the one I grew up in gradually lost their shops and their post offices. People have cars, they'll go to the nearest supermarket, or get a home delivery. Secondly, who on earth decides to go walking off over moorland in winter? Moors in wet weather are basically peat bogs, which act like quicksand if given the chance. Any paths over the moor would be completely covered by the snow. And yet we had characters talking like it was no big thing.It's a shame because I had such high hopes.

I'm finally all caught up on this series. It took me a couple of months but I got there.You know that feeling when you get takeaway food and it's fun while you're eating it but afterwards you feel a little ashamed and hollow? That's what this series is like, especially as it progresses.While the author has tried to switch the plots up so it's not as formulaic as it was in the first half of the series, the fact that the characters are all running on a hamster wheel without going anywhere makes it feel like you're reading the same book over and again. Stephanie is an inept bounty hunter who still hasn't taken the time to somehow improve her skills or find a job she's better suited to. She destroys cars. She can't choose between Morelli and Ranger. She's 'assisted' by Lula and her Grandma Mazur to 'hilarious' consequence.I fear this series is going to run and run, treading over the same ground until people stop buying them or the author retires. So why did I read them all? They're perfect bus reading material: it doesn't matter where you are when you have to stop reading and doesn't take too much concentration. If that's the kind of easy read you're looking for, these are perfect.

I can already see these becoming formulaic, amusing as they are.

Wish I could give this shower of shite no stars at all, but I can't.I judge harshly anyone who likes this, let alone spends money on it. There are authors with talent and integrity out there who deserve your time and money.

This book left me with an overwhelming feeling of meh. I thought the plotline was pedestrian, despite the supernatural premise, and the two main characters didn't seem to have any personality that I was able to discern. Sadly, most of that personality went to the female lead's psychotic sister, who was the most one-dimensional 'villain' I've come across in a long time. Also, the ex-husband is a similarly one-dimensional construction. He can't just be the jerk that left her, he has to be the jerk that drugged her and stole all her stuff when she was at her most vulnerable. This is soap opera material.The drama towards the end seemed ridiculously contrived. the girl, who's name I can no longer remember despite only reading the book yesterday, voluntarily submits to going to a psychiatric unit because her sister threatens to have her committed and sell the house otherwise. Bear in mind that at this point in time the sister is the one who is acting batshit and half of what she is threatening she wouldn't have the power to carry out. Actually, the fact that what's-her-face speaks out loud to any empty house is pretty contrived too. Given that I'm reading a ghost story, so my disbelief is already suspended, that's saying something.Also, nothing in the book gave any hint it was the first in the series, so as I got ever closer towards the end I thought we might be about to get some kind of resolution, but no - the last page is an advertisement for the sequel. I'm willing to bet that whatever happens in the second book (and the inevitable third book) could easily have been condensed into this one instead - someone needs to tell authors that not all stories need stretching out over multiple books!I only read the book because the author writes Twilight fanfiction and it has been pimped all over that community, and I wish I hadn't bothered. Several little moments in the book made me think I was reading fanfiction and that the characters of Patrick and errr what-was-her-name-again? were originally meant to be Edward and Bella. That would explain the cardboard characterisation throughout. Needless to say, I won't be picking up the sequel. Or its sequel.

Throughout the second half of this series, Georgina became less of a protagonist. Rather than taking control of the situation, driving the plot through her actions, she tended to sit back and react. Worse, she even waited to be rescued a few times. Considering how much Rose in Vampire Academy drove the story and saved, not only her life but often the lives of people around her, it was a surprise that Richelle Mead had written such a weak character.Also, it was really obvious how it was all going to be wrapped up, hinted at right from the first book, so throughout the last one it was case of how it was going to play out, not what the big revelation was going to be. I'd also lost interest in Seth and didn't really believe the big true-love-forever thing they had going, because they'd both done some pretty horrid things to each other, and to other people.All books in the series were an easy, quick read which is why I haven't completely savaged it. It just wasn't earth shattering and I doubt I'll be re-reading it at any point in the future.