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lili_darknight's review against another edition
5.0
Milujem Julie ako postavu a tento príbeh bol úžasný. Škoda, že nebol dlhší, ale aj tak som si jeho čítanie užila.
lsneal's review against another edition
3.0
The usual mixed-bag of stories. "Sympathy for the Bones" by Marjoie Liu and "Iphigenia in Aulis" by Mike Carey are worth the price of admission. "Golden Delicious" by Faith Hunter was also interesting. The rest range from mostly forgettable to outright bad.
reader44ever's review
5.0
Review after third read-through from September 29 to October 1, 2016:
4.5 stars - great!
So I have a few thoughts I decided to share after this third reading of this book. First and most important, I'm making this a "4.5-star - great" book. This is just too fun to read. :-)
A couple things I noticed while reading this book this third time:
#1: The stories that I have never counted among my "I really liked it" stories now feel like a chore to read, sadly. Happily, though, there are only maybe two (make that three) stories that fall into this category.
#2: There are several lines in this book that surprised a laugh out of me. Unfortunately, I did not note any of them down, but I'm pretty sure one of them can be found in "VSI" by Nancy Holder. :-)
#3: I felt ever so proud of myself for realizing what the second, unnamed, reason was for why Professor Abrams refused to teach the story of "the Wandering Jew" in Steve Hockensmith's "An Introduction to Jewish Myth and Mysticism" after a scant few seconds of thought. (And a comparison to the spoiler about this in the review below shows that I'm "right.") :-)
One final thought: Why have I still not read any of the books in the Remy Chandler series??? :-(
But this book is pretty great. I still need to buy it. :-)
And here is my full review after my second reading from a year ago:
Review after second read-through in September 2015:
4 stars - very good/really liked
This time (first review available after this one) through the book I reviewed each story individually. I started my reading with the [a:Ilona Andrews|21748|Ilona Andrews|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1219436898p2/21748.jpg] story, "Magic Tests," as at the time I was reading the Kate Daniels series and this story was next in the chronology. Since I found it impossible to leave the book only partly read, I gradually read the rest of the stories throughout the first weeks of September. :-)
An average of the various star ratings given to the stories comes out to 4.15, which I'll round down to 4 since I "really like" this anthology. :-)
The theme for this collection is that every story is magical in some way and features students/schools. (Note: I had thought that apples were another common theme, but they're not mentioned in every story. In fact, it's the rare - only three of 13 - story that mentions apples.)
I love the variety in school settings in these stories: We have everything from one-on-one mentoring to true school environments; adult education classes to obedience school for dogs. This variety makes for great fun! :-)
I wish that apples had been a requirement for all the stories. I can't help but wonder if I'd have enjoyed the ones I didn't fall in love with more if apples had found a way into them.
That said, I now feel like all the authors are ones whose stories I want to read more of. My favorites this time through were, however, the stories by [a:Ilona Andrews|21748|Ilona Andrews|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1219436898p2/21748.jpg], [a:Toni L.P. Kelner|81016|Toni L.P. Kelner|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1442788389p2/81016.jpg], [a:Amber Benson|27209|Amber Benson|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1231537678p2/27209.jpg], [a:Faith Hunter|234115|Faith Hunter|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1301338242p2/234115.jpg], [a:Steve Hockensmith|146628|Steve Hockensmith|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1303116599p2/146628.jpg], and [a:Thomas E. Sniegoski|27140|Thomas E. Sniegoski|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1238440776p2/27140.jpg]. :-)
Playing Possum by [a:Charlaine Harris|17061|Charlaine Harris|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1399317093p2/17061.jpg]:
Read 09/05/2015; 4 stars - very good/really liked
I really enjoy this story. In it, Sookie has baked cupcakes and prepared goody bags for her nephew Hunter's kindergarten class's first-ever party. Sadly, plans for the party are interrupted when a crazy guy shows up at the school with a gun.
The apples in this storywere gifted to Hunter's teacher by various kids in her class, and she throws them at the gunman to get his attention so as to work a spell on him (the teacher is a witch).
Hunter istelepathic like Sookie , which adds an interesting touch to this story. I like that Sookie helps stop the gunman . Her psychic ability is not much good for offense, but she is still able to help. :-)
Spellcaster 2.0 by [a:Jonathan Maberry|72451|Jonathan Maberry|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1442453747p2/72451.jpg]:
Read 09/06/2015; 3 stars - above average/liked it
This story was pretty good...but then the ending lost me. The setting is a college where a group of students are working with a professor to create a database of all spells known "to the various beliefs of human culture." They all think it's purely academic, that magic isn't real. But their demonstration does not go as planned. And then there's the ending:Did Trey have a prophetic dream? Are they dead and the demon is making them repeat their mistakes in Hell?
Academy Field Trip by [a:Donald Harstad|406326|Donald Harstad|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1374519294p2/406326.jpg]:
Read 09/17/2015; 4 stars - very good/really liked
I really like this story. It always throws me for a loop to read it, because I always think thatthe three instructors will turn out to be bad guys who want Leslie as their newest victim. Instead, though, it's the other way around: Leslie was in cahoots with the bad guy and wanted on the instructors' task force to find out information for him.
I also find DH's version of vampires very intriguing. Fun! :-)
(As an aside, I'm very embarrassed to have written cohorts instead of cahoots in my status update. That's what I get for reading too close to sleepytime: brain lapses. lol)
Sympathy for the Bones by [a:Marjorie M. Liu|35022|Marjorie M. Liu|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1268491375p2/35022.jpg]:
Read 09/11/2015; 3.5 stars - good
This story was nicely creepy. But though it was good, I wasn't in sympathy with the main character/narrator. I also had trouble getting into the story: I felt like an observer, whereas usually when I read a story I feel a part of it. If I understood everything correctly, the young narrator, Clora,was responsible for the deaths of the three men. She told them it was Ruth's doing, but it was really hers. It's hard to be in sympathy with a liar and a murderer. That said, I'm glad she killed her teacher. Ruth might have killed the men without Clora's machinations, but even if she wouldn't have, she still used her magic for evil purposes. I was glad she got her comeuppance.
Low School by [a:Rhys Bowen|202867|Rhys Bowen|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1283051168p2/202867.jpg]:
Read 09/18/2015; 4 stars - very good/really liked
This was a fun story. Something's not right for Amy Weinstein: she's back in high school as the chubby nerd she used to be. But isn't she running for Congress? And thin and stylish? She must be dreaming, right?Not so much...
Turns out, Amy's in Hell. Principal Lucy Fer has a revelation for Amy about her former best friend Sally Ann Tan (also known as S.A. Tan, lol). Also turns out that even minors must abide by contracts when that contract has been signed in blood.
Amy's a fighter, though. Will she find a way out? It's up to the reader to decide. (Unless RB decides to write more stories of this world. RB? Any plans?) I, for one though, hopeAmy never finds a way out. It seems to me that she deserves this fate.
Callie Meet Happy by [a:Amber Benson|27209|Amber Benson|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1231537678p2/27209.jpg]:
Read 09/19/2015; 4.5 stars - great!
This is a super fun story. Callie, the head of Death, Inc., has to attend a class on Remedial Wormhole Calling. The teacher singles her out andCallie is asked to come up to the front of the class and show them that she's been paying attention. She tells herself that she wants to go "someplace happy!"
Much to Callie's and, presumably, the teacher's/students' surprise, Callieis successful! But her wormhole didn't take her to a happy place, it took her "to a place where Happy lives." :-)
Like I said, fun! Why have I not read any of the Calliope Reaper-Jones series???
Iphigenia in Aulis by [a:Mike Carey|9018|Mike Carey|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1334894864p2/9018.jpg]:
Read 09/19/2015; 3.5 stars - good
I'm really unsure as to how many stars to give this story. Reading it today, when I now know that it is a predecessor of the book, [b:The Girl with All the Gifts|17235026|The Girl with All the Gifts|M.R. Carey|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1403033579s/17235026.jpg|23753235] by [a:M.R. Carey|7177350|M.R. Carey|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1388910761p2/7177350.jpg] (and not a prequel; this is clearly a case of an author liking a short so much that he decides to return to the story and expand it into a book.)... Well, it's hard to pretend I'd never read that TGwAtG sample I recently read, in which much of this story appeared. (And if TGwAtG is just this story with more pages and the same ending, I'm going to be very disappointed.)
All that said, I think I'm safe in assuming that this is one of the stories I numbered amongst the "several [that] were sadly not the greatest according to my tastes, but still entertaining enough to read and enjoy at least once" in my earlier review (which you can read at the bottom of this review). So I think a "3.5 star - good" rating is fair.
One thing I definitely didn't care for in this story (another reason I think the low rating of 3.5 stars is fair) is because it seems to me there's an awful lot of set-up for a story of this size (only 26 pages). The first few pages are background about Melanie's school/teachers/life, then Melanie shares some memories with us, and then we're in the present and moving forward. At the end of the story, Sergeant seemed like a different man. And sadly, this story wasn't long enough, or written in such a way, as to make his change believable. (I had to believe it, since that's how the story was written, but it didn't make sense to me.)
And all that said, I'm now thinking maybe 3 stars would be a better a rating? But as I don't know how much is how I feel about this story and how much is just the bleed-over from reading that TGwAtG sample... Well... I think "3.5 stars - good" is probably how I felt when I first read it back in 2013.
Golden Delicious by [a:Faith Hunter|234115|Faith Hunter|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1301338242p2/234115.jpg]:
Read 09/10/2015; 4.5 stars - great!
I really like this story; it's great! I ended it with a smile on my face. :-) It makes me itch to get back to Jane Yellowrock and the Skinwalker series. In this short, Rick LaFleur narrates. He'sin training for PsyLED and helps identify and end a threat. He has a grindylow for a pet (and minder) and a werewolf stuck in wolf form for a partner. :-) The apple in this story was a gift from Rick to his mentor: A Golden Delicious apple on a gold chain. :-)
Magic Tests by [a:Ilona Andrews|21748|Ilona Andrews|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1219436898p2/21748.jpg]:
Read 09/05/2015; 5 stars - outstanding/amazing! :-)
I really love this story. In it, Kate takes Julie to Seven Star Academy, where Julie thinks she's going to be enrolled. Instead, she's to solve a mystery and find a missing girl. And by the end, Julie actually wants to be enrolled. Well played, Kate. Well played. :-)
The apples in this story werein the missing girl's desk, and the missing girl turns out to be an apple tree dryad. I love this story because Kate is in it, though Julie is the narrator, and she is so herself that it's impossible not to love it. It certainly doesn't hurt that one of the other kids at the school is a dragon. I love dragons and dragon shifters! :-) Also, Julie shows herself to be intelligent (whereas usually when we see her she's being somewhat of a brat) and the ending always puts a wide, wide smile on my face. :-)
An Introduction to Jewish Myth and Mysticism by [a:Steve Hockensmith|146628|Steve Hockensmith|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1303116599p2/146628.jpg]:
Read 09/10/2015; 4.5 stars - great!
This is a pretty great story. I really, really like it. :-) I was ready to be infuriated by the ending, though. I thought, "What do you mean, 'he never did say what the second reason was'?!" But a little thinking led me to believe that the second reasonthe Wandering Jew isn't relevant to a class on Jewish myths is because it's not a myth: the Wandering Jew is Professor Andy Abrams. As it was near to 3 a.m. when I finished this story, I felt pretty proud of myself to have realized this. ;-)
There were no apples in this story, but I certainly didn't miss them. ;-)
VSI by [a:Nancy Holder|27206|Nancy Holder|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1204922717p2/27206.jpg]:
Read 09/19/2015; 4 stars - very good/really liked
I really like this story. In it, FBI partners Claire and Jackson go to a special forensic training session on Advanced Evidence Collection Techniques...over Thanksgiving...and Claire thinks "it's got to be code for something else." Jackson suspects aliens. ;-)
In reality, though, the seminar isabout an active case involving vampires. And Claire is right to be suspicious of all the buccal swabs they are asked to do. ;-)
I was surprised thatClaire was suspected in the murders and the whole seminar thing was a ruse to clear her name...or to confirm that she was the vampire in question. I was not at all surprised to learn that it was Claire's husband, Peter, who was the true suspect. :-)
The Bad Hour by [a:Thomas E. Sniegoski|27140|Thomas E. Sniegoski|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1238440776p2/27140.jpg]:
Read 09/20/2015; 4.5 stars - great!
I love that the school in this story is an obedience school for dogs. :-) Remy is wrong, however, in the end whenhe calls Marlowe a "very good dog." Marlowe is a great dog! :-)
I'm docking this story a half-star as I do have one complaint about it: Patriciawent from enraged to contrite awfully fast. It felt like there was a paragraph or three missing.
Overall, though? I love this story. I can't believe that it's been two-plus years since I first read it and I still haven't read any of the Remy Chandler series books. I really need to correct all the oversights I've made and get to reading some new series. ;-)
Pirate Dave and the Captain's Ghost by [a:Toni L.P. Kelner|81016|Toni L.P. Kelner|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1442788389p2/81016.jpg]:
Read 09/20/2015; 5 stars - outstanding/amazing! :-)
I really love this story. It never fails to make me smile so widely that my cheeks hurt. :-)
I really need to find that book ([b:Death's Excellent Vacation|7102544|Death's Excellent Vacation (Sookie Stackhouse #9.5, Night Huntress, #4.5, Aisling Grey Guardian #4.5)|Charlaine Harris|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1261410663s/7102544.jpg|7136853]) that has the first Pirate Dave and Joyce story in it. And I really wish T.L.P.K. would write series books for these characters. I love them so much!!! :-)
Review after first read-through, February 16-18, 2013:
4 stars - very good/really liked
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Several stories inspired me to add some authors to my to-read list; one (the [a:Charlaine Harris|17061|Charlaine Harris|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1399317093p2/17061.jpg] story) made me want to revisit that series (the Sookie Stackhouse series) and get caught up on published works; and several were sadly not the greatest according to my tastes, but still entertaining enough to read and enjoy at least once.
The authors whose stories I enjoyed enough to want to read more by them were [a:Faith Hunter|234115|Faith Hunter|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1301338242p2/234115.jpg], [a:Toni L.P. Kelner|81016|Toni L.P. Kelner|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1442788389p2/81016.jpg], [a:Ilona Andrews|21748|Ilona Andrews|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1219436898p2/21748.jpg], [a:Thomas E. Sniegoski|27140|Thomas E. Sniegoski|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1238440776p2/27140.jpg], [a:Steve Hockensmith|146628|Steve Hockensmith|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1303116599p2/146628.jpg], [a:Jonathan Maberry|72451|Jonathan Maberry|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1442453747p2/72451.jpg], [a:Nancy Holder|27206|Nancy Holder|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1204922717p2/27206.jpg], and [a:Donald Harstad|406326|Donald Harstad|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1374519294p2/406326.jpg].
4.5 stars - great!
So I have a few thoughts I decided to share after this third reading of this book. First and most important, I'm making this a "4.5-star - great" book. This is just too fun to read. :-)
A couple things I noticed while reading this book this third time:
#1: The stories that I have never counted among my "I really liked it" stories now feel like a chore to read, sadly. Happily, though, there are only maybe two (make that three) stories that fall into this category.
#2: There are several lines in this book that surprised a laugh out of me. Unfortunately, I did not note any of them down, but I'm pretty sure one of them can be found in "VSI" by Nancy Holder. :-)
#3: I felt ever so proud of myself for realizing what the second, unnamed, reason was for why Professor Abrams refused to teach the story of "the Wandering Jew" in Steve Hockensmith's "An Introduction to Jewish Myth and Mysticism" after a scant few seconds of thought. (And a comparison to the spoiler about this in the review below shows that I'm "right.") :-)
One final thought: Why have I still not read any of the books in the Remy Chandler series??? :-(
But this book is pretty great. I still need to buy it. :-)
And here is my full review after my second reading from a year ago:
Review after second read-through in September 2015:
4 stars - very good/really liked
This time (first review available after this one) through the book I reviewed each story individually. I started my reading with the [a:Ilona Andrews|21748|Ilona Andrews|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1219436898p2/21748.jpg] story, "Magic Tests," as at the time I was reading the Kate Daniels series and this story was next in the chronology. Since I found it impossible to leave the book only partly read, I gradually read the rest of the stories throughout the first weeks of September. :-)
An average of the various star ratings given to the stories comes out to 4.15, which I'll round down to 4 since I "really like" this anthology. :-)
The theme for this collection is that every story is magical in some way and features students/schools. (Note: I had thought that apples were another common theme, but they're not mentioned in every story. In fact, it's the rare - only three of 13 - story that mentions apples.)
I love the variety in school settings in these stories: We have everything from one-on-one mentoring to true school environments; adult education classes to obedience school for dogs. This variety makes for great fun! :-)
I wish that apples had been a requirement for all the stories. I can't help but wonder if I'd have enjoyed the ones I didn't fall in love with more if apples had found a way into them.
That said, I now feel like all the authors are ones whose stories I want to read more of. My favorites this time through were, however, the stories by [a:Ilona Andrews|21748|Ilona Andrews|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1219436898p2/21748.jpg], [a:Toni L.P. Kelner|81016|Toni L.P. Kelner|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1442788389p2/81016.jpg], [a:Amber Benson|27209|Amber Benson|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1231537678p2/27209.jpg], [a:Faith Hunter|234115|Faith Hunter|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1301338242p2/234115.jpg], [a:Steve Hockensmith|146628|Steve Hockensmith|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1303116599p2/146628.jpg], and [a:Thomas E. Sniegoski|27140|Thomas E. Sniegoski|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1238440776p2/27140.jpg]. :-)
Playing Possum by [a:Charlaine Harris|17061|Charlaine Harris|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1399317093p2/17061.jpg]:
Read 09/05/2015; 4 stars - very good/really liked
I really enjoy this story. In it, Sookie has baked cupcakes and prepared goody bags for her nephew Hunter's kindergarten class's first-ever party. Sadly, plans for the party are interrupted when a crazy guy shows up at the school with a gun.
The apples in this story
Hunter is
Spellcaster 2.0 by [a:Jonathan Maberry|72451|Jonathan Maberry|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1442453747p2/72451.jpg]:
Read 09/06/2015; 3 stars - above average/liked it
This story was pretty good...but then the ending lost me. The setting is a college where a group of students are working with a professor to create a database of all spells known "to the various beliefs of human culture." They all think it's purely academic, that magic isn't real. But their demonstration does not go as planned. And then there's the ending:
Academy Field Trip by [a:Donald Harstad|406326|Donald Harstad|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1374519294p2/406326.jpg]:
Read 09/17/2015; 4 stars - very good/really liked
I really like this story. It always throws me for a loop to read it, because I always think that
I also find DH's version of vampires very intriguing. Fun! :-)
(As an aside, I'm very embarrassed to have written cohorts instead of cahoots in my status update. That's what I get for reading too close to sleepytime: brain lapses. lol)
Sympathy for the Bones by [a:Marjorie M. Liu|35022|Marjorie M. Liu|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1268491375p2/35022.jpg]:
Read 09/11/2015; 3.5 stars - good
This story was nicely creepy. But though it was good, I wasn't in sympathy with the main character/narrator. I also had trouble getting into the story: I felt like an observer, whereas usually when I read a story I feel a part of it. If I understood everything correctly, the young narrator, Clora,
Low School by [a:Rhys Bowen|202867|Rhys Bowen|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1283051168p2/202867.jpg]:
Read 09/18/2015; 4 stars - very good/really liked
This was a fun story. Something's not right for Amy Weinstein: she's back in high school as the chubby nerd she used to be. But isn't she running for Congress? And thin and stylish? She must be dreaming, right?
Turns out, Amy's in Hell. Principal Lucy Fer has a revelation for Amy about her former best friend Sally Ann Tan (also known as S.A. Tan, lol). Also turns out that even minors must abide by contracts when that contract has been signed in blood.
Amy's a fighter, though. Will she find a way out? It's up to the reader to decide. (Unless RB decides to write more stories of this world. RB? Any plans?) I, for one though, hope
Callie Meet Happy by [a:Amber Benson|27209|Amber Benson|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1231537678p2/27209.jpg]:
Read 09/19/2015; 4.5 stars - great!
This is a super fun story. Callie, the head of Death, Inc., has to attend a class on Remedial Wormhole Calling. The teacher singles her out and
Much to Callie's and, presumably, the teacher's/students' surprise, Callie
Like I said, fun! Why have I not read any of the Calliope Reaper-Jones series???
Iphigenia in Aulis by [a:Mike Carey|9018|Mike Carey|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1334894864p2/9018.jpg]:
Read 09/19/2015; 3.5 stars - good
I'm really unsure as to how many stars to give this story. Reading it today, when I now know that it is a predecessor of the book, [b:The Girl with All the Gifts|17235026|The Girl with All the Gifts|M.R. Carey|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1403033579s/17235026.jpg|23753235] by [a:M.R. Carey|7177350|M.R. Carey|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1388910761p2/7177350.jpg] (and not a prequel; this is clearly a case of an author liking a short so much that he decides to return to the story and expand it into a book.)... Well, it's hard to pretend I'd never read that TGwAtG sample I recently read, in which much of this story appeared. (And if TGwAtG is just this story with more pages and the same ending, I'm going to be very disappointed.)
All that said, I think I'm safe in assuming that this is one of the stories I numbered amongst the "several [that] were sadly not the greatest according to my tastes, but still entertaining enough to read and enjoy at least once" in my earlier review (which you can read at the bottom of this review). So I think a "3.5 star - good" rating is fair.
One thing I definitely didn't care for in this story (another reason I think the low rating of 3.5 stars is fair) is because it seems to me there's an awful lot of set-up for a story of this size (only 26 pages). The first few pages are background about Melanie's school/teachers/life, then Melanie shares some memories with us, and then we're in the present and moving forward. At the end of the story, Sergeant seemed like a different man. And sadly, this story wasn't long enough, or written in such a way, as to make his change believable. (I had to believe it, since that's how the story was written, but it didn't make sense to me.)
And all that said, I'm now thinking maybe 3 stars would be a better a rating? But as I don't know how much is how I feel about this story and how much is just the bleed-over from reading that TGwAtG sample... Well... I think "3.5 stars - good" is probably how I felt when I first read it back in 2013.
Golden Delicious by [a:Faith Hunter|234115|Faith Hunter|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1301338242p2/234115.jpg]:
Read 09/10/2015; 4.5 stars - great!
I really like this story; it's great! I ended it with a smile on my face. :-) It makes me itch to get back to Jane Yellowrock and the Skinwalker series. In this short, Rick LaFleur narrates. He's
Magic Tests by [a:Ilona Andrews|21748|Ilona Andrews|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1219436898p2/21748.jpg]:
Read 09/05/2015; 5 stars - outstanding/amazing! :-)
I really love this story. In it, Kate takes Julie to Seven Star Academy, where Julie thinks she's going to be enrolled. Instead, she's to solve a mystery and find a missing girl. And by the end, Julie actually wants to be enrolled. Well played, Kate. Well played. :-)
The apples in this story were
An Introduction to Jewish Myth and Mysticism by [a:Steve Hockensmith|146628|Steve Hockensmith|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1303116599p2/146628.jpg]:
Read 09/10/2015; 4.5 stars - great!
This is a pretty great story. I really, really like it. :-) I was ready to be infuriated by the ending, though. I thought, "What do you mean, 'he never did say what the second reason was'?!" But a little thinking led me to believe that the second reason
There were no apples in this story, but I certainly didn't miss them. ;-)
VSI by [a:Nancy Holder|27206|Nancy Holder|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1204922717p2/27206.jpg]:
Read 09/19/2015; 4 stars - very good/really liked
I really like this story. In it, FBI partners Claire and Jackson go to a special forensic training session on Advanced Evidence Collection Techniques...over Thanksgiving...and Claire thinks "it's got to be code for something else." Jackson suspects aliens. ;-)
In reality, though, the seminar is
I was surprised that
The Bad Hour by [a:Thomas E. Sniegoski|27140|Thomas E. Sniegoski|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1238440776p2/27140.jpg]:
Read 09/20/2015; 4.5 stars - great!
I love that the school in this story is an obedience school for dogs. :-) Remy is wrong, however, in the end when
I'm docking this story a half-star as I do have one complaint about it: Patricia
Overall, though? I love this story. I can't believe that it's been two-plus years since I first read it and I still haven't read any of the Remy Chandler series books. I really need to correct all the oversights I've made and get to reading some new series. ;-)
Pirate Dave and the Captain's Ghost by [a:Toni L.P. Kelner|81016|Toni L.P. Kelner|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1442788389p2/81016.jpg]:
Read 09/20/2015; 5 stars - outstanding/amazing! :-)
I really love this story. It never fails to make me smile so widely that my cheeks hurt. :-)
"...I was already making waves... I'd survived a bite, which was unusual; I'd refused to affiliate with a pack, which was unheard of; and I was living in glorious sin with a vampire, which was appalling."
I really need to find that book ([b:Death's Excellent Vacation|7102544|Death's Excellent Vacation (Sookie Stackhouse #9.5, Night Huntress, #4.5, Aisling Grey Guardian #4.5)|Charlaine Harris|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1261410663s/7102544.jpg|7136853]) that has the first Pirate Dave and Joyce story in it. And I really wish T.L.P.K. would write series books for these characters. I love them so much!!! :-)
Review after first read-through, February 16-18, 2013:
4 stars - very good/really liked
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Several stories inspired me to add some authors to my to-read list; one (the [a:Charlaine Harris|17061|Charlaine Harris|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1399317093p2/17061.jpg] story) made me want to revisit that series (the Sookie Stackhouse series) and get caught up on published works; and several were sadly not the greatest according to my tastes, but still entertaining enough to read and enjoy at least once.
The authors whose stories I enjoyed enough to want to read more by them were [a:Faith Hunter|234115|Faith Hunter|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1301338242p2/234115.jpg], [a:Toni L.P. Kelner|81016|Toni L.P. Kelner|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1442788389p2/81016.jpg], [a:Ilona Andrews|21748|Ilona Andrews|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1219436898p2/21748.jpg], [a:Thomas E. Sniegoski|27140|Thomas E. Sniegoski|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1238440776p2/27140.jpg], [a:Steve Hockensmith|146628|Steve Hockensmith|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1303116599p2/146628.jpg], [a:Jonathan Maberry|72451|Jonathan Maberry|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1442453747p2/72451.jpg], [a:Nancy Holder|27206|Nancy Holder|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1204922717p2/27206.jpg], and [a:Donald Harstad|406326|Donald Harstad|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1374519294p2/406326.jpg].
book_grinch's review
4.0
So far, i've only read Magic Tests by the team Ilona Andrews.
What can i say about this story?
I loved it! Just wished that this short story, wasn't so short... :D
Julie...what can i say about this girl?
Well, why don't you read this small excerpt:
The first guard stepped forward, blocking my path. I gave him my cute smile,
looked past him, and pointed to myself, as if I was being summoned over and couldn’t
believe it. He glanced over his shoulder to check Yu Fong’s face. I drove my fist hard
into his gut. The boy folded around my fist with a surprised gasp. I slammed my hand
onto his head, driving his head down. Face meet knee. Boom! The impact reverberated
through my leg.
I shoved him aside and kept moving. The second bodyguard jumped to his feet. I
swiped the nearest chair, swung it, and hit him with it just as he was coming up.
The chair connected to the side of his head with a solid crunch. I let go and he
stumbled back with the chair on top of him. I stepped past him and landed in the spare
chair at the table.
The uber-guy slowly raised his gaze from his book and looked at me.
Whoa.
(..)
I touched the surface of the table with the tip of my finger. “Safe.”
Kate and Curran must be SO Proud!
She's like a mini Kate! Without a sword...
What can i say about this story?
I loved it! Just wished that this short story, wasn't so short... :D
Julie...what can i say about this girl?
Well, why don't you read this small excerpt:
The first guard stepped forward, blocking my path. I gave him my cute smile,
looked past him, and pointed to myself, as if I was being summoned over and couldn’t
believe it. He glanced over his shoulder to check Yu Fong’s face. I drove my fist hard
into his gut. The boy folded around my fist with a surprised gasp. I slammed my hand
onto his head, driving his head down. Face meet knee. Boom! The impact reverberated
through my leg.
I shoved him aside and kept moving. The second bodyguard jumped to his feet. I
swiped the nearest chair, swung it, and hit him with it just as he was coming up.
The chair connected to the side of his head with a solid crunch. I let go and he
stumbled back with the chair on top of him. I stepped past him and landed in the spare
chair at the table.
The uber-guy slowly raised his gaze from his book and looked at me.
Whoa.
(..)
I touched the surface of the table with the tip of my finger. “Safe.”
Kate and Curran must be SO Proud!
She's like a mini Kate! Without a sword...
fmoreno's review against another edition
3.0
I only read Magic Tests by Ilona. I liked Julie very much and I can say that I would like to read a series or a book - not a ya one, please - about her. She has to have her HEA. It was great to read something in her "voice".
rachelm31f6b's review against another edition
5.0
Julie is such a darling kid. I loved this short story.
malin12ccf's review against another edition
4.0
It's not fair to do a full review of this, because I only read one story - Ilona Andrew's Magic Learns. That was really good, though, and it was nice to see Julie's POV, if only briefly.
catniprocks's review against another edition
3.0
Read it for the Kate Daniels short. Funny, so funny! I never really felt like I got to know Julie and this give me a lil glimpse into her character. Funny, clever, and snarky as a Kate novel, if you can handle shorts, I recommend it.