paulabellman's reviews
699 reviews

A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

emotional tense slow-paced

3.0

I did enjoy this book but it was way too long and moved way too slow. There was not nearly enough information about Matthew becoming a vampire, being a vampire. I will not continue with this series.

I did just find out that this is actually a Netflix show. I won't be watching that either.

The best thing about this book is that even though it was considered a paranormal romance, it wasn't spicy at all. It was PG-13 spice. I was very appreciative of that.

All the Colors of the Dark by Chris Whitaker
Did not finish book. Stopped at 26%.

I was feeling no connection to any of the characters. They were shells of people. 

The Handyman Method by Nick Cutter, Andrew F. Sullivan

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No

4.0

Remember how in The Shinning we knew Jack Torrance was bad, but we only had a small inkling st 1st?  Yea, well w Trent, you know right away he's a bad man.

RHE handyman Method reminded me very much of The Shinning. It wasn't as long so that's a plus in my book!

Wish there would have been less story of the decent into madness and more about the evil entity. 

It was fast-paced and an unexpected ending.

Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros

adventurous challenging dark emotional tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

4.0

If Hermonie Granger were the main heroine of Harry Potter and she was a bit older, this would be that book.

Part 2 of Fourth Wing was pretty entertaining.   Part 1 focuses on the war college at Basgaith and Part 2 is the break away/rebellion. 

I knew going in there is at least 1 more book to this story. I'm not happy about this ending. So unhappy, I'm not sure if I will pick up Part 3. Its not that the story isn't good, it just seems to be falling back on the same ole same ole.

The spice in part 2 is tamer than in part 1. Thankfully we are not subjected to intimate details for EVERY trist.  Honestly the story is good enough you don't need the spice.

I both read the book and listened to the audiobook, alternating with my availability. I was able to finish the 650 page book in less than a week.

The Eyes Are the Best Part by Monika Kim

dark emotional tense medium-paced

4.0

Did she drop into madness because of a brain tumor they basically glossed over or is she a psychopath?

Pretty good story.

Diavola by Jennifer Marie Thorne

dark emotional tense

4.0

Enjoyable look at grown children and family dynamics.  I felt bad for the parents for having such selfish children. Too bad Dame Blanca didn't take Anna over forever.

Subhuman by Michael McBride

adventurous tense slow-paced

3.0

This story could have been so much better if they had used less medical/science words and focused more on the ancient civilizations, crop circles and the possibility of Antarctica having not always been a frozen wasteland.  I did and could understand it but I don't read novels to have to look up words in a dictionary. 😁

I wonder if there truly are rivers and lakes under the two miles of ice?  Guess I need to do a bit of reading.

While an okay read I will not continue with the series. I don't  really care about the ancient parasite that overtakes a host and turns them into killers and the newly formed special secret ops division who will now hunt and kill all the paranormal occurrences across the world.

A People's History of the Vampire Uprising by Raymond A. Villareal

dark tense medium-paced

3.0

This story started off so good and then it became rather bogged down. The ending was so ambiguous.   This leave me to belive the author either wrote this as prequel to another book or had no idea which direction to take the story.

Shame. It started out so good.

Nuclear War : A Scenario by Annie Jacobsen
Did not finish book. Stopped at 13%.

Supposed to be a fiction novel but reads like nonfiction/classified documents. Plus it was causing me too much anxiety.

Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros

adventurous challenging tense fast-paced

4.5

I cant believe I slept on this book. I'm not sure why I thought it was a YA. Thr amount of spice makes it NOT a YA book.

The story of the making of a dragon rider, the rebellion and its aftermath, and the enemies to lovers was enjoyable. Once the enemies became lovers, the spice was just too much spice [for me].  Pages and pages of hot to trot sex. Was it necessary for the story?  In this book, probably. 

After the final battle there was one last surprise waiting for the reader and that leads to The Iron Flame.  I hope part 2 is not just sex w/some dragon stuff thrown in there.  I did add part 2 to my TBR pile but 8 WEEK WAIT with libby.