October Mini-Reviews

Since I’m no longer posting reviews on Goodreads (or LibraryThing or BookLikes either… I figure I may as well be consistent) but still want to be able to share my thoughts on books that might not get a full review here on the blog, I decided to start posting monthly mini-reviews.

Here’s what I read in October:

Doctor Sleep, by Stephen King
4 stars
This was a great story. I think it would work as a stand-alone (since the story itself pretty much does), but there are a lot of little things that just wouldn’t mean as much without having read The Shining first. I’d maybe call it a companion more than a sequel… but either way, I really enjoyed it.
(read my full review here: Doctor Sleep)

Eye for an Eye, by Ben Coes
3 stars
Power Down remains my favorite Dewey Andreas novel, but the whole series is good. The books mostly stand alone but are linked in that some event in the previous book usually acts as the catalyst for some new conflict, so it’s definitely helpful to read them in order. It’s been a while since I read The Last Refuge; that may have affected my enjoyment of this one.
(read my full review here: Eye for an Eye)

Delia’s Shadow, by Jaime Lee Moyer
4 stars
This was interesting… part ghost story, part mystery, (small) part romance. I was immediately pulled in by Delia’s story and her supernatural ability. Most of the characters were enjoyable. I would have preferred a more consistent narration (this one switches between first and third), but it was overall a very good read. Perfect for October.
(full review coming soon)

Attachments, by Rainbow Rowell
4 stars
This is the type of book I wish “new adult” meant. I related to different aspects of these characters so well. It took me a while to get into the style (the back and forth emails meant it was hard to distinguish between the two women at first) but the story sucked me in, I was just as hooked as Lincoln… only I was hooked on his life too. I was really rooting for all of them to get what they needed.

Smasher, by Keith Raffel
3 stars
Smasher was an enjoyable read, but I’m not quite sure it succeeds as a thriller. It has a very long set-up; not until over a third of the way through the book do we get the dramatic event promised in the book’s description. I contemplated setting it aside early on because it didn’t feel like it was going anywhere. I’m not sorry I stuck with it, but it was far from the book I was expecting.
(read my unreview – and my discussion on picking random reads – here: Smasher)

The Liars’ Gospel, by Naomi Alderman
2 stars
I wasn’t raised with religion and have only a vague idea of the stories of the gospels, but I don’t think that’s why I didn’t care for this… nor was it that I found it offensive or blasphemous. It just didn’t do anything for me. I didn’t care about the story. I didn’t care what happened to any of the characters. Occasionally there was a thought-provoking quote or interesting idea… especially in the epilogue about the evolution of stories via their storytellers. On the whole, though… meh.

The Eight, by Katherine Neville
2 stars
There’s a lot going on in this book… too much, in my opinion. And for as complex as the story was, I feel like it left so much unexplored. Overall, I just didn’t find it very satisfying.
(This is my next ITW Must-Read; look for more on it next week.)

 
What was your favorite book last month?