from description: After surviving a crash course in espionage at the mysterious Academy Absconditi, November has only one purpose: finding her missing father. Along with fellow student (and heartthrob) Ash, November follows the clues that her father left, embarking on the deadliest treasure hunt of her life.
I hoped the second book would provide a little more depth, but it stayed surface and action oriented. The clues and their locations were amazingly difficult and dangerous, and I found it difficult to believe a loving father would put his daughter in such situations. My ability to suspend belief in the first book was difficult, but in this one...impossible. Not that I was tempted to abandon it--I wanted to know what happened.
That said, the reviews on Goodreads are extremely high.
NetGalley/Random House Children's
YA/Suspense. May 5, 2020. Print length: 368 pages.
In the midst of her shock, anger, and sadness, Clara buys a cottage in a remote village. Sight unseen. There you have it. One emotional upset followed by a financial one when Clara actually sees the cottage for the first time.
Some interesting characters, several characters with problems that need solving, and the happy ending you would expect.
Kindle Unlimited
English Village Cozy. March 28.
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An interesting article on The Bystander Effect by Catherine Sanderson.
According to Catherine A Sanderson, a psychology professor at Amherst College in Massachusetts and the author of The Bystander Effect, myriad complex factors make some of us bystanders and some of us heroes. These range from our self-identity to the pressure of social norms.
Sanderson says she was inspired to write the book by both “personal and global” events: Harvey Weinstein’s sex offences, the USA Gymnastics sex abuse scandal, and the fact that a student at her son’s college died just two weeks into his very first semester. The student had been drinking heavily and had fallen and hit his head. Although fellow students watched over him, they didn’t call emergency services for nearly 20 hours. By which time it was too late to save him. Her book answers the question at the heart of this incident: why?
The article encouraged my interest in the book. It doesn't mention in the article about what happened in Germany during the rise of Hitler, but I'm sure the book covers that situation which led to normal people accepting evil behavior.
I checked with Amazon, but the book was "not available." ??? That only piqued my interest.
I'm really curious about the November series and I hope the next book will be better. And that Kate Forster book sounds like a fun read. :)
ReplyDeleteI think I'm done with the November series. The first book was OK, but the second one was a little annoying.
DeleteCottages in villages and starting over are three things that always pique my interest. Especially if that village happens to be in England somewhere. :)
ReplyDeleteEnglish villages appeal to me, too. :)
DeleteLet's hope there are more clues to November's background in future volumes. Starting over sounds adorable, but for what ever reason I prefer rom-coms in movie form. I don't like to read them. Weird. :D
ReplyDeleteI don't know if there will be a third book in the November series. There is certainly a conclusion to Hunting November that wraps up the narrative from the first book. I don't usually read books like Acorn Cottage, but during this pandemic, a book about starting over in an English village appealed. :)
DeleteI'm sorry Hunting November didn't work out as well as the first one -- it really is such an exciting premise.
ReplyDeleteOh wouldn't it be nice to be in a cute cottage like that and imagine that everything in the world was fine? This cozy looks cute. And, what an interesting book about the bystander effect.
ReplyDelete