Brightly Burning by Alexa Donne My rating: 5 of 5 stars The Gist I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I am a sucker for space stories. Throw some young adult plots with a sprinkle of classic literature retelling and I’m a very happy reader. Brightly Burning is all that. It is a retelling of Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre…set in space with quite a bit of young adult drama. Yes, please! The Details As with the author’s other retelling (The Stars We Steal) I was excited trying to figure out what character was based on the characters in the original classic and also what changes were made to…
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The Orphan of Cemetery Hill
The Orphan of Cemetery Hill by Hester Fox My rating: 5 of 5 stars Thank you to the publisher, Graydon House, for providing me with an ARC of The Orphan of Cemetery Hill in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. The Gist I had Fox’s first novel, The Witch of Willow Hall, on my to-read list ever since it came out in 2018. Being the hopeful optimist that I am, I kept making plans to read it any day now. Well, the road to hell is usually paved with good intentions. So, sadly, I hadn’t been introduced to her writing until the publisher was so kind…
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Crown of Coral and Pearl
Crown of Coral and Pearl by Mara Rutherford My rating: 5 of 5 stars The Gist About a year ago I browsed through my local library and came across Crown of Coral and Pearl. I read the little blurb about the story and was convinced that I would enjoy this story a lot. I borrowed it, took it home, got really caught up in writing my graduate thesis and ended up having to return it without reading one page. When I tried to borrow it again the waitlist was super long. Fast forward to last month. I got an invitation to join the Harlequin Fall Reads Blog Tour. My first…
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Mayan Blood
Mayan Blood by Theresa DaLayne I was given this ARC by NetGalley in return for an honest review. The file I have received for my Kindle is unfortunately difficult to read. After page breaks the sentences from the previous page and current page are mixed up, chopped up and in disarray. I have to skip paragraphs and points in the story get lost. Also, spaces between words are missing or placed randomly within words. Sadly, this takes away from the reading experience and makes it impossible to focus on the story, which requires the reader’s full attention.
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Fangs
Fangs by Sarah Andersen My rating: 5 of 5 stars Thank you NetGalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for providing me with an ARC of Fangs in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. The Gist I hear about Anderson’s new comic story from her Instagram account. She posted weekly – I think – snippets of the whole story until it was complete on her website. I meant to keep track of them, but lost track of time. So, when I saw the entire story was available for request on NetGalley, I jumped at the chance. I enjoyed all of Anderson’s previous work and was curious what she…
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Annabeth Neverending
Annabeth Neverending by Leyla Kader Dahm My rating: 2 of 5 stars Thank you NetGalley and Create Space for providing me with an ARC of Annabeth Neverending in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. The Gist I still have quite a few books sitting on my “to-read” NetGalley shelf, so I thought now is just as good a time to finally check them out and review them as any other. In the past, I would have a few weeks off during which I had enough time to get super excited about new books and then schoolwork would catch up with me again, putting my reading and…
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The Woman Before Wallis
The Woman Before Wallis: A Novel of Windsors, Vanderbilts, and Royal Scandal by Bryn Turnbull My rating: 3 of 5 stars Thank you to the publisher, MIRA Books, for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. The Gist Give me stories about the nobility. Give me stories set in London, the countryside or with a Mediterranean flair. Give me complex characters that try to make their way through life without losing hope. Give me all that and I am yours as a loyal reader. I thought this book would totally be my cup of tea. I imagined myself…
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Breath Like Water
Breath Like Water by Anna Jarzab My rating: 2 of 5 stars Thank you to the publisher, Inkyard Press, for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. I read most of the book in one day, staying up until 2 o’clock in the morning just to finish it. It wasn’t because I was so hooked on the story, instead I kept seeing all this potential and held out hope that the story might improve or at least find its centre. I checked out a few other reviews in this story and I must warn you, this is going…
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The Song of Achilles
The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller My rating: 1 of 5 stars I read this book in early February of this year and I have been dreading writing a review ever since for two reasons. For one, according to the reviews and ratings of it mine is a very unpopular opinion. Secondly, I’m not sure I can keep my sarcasm in check, but I will try my best and as a result turn this into a very boring and dull review…maybe. The Song of Achilles has been on my to-read list for a very long time and I finally took the opportunity to read it now that I have…
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The Lost City
The Lost City by Amanda Hocking My rating: 3 of 5 stars I voluntarily read and reviewed an ARC of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. I have a confession to make. I haven’t had the opportunity or time to check out Hocking’s Trylle Trilogy or Kanin Chronicles and I think that led to some confusion when I read this book, The Lost City. I felt very out of place and could tell that I was missing the bigger picture of this story. Nonetheless, I will give my honest review of Hocking’s newest book. Let’s start with the characters. They were all very well developed and had…
