mandykool's reviews
537 reviews

Boring. Not extraordinary. Did not enjoy.

The book is beautifully written, which is why I am giving it 3 stars, however, it’s clunky, often confusing, and in many moments boring. I don’t really understand the point except that these kids were basically tortured. I wouldn’t call this a thriller, it’s psychological drama fiction with a heavy emphasis on dark abuse.

Middle road. Not really all that enjoyable, but the descriptions are astonishing. I cannot say though that I would recommend this book to others.

Beautiful. Enchanting. Gothic.

Emily Danforth knows how to write and I was sucked into the story. I loved the whole thing. This is definitely literary Gothic Novel bookage here and I was pleasantly surprised.

I didn’t want it to end, and I loved every character. I want a sequel. Now, please.

So I struggle with this book. I want to give it higher than a 3, but this was middle of the road for me. But giving it just a 3 feels too low, so I’m going to go with a 3.5.

Was it a thriller? Absolutely. It was such a slow build that it almost didn’t feel like a thriller at times but there were so many subtle hints of thriller. Especially because until the big bad reveal, I felt like it was leaning towards more psychological thriller than having an actual bad guy.

I absolutely adored all the solid education that Alyssa Cole put into the book. I have began to learn about these things and the book really taught me more about Black people oppression and white privilege. I love that she took a real fear for so many people and took a popular culture spin on it with the Illuminati.

That was so unique and fantastic that I just couldn’t get over how smart it was.

When Sydney found Drea, my heart dropped. That whole scene just hurt so much. But then I’m really confused what happened to her.

Here’s where I really struggled. The last part felt so rushed. I was frustrated because she definitely went full there and I liked that, but she spent so much time slowly building in the beginning and piecing things together, I wanted better guild

It felt like, “oh here’s this underground tunnel that’s been mentioned...” and then her writing felt like shit literally hit the fan. It wasn’t that it was too weird, it was that it was so rushed I couldn’t really tell what was going on and I was left with far more questions than answers.

Then the ending felt like it was all tied up with a little bow and boom. The end. Happily Ever After, which doesn’t feel realistic to the story.

I also just didn’t enjoy the romance. Theo was kind of a creep and it felt strange that Sydney went from her jerk of an Ex to this guy that pretty much sucked. I liked the element that he was a liar, but I didn’t like him.

There were just far too many unanswered questions and holes in the plot that really irritate me, so I am giving it 3.5, which is higher than I should give it, but the beginning build in writing real fears and the education value bumps it up.

I do want to read more by this author so I’m glad I got a chance to read it.

Solid book. Entertaining. Beautiful and unexpected. I enjoyed reading this one, but felt parts dragged in places and took me too long to trudge through.

But I definitely enjoyed it and would recommend to others.

I don’t know how I feel. Entertaining. A wild ride. I didn’t see how the book would end until the end. I was disappointed in the last 25% of the book and the ending to say the least.

But, other than that it was an entertaining quick read. Not going to win awards. Not going to be my favorite, but worth a one time read.

I actually preferred “The Magician’s Nephew” to this one.

I never read these as a kid, so I didn’t have the nostalgia factor going for me. It was enjoyable, I got immersed in the world, but parts were clunky for me whereas in “Nephew” it was just better storytelling.

I would definitely add to to my read again shelf and I think it will be one we read to our children, but it’s obvious this was CS Lewis’s first book in this series.

This book was... hard. Hard because it was thrilling. As a parent myself, it was absolutely hard to get through. There were moments I had to stop. I wasn’t sure at 80 percent that I could finish it, but against my better judgement, I finished.

The book definitely played up on parent fear and it was written well.

It would have simply been a book about influencers and how awful they are without the twist and point of view.

Entertaining. Not the best book, but I really struggled with the dark themes.

Oh my goodness!

What an amazing mystery book. This did not feel YA and was written phenomenally. The twists and turns and details. Wow.

This book was very reminiscent of season one of Veronica Mars mixed with true crime. Pippa wasn’t quite as snarky as V. Mars, but she was just as brave.

The characters, the mystery, the everything. A perfect mystery with just the right amount of thrill to keep you on the edge of your seat.

I am happy that this is a series because I cannot wait to eat the next book up just as much.