I still enjoyed this series. I liked the writing, the sense of humor and the goofy solutions these characters find for their problems, and the setting. When this duology was good, it was really good. It's a tragedy to me that it floundered so much at the end when it has a lot of potential. If the author ever decides to revisit this universe, I'll be there eagerly waiting.

When I read a book that I love, I often find it difficult to write a review. How am I supposed to put into words the way this book made me feel? What could I possibly say to properly express the most brilliant parts of it? I can't, really, which is why I rarely write reviews for my 5 Star books. I wanted to try with Beartown, because I think it's an amazing work of art.

I really wanted to like this book a lot more than I did. After all, I like crafting, and I tend to enjoy critical looks at Christianity. While it wasn't the worst book ever, but I stopped enjoying the experience of reading it at, like, 30%. Unfortunately the book just didn't manage to live up to anything it promised.

Overall, this was a very unique book that was told in the perfect way. It was a clever way to explore the scarier side of technology, as well as being a hilarious way to tell a story.

This was a fun book to read. I always enjoy seeing how people reimagine Shakespeare, especially when it's being done in a more inclusive way. As with every anthology, there were some hits and some misses, and some of them did feel quite young (not a critique, just an observation), but overall it was a good reading experience.

Welcome to the 2025 Book Awards! I'm your host, Kendall, and I'll be bringing you through all of my favorite books and story elements of the year.

When I finished this book, despite having just finished a story attempting to be very moving and emotional, I just felt confused. While this is a creative concept, the execution falls flat and fails to deliver on all of its promises.

This is just an horrendously bad story in every way. It's highly homophobic, it's a disrespectful adaptation, and it's just not a very compelling story. I'm upset that I didn't research this book enough before listening to it, and I'm embarrassed on Orson Scott Card's behalf that it exists.

These books are remarkably Fine to me. They're quick books to read but lack any genuine substance. It skirts around any sort of depth by playing every character and situation off as a gimmick.

I'm very conflicted about this book. I really shouldn't have enjoyed it as much as I did. There were some messier moments, but overall I thought it was a very competent retelling.

As much as I like having one song based on Hamlet, that's not enough for me. I want a million songs based on Hamlet. I want 12, at least. So, what if "The Fate of Ophelia" wasn't the only song about my favorite play? What if all of them were?

Overall, though, I did like the book. The writing in particular really stood out to me. I liked how atmospheric it was; the style did a good job to encompass the tone and messages that the author was trying to portray. It wasn't a perfect book, and I thought it took a moment to find its groove, but I enjoyed reading it.

No matter how you pitch it, mystery/thriller books that expose the dark side of social media are never that revolutionary, and "Everyone is Lying to You" is no exception. While I was interested by the idea of looking at trad wives specifically, the author did not deliver on this idea. This ended up being an underwhelming, inexperienced, and apolitical perspective exploration.

This book was weird. If I hadn't won it in a Giveaway, I probably wouldn't have finished it. The writing wasn't anything impressive, the topic was strange, and the mystery was underwhelming.

The description of this book makes it seem like it's going to be a mystery, and it's not. It's a good story, but if you're looking for a mystery and want to watch them investigate to solve whose skeleton was found, you're going to be disappointed. Honestly, I spent the first bit a little disoriented about this. Once I found my actual footing, though, I did enjoy the story for what it was. I just think it could've used some refining around the start.

Despite it's few faults, I really did love reading this book. You also don't get a lot of people exploring what life in Helsingør looked like before the events of the play, and I thought this author did a really great job building out the origins of the characters and their conflicts. It was a good balance of being true to Shakespeare's version of the characters while also feeling original to this author. Ultimately, this is a great example of how to make the story of Hamlet

I kind of don't know how to feel about this book. I didn't hate it, but I didn't love it either. At the same time, though, I am interested in reading the other book by this author, Strange Houses. Ultimately it was just fine, and probably way overhyped.

I was looking for a book that was just a fun mystery, and this certainly qualified. The atmosphere was really well done, and the thriller aspect was really strong. And while I did have fun reading it, I don't think the execution was particularly spectacular.

I won this book in a Goodreads Giveaway, and it took me a long time to read it because it just wasn't grabbing my attention. In a lot of ways the book was just fine, but the execution was really lacking.

Listen. This is not a kind review. I read the first book and hated it. I would've been incredibly happy to leave it in the past, but the description was about Hamlet. I had to read it, even if I knew that I'd hate it. I did hate it, and it really wasn't similar enough to Hamlet for me to be even a little gracious.