Reviews and Comments

I eagerly started this highly-rated novel about Clair Clairmont, being very interested in reading about her. After having finished it I can't understand the glowing reviews. I didn't care for it at all, finding it disjointed, tedious and brimming with unlikable, boring characters (Mary Shelley! Byron! Boring?!) wandering around in mind-numbingly dull settings (including the Year Without Summer FFS!) that skip back and forth in time. Not for me! Two stars only because I actually finished it.

A very short, very sweet story set in the Legends & Latte world. I hope Zyll will show up in more of Baldree's writing.

A fantasy murder mystery served with a dollop of Pacific Rim, garnished with a hint of The Goblin Emperor, and a tiny sprig of romance. It was nicely written with interesting world-building and enjoyable characters; Ana, in particular, was a delight. The murder plot and its somewhat deflated resolution kept this at a 3-star rating for me. Though the opportunity is rarely afforded in fantasy whodunits, I like to follow along and solve crimes too! While it didn't guarantee a sequel a place on my to-read list, I might try more from this author.

The first novel in the Brother's Sinister series and my second Milan book. Again I found the romance much too rushed, and the male protagonist implausibly perfect. Also implausible is the notion of a peer thinking and acting as the Duke of Clermont does in this book. It just didn't work for me, I could not suspend my disbelief enough to accommodate it.

Milan writes nicely and delivers escapism but I don't really enjoy her books. There simply isn't enough angst or "realistic" characters who behave credibly in them for my tastes.

A magical version of Lydia Bennet's story in her own words. I'm no Janeite but do enjoy reading Austen, her sparkling prose and ability to make "dull" romance/marriage plots interesting and funny is always a delight. I'm also fond of fantasy and a good retelling, but I did not enjoy "The Scandalous Confessions..." very much. The magic system was dull, the various subplots tedious, and I didn't care for the writing. I was vaguely bored throughout and didn't care about what happened to any of the characters. Original flavour for me from now on.

I was excited to read this as the premise is brilliant. Sadly, I found it a bit of a dud. The story got progressively less engaging and incorporated a “twist” I found trite, and the middling resolution made the whole story weaker. No characters were particularly engaging and I found the arctic chapters and the musings of the main character more of a distraction than an enhancement. I didn't particularly care for the writing style, and also lampshading something doesn't magically make it not bad. All told, an ok read but not a book for me.

Matthew Shardlake, a barrister during Henry VIII's reign, keeps being charged with solving mysteries. In theory, I should adore Sansom’s Matthew Shardlake series, but I just don’t. The history is impeccable as is the ability of Sansom to evoke the Tudor period but the mysteries don't interest me, their solutions are unsatisfying, and the characters seem flat. Matthew should fascinate me, yet I remain indifferent. In conclusion, this series is not for me and I’ll stop trying to make Shardlake happen.

A book about the chicken-biting type of Geek Love. An engineered "freak", the hunchbacked dwarf protagonist Oly, tells the story of her childhood and teen years living deeply enmeshed with her family in a travelling carnival, interspersed with chapters of her life at 38.

It's a strange but interesting read for the most part, though at times, horrifying. The first third grabbed me, but later in the book my attention waned at times and I found the ending a little unsatisfactory. I'm not sure I like it very much.

A novel reminiscent, in some ways, of "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time". Diagnosed as a child with spinal muscular atrophy much of the book is preoccupied with the effects this has and continues to have on the protagonist's life. This was also the aspect I enjoyed the most.

Though, overall, a relatively enjoyable and readable book I found the ending too abrupt and quite meh, with the "mystery" driving the plot uninteresting and lacking a satisfactory dénouement.

Touted as a modern-day "Peter Pan"-flavoured dark romance. Definitely not a retelling, more an AU take. The writing was fair but I didn't enjoy the overly simplistic characterisations. I found the violence tediously cartoonish, the plot paper-thin, the characters bland and the twist not only telegraphed but semaphored, phoned and texted at me.

Unrealistically beautiful people falling in "Twue Wuv" practically instantaneously is just not something I can suspend my disbelief for, and don't enjoy it. I also have Thoughts about the sex scenes when seen in context of the time frame they're portrayed as occurring. Maybe Romance just isn't the genre for me. All in all, meh.

This was a re-read to get me ready for the sequels. In 2016 I rather enjoyed it, liking the world building, the Steerswoman conceit and the writing, even if I found the plot a little lacking and the "villains" too reasonable.

This time it just didn't work for me, finding it tedious and meandering. Just goes to show how much my mood influences how I feel about a book. Not sure I like that about me.

Not the book I expected. Thought I was getting a victorian historical novel, turns out it's actually a monster fucker porn-with-very-little-plot book. This will teach me to actually read dedications and blurb. The writing was fine and it was a quick read. However, I did not like the protagonist, a hyper-sexual "pick me girl", who is perfect in every way, and the immediate and total lack of any actual tension in her "arrangement" strained all credulity. Not for me.

This short novel, described as a scientifically accurate thriller about a scuba diver swallowed by a sperm whale, was not for me. It seemed to be chapter after chapter of either repetitive daddy issues, long-winded descriptions of diving and diving equipment, or tedious descriptions of escape attempts. The writing was marred by flourishes clearly meant to ramp up tension but which just became extremely annoying. I almost put it down multiple times, but forced my way to the end. I wish I hadn't bothered.

A selection of short stories billed as a collection of erotica. The stories definitely had erotic elements and overtones, but I'm not sure I'd classify them as erotica per se. However, I found the prose lush and the stories odd and interesting. Erotica that isn't up your alley can often be rather tedious but I enjoyed these stories quite a lot.

A short historical romance novella that moves along at a very snappy pace with a plot less straightforward than the title implies. The romance felt a bit rushed, very "love at first sight", and the male protagonist was a little too good to be true.

I love historical fiction, but I haven't read much romance and don't understand the conventions of the genre. Perhaps this book fits into a specific sub-genre thus written perfectly to fit a category? Personally, I'd have liked a bit more character development and more historical bits, but it was a fun enough read. Unsure whether I'll read the rest of the series however.