Smile!

Another great one, deeper than it sounds

Revisado: 09-19-24

I bought Book 2 before I was done with Book 1 and I was not disappointed. This book has a lot of Miyara finding herself and figuring out her way in the world. There were several lines in the book that were so thought-provoking that I paused the book to ponder them. (Mostly they were about how she could serve others while not losing herself, something that many of us can learn from.) You'll definitely want to have read the first book, as I think that this would be hard to jump into as a standalone.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Lots of social justice, deeper than it sounds

Revisado: 08-25-24

I was so pleasantly surprised by this book! Strong female characters, with magic central to the plot, but the story is really about social justice and advocacy for self and others. It's great watching this woman find her way in the world, and figure out how to best serve others. I bought the second book in the series before finishing the first, and I am finding excuses to block out the world to follow the pathway of Miyara. I'm sure my time with Miyara is part of what caused me to be called a "badass" at work by one of my friends, which was such a pleasant surprise for this 50-something usually meek reader.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 3 personas

Fun cozy with good narration, but with gaps

Revisado: 04-15-24

I really enjoyed the novel and I liked Poppy. The narrator does the best "meow" I've heard, and I have a lot of friends who imitate their cats. ;) The thing that kept me from 5 stars was little details: Wait, that book was in her bedroom, now it's in the library? There's been a murder yet she's going to walk home alone at night? Did she go to the thrift store or just overhear conversations in that town?

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Twisty tale

Revisado: 10-01-22

I loved the story and the intrigue. There's some violence but it's not too graphic. My only complaint is the pronunciation of Chicago - I grew up in rural Illinois, and nobody said it with a hard 'Ch' but with 'sh' instead. And Chicago gets mentioned a lot, so it was distracting.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 1 persona

Ridiculous but fun

Revisado: 07-17-22

This was a fun escapist story. I was sucked in and wanted to see what would happen next. I thought the narration was quite good, but near the end I was almost crying with laughter at the narrator's "Blam" and "rat-a-tat-tat" gunfire. I know that the narrator had to read what was written, but the inflection on the gunshots were cartoonish and made me think of classic Batman action scenes.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Strictly OK

Revisado: 10-19-19

I was eager for this book to end. I only stuck with it because I wanted to know how the story came out--but I now realize I should have just read a cliffs notes version of it. (I have the story 2 stars instead of 1 only because I did stick through until the end.) Here are the things that annoyed me:
Educational Interludes: We'd be in the middle of the story, and then there would be a history lesson about the New York Library or the Stuxnet Virus or the capabilities of an airplane or...you get the idea. The stuxnet stuff was actually important to the story, but I think that there is probably a better way to get the information into the story.
Religious themes: I was okay with them, but I want to comment from a different perspective than some other reviews I've read. To continue to believe in the story, you had to believe in a God, in evil, and in angels and souls. If you don't believe those, you'll fall away pretty quickly. I believe in all of these things, but I don't believe in the God portrayed in this story, because the God in this book is losing the war against evil and needs the help of humanity to win. So I think an atheist wouldn't like the themes, and I think that a devout Christian wouldn't like them either--it was sort of the wrong middle ground for me.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña