smithyreads's reviews
178 reviews

This book was good! However not the best. I found it has similar issues throughout all the books so far being it kind of drags on? It's not terribly drawn out but I do feel at times that the author put as much as he could down to fill the quota. Kind of like when I'm writing an essay and don't quite reach the word minimum. Now, I'm not saying it's bad or boring. In fact I quite like the series! Reading some of these other reviews I would say I might be in the minority here (at least in the written reviews) but I do genuinely enjoy the storyline! Not only that but I feel like the characters do act and react in a very realistic manner. I mean some guy you work with brings you into a world you don't know of and your life gets put in danger what seems like every hour of the day, I too would host some reservations. Is it annoying? Sure it can be, but it's also more realistic. I mean we as a reader can see multiple points of view and these characters cannot. These kids especially are trying to make decisions and they are right to feel frustrated and untrustworthy of a guy who will never give them answers or if he does it feels like only half of an answer. The fact that Nicolas won't tell them everything doesn't quite make sense to me however, especially because he knows it's making the twins doubt him and the cause, so why he wouldn't just lay it out flat? I don't know if I'll ever understand. Another thing I don't quite get is how fast auras recharge? It seems like Nicolas never has any and I mean even the slightest amount of aura even if he's been resting and asleep for a while or hasn't used his aura in big ways for a while. However, Dee and Machiavelli who have also been drained of their aura also have bounced right back and are ready like an hour later. Now with how much I've questioned you might be thinking, my god why 4stars then? why not fewer? And that is because overall I do actually enjoy reading this. sure I might question or not understand maybe even dislike certain things the author has done, but I have enjoyed it. I have been in such a reading funk recently and this book (and the past two) have actually made me stay up to finish reading a chapter or two. I WANTED to go and read more and I couldn't wait to see what would happen next. The chapters were short enough where I could pick up and read a chapter or two in no time and it made me feel like I could finish it. Not only that I never got bored reading it, everything that happened it happened one after another and it kept me engaged. I can't wait to start the next book in the series!

So cute and charming, and also one of the few books that actually writes about old people in a real way and they’re not just unimportant side characters that only think in either good things or simple things. It was cute and charming and made you think at times and made me cry at the end. An unlikely friendship between unlikely people. All so different yet at the same time just the same. The ups and downs of life and the questions and thoughts everyone experiences, truly an amazing and fun book. - rounding my 4.5 to a 5 bc it deserves it and I either can’t or don’t know how to rate half-stars <3

3.5 stars- not quite average but close to it.

First off it’s starts off incredibly slow, we don’t even get to the main point or plot of the book until almost halfway through. Not only that but I feel like the anger and resentment towards the Romani in this book are extremely high, almost feels as if the author feels particularly upset with them.

Also there was a side plot that had very little meaning and a very dull outcome- in fact this “mystery” was the whole first part of the book & I thought that maybe it would tie into the main mystery but it doesn’t, not even a little bit. Also there is really no ending to this book?

It’s all quite open-ended and didn’t feel very satisfying to me. Overall it did grab me in once the main point came about and I found it quite easy to finish from there but the beginning was quite a drag.