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You know, I want to like Lucy. But she still seems to be written like an adult baby. This characterization made sense in the earlier books because she was an overly precocious preteen who had abandonment issues. Now that she's a real adult (twenty-one, how old is Kay now? Does she even age with the rest of them?), it's not a cute look. Hopefully with her plotline resolution at this end of this book
(show spoiler)we will see a greater level of adult behavior from her.
Also, does Kay think she is now Queen Elizabeth at Tilbury?
"... I was a woman who was not a woman. I was the body and sensibilities of a woman with the power and drive of a man."
I am bothered by this mentality. Kay identifies as a woman, so she has the drive of a woman. I will concede that she may have the "power of a man", if only because how the patriarchy forms our views of her career (lawyer, doctor, chief).
Wait, what? The main character's major love interest just ... dies off camera in between book three and four? Who thought that was a good idea?
Not particularly a fan of the booklikes' search functions. I suppose it will take some getting used to. I was spoiled by the breadth of Goodreads archives (thanks, Librarians!)
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I absolutely adore Jon Klassen's work. This Is Not My Hat has a lovely, yet subtle, dark humor to it that keeps it fresh and interesting for the adults (who I'm sure have to read it dozens upon dozens of times for their children), but it's still simple enough for the intended audience to enjoy.
Stealing is wrong, kids. Because someone might kill you for it.
Giant telepathic companion cats! Think of this pretty kitty, but the size of a Labrador:
If nothing else kept my attention in this novel, those would. Thankfully, the world and supporting cast kept me awake and interested. I will admit that my eyes started to glaze over nearly any time they mentioned quantum mechanics or the concept of time as a non-linear function. My brain is not good enough to wrap itself around those concepts. Thankfully there were enough fantasy elements to keep my slow little mind happy.
Enjoyable storyline, but the casual sexism that the main character's love interest employs (and the MC's stereotypical reactions) annoyed me. Example: the MC has angered a local motorcycle gang through a series of misunderstandings. She is driving home and sees a dozen of them idling on her street and in her driveway. She is understandably afraid, immediately turns around and flees before they see her. She calls her business partner (also love interest/ex-cop) and this is their conversation:
She unwrapped a 3 Musketeers bar and took a bite.
“Let me guess, you panicked and headed for the nearest chocolate bar.”
She could hear the laughter in his voice.
“It’s probably the kind of logic only a terrified woman understands,” Sadie said around a second bite of chocolate.
That is just grating.
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This is an interesting combination of two fields - a little forensics and a connection with grieving families. Generally speaking, those who deal in the sciences are not portrayed as very sensitive to social graces.
I should continue reading this just to finish off the series, but I have really lost a lot of interest. Plus, blech, John Shroud. His character grosses me out in a very visceral way (behavior-wise, not based on physical description). It irritates me that it seems like he's Jani's endgame (hah!) partner.
I went into this memoir thinking it would be a modern day version of Jennifer Worth's The Midwife. I was sorely mistaken. There are barely any stories of midwifery, especially since the author's practice had discontinued OB services prior to the writing of the book.The Blue Cotton Gown was about Patricia Harman and her husband's inability to manage their own finances time and time again.
Sometimes you cannot separate an author from his works, especially if the author is as unapologetically sexist as Gilmour. I read the transcript of his interview that was "taken out of context"; he is straight up back-pedaling.
Some of these quips seem like they might be too far "out there" to be real for many. However, I have worked retail for nearly ten years and let me tell you: people like this exist. People are really that stupid and I have met them.That being said, it's funny to read about when it's not happening to me.
Zero Break
Most boring in the Mahu series. Too much internalizing thoughts about babies and not enough tension in the crime solving. Meh.
I really love Diane Fallon as a character. She keeps a calm head under pressure, even when her life and the life of her friends are threatened. Diane has her vulnerabilities, but she does not let them define her.What keeps this from a higher rating for me is how the "bad guy" comes into the story; he is barely a whisper in the mind of any of the main characters because his existence (even as a police officer, not perp) was revealed so late in the novel. The tension of the climactic caving scenes existed because of the environment, not because we had a good grasp on who he was as a person.
As with the Alex Delaware series, I enjoyed this book more for the supporting cast (Waylon and Big Jim) than I did for the main character, Bill (whose name I forgot and had to look up right now). Bill has some skeevy internal thoughts about women and his "accidentally passionate" kiss with his undergraduate student (who is younger than his own son) was just gross and unnecessary. I didn't like being inside his head.His grieving process, if you can call it that, did not resonate with me in the least bit. I did enjoy the sciencey bits, though. If I continue on with this series, it's because of the bones.