Spindle’s End by Robin McKinley 3/5 StarsI love most of the book, especially the first half or three quarters or so. It’s such a cozy medieval read and all of the characters are unique and likable. I love the beast speak aspect. But when there was a fight scene or lots of action or even going into detail about the curse or something else really involved I found I difficult to follow. It really took away from the book as…
The Lost Story by Meg Shaffer 4/5 StarsThis is such a wonderful book. I love everything about it: the characters, the world, the magic, the realness of everything is so well done. I love the real world and the magical world. Just thinking about it makes me want to read it again. The reason I didn’t give it five stars is that due to the m/m love interest I, personally, was not able to get super invested, but I do…
None of This is True by Lisa Jewell 5/5 StarsDue to my being extremely picky with mysteries/thrillers, I don’t read many of them. This one surpassed my expectations; I absolutely loved it. It went in a direction I wasn’t expecting and kept me engrossed the whole read. A lot of ups and downs and corners and curves. Can’t say much more without giving things away. Highly recommended. Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt 5/5 StarsThis book was so great…
A Northern Light in Provence was an absolutely delightful surprise. I was lost in and enchanted by the Provence of this book. I found so many aspects of this book interesting: a glimpse into the life of a translator; what it might be like to live in Greenland (definitely not for me); traveling to Provence and falling in love with life; a taste of the Provençal language; the journey of self-discovery; a book about books. Po, the poet whose book…
The Book of Doors by Gareth Brown 3/5 Stars The Wise Man’s Fear by Patrick Rothfuss 5/5 StarsJust as wonderful and easy to get lost in as The Name of the Wind. The second book in the trilogy picks up where the first one leaves off. I thought I’d be sad when Kvothe left the University but his adventure was just as exciting. Readers have been waiting over a decade for the third and final book in the trilogy to…
The Book of Doors has several things going for it. It’s a book about books and I love those. There are a lot of characters in the book and they’re all different enough that it’s easy to keep them straight, which is often not the case. The important books give the owner a special power and the thought behind their powers and how they work are really interesting. However, the details of the ability of the actual Book of Doors…
The Unmaking of June Farrow by Adrienne Young 5/5 StarsThis was my first read of 2024 and it was an amazing one. I read other reviews to make sure we’re talking about this and it seems like we are: this is an absolutely beautifully written magical realism mystery time-travel-gone-wrong love story. I feel like there’s nothing more I can say that the synopsis doesn’t cover that also wouldn’t have spoilers. I love the story. Moments from it came back to…
Book two in the Emily Wilde series. After reading and loving the first book, Emily Wilde’s Encyclopedia of Faeries, I was so happy to be approved to review this one as well. It’s becoming a great end-of-year tradition for me!I love the same things about this book that I did with the first: the journal format, traveling (though there wasn’t much of that here so kind of had a gothic feel to it), and the world and creatures of the…
The Witch and the City by Jake Burnett 100/5 Stars The Lost Bookshop by Evie Woods 2/5 StarsI like the idea of this book. A man (Henry) looking for a bookstore he went into once but cannot find again for some reason and a woman (Martha) building a new life after fleeing a violent relationship. There’s another timeline, Opaline’s, where we learn more about the bookstore, but her depressing story along with Martha’s are about a downer and a half…
Incidental Happenstance by Kim DeSalvo 5/5 StarsAbout a third of the way into this book I sent it to one of my best friends because I knew she would love it as much as I was, and finishing the rest of the book didn’t disappoint at all. This is a perfect book for any (former or current) teenage girl who had a crush on a celebrity, especially if they were in a band. On Tia’s first solo social outing since…