Bogormen

Title: Bear, Otter and the Kid
Author: T.J. Klune
Genre: LGBTQ+
Rating: 2/5
# pages: Audiobook ~12hrs
Date read: February 2021

Three years ago, Bear McKenna’s mother took off for parts unknown with her new boyfriend, leaving Bear to raise his six-year-old brother Tyson, aka the Kid. Somehow they’ve muddled through, but since he’s totally devoted to the Kid, Bear isn’t actually doing much living—with a few exceptions, he’s retreated from the world, and he’s mostly okay with that. Until Otter comes home.

Otter is Bear’s best friend’s older brother, and as they’ve done for their whole lives, Bear and Otter crash and collide in ways neither expect. This time, though, there’s nowhere to run from the depth of emotion between them. Bear still believes his place is as the Kid’s guardian, but he can’t help thinking there could be something more for him in the world... something or someone.


Well, I guess it had to happen... the first T.J. Klune book I didn't absolutely love. In fact, I came very, very close to giving up on it at around the 80% mark. I know - ridiculously late, but DRAMA(TM) happened, followed by the mother of all bad decisions, and I just couldn't stomach reading it. In the end, my finishing it boiled down to a) me not being able to find a sufficiently spoilerific review to let me know how the drama was resolved (after 80% I wanted to know!) and b) me not being able to return the book to Audible. In the end, I listened to the last 3 hours at 1.5x speed as I wanted to do the opposite of savouring it. I'm slightly curious as to what happens next (this is the first in a series of 4 books), but meh... not enough to actually risk putting myself through something like this again.

Up until that drama I rather liked the book though. Wasn't in love with it, but liked it well enough, and could go either way in regards to finishing the series. Bear was more than a little inclined to angst, but with his history I couldn't really blame him, and the flashbacks and inner monologues didn't bother me as much as other readers. I was very unimpressed with all the secrecy and especially all the tension that could have been resolved if people would just COMMUNICATE ALREADY, but Otter and Creed were lovely, and very 'on point' for how T.J. Klune usually writes characters, and while the Kid was rather precocious, I've met 9-year-olds like that, so didn't find him too unrealistic.

But the drama... the drama was unrealistic, over the top and just badly done. And the worst thing is - THE MOTIVATION WAS NEVER EXPLAINED!! Bear questioned it... but then it just disappeared. Granted, it may be revealed in a latter book (reading the blurbs indicate that parts of the drama may be revisited in the next book), but that's just lazy writing.

So if you're in my shoes -- reading reviews as you've come to the Very Bad Fight to see if it's worth your time reading on (because according to reviews I wasn't alone in considering stopping there) -- here are the spoilers I was hoping to find myself....
( Read more... )

Title: Violet (For the Love of Purple #3)
Author: Audrey Faye
Genre: Fiction
Rating: 4/5
# pages: 153
Date read: February, 2021

She’s empathic. He’s autistic. Born different - and about to discover what lives in the magical place where their differences meet.

Violet feels all the things, catches glimpses of the future, and knows exactly the right pillow for every person she meets, which is good, because they rarely choose the right ones.

Linus isn’t usually a baker, but for three weeks every year, he returns to the town where he was once a small boy with garbled words and bakes bread so that his aunt can take her annual vacation.

There’s a whole town with opinions on whether the two of them belong together. Fortunately, there are also friends with hammers, and hooch-making ghosts.


A very fitting final book in the trilogy. Book two is still my favourite, but the series as a whole makes for great comfort reading. I really liked Linus, and loved seeing how people opened up to him and were willing to make changes to meet his needs.

Title: A Walk in the Woods
Author: Bill Bryson
Genre: Memoir
Rating: 4/5
# pages: Audiobook, ~9hrs
Date read: March 2012, February 2021

The Appalachian Trail trail stretches from Georgia to Maine and covers some of the most breathtaking terrain in America - majestic mountains, silent forests, sparking lakes. If you're going to take a hike, it's probably the place to go. And Bill Bryson is surely the most entertaing guide you'll find. He introduces us to the history and ecology of the trail and to some of the other hardy (or just foolhardy) folks he meets along the way - and a couple of bears.

Bill Bryson's writing style is very much like Douglas Adams' in places, which naturally immediately endeared him to me. While not quite as excellent a book as "In A Sunburned Country", it's still a riveting read, and I found myself longing to go on hikes on the Appalachian Trail myself, even though I know there's no way I could do all of it.

Reading so many of Bill Bryson's books so closely together was quite amusing, as I discovered that he tends to repeat himself - quite a number of anecdotes from this one also featured in "A Short History..." They fit in both places though, so it didn't feel like superfluous information either place.

Title: Kald mig Prinsesse
Author: Sara Blædel
Genre: Suspense
Rating: 9/10
# pages: 320
Date read: July 2007, May 2014, February 2021

"Call me Princess" The homocide department of Copenhagen police station receive news that a young woman has been raped, and detective Louise Rick is put on the case. The woman was raped by a man she met on a dating site, but the identity he stated was false. Looking through unsolved rape cases, Louise finds more following a similar pattern and when a young woman is shortly after found choked while raped by the same man, all resources are put into finding the serial rapist who operates in the shadows of the anonymity of the internet. But all leads turn up cold, and Louise Rick realizes that they need to turn to untraditional methods. So she creates a dating-profile herself.


I could not put this book down! It was fascinating and chilling, because it could so easily happen.

My only beef with the book was that it ended too soon. I doubt I spoil anybody by revealing that they catch the guy in the end ;) but the book ends right when they arrest him. I would have appreciated another 20 pages or so - perhaps as an epilogue - wrapping things up. There were too few reactions to the identity of the rapist.