Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Full honesty: I had never heard of this book series until the Netflix series premiered. I was so excited to start reading the books but quickly became annoyed with the author’s style. There are moments where the writing is amazing and I actually cried or laughed with the characters, but then there are moments that took me totally out of the story and had me thinking the author didn’t care enough to develop the scene. Despite these issues I was determined to at least get to Penelope’s and Eloise’s stories. I never imagined what a complete let down they both would be. How on earth are other readers ok with the fact that Colins whole personality is reduced to the-guy-who-is-always-hungry? The potential was there when Penelope found his journal, yet Colin somehow remained a passive participant that just went along, while constantly asking for food! All of his choices seemed perfunctory and it made me realize that the same was true for Benedict as well. The author decided these men should want to have a purpose so they did, but there was no real character development involved. At least I can hope that the Netflix series will do a better job when it gets to Penelope and Colin. I can’t recall a time where a tv series does a better job adding depth to a character than the books. I’m not going to bother to review Eloise’s book but once again Colin is just eating or asking for food. I will not be reading any more of this author’s work.