kailey_luminouslibro's reviews
3765 reviews

I couldn't take all the nastiness in this book. There's underage children buying and selling drugs, doing drugs, gambling, cursing, smoking, drinking alcohol, sleeping around. There's a lot of sexual harassment, and several F-bombs. 
So disappointed in this book.

I really wanted to like this book, since I have read other books by this author that I have loved. However, there is a lot of violence, and references to sex, and a very young prostitute has a botched abortion and requires surgery for a hysterectomy. It's really graphic and blood and guts everywhere. I just couldn't handle all that.

Also I didn't like how the narrative switches from the lawyer character and then to a journal written by Queen Victoria. That was really weird and slowed down the plot.

I got really tired of having to wade through the political relationships between everyone. Each character has a royal title, and their official name, and their nickname. Without a character list, it was difficult to keep track of everyone.

I didn't care about any of the characters. I didn't like Inda. I didn't care about all the political this and that.

I read some other reviews that mentioned several triggers, including violence and a child's death, so I decided that it's just not for me.

I really enjoyed reading through this anthology of MacDonald quotes, compiled by C.S. Lewis. It definitely gives you an insight into how MacDonald influenced and inspired Lewis.

I took off half a star because some of the quotes don't quite make sense without the context, so it was a little difficult to follow the train of thought for some of them. Most of the quotes are clear though. It was just a few of them that didn't quite make sense.

I read through one or two of the quotes each day along with my daily Bible reading, and really liked taking my time to mull over each one and do a little pondering over these spiritual truths. This is not a book to be read all at once. It takes time to digest each thought.

They say never meet your heroes, because they have feet of clay. I wish I'd never started reading this book. I love Wilkie Collins' books, but the man himself was a pervert. He had a couple of different mistresses and never married, and I just got tired of hearing about his sexual exploits and his flirtations. Really gross.

I think from now on, I will give up on trying to read author biographies, because they are usually not very nice people, and it ruins my enjoyment of their books. I would rather just enjoy the art and not know anything about the artist.

Thomas Wingfold started a career in the church as a curate, but when he is asked whether or not he really believes there is a God, it starts him on a spiritual journey to discover what he truly believes and whether or not Christ is real. In the meantime, he continues preaching, sharing with his congregation the difficulties of his spiritual doubt and how he is searching for truth in the Bible.
One of his parishioners, Helen, finds herself in a crisis when her brother shows up late one night running from the police. He has murdered the woman he loves, and begs Helen to hide him. Helen continues to attend church each week so that no one will suspect that there is anything out of the ordinary. She hears Wingfold's sermons with disquiet and dread, but something within her soul is reaching out to find the truth.

I really loved this story about various people trying to pinpoint what they really believe about Christ. Each in their own way, they begin to realize that they can't just dismiss the person of Christ, or attend church because it is socially acceptable. They have to make a personal decision for their soul, accepting Christ completely and thereby radically changing their lives. It was really inspiring and exciting to read about!

I love MacDonald's writing style. It's poignant and deeply thoughtful and emotional. The edition I read was unedited, so the writing can be a bit long-winded, but I just let my mind sink into the depths and took my time wading through all the sermons, stopping to think and ponder between chapters. And when I emerged on the other side, I found myself spiritually refreshed and invigorated!

However, I don't agree with every point of MacDonald's theology. He believed some weird stuff. But most of it is Biblical and correct. I'd say I agree with about 95% of his teachings.

Tim is a hotshot American pilot who takes a job ferrying war planes over the Atlantic Ocean to the British Isles during WWII. But when he realizes that his ex-girlfriend Carol is working as a dancer in a London nightclub, he decides to join the RAF to be close to her. Tim is selfish, proud, and flirts with anything in a skirt. He resents being assigned as co-pilot on a bomber team; he thinks he should have his own fighter plane. But when he sees the courage and sacrifice of his fellow pilots, he begins to realize that he needs to get his values straight and become a better man to be worthy of Carol.

This was very interesting to read about WWII from a novel written in the middle of the war. I learned quite a lot of history!

This book feels like a Clark Gable movie where all the pilots are "hard-boiled" and jaded, and everybody is "tight" most of the time and trying to look cool smoking their cigarettes. They say things like, "See ya, doll" and "Forget it, pal."

But there are a few serious moments about the war where brave soldiers make the ultimate sacrifice in a battle to save their friends. And we meet the mother of one of the dead pilots, and she is so sweet and patient in her grief, and happy to meet her son's friends. It was really lovely and inspiring.

However, I just hated Tim. Even though he has a change of heart towards the end, I still felt like he did NOT deserve Carol. He's such a selfish jerk for most of the book!

The writing is really fun and engaging. It's a delightful adventure and an interesting window into history.

Melanie and her brother Jason discover a dragon egg while camping near the Grand Canyon. They hide the little dragon and name him Scalaed. The dragon grows up and leads Melanie and Jason into another world. There they are captured by an evil huntress and imprisoned in her dark fortress. The huntress is using dark magic to create an army of dragons, and she wants Scalaed for a special purpose.

I loved the magic in this book! There are telepathic birds, shapeshifters, immortal beings, healing crystals, and magical glass swords. There is a lot of mysterious dark magic, but there is also light magic to combat the dark.

The world-building of the realm of Tindoria is really interesting, and I love the weight of history behind all the legends. The people of Tindoria have suffered from years of war, and when Melanie and Jason arrive they have to catch up pretty quickly with the local politics. But the narrative has very little exposition, allowing the story to unfold naturally as the siblings learn about this new world.

In the first section of the book set in the Grand Canyon, you get a sense of the strong sibling bond between Melanie and Jason, and then when they are transported to another world, that relationship gets even stronger as they have to rely on each other to survive. They make friends with some good folk who come together to fight against the evil huntress. Melanie has a magical bond with her dragon, Scalaed, as well, and they can communicate with each other through a heart link. These friendships between the characters were the best part of the book!

However, I have a pet peeve about multiple POVs, and this book was head-hopping all over the place. The omniscient narrator was bouncing back and forth into a different character's or animal's experience in every other paragraph.

There were several things in the plot that I didn't quite understand, that seemed silly or weird to me. There is an enemy soldier who confronts Jason, and Jason says, "You can't hurt me. I'm Helnah's [the huntress] new favorite." So the soldier "dropped his sword in frustration." I mean, this is the head honcho general of the entire fortress, supposedly a battle-hardened warrior who commands all the soldiers of the army, and he just drops his sword??? What kind of stupid soldier drops his sword? Why didn't he just sheath his sword back in the scabbard? He realizes that he can't harm Jason because his boss, the huntress, wants Jason alive and unharmed, but is that any reason to drop your sword? Because he dropped his sword, Jason "scrambled for the sword" and they start fighting back and forth. Why would the soldier let down his guard like that, knowing that Jason is a threat? There were several little things like that which seemed very odd to me throughout the story.

Overall, I enjoyed the story though! The romance is clean and sweet. The writing is exciting and emotional. The plot keeps moving along through all their adventures. A fun fantasy story!

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for a free and honest review. All the opinions stated here are my own true thoughts and are not influenced by anyone.

Percy needs three recommendation letters from three gods in order to get into college with Annabeth next year. So he teams up with Annabeth and Grover for a few last quests to earn those godly recommendation letters. Their second task is to pet-sit a polecat and hellhound for the scary triple goddess, Hecate. These pets are terrifying and wild, and Hecate's home is a creepy mansion full of secrets and weird bathrooms. The pets do not look friendly, but Percy is determined to follow Hecate's instructions and keep the pets alive and well for the entire week. All while trying to pass his regular school classes and graduate senior year.

I loved this! It was everything that I wanted and more. I love Percy's sarcasm and sass. I love the group dynamic between Percy, Annabeth, and Grover. They make such a great team! I loved seeing more of Percy hanging out at home with his mom, just being a family. And of course, I loved the adventurous plot. The writing is wonderful, and I enjoyed learning about all the ancient legends of the gods. There is just something so delightfully charming and hilarious about Percy Jackson books. It tugs at your heart and makes you laugh at the same time.

I can't wait to read more books in this new PJ series!

A brother and sister start a competition to see who can make the most money running a lemonade stand. Evan is extroverted and popular. He loves to talk to people, and is great at getting customers to stop and buy lemonade. But Jessie is a math genius, and she knows how to organize the business for optimal sales. They are both determined to win and prove that they are the best, but underneath they just want to repair their relationship.

There are a lot of misunderstandings between Evan and Jessie and they overreact and get angry, resulting in the war. I love how complex their personalities are, and we get to see some great character development with both of them. As the eldest of four siblings, I love stories about siblings. This story perfectly captures that weird balance that siblings have between love and complete annoyance. Nobody can drive you crazy like your siblings, and nobody can heal your hurts and teaching you about yourself and your role in the world like siblings.

The plot is really engaging with many twists and turns as Evan and Jessie try new methods for making more money from lemonade. But the center of the plot is their growing animosity toward each other and finally their reconciliation.

I like the way that the writing switches between the siblings' POVs, and we get to see some of the same scenes from their different perspectives. It was really interesting to be inside their heads as they plot and scheme against each other.

Such a fun book!