shidoburrito's reviews
1533 reviews

I've never read a book by Dekker before, so this was a title recommended to me. The characters and writing style reminded me a LOT of Dean Koontz, but with slightly more religious over-(and under)-tones. All in all, I was hoping for more, but it fell a little flat for me. The last 50 pages went by fast as I really was held in suspense, but the other 300 pages went a little slowly. Perhaps I just wasn't in the mood for it. The characters didn't act...normal? They suffered from the Koontz characteristic of being smart, but having a disconnected, un-realistic air to them. Almost otherworldly. Which makes sense for the main character, once you find out more about his past, but the other characters too (and not just Slater or Sam). Also, I had fled to this book after giving up on Rice's "Prince Lestat" which was suffering from too much religious philosophy and the usual pages-long dialogue and banter about morality and God. Unfortunately, I ran right into the same problem in this book (although not nearly as long-winded as Anne Rice is).

Anyway, there you have it. I MAY try another Dekker book later on, but don't hold your breath.

Another great volume with delicious recipes. Not as much character development and a lot more cooking, but it's still a fun little series. Lots of celery and onions used this volume!

I really tried to read this book but I can't do it. It made me way too depressed. It got such glowing reviews from people I trust, but this book was not for me. I already know people are terrible, I work with the general public, but I don't want a book that goes deeper into the psyche of these terrible people! Also, I didn't want to read about a terrible failing marriage or a book full of characters in which I didn't like a single one! Plus, the author had tidbits and thoughts that every once in a while I would think, "Hm, I've also thought that" , or " That's true ", but I hate agreeing with these terrible people!!! It makes me feel like I'm terrible for agreeing with them! I gave it well past my 100 page tester limit but found myself hating the book, the characters, the general public, and life in general each time I reflected upon it. Then I looked up the summary on Wikipedia, and gladly moved on to a nice, whiny, teen book, or a delightful juvenile fiction.

It's been many many years since I last read this book, but I recently watched the movie. When I first saw the trailers I was outraged. Spaceships/hover crafts? Futuristic bikes? A love triangle? What was this bull honky? I REFUSED to pay money to see the movie. I eventually caved into watching it, but only as a free DVD checkout from the library. And again, there were many parts I didn't remember ever happening.
After revisiting the book, my convictions solidified. There never really was a love interest with Fiona. They have planes in the book, but his friend isn't a pilot. The communities are not on top of a plateau and Elsewhere is not a foggy landscape.
The book is just as good and as moving as I remember, though. A sad but wonderful tale about what it means to be human. That our lives have both beauty and pain, but without those feelings, we are like robots.
Just another example where the book is a million times better than the movie.

Okay, I liked it a lot. I don't think I've ever really read a romance genre before, but this is most certainly romance. Whew! Racy! But I never realized, until I watched the tv show Starz has made, that it is also science fiction, as the main character is transported from 1945 to 1745. Hooray time travel. And there's even a guest appearance from Nessie! Huzzah! So yeah, a great book. The ending didn't light any fires under my butt to make me want to read book 2 right away, but hopefully someday I'll continue the adventures of Jamie and Claire.

You need to read this book if you get excited when I say "Dragons that can turn into humans". If that sentence alone makes you want to read this book, then you will enjoy it as much as I did. Never mind the fact that the writing was nothing brilliant, and it was plagued with the typical teen love triangle, or the fact it is published by Harlequin Teen (yes, the romance publisher also has a teen branch). It is about dragons that can turn into humans and have been infiltrating our society for centuries. But then there's a sect of dragon slayers, the order of St. George (of course) which is more like a secret army bent on destroying all dragons. I'll give you three guesses as to the two types of men that fall in love with our main character Ember. What's that? A rogue dragon and a member of St. George? How did you KNOW?! I'm just giving it this high review because it's rare to find fantasy books with shape changing dragons that actually act human. So, kudos to Kagawa for fulfilling that odd niche of fantasy that I enjoy.

Good ol' Miles. He has it particularly rough in this one. But we get Venom in this one! I love Venom. Best Spiderman villain ever!

Wowza! A year later? Miles is growing up! Also, it's nice to finally find out what Spider-Woman is up to!

I had to give up on this one. It wasn't BAD per se, but the I have so many other books I'd rather read than this. The dialogue was stiff, and not very natural for genius teens taking college courses during the summer. The writing was also very simplistic and juvenile. I gave up.

Well, it was cute, but not nearly as good as many of Raina's other comics. This one is a simple story about a road trip trapped in the car with her sister and brother and mother, with flashbacks to growing up together. It felt rushed with not much depth as Smile, or at least not as much detail or nostalgia put into it.