Gord’s Comments (group member since Apr 06, 2017)

Gord’s comments from the Vampires, Weres and Fae! group.

Alright, I know it's only been a couple of days but I want to share my thoughts on a particular book and since I'm on holidays I'll do just that.

-3 Stars
This was a cozy mystery set in an Amish village around Christmas. It's a cozy mystery that really did nothing offensive and was perfectly fine. If you know cozy mysteries you know what to expect with this book. The only thing I'll say is that the MC was kind of oblivious to one big thing and it wasn't the mystery. Her boyfriend was acting all suspicious around her, taking mysterious calls, and all of that and this made her think there was another woman and that she was getting dumped. Now if this was any other time of the year I'd say the MC has some valid concerns but it's in the weeks leading up to Christmas. Don't you think that maybe, just maybe, your boyfriend is working on a super sweet Christmas present for you? Especially with the relationship that the book has portrayed? Of course the boyfriend is working on a super sweet present, not saying more than that. It just felt like the MC was uncharacteristically dumb in that one aspect but I can let it slide.

-3 Stars
I caught wind of this book end of last year or early this year and it was one those new releases where I was interested. A game of hide and seek set in an abandoned amusement park for adults. Seven days, fourteen contestants, one deadly secret. How could I not be interested in this concept? This is one of those books that sounds like it's not only up my alley it sounds like it's sitting in my living room waiting with a pot of tea. I'm not going to say that this book was bad or anything. I just feel that it could have been so much more than what I got. Instead of an earth shattering kaboom I just got this wet fizzle. I feel like I can't really say more about this book without spoiling things so... spoiler wall. Read ahead if you have already read the book or just don't care.

(view spoiler)[
This book started out strong with this air of mystery and dread but I recognized the trope very early on. This is the classic "remote village finds prosperity by making a deal with something evil" and it's a good trope to utilize. I saw a lot of complaint that the characters were shallow and, sure, they were but they are there for monster bait. I don't need a deep character if they are going to be turned into monster poop. I'm sorry if that's mean but I don't need the backstory for a future blood stain. The book started out focusing on the character of Mack and it felt like it was going to be focused on a first person POV. That was until the first day when it suddenly started switching to the POV of various characters. Again I understand why this was done. Mack wasn't doing a lot outside of hiding and the reader needed to see what was happening to the other players. It felt clunky though how the story suddenly shifted gears like this. From there we get the characters going out, hiding, getting eaten, etc. Some early secrets are revealed letting us know what was going on. The book was split up into days and most of the "chapters" were about the same length. Then we get to day five that is nearly half the book unto itself. This is where things start popping off. This is where the book tried to pull the whole "oh this character is totally dead even though no one actually saw it" trope. Which is again fine if you have them show up several chapters later at an important moment. This character came back a couple of paragraphs later like it was no big deal and I feel that kind of cheapened the impact. There was one character that committed suicide that just felt kind of weird. Like the author was looking for a way to thin out the character list and just get to the end of the book. This is the chapter where we get a whole bunch of reveals including the monster. Overall day five was a long chapter and it just kind of felt meh. Then we get to the big climax in chapter six and this is where the book solidified its 3 star rating. The characters go back into the game area after escaping to confront the big evil. Events happen and the book just promptly ends with the MC's letting the evil out of the containment area and riding off into the sunset. This is a book that needed an epilogue in my opinion. It could have been seven years later, fourteen years later, twenty one years later, what ever. Either show us that the game continues on or the families behind the game are now in ruin. Just something because the ending as it is currently just isn't really satisfying. Maybe that is just me though. (hide spoiler)]

Up next I'm planning on reading and starting on audiobook.

Huh? I have a stack of library books already to go but for some unknown reason I found Sweep of the Heart on Hoopla with no queue and it's now top of the library pile. How did that happen?

This is why I have trust issues book. Oh a character died off page and no one, not even the reader, witnessed their actual death. Oh and it was an important character to the story. Sure... they're dead, yup, totally believe that one.

Bases

pudding

Mocha

This has been an odd week of reading for me. A rough book kind of started things off on the wrong foot for me and filled my head with all sorts of discussions. I was going to share those discussions but between either deliberately deleting the conversation or accidentally doing it I never did share my thoughts earlier on. Any way, lets get started.

2.5 Stars round up to 3
This was the book that derailed a lot of my time this week. This was a new release book that caught my attention earlier this year. It was a horror novel set in the Japanese interment camps of WWII here in the States. While not frothing at the mouth for it the premise was enough to catch my attention. After I was done reading it I was left feeling disappointed and with a distinct lack of of enjoyment because of two chains of thought. Overall I just didn't feel like the book was that good. To many POV's that kept switching all the time made it hard to connect to any one. The ending just kind of happened all while not really wrapping up anything in general. I also felt that for a horror novel it really wasn't scary. It hinted at and teased that it involved yokai or Japanese spirits but it instead took the whole "people were the real horror all along" route. It's not a bad theme or anything but there are so many colorful things that could be done with yokai that the route it took just feels boring.

This leads me to the lack of enjoyment aspect and this is where, I feel, things get maybe a bit controversial. As I mentioned before this book was about the Japanese internement camps in the States and the racism/hatred towards Asians. This was also used to highlight the continued issues of racism/hatred towards Asians today especially with the events of the last few years. Now this is a serious and important conversation to be had and I think that it is something that should be had. The way this book handled these discussions though just made the book plain unenjoyable for me. A large chunk of this book just felt like I was reading the comments section on the bad parts of Facebook/Reddit/YouTube and that is just not something that makes for an engaging read. I have no issue with a book tackling difficult subject matter or pushing me to contemplate horrible things but I just don't think that this is the way to do it. I read/see enough of these kind of horrible comments in real life that I don't need the book I'm reading to be more of the same. Challenge me with this controversial subject matter, make me see a new point of view, do something different. This is just my two cents and I could be way off the mark as I sometimes am.

-5 Stars
Because of the above book I found myself in a funk for a few days. I was able to read some manga/comics but none of the books I had queued up from the library were speaking to me. I was thinking of reading some In Death but I figured "no, you have a ton of books from the library already". Then someone started dropping quotes from this In Death book in my timeline and the temptation grew. I decided to check and see if the library even had it available figuring it would have a queue like usual but nope, no queue. Next thing I knew I was reading this book and not regretting my decisions. This series is great for picking me up and reinvigorating my interest in reading again. This book had some great and tense moments and it was just that feeling of returning to old friends.

-4 Stars
This was the other novel that I was listening to this week and this book felt like it was really hitting its stride after the previous book. This book had a good pace that kept me engaged while moving things along. The humor, for me, was on point and I found myself laughing out loud several times at the stupid nerdy humor. The narrator was mostly on point and is just fun to listen to. The only thing I would criticize the narrator for was the American accent that was used in this book. This book is full of several accents and they are a treat to listen to. The American accent used for the American FBI agent though just felt wrong to my ears. I'm not going to sit hear and claim I know every accent or even if an accent sounds right but this accent was firmly in the realm of someone trying to sound American. I can't really ever say that I got used to it either as the character wasn't a constant presence in the story. It kind of sounded like there was an attempt with a drawl mixed in with something else and it just sounded so off. Overall I enjoyed this one and I'm interested in the little story hints for an overarching story and future events.


This is yet another manga series that I have finished and I'm glad that I am. Overall this series had some good moments but it felt like it was dragging things out a bit. I won't spoil the ending but I will address it. I was avoiding any spoilers for the ending but what I had seen was that the fandom was not overly happy with the ending. After reading it I find myself somewhere in the middle. It most definitely wasn't the worst ending ever but I wasn't exactly moved by it either. I find myself agreeing with the feeling that the author took the easy expected trope ending which wasn't really well set up. Overall I felt the series was alright and I'm now ready for something new.

-4 Stars
This was one of those random finds on Hoopla and it was alright. This is one of many comics that have come out of Tapas and I was a little concerned going into it. There are some comics that work great on Tapas. They are short, easy to consume, and come out every few days. There isn't really a story to them overall but for the way they are presented it works awesome. Reading them in a printed medium though just doesn't work for me. Instead of that spaced out drop in, giggle, move on kind of pace it's just page after page after page of the comic and it gets kind of boring after a while. Needless to say this isn't one of those kind of comics. There was an interesting story, some unique art, and by the end I was wanting more and thinking of checking out the series on Tapas myself.

-3 Stars
Why did I do this? When will I ever learn to not pick up a comic series based on a novel series I've already read? This is not a bad comic and it felt like it belongs in the Rivers of London series. It's the art work. I can't even say that the art work was bad but there is this disconnect between what I am seeing on the page and the image I already have created in my head from reading the series. The characters look correct enough to be recognizable but they just aren't right either. For instance, Peter, the MC. In my head he is this tall guy built kind of like a line backer but a little thinner. In the comic he is tall but built like a twig. The other big disconnect was with Stephanopoulos. In some ways the character we get in the comic is kind of matching my mental image but I didn't think she was that old. The comics almost make her look like that stereotypical scary schoolmarm.

-4 Stars
Oh the cliffhanger ending on this one was cruel. I have been loving this series so far and it's mystery of the week kind of feeling. It was revealed that these separate mysteries might actually be all connected and part of some grand scheme. Before you could get any real details though about this grand scheme the volume ends and I'm now stuck in that perpetual hell of waiting for the library to get the next volume/waiting for the volume to release. Cliffhangers like this are cruel and unusual.

-3 Stars
I have so many mixed feelings in regards to this series. It started out so strong and hooked me in fast but now it just kind of feels samey which might be blasphemous for some. It just seems like there is always some long lost relative just off page waiting to be involved in the story. Everyone seems to have this unbeatable super secret martial arts technique tucked up their sleeve. There also doesn't feel like there is much tension when the MC can make every ones head explode with a poke of his finger. It's not bad but I'm at the point where I want something else to happen.

-3 Stars
Another release that I feel like I have been waiting for forever to get from the library. This is a super sweet and innocent manga about two boys falling in love. I have nothing bad to say about it but it also never really moved me a lot either. I read it, thought it was cute, moved on. You can't go wrong reading this one I guess.

Now, what am I reading next? I have two and a half weeks off work so I'm kind of going with the flow. I have some 20 books out from the library and nothing but time for a while. I have started reading and we will see where things go from there.

If that is an American accent it's one that I've never heard before. To me it sounds like someone trying to sound American. It's just so odd compared to, what I perceive as, all the other great sounding accents.

Laundry is done, drivers license is renewed, now to get down to what this vacation is all about, the books.

I'm about 63% of the way into the book and I'm clicking with this one more. The pacing feels better, the humor seems more on point, overall it's just a more fun and engaging read. That being said there is one little thing about the audiobook that is bugging me. What the hell accent is Agent Reynolds supposed to have. When ever she speaks it just sounds wrong to my ear.

I plan to walk but I'm not sure how well that is going to go. I have a route that would be about what I normally walk to get to work. I know I should, I part of me wants to, but there is also a part of me that would be totally content to be nothing more than a slug for the next couple weeks.

4 hours or 240 minutes or 14,400 seconds left to go. I still have a couple of things to do but I'm waiting for stuff to get reworked to finish that stuff off. I just want to go home, put on my pajama pants, and then not worry about anything but books, food, and sleep for a couple of weeks. Well I have to do some responsible adult stuff tomorrow and then it's total slacker time. Stuff like laundry and getting my drivers license renewed.

*glances at clock yet again* Why aren't you moving?

Dukes

My final day of work before a beautiful 18 day long weekend. I would say that I am stoked right now but I still have to go to work. Talk to me again this afternoon. I have one rush order to do and then get my stuff ready to hand off to my coworker (I'm the keeper of records ((as in I have all the paperwork on my desk))).

I have a stack of nearly 20 books ready to go for my time off and those are my only plans currently.

Rat

Killah

(The rapper from the Wu-Tang Clan)

Alright, the weather man was giving me the worst case scenario. With the windchill it will be -29c/-20f this morning. There is little wind this morning and the only concerning thing is the 75% humidity out there. Everything has this layer of icy frost on it. As for walking to work, yes, yes I am. I've walked in similar temps a couple times so far this winter so I know I can do it. The lack of wind really helps make things easier though.

I've got 7 left but I'll admit that I forgot to look at this for a good long time.

Anyone want some cold weather? I'll give it away for free, no strings attached or anything. Tonight it's dropping to -45c/-49f with the windchill. I'm really, really, really hoping that this is one of those times where this is simply the weatherman putting out the worst case weather report and tomorrow morning will actually be warmer than what is forecast.