The Counselors by Jessica Goodman
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
This one missed the mark for me. I’ve read Jessica Goodman before and enjoyed other books by her, but this one not so much. I think I was expecting or thinking I was going to get something different with a more amateur detective-type story and more mystery.
It was about these 3 girls that are like 3 sisters who have always been or gone to summer camp together and having Goldie’s ex-boyfriend show up dead that summer by the lake. Goldie reflects on the past with her ex and at the summer camp. She also reflects on her relationships with her two best friends and how things have or are changing. After her ex-boyfriend shows up dead, she starts to do some searching and snooping around a bit to find out what happened, who killed her ex-bf, and why. The sister friendship with Goldie and her friends is a strong one that plays into the story as well, but like I said I was expecting and looking for more than I got out of this story. If you like Jessica Goodman, summer camp stories, light, and easy not too much mystery or anything then this could be something you’d enjoy reading. It just wasn’t for me.
Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Group Penguin Young Readers Group, and Razorbill for letting me read and review this story. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
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More Than You’ll Ever Know by Katie Gutierrez
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Okay so I was going to give it 3 stars but then it got more interesting toward the end when I became more invested in the story and wanted to know the answers to what really happened with Lore, Fabian, and Andres on that dreadful night. I was very into the story and trying to figure out the puzzle right along with Cassie and when the truth comes out, I saw parts of it coming from a ways away, but the last twist at the very end threw me a little bit.
This is about Dolores “Lore” Rivera who marries Andres Russo in Mexico City, even though she is already married to Fabian Rivera in Laredo, Texas, and they share twin sons. Through her career as an international banker, Lore splits her time between two countries and two families—until the truth is revealed and one husband is arrested for murdering the other. Then in 2017, Cassie is immediately enticed by what is not explored: Why would a woman—a mother—risk everything for a secret double marriage? Cassie sees an opportunity—she’ll track Lore down and capture the full picture, the choices, the deceptions that led to disaster. Soon, her determination to uncover the truth could threaten to derail Lore’s now quiet life—and expose the many secrets both women are hiding. Told through alternating timelines, More Than You’ll Ever Know is both a gripping mystery and a wrenching family drama. Presenting a window into the hearts of two very different women, it explores the many conflicting demands of marriage and motherhood, and the impossibility of ever truly knowing someone—especially those we love.
Cassie and Lore form some kind of close relationship/bond and find a friend in the other it seems, but it’s a weird situation with Cassie looking into the murder of Andres and questioning Lore digging into her life, everyone’s lives, and everything. Going through this investigation and questioning Lore brings things to the surface for Cassie to have to face and deal with as well as for Lore and her family also. It starts a bit slow but then picks up and then at the end I was racing through the pages to find out all the answers to what happened with Lore and her double life back then and everything. It’s a rollercoaster ride that has a bit of a surprise twist right at the end.
I would put content/trigger warnings for abuse, miscarriage, a few instances of a bit more on the page discussion, or a description of intimacy/spiciness and such.
Thanks so much to NetGalley, William Morrow, and Scene of the Crime early reads for letting me read and review this intriguing story. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
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The Latecomer by Jean Hanff Korelitz
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I was hopeful when I heard about this book and looking forward to reading it, but it was a bit of a letdown. I almost didn’t finish reading it. It was very slow going for me and the story didn’t seem to pick up as much as I was hoping it would.
This story is quite sad in parts and focuses a lot on the experiences of this family trying to live their life and then discovering as they’ve grown up that they’ve grown apart except then they realize they were never really that close, to begin with, it seems. The mother and father meet and marry in not the most ideal circumstances each with their own baggage that seems to permeate through everything It appears and then the mother is the one who wants children while it seems like the father isn’t entirely sure but ends up going along with it. There is a bit discussed rather frankly about intimacy and infertility. They end up having triplets, but the 3 siblings are like strangers to each other as well as to the parents and the parents to each other. It’s like all the family members are islands unto themselves floating apart and living life apart from each other even though they’ve grown up in the same house and whatnot. It was rather sad, strange, and a bit depressing as I read about their experiences and how they felt like strangers to each other. Toward the end of the book, things do change a bit for the better though with the coming of the last child into the family.
Reading this can be a bit hard or triggering in parts in regards to infertility or challenging family relationships, situations, and such. There is some wording and language used when discussing intimacy, infertility, and such that is a bit blunt or maybe a bit weird/off-putting for some as well.
Thanks to Celadon Books and NetGalley for letting me read and review this story. All thoughts and opinions are my own. #TheLatecomerBook #CeladonReads
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The New Neighbor by Carter Wilson
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
So this was one of those books that’s a bit hard to figure out how to review because after having finished it, I’ve been thinking about it for a little while trying to decide what to say and feeling like I don’t have that much to say about it.
I was hopeful going into this book, but after listening to the first part, I started to lose interest and focus. I felt like this was missing parts to the story and that it needed something more. The idea/premise was a good one, but it fell a little flat for me.
I did love the audio for this book. It was a very quick and good-quality listen despite the story being a bit of a letdown. I thought the narrator did a great job doing the voices and narrating the story.
This story is about Aidan and he holds the winning Powerball numbers. So, is today the best day of his life… or the worst? Aidan Marlowe is superstitious and he’s been playing the same lottery numbers for fifteen years, never hitting the jackpot. Until now. On the day of his wife’s funeral. Aidan struggles to cope with these two sudden extremes: instant wealth beyond his imagination, and the loss of the only woman he’s ever loved, the mother of his twin children. But the money gives him and his kids options they didn’t have before. They can leave everything behind. They can start a new life in a new town. So they do. But a huge new house and all the money in the world can’t replace what they’ve lost, and it’s not long before Aidan realizes he’s merely trading old demons for new ones. Because someone is watching him and his family very closely. Someone who knows exactly who they are, where they’ve come from, and what they’re trying to hide. Someone who will stop at nothing to get what they want.
Thanks so much to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the ALC/advanced audiobook copy and for letting me listen and review this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
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Piece by Piece: The Story of Nisrin’s Hijab by Priya Huq
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This is a graphic novel aimed at Middle-Grade readers though it should probably only be read by those that are around 13-14 yrs old and older. It would be good for you to read and discuss it with your child/children who read it and have a discussion with them about racism and violence. This story can be a bit distressing and disturbing to read as it deals with racism and such. The way it’s portrayed with the illustrations in this graphic novel really adds to the emphasis on the events and emotions shown in this story.
It’s about a 13-year-old girl who is attacked because she is wearing a hijab. When the attack happens she is with her best friend on their way home from junior high/middle school and she is just trying out wearing a hijab but isn’t wearing it every day at this point. As she goes to therapy, talks, and thinks through things in the aftermath of the attack, she decides she wants to wear the hijab and learn more about her culture, her family, her religion, which her Grandmother helps teach her and answer her questions since her parents don’t agree with her wanting to learn more or try wearing a hijab at first so the story deals with the family discussing and talking through things as well as the girl, Nisrin, working on figuring things out for herself on her own.
It’s a good introduction to the topic of racism etc. and that can lead to further discussion and learning and trying to understand others, their cultures, beliefs, and way of life. Thanks to ABRAMS kids/Amulet Books for giving me a finished copy of this graphic novel.
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Ripple: A Long Strange Search for A Killer by Jim Cosgrove
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
True Crime and Nonfiction are not my norm at all, but something about this title got my attention so I checked it out. It was quite an interesting read, but it was a bit of a slow start that was hard for me to get into at first until I switched my focus/perspective and the narrative changed then it got more engaging for me.
Some of what’s different with having read this story is that I’m used to reading fantasy and other fiction and always saying this was such a great story and I loved it, but it’s hard to say that about this one. The reason it’s hard to say that about this is because it’s true crime and real life. I don’t think a boy in the woods being murdered and having to solve the mystery of his death and how it affects his family and others are great the same way fiction is great. I don’t love reading about murder and the pain and unresolved situations, but I do love that this mystery was solved with this particular boy’s death.
This is well-written and keeps you interested and invested to discover the answers along with the investigative journalist. I found it intriguing to read about how the solution to the mystery unfolded and what it revealed about the people and the family members as they went through talking about it and figuring things out. It is a sad and hard thing to read about those that have a hard time in life and find themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time and lose their life for it. There are a few different aspects shown and talked about about how they approach things when investigating this boy, Frank’s murder, first with the normal approaches and then with the unique with the psychic and those involved sharing their spiritual and other types of experiences relating to Frank and his death when they felt like they were being lead to answers or having some sort of communication sent to them by him from the other side. The investigation and journey to find answers take on a life of its own and when they find the answers they’re right where they thought they were but others had been trying to hide the answers from view. The thing is even though they find the answers and solve the murder/death of Frank, there are still a lot of unanswered questions and unknowns. In the end, there’s always more than one victim in these kinds of situations and it’s a hard thing to have to deal with and face, but Frank’s family had a good outlook on things and the experience of talking through things helped them all to break down some walls and find ways to talk and work on becoming closer to one another in their family.
If you’re a fan of true crime and figuring out mysteries and what makes others tick or the like then make sure to take a look at this one and read it. Thanks to NetGalley and Steerforth Press for letting me read and review this enlightening story. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
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The Sea of Always by Jodi Lynn Anderson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This is an enjoyable Middle-Grade read, but I didn’t realize until I was reading it that it was the second in the series so I didn’t follow as well as if I had read the first book before reading this one. I would recommend making sure you have read and checked out the first book before checking this one out to help make it more fun to read and easier to follow.
It’s a great MG fantasy novel about a 12-year-old witch hunter trying to figure out how to be a witch hunter and find her way in this world of witches and magic along with her friend. They have adventures and this would be a good book for tweens, my 11-year-old will likely love it once she gets a chance to read it. Rosie is a feisty one that’s great to read and follow along with her as she goes on her adventures, learning, growing, and figuring things out. She and her best friend have to go figure out how to find and get rid of all of the 13 original witches and the ending leaves you wanting more and wondering what will happen next.
If you love Middle-Grade, fantasy, witches, magic or the like then make sure to check this one out. Thanks so much to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster Children’s Publishing/Aladdin for letting me read and review this fun MG fantasy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
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The Younger Wife by Sally Hepworth
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
This one was a highly anticipated read for me, but when I got to it, it didn’t quite live up to expectations. It was a hard one for me to decide how I felt and how to rate it because the book left me feeling meh and a bit confused as well after it was all over. It was a mixed bag for me leaving it at a solid 3 stars.
I’ve never read a book by this author before so maybe this is her style and others didn’t get mixed feelings over the story, but it left me feeling uncertain about a lot of what I read and what was the actual story or truth to the story. This very much was like a story with an unreliable narrator for me and I don’t know if I’ve ever read a book with this unreliable of a narrator before and I’m not sure I enjoyed it.
It did keep me guessing to the very end and kept me interested enough to read it all in one sitting because I wanted to figure it out and know what was going to happen and what the ending would be. It is still keeping me guessing about parts of it, which I don’t like as much. This did have some possible triggering materials in it for me and others in regards to abuse, divorce, theft/shoplifting/kleptomania, rape – past reference no details on the page, eating to deal or not deal with the effects of trauma/rape and such.
This was about two sisters that have to learn how to deal and cope with their elderly father falling in love and marrying a younger woman while their mother suffers from dementia in a care facility. A lot of things come to a head at the wedding and leave you wondering if the truth you know is really the truth or not.
If you like this author, unreliable narrators, or this type of mystery/thriller then make sure to check it out. Thanks so much to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for letting me read and review this story. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
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The Honeybee Emeralds by Amy Tector
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I loved this historical fiction. Listening to this drew me in right away, kept me engaged and hooked throughout the whole story. Listening to this story gave me an itch that made me want to go dig up an unsolved historical mystery and try to solve it, which is easier said than done.
This was so engrossing with each of the characters and their individual stories as well as the story of their group together investigating the mystery of the honeybee emerald necklace. Alice, who works at a magazine in Paris, goes to the neighbors to ask for help and while in the basement finds an old lot of costumes and in a coat pocket, she finds the honeybee emerald necklace, which she presents to her boss and then her boss tells the owner of the magazine about it and how they can use it to save the magazine. This group of friends becomes known as “the fellowship of the necklace” and they each have a part to play as they research and investigate this mystery.
Along the way, they unravel much more than just the secret of the necklace. Lily, Alice’s boss, faces unresolved feelings with a long-time friend and the fact that she hasn’t been writing like she wanted to years ago. Daphne, Lily’s friend, and the Art specialist, who verifies the authenticity of the necklace, faces the issues with her struggling marriage and Alice finds her place where she belongs. There are a couple of lovely and heartfelt moments with romance and finding yourself and realizing/following your dream throughout. The mystery of the necklace is what drives and keeps everything tied together and going until the end when we find out the final key to the mystery of how the necklace ended up in the basement of their Parisian magazine building.
I couldn’t listen to this fast enough to find out what the final key was and what happened with everyone.
Part of what kept me going and interested in this so much was the effect of listening to it on audio because I don’t know that I would have been as engaged if I had been reading it. The narration on this one was lovely and well-done in my opinion. I was impressed by the fact that the narrator, Lameece Issaq, did all the voices so she sounded like multiple people speaking each part and not the same person. She did great in doing each character so you could tell which person was speaking and in building the world and drawing you into the story. If you haven’t listened to or read this yet, then go check it out. It’s very intriguing and wonderfully done.
Thanks so much to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for letting me listen to and review this 5-star story. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
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I Am Margaret Moore by Hannah Capin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
A unique and different type of book because of the writing style especially, but also because of the story and the perspective we get. I’m much like some of the others who have read and reviewed this in that the writing style threw me off a bit and had me feeling a bit off while trying to follow this style of writing. It was somewhat challenging to focus and follow things for the first quarter to the first half of the book, but then it started to smooth out and flow better as well as make it easier for me to follow.
This is a story about a girl who was in love with a boy and like always they found themselves in an unhappy situation after declaring their love for each other and then things happened from there. It’s about a girl and her 3 friends who always come back to a special summer camp each year at the Marshall Naval School. At this camp, they are there for each other always and it’s their safe place away from the world until one summer when girls are missing and a boy is dead. Margaret’s friends disappear into the lies she tells about what happened with her and the boy she loved.
In this narrative, we follow as Margaret unravels the secrets of this summer and last summer to figure out and shed light on what happened. It’s hard to tell too much about this story without giving things away because really the best way to read this is to go into it blind. The best thing to know is that if you’re not used to this style of writing and haven’t read anything by this author or like this, you might have a bit of a hard time at first, but if you get past the initial adjustment and disjointed narrative, it gets better. By the end of the story, I was left thinking a lot for a while on various topics and wishing that some things in life weren’t so unfair. It also lead me into deep thinking and things that I haven’t thought of for a while that caused me to reflect on life and death and the different states of being and how time works in different places and times of being. If you’re looking for an intriguing mystery with some lyrical/prose writing that may lead you to deep thoughts then make sure you check this one out.
Thanks so much to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press/Wednesday Books for letting me read and review this one-of-a-kind read. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
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Cinder & Glass by Melissa de la Cruz
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This is a Cinderella Retelling that’s Cinderella in France at Versailles in The Selection. Her name is Cendrillon and she is invited to multiple balls and events with a selection of other available prospective brides for Prince Louis.
Cendrillon, who is called Cinder, once she’s reduced to being a servant to her stepmother and stepsisters in her household after the death of her father, attends the ball where she catches the eye of Prince Louis and his brother, Auguste. She is invited to compete with the other women for marriage to Prince Louis, who she dislikes, but feels she has no other choice if she wishes to escape her stepmother. As Cinder/Cendrillon continues in the competition, she grows closer to Auguste, the prince’s brother, and finds herself disliking Prince Louis more and more each day. In the end, she has to decide whether she can stand Prince Louis to escape her stepmother and if she can give up the boy she loves.
It’s a light-hearted and charming tale with swoon-worthy romance. It also has fun and feel-good moments like The Selection did. It’s a nice, easy, and quick read to help cleanse your mind if you’ve been reading heavier-duty topic stories or dark and more distressing stories. It was a nice, refreshing read for me that reminded me of The Selection and love stories, etc where the good wins over the bad. If you’re a lover of retellings, fairy tales, and such then make sure to check this out if you haven’t already.
Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Group Penguin Young Readers Group/G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers for letting me read and review this lovely retelling. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
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For the Record by Monique Polak
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
A bit more on the challenging side of things, this MG book explores the very serious and hard side of divorce and its effects on children. While this story is needed, it’s not a very fun book to read. It’s hard to read and see the reality of the effects of divorce on children in this book at times.
Of course, it’s difficult to read about the hard truths about divorce and its effects on everyone in this book, but especially on the kids. This is written from the perspective of the 12 yr old daughter of divorced parents. Justine and her little sister, Bea, have to go back and forth between her Mom and Dad’s places as they live with her Mom and their Dad gets them every Wednesday night and 2nd weekend of each month. Justine’s mom has very serious anxiety and has to take medication for it. Justine’s mom’s anxiety also manifests as a need for control and she feels that their father and older half-sister are not good for Justine and Bea so she enlists Justine to get evidence so that she can have sole custody of Justine and Bea. Justine, of course, wants to have her mother’s approval, and such so she writes notes about her Dad’s unfit parenting behaviors and so forth until something happens and she creates a serious and outright lie for her mother’s case, and then she begins to question herself and her mother and their behavior.
Justine has to learn how to deal with the complicated relationships and family dynamics with the divorce. Then ultimately she has to learn how to get up the nerve, to tell the truth after she created the lie no matter what the consequences may be.
This is enlightening, depressing/saddening and heart-wrenching to read and see the serious side of the negative effects of divorce and these types of situations on children. It’s necessary and good for kids to see and read this especially if they’re going through this type of thing so they can see they’re not alone. It’s also good for parents to see this and realize how their actions and words etc can affect their children in this type of scenario as well.
Thanks to NetGalley and OwlKids Books/OwlKids for letting me read and review this thought-provoking and heartfelt read. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
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Ocean State by Stewart O’Nan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Right away it starts that there’s been a murder and you’re hearing from the perspective of Marie, who is the killer’s younger sister. From the beginning, the story unfolds of what happened and what exactly lead up to Angel killing Birdy. It’s told from the perspectives of Carol (Angel & Marie’s Mother), Angel (the killer), Birdy (the victim), and Marie (Angel’s little sister).
What happens is that Angel and Birdy both love the same guy. They both have intense and strong feelings for him. Angel and Myles are together in a relationship when Myles starts cheating on her with Birdy and Birdy is also cheating on a guy she’s kind of boyfriend/girlfriend with too. So there’s cheating by more than one party happening in the story and Marie is having issues with her self-confidence, self-image, and wanting to be cooler like her big sister and feeling neglected too. Angel and Marie’s mother, Carol, has issues, which cause her to not be the best or most present with her daughters and their father is absent as their parents have been divorced for a while.
Angel has a temper and anger issues and she gets very upset when she finds out about Myles and Birdy and that he’s been cheating on her. She threatens Birdy and Birdy is confused because she thought Myles was going to be with her. There’s a lot of emotional upheaval, drama, and stress for all of them though Myles is the one who doesn’t seem to be very assertive or active but more someone who’s sitting and letting things happen as they will to him or around him and letting Angel boss him around quite a bit too.
At any rate, there’s a point in the story where Angel threatens Birdy and beats her up – that’s where I thought the murder was going to happen when I was listening, but it didn’t. Then as I continued listening, the story and the situations just get worse, and then there’s a bit of a surprise twist when it finally comes to when, where, and how the murder happens. That’s what really got to me is when the murder happens and then how they just keep going on about their lives like nothing happened until the police show up with a search warrant to check Angel’s things and arrest her.
In the end, the punishments were not what I would’ve felt was enough for the taking of a life, and oh this story really got to me and got me going. The narrator made this story that much more interesting, drew me in, and kept me on the edge of my seat listening intently. She did an amazing job performing each of the characters’ voices so that it was easy to tell them apart and get a good feel for each character, their role, and personality. It was an awesome and immersive experience listening to this audiobook that was so well done. It sucked me in and had me feeling like I was in this other world where the story was happening.
I highly recommend getting and checking this audiobook out if you’re looking for a great listening experience with a fantastic narrator and an intense story. Thanks so much to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for letting me listen and review this ALC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
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The Violin Conspiracy by Brendan Slocumb
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Okay, this book was great, I enjoyed it a lot. Words aren’t going to do this justice. This story really made an impression on me. This is an awesome book as a mystery/thriller and even more amazing and deep as a portrayal of racism. I can’t even after reading this book – I mean I know racism is real and I know we all need to do better, but at the same time I can’t believe that there are people out there who say and do these things and treat others so poorly just because they’re different with the color of their skin – it really is despicable that there are humans that treat other humans as so much less than.
Now onto the rest of the story, this is very well-written and engaging. It kept me hooked and I could not put this down, I almost read this in one sitting – if I didn’t have life to live I would have read it all at once. I loved hearing and reading this story with everything in it. I loved hearing about this character, Ray, and his dream to be a violinist and how he went about going to achieve his dreams and succeed despite all those who opposed him or got in his way. I especially enjoyed reading about the family dynamics and about how he came to have his Pop-pop’s violin/fiddle that gets stolen. In this story, it illustrates really well that when the chips are down and there are large amounts of money involved you really do find out who’s there for you and who’s there for the money. The ending made complete sense and at the same time took me by surprise when they found out where the violin was and who had stolen it. I was disappointed and crushed when it was revealed who the thief was in the end.
I highly recommend reading this book. Just as a note though, if you try to avoid profanity, there are some F-bombs in this story.
Thank you so much to NetGalley and Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group/Anchor for letting me read and review this very amazing and well-written book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
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Daughter of the Moon Goddess by Sue Lynn Tan
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
So, this one was another one that was high on my list and it mostly lived up to the hype, but the one thing I think of and remember about this is that it was amazing and I loved it, but it was a bit long. I felt like the ending dragged a bit, but other than that I loved all of it.
This is a great story inspired by the legend of the Chinese Moon Goddess where a young woman sets out to free her mother and she has to go against the most powerful immortal in the realm. This puts her on a dangerous journey where a lot is at risk.
Xingyin lives with her mother on the moon until her magic starts to show and then she has to leave because her existence is discovered. She ends up going to the Celestial Kingdom to make her own way where she hides her identity so she can learn alongside the Crown Prince. where she learns and masters magic and archery. There is also a flame and swoon-worthy romance that comes between the Crown Prince and Xingyin. She goes on dangerous quests and confronts legendary creatures to make her own way and ultimately to achieve her dream. In the end, though, she has to go up against the Celestial Emperor himself to get her dream. She also has a romance with another and that brings an interesting perspective into the story with her having feelings for both the Crown Prince and the other.
This is full of adventure, love, betrayal, romance, myths and legends and so many awesome things that are my favorites in stories. I can’t wait to read the conclusion in the next book. I would recommend checking this one out if you haven’t yet.
Thanks so much to NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager/Harper Voyager for letting me read and review this magical, mystical and wonderful tale. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
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Cold the Night, Fast the Wolves by Meg Long
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This book was a highly anticipated one for me and it certainly lived up to that anticipation and all the hype. I want more of this world and these characters now. This was a bit different than other stories I’ve read in this vein of things but different in a good way.
It started with a bang and was fast-paced, intense, and heavily emotional throughout the whole book. I loved seeing how Sena was learning how to survive and thrive in this cold place on her own and how she was learning to deal with her emotions over everything that happened in her life. Her connection with Iska, the wolf was very special, strong, and moving and drove the story a lot of the time. The other characters that come into play are very well written and I loved the characters with Remy and Pana and the Professor too. I was very engaged up until the very end and had a hard time putting this one down. This story got me all in the feels and made me pretty emotional in parts. I did find myself wondering about a few things at/after the end like about her friend that helped her in the beginning, the possible love interest. The found family was one of the best things in this story that I loved.
I would highly recommend picking this one up and checking it out if you haven’t already. Don’t miss out on this one. Thanks so much to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press/Wednesday Books for letting me read and review this awesome story. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
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Medusa by Jessie Burton
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This story, this retelling from Medusa’s point of view is everything. It’s everything I never thought of and never knew I needed to read until now and I can’t stop thinking about it since I read it a little while ago now. Right after I finished reading it, I wanted to read it again.
It’s a Greek Myth retelling from Medusa’s point of view like I mentioned above, but it’s from a perspective I never thought of with Medusa and Perseus having a connection, a deep connection, and Medusa falling in love with Perseus. The truth of what happened with Medusa to put her in her current situation and what happened with Perseus that put him there on the island with her. The two of them in this story are two lonely, lost, and cursed souls, doomed from their beginnings through no fault of their own and they end up together talking and connecting on this island, Medusa’s island. If ever there was a doomed, cursed, sad, and star-crossed lovers tale this one, this retelling takes the cake, it wins over them all. It broke my heart when I read this one.
If you love Greek Mythology or any Mythology and retellings then make sure to pick this up and check it out. Thanks so much to NetGalley and Bloomsbury YA for letting me have the chance to read and review this amazing and unique Greek Myth retelling. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
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If You Miss Me by Jocelyn Li Langrand
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I loved this book. It was a wonderful, heartfelt story of the love between a grandmother and her granddaughter. It reminds me of what my mother-in-law says about looking at the moon and how she likes to look at the moon when she misses us and think of how we live under the same moon. In this book, the grandmother always tells her granddaughter to look at the moon when she misses her and think of how they’re under the same moon. It’s very touching and loving and talks a bit about grief. This has lovely illustrations as well. I would definitely recommend this book and you might want to have a tissue handy.
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30 Things I Love about Myself by Radhika Sanghani
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This book was an enjoyable read for me. It starts with Nina spending her birthday in jail and one of the guards at the police station throws her a book to read to help her pass the time. This book is about how to fix your crappy life by learning to love yourself and this book became what set Nina on a path to fix her life and learn to love herself.
This story follows Nina as she sets out on a journey to learn to love everything about herself and it follows along with her and how she navigates her relationship with her mother and her brother, who has depression, and her friends. She learns how to list at least 30 things that she loves about herself and discovers yoga and meditation to help her where she meets another kindred soul.
I love this self-love book and reading this led me to be more interested in yoga and meditation as well. This is a great book for reflecting on yourself and your own life to see how you’re doing with loving yourself.
There were a couple of things that I didn’t like as much where there were a few steamy romance moments. Also, the content/trigger warnings I would put are depression, attempted suicide, grief, death of a parent, bullying/cyber-bullying, and racism.
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The Paris Bookseller by Kerri Maher
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This is a good historical fiction that I enjoyed as a booklover. I found it interesting reading about this bookseller, Sylvia Beach, who’s an American that loves and lives in Paris and opens her own bookstore, Shakespeare and Company.
Shakespeare and Company become more than just a bookstore, also a lending library and a place that book lovers come to talk and where writers write. It becomes a place that a lot of famous writers go to like Ernest Hemingway and James Joyce who wrote Ulysses and Sylvia Beach helps Joyce to publish Ulysses. This bookstore is like a second home for people in Paris during the Depression.
This follows Sylvia Beach and her life of wanting to be a writer, buying and opening a bookstore, her ups and downs with her family, and her personal life. It’s an enlightening read about Shakespeare and Co and Sylvia Beach and changing the course of literature itself.
If you’re a historical fiction lover or a book lover, then make sure to check this one out. I would say a few things for content or trigger warning of depression, marriage infidelity, suicide, and death.
Thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for letting me read and review this book. All opinions are my own.
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This Last Adventure by Ryan Dalton
An Emotional, Thought-Provoking, and Sentimental Read. This story wasn’t what I expected, but I didn’t really know what to expect at first either when it was described as a Middle-Grade book about Alzheimer’s.
This story is about Archie, who’s 13/14 yrs old and living with his Mom and his Grandpa while attending school and having a crush so it has a little bit of that cute and awkward crush romance that happens at 13/14 yrs old in it. And so Archie is living with his Grandpa when one day his Grandpa forgets who Archie is and he starts to put together all these incidents and realizes what’s likely happening and has to tell his Mom what happened and so his Mom sets up the appointments to get him checked out for Alzheimer’s disease.
It’s about how Archie, his Mom, and their family cope and deal with their Grandpa/Dad beginning to lose his memories and being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. Archie tries to figure out what to do to help with the situation and he wants to help his Grandpa to not lose his memories as much as he can so he begins to create role-playing fantasies and quests for them to go on together to try to help his Grandpa stay in the present. As things progress with his Grandpa and the Alzheimer’s and life, he finds out some things about his Grandpa and things that happened in the past and Archie has to decide how he feels about learning and knowing about these things. Archie has to decide what he feels makes life worth living and remembering and who he wants to be as he starts to grow up more.
The timing of this book for me personally is part of what makes this hit me so much in the feels right now. I worried when I started it that I might get bored or something, but I didn’t – I read this almost entirely in one sitting and was thinking about it in-between times too. I also expected that I might get emotional, but I made it to the ending of the book or rather almost the end and wasn’t emotional so I thought Whew I made it, and then…it happened right before the end and at the end and I could barely breathe through the intensity of emotions and emotional response that I had.
This is very well written and a great perspective on Alzheimer’s from a child/teenager’s point of view and how it affects them and their family as well as some about how the person experiencing Alzheimer’s is affected too. It’s necessary to have for Middle-Grade readers to read and adults too. It’s enlightening, emotional, and poignant. I would definitely recommend picking this one up to read and check it out, but make sure you have some tissues handy just in case.’
Thanks so much to NetGalley and Lerner Publishing Group for letting me read and review this wonderful story. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
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Akata Woman by Nnedi Okorafor
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This is the third book in the series that started with Akata Witch and it was compared to Harry Potter and I can kind of see why, but at the same time, this is very different with the magic system and everything too.
I kind of was a bit lost when I read this book and so I wasn’t as interested as I thought I’d be. This is best to be read after reading the other two books otherwise you’ll likely get a bit lost and then lose some interest.
I did pick up on things after reading for a bit and enjoy it in the end, but not as much as I would have if I’d read the other books in the series. Anyway, this book being the third in the series has a lot to live up to and cover in it. It’s about Sunny and how she discovers she has mystical energy in her blood and has to learn to use, control, and understand her magic. After learning a lot in the previous two books with her adventures and life, things are put to the test in this book. She has to go on a dangerous quest to obtain a precious object hidden deep within an otherworldly realm and as things happen along the way, she and her friends learn and grow and have a fantastic journey to obtain this precious object.
If you liked the other two books, then for sure check it out. Thanks so much to NetGalley and Penguin Group Penguin Young Readers Group for letting me read and review this interesting book
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