The Lying Club: A Novel by Annie Ward My rating: 2 of 5 stars Thank you to the publisher, Park Row, for providing me with an ARC of The Lying Club in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. The Gist Well, where shall I start with this one? It’s been a heck of a week, which isn’t anything new. Yet, it still makes for a rather grumpy mood and I’m wondering if that has influenced my perception of The Lying Club. Anyone, who has read at least a few reviews of mine, would know that I love murder mystery stories. Having to deal with a cold…
-
-
The Last Grand Duchess
The Last Grand Duchess by Bryn Turnbull My rating: 2 of 5 stars Thank you to the publisher, MIRA, for providing me with an ARC of The Last Grand Duchess in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. The Gist I have to confess I started The Last Grand Duchess with apprehension. After having read Turnbull’s other novel, The Woman Before Wallis, I also had a certain amount of bias. I struggled through the first and worried that I would do so through The Last Grand Duchess. Well, my hunch proved correct. It’s unfortunate, because the prospect of reading a story about a rather lesser known Romanov…
-
The Maid
The Maid by Nita Prose My rating: 5 of 5 stars Thank you to the publisher, Ballantine Books, for providing me with an ARC of The Maid in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. The Gist The Maid came to my attention through a Goodreads article, outlining 7 great books hitting the shelves the first week of January 2022. Canadian debut author. The book promises to be a sort of whodunnit mystery with a different type of protagonist. Sign me up! The Details As the reader finds out in the book blurb, the protagonist has difficulty reading social cues and is constantly faced with challenges of…
-
The Mother Next Door
The Mother Next Door by Tara Laskowski My rating: 4 of 5 stars Thank you to the publisher, Graydon House, for providing me with an ARC of The Mother Next Door in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. The Gist The Mother Next Door was supposed to be part of the Fall Reads Blog Tour that I completely missed. I was swamped with work, stress and aching muscles, but was still convinced I would have enough time to participate in life. Well, hindsight is always 20/20 and my current self can only sympathize with my past self trying to ignore the obvious. Anyway, let’s see if…
-
The Iron Sword
The Iron Sword by Julie Kagawa My rating: 2 of 5 stars Thank you to the publisher, Inkyard Press, for providing me with an ARC of The Iron Sword in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. The Gist Well, I think I need to admit to myself that I may have joined the Iron Fey and Evenfall series too late to fully appreciate it. I feel too old and, perhaps, too impatient for this type of story. It is very YA and I have been spending a lot of time lately reading contemporary fiction and mysteries and thrillers, so doing the jump from murders and unhappy…
-
A Lullaby for Witches
A Lullaby for Witches by Hester Fox My rating: 2 of 5 stars Thank you to the publisher, Graydon House, for providing me with an ARC of A Lullaby for Witches in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. The Gist I loved Fox’s The Orphan of Cemetery Hill and could not contain my excitement when I found out Fox wrote another story. For the past two years I have noticed a slight change in the publication process, shall we call it, in the books that have hit the shelves. A larger number than before feel like they are missing the last bit of polish before getting…
-
The Overnight Guest
The Overnight Guest by Heather Gudenkauf My rating: 5 of 5 stars Thank you to the publisher, Park Row, for providing me with an ARC of The Overnight Guest in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. The Gist I started reading The Overnight Guest around the time Toronto had the historic snowfall and blizzard. Imagine me, sitting all curled up by my big window overseeing the snow bury the city in up to 50cm in the white fluffy stuff. It was sort of cozy until I got three pages into the book and realized that this is an eerie story. Throughout most of The Overnight Guest…
-
The Ex-Husband
The Ex-Husband by Karen Hamilton My rating: 2 of 5 stars Thank you to the publisher, Inkyard Press, for providing me with an ARC of The Ex-Husband in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. The Gist I think I’m preaching to the choir when I say that 2021 did not really turn out the way many, perhaps all of us had hoped. Personally, it was a crazy, weird, and difficult year, but I wanted to remind myself of the things that still bring me much happiness in life. And things that I am still grateful for. These things include the fact that I am still fortunate…
-
Luminous
Luminous by Mara Rutherford My rating: 3 of 5 stars Thank you to the publisher, Inkyard Press, for providing me with an ARC of Luminous in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. The Gist I loved Rutherford’s Crown of Coral and Pearl duology. The world building and the story itself were just wonderful. So, you can imagine my excitement when I heard Rutherford is publishing a new story. About magic. And witches. Yay! Having read a few new releases this year, I’m starting to notice a… trend? A common thread? Not sure what to call it, but I’m starting to see some similarities in the publications.…
-
You Will Remember Me
You Will Remember Me by Hannah Mary McKinnon My rating: 5 of 5 stars Thank you to the publisher, Mira Books, for providing me with an ARC of You Will Remember Me in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. The Gist I had the pleasure of reading McKinnon’s previous book Sister Dear last year, I believe. So, when I found she had a new story ready to hit the shelf I was quite excited to get my hands on a copy. This is only my second book by McKinnon, but I am starting to sense a theme to her stories, especially the type of atmosphere she…
