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3.68 AVERAGE
3.68 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
funny
informative
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
adventurous
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Fire/Fire injury
Why isn't this author better known? The books in this series are brilliant! They have time-travel, adventure, romance, comedy, what more can you ask? Highly recommend.
adventurous
fast-paced
If Doctor Who and Indiana Jones had a baby, it’d be this book. The title is perfect - it really was just one damned thing after another, sometimes where it felt like it was too much. But I adored it and all the characters and have already dug in immediately to book 2.
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
The author has an intriguing premise and a good turn of phrase but I kept putting this book down and having to force myself to pick it up, which is crazy because I'm a fan of history, time travel and humorous British lit.
Ultimately I didn't really know why I should care or what Max was trying to achieve. The side characters were interchangeable and I was astonished when one seemingly big adventure finished, with no real consequences, and I discovered I was only 1/3 of the way through the book. Facing three months' worth of Max and her unpleasant sidekick prepping for TheBigOne, I abandoned the book. I have no idea what the point is and I'm weary.
It really was just one damned thing after another.
Ultimately I didn't really know why I should care or what Max was trying to achieve. The side characters were interchangeable and I was astonished when one seemingly big adventure finished, with no real consequences, and I discovered I was only 1/3 of the way through the book. Facing three months' worth of Max and her unpleasant sidekick prepping for TheBigOne, I abandoned the book. I have no idea what the point is and I'm weary.
It really was just one damned thing after another.
Picked up this book because I saw someone describe it as the adult version of the Magic Tree House books and I couldn’t resist. I found it to be a little too fast paced at times, at some point they mention it’s been 5 years and I’m like sorry but what? Overall a fun read that I definitely enjoyed so looks like I’ll be committing myself to a series with 14+ plus books
adventurous
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Moderate: Bullying, Death, Miscarriage, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Violence, Murder, Toxic friendship
in part my response is bc I was led to expect something more broadly comic from the reviews and introductions I read, whereas this is an adventure story with some wry humor in the narrator's voice (an aspect I did enjoy). on the other end, mostly I find myself so often disappointed at the emotional stakes that such writing is willing to engage in, particularly at a cultural level, and yes, particularly from white writers. it feels like there's a trauma narrative and social power dynamics and discussions of sexual violence and class exploitation and animal hunting/abuse and, since we're talking history and archaeology, cultural power dynamics, that should weigh more heavily than they do. there is a real story here about the main character's journey through some of that, but much of it is really just used as plot device. and I found that disappointing. whereas books like Martha Wells (who is also white) Murderbot series do adventure but also a great deal of both humor and commentary, in the end, for me, this is a pleasant enough escapist endeavor with an engaging main character, but it was neither light hearted nor seriously considered enough for my concerns, straddling the two somewhat unconvincingly. again if I had expected or sought a straight up adventure novel, this would certainly have satisfied that.