Tag: 3 Star Reviews

All 3 Stars Reviews In One Place

“The Haunting of Hill House” By Shirley Jackson Review

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It is the story of four seekers who arrive at a notoriously unfriendly pile called Hill House: Dr. Montague, an occult scholar looking for solid evidence of a “haunting”; Theodora, the lighthearted assistant; Eleanor, a friendless, fragile young woman well acquainted with poltergeists; and Luke, the future heir of Hill House. At first, their stay seems destined to be merely a spooky encounter with inexplicable phenomena. But Hill House is gathering its powers—and soon it will choose one of them to make its own.

I had a lot of exceptions for this book, because I’ve heard a lot of good about this book but also as someone who watched and loved the Netflix show “The Haunting Of Hill House” of course I was expectations to love this book which didn’t quite happen.

The plot here is for sure unique, but it wasn’t as great as a lot of people on the interest claim it to be. Its important to say that the terror in this book focuses on the psychological horror than what we see in movies like paranormal activity.

I personally felt like nothing happened in this book which would make me love or hate this book, and because of it I am very neutral about this book. Im glad that I finally read it but I probably wont recommend this book to anyone.

As for the horror in this book, it is almost none existing. Yes some things which happened in this book were creepy and I personally would scream bloody murder if they happened to me, but I was expecting something more scarier and something bigger than what we got in this book.

There aren’t a lot of characters in this book, but the once we get are good and I liked them a lot even despite the fact we don’t spend a lot of time getting to know them other than knowing the brief facts we need to know about them. 

This book doesn’t use a lot of time on getting us familiar with the characters in this book, but rather it goes straight into the plot. Which I liked in this book because I feel like I wouldn’t like the character if we spend more time getting to know them. 

I read this book in one sitting, but it wasn’t because it was so engaging but rather because it was short and I haven’t had any plans for that Sunday I was reading this book so I decided to just read this book in one sitting.

I Give This Book 3 / 5

“How to Make a Spaceship: A Band of Renegades, an Epic Race, and the Birth of Private Spaceflight” By Julian Guthrie Review

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Alone in a Spartan black cockpit, test pilot Mike Melvill rocketed toward space. He had eighty seconds to exceed the speed of sound and begin the climb to a target no civilian pilot had ever reached. He might not make it back alive. If he did, he would make history as the world’s first commercial astronaut. The spectacle defied reason, the result of a competition dreamed up by entrepreneur Peter Diamandis, whose vision for a new race to space required small teams to do what only the world’s largest governments had done before.

As someone who is very interesting in space and space travel / exploration of course I had a lot of expectations for this book, which partly this book didn’t live up to.

I personally think that the book could have been at least 100 pages shorter than it was if it had skipped talking way too long about fancy dinners between the billionaires with space exploration companies like Richard Branson, Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk and others because I personally don’t care about their dinner parties.

I have also another issue with this book, and that issue is that this book would be way too much detailed about the first X-Prize and the people behind it. Which really I don’t care about it, let me instead get the spacecrafts and space travel action.

Other than that, this book was very good to read, it is very simple to read. It doesn’t go into a lot of details of space travel and rockets engineering which in my opinion it could and it would make it so much better than it was. 

While reading this book, you will understand how much research went into this book which really made me give this book some extra points. 

The writing style wasn’t the best here, but it was okay, it wasn’t the best nor the worst. 

This book has a lot of good information in it and some of the stories we get in this book are interesting.

However it wasn’t supper interesting which would make it hard to put down, to be very honest here it was very easy to put down. 

This book taken me couple of weeks to read because at times I wouldn’t read this book for few weeks because I didn’t have the urge to finish this book.

I Give This Book 3 / 5

“The Devil’s Star” By Jo Nesbø Review

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A young woman is murdered in her Oslo flat. One finger has been severed from her left hand, and behind her eyelid is secreted a tiny red diamond in the shape of a five-pointed star – a pentagram, the devil’s star. Detective Harry Hole is assigned to the case with his long-time adversary Tom Waaler and initially wants no part in it. But Harry is already on notice to quit the force and is left with little alternative but to drag himself out of his alcoholic stupor and get to work.

This book is the 5th book in the “Harry Hole” series, and so far the series been going up and down for me personally.

The plot in this book is about a serial killer running around in Oslo, Norway who is obsessed pentagrams. Which made me expect some kind of satanism themed stuff happen in this book which of course didn’t happen.

The plot was interesting when the action was happening, the action of a murder scene or the investigation was very interesting and enjoyable. But when the action wasn’t on, which means when Harry was doing something else which didn’t involve the investigation was on the very edge of becoming boring. Which means that I have some very mixed opinions about the plot.

But also in this book we get sucked deeper into the sub-plot which was happening in this book and in the previous 2 books in this series which of course is the corruption in the police force and which is the reason why Harry still has a job as a police detective even thou he struggles with alcohol and shows up drunk or drinks at the job.

The characters here were very mixed here, of course I like Harry Hole a lot, and I find Oleg to be a very good side character which makes Harry’s personality really shine and show Harry not only as a alcoholic which happens to be a very good detective. I also liked a lot Rakel and wish that we could get more of her in this book which hopefully the next books in this series will fulfill the wish.

But when it comes to the rest of the characters they were pretty uninteresting, and I found myself not caring about them as much as I wanted to. 

The writing style here was very good, because it was like the author knew what words to use to fully grab my attention and to not let me stop reading this book until the very end. 

There is no cliffhanger at the end, which really doesn’t give me the urge to finish this series as fast as possible which I wish it would. 

I Give This Book 3 / 5

“Finders Keepers” By Stephen King Review

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The genius is John Rothstein, an iconic author who created a famous character, Jimmy Gold, but who hasn’t published a book for decades. Morris Bellamy is livid, not just because Rothstein has stopped providing books, but because the nonconformist Jimmy Gold has sold out for a career in advertising. Morris kills Rothstein and empties his safe of cash, yes, but the real treasure is a trove of notebooks containing at least one more Gold novel.

This book is the second book in the “Bill Hodges” series written of course by Stephen King. 

To be honest after watching the “Mr. Mercedes” tv show, I decided to reading this book series as well because the show is based of on this book series.

A part of me really liked the plot in this one because at times it gave me “misery” vibes, even thou it is very far away from the iconic “misery” book. 

However the plot itself has its ups and downs, but the downs in my opinion are much more frequent than its ups. It started very good, but the further and further it continues the less and less fun I was having with this book. 

The plot had been boring and uninteresting at times, but the moments it was actually interesting, there was very very interesting. And after finishing this book I needed to take one day to think about this book before I sat down to review this book. Thats because I was very mixed about this book. Because a part of me liked this book and the second part of me didn’t like this book.

This book has multiple perspectives it follows, so it was kind of hard to keep track of everything which was happening. In this perspective we follow the perspectives of Bill, Holly, Morris and Pete. Of course if you don’t know Bill and Holly are the private detectives, Morris is the bad guy and Pete is the kid who done something which he shouldn’t and got in trouble for it.

I personally loved Bill Hodges, Jerome and Holly Gibny as characters but when it comes to the rest of characters . Bill, Jerome and Holly were very good character even thou this book doesn’t focus on them so much as I would want it to. I personally would want this book to tell the plot from solely their perspectives which would make this book so much better. And skip the storytelling from Pete’s and Morrie’s perspectives, which for me personally was at times uninteresting and boring.  And it pretty much took the wind out if it in my opinion.

The characters (expect of Bill, Jerome and Holly) were in my opinion very flat and for the most part uninteresting. And I just couldn’t bring myself to care about them, because I just couldn’t ,are myself like them, or relegate to them in anyway.

Don’t get me wrong, this book isn’t all bad, you will be entertained while you read it because the plot has a unique way of telling a basic plot line. 

I Give This Book 3 / 5

“Fear: Trump in the White House” By Bob Woodward Review

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With authoritative reporting honed through eight presidencies from Nixon to Obama, author Bob Woodward reveals in unprecedented detail the harrowing life inside President Donald Trump’s White House and precisely how he makes decisions on major foreign and domestic policies. Woodward draws from hundreds of hours of interviews with firsthand sources, meeting notes, personal diaries, files and documents. The focus is on the explosive debates and the decision-making in the Oval Office, the Situation Room, Air Force One and the White House residence.

As you may get from the title and summary of this book, this book is about Trump’s presidency. And well it talks about a lot of things involving Trump’s presidency.

This book also talks a little bit about Trump’s presidency campaign. There isn’t much talk about it, but there is some. 

This book portrays in a very good way the insides of Trump’s presidency and the issues which were there. This book puts all the issues with Trump’s presidency in simple and easy way, which makes this book suitable for everyone, no matter if you know a lot about politics or not. 

This book is written from a lot of various sources, which are listed at the end of this book which you can look up after you are finished with this book, which makes it very good because you can fact check the author if you have suspicions about things within this book.

However my main issue with this book was that it focuses a lot on the drama between Trump and FBI, but also Trump making staff changes every other week. 

Trump making staff changes every other week, isn’t that surprising because if you are familiar with trump then you know that the guy has a lot of problems and he cant stick with someone for too long.

The writing style is good for the most part but there were moments where the writing style turned to boring or uninteresting at times, which made some sections of this book really tortures to read. Because of the have topics it talked about and the hard writing style.

I Give This Book 3 / 5

“Assassin’s Apprentice” By Robin Hobb Review

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In a faraway land where members of the royal family are named for the virtues they embody, one young boy will become a walking enigma. Born on the wrong side of the sheets, Fitz, son of Chivalry Farseer, is a royal bastard, cast out into the world, friendless and lonely. Only his magical link with animals – the old art known as the Wit – gives him solace and companionship. But the Wit, if used too often, is a perilous magic, and one abhorred by the nobility.

Ive been wanting to get into this series for a while now because ive heard so much good about it, and even my favorite author of all time, George R R Martin have recommended this series and this author on several occasions during interviews. So of course I needed to get into this series at some point. And this year is the time for it.

The plot in this book was very good, but on occasions I found myself bored because at moments the plot would stretch for far too long on events or descriptions which in the end didn’t have anything to say in the major picture. 

Even thou the plot has boring and uninteresting parts here and there, the bigger picture of the plot it is still very good. And solely from this book alone I think I found a new author to add to my list of favorite authors, which hasn’t seen much change for at least 2 years.

The characters in this book were very good, which really surprised me a lot because I wasn’t expecting such good characters from an so underrated author as Robin Hobb. Every characters in this book had all unique personalities and something which made them unique in their own way. 

I personnel didn’t like a lot of characters in this book, and the beginning I didn’t even like the main character, but the more and more I read, the more and more Ive grown to like the main character. He might be a hard character to like at times, but still he is a good character in my opinion.

The ending was very good, because thats where the most interesting part came into the play, and it sort of doesn’t leave us with a cliffhanger but at the same time it does. Which is a really odd thing, but a thing which I liked very much.

The writing style here, was very good because it was like the author knew what words to use in this book, to fully grab my attention and to not let it go even through the parts which I found boring and / or uninteresting. 

I Give This Book 3 / 5

“Dolores Claiborne” By Stephen King Review

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Suspected of killing Vera Donovan, her wealthy employer, Dolores Claiborne tells police the story of her life, harkening back to her disintegrating marriage and the suspicious death of her violent husband, Joe St. George, thirty years earlier. Dolores also tells of Vera’s physical and mental decline and of her loyalty to an employer who has become emotionally demanding in recent years.

I didn’t knew anything about this book before getting into it, and I need to admit that I was surprised because its actually good. 

The plot in this book is very interesting, enjoyable and engaging. Which really surprised me because I wasn’t expecting this from this book. But I am all here for those kind of surprised in books.

The plot is very good the grab your attention and not letting it go until the very end. The the more you start thinking the story the less stars you want to give it when it comes to it. 

It is important to say that this book isn’t as much a horror book as it is a psychological thriller. There aren’t any horror moments in this book but rather a woman trying to defend herself that she didn’t call her wealthy employer who died suspiciously. 

All of the characters in this book are very very good, which you can expect from the master of horror. All of the characters in this book have a unique personality and all of them have something which sett them apart from the rest of the characters in this book. 

The writing style is what you would expect from Stephen King, which of course means that is fantastic. It just as Stephen King knows what words to use to grab your attention and to not let it go until you finish the book.

The ending here was meh to be honest. I had some high expectations for the ending in this book but I ended up getting disappointed. Because this book builds into this good exciting ending which it fails to have.

I Give This Book 3 / 5

“Shatter Me” By Tahereh Mafi Review

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Juliette hasn’t touched anyone in exactly 264 days. The last time she did, it was an accident, but The Reestablishment locked her up for murder. No one knows why Juliette’s touch is fatal. As long as she doesn’t hurt anyone else, no one really cares. The world is too busy crumbling to pieces to pay attention to a 17-year-old girl. Diseases are destroying the population, food is hard to find, birds don’t fly anymore, and the clouds are the wrong color.

I personally have a lot of mixed feelings about this book, because on the one side it is very interesting but on the other side it seems to be pretty generic YA book. Which means that I am torn in half on this book. 

This book gave me huge x-men vibes as well as the hunger games vibes which is really intriguing because these two things are different. After reading this book I can say honestly that this book isn’t bad nor good. 

The beginning of this book was very intriguing, which really grabbed my attention which of course made me give this some extra points. However the middle part of this book went downhill a little bit. And when we come closer and closer to the end, it becomes more and more disappointing. Because this book builds up to a big and very interesting ending which in my opinion this book doesn’t give us when we get to it.

The writing style here was good, to be honest I didn’t except the writing style to be so good as it was, which on its own made me like this book more. But at the same time the writings style in this book is strange in a way, because you cant explain it but you are left with a weird feeling about it.

When it comes to the main character of this book which is Juliette. I had some issues with her at the beginning of this book, because she had a huge obsession with numbers, but the further I got into this book the more I started to liking her. Its important to say that she isn’t the best character which I came across of. But she is a good character for a ya series.

I personally think that Juliette being the main character adds to the plot. Because there is something unique about her, and the more we get to know her the more we like her and the plot.

The rest of the characters in this book are surprisingly good, which rally surprised me because I cant remember the last time I liked all of the characters in a book. You can really tell that this book has a unique personality which really makes them a likable character even if they are the bad guy of the story.

The plot in this book is not a masterpiece, but it is interesting and enjoyable. If you are looking for a book to read while you cuddle up on the couch or in bed, then this book is the go-to here. The plot isn’t complicated and you don’t really need a lot of brain power to enjoy it.

I Give This Book 3 / 5

“Way of the Wolf: Become a Master Closer with Straight Line Selling” By Jordan Belfort Review

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For the first time ever, Jordan Belfort opens his playbook and gives readers access to his exclusive step-by-step system the same system he used to create massive wealth for himself, his clients, and his sales teams. Until now this revolutionary program was only available through Jordan s $1,997 online training. Now in The Way of the Wolf, Belfort is ready to unleash the power of persuasion to a whole new generation of readers, revealing how anyone can bounce back from devastating setbacks, master the art of persuasion, and build wealth. Every technique, every strategy, and every tip has been tested and proven to work in real-life situations.

I didn’t have a lot of expectations for this book before going into it which turns out to be a very good thing.

If you are looking for a good business and business psychology book, then this book isn’t a go to there. Because everything this book talked about could have been summarized into a 2-3 pages read instead of a 240 pages book.

This book makes some good points here and there but not enough of good points for this book to have 240 pages in it. However these good points we got in this book was very on point which made me give this book some extra points here and there.

The writing style and language in this book are very simple which means that everyone can read it and understand it. Because if this, I gave this book some extra points. Because some of the business books I’ve read in my time really seemed like you needed a bachelor degree in business to understand them.

In my opinion this book is mainly aimed at salesmen and saleswomen rather than any other category of people or for people who just want to learn about sales market.

This book was very repetitive at a lot of moments, because it was saying the same things over and over again which really made me feel like the author thought that the people who would read this book had a memory of a gold fish. 

The closer you get to the ending of this book, the more and more of lists, stats, objectives and scales you get which really made me give a feeling that the author himself didn’t know or care how to give us a good ending so he just decided to bombard us with stats, lists, diagrams which we would forget the moment we had put this book on the table.

I Give This Book 3 / 5

“Icebreaker” By Hannah Grace Review

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Anastasia Allen has worked her entire life for a shot at Team USA. It looks like everything is going according to plan when she gets a full scholarship to the University of California, Maple Hills and lands a place on their competitive figure skating team. Nate’s focus as team captain is on keeping his team on the ice. Which is tricky when a facilities mishap means they are forced to share a rink with the figure skating team—including Anastasia, who clearly can’t stand him.

I didn’t have any expectations for this book because it was so Tik Tok famous, and as we know nothing good comes out of Tik Tok. But it was much better than I first thought.

The two main characters in this book which of course are Anastasia and Nathan were surprisingly very good characters. And I loved them and the relationship they had with each other. 

When it comes to the rest of the characters in this book, I need to say that I wasn’t a big fan of them. Some of those side characters were kind of good but the majority of them were meh, I just didn’t care for them at all.

However I need to say that this book felt like a rip-off of “Fifty Shades Of Grey” but just in different setting and with milder sex scenes. But the rest was the same. Even the name of the main female character. Which really pissed me off because at times it felt like I was taken back in time to the time when I was reading the first book in the “fifty shades of grey” series. 

The plot here was interesting and very enjoyable. But I need to admit that at times the drama in this book was a little bit too much for me personally especially at the end.

The writing style here was surprising good. It wasn’t the best I’ve seen but it was very comfortable. And because of the writing style this book felt like a comfy read even thou it was far from a good book. 

The ending of this book was really what I wanted the ending to be without realizing it while I was reading this book. Which really made me give this book some extra points.

I Give This Book 3 / 5