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bayleyreadsbooks's reviews
530 reviews
Hot Asset by Lauren Layne
2.0
This is a romance between a SEC agent and the wall street dude she is investigating. I picked it up because book three was recommended on Fated Mates and because the audiobook was free on audible. I also just saw it was on KU, and I do think I would have enjoyed the book very slightly more if I had read it with my eyes and not gone the audio route.
Both Samantha Cook and Zachary Webber were totally great narrators, but their voices are not super well suited for each other. Cook has a very polished 'NPR' vibe with her voice and Webber is a bit more conversational. They just didn't match very well and it took me over half the book to no longer find this jarring.
But on to the content of the book! The romance was fine, I didn't think Layne really gave the couple enough emotional tension and internal conflict. They had some, I just was not very engaged and wanted more from the pair. I also don't like the way Layne writes romantic encounters. I kept saying the word "eww" out loud. This could have been the fact that it was audio and I don't typically listen to romance on audio. But I did over all think the pair were fine, just a touch boring.
I do really dislike the way this author approached the 'playboy who reforms for this one woman' trope. It leaned pretty hard into all other women were not good enough to actually capture my attention long term, I needed someone who would actually challenge me. And someone who didn't dress super sluttily. Which is pretty sexist, you can have a dude be a bit of a slut without being mean to the women he slept with, that is totally acceptable.
Another really conservative aspect of this book is how it views criminality. There is a tertiary character who is a defense attorney whose main character trait is that she only accepts cases of innocent people. Which clearly was written by an author who disagrees with the ideal of innocent until proven guilty and sees attorneys who defend guilty people as immoral. Which is indicative of a VERY different relationship to the judicial system than I have. It doesn't feel that out there of me to want the state to have to prove guilt in as equal a playing field as is possible. You cannot do that without defense attorneys who do their job for all their clients, not just ones who are sexy and being framed.
I didn't love the politics underlying this book and I didn't love the romance. So I, shockingly, didn't love the book. It wasn't horrible, the writing was mostly fine, the plot moves quickly (though it took way to long to introduce the guy who framed the hero, and he was immediately obvious to the reader). I might finish the trilogy because it was a quick read and I already have the whole trilogy. But I am not quite sure yet.
Both Samantha Cook and Zachary Webber were totally great narrators, but their voices are not super well suited for each other. Cook has a very polished 'NPR' vibe with her voice and Webber is a bit more conversational. They just didn't match very well and it took me over half the book to no longer find this jarring.
But on to the content of the book! The romance was fine, I didn't think Layne really gave the couple enough emotional tension and internal conflict. They had some, I just was not very engaged and wanted more from the pair. I also don't like the way Layne writes romantic encounters. I kept saying the word "eww" out loud. This could have been the fact that it was audio and I don't typically listen to romance on audio. But I did over all think the pair were fine, just a touch boring.
I do really dislike the way this author approached the 'playboy who reforms for this one woman' trope. It leaned pretty hard into all other women were not good enough to actually capture my attention long term, I needed someone who would actually challenge me. And someone who didn't dress super sluttily. Which is pretty sexist, you can have a dude be a bit of a slut without being mean to the women he slept with, that is totally acceptable.
Another really conservative aspect of this book is how it views criminality. There is a tertiary character who is a defense attorney whose main character trait is that she only accepts cases of innocent people. Which clearly was written by an author who disagrees with the ideal of innocent until proven guilty and sees attorneys who defend guilty people as immoral. Which is indicative of a VERY different relationship to the judicial system than I have. It doesn't feel that out there of me to want the state to have to prove guilt in as equal a playing field as is possible. You cannot do that without defense attorneys who do their job for all their clients, not just ones who are sexy and being framed.
I didn't love the politics underlying this book and I didn't love the romance. So I, shockingly, didn't love the book. It wasn't horrible, the writing was mostly fine, the plot moves quickly (though it took way to long to introduce the guy who framed the hero, and he was immediately obvious to the reader). I might finish the trilogy because it was a quick read and I already have the whole trilogy. But I am not quite sure yet.
Kiss Me, Daddy: An Age Gap Romance by Quinn Ward
3.0
Continuing my experiment. I can confirm that the book by a queer author was not homophobic the way the Athena Steller ones were, which is obvious haha. But I only liked it a touch more, I just don't think this is my jam.
This book was fine, I was a touch bored, I was able to put is down for a few days, I don't thinkt he conflict was particularly well done which lead to some pacing issues.
Also I just kept thinking about how irresponsible this single father was being. Don't introduce someone you have been dating for a few days to you kid, that is bananas.
This book was fine, I was a touch bored, I was able to put is down for a few days, I don't thinkt he conflict was particularly well done which lead to some pacing issues.
Also I just kept thinking about how irresponsible this single father was being. Don't introduce someone you have been dating for a few days to you kid, that is bananas.
The It Girl by Ruth Ware
5.0
I love this book. Sometimes it is harder to organize my positive thoughts than it is my mixed to negative thoughts but I am going to give it my best shot.
The It Girl follows Hannah in two timelines. The current day Hannah is a married pregnant bookshop employee who is a bit reclusive and ten years earlier Hannah was a new Oxford student who was full of promise and excited for the future. The event that separates before and after was the murder of Hannah's suitemate and best friend April. In the past Hannah's story starts with her entering Oxford and meeting April and in the present day we begin by hearing that the man who was convicted of April's murder has died in prison.
I was absolutely GLUED to this book. Nobody keeps my attention like Ruth Ware. The way she builds tension really works for me. She does such an excellent job of quickly rooting the reader in the world so that she can immediately start to slowly unsettle. She writes a slow descent, an unraveling of safety, incredibly well. By the time she has introduced what is at stake I am so invested I have trouble putting the book down.
This book, as well as some of Ware's other novels, explores the way media and the public react to murders. This book felt particularly in conversation with true crime as entertainment and the almost requirement of making the victim into a caricature. Hannah's experience of being hounded for years about the case, the desire of people to know salacious details of a real person's tragedy, the ways in which April needed to be boiled down to either an angel taken from the world too soon or a lesson in what happens when a women behaves incorrectly.
I also really thought the way she handled John Neville was great. She really dives into the way his looks and general oddness played into the willingness of people to overlook the signs of his innocence. He was creepy, he was old, he was unattractive and all these things played into his trial and public image.
Obviously in a review of a mystery novel I am wary to dive too deeply into my feelings on the plot. But I did absolutely love the plot reveals in this book. It truly was a perfect mix of things I knew and things I did not. Ware is really excellent at leading the reader to the answer slightly before Hannah, so we can be worried on her behalf. As I kept getting more clues I would return to a scene about 2/3rds of the way into the book and reread it. Every reread was completely different with a new piece of information. I just think this book was so excellently and tightly plotted.
Not going to spoil anything, but there's a moment where there are three questions that need to be answered, and Hannah knows the answer to two and the reader knows the answer to two but only one of those answers are in common between you and Hannah. I really loved this.
I really love mysteries that focus on a friend group and have a time split. I have no idea why this works so well for me, but it absolutely does. The characters in this book were so excellent. I really loved getting to know these characters in their past selves and seeing how that compared with where they ended up ten years later. The interplay of seeing how information changes in the retelling of it, of seeing how someone's future colors the way the reader looks at their past. I just love all of it.
This book writes friendship and romance really well. You absolutely feel like Hannah is a part of a larger community and that all of these peoples relationships to each other are really nuanced and real. Obviously The Lying Game is another Ware book that is very rooted in friendship, slightly more so than this book even. The Woman in Cabin Ten and The Turn of the Key have had romantic relationships in them, but this book really spends a lot of time in Hannah's marriage in a way I found really interesting. She does some really fascinating stuff with this relationship, playing with the readers expectations, sending them back and forth between romance and murder. It is clever and excellently done.
I am not sure if this is my new favorite Ruth Ware, but it very much might be. I really loved reading this book and, as always, am so looking forward to what comes next.
The It Girl follows Hannah in two timelines. The current day Hannah is a married pregnant bookshop employee who is a bit reclusive and ten years earlier Hannah was a new Oxford student who was full of promise and excited for the future. The event that separates before and after was the murder of Hannah's suitemate and best friend April. In the past Hannah's story starts with her entering Oxford and meeting April and in the present day we begin by hearing that the man who was convicted of April's murder has died in prison.
I was absolutely GLUED to this book. Nobody keeps my attention like Ruth Ware. The way she builds tension really works for me. She does such an excellent job of quickly rooting the reader in the world so that she can immediately start to slowly unsettle. She writes a slow descent, an unraveling of safety, incredibly well. By the time she has introduced what is at stake I am so invested I have trouble putting the book down.
This book, as well as some of Ware's other novels, explores the way media and the public react to murders. This book felt particularly in conversation with true crime as entertainment and the almost requirement of making the victim into a caricature. Hannah's experience of being hounded for years about the case, the desire of people to know salacious details of a real person's tragedy, the ways in which April needed to be boiled down to either an angel taken from the world too soon or a lesson in what happens when a women behaves incorrectly.
I also really thought the way she handled John Neville was great. She really dives into the way his looks and general oddness played into the willingness of people to overlook the signs of his innocence. He was creepy, he was old, he was unattractive and all these things played into his trial and public image.
Obviously in a review of a mystery novel I am wary to dive too deeply into my feelings on the plot. But I did absolutely love the plot reveals in this book. It truly was a perfect mix of things I knew and things I did not. Ware is really excellent at leading the reader to the answer slightly before Hannah, so we can be worried on her behalf. As I kept getting more clues I would return to a scene about 2/3rds of the way into the book and reread it. Every reread was completely different with a new piece of information. I just think this book was so excellently and tightly plotted.
Not going to spoil anything, but there's a moment where there are three questions that need to be answered, and Hannah knows the answer to two and the reader knows the answer to two but only one of those answers are in common between you and Hannah. I really loved this.
I really love mysteries that focus on a friend group and have a time split. I have no idea why this works so well for me, but it absolutely does. The characters in this book were so excellent. I really loved getting to know these characters in their past selves and seeing how that compared with where they ended up ten years later. The interplay of seeing how information changes in the retelling of it, of seeing how someone's future colors the way the reader looks at their past. I just love all of it.
This book writes friendship and romance really well. You absolutely feel like Hannah is a part of a larger community and that all of these peoples relationships to each other are really nuanced and real. Obviously The Lying Game is another Ware book that is very rooted in friendship, slightly more so than this book even. The Woman in Cabin Ten and The Turn of the Key have had romantic relationships in them, but this book really spends a lot of time in Hannah's marriage in a way I found really interesting. She does some really fascinating stuff with this relationship, playing with the readers expectations, sending them back and forth between romance and murder. It is clever and excellently done.
I am not sure if this is my new favorite Ruth Ware, but it very much might be. I really loved reading this book and, as always, am so looking forward to what comes next.
Baby Boy by Athena Steller
2.0
Read this as a thing I am doing about ladied writing queer men (in this case I do think poorly). More thoughts to come.
Pretty Baby by Athena Steller
2.0
Read this as a thing I am doing about ladied writing queer men (in this case I do think poorly). More thoughts to come.
Purity by Skyler Mason
3.0
I decided that the next book I heard about on tiktok and could easily acquire I would read. I found a tiktok the author made, and this book was on KU. I am certain I never would have picked this book up otherwise, and I am so happy I read this book.
I will start by saying that I sort of found Cole's character journey muddled and not that interesting. I got a touch confused about his motivations and conflicts. And his story line with his parents felt a touch under explained and under explored. But I totally think he was a fine character generally.
I almost never like believer/skeptic stories, and this book does not fall into most of the things I tend to hate about this dynamic. I do think that this book as a whole had sort of picked a 'side', but I do think that the author tried her best to write someone who is an atheist (but is he though?), even if I don't think it was perfectly done.
Livvy's character is what made this book absolutely riveting. I was glued to this book because I ached for her. She is deconstructing her relationship with purity culture and the ways her family and social structures have kept her compliant and meek. She makes an impurity contract to counteract the purity contract she signed as a young child. It is a little gut wrenching to read how normal the things she wants to do are, she is about to start her final year of university and the list begins with have her first kiss. Seeing the ways she had been prevented from living her life the way she wants to, and been kept from even thinking too much about what she even wants from life was so sad and compelling.
Her character felt very real and vulnerable and I absolutely kept reading so quickly because I wanted to know what was going to happen with her.
I occasionally thought this book was a bit sappy and I am not particularly a big fan of how her relationship with her dad was handled. But overall I did undeniably have a positive reading experience of this book. I was completely floored that I liked this, but I am always happy to be shown that reading outside of your comfort zone can really work out.
I will start by saying that I sort of found Cole's character journey muddled and not that interesting. I got a touch confused about his motivations and conflicts. And his story line with his parents felt a touch under explained and under explored. But I totally think he was a fine character generally.
I almost never like believer/skeptic stories, and this book does not fall into most of the things I tend to hate about this dynamic. I do think that this book as a whole had sort of picked a 'side', but I do think that the author tried her best to write someone who is an atheist (but is he though?), even if I don't think it was perfectly done.
Livvy's character is what made this book absolutely riveting. I was glued to this book because I ached for her. She is deconstructing her relationship with purity culture and the ways her family and social structures have kept her compliant and meek. She makes an impurity contract to counteract the purity contract she signed as a young child. It is a little gut wrenching to read how normal the things she wants to do are, she is about to start her final year of university and the list begins with have her first kiss. Seeing the ways she had been prevented from living her life the way she wants to, and been kept from even thinking too much about what she even wants from life was so sad and compelling.
Her character felt very real and vulnerable and I absolutely kept reading so quickly because I wanted to know what was going to happen with her.
I occasionally thought this book was a bit sappy and I am not particularly a big fan of how her relationship with her dad was handled. But overall I did undeniably have a positive reading experience of this book. I was completely floored that I liked this, but I am always happy to be shown that reading outside of your comfort zone can really work out.
Whiteout by Adriana Anders
1.0
I was absolutely sure I was going to be totally in love with this book. Clearly I misjudged this.
This book follows Angel and Ford, two people living in Antarctica. Angel is a chef who is preparing to leave Antarctica for the winter, and Ford a scientist who is planning on staying over winter with a skeleton crew. Fords science work leads him and some ice cores he collected to be targeted by a group of people bent on biological warfare and eugenics. Do to an intense series of events Ford and Angel have to trek across the Antarctic in the winter in hopes of both saving themselves and preventing the baddies from getting the ice cores.
There were some thing I liked about this book! I really did enjoy some of the action scenes in the first 25% of the book. Particularly the extended section where Angel discovers the nefarious actions being taken. I thought this part of the book was pretty engaging and did make me keep turning the page. I also liked some of the trekking across the Antarctic, though I would have liked a little more from this part of the book. I did like the slightly nihilist jokes Ford made during this part of the book, it was legitimately funny. That could just be because this was the part I was the most interested in. I also liked the way this book took environmental conservation pretty seriously, the pair discuss not leaving waste in the Antarctic despite the fact that they are literally running for their lives. I also liked that Angel talked about having an IUD.
Starting out I was immediately annoyed by the way the author presents an atheist in a deadly situation, I just get annoyed when people present skeptics in ways I do not find accurate, but this character dies like a page later so it never came up again, I absolutely would not remember being annoyed by this if I didn't make a note as I was reading.
There were a lot of things that I disliked about Angel and Ford while I was reading. First off Anders often uses traditionally masculine descriptors when talking about Angel but is VERY clear that she is talking about her emotions and interior life and absolutely not her physical appearance. This was also paired with Angel being one of the most maternal heroines I have ever read. About half way through the book Ford stops using traditionally masculine descriptors for her at all, and is suddenly only focused on her "softness" emotionally and physically. Her maternal qualities are first highlighted right after Ford reveals he never knew his own mother, I personally found that justoposition very unromantic. I am not reading romance to reinforce the idea that women exist to take care of men, I want parity not parenting.
Angel is a chef and it is made very palin that she does not really have any ambition in this career, she is just intensely caring and expresses this through food. I was already annoyed that Angel seems to only exist to be a caring angel towards Ford so when her outside goals were removed I was almost upset by how incredibly conservative the gender roles in this book were. It truly feels dated and I was surprised by the way it was handled throughout he book.
Also, for a book about a chef the food descriptions are absolutely lackluster. In Angel's POV and in Ford's food is just described terribly. I normally love books using food as a way to show care for other people, but it did not work for me in this book at all.
This book is also pretty ableist. Angel has an old injury and is explicitly stated to not be in any condition that would prepare her to trek across the antartic. But because she "wants it" enough she is magically able to handle the tundra. I just think the logical conclusion to this line of thought is that disabled people die because they did not want health enough, and I really hate the casual way this philosophy is presented in a book where the bad guys seems to literally want to do eugenics. It is just incredibly unself aware writing. The low key ableism is repeated later in the book when Ford is overcoming physical pain. Also, the author pretty explicitly states that Angel is fat (but of course does not use the word fat) because she likes food too much, I obviously hate this too. There is also a minor character who seemed to be poorly coded as autistic.
I do not think that Angel and Ford had enough internal conflict. I generally did not find them to be a compelling couple in any way, but I do think the very mild conflict in a very high stakes scenario was a factor in this. I specifically wanted them to disagree more about what they should do with the ice cores, it kept seeming like Anders was setting them up to be conflicted over this and then they just never were.
This book is a romantic suspense that I found neither romantic nor suspenseful after the first 30%. It was shocking how uninteresting I found all of the action in this book. I am normally so easily compelled by thrillers, I was legitimately surprised and confused by my complete lack of interest in this book.
At about the 65% mark the story leaves Antarctica, which did completely remove my last shreds of interest from this story. I really did not find these characters at all compelling so when the setting, the most interesting thing about the book for me, was changed I just could not figure out a way to care any longer.
I found the ending saccharine and nonsensical. I do not understand why these people would like each other outside of a trauma bond. But sure. I am sad I didn't like this book, I was so sure I would love it.
This book follows Angel and Ford, two people living in Antarctica. Angel is a chef who is preparing to leave Antarctica for the winter, and Ford a scientist who is planning on staying over winter with a skeleton crew. Fords science work leads him and some ice cores he collected to be targeted by a group of people bent on biological warfare and eugenics. Do to an intense series of events Ford and Angel have to trek across the Antarctic in the winter in hopes of both saving themselves and preventing the baddies from getting the ice cores.
There were some thing I liked about this book! I really did enjoy some of the action scenes in the first 25% of the book. Particularly the extended section where Angel discovers the nefarious actions being taken. I thought this part of the book was pretty engaging and did make me keep turning the page. I also liked some of the trekking across the Antarctic, though I would have liked a little more from this part of the book. I did like the slightly nihilist jokes Ford made during this part of the book, it was legitimately funny. That could just be because this was the part I was the most interested in. I also liked the way this book took environmental conservation pretty seriously, the pair discuss not leaving waste in the Antarctic despite the fact that they are literally running for their lives. I also liked that Angel talked about having an IUD.
Starting out I was immediately annoyed by the way the author presents an atheist in a deadly situation, I just get annoyed when people present skeptics in ways I do not find accurate, but this character dies like a page later so it never came up again, I absolutely would not remember being annoyed by this if I didn't make a note as I was reading.
There were a lot of things that I disliked about Angel and Ford while I was reading. First off Anders often uses traditionally masculine descriptors when talking about Angel but is VERY clear that she is talking about her emotions and interior life and absolutely not her physical appearance. This was also paired with Angel being one of the most maternal heroines I have ever read. About half way through the book Ford stops using traditionally masculine descriptors for her at all, and is suddenly only focused on her "softness" emotionally and physically. Her maternal qualities are first highlighted right after Ford reveals he never knew his own mother, I personally found that justoposition very unromantic. I am not reading romance to reinforce the idea that women exist to take care of men, I want parity not parenting.
Angel is a chef and it is made very palin that she does not really have any ambition in this career, she is just intensely caring and expresses this through food. I was already annoyed that Angel seems to only exist to be a caring angel towards Ford so when her outside goals were removed I was almost upset by how incredibly conservative the gender roles in this book were. It truly feels dated and I was surprised by the way it was handled throughout he book.
Also, for a book about a chef the food descriptions are absolutely lackluster. In Angel's POV and in Ford's food is just described terribly. I normally love books using food as a way to show care for other people, but it did not work for me in this book at all.
This book is also pretty ableist. Angel has an old injury and is explicitly stated to not be in any condition that would prepare her to trek across the antartic. But because she "wants it" enough she is magically able to handle the tundra. I just think the logical conclusion to this line of thought is that disabled people die because they did not want health enough, and I really hate the casual way this philosophy is presented in a book where the bad guys seems to literally want to do eugenics. It is just incredibly unself aware writing. The low key ableism is repeated later in the book when Ford is overcoming physical pain. Also, the author pretty explicitly states that Angel is fat (but of course does not use the word fat) because she likes food too much, I obviously hate this too. There is also a minor character who seemed to be poorly coded as autistic.
I do not think that Angel and Ford had enough internal conflict. I generally did not find them to be a compelling couple in any way, but I do think the very mild conflict in a very high stakes scenario was a factor in this. I specifically wanted them to disagree more about what they should do with the ice cores, it kept seeming like Anders was setting them up to be conflicted over this and then they just never were.
This book is a romantic suspense that I found neither romantic nor suspenseful after the first 30%. It was shocking how uninteresting I found all of the action in this book. I am normally so easily compelled by thrillers, I was legitimately surprised and confused by my complete lack of interest in this book.
At about the 65% mark the story leaves Antarctica, which did completely remove my last shreds of interest from this story. I really did not find these characters at all compelling so when the setting, the most interesting thing about the book for me, was changed I just could not figure out a way to care any longer.
I found the ending saccharine and nonsensical. I do not understand why these people would like each other outside of a trauma bond. But sure. I am sad I didn't like this book, I was so sure I would love it.
Barbarian Alien by Ruby Dixon
2.0
I cannot really explain why I gave book one four stars, even though I had a lot of issues philosophically, and I am giving book two one or two stars. I just kind of was bored by this book.
This series follows a group of women who crash land on an alien planet and end up joining a local society (they do keep calling them aliens though I think in this situation the humans are the aliens) and pairing off with aliens. This book recovers some of the ground from book one, which was where my boredom started, the recapping section was entirely too long. After that, the alien dude low key kidnaps the human lady and they go hide out in a cave and eventually engage in adult activities. Then around 60% we get some plot with the other aliens and crash landed humans. At this point Liz, the human lady, does a 180 on how she feels about her alien beau and is completely obsessed with him.
I just could not follow the emotional progression of this story. It did not work for me at all. I do tend to like the fated mates trope, I can buy into the initial connection. But I just never actually progressed to actually being on board with this couple. Aside from the worm controlling who they are attracted to (these books are bananas) I don't get why they like each other.
I think my previous issue was also why I found the pace really lackluster. I did not like the pacing of this story. I was just not captivated or really interested. I am really baffled as to why I was glued to book one and not book two. Maybe I just was going to like whatever book in this series I read first and the premise just does not work for me long term.
I hated the way Liz talked. She uses so much slang and human references, I was annoyed and I understood her. I know this book is like seven years old, but it seems so much older than that by the way Liz speaks. I was also frustrated that the aliens learned English and the humans don't seem to be learning alien lingo, just seems rude.
I weirdly did like the alien guy. I should have had him, I am not sure why I didn't.
I also hate "my mouth is saying no but my body is saying yes" and this book is the absolute weirdest and most annoying use of this I have ever read.
This book was just very much not for me, I probably won't keep reading the series.
This series follows a group of women who crash land on an alien planet and end up joining a local society (they do keep calling them aliens though I think in this situation the humans are the aliens) and pairing off with aliens. This book recovers some of the ground from book one, which was where my boredom started, the recapping section was entirely too long. After that, the alien dude low key kidnaps the human lady and they go hide out in a cave and eventually engage in adult activities. Then around 60% we get some plot with the other aliens and crash landed humans. At this point Liz, the human lady, does a 180 on how she feels about her alien beau and is completely obsessed with him.
I just could not follow the emotional progression of this story. It did not work for me at all. I do tend to like the fated mates trope, I can buy into the initial connection. But I just never actually progressed to actually being on board with this couple. Aside from the worm controlling who they are attracted to (these books are bananas) I don't get why they like each other.
I think my previous issue was also why I found the pace really lackluster. I did not like the pacing of this story. I was just not captivated or really interested. I am really baffled as to why I was glued to book one and not book two. Maybe I just was going to like whatever book in this series I read first and the premise just does not work for me long term.
I hated the way Liz talked. She uses so much slang and human references, I was annoyed and I understood her. I know this book is like seven years old, but it seems so much older than that by the way Liz speaks. I was also frustrated that the aliens learned English and the humans don't seem to be learning alien lingo, just seems rude.
I weirdly did like the alien guy. I should have had him, I am not sure why I didn't.
I also hate "my mouth is saying no but my body is saying yes" and this book is the absolute weirdest and most annoying use of this I have ever read.
This book was just very much not for me, I probably won't keep reading the series.