Category: Book review

Lady Tan’s Circle of Women by Lisa See 🌟 Arc Review 🌟

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This book tells an incredible story of how women can shape history, even at the most seemingly impossible times.

I love this author! I’ve read Snowflower and the Secret Fan, also by Lisa See, and this author’s words and the pictures painted into my mind have never left me. This book is of the same ilk. Something to be read slowly so one can take in and understand all these different angles the author writes on. Lady Tan’s Circle of Women is not just about a woman doctor during the mid 1400’s to the early/mid 1500’s of China, but this woman’s detailed lifetime full of experiences that can be related to today even.

This book is indeed about a circle, the circle of women friends, and family that is so important, the circle of life itself and its ups and downs from youth to old age. After reading this book, I feel like Lady Tan’s experiences will stay in my mind for a long time.

I can not recommend this historical fiction enough!

Out June 6, 2023!

Thank you, Netgalley and Publisher, for this Arc!

The Puzzle Master by Danielle Trussoni 🌟 Arc Review 🌟

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Mike Brink is one of the rare people who, after suffering a brain injury, develops Acquired Savant Syndrome. Basically, he’s a bit of a genius. Especially when it comes to solving and creating puzzles.

When Mike Brink meets Jess Price, a convicted murderer, he finds the strangest and most difficult puzzle yet.

This book is a bit mind-boggling, with religious and scientific additions to the plot. Plus, I will never forget these creepy dolls!!! I really enjoyed this one and had a lot of fun just looking at these puzzles.

Out June 13, 2023!

Thank you, Netgalley and Publisher, for this Arc!

The Grimoire of Grave Fates created by Hanna Alkaf and Margaret Owen 🌟 Arc Review 🌟

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This is a great book for diverse reads, and I really loved the representation in this. A school of magic, a murder, and each story is a different classmate finding clues!

I enjoyed this. It’s a bit young YA, if you know what I mean? So, I had a harder time connecting with every character. But overall, I think this concept is so unique, and I really feel like it has been executed well.

It’s a fun book to pick up and read through!

Out June 6, 2023!

Thank you, Netgalley and Publisher, for this Arc!

Maeve Fly by C. J. Leede 🌟 Arc Review 🌟

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Brilliant. A very strange, unsettling, and horrifying read that has just the right amount of quirkiness.

Maeve is a princess in a theme park. Think an ice queen and mouse ears. She loves her job. Her best friend Kate is an aspiring actress, and just as Kate lands the role of a lifetime, her brother Gideon moves to town and takes an immediate interest in Maeve.

Maeve has some odd quirks, and she knows she is different. Living by the rules from different edgy books that speak to her inner and real self, about how to be an outlier. Her grandmother, a once famous starlet, showed her how to get through life by observing and hiding her inner demons, but too soon, she went into a coma.

All of these things culminate and come crashing into Maeve just as she loses her job, and in a way, this allows her to let out what most don’t see her true nature.

This has so many levels…. distrust, loneliness, that Hollywood vibe bordering on what’s real and what’s not. And then comes the gore!

I really loved this. I loved the whole construction of this story, the buildup making the ending even more impacting. I think this belongs on the same shelf as American Psycho and Fight Club.

Out June 6, 2023!

Thank you, Netgalley and Publisher, for this Arc!

Content warning for blood, gore, and body horror.

The Girls of Summer by Katie Bishop 🌟 Arc Review 🌟

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I think this is a well written and intriguing story that is definitely worth the read if you’re in the mood for something a bit dark and, at times, uncomfortable because it deals with some sad topics.

Rachel goes with her friend Caroline to a small Greek island at the end of their vacation. What should have been a short stay results in something more when Rachel (17) meets an older man, Alistair. If you are like me, then perhaps you’re getting the idea that this is going to turn into a bad situation. There is definitely a little too much attention for the younger women on the island by older men.

While this story plays out, the present time is also being told every other chapter. Rachel is now married… (happily??? Doesn’t seem so much??) And when they visit the island, Rachel seems a bit unbalanced by her past catching up to her.

This was a difficult read for me considering the topic, but overall, I thought it was well done.

Content warnings for rape, sexual assault, pregnancy issues

Out June 6, 2023!

Thank you, Netgalley and Publisher, for this Arc!

Always isn’t Forever by J.C. Cervantes 🌟 Arc Review 🌟

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I knew this would be heartbreaking, but while reading and sobbing, I also found a beautiful hopefulness in this story that I will not forget.

Ruby and Hart. They have their whole lives ahead of them, and they are lucky enough to have found each other and their impossible love so early in life. When Hart drowns while saving another, an angel takes pity and saves his soul for a new body. Hart winds up waking as Jameson. Jameson is everything Hart is not. A party boy who seems to not care about anything except football. Can Hart work his way back to Ruby in Jameson’s body, with Jameson’s history?

This book was heartbreaking and uplifting all at once. It is a story of loss and sadness,but also, real true love. Get the tissues ready now!!

Out June 6, 2023!

Thank you, Netgalley and Publisher, for this Arc!

Witch King by Martha Wells 🌟 Arc Review 🌟

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This is another strange yet absolutely splendid read from one of my all-time favorite authors, Martha Wells.

As is, per usual, I felt like I was dropped in this world suddenly but with still a comfortable ease of learning and understanding about what is happening. Kai, the main character, is another great example of Wells ability to create a persona that is sometimes difficult yet also effortless to follow. The gender and sexuality of the main character remain vague but still fully fleshed out, which may sound strange, but it’s one of the many things I love about this author. The idea that gender and sexuality do not have to have a clear definition to be accepted.

I loved this story. A demon prince that wakes up entombed and breaks free. That can eat souls and talk about how they each tasted. It’s definitely a bit gory but absolutely delightful. Slow towards the middle, but I still couldn’t put this book down.

Out May 30, 2023!

Thank you, Netgalley and Publisher, for this Arc!

The Night in Question by Kathleen Glasgow and Liz Lawson 🌟 Arc Review 🌟

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This sequel to The Agatha’s is another fun and thrilling murder mystery! I enjoyed this just as much as the first book, which surprised me because it’s a sequel, but I felt like I fell right back into the rhythm and banter of Alice and Iris’s sleuthing style!

Alice and Iris are back and ready to solve another case in Castle Cove, California. Alice is quite rich, popular, and outgoing, while Iris is just about the opposite. Put these two together, and you get the perfect team.

I really enjoyed this. Loved going into the history of Mona Moody, a movie star from the 1940s. The attention to family details is also important in this book.

Overall, another great read!

Out May 30, 2023!

Thank you, Netgalley and Publisher, for this Arc!

The Wishing Game by Meg Shaffer 🌟 Arc Review 🌟

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Lovely story! It was a purely whimsical tale that really brightened my day!

Lucy has some grand plans but not a lot of money.  However, her favorite childhood author creates a competition that only 4 lucky people can participate in on his magical Clock Island.   The winner will receive the one and only copy of a new book by this author, giving them a chance to make millions.  

This story almost reads like a contemporary fairytale at parts.  I really enjoyed this but did think certain aspects were a bit underdeveloped and therefore just too farfetched, particularly the very real world aspects. 

Recommend this as a fun and enjoyable read!

Out May 30, 2023!

Ever Since by Alena Bruzas 🌟 Arc Review 🌟

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Incredible. This story realistically relates trauma from sexual abuse as a child, sexual assault, the difficulties these things bring to a teenage girl’s life and her view of herself. I really felt this. As a survivor, I related so much with this main character. The division her trauma caused between her and her friends through drug and alcohol use is just one of the multitude of examples a teenager and also, adults, deal with the corruption of their youth.

This is a hard topic to read about, and I want to warn any to be readers that this hits hard and goes into some detail. However, what an important book! I’ve read several stories this year by authors who have survived this trauma, and I am continuously in awe.

The gorgeous and heart-wrenching descriptions of certain mythology characters, particularly Medea, that were sprinkled throughout this story is another example of finding a voice to speak through this trauma. And, it was really, like I’ve already said, hard hitting… as it should be.

There are no happy stories of childhood abuse and trauma… but there is hope.

Out May 23, 2023!

Thank you, Netgalley and Publisher, for this Arc!