Cate TiernanBesprekingen

I have never read a maximum ride book so this is coming from an outsider.
1) I don’t know who this was written for. There were hundreds of swears in this book, usually multiple per sentence. Hawk was 15 but acted a lot older at times and a lot younger at times.
2) Max and Hawk were indistinguishable from each other. They both spoke the same (read: swearing), acted the same, and thought the same.
3) As I was reading, I was doing the math. Max had Hawk when she was 15/16?!?!

1 Star

Content: so much swearing, violence, death, torture, etc. (you get the idea)

Wow! Loved this book!

I really enjoyed this book. It was a fun quick read just when I needed something light. It is the story of a girl/woman and her imaginary friend, Michael. A little drop dead, a little time travelers wife-ish.

For the record I'm pretty sure I can't say Nastasya's name correctly. At all. Anyone who can tell me how wins a cookie.

So! Another new young adult paranormal-esque trilogy about a disaffected immortal being trying to figure out why the heck they're still around. And atoning for past mistakes. And possibly falling in true love. If you could see my bookshelves you'd see the shelves sagging with similar books--young adult and mainstream--all begging to be read and adored and loved. Some have prettier covers (I like Immortal Beloved's cover, but the title is just so big that it dominates and I didn't even notice the girl behind the title until much later), some are by authors I know and some have easier to say main character names. So what drew me to read Immortal Beloved?

Nastasya's sarcastic, condescending and often flat out rude commentary on everything. She has lived a long time and seems to have fallen in with a really callous and selfish lot in the last century or so, so its completely understandable of course. But cripes! I was cringing every time she opened her mouth, she didn't have a censor for her mouth at all. Well for most of the book. She does eventually learn to think before speaking, but it doesn't really put a damper on her speech.

Its kind of refreshing to read a character who doesn't just internalize everything. Whereas so many other characters seem to have lots of mean thoughts, but don't say it out loud (or are horrified if they do) Nastasya (called 'nasty' by her friends) just says it damn the consequences.

Beneath the rude veneer however is a complicated young (relatively speaking) woman who despite her years on Earth hasn't found something to ground herself. She 'falls' into her memories a lot, some random thing will happen in the present that will set off a memory of a previous experience and we see her through the ages. Her very young years with her family, the men she has married, children she has lost, wars she's lived through and decades she's partied through. There's a sense of desperation in her life story, urgency to find something to hold onto and not lose.

Innocencio, and to an extent the others in their group, sort of fill that gaping wound in her life. Innocencio was always with her, always by her side, picking her up when she fell and holding her hair when she felt sick. They had their tumbles and laughs, but they were never apart. But what did it mean? As Nastasya struggles to piece together her soul again, doubt creeps in and she begins to wonder at why Innocencio was always there.

The other Immortals, as well as the few mortals that Nastasya interacts with, are varied and interesting, but not much else. Oh I'm curious about River's backstory and I want to know what will happen at the drugstore Nastasya helps out at and the two girls she has befriended in town, but for me they were more distractions to the darker plot elements. Especially after Unsavory Plot Points are brought out into the light regarding Nastastya's past and her associates there of.

My only mild squick moment was the romance between Reyn and Nastasya. Big spoilers abound for this so I can't go too deeply into why it was squicky for me, but I can say while it makes sense given when they both were 'young', it in no way made me feel more comfortable with them now.

Not a big fan...the book does not deserve to have Tiffany's in the title. I was not impressed with Patterson's work.

Therese Plummer (Narrator)
Just not that good. Could have been so much more. felt rushed

Read by Therese Plummer
juvenile and wordy
will read the next in the series though.

Trigger warnings: Experimentation, imprisonment

Looks like it's going to be full of action.
Update: 6/10, this felt more like a middle-grade than a YA novel, due to the writing style, the only thing making this book YA was the violence and the language. Most of the book was just pointless action scenes, the plot was very simple for a book like this, it's just some winged people living their lives in the City of the Dead, then they find out where Max is, and then try to stop the cartoonishly evil government figure called McCallum, and that's it, however, his backstory could be explained in the other books in the series I haven't read yet. The plot only picked up around the last 100 pages, and the ending was so unsatisfying, they realised McCallum was actually a person called Major Panda, and there's some bigger organisation controlling him. Also, why are so many people in the City of the Dead addicted to dope? If you want a better sci-fi book, try the Hunger Games series since it has just as much action as this book.

I read this some time ago and remember enjoying it. But I don't love it enough to keep it.

“I miss you already.”


This light and lovely piece of fiction has more in common with Robert Nathan’s tender stories from the 1930s and 1940s than it does modern day romances. It is a charming but nearly undefinable romantic novel which is light and breezy, yet touches the heart. I’m usually not a big fan of Patterson, and have to wonder if co-author Gabrielle Charbonnet (Cate Tiernan) did more of the actual writing here, working from an outline and story provided by Patterson. At any rate, both receive credit for an old-style romantic fantasy marred only by one scene, which I’ll talk about later in the review.

Having seen the film starring Alyssa Milano a couple of years ago, I finally got around to reading this. I wish I’d opted to read it much sooner, because it is utterly charming. The basic premise is that those imaginary friends some children have are actually angels that only they can see. These angels exist to make it easier for a child to fit into the world, so they’ll feel less alone, and won’t be afraid. Michael is such an angel, and one of his assignments is little Jane Margaux, the lonely daughter of an overbearing and famous mother. Why Jane needs an angel during her youth is hinted at early on as her mother takes a bow onstage after a performance:

“I stood up too, and clapped the hardest, and I loved her so much I could hardly bear it. Someday she would love me back just as much, I was sure of it.”

There is something special about Michael’s connection to Jane, and hers to him. At the age of nine, when he has to move on, she is supposed to forget him, as all the others have. But she doesn’t. He continues his “work” for twenty-three years. He lives as normal humans do between “assignments” and everyone can see him. He boxes and enjoys life, but never forgets Jane. Though nowhere near as resonant, this is definitely Robert Nathan-land, at least in conception. There is nothing even remotely tawdry or inappropriate in tone, nor is there anything "creepy" about the story as some have suggested. This is rather an old-fashioned and innocent otherworldly fantasy, updated to modern times. It would have been quite at home in a more innocent, less uber-sensitive-to-everything era.

Years pass. Michael spots the grown up Jane (now in her early thirties) and is flabbergasted. In all the years — hundreds, thousands? — he’s been doing this, he’s never run into one of his former assignments as an adult. He observes that poor little Jane is still getting hurt; by her mother, Vivienne, and by a loser boyfriend named Hugh. Because we get moments from both Jane’s and Michael’s viewpoint, we know that unlike all the others, Jane never forgot Michael. Once they meet again, it is new territory for Michael, who realizes there must be a reason she didn’t forget him, and that reason could be heartbreaking.

Sweet and hopeful, and with a very special ending that fills the heart, this is almost a throwback story from another era. But there is a caveat. Either Patterson had some formula he wanted his co-author to adhere to, or one or both of these writers didn’t trust that modern readers would accept a romantic fantasy without a fully described sex scene.

I’m perfectly fine with sexual intimacy in "some" books, "some" series, especially if it’s beautifully realized, sensual or sexy. I myself write a series where sensuality is a major component to the visualized dystopian world I've created, but it happens to fit that story, that world. I understand, as an author, that even if you write a series that has no sex, graphically described or otherwise, but has interaction between the sexes, that someone will take exception in the current male-unfriendly climate. Don't misunderstand me, I'm not doing that at all.

It's unfair to criticize any book for being true to its genre, but I'm doing the exact opposite here; I'm criticizing the scene because it was very untrue to its genre. It's obvious that a lot of readers had not read the type of story from the 30s and 40s that Sunday at Tiffany's aspires to be. But I had, and that's why in this particular instance, the sex scene, which is relatively mild, but graphically described, is contrary to the old-fashioned romantic fantasy genre to which Sunday at Tiffany's is paying homage. If the author(s) had not done such a nice job up to that point in the story, it would be okay, but because they had, the sex scene inserted here just did not belong, not in the type of story they'd created. It didn't fit with the narrative which had preceded it at all. It felt so out of place for anyone familiar with this older style of story that it was jarring, taking the reader out of the older romantic fantasy and pulling them back into the modern world from which the story had been an escape.

Having become immersed into the grove and older style of the story, when I suddenly came upon the scene, it took me completely by surprise. It felt like something dropped in by parachute from a different book — or perhaps from a James Patterson formula? It was totally unexpected, like a slap in the face with a wet towel. Not because it was tawdry, or badly written, or unduly explicit; but because it was there, in THIS type of story.

These authors (or perhaps just Patterson, who most likely didn’t have time to write it by himself) wanted to tell an old-fashioned, Robert Nathan-like story, but I had to wonder if either of these authors had ever actually read one of Nathan’s books. To give readers an idea of how awkward that scene felt within this sweet and magical narrative, imagine Robert Nathan's Portrait of Jennie with an explicit sex scene between Eben and Jennie. Yeah, it was like that. Either fortunately, or maddeningly — I’ve still yet to decide — it was only a blip on the radar, and the ending was so lovely and heartwarming it almost made up for it. Almost.

This is still a wonderful read, and I highly recommend it. However, “formula” over appreciation for a style, a certain type of story and its mood, and its boundaries, force me to give Sunday at Tiffany’s four stars rather than the five I wanted to give it. Charming and wonderful overall, but it just missed being timeless because it was afraid to remain true to its origins, and the type of story to which it was paying homage.

Well, if you were wanting a series with lots of action, you came to the wrong place. There were no epic battles between good and evil, no suspense or twists and turns. That being said, this was a really good series. It did a much better job than some other books with the witchcraft and explaining how things work. I gave all four books three stars. It wasn't the most exciting or engaging book I've ever read but it was interesting and kept my attention. The story moved along at a nice pace throughout the entire series. Pretty much everything got tied up at the end, no loose ends (well, maybe one or two...)

All in all, a good series if you like teenage witch centered stories.

Again, if I had seen this cover, I would never have even considered reading this book. I am reading the version that has all four books in one.

Just like the first book, not much actual action is happening although the story moves along at a swift pace. Since there are so many characters, I sometimes get confused or have to think about who is doing the talking or being talked about. I do love that the chapters are all relatively short so it makes it feel like I'm getting somewhere. There's not really any character growth but we do get to see a little bit of development with some of them, a little more background.

All in all, this was a good read if you like witches or supernatural stories. It seems a little more accurate on the lore and traditions than the last witch series I read.

First off, I want to say that I'm actually reading the version that has all four books in one. And really, if I had seen this cover in the store I would never have even thought about picking it up.

Not a whole lot is happening in this first book. Heck, Thais and Clio don't even meet until page 100. However, the chapters are short and the story moves along nicely. It does a good job of showing us who the girls are and building the background foundation for later. But omg there are so many freaking characters! I had to write down who people were as a reference. I had a feeling there was something wonky about these love interests that the girls both fell madly head over heels for though.

All in all, a good start to the series. There's not a lot of character growth at this point, but it's early so I'm hopeful. If you enjoy YA books with a witchy or supernatural bent to them, you'll like this.

I enjoyed this one a little less than the first two, but it was still good. There's a lot going on, secrets revealed and whatnot but still not a lot of actual action. The story progresses nicely as it did in the previous books and I'm looking forward to getting to the finale. There's not really any character growth or development, they are who they are.

All in all, good addition to the series. Definitely read if you've read the first two books.

3.5 Stars

The Sweep Series has taken a turn for me and I’m not sure if I’ll continue on with it at this point. There was way too much repeated backstory in the beginning, which wasted a lot of time for such a short book. The writing has gotten lazier; using a mind-meld to allow characters to instantly trust each other is too easy and I dislike the use of it as a plot-shortcut. Additionally, the characters bordered on annoying in Dark Magick and much of the plot was predictable.

The Sweep Series did accomplish what I needed at the time - an easy escape for a few hours - but I’m ready to move on to other things.

I enjoyed Blood Witch even more than the previous two books in the Sweep series. Most of the characters and the storyline are developing nicely. I especially like that these books can be started and finished within a few hours. They’ve been a comfortable and easy distraction.

The Coven is an excellent continuation of the Sweep series. I like that “real” issues come into play and that the characters react the way that I would expect real people (especially real teenagers) to react. This series is exactly what it should be (i.e., do not expect stellar writing or storylines here); it’s fast-paced, and a quick and easy read.

Book of Shadows is an entertaining YA Fantasy about a teen girl who is beginning to discover that she is a witch. I like that this novel is less angst-y and dramatic than so many other YA Fantasy books that I’ve read. The characters seem well-grounded and I especially like that Morgan comes from a kind and loving family.

I intend to read more of the series, though at this point I don’t envision this as a book that I would return to. Still, this was an enjoyable, escapist read.

This was a really cute book. Cute romance, interesting story. I like it, but a lot references to famous actors, movies and shows, as well as New York City spots and streets. Some I was familiar with, some not, but it didn't diminish the enjoyment of the book.

To me, this was more of a children's book, but it's not suitable for children. For one thing, what child has a grown man for an imaginary friend? None, that's who. So, was "love conquers all" the moral of the story? Was Michael an angel? I have no idea!

One of the darkest things I've ever read but so good

This book, which was unfortunately put out by one of my favourite publishers, is complete crap. It reads like a children's book and has no depth or originality. How did the author get the entire series published?

I really enjoyed this book. It was a fun quick read just when I needed something light. It is the story of a girl/woman and her imaginary friend, Michael. A little drop dead, a little time travelers wife-ish.

Lovely book. Great characters and plot.