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I have never read so much repetitive exposition. I think there was not a single scene or setup in this book that did not get repeated, even down to the most mundane detail. And to learn everyone's backstory in act four of a "thriller" via long conversations??? Cut the length in half and make it four times as good.

I have never read so much repetitive exposition. I think there was not a single scene or setup in this book that did not get repeated, even down to the most mundane detail. And to learn everyone's backstory in act four of a "thriller" via long conversations??? Cut the length in half and make it four times as good.

I have never read so much repetitive exposition. You REALLY don't need to repeatedly explain the relationships between your dog and your friend's pets, or how the vet came to live and work in town, or how you gradually took over the business from your former, retired, boss.

Not wowed so far, and there are a couple of red flags-- the author has a tendency to describe people's motivations in internal dialogue that rings really false (what kind of abuser actually narrates to himself in clinical terms the tactics he is taking to control his wife, as though it's all a formula to follow?), and the political screed approach is dangerously unresearched-- don't treat that as heroic.

Not wowed so far, and there are a couple of red flags-- the author has a tendency to describe people's motivations in internal dialogue that rings really false (what kind of abuser actually narrates to himself in clinical terms the tactics he is taking to control his wife, as though it's all a formula to follow?), and the political screed approach is dangerously unresearched and biased-- don't treat that as heroic.

Ugh, Mhairi, you really jerk a girl from highs to lows...

I'm still pushing through this because I have hope for the developing relationship-- maybe this author can make an intelligent exploration of this interesting menage? If not, it will be a exercise of brain-fugging poor writing.

I loved book 1 and went straight into this one, but the free-wheeling antics here are a bit boring. Maybe I just need Flavia in smaller doses, so I'll pause here and try again another time.

I may not be able to finish this book. So far we have an intriguing premise (I'll take a female Bruce Wayne-type heroine any day), but some STUUUUUPID hormones. Can Dallas think any more with his dick? This is an illogical and uncompelling case of instalove, and I want it to stop already.

OMG, Raina is such an obnoxious protagonist. She makes a complete mess of her life and finally dumps the dude who is at the center of her toxic relationship issues for being too self-centered. Then she falls for a guy she's talked with 5 times over MONTHS, and when he finally learns the truth about her deceptions because she's with a guy and leaves, she runs after him like "what about meeee?" Get this girl a mirror.

I haaaate protagonists who try to fix their bad decisions by making worse ones.

The plot seems exciting, but I figured out a probable conspiracy about 6 hours ago and have yet to be proven wrong, and also MC Everly is being remarkably thick about the massive data dump that could be hidden in/among images. We could have done without the last two hours of filler.

The plot seems exciting, but I figured out a probable conspiracy about 6 hours ago and have yet to be disappointed, and also MC Everly is being remarkably thick about the massive data dump that could be hidden in/among images. We could have done without the last two hours of filler.

For a satire of vampire stories, this one is clever, and annoying, and really long.

The premise is great, very spicy. I'm struggling through the grammatical problems. The author has clearly made an effort to have a lyrical writing style, but it's compromised by the poor mastery of relative pronouns and prepositions. I have to reread sentences all over the place to make sure I grasp the intended meaning.

I'm more than 2/3 of the way through this book, and so far it's 1 part plot, 2 parts self-absorbed snark, and 4 parts infodump. It still feels like exposition, and I don't even know what the plot is that needs to be resolved! Highly problematic. I'm giving it at least another 10% because of the high GR rating, but I'm not optimistic.

The writing has not improved. Now we've dealt with a number of coercive interludes between Patrick and Sophie. He comes on hard, she protests, he brushes her stated intentions aside. She freaks out, understandably, and flees. Not a great pattern...

So far the writing is extremely clunky. I think we've gotten through half the romance clichés already, and unless the plot goes somewhere totally unexpected, we should be at the 70% mark of the plot pacing, too. What's going on?

I'm a quarter of the way through this audiobook and still have more than 23 hours to go! Dickens is a genius with satirical description, but brevity is not his strong point. I'm so sick of the Mantolinis already-- he doesn't actually need to tell us every damned time Mr. Mantolini says something is damned in order to demonstrate that it is damnably overused.

So far I'm torn between trying to enjoy the historical setting and period language and with it possibly period attitudes, and trying to accept and move past what is shaping up to be a narrow-minded, judgmental, self-righteous religious screed. The characters are so far either all pious and wholesome or all selfish to the extreme, abusive (or so downtrodden as to be neglectful) and disdainful of religion.

More stupid Native American stereotyping: savage, primitive, and this sentence that's probably the 12th thing she's ever said to him... "The first time I saw you, I thought you should be wearing a headband, like your ancestors." (Which is true, the first time she saw him and BEFORE she'd even decided he wasn't Japanese, she pictured him fierce and in braids...) And the author moves on, NO reaction to that garbage.

So far this is not going well. We have two workplace professionals whose emotions don't seem to be attached, much less controlled by, reason, despite everything they say to themselves and each other. This seems to be a problem with the writing rather than unreliable narrators. Also, the male MC is Apache-- and the female MC describes him with a bunch of stereotypes literally STARTING with savage. Come on.

The story of a chauvinist pig who literally only thinks of women by their physical attributes. When he is struck by the gorgeousness of a coworker he turns into a textbook sexual harassment lawsuit. And yet he's the hero of the story?

I can't believe this book has an average of 4.5 stars! I wanted to be generous with it-- I like the characters and the general idea of the plot-- but the craft is really lacking. It feels like the work of a 10th grader who wrote as ideas occurred to her, resulting in painfully contorted sentences, run-ons, fragments, and redundancies. For some unfathomable reason these problems weren't touched by the editing process.

So far this feels like a transplanted retelling of Darkfever-- young woman's close sister moves away from home for college, gets swept up in whatever she's doing in her new hometown, acts cagey with family, found horribly murdered. Surviving sister is determined to figure out what happened, especially when creep hits the fan, even if that means teaming up with an arrogant, dangerous (totally supernatural) older man.

Did anyone notice the subtly hyperphallic cover art on the Berkeley Books paperback? (Pale green cover.) I mean, WHAT is up with the self-fellating gryphons?

I love the fresh subject matter for historical romance (a female doctor in a Gilded Age, rural, not-quite-frontier black settlement in Michigan), but the plot has been meandering so much I keep getting distracted by more exciting things. Nate Grayson is your typical alpha male protagonist and isn't a particularly compelling one, to the reader, though he has no problem bullying everyone else into compliance with his w

I can't keep reading this during the week of the Kavanaugh trial. This book is a weird dichotomy of two stories being woven together: a complete sob story about Depression era orphans and their suffering, including a violent rape, mixed with a contemporary magical realism story with a protagonist whose narrative voice sounds completely vapid, but whose life intersects with a pile of dark, traumatic stories. What.

I think I've already guessed the plot twist, so I hope that I'm either wrong or this plays out with beautiful storytelling.

I'm at 72% in this book and had to stop for a while because of a busy schedule and the absolutely anxiety-inducing relationship. Why don't the reviews indicate that this book needs a trigger warning? It is agony watching an intense and promising relationship devolve into emotional and physical abuse, especially when I now feel like the author was telegraphing a gut-wrenching, (cont...)