What's it about: time, space, another planet
What I think: I should love this because it's the kind of book I do like reading but I can't seem to get into it. Perhaps if I had read this as a child, I might have loved it and even devour the series but it was dull to me.
Reasons to quit series: It was kind of dull
What's it about: missing mother, amateur sleuthing
What I think: Being Sherlock Holmes' younger sister, there is some expectation that really wouldn't have been there if that's not the case. For some odd reason, I keep thinking Holmes is going to come and solve the mystery but nope. Apparently Enola backwards spells Alone and that's somehow described her well. At times, she seems awfully mature and at others, she is essentially a child playing a game. I don't dislike her but I also don't like her. The mysteries (there seems to be two here) is a bit bland to me.
Reasons to quit series: If she is her own original character with no relations to Sherlock Holmes, I might like her but mostly the mysteries was dull.
What's it about: murder, old folks
What I think: Just an okay mystery but it's mostly about the characters who I don't like. And the humor, I guess it's subjective but I find nothing funny.
Reasons to quit series: Unlikable characters, unfunny humor, okay mystery
What's it about: nuns, murder, bed & breakfast
What I think: So this isn't the first book in the series but it might as well be. The main character is overly confident and knows how to do everything but her maturity and intelligence drops whenever it comes to her love life. I thought it would have been better if the murderer was one of the nuns since we spent so much time with them but we are to protect the innocence of nuns everywhere.
Reasons to quit series: Super annoying main character who knew how to do everything and who everyone rely on solving crimes for no good reasons.
What's it about: murder, ghost, cats, romance-ish romance
What I think: Everyone's dumb for no reason, even the so-called ghost detective. I suppose this is a character driven kind of book but I think Audrey is too dumb and Ben is maybe useful as a lookout and the detective is there so Audrey can talk/think about her ovaries - yep, character driven. And the murder solves itself.
Reasons to quit series: Too dumb main characters
What's it about: K-9 rescue, kidnapping
What I think: Too many head hopping, too many characters that are minor even the main characters seemed like minor characters, a lot of preaching (didn't know this was a Christian mystery), and the mystery solves itself. The dogs Samson and Charley are the best part of the book and yet, they are minor characters.
Reasons to quit series: Not a single character or even the K-9 rescue (which was very little) to keep my interest
What's it about: scents as emotions, murder, dogs, romance
What I think: This male love interest (also the male lead) left such a bad impression on me that I hope he was the killer. He is a fellow who likes to 'keep his women's heart racing' (actual phrase in the book), whatever that means. And he's a clueless father and had bad opinions about people who are relatives of criminals and isn't such a good cop either. If the author had simply let us get to know him through the female lead, it might have been better. But the female lead is not much better because she wanted to find the killer to impress/win the male lead's heart which I laughed at when she had that thought. The dog Jax and the dogs in training are the best thing about this book.
Reasons to quit series: Annoying main female but also annoying main male lead/love interest
What's it about: witches, magic, murder, new beginnings
What I think: I like the idea of someone becoming a witch at a late age (after 40) but her thoughts about wanting to go back to her old life keeps getting in the way. The constant pop culture references annoyed me and distracted from the story or perhaps I should say, they made it hard to accept this world even if it was set in the modern world.
Reasons to quit series: Annoying main character who sounded half her age
What's it about: ghosts, paranormal, memories
What I think: I really like the main character's cat named Freddie Purrcury and her power of touching objects and getting memories but that's it. Every few instances, she talks about having hot flashes, like there's nothing else, well, there's mentions of chin hair which did nothing. I'm mostly annoyed by her mental drooling over the professor as if she had never seen a man before. Between the mental drooling and the hot flashes, this character is a reborn teenager. The murder mystery is kind of brief, unimportant and easily solved and the two ghosts aren't fun, just overly sentimental and rude.
Reasons to quit series: Annoying main character and dull mystery, dull ghosts
What's it about: morticians, hairstylist, deaths, bit romance
What I think: The main character seems to have a paranormal power so when she touches dead bodies, it make her feel something-something but it's not specific enough to understand completely but she seems to know that person didn't die naturally. But she didn't explore that power, didn't care for it, didn't even want to think about it so it's like a side thing that readers are to ignore. Why put this under paranormal when the paranormal is ignored? But the main character seems likable but a bit uninteresting when compared to her grandmother and the old folks. And the murder mystery was just okay.
Reasons to quit series: Not much paranormal
What's it about: spirits/ghosts, deaths, bleakness
What I think: Kind of bleak, dark, depressing, most of the time the main female character is a ghost wandering and encountering a lot of unhappy people, ghosts, demons and ghouls that may or may not be trying to suck her souls. And there's a sword named Sorrow as if this world is not bleak enough.
Reasons to quit series: Too bleak, main female character is mostly loitering, main male character is your general confident lead who knew what to do at all times
What's it about: amateur sleuth, teddy bears, a woman with no life other than her family's business
What I think: Main character pretty much trying to get herself murdered by not listening to cops, openly asking questions about suspects, going to suspect's house without any plan and thinks her ex-husband is oh-so-sexy even when he's a womanizer and a cheat.
Reasons to quit series: Main character's too dumb but mostly she seemed to have no life
What's it about: mystery, murder, blizzard, wills & laws, con artists, money
What I think: I don't like the main character keeps going back to a house she knew is full of people maybe trying to kill her. She thinks she can do some investigating which she did but found very little to be helpful. Some deaths could have been avoided if only she moved out of the house or listen to the advices that were generously given to her by two lawyer friends. For such smart people, they take very little actions. The problem is solved by other people so the main character didn't need to do anything.
Reasons to quit series: Main character too stubborn or rather too dumb to listen to other people's good advices
What's it about: a wishy-washy skeptic woman with a son, psychics, small town, maybe murder
What I think: Bella main character) did tons of meandering, coupled with indecisions and skepticism and as a teacher, she wasn't smart at making decisions like her 5-year-old son. The story goes nowhere (with the meandering) until it suddenly becomes a murder mystery toward the end. The killer was pretty much a surprise because we only got to know them toward the end.
Reasons to quit series: Main character too wishy-washy, not as mature as her 5-year-old, mystery lacking
What's it about: missing woman, past mystery/crime/murder, people enjoying their mundane lives
What I think: Lots of slow-moving, dull drama that focused on a detective (Aaron Falk) obsessed with a lady he met once for a couple of minutes and is madly in love with. There is two mysteries here which aren't connected which is surprising but kind of stupid but mostly because why the heck not when you made connections with them? Supposedly this can be read as a standalone but even if I read the previous books, I probably still wouldn't be able to enjoy this book. The mysteries are secondary to Falk's enjoyment of his life.
Reasons to quit series: Dull main character, more cozy mystery than suspense
What's it about: murder, camping, hiking, some investigating, more hiking
What I think: Quite a boring book but mostly because the main character's (Harland) struggles (physical and mental) really drags on and on because she doesn't really overcome them. It's her temporary partner Hux who is the truly interesting character and who also does all the fun, interesting things which we only hear about because the main character wasn't around to witness them. The mystery solves itself so she didn't even have to figure out who did the crime.
Reasons to quit series: Too much focus on the main character's struggles and she doesn't solve anything
What's it about: old Chinese woman, tea, food, family, brothers, murder
What I think: This was good but it's more about the characters while the murder mystery is an excuse to get these characters together. I like Vera. She is amusing even if we are told many times she is Chinese and everything she does is Chinese-related and there's no escaping the whole Chinese this or Chinese that all over every page though it's not much about details, more like it's Vera's influence over all the characters. The many points of view is a bit much but I didn't expect any of them to be the murderer and that's how it turned out which is not really a spoiler.
Reasons to quit series: I like Vera but also find her too much and didn't really want more of her.
What's it about: lady undertaker, deaths, funerals, politics, the queen, war
What I think: Sadly this is not entirely about a lady undertaker solving murders as that bit was buried at the end of the book. The main character didn't do much investigating and the killer was caught quickly. That part is just another event along with all other events in the main character's life. There isn't a particular storyline that is focused on too long. You can say this book is stuffed with too many things that what was the best parts (the undertaking, the murders, the train crash) are buried with everything else. The boring bits are the politics that involved various people and Queen Victoria, who seemed like a caricature - I didn't care much for her viewpoint or the various other viewpoints. I really like the undertaking parts but it's focus seem to be royalties and sometimes politics, neither of which I like reading about.
Reasons to quit series: Didn't really like reading about royalties or politics
What's it about: a bored earl, poor woman & two street urchins, murders, society gossips, endless conversations about alchemy
What I think:It doesn't feel like a mystery, more like a romance or why else would the two main characters keeps studying each other? In every encounter, Charlotte is studying Wrexford and Wrexford is studying Charlotte, trying to read each other's thoughts and feelings and trying to decipher each other's every movement, words and looks. At every meeting, they can't stop doing it even at the very last page. And Charlotte is even making sketches of Wrexford because she wants to paint him which somehow gets on my nerve and having Wrexford as an extremely good looking fellow also gets on my nerves. The way the story is going, I'm thinking something heinous, disgusting or horrifying at the end but nope. It's like the murderer didn't have enough to make him interesting other than the murders. But I guess readers are to be more interested in Wrexford (does he even have a first name?) and Charlotte and their upcoming romance.
Reasons to quit series: Didn't like the romance-like writing, dislike the two main characters, more romance than mystery
What's it about: murders, police politics, introspection from the main character
What I think: This is more of historical fiction than a murder mystery. The case in this first book is interesting and learning about why the crimes were committed made sense but it makes this quite a depressing read. I don't quite like the main character/narrator, Inspector Michael Corravan, and his introspection - he has a girlfriend but he's depress, it's like he couldn't find joy in anything so it's depressing reading from his perspective.
Reasons to quit series: Main character quite depressing, more politics than mystery or murder
What's it about: murder, aquarium, investigations, amateur detective
What I think: This was okay, a little dull. So this was written in the late 1930's so I guess it's why the writing is a bit odd to me. But writing aside, the one thing that annoyed me is the main character, Miss Withers, withheld her thought process and only at the end did we know what she was thinking and how she solved the murder - this always make me wonder what's the point of hiding a character's thought process other than not letting the reader solve the mystery alongside the character? So maybe smarter readers (which I seem not to be) can guess the right killer without help but I can't and I don't really want to. I just want to read how the character solves the mystery which should include their thought process, right?
Reasons to quit series: Didn't like the writing, didn't like main character keeping thoughts to herself
What's it about: long-lost treasure, environment pollution, middle grade detectives
What I think: It started with the Al Capone lost treasure mystery which I liked very much but then it detoured to an environmental mystery. I wished it had stayed on the Al Capone one as I really didn't care for the environment one. Why bother with the Al Capone mystery if you're not going to give a real answer? If the ending's suggestion is the answer then that's not much of an answer. If it continues to the next book, then that's double annoying.
Reasons to quit series: Not sure I'll enjoy another detour as unfinished mysteries annoy me
What's it about: autopsies, murders, romance, perverts, gross-out scenarios
What I think: I'm just glad I don't know the names of most internal organs or else I would not be able to read this. Do we need two scenes of two different men getting their tooth pulled? The mystery of the murders are okay but I think the culprit, or the main culprit seems lacking somehow. And the central romance is fine but really, why does it need it but then again, it's the main reason the main character took on the case - he fell in love with the dead guy's sister.
Reasons to quit series: Too gross out details and didn't care for main character, more of a romance than mystery
What's it about: ghosts, murder, roommates, amateur sleuthing
What I think: Even with a ghost as one of the main characters, this was dull, lackluster. Having two main character of different age (Cordelia, the ghost, is 40 or older) while Ruby is 20 does nothing but make 40 seem old. The investigation goes nowhere because the murderer just shows up but it's still a dull mystery.
Reasons to quit series: Cordelia and Ruby not a good match, separately, they are characters I don't care enough to read more about, dull mystery
What's it about: law, trials, death, lawyers
What I think:The main character (Pitt) is a lawyer who is a bit too much into analyzing his feelings and using them to make decisions. He seemed very sensitive to other people's feelings as well and often worried for them. I don't know lawyers but this lawyer is too emotional. This wasn't a bad first book but I don't like it enough to continue the series.
Reasons to quit series: Just didn't care for Pitt or his emotional lawyering
What's it about: family, cheating, romance maybe, some bits about murdered girls, small amount of investigation maybe
What I think: It's not a mystery, more of a family soap opera focused on the Ellison family but mostly Charlotte (main character). With a couple of perspectives that mostly just domestic stuff. The mystery is not solved by anyone, the murderer just showed up, just like the romance between Charlotte and Pitt. And Pitt, even though he's the second main character, we don't get his perspective nor do we see what the heck he is doing to solve the murders - his existence is to save Charlotte so they can have a romance.
Reasons to quit series: Annoyed by Charlotte. And Pitt, even though he's barely a second main character. More of a romance though that too is brief
What's it about: death of a teenage boy, investigation, teenagers, family, old crimes
What I think: This is like two books in one but the same story told twice - one in the victim's point of view (Joel) and the other is the investigation with various point of views, mostly Hanna's (a cop). One of the views is kind of redundant. Throughout the book Hanna was trying not to break down and sob and her cop skills are mentioned but never utilized. What actually happened was underwhelming and dumb and I wouldn't call it murder.
Reasons to quit series: I don't like this two viewpoints format or Hanna who is on the verge of a breakdown
28 - Blue Monday (Frieda Klein #1) by Nicci French
What's it about: psychoanalysts, therapy sessions, kidnappings, random people intruding into the main character's lives, murder
What I think: A maybe unhinged psychoanalyst (Frieda Klein, punches a therapist but doesn't explain why) tries to maybe solve a kidnapping by not sharing information and sometimes sharing information when she shouldn't. And a policeman (Karlsson) who have two emotions - frustration and anger and who doesn't end up solving anything. Frieda does everything for no reason and she's not interested in sharing with others nor the readers. Many things remained unsolved so you'll have to read the next book.
Reasons to quit series: Frieda, hard to understand her when she doesn't even share with the readers nor with Karlsson and we are to believe she and Karlsson are to work together in later books? Hell No. It was clearly shown, Karlsson was annoyed with Frieda almost the entire book and I think she's the reason he keeps using the f word.
What's it about: home repairs, ghosts, a missing deed, some unmotherly mother advices
What I think: They are going for an amusing narrator/main character (Alison) but she's not amusing. The two ghosts (Paul and Maxie who might as well be named Gloomy and Rage) because that's what they kept displaying, Paul keeps showing gloomy and Maxie shows her rage by destroying the house Alison is trying to fix up. They blatantly think Alison have to help them find their murderer or else they will keep harassing her. And Alison's attempt at dating is dull and unnecessary. If Ned (her date) had been the culprit, it might have given him something better to do. Alison is another main character who doesn't listen to cops, commits crimes, and is dumb enough to meet murderers alone. (I will have a longer rant when I post my November book rants)
Reasons to quit series: Main character too annoying, hate her narration
What's it about: shelved memories, murder, gay people, ship that is like a mini city
What I think: The mystery was brief and easily solved without Dorothy Gentleman (main character) doing much. What's disappointing is that the crime had no affect on anyone or anything since death is reversible. And the crime is reported but what happens to criminals is probably nothing. And the reason for the crime is nothing new. We don't get to witness any memories of murder because no one remembers their deaths. Comparing Dorothy to Miss Marple is absolutely absurd. Dorothy have nothing in common with Miss Marple aside old age and love of knitting. And Dorothy (I hate calling her Miss Gentleman) sounded very male to me for reasons I can't explain. Everyone's gay here, not a single heterosexual is around for unexplained reasons. And Dorothy is into ogling a suspect or two because they are so sultry - that's really the only thing Dorothy seemed to have done aside from walking a bit, questioning a few people and reading files. At 103 pages, there's just not enough to do justice to the mystery or this world. (I will have a longer rant when I post my November book rants)
Reasons to quit series: A bit too bland but mostly crimes have no consequences so what's the point of any of this? And I don't like Dorothy, she's like a lustful armchair detective, just her last name annoys me.
What's it about: stamp collecting, chemistry, murder, traveling by bicycle
What I think: The mystery was fine but a little bland. I don't like how Flavia de Luce (the main character) seemed too much like an adult (she's only eleven) and only like a child when she is in danger. I like her passion for poison and chemistry which throughout the book is talked about. But I don't see why she should lie when it wasn't even necessary. (I will have a longer rant when I post my November book rants)
Reasons to quit series: Flavia, she just seems oddly hard to understand, I didn't like how she lies when it wasn't even necessary
Have you read any first book in series that made you not continue the series?
I tend not to read all of a series even if I like it. I get bored after a couple and move onto something else. Sometimes, I will go back later and read more of them. And to be fair, I guess, the books in a series aren't all the same. Some are better than others and deserve more that one chance. And why many people like series is to watch the characters develop over time, along with the comfort of predictability.
ReplyDeleteI haven't attempted to read any of these, but I did see the two "Enola Holmes" moves and the recent movie of "The Thursday Murder Club" which were all okay, all things considered.
ReplyDeleteJamie (Jannghi.blogspot.com):
ReplyDeleteI read all the "A Wrinkle in Time" series and so far only the first Enola Holmes. I did not know about Haunted Guesthouse series, until I recognized the author name of "An Uninvited Ghost." None of the others sound familiar to me.