Amazon Customer

Engaging Story

Revisado: 10-02-24

I thought the tale was well told. I'm surprised that some people were put off by the fact that some of the people in the story were religious. I am not at all religious, but didn't feel that there was much Jesus-speak, just references to people who were of faith. I could've done without that part with the singing, though. I advanced the book 30 seconds at a time--something that I never do--and my cat ran out of the room. As is usual with me and most books, I thought there were good ending points before the story actually ended. I DID appreciate the length of this book. A lot. I am recommending it to others.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Snoozer

Revisado: 04-12-24

The back and forth between timelines is getting awfully tiresome. I hope this trend ends soon. My mind drifted a lot. There was nothing very compelling about the story and the characters. I am stunned that a 34-year old writer who has written only 5 books doesn't recognize that someone is using a tactic that she used in one of her own books to get attention. That went beyond belief.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Hate Sci-Fi, But Liked the Old Twilight Zone Shows

Revisado: 03-18-24

Twilight Zone was mostly about extremely inexplicable things that happened to ordinary people. I can get behind stories like that. And so I was able to enjoy this book very much. It was quite the ear perker. As an American history lover and a mystery liker, this story really hit the spot. Owen, the modern-day man suddenly plunged into a nineteeth century mining town near Barstow (a co-worker of mine who worked there frequently referred to it as Barstool), came up with some pretty humorous names for himself and his businesses, and on-the-fly explanations for his Nikes and Ralph Lauren Polo shirt. I chuckled a lot through his story and screwed up my face at the hygiene of the time. Beth's story was fine, just not nearly as entertaining. I could have done without the references to her constant horniness. That was unecessary information and didn't make me like like her more or find her more interesting. I almost reacted the same as I did for the description of Calico's filth. I would subtract a half star for this aspect of the story if I could. Otherwise, this was the most entertaining book I've read in awhile.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

An Ear Perker

Revisado: 02-26-24

Ear Perker is to an engaging book you listen to as Page Turner is to an engaging book you read.

Yeah, there was a bit of killing. But most of 'em needed killin'. If I only have to read about it and not see/watch it, I'm okay with some violence. I would never be interested in seeing this on screen.

The beginning of the story was a turnoff, and I almost quit. I didn't like where it was headed. But soon enough, the story headed in another direction, and I was all in. It happened just when I found myself entertaining the possibility that not all was what it seemed.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

It Wasn't An Easy Life

Revisado: 02-21-24

I get impatient with novels nowadays because authors knock themselves out, even drag out a story's ending, to tie everything up in a tidy little bow. "And they lived happily ever after." So many times I find myself saying "get out of there", wanting a story to end because the story has been told several pages--even chapters-- before the final paragraph. I don't need every single question answered. Sandra Dallas weaves a tale that you know played out over and over again throughout history but is rarely told from the perspective of the main character. I appreciate the story's realism and Dallas' treating the reader as an adult and not a starry-eyed teenager. It was a good story about the highs and lows of western life when people were truly on their own, before measles vaccinations, rural medical clinics, wide availability of telephone lines. The narrator was excellent and presented distinct, un-jarring voices for male and female characters.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 1 persona

Is it me or the quality of the stories?

Revisado: 01-19-24

I've been reading this series from the very beginning. I've also read several of the Philosophy Club books.

I got extremely impatient with this book. The story went off into the weeds and lost my interest. Dialog wasfrequently pointless and dull. How could Charlie be so incredibly stupid? How could people engage in such simple-minded conversations and take so long to get to the point?

Julia's story was incredibly bland and unsatisfying and the story of the singles club was a snoozer. Of course married men cruise the club scene; what's the story there and who cares anymore? It's the 2020s, not 1920s.

I'm getting older, perhaps I just don't have the patience I once did now that I've known these characters for 24 books. Or perhaps these stories' plots are getting thinner and thinner as the author attempts to crank out too many novels at once. I suspect it's both.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Fun, Twisty Story

Revisado: 04-12-23

I generally don't care for changing points of view in novels, but this one was fine. Most events contained two points of view with a different angle offered by the character. I would like to talk about the characters, but this would reveal too much. I'll just say that in the end, my opinion of the characters had shifted a bit, but I was okay with how things ended. The author did a good job constructing the tale and telling us some significant things without telling us all.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Programmed to expect more

Revisado: 11-15-21

What I will remember most about this book is the bad guy’s comeuppance. These days you come to expect so much more and I liked how it was handled in this book. Grisham respected the reader’s intelligence and provided the unexpected. Thanks, John. You spared my eyes from extreme rolling. I’m bored of “surprise” twists.

I thought the narration fit the tone of the book. It’s the telling of a subdued investigation with two weary protagonists (one’s a bit bored of her life and the other is ready to end an extremely long, all-consuming quest for justice).

Not the most thrilling of stories but enough to keep me going.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Okay Story, But

Revisado: 09-17-21

This was not supposed to be a historical novel. However, when a novel about black people that takes place between 1917 and approximately 1940 in rural-ish Alabama, I expect some references to the time: types of homes and conveniences, description of area and lifestyle. Women worked as domestics and men worked in factories or mills. A president declared war. That's about all that was written to remind you of the lives these people lived. The lack of narration was disappointing and struck me as amateurish, lazy storytelling, as though the author didn't try to do much research about the period she wrote about. The story interested me enough to complete it.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 1 persona

Moderately Entertaining

Revisado: 06-04-21

Bottomless flask. Extremely short chapters peppered with metaphors, some of them on the hilarious side. Hats. People who seem to eat their Cornflakes with bourbon. No one drank water, beer, or lemonade. Just some form of whiskey. Oh, and that car...

And lots and lots of suspicious deaths. Don't know when I last read a book (other than one about war) where so many people died.

Too much "atmosphere", not enough engaging content. To keep the reader in suspense, main characters withheld important information from each other, which added a level of fakeness to the story. One of those books you continue because you started it and it wasn't all that unbearable, but might not have started in the first place if you knew what you were in for.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña