mdgoodrich's reviews
251 reviews

Wow, I loved this book. I couldn’t read it fast enough! A fun and unexpected read, fast-paced, will keep you on the edge of your seat. I did have to suspend my disbelief, but I didn’t care!

This book! Incredible. I was completely sucked in from start to finish. It was full of nerdy yet accessible science stuff that felt like it could be happening in our world right now. I was not anticipating such a heartwarming story amongst potential Earth destruction, government cooperation, and constant problem solving where the main character often forgets (or even has time) to sleep! This story wrapped me up in its universe, moved me to happy tears many times, and ended with a huge hug…I don’t want it to be over.

“We no give up. We work hard. We are brave.”

I mostly enjoyed this book, but about halfway through I just wanted it to finish up. I wasn’t in love with the main character, Emma, she was just okay. I’m happy with the partner she chose in the end, but overall this one is my least favorite books from TJR.

This was not the book to read during a cold, depressing winter month!

I tried to listen to this book as an audiobook and couldn’t get past the reader’s voice. This was a much better read in print. I loved the children and their personalities. The character development of Linus was very satisfying in the end - loved his sass.

I hope there’s a sequel with more children joining the home and more adventures for the island and the town.

I didn’t love this one as much as the first, but still enjoyed it! Not a whole lot changed for the characters in this book from the first and the pacing was a bit slower. The love triangle became annoying this time around, mainly because there just wasn’t any movement forward. I almost wish she’d just drop both of them and be happily single for a while instead of continuing to string both of the men along.

This was maybe more of a 3.5 ⭐️ book for me. Enjoyed it, but much heavier than I expected.

This was a tough book for me to get into (and to power through TBH). Many POVs in Part 1 and switching back and forth from 1960 to 1964. Perhaps it would have been easier to read in print, but as an audiobook it was confusing. The story picked up for me in Part 2 and I really thought to myself “This is shaping up to be a 4 star book!”…and then I was catapulted into Part 3 where the story switched to “present day” and introduced a brand new character (who I really couldn’t get behind).

There were definitely some great parts, but I wish ‘Ellie’ would have been brought in sooner and better weaved into the storyline. Overall, I was often left feeling a little exhausted at trying to keep all the characters and timelines straight!