The Chilbury Ladies' Choir

The Chilbury Ladies' Choir was recommended by a friend. Neither the cover nor the short description from my friend really made me want to try it but I figured I would go for it.

One thing interesting about The Chilbury Ladies' Choir is that the story was told entirely from writings, letters between family and friends, journals, telegrams, and newspapers. This did make it hard for me to connect with some of the characters. Plus I had a really hard time believing some of the letters, it just felt too much like someone was writing a formal story in the letters.

I did enjoy all the ladies and the different ways they saw life. Each one was unique in their own way so I did not feel like I was reading a story about a town full of the same person. A couple of the characters drove me crazy like Kitty. She was suppose to be thirteen but she acted far younger in my opinion more like she was eight or nine. I like the drama that went on between some of the women and how one of the meeker women of the town evolved into a force to be reckoned with.

While I would never seek out another story along these lines I would not say no to it.

Hunted

Hunted is the sixth book in the Iron Druid Chronicles. Sometimes I wonder why I am continuing with the series since I dislike Granuaile so much but then awesome things happen leaving me wondering what will happen next. I have mixed feelings on Hunted, it did provide some awesome new lore and gave a few fun chapters with just Atticus. The drawback Granuaile started to have chapters from her point of view. It still has not warmed me up to liking her any.

One of my favorite parts of the series is Atticus and Oberon's dialogue. It is  full of humor and many references to movies and Shakespeare which is just great. I never get tired of their scenes. Some of the writing was a bit lacking for moving the story forward. Since the group is being hunted across Europe things felt boring at times just them running and more running. I tended to skim this part of the story until the more important scenes appeared.

Despite dislike Granuaile I will continue with the series since Hunted ended on such a wonderful cliffhanger. 

Trapped

Trapped is the fifth book in the Iron Druid Chronicles and I finally figured out why I am not enjoying the series as much as I did Hounded. Granuaile drives me crazy, I am not fond of the chemistry between Granualie and Atticus at all. 

Atticus has finally trained Granualie and is ready to bond her as a new druid. Anxious to get on with the ceremony he is eagerly searching the perfect place. However all that changes when he finds out he can no longer shift to Europe except for the area around Mt. Olympus which is a problem since the Gods of Olympus are not overly fond of Atticus. 

It did not really feel like twelve years passed since Tricked. I did not see much change or growth with Atticus and Granualie, they just seem to be more tense with each other over the standing of their relationship. Despite disliking Granualie I do plan on continuing with the series. 

Tricked

Tricked is the fourth book in the Iron Druid Chronicles. I had really hoped it would pull me back into the series since Coyote is a fun character. Sadly I am not enjoying the story as much as I did in Hunted.

Atticus has debt to pay and Coyote intends to collect. Being a trickster Atticus should have been on guard for Coyote going for more then he was owed. Atticus is still mostly the same and continues to play the hero and while he does not always play the hero well he gets the job done. Just wanting to be left alone Atticus does his best to avoid overpaying on his debt, staying out of vampire affairs, and just focusing on training his apprentice. 

While I am not as interested in the story I do plan on continuing. I already have Trapped downloaded and ready for the weekend. 

The Invisible Life of Ivan Isaenko

The Invisible Life of Ivan Isaenko was not what I expected at all. The story is written completely by Ivan and it is clear he had no problem sharing the high and low points of his childhood at Mazyr Hospital for Gravely Ill Children.

Born with no legs, no right arm, a thumb and two fingers on his right hand along with facial muscles that do not work correctly Ivan is used to being shunned. However the other residents do not seem to mind his appearance since most of them are trapped in their minds. All that changes for Ivan when a teenage girl named Polina arrives hoping the hospital will treat her leukemia. A strange and fascinating friendships starts to develop between the two teens as they explore what it means to live and ultimately die. 

The whole story pulled at my heart strings. I felt the pain that was clearly throughout the halls of the hospital and the pain everyone went through including the nurses. The translation from Russian to English did not bother me at all, it was wonderfully translated and the occasional Russian word or phrase thrown in did not deter from the story at all. 

Hammered

Hammered it the third book in the Iron Druid Chronicles and I really wanted to love it. Finally the story of why so many people want to kill Thor but it was a huge let down.

Atticus is forced to pay on a debt for help he received from his friend Lief. Not eager to go to the Norse plane where Thor dwells Atticus agrees to take Lief and five others who have a serious grievance with Thor. Once again risking his life Atticus does all he can to keep his loved ones safe while keeping his own skin intact.

I am not really sure why I did not enjoy Hammered. The battle with Thor was a huge let down as was some of the reasons people wanted to do him in. I guess I expected a more intricately told story however the set up for Tricked was amazing and I am eager to start on it.

The Stars are Fire

The Stars are Fire is another recommendation and I must say while I could not stop reading everything about The Stars are Fire was extraordinarily ordinary.

Grace is an average seeming character, nothing about her really stands out. Unhappy in her marriage she grins and bears it while doing her best to care for her two young children and her husband. Life is mediocre and boring until the weather changes bringing a fire right for the little house Grace and her family lives in. Determined to save her children Grace hurries them to the ocean and lets the waves protect them all as the wall of flames destroys everything she knows.

I kept waiting for the story to pick up. While it was not bad it was not exciting or thrilling in any way. The biggest thing that kept me reading was what happened to Grace's husband. The last thirty or so pages of The Stars are Fire was the best part of the whole story. Most likely just not my style of book but once I start a book with a mystery I have to know how it ends.