Title: Long Lankin
Author: Lindsey Barraclough
Pub: 2011; Bodley Head
Pages: 448
Genre: Mystery, Paranormal, Ghost Story
Worst. Book. Ever.
And I chugged through it. Yes, all 450 pages, because I kept hoping for more. Because the cover said there should have been more. Because the back cover summary SAID it should be more.
But it never lived up to my self-imposed expectations. Oh how I wanted a ghostly gothic read. Also, I must obviously be missing something because this was handsdown a one star rating for me, but on Goodreads it averages nearly four? Did I read the same book?
Did anyone else read this? If so, where did I go wrong? What did I miss????
Showing posts with label mystery. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mystery. Show all posts
12.14.2012
11.27.2012
The Diviner's Tale
Title: The Diviner's Tale
Author: Bradford Marrow
Pub: 2011; Houghton Miffilin Harcourt
Pages: 309
Genre: Contemporary, Paranormal, Mystery
Oh how I wished that you were more than what you were. How's that for an opening? Kinda makes you want to rush out and read this book, huh? Yeah right.
So obviously this isn't going to be a glorifying review, which means, in the very least, let me tell you why I even bothered to read it.
1. The title. Simple. Implies spookiness, but potentially realistic spookiness.
2. The cover. I love me some trees. Like I could stare at trees all the livelong day.
3. There IS an unusual gift. Cassandra is a diviner. And it runs in the family.
4. There's a vision of a dead girl hanging from a tree...
5. ...which leads to a mystery about this dead girl and Cassandra finding her.
6. Cassandra is trying to hide from her past.
7. There's a potential love interest. I feel like my romance selection has been more YA driven and wanted to read what how adults interact in dating stages. Heh.
Pretty stellar list, eh?
Except I was so freakin' bored the whole way through. In fact, I'd probably put the darn thing aside except we were on a road trip and it was the only book in grabs reach.
What was nifty about it though? I liked reading about diviners in general, like those for water? That was an interesting take.
On a dullness level though? Man, I can't even remember if Cassandra gets together with her love interest. THAT'S how far removed I was from the blasted book.
Author: Bradford Marrow
Pub: 2011; Houghton Miffilin Harcourt
Pages: 309
Genre: Contemporary, Paranormal, Mystery
Oh how I wished that you were more than what you were. How's that for an opening? Kinda makes you want to rush out and read this book, huh? Yeah right.
So obviously this isn't going to be a glorifying review, which means, in the very least, let me tell you why I even bothered to read it.
1. The title. Simple. Implies spookiness, but potentially realistic spookiness.
2. The cover. I love me some trees. Like I could stare at trees all the livelong day.
3. There IS an unusual gift. Cassandra is a diviner. And it runs in the family.
4. There's a vision of a dead girl hanging from a tree...
5. ...which leads to a mystery about this dead girl and Cassandra finding her.
6. Cassandra is trying to hide from her past.
7. There's a potential love interest. I feel like my romance selection has been more YA driven and wanted to read what how adults interact in dating stages. Heh.
Pretty stellar list, eh?
Except I was so freakin' bored the whole way through. In fact, I'd probably put the darn thing aside except we were on a road trip and it was the only book in grabs reach.
What was nifty about it though? I liked reading about diviners in general, like those for water? That was an interesting take.
On a dullness level though? Man, I can't even remember if Cassandra gets together with her love interest. THAT'S how far removed I was from the blasted book.
10.24.2012
Shelter
Author: Harlan Coben
Narrator: Nick Podehl
Pub: 2012; Putnam Juvenile
Audio: Brilliance Audio
Length: 7 Hours
Pages: 304
Genre: Audio, Mystery, Series, Tweens, Young Adult
LOVED THIS BOOK.
And I totally picked it up because it was a short audio, which happens to be ALL that my fuzzy brain was capable of listening to after the #italong debacle.
Also, I trust Coben as a mystery/suspense writer because I've liked both of the adult books that I've read. Plus, he's pretty darn prolific, so that has to mean something, right? Of course, part of me was a bit weary because it's like singers/musicians who go into acting....sometimes they just shouldn't. And maybe this would be the case for Coben's transition into middle grades.
Ummm, I had NOTHING to worry about. This book is hardcore. Hardcore enough that part of me actually wished I had a kid of my own to tell him to read it.
So what's it about? Well, here's the thing...I don't want to give up too many of the deets because after the initial disc there were plenty of times I just had to take a "whoa" moment. But, briefly. Mickey is living with his uncle because his dad died in a car accident and his mom's kinda went off the deep end after his death. Mickey has this hottie of a girlfriend named Ashley and things don't suck as bad as they did. But then, Ashley disappears. Like, her parents don't even acknowledge her. So Mickey is all hell bent on finding her which leads him to a new friend, Emie (who knows how it's spelled because I was listening, but she is a rock star!) and Spoon (who is much more like the Robin side kick to Mickey's Batman superness). The enter the underworld of this town and there are moments when I feel like Stabler (SVU peeps) is going to show up.
And the ending. Oh the ending. My mouth dropped and I wanted to hit my head on the steering wheel because THIS ENDING is the reason why I hate finding series because I want to know what happens next NOW and count.
How about that audio? Once again I'm winning in the narration department. Nick Podehl did an amazing job changing his voice in believable ways. There's even a thug with a lisp and it works! Also kudos for a male doing a decent female voice.
10.10.2012
Picture The Dead
Title: Picture the Dead
Author: Adele Griffin
Illustrator: Lisa Brown
Pub: Sourcebook Fire, 2010
Pages: 262
Genre: Historical, Ghost, Spooky, Mystery, Paranormal
And it's about?
Jennie is orphaned and living with her Aunt and Uncle. Her fiance and his brother are off to war and times are pretty wretched. Eventually there's a return, but it's only one of the brothers. Not Jennie's fiance. Instead, she is told that Will was killed honorably in battle.
Quinn (Will's brother) has become quite sullen, which is expected considering all that he had probably seen and all that he had lost. His injuries leave him in bed for the first few weeks and Jennie nurses him back to health all the while trying to find out more details about Will's death.
Because there is a secret there. Jennie believes that Will is still around. His spirit at least. Things in the dark house move and symbolic artifacts of their love randomly show up. Quinn wants Jennie to move on and marry him, but it doesn't look like Will wants that at all.
And my thoughts?
Ooookay. I have to admit when I picked this book up it was just because I was at the Walmart skimming through the selection and the pictures were so cool (they're done in a scrapbook sorta way) that I had to impulsively buy it. That and I had a vague recollection that Adele Griffin was a pretty cool middle grades author and although I read A LOT of young adult fiction, I sorta lack in the middle grades.
Then, I grabbed it recently for DEAR and got suckered in. This book was not what I was expecting. *shakes head* Nope. It was SO much more.
It's hard to surprise me but this book did. And no, I don't mean in the "hey it really is a good read" but moreso in the "I'm a smart cookie and can usually figure things out but this one? Yeah, totally left field."
Fabulous middle grade mystery. With love. And sadness. And pictures. Oh my. I can't wait to reread this book.
Author: Adele Griffin
Illustrator: Lisa Brown
Pub: Sourcebook Fire, 2010
Pages: 262
Genre: Historical, Ghost, Spooky, Mystery, Paranormal
And it's about?
Jennie is orphaned and living with her Aunt and Uncle. Her fiance and his brother are off to war and times are pretty wretched. Eventually there's a return, but it's only one of the brothers. Not Jennie's fiance. Instead, she is told that Will was killed honorably in battle.
Quinn (Will's brother) has become quite sullen, which is expected considering all that he had probably seen and all that he had lost. His injuries leave him in bed for the first few weeks and Jennie nurses him back to health all the while trying to find out more details about Will's death.
Because there is a secret there. Jennie believes that Will is still around. His spirit at least. Things in the dark house move and symbolic artifacts of their love randomly show up. Quinn wants Jennie to move on and marry him, but it doesn't look like Will wants that at all.
And my thoughts?
Ooookay. I have to admit when I picked this book up it was just because I was at the Walmart skimming through the selection and the pictures were so cool (they're done in a scrapbook sorta way) that I had to impulsively buy it. That and I had a vague recollection that Adele Griffin was a pretty cool middle grades author and although I read A LOT of young adult fiction, I sorta lack in the middle grades.
Then, I grabbed it recently for DEAR and got suckered in. This book was not what I was expecting. *shakes head* Nope. It was SO much more.
It's hard to surprise me but this book did. And no, I don't mean in the "hey it really is a good read" but moreso in the "I'm a smart cookie and can usually figure things out but this one? Yeah, totally left field."
Fabulous middle grade mystery. With love. And sadness. And pictures. Oh my. I can't wait to reread this book.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)