Review: As Good As Dead (A Good Girls’ Guide to Murder #3) by Holly Jackson

Say hello to the worst book I have read this year—-and frankly, the last decade. I have had books that I did not finish and books that just left me feeling lukewarm or even disappointed but none have left me feeling absolute shock and frustration. The second book in the series had me feeling a little bland about Pip as a main character so when this one came out, I wasn’t really chomping at the bit to read it but a friend of mine read it and basically said it was awful but she wanted to discuss with someone—-so here we are, thank you peer pressure.

As you move into reading my review of this one, know that I normally don’t post spoilers but frankly there is no way around that for this review. If you haven’t read the other books or you are planning on reading this one you might want to skip my review all together as there WILL be spoilers. So consider yourself warned.

Normally, if I am not feeling a book, I usually set it down and shelf it as DNF, but in this case there was just so much wrong with this book that I felt obligated to read until the end with the hope that it would improve but sadly it did not. I also try to refrain from fully ripping a book as I try to be respectful of authors and their creative license, and that still remains true in this case, there are good points but they did not balance out enough for me to even remotely enjoy this final installment.

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Special Feature: A Song of Flight (Warrior Bards #3) by Juliet Marillier

I read the first book in this series but then as sometimes happens, other book series prevented me from getting back to this one and now here we are with the third book coming out this fall! Marillier is a fine folklore storyteller and I really enjoyed the first book in this promising series and I have no doubt it has continued with her trademark lyrical prose.

As this is the last book in the trilogy, it no doubt has a lot to wrap up. Marillier writes with such lovely gentle story telling and I love how rich her world feels without feeling overly long. As this book is more geared toward the YA audience, I think this ability to tell a wonderful story without it getting overly long will really be an asset here.

This book will no doubt read like a fairytale with some more classic folklore thrown in. In that regard the book and series will feel different than some of the other traditional YA novels out there. Marillier is a tried and proved author with a number of best sellers under her belt, and that shows in this series. Her ability to create relatable characters with a strong fantasy element will win readers over. If you love fantasy but want something that feels more authentically fantasy rather than some of than other more commercial ‘fantasy’ YA series out there, then this is a great option for you!

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Review: Good Girl, Bad Blood (A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder #2) by Holly Jackson

One of my book club’s very first books was A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder last spring and we absolutely loved it and couldn’t put it down! So needles to say this book was our pick for March. While we all range in age from late forties to early thirties, the first YA mystery novel in this series kept us all inthralled!

We all had high expectations for this one too. I will say though, we do have people in the book club who haven’t read the first book so we were a little nervous picking this one. But most of the early reviews that I read noted that this was a separate mystery and having not read the first book wouldn’t ruin it for new readers. I beg to differ on that front.

While it might not be necessary to read the first book to enjoy this one, there were spoilers to the first book and the trial of Max is a carry over from the first book so I would say if you haven’t read the first book, do that before reading this one! For me, this book wasn’t as good as the first one, it was still a good mystery read and here’s why…..

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Review: Spellmaker (Spellbreaker Duology #2) by Charlie N. Holmberg

I haven’t had very good luck with duologies. I typically find them to feel unfinished. There is something about the trilogy of three books that rounds out a story in a way that two books just doesn’t. So often I tend to pass on them, but then I was pitched Charlie N Holmberg’s Spellbreaker duology.

The covers for Holmberg’s books are whimsical and really stand out to me. They are easy to identify and the suggest something historical mixed with fantasy and I couldn’t pass on the first book. It just sounded so good and I did enjoy it so reading the second book in the duology was a no brainer for me! These books are quick reads and I really enjoyed diving back into Holmberg’s rich world!

I still feel the a trilogy would have worked better in this particular series but as duologies go, this one wasn’t bad at all. I enjoyed many aspects of this one and am excited to read more books by Holmberg!

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Review: Spellbreaker (Spellbreaker Duology #1) by Charlie N Holmberg

I normally stay clear of duologies. For some reason they just feel unfinished and odd to me and historically I just haven’t enjoyed them as much as I have trilogies.

But how could I pass on this cover? There was no way I was going to pass on this one because that cover it too stunning to not pick it up and read it! Plus I know that this author has written another successful series (The Paper Magician) that I have had my eye on for so so so long.

I thought the book sounded like a quick easy read with a lot to recommend itself. I mean, how can I pass on magic during the month of October!? No way. The world sounded too rich and too interesting to pass on!

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