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Fearless Fourteen

Childrens Toy Shop > Books > Fiction
by: Janet Evanovich

June 17, 2008
I agree wholeheartedly with the previous comments. I absolutely loved the first 10 books in the Stephanie Plum series but like the previous reviewer I think Evanovich has lost her way. The plot is one-dimensional and other than the characters is just a rehash of previous plots. There is very little comedy as in previous books and there is absolutely no development of Stephanie's relationships with Morelli and Ranger. This I think is the key to the stories.
It seems to me that Evanovich has been trying to write another successful series alongside this one (see the 'Full' series) but has failed miserably so she is spinning this one out as long as she can.
If I were her, I would write 2 more books to finish the series, one featuring ... Read More:

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A Thousand Splendid Suns

Childrens Toy Shop > Books > Fiction
by: Khaled Hosseini

September 18, 2008
I agree wholeheartedly with the previous comments. I absolutely loved the first 10 books in the Stephanie Plum series but like the previous reviewer I think Evanovich has lost her way. The plot is one-dimensional and other than the characters is just a rehash of previous plots. There is very little comedy as in previous books and there is absolutely no development of Stephanie's relationships with Morelli and Ranger. This I think is the key to the stories.
It seems to me that Evanovich has been trying to write another successful series alongside this one (see the 'Full' series) but has failed miserably so she is spinning this one out as long as she can.
If I were her, I would write 2 more books to finish the series, one featuring ... Read More:

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The Eagle's Prophecy (Roman Legion 6)

Childrens Toy Shop > Books > Fiction
by: Simon Scarrow

June 19, 2006
If you've stumbled into Scarrow after reading everything that O'brien, Forrester and Cornwell have to offer then this novel maybe the one where your reservations are finally justified. Trite and unconvincing, I'm heartily sick of Cato's 21st century attitude to the injustices of Rome, at one point he even goes on about Rome's Moral responsibilities to the world!!! Pah! I want to read about big battles with barbarians in distant lands.

I wouldn't mind but it's badly written too.

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A Respectable Trade

Childrens Toy Shop > Books > Fiction
by: Philippa Gregory

January 03, 1998
I'll echo the reviews by others, but I want to add a note of warning for anyone purchasing a copy - I have an copy, bought new, that sat unread for far too long on my bookshelves. The pages from 417 to 464 are missing and it seems that these include the crux of the tale. (Examining the book, this looks like a printers error rather than pages falling out as the book is in A1 condition.) A huge disappointment!

If you are picking up a second hand copy, avoid ISBN 0 00 647337 7 published in 1996.

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The Wheels on the Bus: Go Round and Round (Classic Board Books with Holes)

Childrens Toy Shop > Books > Fiction
from: Child's Play (International) Ltd

2001-09
My son is only 5 months, but he loves looking at this book even if he doesn't understand the "story" yet - there are lots of bright colours and things to see in the pictures. I can see him enjoying it more and more as he gets older as we discuss the content of the pictures (people, animals, clowns, magicians...) My only problem is to stop my son from eating the book! The CD is a great bonus.

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Dying Light

Childrens Toy Shop > Books > Fiction
by: Stuart MacBride

January 02, 2007
After reading Cold Granite I swore I'd never read another Stuart Macbride book as it was just so awful. However having bought that and this at the same time, and my wife being busy with what I had planned to read next, I gave this a go.

I shouldn't have bothered. I thought that maybe, just maybe, we'd learn a little more about Logan McRea - but no. He's still a paper-thin character thoroughly devoid of interest or motivation. We still have sweets mentioned every time we meet Insch and smoking every time we meet Steel. Writing doesn't get much lazier.

The plot is a mishmash of poor planning and sleep-inducing boredom.

Never again! I only gave it 1 star because I couldn't give it zero.

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The World According to Bertie (44 Scotland Street 4)

Childrens Toy Shop > Books > Fiction
by: Alexander McCall Smith

May 01, 2008
This is like coming home to old friends and listening to their tales of what they have been doing for the last few months. I am biased of course as I live in Edinburgh and know that area extremely well, so a lot of the fun is picking out the places the characters go to and imagining them walking up and down the streets of Edinburgh. Alexander McCall Smith writes in a fairly ponderous, careful way, but he draws the characters so delightfully that you really feel about them and what they go through. All the old characters are there, Pat, Matthew, Big Lou, Bertie and his dreadful mum, Angus and Domenica - along with all their problems and joys. The book is completely charming and thoughtful in turn, with flashes of humour and fun showing through as well. The ... Read More:

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Bones to Ashes

Childrens Toy Shop > Books > Fiction
by: Kathy Reichs

May 08, 2008
I think I've read all of Kathy Reichs Temp Brennan novels and I always look forward to the latest one. However, in this case I'm inclined to agree with the first two reviewers - the plot is a bit far fetched, even if it does all come together in the end.

Another point I find difficult to believe is that there is a description of some lesions on a skeleton, even as a complete layman one possible diagnosis is glaringly obvious, so Temp should have been able to make it in her sleep. But no, she lists several other diseases, missing the obvious one for several chapters.

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Life Of Pi

Childrens Toy Shop > Books > Fiction
by: Yann Martel

May 29, 2003
I loved this book and was gutted when I finished it... It's such an unusual book, I've never read anything like it - it's also very different to the only other book I've read by Yann Martel, The Facts Behind the Helsinki Roccamatios.

The fact that Yann Martel manages to sustain your interest, faith and belief in what is, for a lot of the book, essentially a story about a boy and a tiger is one of the extraordinary feats of this book.

I was surprised to read from other reviews that some people had read this and found it changed their life. Don't buy this book expecting that - [as an aside, I think that it's rare that one book has the same effect on different people... it's better to discover your own life-changing book as a surprise whilst ... Read More:

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V for Vendetta

Childrens Toy Shop > Books > Fiction
by: Alan Moore, David Lloyd

April 14, 2000
Great. This deserves the hype but not the butchering it received on film at the hands of the Wachowksi brothers. This is really about Thatcher's Britain and nuclear winters and the social control of 'deviant' minorities and the power of dissent. So it has something to say about today. But don't read it as a proxy for political critique. It is a joy for many a reason, of which its anarchist politics is one, but our present predicaments require something less wedded to Cold War models. V for Vendetta is of its time, by which I mean also that it is a classic.