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oashackelford's Reviews (353)
Natasha has given up in life. She isn't about to kill herself or anything, but she isn't about to apply herself either. She cares so little about anything after high school that she skips class to go to a day club with the coolest girl in school. That's when the real trouble starts. All of the sudden she has been accused of theft and kicked out of school and her mom signed her rights away so that Natasha can go to a boarding school on a remote island. The boarding school is weird though, and there's some big secret that all of the other kids won't tell her. That's okay though, because she is keeping a secret from them too. Natasha can see through time.
I love the idea for this school, but I will admit that I feel like the angsty teen romance is a distraction from the much more fun time traveling aspect of the book. Every time she and her boyfriend start kissing I wish that they would get back to the mystery. I just don't feel like it is really adding anything to the book, and nothing of note comes out of it. Setting that aside, I love the plot for this book. I wish that this were more of an ongoing series where they would just keep traveling to different spots in time and solve crimes or mysteries, but I think that part of what makes this book so good is that you know the school is up to something, but not what, and that means that it must end at some point when Natasha does eventually figure out what is going on.
I can't wait for the next one, although, I will say, that I hope it is the last one because I want the mystery to be solved, and I don't want to have to wait for a third book to come out.
I love the idea for this school, but I will admit that I feel like the angsty teen romance is a distraction from the much more fun time traveling aspect of the book. Every time she and her boyfriend start kissing I wish that they would get back to the mystery. I just don't feel like it is really adding anything to the book, and nothing of note comes out of it. Setting that aside, I love the plot for this book. I wish that this were more of an ongoing series where they would just keep traveling to different spots in time and solve crimes or mysteries, but I think that part of what makes this book so good is that you know the school is up to something, but not what, and that means that it must end at some point when Natasha does eventually figure out what is going on.
I can't wait for the next one, although, I will say, that I hope it is the last one because I want the mystery to be solved, and I don't want to have to wait for a third book to come out.
Natasha has been sent on a few trips now, and while she is getting the hang of time traveling, she can't help but feel that she is only a pawn in a much larger game. At every turn she is being presented with information that makes her think that maybe she has put her trust in the wrong people. The only problem is who can she trust?
I thought that this was a much more fun, and faster paced book than the first one. I really got into all of the twists and turns and I am only mad that I discovered this book this year, and not at a later period of time, because now I am going to have to wait to read book three, but I am also so excited for it. I honestly don't know how to say anything else about this book without spoilers.
I love that she is also a time keeper, and I realize that he has Mason, but why doesn't she just time travel with Mason and Braxton to somewhere else, because he can't keep collecting bits of the Antikythera without them and it doesn't seem like there are a lot of timekeepers around so them leaving permanently would tie up all the loose ends. I guess maybe they would be worried about their families, but I don't see how Arthur could get rid of them without raising suspicion in their communities, so I don't see what the problem with that would be. I guess the main problem would be that it would be a lot less interesting without all of the characters having to commit subterfuge.
All in all, I thought that it was a fun read, and I simply cannot wait for the next one!
I thought that this was a much more fun, and faster paced book than the first one. I really got into all of the twists and turns and I am only mad that I discovered this book this year, and not at a later period of time, because now I am going to have to wait to read book three, but I am also so excited for it. I honestly don't know how to say anything else about this book without spoilers.
Spoiler
Okay, first things first, I seriously thought that Braxton had killed her dad, and I did not realize that he was going to be a timekeeper. I love that twist, but I do wish that he had been more upfront with her at the beginning of the book, because all of the secrecy got a little annoying. Like, you can say that you love each other, but not, "hey, I realized that we are both timekeepers, maybe there is a thing or two that you can show me?"I love that she is also a time keeper, and I realize that he has Mason, but why doesn't she just time travel with Mason and Braxton to somewhere else, because he can't keep collecting bits of the Antikythera without them and it doesn't seem like there are a lot of timekeepers around so them leaving permanently would tie up all the loose ends. I guess maybe they would be worried about their families, but I don't see how Arthur could get rid of them without raising suspicion in their communities, so I don't see what the problem with that would be. I guess the main problem would be that it would be a lot less interesting without all of the characters having to commit subterfuge.
All in all, I thought that it was a fun read, and I simply cannot wait for the next one!
Bob Comet is a retired librarian living in Portland Oregon. When he meets an old woman with dementia who is lost he returns her to an assisted living facility, only to start volunteering there. While he is volunteering there he starts thinking about the different things in his life that brought him to where he is now. His one and only marriage, his time spent as a runaway at the end of World War 2, and of course, his time as a librarian.
I am not sure what the point of this book was supposed to be, but I did enjoy it. I think that the point of it was that towards the end of your life you get nostalgia for the things that were, and the avenues that your life could have taken, and you begin spending more of your time in the past than you do in the present. I am not sure if any of Bob's stories were meant to have a point, or if the points were meant to circle back on themselves, because it just seemed like the story of an old man lost in his memories.
All that being said, I did enjoy the book. The characters are funny, and there are sad moments as well that pull you in. As the reader, I almost didn't care that the stories didn't seem to have a point, because I rarely feel as though all my life were building to one thing, and it was nice too have a character whose life wasn't supposed to be a metaphor for a big lesson I am supposed to learn. The character is lost in his memories, I am not sure that there is more of a point, or a lesson, than that.
I did rate this book a three even though I liked it. I thought that I enjoyed it, but I know a lot of people who would feel like the book wasted there time because there wasn't some sort of big obvious conclusion, but I actually kind of liked that about the book. The main character was an unremarkable man who didn't do much with his life, but that doesn't mean that he had a worthless life. I just don't feel like it is a book I could recommend to everyone, I think that really only a few people would be able to enjoy this without feeling as though they have wasted their time.
I am not sure what the point of this book was supposed to be, but I did enjoy it. I think that the point of it was that towards the end of your life you get nostalgia for the things that were, and the avenues that your life could have taken, and you begin spending more of your time in the past than you do in the present. I am not sure if any of Bob's stories were meant to have a point, or if the points were meant to circle back on themselves, because it just seemed like the story of an old man lost in his memories.
All that being said, I did enjoy the book. The characters are funny, and there are sad moments as well that pull you in. As the reader, I almost didn't care that the stories didn't seem to have a point, because I rarely feel as though all my life were building to one thing, and it was nice too have a character whose life wasn't supposed to be a metaphor for a big lesson I am supposed to learn. The character is lost in his memories, I am not sure that there is more of a point, or a lesson, than that.
I did rate this book a three even though I liked it. I thought that I enjoyed it, but I know a lot of people who would feel like the book wasted there time because there wasn't some sort of big obvious conclusion, but I actually kind of liked that about the book. The main character was an unremarkable man who didn't do much with his life, but that doesn't mean that he had a worthless life. I just don't feel like it is a book I could recommend to everyone, I think that really only a few people would be able to enjoy this without feeling as though they have wasted their time.
Unlike most teenagers, Lina is not excited about spending her summer in Italy. Her mom, and her only family, has just passed away recently after being diagnosed with cancer. Lina, having only had a few months to grieve, now has to go to Italy to live with a man that her grandmother says is her father. Worst of all, her "dad" is the caretaker for a cemetery. As if she needed one more reminder that her mom is gone. The only upside is that her mom left her a journal of her time in Italy when she was a young woman. Now Lina has a chance to get to know the woman her mom was before she had Lina, and maybe get some answers as to why her mom left her dad all those years ago.
I think that this is the first YA romance book in a while where I didn't feel like all of the characters were making tiny mistakes and then blowing them way out of proportion. I thought that the characters were incredibly well developed. I liked that she somehow made the book feel sunny, but like the kind of sun you feel on the morning of a new day after it has been raining. It is like Lina is learning how to live and have fun again after the loss of her mother and seeing the world in a new way.
This book made me have a good cry, and I thought that the emotions presented for Lina made sense and also were well explored. I didn't find myself staring at any major plot holes and I felt like the story was well resolved. I panicked a little bit when I thought that she had a sequel, because most YA authors writing a sequel with the same characters will break them up and pair up the protagonist with someone new, but thankfully this book is a stand alone.
I think that this is the first YA romance book in a while where I didn't feel like all of the characters were making tiny mistakes and then blowing them way out of proportion. I thought that the characters were incredibly well developed. I liked that she somehow made the book feel sunny, but like the kind of sun you feel on the morning of a new day after it has been raining. It is like Lina is learning how to live and have fun again after the loss of her mother and seeing the world in a new way.
This book made me have a good cry, and I thought that the emotions presented for Lina made sense and also were well explored. I didn't find myself staring at any major plot holes and I felt like the story was well resolved. I panicked a little bit when I thought that she had a sequel, because most YA authors writing a sequel with the same characters will break them up and pair up the protagonist with someone new, but thankfully this book is a stand alone.
Nico Varonakis left behind 26 things when he walked out of Olive's life. Things that she held onto for reasons that she can't even fully explain to herself. Her dad was always the center of her universe, and he just left one day to go and look for Atlantis. Well now he thinks that he has found it and her mom is telling her that she has to go and spend ten days in Greece with him to help him work on a documentary that he is making for National Geographic. Can Olive let go of the hurt that she has felt since she was a little girl and forgive him?
In addition to all of this Olive is having some trouble with her relationship with her boyfriend back in Seattle, and to complicate things, there is an extremely cute Greek boy who seems to be interested in her. If she can figure out what it is that her heart actually wants, then can she actually be happy this summer? Will Greece help provide the ultimate geographical cure for her troubles?
I had just finished reading Love and Gelato when I started this book and I am now thinking that I should have given myself a little more time in between reading both books because I don't think that I have cried this much while reading in a long time. I think that Welch is a master of nuance when it comes to difficulties in relationships. Trying to reconnect with a family member who has left you is not a black and white endeavor, and she walks the delicate tightrope of emotions extremely well. I think that she does a good job of not having her characters act out in uncharacteristic ways, or no overreact to the situations that they are put in. Any time Olive is frustrated or sad it doesn't come out of nowhere, and it feels natural and right.
There is only one thing that bothered me with this book, but it is a minor spoiler.
In addition to all of this Olive is having some trouble with her relationship with her boyfriend back in Seattle, and to complicate things, there is an extremely cute Greek boy who seems to be interested in her. If she can figure out what it is that her heart actually wants, then can she actually be happy this summer? Will Greece help provide the ultimate geographical cure for her troubles?
I had just finished reading Love and Gelato when I started this book and I am now thinking that I should have given myself a little more time in between reading both books because I don't think that I have cried this much while reading in a long time. I think that Welch is a master of nuance when it comes to difficulties in relationships. Trying to reconnect with a family member who has left you is not a black and white endeavor, and she walks the delicate tightrope of emotions extremely well. I think that she does a good job of not having her characters act out in uncharacteristic ways, or no overreact to the situations that they are put in. Any time Olive is frustrated or sad it doesn't come out of nowhere, and it feels natural and right.
There is only one thing that bothered me with this book, but it is a minor spoiler.
Spoiler
I am really glad that the author didn't have Nico ask Olive for a kidney, but at the same time, I was hoping that Olive would offer one. I think that the author left this out because she wanted the book to be focused on the dad/daughter relationship. I also think that it could have potentially spoiled the book by cheapening it. I guess that I was just hoping for some kind of confirmation that he was going to get to be in her life from now on, and without a better diagnosis for him the reader is left in doubt of that, and it is so sad.
Addie had a horrible thing happen to her this summer, and she would rather not talk about it thank you very much! Unfortunately for her, her brother Ian found out about it, and now he won't stop bugging her to tell her mom. It has cause a lot of fighting between them. So much so that now their mom is saying that if they even fight once on their trip to Florence they are both off of their school sports teams. Addie resolves to get along with Ian while they are on their trip, that is until Ian tells her he was never planning on going to Italy in the first place. Now Addie must find a way to stay with Ian on his trip around Ireland and prevent their mom from finding out.
I really like this Love and series, but I did think that this one was the weakest of the three books. The constant fighting at the beginning of the book, while accurate to sibling relationships, got old extremely fast and I pushed through only because I had already read the other two books and I figured it would get good at some point. Once again Welch has done a good job at taking a nuanced view of the argument that they are having and none of the characters is doing something without a good reason. Each character has a motivation that explains their actions and they all make sense. I do like that because it makes the characters seem more realistic. I think that sometimes in teen books authors get away with the characters having a big blow up disagreement over a minor miscommunication and they overuse it, but Welch doesn't do this and her characters don't really miscommunicate. I think it is really refreshing and is a big reason why her books are so loved.
I did really enjoy this book once it got past the petty fighting stage and into their relationships a little bit. I do wish that Rowan's character was a little bit more fleshed out, but I thought that he was a good addition to the siblings because he helps balance them out.
I really like this Love and series, but I did think that this one was the weakest of the three books. The constant fighting at the beginning of the book, while accurate to sibling relationships, got old extremely fast and I pushed through only because I had already read the other two books and I figured it would get good at some point. Once again Welch has done a good job at taking a nuanced view of the argument that they are having and none of the characters is doing something without a good reason. Each character has a motivation that explains their actions and they all make sense. I do like that because it makes the characters seem more realistic. I think that sometimes in teen books authors get away with the characters having a big blow up disagreement over a minor miscommunication and they overuse it, but Welch doesn't do this and her characters don't really miscommunicate. I think it is really refreshing and is a big reason why her books are so loved.
I did really enjoy this book once it got past the petty fighting stage and into their relationships a little bit. I do wish that Rowan's character was a little bit more fleshed out, but I thought that he was a good addition to the siblings because he helps balance them out.
Alice has officially left the Hinterland behind, or has she? Just when she thinks that she is finally getting her life back on track, the dangerous stories from the Hinterland start acting even more dangerous and paranoid, and then they start dying. Daphne is a story that Alice has never seen before and she starts feeding the other stories' paranoia and fear. Alice needs to find out who is killing off stories before it is too late.
I thought this one was going to be really exciting when I started reading it, but I had a really hard time getting through the book. I can usually whip through a book in a few days, but with this one I felt like it took me a week and a half. I finished the book because I wanted to know who was killing off the stories, but if it weren't for that I probably would have dnf'd.
I just wish we knew more about the stories themselves. In the first book Albert took care to give us background on a few of the stories and laid out their tales. In this book I think we got Sophia's, less carefully told, and the story of the night country, but none of the other stories' backgrounds. I can't be the only one who wanted to hear the rest of Alice's story. Why is she called Alice three times? The book gives us a hint to it, but never actually explains why she is called that or what it has to do with her story. I wanted to know Hansa's and Vega's stories and a few others. I know that you can't give everyone's back story because it would make the book too long, but I think it also would have given me more context for some of the characters and also made me care more about them. Because I can't sympathize with any of the characters, it is harder to feel bad for them when they die, or derision towards them if they were evil.
I don't think this is a book I will read again, or even remember in a year's time.
I thought this one was going to be really exciting when I started reading it, but I had a really hard time getting through the book. I can usually whip through a book in a few days, but with this one I felt like it took me a week and a half. I finished the book because I wanted to know who was killing off the stories, but if it weren't for that I probably would have dnf'd.
I just wish we knew more about the stories themselves. In the first book Albert took care to give us background on a few of the stories and laid out their tales. In this book I think we got Sophia's, less carefully told, and the story of the night country, but none of the other stories' backgrounds. I can't be the only one who wanted to hear the rest of Alice's story. Why is she called Alice three times? The book gives us a hint to it, but never actually explains why she is called that or what it has to do with her story. I wanted to know Hansa's and Vega's stories and a few others. I know that you can't give everyone's back story because it would make the book too long, but I think it also would have given me more context for some of the characters and also made me care more about them. Because I can't sympathize with any of the characters, it is harder to feel bad for them when they die, or derision towards them if they were evil.
I don't think this is a book I will read again, or even remember in a year's time.
Amber Sand is not a witch, but she is magical. Amber can see anyone's perfect match, just not her own. So what is she supposed to do when she can see her crush's perfect girl and it isn't her ? Does she resign herself to her fate of not being with Charlie, or does she date him anyways? She may not be his perfect match but she could be years away and Amber wants to be happy now, even if it is eventually doomed to fail. What's a girl to do?
I liked this book a lot. I thought that the supernatural element really made this book fun and gave it more oomph than a regular teenage romance book. I also thought that this author painted her antagonists really well and it is fun to watch Amber go toe to toe with her enemies. The only thing that I don't like is the ambiguous end at the end of the book. Luckily it is the first book in the series, so I am hoping that I will get some answers to my questions.
I liked this book a lot. I thought that the supernatural element really made this book fun and gave it more oomph than a regular teenage romance book. I also thought that this author painted her antagonists really well and it is fun to watch Amber go toe to toe with her enemies. The only thing that I don't like is the ambiguous end at the end of the book. Luckily it is the first book in the series, so I am hoping that I will get some answers to my questions.
Every time she looks in her boyfriends eyes Amber sees him with her friend, the happiest he has ever been. Amber Sand is caught in a unique position. When she looks into people's eyes she can see their soulmates, and when she looks into her boyfriends eyes she sees her friend Kim. While neither of them are seeing each other behind her back, everytime they are friendly towards one another she feels the green monster rising up and bubbling out of her. How long can she keep the secret of their match? In addition to this, Ivy Chamberlain, Amber's worst enemy, wants Amber to find out her sister's love match in order to break up her sister and her girlfriend. With her whole world feeling topsy turvy and her own feelings being put in a grinder every day Amber isn't sure how long she can hold it together.
I liked this one more than the first book because Kim being in Amber's life adds some really fun and interesting complications, but I still don't like that I haven't gotten all my questions answered yet.
I liked this one more than the first book because Kim being in Amber's life adds some really fun and interesting complications, but I still don't like that I haven't gotten all my questions answered yet.
Spoiler
There is a part of me that wants Charlie to end up with Kim because I don't want her predictions to be wrong, or changeable. I want her love interest to have a "boy that you never thought of in that way" vibe. Charlie is fine as a love interest, but ultimately boring. I want her to marry someone from the supernatural community and have a witch for a baby so that her mom has someone to pass her grimoires on to. I know that is selfish of me, but I get a little tired of the boy who would fight fate itself vibe from supernatural romance novels. I think that him ending up with Kim and her having to find someone else would be a more unexpected ending (because authors usually give in to what their readers want) but I think the other ending would be better.
Amber Sand's visions are not working the way that they used to. Now when she tries to see people's matches they come out blurry and backwards. She has been all over town asking for a cure but no one seems to be able to help her. Her friend Ivy, a siren, used up all her siren powers over the summer trying to protect her sister, but now she is dying because of it. There might be something that can solve both of their problems, but it is going to be difficult and dangerous to get.
I thought the adventure part of this was great and I loved all the different characters that were brought into this, but I had a major beef with who Amber ends up with at the end of the book.
I thought that the author could have had a more unique ending and it bothered me that she took a safer more boring route.
I thought the adventure part of this was great and I loved all the different characters that were brought into this, but I had a major beef with who Amber ends up with at the end of the book.
I thought that the author could have had a more unique ending and it bothered me that she took a safer more boring route.