All the Books.

"Gretel Fernsby's quiet, peaceful life is threatened when a new family moves into the Flat directly below hers. Ar first everything is civil and she's pleasantly surprised that Henry, the young boy who's moved in is a quiet, polite bookish type. Of course, the peace is quickly shattered when one night she wirtnesses a disturbing scene and is soon forced with a choice. It's a choice that she was faced with before and has struggled with the guilt of those consequences her entire adult life. At its heart, this is a story about guilt, shame and running from your past but it was also a story of growth, courage and finding your voice. It was a deep, intense and rough read but it was well done and I'll be picking up more of Boyne's works, particularly The Boy in the Striped Pajamas  very soon."  ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐⭐ Pros : Gretel’s sharp as a tack and rather saucy, I quite liked her/Though she's not a fan of children, she and Henry hit it off well and she's very ...

“Every child hopes to step through the wardrobe into Narnia, to find another world full of magic and adventure. Guinivere and Ennis, the protagonists of the Ninth City series, penned by Edith Sharpe are two such lucky children. Of course, the real Guinivere (Guin) and Ennis' actual childhood was fraught with tension, neglect and an endless wave of debauchery from the revolving cast of hopeful artists that would visit their isolated Vermont farmhouse in hopes of soaking up their mothers genius. It all ended in a catastrophic fire that only Guin and Ennis survived. Decades later, Guin has published a memoir as a way to try and forgive and forget what happened but it's all threatened when Ennis announces his next art Exhibit, simply entitled Mother. Guin fears that whatever he's planning will expose the very real and horrifying truth and so, she sets out to confront her brother and try to stop whatever he has planned. This was a dark, eerie, unsettling but entertaining read an...

"Woodrow (Woody) Wilson Nickel knows it's only a matter of time before the Grim Reaper comes and so he puts pen to paper and decides to tell his story. An amazing adventure of traveling cross country with a gruff but kind-hearted old man and two Giraffes, bound for the San Diego Zoo. This was such a wonderful read. Every character, with their strengths and flaws, found their way into your heart and it was with a genuine, teary eyed smile that I turned the last page and read a beautiful ending to a truly remarkable and memorable book." ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Pros:  Woody was a confused and desperate boy who had been through far too much in such a short time. Though he didn't always make the best decisions he was still a kind-hearted soul who tried to do the right thing/Riley Jones (the old man) was a good hearted if gruff character/The parts that showed the obvious racial tension within the Country and how Jones/Woody handled them only helped cement the fact that they were the goo...

​ “When giant skeletal creatures start rampaging through the land and abducting young people, all of New World is threatened. Ben and Max, Todd and Viola’s sons  try and solve this horrifying mystery and save everyone. It was basically the story of the Pied Piper only on another planet. It was a quick, tense, exciting read and I'm eager to see where the series goes.”  ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Pros: I liked Ben for his logical, rational mind, trying to see all sides of a situation/Max was genuine and tough though full of doubt and uncertainty/Though things have improved, sadly people are still people and will always have their opinions and prejudices. Cons : The whole situation with the Land felt repetitive from the first trilogy but it was to be expected. Different generation, same issues/Burly’s monologue in the Marketplace after the violence with the Land was very poorly timed, like there were far more important things to focus on at that moment/The epilogue was ever so cliche.   ...

“Celie, who is now a Chasseur and engaged to Jean Luc, the Captain, isn’t really a good huntswoman. When bodies of different creatures, Dames Blanche, Loup Garou and Mélusine begin appearing, drained of blood, well, Celie just has to investigate. Of course, Lou et al, haven’t been keeping her informed since they fear it will upset her. When she runs away she’s abducted by a tall, pale, beautiful stranger and whisked away to a magical island and the plot thickens. I had hopes but Celies constant questions, snooping, bickering and overall hysteria were so over the top and annoying that I almost DNFed it even though I was 80% done. I don’t know if I’ll be finishing this duology.”  ⭐⭐ Pros:  It was moderately entertaining for the first few parts/Michal is the quintessential mysterious, beautiful, immortal stranger with a domineering presence but a heart that Celie is inexplicably drawn to, it was cliche but it had its moments, at the beginning.  Cons:  Celie is annoying ...

“Death is personified as a quiet, unassuming man named  Travis. He’s there when people pass over and he’s never cruel or judgmental, just  a steady calming presence. When he befriends the woman across the hall, Dalia and forms a friendship with her and her two daughters he knows it’s foolish but he does it anyway. Though I struggled with the last half of the book, the ending more than made up for it.” ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Pros:   Some of the deaths were sweet, others crushing. Reeves has a real gift for pulling at the heart strings/Travis was like a genuinely caring person, though he often struggled when faced with difficult emotions/The ending was so well done.  Cons:  It wasn’t told in a linear fashion so much as it seemed to jump around a bit/Dalia and Layla could be rather abrasive at times/I struggled through the last half of the book.  Full Review Travis is death. He finds people and is there when they die. He’s not the catalyst of their death but he’s there to hel...

“Alex, who was nothing but a thief is found in the streets by her Uncle and is soon proven to be the long lost heir to the Serpent Throne. She’s accompanied on the dangerous trek back to her Kingdom of Troy, by the motley crew of the Chapel of the Holy Expediency whom are all prisoners of the Pope. There’s Balthasar, a Magician, Baron Rickan, a Vampire, Sunny the Elf and Vigga the Werewolf. There's also the grizzled warrior Jakob of Thorn and a jack of all trades, Baptiste. Right from the start there’s trouble as Alex’s many cousins attack in order to stop her from taking the throne.What started out as a fun and brutally bloody supernatural Romp was drawn out for far too long and the book could have easily ended 200 pages earlier."  ⭐️⭐️ Pros: Jakob of Thorn is a sturdy, dependable character/Rickan is very dapper for a Vampire/Sunny is silent but she has a good heart/The motley crew does have its entertaining moments.  Cons: Though Abercrombie’s irreverent humor was fun at f...

"It’s the summer of 64 in High Cotton, Texas, a small town that’s struggling to accept the passing of the Civil Rights Act. Tensions are high but Katherine "Corky" Corcoran is mostly oblvious. All she cares about is the girls Summer softball game between the Methodists and the Baptists. And with her new friend, America, a black girl from the Southside of town, Corky knows this is the Summer they could actually win! Unfortunately, not everyone is as open and accepting as Corky and she'll soon learn that the world can be a very cruel place. Though Corky's inability to grasp social cues was extremely irritating, the overall message of the book was a good one."    ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Pros: I liked the bits of history peppered into the narrative. It helped with perspective/I did enjoy the ending, it made up for Corky's complete lack of social graces and gave the reader a bit of hope that things could get better.    Cons: I get it, Corky was a 13 year old girl and just h...

"Tom and Isabel live a quiet, isolated life on Janus Rock, where Tom is the lighthouse keeper. Their attempts to start a family have been met with tragedy and they've all but given up hope of having children of their own until one day a boat washes ashore and in that boat, is a perfectly healthy, baby. They're faced with a decision and the one that they make will cause a ripple effect that will alter the course of not just their lives but everyone around them. This was a deeply emotional, heart-wrenching novel about love, grief, morality and the impossible choices people make for those they love." ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐ Pros:  Tom such a good, kind, gentle person who would do anything for Isabel/The Piano tuner at the end of Part One, like ❤️😢 Cons:  The choice that Tom and Isabel make isn't necessarily the right one but I completely understand why they did what they did/The ending wasn't the ending I wanted but it worked, in a gut wrenchingly realistic way.   Full Review...

​ "On the day she decides to die, Nora Seed finds hereslf in The Midnight Library. A place where she's given the chance to undo all of her regrets, to live a thousand lives, to be whatever she wants to be. She'll soon find though that nothing is ever that simple, that all of her lives hold some sort of struggle and time might very well run out before she can find the life she feels is worth living."  ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Pros: It   was definitely a unique idea/It had a good message, that life will never be perfect, nor should it be, without pain you wouldn’t know joy.   Cons: The pacing left something to be desired/Nora was a bit indecisive and frustrating/ Noras' cluelessness when first "starting" a new life got rather repetitive and there always seemed to be some disaster waiting for her. Full Review: Nora Seed feels like a failure. She feels like her life has been one bad decision after another, never committing to anything, constantly letting her friends and famil...

"There's no magic slipper, no Fairy Godmother, no returning home at the stroke of midnight lest the magic wear off. This was a dark and gritty, re-telling of the Cinderella story that showed how the "wicked step-mother" is just a woman doing what she can to keep her family safe. Hocchauser didn't pull any punches and I liked it for its stark and brutal honesty."  ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐ Pros: I liked the character of  Moussa, in a way he was the Fairy Godmother/The intricacies of court were interesting tidbits of knowledge, like how to carry your train over your left shoulder and bow with your right foot leading.  Cons:  Goodness, Elin was painfully useless. I wanted to take her little book of virtue and smack her with it/Characters always think the danger is over when really, they should always have one eye open, sometimes their obvliousness can be laughable.  Full Review:  Etheldreda Verity Isolde Tremaine Bramley has been married. Twice and with each husband that's p...

"A heartfelt and satisfying, though rather long winded ending to an entertaining, fast paced, exciting and interesting series."   ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Pros:  Same cast of characters, so there weren't too many people to remember/The scenes with Ansel were heart wrenching/All the characters have an amusing and entertaining repartee and it's fun to have them all together.   Cons:  Mahurin has a tendency to overuse terms, such as "my legs grew roots" as in, the character was rooted to the spot, so that was somewhat irritating/All of the constant monologuing, the characters never stopped talking/ I wish Mahurin had expounded upon what exactly happened to Claud Deveraux but perhaps that's for another book.  Full Review: ***Disclaimer***If you have not read Blood & Honey by Shelby Mahurin, please go and do so and then come and read this at leisure. That way you'll know what I'm talking about. Our weary travelers are on their way to Chateau Le Blanc, to face Morgan...

"Iris Winnow and Roman Kitt are in fierce competition for the position of Columnist at the Oath Gazette. They write about the war brewing between two Gods, Dacre, God of the underworld and Enva, Goddess of the sky. The war has ravaged the countryside and taken Iris' brother, Forest, away, since she hasn't heard from him in months. When tragedy strikes, Iris decides to sign up as a War Correspondent and head to the frontlines and Roman isn't far behind. This had an interesting, idyllic, WWI, fighting in the trenches feel and though the magic was vague, it was believable and I quite enjoyed it. I'm eager to see how the series progresses."  ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Pros: It's quite a unique way to introduce the Frenemies trope but Ross did it well/Roman was an intense, gentle, caring soul, a very good character, very likable.  Cons:  Frenemies trope/Iris' cluelessness about Carver made me chuckle/The romance was a bit melodramatic and silly at times.  Full Review: Iris Winno...

“Dolores Price is just trying to navigate the eternal roller coaster of life. She’s has her fair share of ups and downs, Divorce, Mental Illness, Abuse but through it all she keeps plodding along and Lamb, in his honest, heartfelt way makes her journey one that you won’t soon forget.” ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Pros: Though Dolores sometime makes bad choices and can be difficult, you’re rooting for her unequivocally/That gut-punch in Part 3 😞/Lamb is a master at ending and he had me tearing up at times.  Cons: I kind of wish Dolores would stop sabotaging herself at every turn/Her mercurial moods got old/Her relationship with Dante started off badly and just got worse.   Full Review:  This is the story of Dolores Price. We watch as she grows from a child, to a teenager and into adulthood.  Along the way she has to learn how to navigate the tricky parts of life and for Dolores a lot of her life is tricky. Her parents divorce, she learns that her mother is unwell and is soon hospitalized....

"Every day Rachel rides the train into London, gazing out the window at her old street. She often sees a young couple that lives a few houses down from where she once lived, when she was married and happy. She likes to pretend that the couple she sees is passionately in love but when she sees something that shatters that dream, she decides to get involved and is soon entangled in a desperate web of lies, half-truths, betrayal and murder. This book once again had all the hype but for me, it just didn't quite deliver."  ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Pros: Another book that kept me guessing and curious until about 60% of the way through. Since I’ve read that far, I might as well finish it but it’s been a frustrating reading trend lately.  Cons: None of the characters in this book were honest or very likable IMO/Another book that had all the hype but just ended up being obnoxious and tiresome by the end.  Full Review:  Rachel rides the train into London every morning. And every morning she p...

"The final installment in what has been an incredible series but this book, sadly, was a bit of a disappointment. It had its entertaining moments and its fair share of twists and turns but once it all came down to the end, it was a little too perfect and it went on for far too long."  3 Stars Pros:  The same cast of characters except for the addition of Simone and Bradley, two scouts from Viola's convoy/The story did keep me on my toes and there were definitely a few times where I was floored with how things turned out. Cons:  The ending was just a little too rote and perfect, "skipping off into the sunset" for me. I liked it since it wrapped up the series but it all just seemed a little too perfect. Full Review:  ***Disclaimer*** - If you haven't read The Ask and the Answer,  please do so and then come back and read this at your leisure. That way you'll know what I'm talking about. Starting off right where The Ask and the Answer  left off, t...

"A coming-of-age story where Suzanna runs off to Woodstock with her best friend, Livy and learns about life, love and the Lord. The big reveals hit hard but they all happened very late into the story. Suzannah's shock at the freedom of Woodstock started to get old and she and Livy's constant cattiness was ridiculous. This one was almost a DNF."  ⭐️⭐️ Pros: It had its moments where Suzannah really came into her own/The research into Woodstock was impressive, though became tedious in the end/The reveals all packed quite a punch.  Cons: It's only explained very far into the book as to how Suzannah manages to run off with Lily to Woodstock when her Father watches her every move/Both Livy and Suzannah could be annoying, petty, childish, selfish and immature/It went on for far longer than necessary.  Full Review:  Suzannah Withers is attending the 50th year anniversary of Woodstock with her grand-daugther. Who's just at the cusp of college and all that life has to...

​“Raya and Q are two souls who have lost their purpose in life and are simply getting by, adrift. Lucky for them, The Elsewhere Express sweeps them up and brings them into a magical, immense, imaginative world that's built from all the thoughts, dreams, desires of every person ever. They've been brought on board to find thier purpose. Q is ready and willing to accept all that the Elsewhere Express has to offer but Raya isn't convinced. It had potential but quickly dissolved into aggravation and confusion thanks to Raya's constant questioning and the books' aimless meandering from one train car to the next.” ⭐⭐ Pros: It was a very unique idea/I liked the character of Q, he was a good balance for Raya.  Cons: Raya's constant questioning of whether the Elsewhere Express was good or bad and how she always managed to do the exact wrong thing, all the time, made this book extremely tedious/Though the places they visited were beautiful, there were far too many and it...

"Natalie Heller Mills is #blessed. Her Instagram account, Yesteryear Ranch, paints an idyllic picture of life on the farm with her family, full of photos and videos of home cooked meals, a loving husband and kind, calm, obedient children. Through the filtered lens of Instagram, she seems perfect, so of course, whenNatalie awakes one morning to find herself in the same house but everything is off.  The children are not her children, the house is older, dirtier and there's no modern amenities, such as electricity or running water. And her husband Caleb is now a gruff, stern, serious man.  It would appear that she's been swept back in time to the original Yesteryear ranch, to try her hand at living the traditional life she's always posting about. This book had all the hype but honestly, to me, it did not deliver."  ⭐️⭐️ Pros: The story did catch me and kept me intrigued enough to finish the book because I needed to find out what on Earth was going on.  Cons: Natalie...

“Sentient houses, a magical sourdough starter and a unique friendship between two people who are trying to navigate the pressures of 1920s Hollywood, this book had a bit of everything. It was entertaining until the end when the fantastical elements took a literal turn and things fell into somewhat hilarious absurdity.”  ⭐️⭐️ Pros: It was definitely an interesting premise/The chapters told from the House's point of view were odd but enlightening/ I liked the book more for the friendship of Rex/Fayette and the realities of life in Hollywood in the 1920s.  Cons: Since this was set in the 1920s, some of the jargon was hilariously old-fashioned/The generation gap could be a little jarring/The ending with the house battle went a little too far with the fantasy until it bordered on silly. Full Review:  Fayette Wynne is still trying to process her mother’s death. She's rented a cottage on the Carmel coast for a few weeks to catch up on the work that's piled up. She's determine...

"When a virus makes all animal meat deadly to humans the world quickly changes and Cannibalism is legalized. This story follows Marcos, a man who works at a processing plan, where humans, who are now bred as livestock, are slaughtered. It was a quick but rough and deeply unsettling read." ⭐⭐⭐ Pros: Though the ending was insane it was definitely a shocker.  Cons: The subject matter was rough and some of the scenes were gruesomely visceral.  Full Review:  When a virus makes it so all animal meat is deadly to humans, the world quickly changes and soon Cannibalism is legalized. People need meat, the scientists claim and most people take to eating their fellow humans more easily than one would think.  Marco works at a processing plan, where humans, who are now bred as livestock are slaughtered. He also gets special requests from a game reserve, where people can pay to hunt and slaughter humans and a labortaory that runs experiments on humans to better improve the world....

"A continuation of the events of Serpent & Dove , following our band of star crossed heroes in their desperate attempt to escape the various parties pursuing them and to stop Morgane from basically destroying the world. At times it fell into the "second novel" trap, where the personality traits of the characters became a bit cumbersome but for the most part, it was a good addition and I'm excited to see how the series ends." 4 Stars Pros:  It flows well from the first book/The various epiphanies that the characters had were slow in coming but made sense/Claud Deveraux is an interesting characters indeed/Beau is also a likable if flawed character and one that I think will get more time in the spotlight. Cons:  The various personality traits of the various characters can at times, be a trifle tiring/Lou's hotheadedness/Reid's stubbornness etc/I had to read what happened at the end twice to fully understand it, it was a little complex.  Full Review: ***...

"When Emmett Truesdale is chosen to be a participant in a clinical trial for a new weight loss procedure, he's all in. He starts to shed the weight like magic but, of course, there are side effects, unpleasant, disturbing, frightening side effects. Though the book had many good points about body shaming/the obsession we have over fitting in and being skinny, in the end, the characters and the plot were just overdone and ridiculous."  ⭐⭐ Pros: This was a harsh reality of body shaming and shows the kind of culture that sadly, many people struggle with. If you're not skinny, then you're not worth other peoples time, attention etc. It's a sad fact but it's one that's still very much prevalent.   Cons:  I feel like some of the characters were unnecessarily crass/uncouth, especially Lizette/Emmet himself would always crumble into tears, run away or lash out violently when met with a hard conversation.  Full Review:  Emmett Truesdale is a 300+ heavy man who w...