en-US Sat, 26 Apr 2025 07:22:47 -0700 60 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg Comment289919393 Sat, 26 Apr 2025 07:22:47 -0700 /review/show/7344995406 Caz's review of The Meaning Of You (Fisher & Church #1)
by Jay Hogan

One-clicked � thanks. ]]> Review7488849647 Thu, 24 Apr 2025 16:19:17 -0700 /review/show/7488849647 Georgie-who-is-Sarah-Drew gave 2 stars to The King of Torts (Paperback) by John Grisham
bookshelves: fiction, genre-tec, tag-reviewed
A curiosity. I'd expected a riveting legal thriller. I got a Greek tragedy crossed with a medieval morality play.

The titular King of Torts is Clay Carter, a man with feet and morals of clay. Although he starts the book as a man with at least a vestigial conscience, and a nose for bullshit, it isn't long before this latter-day Faust is tempted by easy riches into conducting profitable class actions against large pharmaceutical companies. Profitable, that is, for the lawyers involved—not so much for the plaintiffs. Clay's new-found financial success is followed by—well, his trajectory is well sign-posted.

The book's unsatisfying because it's primarily a vehicle for Grisham to rant about the callousness of class-actions (at least as they're shown here). Clay's merely a puppet character: Grisham makes him turn down a perfectly respectable route to wealth and marriage in one chapter, while in the next Clay succumbs to the blandishments of an unknown tempter. Frankly, this gives the reader no reason to care about him. A better book would offer us a Macbeth or a Michael Henchard—some one we could respect, and shout at from our armchair. "Don't do it, this won't end well, be true to yourself."

The motives & powers of Max Pace (Clay's Mephistopheles, offering him untold riches in exchange for his soul) are never adequately explained, so there's a sense from the beginning that the plot's based on a house of cards. Add in the dizzying head-hopping PoVs (from one sentence to the next), and you end up with a book that's long, preachy and—because the ending's visible from the start—boring. ]]> Review3144076049 Tue, 01 Apr 2025 15:35:22 -0700 /review/show/3144076049 Georgie-who-is-Sarah-Drew has read The Ivanov Diamond (Malykant Mysteries, #2) by Charlotte E. English
bookshelves: genre-fantasy, fiction, archived, tag-calibre-reviewed
3.75 stars
Short, effective and atmospheric. Delighted to discover this is part of a series. ]]> Review7354788681 Tue, 01 Apr 2025 15:35:10 -0700 /review/show/7354788681 Georgie-who-is-Sarah-Drew gave 4 stars to Not That Ridiculous (Not That #3) by Isabel Murray
bookshelves: kindle, fiction, genre-cr, stars-4-5, tag-calibre-reviewed
3.75 stars
Unpretentious wish-fulfilment story, which I thoroughly enjoyed. On another day, I might have queried the vestigial plot, but the cinnamon roll energy is strong in this one. Both MCs are allowed to be imperfect, and there's a little quiet joy in seeing them fall for each other nevertheless. ]]> Review7262880027 Tue, 01 Apr 2025 15:34:43 -0700 /review/show/7262880027 Georgie-who-is-Sarah-Drew gave 4 stars to Dick Move: Island Confidential Novella (Kindle Edition) by TA Moore
bookshelves: kindle, fiction, genre-cr, stars-4-5, tag-calibre-reviewed
3.75 stars
Slight, silly, good fun and told with Moore's characteristic verve. ]]> ReadStatus9259963366 Tue, 01 Apr 2025 15:34:39 -0700 /review/show/7354788681 Georgie-who-is-Sarah-Drew finished reading Not That Ridiculous by Isabel Murray
]]> Review7081413495 Tue, 01 Apr 2025 15:34:28 -0700 /review/show/7081413495 Georgie-who-is-Sarah-Drew gave 4 stars to Deck the Halls with Secret Agents (Kindle Edition) by Aster Glenn Gray
bookshelves: kindle, fiction, genre-cr, stars-4-5, tag-calibre-reviewed
Delightful. ]]> ReadStatus9259963185 Tue, 01 Apr 2025 15:34:12 -0700 /review/show/7262880027 Georgie-who-is-Sarah-Drew finished reading Dick Move: Island Confidential Novella by TA Moore
]]> Review7094096895 Tue, 01 Apr 2025 15:34:11 -0700 /review/show/7094096895 Georgie-who-is-Sarah-Drew gave 3 stars to On Circus Lane (The Wright Brothers, #1) by Lily Morton
bookshelves: kindle, genre-cr, fiction, tag-calibre-reviewed
3.5 stars
A little marshmallow novella. Sweetly insubstantial. ]]> ReadStatus9259962984 Tue, 01 Apr 2025 15:33:58 -0700 /review/show/7081413495 Georgie-who-is-Sarah-Drew finished reading Deck the Halls with Secret Agents by Aster Glenn Gray
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