Review: The Eighth Guardian

The Eighth Guardian by Meredith McCardle
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Loved this! Fantastic start to a new series for me. Doing a happy dance. Spies? Check. Time travel? Check. Stubborn, flawed heroine? Check. Good stuff.

Amanda, code name Iris, goes to a kick-ass spy training school. Color me jealous, because I SO want to go there. She's recruited early to a top secret branch of the government. And get this: they time travel. Remember the short-lived show from the 80s, Voyagers? I feel like the author and I are the only two people who watched it, because it is like Phineas Bogg and Jeffrey were the grandfathers of this program.

Did I mention that I loved it? Because I did. Subtracted a star because Abe annoyed me and I'm not sure how the next book will continue on without hitting the reset button somehow. But hey, it's time travel so anything is possible.

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Fallen (Fallen #1)

Fallen by Lauren Kate

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


Well, I find myself a bit underwhelmed by the kick off to this series. Color me disappointed.

It's not necessarily the characters. I liked Luce, I liked Daniel, and I loved Penn. It wasn't the setting. The boarding school was interesting and colorful. And I didn't hate the writing style. I can't put my finger on what was lacking, but I find myself torn about continuing to book 2. Maybe it was the whole over-the-topness of the good vs.evil, maybe it was because I wanted more backstory. Anyway, lukewarm for me at best. 2 1/2 stars for the gorgeous cover.



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The Lake of Dead Languages

The Lake of Dead Languages by Carol Goodman

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I liked it. It's a re-read for me, and I didn't love it like I remembered from the first time. It was, to be fair, many years ago when I read it and my life is very different now. It's an interesting book. Part mystery, part romance, all dramatic and overly complicated with a gothic feel. It made me want to learn Latin.

What I did like: weaving the past and the present together. The Latin. The boarding school setting. What I didn't like: the overly obtuse main character. Really? You can't figure out what is going on? I need my heroines to be smarter than she was throughout the book. And then when you do it gets spelled out to us, the readers, like we are small children. Also, the villain sucked and the explanation was lame. But overall, I still liked it, just not in 4 or 5 star territory this time around.



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Cat Among the Pigeons (Hercule Poirot #32)

Cat Among the Pigeons by Agatha Christie

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Another good Poirot mystery. Another one that I had not read towards the end of the series.

Set in a prestigious private school in England, Poirot is summoned by a student to solve the crimes. Murder is afoot. Not just one murder, but two. Who will be next? Well, besides our good friend Hercule Poirot, no one is safe. But not to worry, because he always gets his man. Or woman, as the case may be.





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Looking for Alaska

Looking for Alaska by John Green

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I'm not going to lie, I didn't fall in love with this book. But it saved itself by the end.

What I did like: Chip, for the most part. His character stayed true throughout. The religion class, and the religion teacher. The ending, and the ending final paper. The character growth.

What I didn't like: Alaska. Trying too hard, she never rang true to me. I almost broke something with the ferocity of my eye-rolling. Miles at the beginning, although he grew on my by the end. The potential to really explore the issues presented, but the book skated where it could have gone deeper. But hey, it was his first book, so I gave it the extra star.

And based on this book, my kids will never attend boarding school. Seriously.



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LIV, Forever

Liv, Forever by Amy Talkington

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


Insta-love and paranormal all rolled into a ball at boarding school. I nearly broke something with the strength of my eye rolling, but it was ok overall. The main character is annoying and unrealistic--a Mary Sue of an artist who got into a prestigious boarding school based on her extreme talent in--get this, COLLAGES. Really? She has bad grades but they want the collage maker to come as a scholarship student? Ok, sure. I'll overlook it, but I'm subtracting a star. Spoiler alert: she doesn't get less annoying in death. The two male main characters are stereotypical, but I liked them both by the end.

Ok but definitely not great. Overall 2 stars of "meh".



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