Romancing Mister Bridgerton by Julia Quinn My rating: 2 of 5 stars So far, this was definitely the weakest instalment in the otherwise amusing Bridgertons series. The story isn’t really that interesting and the narrative dragged on rather uninspired so that I was actually bored at times which isn’t exactly my intention when reading a fluffy easy-to-read romance. What annoyed me the most, though, and made me almost quit this book was...
The Witness for the Dead by Katherine Addison My rating: 3 of 5 stars I very much liked “The Goblin Emperor”, the first book in this unusual series. Unfortunately, this successor fell clearly short of greatness. The book’s eponymous “Witness for the dead”, Thara Celehar, is a humble, demure and thoroughly traumatized prelate who has – more or less – been exiled because he had an affair with a married man who pr...
An Offer From a Gentleman by Julia Quinn My rating: 4 of 5 stars It’s summer, the weather is fine, the water in my pool has 34°C (roughly 93F) and I’m exhausted from work. Nevertheless, my holidays are nearing (two weeks from now!) and I’m slowly getting into “Summer Reading Mode”. That means that I prefer easy, quick-to-read novels that simply amuse me and, thus, I was only too happy to take up on “An Offer From a Gentlema...
Bretonische Idylle: Kommissar Dupins zehnter Fall by Jean-Luc Bannalec My rating: 3 of 5 stars »Himmlische Dämpfe erfüllten den Raum. »Wussten Sie, dass sich das Kaffeearoma aus rund tausend verschiedenen Einzelaromen zusammensetzt? Wein bringt es gerade einmal auf vierhundert.« Dupin hatte es nicht gewusst oder, genauer: Er hatte es immer schon gewusst. Schließlich war er aus gutem Grund süchtig.« Selten ist mir eine Rezension ...
Survive the Night by Riley Sager My rating: 1 of 5 stars Well, I’m flabbergasted – and not in a good way. “Survive the Night” was supposed to be a quick mystery/thriller diversion which quickly turned out to be a roll-your-eyes and hit your head against some hard surface to distract yourself from the intellectual pain this book evokes. In Sager’s newest work – and I mostly enjoyed his earlier ones – we meet Cha...
Eine drollige Gesellschaft by Tove Jansson My rating: 5 of 5 stars Die Mumins kennen wohl die meisten von uns – eine Familie von Mumintrollen, die in einem kleinen Tal leben und diverse Abenteuer erleben. Geradezu ständig wächst die erweiterte Familie – da kommt mal ein Hemul dazu oder die kleine Mü – und die Reaktion der Mumineltern ist schlicht und liebenswert: »Der Muminvater und die Muminmutter hießen alle Neu...
House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J. Maas My rating: 1 of 5 stars Phew… 816 pages, 10 days and I feel like I aged 10 years because this was such a tiresome read. We find ourselves in the most fanciful and easiest fantasy world to write: A (probably) dystopian future on planet Midgard (yes… the subtlety is killing me…) in which humans are in a constant state of rebellion against their angel/fae/werewolf/ overlords who enslaved and/...
Bonjour tristesse: Roman by Françoise Sagan My rating: 2 of 5 stars Wir befinden uns im Jahr 1954 und treffen auf Cécile, ihren Playboy-Vater Raymond, seine junge Geliebte Elsa sowie Anne, die Raymond heiraten möchte. Last and least, gibt es noch Cyril, einen jungen naiven Mann, der zu Céciles Geliebtem wird. Klar, angesichts der relativen Freizügigkeit dieser Novelle kann ich mir einerseits den moralischen Aufschrei der ehrenwerte...
Beneath Devil’s Bridge by Loreth Anne White My rating: 4 of 5 stars I haven’t read much by Loreth Anne White yet: I have read two books of her “A Dark Lure” series and liked those well enough to keep an eye on White.Consequently, this book came as a bit of a “shock” because it’s a complete departure from the narational lines established by those previous books. In “Beneath Devil’s Bridge” we read about an old...
The Viscount Who Loved Me by Julia Quinn My rating: 4 of 5 stars This is the kind of book most of my fellow males will avoid like the plague. All the more so if they ever – by accident, of course! – happen to come across the “Author’s Note” in this book which explicitly states “Since my readers are almost exclusively women”… Well, here I am, and I profess: I greatly enjoyed this book despite knowing that it most ...
