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First things first: Mystery isn't my preferred genre. That being said, I do like a little mystery in what I read, so it's not a totally new genre for me.

Oh, and note, 3 starts on Goodreads still means I liked it... so, yeah...

The opening chapters were AMAZING! I was totally drawn into those battlefield scenes... I do kind of wish the rest of the book had been like that.

As for the mystery... well... When it finally played out, if felt a bit like an episode of "Castle"... you know, when they finally pick the bad guy and then they give the audience a run down of how it all worked. The main difference is that in "Castle" (or similar shows), the good guys don't know the answers till the end, either... The run down they give is what they've just worked out, too... I felt that in this case, Shaw had kept some of his conclusions from me, and I'm not a fan of that.

Of course, I kept trying to figure out the truth as I read... I certainly had my ideas. They didn't play out. (My ideas were probably too cliched, anyway)

I think this one is a debut novel, though? Shows huge promise. As I said, those opening chapters... wow. They were really good. I'll be interested to see what kind of stories Mr. Chamberlain has gone on to write since.

Started off promising. I liked R. Never really got attached to Julie. I felt like Julie was her problems... I didn't get a good sense of character past the fact that she is a totured soul kinda thing...
I guess the stakes were high... I mean, it was a matter of R and the other zombies getting their lives back. Except that R getting his back was kind of inevitable as soon as he met Julie. Yes, I think that's it... it was a "this is a big deal because we're saving the WORLD!" kind of plot, whereas I want to be worried for the MC's. I wasn't. Very rarely did I feel I had anything to worry about with them. They didn't get involved in the fighting. Lives, loves and general well-being never really felt like they were on the brink of being lost. Sometimes we were told there was a risk of something bad happening. But it didn't and people just carried on.
The general feel I get from the story is that it's a commentary on where we could end up (figuratively). It's saying that our world is sick and we need to fix it. A noble thought I don't doubt.
I laughed out loud when Julie was on the balconey proclaiming that "zombie" is just a name we apply to something we don't understand... LOL. How much more "Romeo and Juliet" could you get? Mind you... the zombie is "R" and the girl is "Julie" and the whole tale was very Romeo and Juliet, without the tragic lesson at the end.
I'm still looking forward to the movie. I think the movie will be good, because I suspect we're going to be taken deeper into the action and caring will be easier.
On the whole: enjoyable enough. Light reading. But I'll keep looking for my next favourite.

Enjoyable enough, although I kept getting the feeling that there should have been a flashing neon light now and then flashing "MESSAGE"... But, hey... fiction.

Basically, the first half is kinda cute as the relationship develops. Then it's all: "This horrible thing happened and this is a good way to deal with it" x lots.

Gosh... um... but I did like it. I did. I didn't like Sky much to start with - she's pretty blunt, and I'm not - but she grew on me. But Holder was cute in the "sexy book boyfriend" way that is so popular these days.

I wonder if this tendency for stalkerish book boyfriends says something about girls wanting guys to actually take an interest in them as people, rather than playing their computer games and fixing their cars and only coming in when they want someone to cook them some eggs or warm them at night... In real life, all this interest in the girl might be freaky, but I suspect it's a cry for, not so much help but, something more...

Oh. And the title is on the cover several times... I didn't need it drummed into me quite so obviously within the book. But, hey, that's just me.

Let's say that's a 3.5 stars...

It was an interesting read for me. I admit, I read books very differently since I took up writing myself, so it can make it harder to review.
This one was particularly interesting because it is Epic Fantasy, and yet manages to be character-driven. There is a "bigger picture" going on, but there were points in there when I really started to root for the characters.
That being said, there were other times when I was thrown out of the characters and knew I was reading a book. And Kiana cries a lot. I'm not big on crying in books. It's just not my thing. So, it took me awhile to settle into the book, because right from the get-go, Kiana's world is turned upside down and she is crying. Understandable, yes. But, if I'd just met her, I would have been politely hugging her and patting her back and looking around for someone who actually knew her to palm her off to... Call me insensitive... Go on.
I suppose I would have liked a few pages to get to know her first.
That being said, about 10-15% in I was away. I was starting to care about Kiana and Skaric in particular and things were good. There was action, drama, and developing emotions.
However, somewhere in there I got a little lost. I think I didn't quite understand all the magic that was happening, and I didn't quite understand some of the character reactions to things (like the emerging truths about their gods). This may come down to my background versus the characters' backgrounds. They feel things that I wouldn't, and so it felt a little melodramatic at times... to me... not to say it will to everyone.
I didn't like much of the text in italics.
I liked the fire magic and its consequences. I almost felt like that could have been explored more deeply, and pretty much driven a novel of its own. Really cool concept.
Anyway, I do look forward to reading more from Clare.

So, there's this chick, and she has this ghostly-lookin' hand... weird, huh? Yeah, well, that's just the start of it...

This story is really nicely paced to keep you guessing what might be going to happen next. I'm not going to say it was full of surprising twists and turns, because most of them I guessed earlier--not because I'm magic, but because the clues were all there, in a good way. The breadcrumbs were dropped drawing me in, wanting to see if I was "right"... And this book taught me how to make an important non-POV character rootable... uh... not in that way... well, kinda, but, I mean the kind of character you root for. Ya know. Well, this book, and "Hart of Dixie" and [b:Beautiful Lies|171109|Beautiful Lies |Lisa Unger|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1320525593s/171109.jpg|1024495] (which, while it had some pretty big issues, was actually a good read... basically because the main male character was hawt)... Perhaps it is just a theme I've been pondering lately, and all these things happened to coalesce in my brain at the same time... any way, can someone say tangent?

What I'm trying to say is that I cared about what happened to the characters, I care about what will happen to them in the future, and I enjoyed this journey.

Great last line, by the way (do NOT spoil it for yourself by jumping ahead, though, people).

Oh, and this is the first time my name has appeared in a book... yeah... I totally made the acknowledgements. buffs fingernails over shirt... yeah...

If you like YA, I suspect you'll like this one. Like a bit of Spiderman? Batman? I could see this appealing, too... There aren't many people I wouldn't say "Give it a go" to.

Enjoyable for those who like this kind of thing...

... and I do.

This is the first book by Abercrombie that I was recommended to read. It was out at our library, hence why I read "The Heroes" first.

As with The Heroes, and the rest of Abercrombie's tales, the characters are a mix of good and bad traits. Some are trying to be better, some don't care, some think they're the bee's knees, so why go changing?

I found myself rooting for Shivers. He's got a plan to be a better man. He doesn't know how he's going to achieve it, but the desire is there... and this was the trait I could cling to.

Oh, and Abercrombie is brutal to his characters! But, that's when you feel. And I felt.

I sympathised with Monsa's need for revenge at all costs, too... even though I doubt I'd ever go so far! But there you go.

The delightful Cosca turns up... Can't be upset at that.

So, if you're looking for a heart-warming, feel-good tale, then... no, this probably isn't for you (depending on your definition of feel-good, I guess!). But if you want to dig deep into the human condition... well, you can't step too far wrong here...