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cgards's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
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? Yes
3.5
pewterwolf's review against another edition
4.0
Review Taken From The Pewter Wolf
In Temperance Brennan's 16th novel, Temperance is asked to investigate a body of a teenage girl found on an empty road. Simple, you think? Nope. Never in a crime novel is anything simple. Inside the girl's handbag is an ID card of a man who died in a fire five months earlier. How did she get his ID? Did she know him? Is she, what some detective think, a teen prostitute? Or is there something more sinister going on?
As Tempe gets pulled into this case and two others, her personal life is falling apart. Ryan (Tempe's on-off boyfriend) is ignoring her phone calls and texts. Katy (Tempe's daughter), grieving for her boyfriend who died suddenly in Afghanistan, has impulsively joined the Army. And Pete (Tempe's ex) wants Tempe to sign their divorce papers so he can marry his midlife crisis.
Can Tempe hold it all together to figure out how and why her Jane Doe has died...?
As you guys know, I love reading crime. And Kathy Reichs is one of my fave crime writers (even though this will be fifth book I have actually read [but I have audiobooked 4 others so, technically, I have read 9 of her works]) so I knew what I was getting myself into when I started reading this. And it was exactly that. It was fast pace and it kept me guessing. Even when I finished the book and everything was explained, I had to sit down and go "Wait. Let see if I can get this straight in my own head..."
Tempe's snarky humour was there and thank goodness it was as, when the book did slow (not often), the humour carried the story on.
What I liked the most about this story was it wasn't just a crime story of Tempe solving a murder and, because of this, putting her life in danger again (I think she might have a Hero Complex). This felt personal. We saw Tempe being a mother and freaking out that Katy had joined the army. Tempe trying to figure out what relationship with Pete should be. And Tempe trying to go "Why does Ryan not contacting me bother me so?". It has a feel of Bones to Ashes (my first Kathy Reichs novel). Both of these feel personal to Tempe.
Now... I know I enjoyed this and I know some fans of Tempe will enjoy this, but I know that some of you won't like this. And it comes down to two things. The first is the cases itself. There are times I am sure some readers will read this and go "Ok, now we're entering the realms of the ridiculous" (if you have read the story in full, then you understand what I mean).
The second is the lack of technical jargon. In the beginning of the book series, there seems to be heavily-laced with technical information about Tempe's work. Whereas now, it seems much thinner. Some readers will not like the fact that the series is becoming more human aspect driven rather than technically driven.
But I enjoyed reading this. I forget how much I enjoy reading Kathy and that I should read more of her (or maybe return to the TV show, Bones, though I began to get very angry over the whole "Will they, won't they?" of Brennan and Agent Booth [how many seasons/series has that storyline been stretched out for?!]). But I should try and read another of Kathy's novel soon. Maybe [b:Fatal Voyage|881378|Fatal Voyage (Temperance Brennan, #4)|Kathy Reichs|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1327932018s/881378.jpg|1080365] or [b:Grave Secrets|490174|Grave Secrets (Temperance Brennan, #5)|Kathy Reichs|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1346954889s/490174.jpg|2747794]... Or there is a short eNovella coming out soon ([b:Bones In Her Pocket|18135613|Bones In Her Pocket (Temperance Brennan Short Story)|Kathy Reichs|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1373495841s/18135613.jpg|25476304])...
In Temperance Brennan's 16th novel, Temperance is asked to investigate a body of a teenage girl found on an empty road. Simple, you think? Nope. Never in a crime novel is anything simple. Inside the girl's handbag is an ID card of a man who died in a fire five months earlier. How did she get his ID? Did she know him? Is she, what some detective think, a teen prostitute? Or is there something more sinister going on?
As Tempe gets pulled into this case and two others, her personal life is falling apart. Ryan (Tempe's on-off boyfriend) is ignoring her phone calls and texts. Katy (Tempe's daughter), grieving for her boyfriend who died suddenly in Afghanistan, has impulsively joined the Army. And Pete (Tempe's ex) wants Tempe to sign their divorce papers so he can marry his midlife crisis.
Can Tempe hold it all together to figure out how and why her Jane Doe has died...?
As you guys know, I love reading crime. And Kathy Reichs is one of my fave crime writers (even though this will be fifth book I have actually read [but I have audiobooked 4 others so, technically, I have read 9 of her works]) so I knew what I was getting myself into when I started reading this. And it was exactly that. It was fast pace and it kept me guessing. Even when I finished the book and everything was explained, I had to sit down and go "Wait. Let see if I can get this straight in my own head..."
Tempe's snarky humour was there and thank goodness it was as, when the book did slow (not often), the humour carried the story on.
What I liked the most about this story was it wasn't just a crime story of Tempe solving a murder and, because of this, putting her life in danger again (I think she might have a Hero Complex). This felt personal. We saw Tempe being a mother and freaking out that Katy had joined the army. Tempe trying to figure out what relationship with Pete should be. And Tempe trying to go "Why does Ryan not contacting me bother me so?". It has a feel of Bones to Ashes (my first Kathy Reichs novel). Both of these feel personal to Tempe.
Now... I know I enjoyed this and I know some fans of Tempe will enjoy this, but I know that some of you won't like this. And it comes down to two things. The first is the cases itself. There are times I am sure some readers will read this and go "Ok, now we're entering the realms of the ridiculous" (if you have read the story in full, then you understand what I mean).
The second is the lack of technical jargon. In the beginning of the book series, there seems to be heavily-laced with technical information about Tempe's work. Whereas now, it seems much thinner. Some readers will not like the fact that the series is becoming more human aspect driven rather than technically driven.
But I enjoyed reading this. I forget how much I enjoy reading Kathy and that I should read more of her (or maybe return to the TV show, Bones, though I began to get very angry over the whole "Will they, won't they?" of Brennan and Agent Booth [how many seasons/series has that storyline been stretched out for?!]). But I should try and read another of Kathy's novel soon. Maybe [b:Fatal Voyage|881378|Fatal Voyage (Temperance Brennan, #4)|Kathy Reichs|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1327932018s/881378.jpg|1080365] or [b:Grave Secrets|490174|Grave Secrets (Temperance Brennan, #5)|Kathy Reichs|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1346954889s/490174.jpg|2747794]... Or there is a short eNovella coming out soon ([b:Bones In Her Pocket|18135613|Bones In Her Pocket (Temperance Brennan Short Story)|Kathy Reichs|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1373495841s/18135613.jpg|25476304])...
ilaurin's review against another edition
3.0
Not quite up to par with Kathy Reich's other books. Was not a page turner, sometimes had to force myself to read it. I guess the different threads did not seem connected until the end when it was all explained.
becs5678's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
ameserole's review against another edition
2.0
Honestly just reading these books now because I'm so freaking close to finishing this series! Not even counting the novellas.. because that would be a headache for myself. Plus, I just don't want to torture myself any further. I have 3 books left and I'm counting down the days till I'm done.
Bones of the Lost kind of made me think of an Indiana Jones movie. Tempe is just boring me at this point. I feel like I'm just constantly zoning in and out of these books now. It doesn't help that I'm listening to the audios but I'd rather listen than read at this point. Besides her, Ryan isn't much better either. Their relationship was cute and something to ship in my eyes in book one.. but ever since then it's like they have been stagnant. No idea if that makes sense because I need more coffee but that's how I feel. They are nothing to me now and I give zero fucks about their relationship.
...and if that doesn't make me want to pull my hair out, this whole love triangle thing is getting frustrating. If I have to read one more damn thing about freaking Pete I will throw my phone at the wall or out of a window. I can't stand him or triangles.
Other than that, I feel like I need a book to cheer me up or maybe be hopeful that the rest of the series wont suck as much? I feel like I should always be prepared to be disappointed at this point. I'm just glad that I'm almost done.
Bones of the Lost kind of made me think of an Indiana Jones movie. Tempe is just boring me at this point. I feel like I'm just constantly zoning in and out of these books now. It doesn't help that I'm listening to the audios but I'd rather listen than read at this point. Besides her, Ryan isn't much better either. Their relationship was cute and something to ship in my eyes in book one.. but ever since then it's like they have been stagnant. No idea if that makes sense because I need more coffee but that's how I feel. They are nothing to me now and I give zero fucks about their relationship.
...and if that doesn't make me want to pull my hair out, this whole love triangle thing is getting frustrating. If I have to read one more damn thing about freaking Pete I will throw my phone at the wall or out of a window. I can't stand him or triangles.
Other than that, I feel like I need a book to cheer me up or maybe be hopeful that the rest of the series wont suck as much? I feel like I should always be prepared to be disappointed at this point. I'm just glad that I'm almost done.
wannabekingpin's review against another edition
1.0
all reviews in one place:
night mode reading ;
skaitom nakties rezimu
About the Book: Body of a young girl, telling tales of dark human nature. Smuggled bones. Soldiers against civilians. Brennan gets to unravel this nasty thread of nightmarish underworld, where people are no more than commodity or obstacles in the way. It doesn’t help she needs to juggle the failing personal life too…
My Opinion: In one chapter Brennan “thinks” of her ex husband’s future wife as “she couldn’t stir yoghurt without instruction“, a woman who is a trained vet assistant, basically so very beneath Brennan, because of her looks, and “shallow” sources of enjoyment, like wedding décor. Farther, Brennan expresses her hate towards a terrorist group by claiming she holds no bias against any belief system, sexual orientation, skin color or stereotype. And I won’t even delve into her snide comment that “the video-game industry was claiming innocence in the fostering of a culture of violence“. But after 16 books I can tell you that Brennan judges everyone on everything, often on first sight. The times I’ve read “pretty, but stupid“, comments on people’s weight, on their sexual behavior choices, and judgement based on stereotypes… I don’t know if author meant to create such a hypocritical and self-awareness lacking character, but I absolutely cannot read any more of this.
night mode reading ;
skaitom nakties rezimu
About the Book: Body of a young girl, telling tales of dark human nature. Smuggled bones. Soldiers against civilians. Brennan gets to unravel this nasty thread of nightmarish underworld, where people are no more than commodity or obstacles in the way. It doesn’t help she needs to juggle the failing personal life too…
My Opinion: In one chapter Brennan “thinks” of her ex husband’s future wife as “she couldn’t stir yoghurt without instruction“, a woman who is a trained vet assistant, basically so very beneath Brennan, because of her looks, and “shallow” sources of enjoyment, like wedding décor. Farther, Brennan expresses her hate towards a terrorist group by claiming she holds no bias against any belief system, sexual orientation, skin color or stereotype. And I won’t even delve into her snide comment that “the video-game industry was claiming innocence in the fostering of a culture of violence“. But after 16 books I can tell you that Brennan judges everyone on everything, often on first sight. The times I’ve read “pretty, but stupid“, comments on people’s weight, on their sexual behavior choices, and judgement based on stereotypes… I don’t know if author meant to create such a hypocritical and self-awareness lacking character, but I absolutely cannot read any more of this.
aemesserlie's review against another edition
3.0
Although I still enjoyed this Temperance Brennan novel, I have to say that the series is starting to fall a little flat. All the different story threads seem to come together clumsily and the ending seems illogical; surely Dr. Brennan should know better than to rush into a dangerous situation alone, especially after her past experiences. Also, I am kinda bored with the instability of Tempe's personal life; it would be nice to just see that stabilize and for the books to just concentrate on story. I'm really hoping this series comes back strong; I've really enjoyed it for years and don't want to see it fall apart.
laurapk's review against another edition
1.0
I remember when these books were interesting sources of information packaged with some decent intrigue, before they became this hurries mess chock full of coincidences, soulless characters and superficial 'discussions' on societal issues. What happened? A newcomer writer would never get published with this mess. I'm at a loss.
The most interesting part of the book is the author's notes - that's the only part where I found out something new - that anthropologist do get called to study a non-scheletonized body and sometimes investigate a living person as well when the age of the person (deceased or not) is in question. And it makes sense that anthropologists would be the one trying to determine based on bone trauma what killed a fully fleshed individual lying in the morgue.
Other than that: Reichs threw everything at the wall and included all ideas she could think of in a hodgepodge of event linked together by the grandmother of all coincidences that will leave you scratching your head. She brings in old characters without bothering to develop them (at this point I wish she'd leave them out; we don't always need to get 2 pages on her sister/daughter/estranged husband/lover if it doesn't matter to the plot - and with one exception it didn't). The fat shaming continues in her novels and it did not age well. Every character except Tempe is an idiot (according to Tempe). Unless of course it's the US Army (wish she delved on that more or taken it out all together).
Her empathy for the victims of human trafficking is skin deep and left me cold - one exception: when the ICE officer mentions that if the trafficked Afghan girls will be deported back to their home country they will be welcomed in a shelter that deals with sexual assault survivors. 1) I suspect the girls would get deported (more like discarded) back to their home country as quickly as possible; 2) after what they've gone through, how likely is it they'll be able to integrate in their society without being ostracized or abused FURTHER? That gave me goosebumps. The victims of human trafficking are doomed, the recipient country just shoves them out the door and their future is now just a different shade of shitty. And none of that was discussed. Tempe only thinks it's important that people are aware of trafficking. Numbers and facts mean nothing though. How do we prevent this? What can the public do? Report suspicious activity? Is there something we can do to curb this thirst for sex with human trafficked victims (such as legalizing prostitution perhaps? give some power back to the victims?) Do we have a duty towards the women and girls damaged by the greedy desires of western men?
None of this serious talk is addressed in the book.
One little peeve I had about the sudden shift from the Latino to the Afghan centered narrative: how was Tempe not able to tell based on the bones/skull that the victim didn't look Hispanic? Wasn't Tempe able to identify in previous books mixed ancestry including Native American ancestry (prevalent in the Hispanic population)? Why is she incapable now? All of a sudden all brown-skinned people look alike? To an anthropologist?
Anyway, bad book. Switched to the audio in the middle when I realized it's too light to require my attention of the spoken word. The audiobook was also bad because the narrator had some strange inflections that didn't make sense. I could have skipped it honestly, even though I want to finish the series. Don't recommend
The most interesting part of the book is the author's notes - that's the only part where I found out something new - that anthropologist do get called to study a non-scheletonized body and sometimes investigate a living person as well when the age of the person (deceased or not) is in question. And it makes sense that anthropologists would be the one trying to determine based on bone trauma what killed a fully fleshed individual lying in the morgue.
Other than that: Reichs threw everything at the wall and included all ideas she could think of in a hodgepodge of event linked together by the grandmother of all coincidences that will leave you scratching your head. She brings in old characters without bothering to develop them (at this point I wish she'd leave them out; we don't always need to get 2 pages on her sister/daughter/estranged husband/lover if it doesn't matter to the plot - and with one exception it didn't). The fat shaming continues in her novels and it did not age well. Every character except Tempe is an idiot (according to Tempe). Unless of course it's the US Army (wish she delved on that more or taken it out all together).
Her empathy for the victims of human trafficking is skin deep and left me cold - one exception: when the ICE officer mentions that if the trafficked Afghan girls will be deported back to their home country they will be welcomed in a shelter that deals with sexual assault survivors. 1) I suspect the girls would get deported (more like discarded) back to their home country as quickly as possible; 2) after what they've gone through, how likely is it they'll be able to integrate in their society without being ostracized or abused FURTHER? That gave me goosebumps. The victims of human trafficking are doomed, the recipient country just shoves them out the door and their future is now just a different shade of shitty. And none of that was discussed. Tempe only thinks it's important that people are aware of trafficking. Numbers and facts mean nothing though. How do we prevent this? What can the public do? Report suspicious activity? Is there something we can do to curb this thirst for sex with human trafficked victims (such as legalizing prostitution perhaps? give some power back to the victims?) Do we have a duty towards the women and girls damaged by the greedy desires of western men?
None of this serious talk is addressed in the book.
One little peeve I had about the sudden shift from the Latino to the Afghan centered narrative: how was Tempe not able to tell based on the bones/skull that the victim didn't look Hispanic? Wasn't Tempe able to identify in previous books mixed ancestry including Native American ancestry (prevalent in the Hispanic population)? Why is she incapable now? All of a sudden all brown-skinned people look alike? To an anthropologist?
Anyway, bad book. Switched to the audio in the middle when I realized it's too light to require my attention of the spoken word. The audiobook was also bad because the narrator had some strange inflections that didn't make sense. I could have skipped it honestly, even though I want to finish the series. Don't recommend