I've officially added anne rice to my do-not-buy list. I refuse to buy any of her books new. I will buy them used, since she won't get my money. I will get her books from my library, but I will not give her my money directly.

This makes me sad, because I read a lot of the first three vampire chronicle's books in high school and even within the last couple of years. 

This account belongs to a badly behaving author...

http://maggiespence.booklikes.com/

Currently, she's harassing various members of our community. If you have issues with this user, please contact support at contact@booklikes.com.

Let me tell you the first thing I thought when I walked into that playground on that kindergarten orientation day was cliquey. Cliquey, cliquey, cliquey. I'm not surprised someone ended up dead. Oh, all right. I guess that's overstating it. I was a little surprised.

You wouldn't think it (or at least I didn't think it would be), but a story about parents of kindergarteners at a public school in Australia can be pretty damn interesting. I've read a few of Liane Moriarty's books and enjoyed them so that is ultimately why I decided to read this book. Once I started reading this I became hooked, like you wouldn't believe, on all the drama going on in this community.

There were two sides you could pledge your loyalty to, Team Renata or Team Madeline. I considered myself a proud member of Team Madeline while reading this book. The main drama in this book all revolves around some incidents involving Renata's daughter, Amabella. Renata turns into a mama grizzly and the two sides are formed. There is much more drama in these characters' lives but that is the main drama in the community.

From the beginning of the book you know that someone dies in this book, you just don't know who it is and why/how they died. You know that these questions will be answered once the events of the Trivia Night are revealed. The book covers the events up to the Trivia Night and then reveals what happened on Trivia Night. I was dying to know what happened and who died. I just loved making up my own theories for what I thought happened.

I became way too engrossed in these characters' lives and would wonder what would happen to them whenever I had to put the book down. Moriarty has a way of creating such fascinating characters that no matter if I am annoyed out of my mind at them I am also dying to know what happens to them next.

Thanks to the publisher for providing me with an advanced reader e-book through the First to Read program.

I am a horrible person. I suppose that I should feel guilty about taking so much energy to rant about the horrible sh*t that went down in book 1 and book 2, when I'm about to majorly drop the ball on reviewing this book, which I actually did like.

It's not even that pointing out frustrations is more fun (oh who am I kidding; it can be), it's just that I still haven't had the time and/or desire to want to review much lately - even for books that made me happy. 

The lead female actually used her brain more than once. I know! I couldn't believe it either, after being so disappointed with Marie and Sophie in previous books. Em was a little bit stronger, a little bit tougher, and a little bit sassier.She also knew when to walk the hell away from a situation that wasn't good for her. *applause*

Hunter wasn't a role model, and that was okay for this particular story. Even with the continuation of the kidnapping plot (which I am thoroughly sick of in MC books), I felt like we got to see an admittedly damaged man come into his own in a way which felt somewhat believable. Hunter had issues, but he KNEW he had issues. He KNEW he was a stalker. He KNEW that he had to get Em off the crazy train. How much better would most super-heavy-drama books be if the screwed up characters actually took some responsibility for their shit? 

I loved watching Hunter grow. I loved watching Hunter's buried sensitive side come out. 

There was some great sexual tension, and much of it was fueled by Em. She already knew what being in the lifestyle meant and what the sacrifices would be, which made her acceptance of everything easier to digest than it had been with Marie and Sophie, who had gone along for the ride far too easily for my preference. 

I know a lot of people didn't like this book as much as the first two, but I felt the writing and characters were stronger on every level. I would rather read something that makes sense and has true character development over reading something that has no entertainment value outside of a drama/shock factor. At least this time, I didn't feel like I was being lead around through a mad house only for the purpose of waiting for a halfway decent sex scene. 

The bantering humor was a welcome addition. The sex wasn't as mind blowing as I would have liked, but the chemistry and timing was excellent, so the balance worked for me. 

My only gripe : I was very put off by the author note at the end, almost "apologizing" for the NA character ages. I agree that NA has a bit of a stigma right now, but don't justify writing what what you want to write. It only fuels the stereotype of certain things being lesser than others. While I do feel that there's a lot of crap NA out there right now, it has not ONE thing to do with character ages, and more to do with cliched and bad writing. If your book is good, it's good, regardless of character age. If the fans can't see that, shake it off and continue writing your next adult book. Please don't make explanations for what you want to do. *soapbox off*

I'm really looking forward to Picnic's book!