I'm not in the mood for this book right now. It's a bit too dark for me at this time. The writing is fine (which actually makes it "worse" in that it's easier to imagine the bad guys).
Reviews and Comments
GWM living in Oregon.I used to love books that would really stretch me, but lately I've needed more solace from the books that I read.
My ratings are as follows: * 5 stars: it's truly a great book, and I'll want to re-read it again and again. * 4 stars: it's a good book, and I enjoyed reading it. I'll probably re-read it. * 3 stars: It's a fine book, just not special. I may re-read it if I'm looking to just relax and not have to think, but I would probably pick up a new book instead. * 2 stars: I finished it, but might have given up if I were in a different mood. * 1 star: I didn't enjoy the book and probably didn't finish it. I wouldn't blanketly recommend against it, because it might speak to someone else.
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ApparentParadox stopped reading Running Out of Moonlight by April Kelley
ApparentParadox reviewed The Necromancer's War by SJ Himes
Not as good as the others in the series
3 stars
Content warning It looks like the author introduced who the character who will become Cian's love interest. I was hoping that it would have been a radiant energy mage both to wrap up one loose end and because a radiant energy would play well against Cian.
This feels more like a placeholder book. The author included characters from Blood Omen and Wolfsbane, but they didn't really add much to the plot in this book. Some was set-up for a subsequent book, I think, but that didn't really help this book.
I do really like Cian as a character, though.
I've re-read the other books in this series several times, but I don't really see that happening with this one.
ApparentParadox finished reading Blood Omen by SJ Himes
Re-read this before the next book in the series came out.
ApparentParadox reviewed Dragon Ever After by Louisa Masters
Enjoyable read
5 stars
I really like the characters and the tension in the plot is good but doesn't rely on some huge villain.
ApparentParadox stopped reading You're So Dead to Me by Steffanie Holmes
I stopped after a couple of chapters. I didn't like the main character, I didn't like the ghosts. Maybe it would have gotten better, but there wasn't enough in the first few chapters to make me want to put in the effort.
OK, but I didn't really care about the characters
2 stars
Content warning It bugs me when a character has some secret that is supposedly incredibly important, but we don't find out enough in the first book to know whether we actually care about what that secret is.
I didn't really care about any of the characters. Some of the stuff was clever (the AI Bartender), but I never really felt invested in any of the people.
ApparentParadox reviewed Secret Scottish Escape by Julie Shackman
Nice, but nothing special
3 stars
It was hard for me to really understand the main character's motivation. She throws herself into other people's problems but it's not really clear why (other than an off-hand reference to her taking care of people).
Some of the resolution stuff was a bit pat, but that's kind of to be expected with a light read like this.
ApparentParadox reviewed Eternal Hoptimist by Lee Blair
Sweet characters
4 stars
Fairly predictable, but a nice story with sweet characters.
ApparentParadox stopped reading Heart2Heart (Contemporary) by Annabeth Albert
Some stories were OK, I skipped a bunch, and then just wasn't in the mood.
ApparentParadox reviewed Got Me Hoping by Casey Cox

Got Me Hoping
Nice people, decent plot
4 stars
This is a nice book with characters you care bout and want to spend time with.
ApparentParadox reviewed Mona of the Manor by Armistead Maupin
Much like his other books, with one exception
3 stars
This is very similar to his other "Tales of the City" books. If you read those, then you have an idea of what this one will be like.
The one problem I had with this book is that it is written about the past. With the other books, he was basically describing "current events" and the people were all aging along with the books. This is a throw-back to a previous time, and so it felt a bit strange in that way. Not really so different for those who are coming fresh to the books (because for them, they are all in the past), but for people who have read the books as they were released, it just feels a bit odd.
ApparentParadox stopped reading Music Practice by David Dumais
Not the book for me as a hobbyist musician. His focus was on people who are very serious about becoming better musicians. I'm playing an instrument for fun and to exercise my mind, so most of what he talks about isn't useful to me.
ApparentParadox reviewed Pitcher Perfect by Lee Blair
Fun book
4 stars
I liked all the characters and enjoyed the story.
ApparentParadox finished reading Jon's Boom Shaka Laka Problem by AJ Sherwood
I enjoy these books, but I sometimes get annoyed at minor problems in them. There's a lot of talk about how likely the plane is to crash if Jon is on board because he'll mess up the electronics. OK, planes have lots of safety features. He might kill the engines and the radio, but the pilots can still fly the plane and probably even land it decently if they are skilled pilots. Yep, they may have to do an emergency landing, but knowing they have Jon on board, they should be prepared for that.