The Little Bookshop on the Seine by Rebecca Raisin
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I was so bored with this book. I got to 25% and skipped to the end so see what would happen ... which I NEVER DO. What I read there made me glad that I didn't spend all those hours reading the whole book. There was no spark, no excitement, no "grabbing" in the words on the page. I just couldn't do it anymore.

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First Date

First Date

by Krista McGee

2 stars

336 pages

Published Jan. 10, 2012 by Thomas Nelson 

 

If you like christianity being shoved down your throat and all things "The Bachelor," this book is clearly for you.

Now, I am a christian, but this book is just not my cup of tea. Every page has some religious ideology and prayer on it. Religion for me is a personal thing. I go to church - I enjoy it, but I don't want my beliefs turned into a YA romance filled with saccharine, eye-rolling and lack of plot. It may have helped if the writing was better and the relgious down-the-throat-shoving was toned down to just "religious overtones."

The only reason I gave it two stars is because there is no swearing, sex or bad stuff. And it obviously touts the benefits of christian thinking - forgiveness and love.

And I finished the thing. I guess that counts for something.

Graduation Day

Graduation Day (The Testing #3)

by Joelle Charbonneau

3 stars

304 pages 

Published June 17, 2014 by HMH Books for Young Readers

 

Meh. Not great. Too many questions in the prose: "Should I do this?", "How can I do this?", "Who can I trust?", etc. Too distracting.

I'm just glad this trilogy is over. It wasn't stellar - more of a Hunger Games meets whiny girl meets Rage Against the Machine. If I had to do it again, I probably wouldn't waste my time.

Serendipity

Serendipity (Only in Gooding #5)

by Cathy Marie Hake

2 stars

336 pages 

Published Nov. 1, 2010 by Baker Publishing Group

I was in the mood for a romantic novel, but I don't like all the graphic sex scenes, so I opted for a Christian version. I was quite happy with the lack of swearing and sex, but that's basically all the good I can say about this book.

It was booooring. And the ending was abrupt and did not satisfy many loose ends. But what bugged me the most was the mother-in-law. She was a horrible, horrible person. And for a Christian novel, I was surprised that the author did not offer any glimmer of kindness or charity in this character. All she did was berate, insult and degrade the woman her son had married.

I was confused, too, at the development of the love between the two main characters. It was choppy and terribly written.

I will not be reading any more books by this author 

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: A Trilogy in Four Parts

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: A Trilogy in Four Parts (Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy #1-4)

by Douglas Adams

2 stars

590 pages

Published 1992 by Pan Books (first published 1986)

I just didn't get it. Got all confused. Maybe I should watch the movie first? So I at least know what's going on?

Why is this so popular?

The Crown of Embers

The Crown of Embers (Fire and Thorns #2)

by Rae Carson

2 stars

410 pages

Published September 18th 2012 by Greenwillow Books

The first half of the book was booooring. It took me forever to get through it. Slog, slog, slog.

Once I got through that though, it picked up. But then that part went way too fast. Why couldn't Carson skip the lame stuff and concentrate on pacing the good stuff? The final "battle" was like a page long, maybe two.

Don't know if I'm going to read the third in this series.

The Moon Riders

The Moon Riders (Moon Riders #1)

by Theresa Tomlinson

2 stars

381 pages
 

Published Oct. 31, 2006 by Harper Teen (first published Feb. 6, 2003)

I have given up on this book. It's just not my style and a bit boring and sloooow. The only reason I gave it two stars is that it's not a bad book, I just can't get into it. I gave it a good try though - made it halfway before going on to other books.

If you are into the Battle of Troy and the legend of the Amazons, then you should give this a go.

The Cry of the Icemark

The Cry of the Icemark (The Icemark Chronicles #1)

by Stuart Hill

2 stars

494 pages

Published May 1, 2006 by Chicken House (first published Dec. 31, 1999) 

 

This wasn't an awful book. But I am not going to read the rest of the series, though, because it wasn't a great book. Bland and forgettable. Just like this review.

The Lost Code

The Lost Code (The Atlanteans #1)

by Kevin Emerson 

2.5/3 stars

435 pages

Published May 22, 2012 by Katherine Tegen Books

I'm wavering between a 2.5 and a 3 star rating.

The first couple of chapters were fantastic. I couldn't believe how gripping they were - kid at a summer camp drowns, but doesn't drown. Cool stuff happens to his body that allow him to breathe underwater.

But after he figures that whole body thing out and he finds some friends, the story kind of stalls. It picks back up toward the very end of the book with some major discoveries, but the previous lackluster story dulled the heightened tension. I really had to push through the "blah" to get to the "yah!"

I must say, though, that Kevin Emerson knows how to write a good bad guy.


There is some gore and swearing and allusions to teen sex.

I may read the next in the series. We'll see.

Resist

Resist (Breathe #2)

by Sarah Crossan

2.5 stars

368 pages

Published Oct. 8, 2013 by Greenwillow Books

I'm being very generous with the 2.5 star rating. I really wanted to give it a 2-star, but the ending was happy-ish, and you know how much I like happy endings.

The reasons for my "meh" inclinations are many:

1. Too many main characters. It took me half the book to actually figure out what was going on and who was who again. I had read the first book, Breathe, when it first came out and got this one as soon as I could, but it was tough for me to remember exactly who everyone was - there were way too many main characters to make the sequel easy to read. It it did not help that each chapter was from the viewpoint of each of those multiple characters. It was so hard to keep track!

2. Too many loose ends. What happened to Niamh? The other members of the Ministry? The other members of Sequoia? Or Vanya? What were the oxyboxes?

3. The writing was blah. There was also some swearing, supposedly to add some spice to the bland writing.

4. The characters were blah. Nobody grew much really. All that apparently happened in the first book. This book was not character driven at all. It was all focused on ...

5. The plot, which was also blah. Overthrow the Ministry. Start growing plants. Booooring.

6. There needed to be an Epilogue - from at least 20 years in the future - so we the readers could see how everything turned out and how the environment had changed.

So all in all, a solid blah effort.

Eon: Dragoneye Reborn

Eon: Dragoneye Reborn (Eon #1)

by Alison Goodman

2.5 stars

531 pages

Published Dec. 26, 2008 by Viking Juvenile (first published Jan. 1, 2008)  

 

I have a number of adjectives describing this Eastern-culture inspired novel:

slow
boring
repetitive
whiny
confusing
verbose
way too long
predictable

So why did I finish it? I'm not sure. Maybe there was something compelling about the theme - not the characters, though, they were one-dimensional and weak; or the plot - which was over-simple and over-written.

The theme - accepting strength in womanhood - is contrived, yes. And the book does it no justice with the weak characterization of Eon/Eona. But the universal truth of the theme made me interested to see how Eon/a came to realize it. Unfortunately, by the time Eon/a got her head on straight, the book was pretty much over, so I stuck it out til the end.

This book actually drained me so much that instead of reading the next book on my To Read list, I watched TV! Ach! The tragedy!

The bright spot was that there was no swearing and no sex. But there are some transvestite and eunuch characters, if that bugs you. Actually the best character in the book was the transvestite. S/he was pretty awesome.
 
I will not be reading the sequel.

Beautiful Chaos

Beautiful Chaos (Caster Chronicles #3)

by Kami Garcia, Margaret Stohl

2.5 stars

516 pages

Published Oct. 18, 2011 by Little, Brown and Company

I don't know why I continue to slog through this series. The books are too long, where nothing happens, and I don't really care about the (way too many to count) characters.

And to add to my dismay, this book ends with the cheesiest cliff-hanger ending ever. It's as if the authors knew that the rest of their book was boring and bland, so they decided to try and force the readers into actually caring about what happens next. I'm all for subtle manipulation, but this ventures into the realm of anvil-over-the head maneuvering.

The pacing of the story is dawdling and uneven. There are many chapters where nothing of importance is said or done. I'm a huge proponent of a good editor. I've said it before - USE one who is unafraid of the delete key! And if that shrinks the length of your book - fabulous. Trim the fat! 500+ page books are only as good as the writing. Condense and omit. It will make a better, more entertaining book.

I do appreciate the general lack of swearing and sex, though. That is a positive.

But we'll see if I get to the last book. It's not looking good.

Inheritance

Inheritance (The Inheritance Cycle #4)

by Christopher Paolini

2 stars

860 pages

Published Nov. 8, 2011 by Alfred A. Knop

 

What a boring book. Which makes me sad and a bit mad that I spent how many hours reading and reading, just to get to an "eh" ending. But do you know what really irks me?? All the freakin' loose ends!!! Who was Angela, really? Who was the woman with the sword-fighting teen-age girl? What happens to Elva when she grows up? What about the dragons? Do Eragon and Arya ever get together? Did Jeod ever get to ride Saphira? And what happens to King Orrin? Oh, sooo many loose ends ...
This book would greatly be improved with a lengthy epilogue. An EPILOGUE, I say!!!